On June 19, Glass Onyon PR issued a press release giving details of People Mover, Scott Henderson’s soon-to-be-released follow up the absolutely outstanding Vibe Station. It’s been a while since there’s been any new music from Henderson: Vibe Station came out in 2015, and it’s the last issued recording he mentions on his website. But, based on Scott’s own words, there is reason to think it will be well worth the wait. Dig this:
“I’d say this album is a bit more harmonic than ‘Vibe
Station,’ and the rhythm section plays a bigger role in the music. The
challenge was to come up with new tones and effects I haven’t used before,
since like ‘Vibe Station,’ the songs are layered with multi guitar tracks.”
“Real Thing” is the super-hooky single from the latest EP by Australian band Middle Kids. Released a couple of months in advance of New Songs for Old Problems, “Real Thing” grabs attention with lead singer Hannah Day’s gorgeously stretched vowels on longing choruses that rise up from uneasy verses.
The melodies
are supported by the guitars of Day herself and lead guitarist/bassist Tim Fitz,
in a perennial rock style that fits into the channel of what is broadly called “alternative”
or “indie.” The grungy chorus will certainly bring 90s associations for many.
In the week
before Gold & Grey dropped, on
June 14, Baroness played a series of small gigs, including an in-store
appearance at Vintage Vinyl and a full-on electric performance at the Gutter, a
Brooklyn, NY, bar.
Below are
videos of both above-mentioned short sets, each of which is totally worthwhile,
along with some thoughts about them. Please share your comments!
● I
can’t think of any other band that does two-guitar harmonies in which both
guitarists use single-coil pickups. The reduced sustain (as compared to
humbuckers) and the pokier high frequencies of single-coils emphasize the sound
of two guitars together. With some bands, I frequently hear guitar harmonies as
two players trying to sound like one. I dig that sound a lot, but there are other
possibilities.
Don’t let the wAcka-jaWaKa lettering on the cover throw you off! Warsaw Summer Jazz Days ’98 (Manifesto, 2019) is a well-recorded documenting of Allan Holdsworth digging deep into his muse in a trio that also showcased the chordally sympathetic six-string bassist Dave Carpenter and drummer Gary Novak. Needless to say, another reminder of the vital and singular sound of Allan Holdsworth will always be more than welcome!
Featuring a
quartet of tunes that later appeared on Holdsworth’s 2000 release, The Sixteen Men of Tain, this gig also includes several pieces from
the late master’s fertile early 80s period, plus “Proto-Cosmos,” from his tenure
with drummer Tony Williams.
In under one year, New York-based jazz guitarist Gilad Hekselman has released two strong collections as the primary artist: Ask for Chaos (September 2018) and Further Chaos (May 2019). Each features tracks by two ensembles that Hekselman leads. His GHex Trio consists of Helselman’s guitar, accompanied by stand-up bass and drums. In ZuperOctave, Hekselman takes charge of both of guitar and bass in a setting that also includes keyboardist Aaron Parks and drummer/percussionist Kush Abadey. With Hekselman making liberal and dramatic use of effects and his bandmates also embracing electronics, ZuperOctave finds startling and original sonic territory. It’s electronically-touched organic music that is, above all, jazz. More specifically, it’s sonically exploratory, harmonically adventurous jazz that doesn’t sound to me like what is usually called “fusion,” for the lack of rock-oriented beats. The track “Stumble,” from Ask for Chaos, is one among many ZuperOctave highlights.
“Stumble” arrested me immediately with its
memorable opening melodic figure and a lush sound so whole it’s sometimes hard
to tease apart Parks’s keyboards from Hekselman’s guitar.
The music of Baroness centers on guitarist/vocalist/songwriter/visual artist John Baizley, who is one of those people who can smile and still radiate heaviness. While the tracks released ahead of the June 14 release of Gold & Grey bear his unmistakable stamp, the band’s current lineup offers power and flexibility not heard even on its high-water mark album, 2012’s Yellow & Green or its acclaimed follow-up, Purple.
The Stray Cats breakout track and video hit may well be the
defining track of the first wave of retro rock. It’s now a classic in its own
right. Brian Setzer masterfully accompanies his throwback-cool vocals with clean-toned,
slapback-echoed guitar moves that include jazzy sliding chords; rockabilly triads
extended with sixths; and two tight, confident solos—not to mention a motor of
a main riff. Released decades after the peak of rockabilly, “Rock This Town”
might have seemed, at first, like the product of one more group of costumed MTV
opportunists, but Setzer, along with bassist Lee Rocker and drummer Slim Jim
Phantom, showed confidence that rockabilly was as enduring and vital as a
lovingly cared-for 1950s hot rod with a tank full of fuel.
