December has hit Minnesota, and as usual, Old Man Winter is intent on ripping some shit up in ‘the land of ten thousand lakes.’ What’s a helpless liberal arts student raised to be afraid of the outdoors supposed to do? How about snuggling up with the latest batch of tasty independent rock ‘n’ roll? It may not keep you warm, but it’ll surely keep your toes tapping through the frigid months ahead. Check it out y’all
Emily Sparks — What Could Not Be Buried (Wishing Tree Records)
I had the pleasure of seeing Ms. Sparks back in July at the 7th St. Entry and remember thinking to myself during her stunning solo acoustic set, “Damn, I can’t wait to buy this album,” an even more commendable accomplishment given the admittedly overly male-dominated nature of my CD collection. I was then promptly told that her debut record wouldn’t be released until October. Fortunately, What Could Not Be Buried was well worth the wait, expertly avoiding the hackneyed Lillith Fair Jewel-isms that jaded listeners might expect and boldly striking new ground.
Sparks’ low-key vocal delivery is always effective, spinning somber tales in stark contrast with the child-like innocence of her voice (“My father says I’m like a rock, but I feel more like a stone. Broken, skipped, and thrown.”) An impeccably tasteful production hand aids matters greatly. Sparks’ mellow finger-picked songs are complemented expertly throughout What Could Not Be Buried, spurred on with touches of expertly applied synths, pedal steel and occasional percussion. The song’s accouterments never overwhelm the slight intimate nature of the songs themselves, however, and are the key element that bolster Sparks’ debut beyond the hordes of other young female sing-songwriters looking to distinguish themselves.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10
Brendan Gamble — Heartless Moon (Hidden Agenda)
Heartless Moon is a soft folk-rock album in the vein of early Jackson Browne and other 70s singer/songwriters—full of tasty acoustic guitar dexterity and melancholic heartache. Rest assured that the pain is real, Gamble decided to record his debut solo album in the wake of the pain caused by his divorce. None of Heartless Moon’s tracks jump out and beg for attention, Gamble is clearly not a ‘singles’ kind of artist, but his collection of rueful low-key material when taken in its entirety is oddly effective—and grows stronger with each listen.
The occasional misstep into flashier ‘coffeehouse cheese’ territory (“Skipping Stones”), and some overly long running times are the only factors keeping Heartless Moon from a higher rank in the ‘I’m so damn sad you have to love me’ album echelon. As it stands the album is still a laudable effort.
Rating: 7 out of 10
Matt Pond PA — The Nature of Maps (Polyvinyl Records)
Matt Pond and his band of merry music makers have changed up the formula significantly on their fourth full-length album, The Nature of Maps. Pond’s voice still recalls Cure lead singer Robert Smith, and his lyrics remain equally mired in mopeville, but the backing instrumentation (formerly heavy on lush orchestration) has been paired down significantly.
A decreased dependence on cello and resurgence of electric guitar in the mix results in a much more rockin’ incarnation of Matt Pond PA than in the past. Tunes like “A Million Middle Fingers” and “Fairlees” flat out kick ass. The interesting orchestral textures that made past efforts like 2000’s Measure worth treasuring are even more effective on Nature of Maps, gaining added power by virtue of their more economic employment. Nobody sounds like this band.
Rating: 8 out of 10
John Cunningham — Happy Go Unlucky (Parasol)
Some of the world’s best pop music ever created was made in a blatant effort to rip off earlier great achievements. What separates classy emulation, however, from cheap imitation? The latest long-player from England’s John Cunningham has me pondering these issues at great length (rather than doing any number of pending academic assignments or cleaning my filthy apartment). Happy Go Unlucky, even in a musical world chock full of Lennon/McCartney pretenders, is a full-on “Penny Lane” styled mini-me.
Maybe I’m applying a double standard here because of Cunningham’s Brit lineage, but there’s something amiss in systematically mirroring the key elements of the music that pretty much everyone in your country acknowledges as the Holy Grail of pop. Granted, the results still make for a more than pleasurable listening experience. “Way to Go,” with it’s rolling bass line and catchy piano riff, is particularly memorable. Overall, though, Happy Go Unlucky feels stiff in its strict adherence to the vibe of an earlier era. Cunningham has managed to employ nearly all of the tricks associated with mid-period Beatles recordings (lush and captivating orchestration, layered vocal harmonies, heavily segmented song passages), but not enough of the magic. Still, one can’t fault him for trying, there are worse crimes than trying to craft a version of the White Album for the 21st century.
Rating: 7 out of 10
The Velvet Crush — Soft Sounds (Action Musik)
The Velvet Crush were once the ‘it’ band of the moment. Just eight short years ago, Sony had pinned their hopes on the Rhode Island group’s Teenage Symphonies to God as the album that would finally push the instantly accessible sounds of power-pop to the masses. By 1994, power-pop, a silly genre name originally coming into use back in the 1970s to describe the mega-melodic and harmony-heavy rock being overlooked amidst the sea of Led Zeppelin’s arena bloat, had long been deemed music’s lovable loser by the industry. It’s never a good sign when the official poster boys of a genre, in this case early 70s Memphis outfit Big Star, are barely known outside of record geek circles (although lauded by musicians from Elliott Smith to Wilco).
Unfortunately Teenage Symphonies did nothing to change that, despite providing some truly mindblowing and classic tunes. Rumors of the band’s demise have surfaced every few years since, even though they produced quality follow-up records in 1997 and 2000 respectively. It appeared as though the Crush had finally given into record industry indifference by 2001, however, which makes their resurgence on Soft