On Hungry Ghost, released March 2019, Typical Sisters explores avenues for creating urgency beyond of the borders of well-defined genres. The more I listen to Hungry Ghost, the more I hear jazz in a generalized way and the less I hear anything like a bebop line. If one has to categorize this album, it probably makes most sense to call it jazz, but it’s jazz in the sense of connecting to jazz tradition and not in the sense of sounding like traditional jazz. That insufficient characterization shouldn’t suggest that Hungry Ghost is generic. Typical Sisters sophomore album is an expansive, challenging, and rewarding collection that reveals progressively deeper charms through repeated listening.
Times not recommended for listening to Jacky Vincent’s Life Imitating Art: basically anytime you want to chill. It’s not that the late-era Shrapnel Records alum is relentlessly hyped through his whole new album—relaeased August 31, 2018—but he never goes long without cranking open the throttle on his seeming V12 guitar engine. Even on the less bombastic tracks within the 40 minute collection, there’s relatively little that can reasonably be called “unhurried” or “restrained.” Nonetheless, for those familiar with Jacky Vincent from his work in the bands Falling in Reverse and Cry Venom (post-hardcore and power metal, respectively), Life Imitating Art is a different intensity.
Album opener “Awakener,” “Nowhere to Look but Inside,” and “Soul Shines Through,” all incorporate big synth sounds that would be at home in a dance club or at an arena-pop show. In some places, I wondered whether he is using a guitar-synth controller of some kind. Replete with sudden shifts in texture; staccato heavy rhythm guitars sparring with complex synths; a neoclassical breakdown; and a brief breakneck solo excursion over a pumping dance beat, among other sections, “Awaken” lays it on thick from the start. There’s a lot of motion and contrast in the tune, and I could see Vincent going over well performing music like this on a bill with EDM acts and lots of bright lights. Nothing else the album throws in the kitchen sink quite as hard, perhaps for the overall good of the album, but each of the synth heavy tracks features interesting textures and shifts. The synth soloing on “Nowhere to Look but Inside” sounds like it could have been done with a guitar-synth controller; some of the synth lines are shaped much like Vincent’s often deployed sweep moves. With abundant guitar harmonies and high note-density runs, and with contemporary touches in lower proportion than in the album’s first two tracks, “Soul Shines Through” and “Grand Uppah” both veer into classic Shrapnel territory. Vincent’s chops are both undeniable in themselves and a key piece of the adrenaline-hyped mood he creates. Arguably the signature mood of Life Imitates Art, Vincent’s energy is thrill-ride, skateboard-getting-some-air, killer gymnastics routine, TIE-fighter battle variety; there’s little-to-no darkness to be found, something that separates Vincent’s music on this album from the gothic currents of many of the Shrapnel Records classics. Also contributing to the upbeat vibe of these tracks is the eschewing of frequency-eating, down-tuned, distorted rhythm guitars; Vincent’s charge is more power metal than djent.
Someone once told me a story about a bunch of college friends who had an inside joke around the line “The Posies suck.” If I understood correctly, this bunch had seen an early, raw, and, no doubt, very cool Nirvana show at their college, and, as a result, viewed themselves on the cutting edge of where rock was headed in the early 90s. The Posies, who played the same college circuit, were less of the moment. With the signature vocal harmonies of principal members Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow, the Posies were never really a grunge band, even when they turned up their guitars and stomped their fuzz pedals more frequently in the 90s. However, there has never not been a time when they put the power in their power-pop with soulful, creative guitar playing. On the road for a big chunk of 2018, and having appeared recently in New York City, the Posies are still not of the moment, but they endure heartily with their core intact.
Regardless of what a bunch of proto-hipsters may have thought, the Posies do not suck. Now well into their third decade working together, Auer and Stringfellow are most recently out with Solid States, a new album that may be their best collection of songs since their underappreciated 1993 classic, Frosting On the Beater. (Solid States was released April 29, 2016—this is a new edit of a piece written in 2016.) The Posies have always been poppy, in the best sense. At their best, a Posies record flows from hook to hook. Solid States is no change in this respect; the songs are well-structured, melodic, and catchy. There may be stray hints of prog and art rock (“The Sound of Clouds”), but there are no long jams or meandering ambient grooves.
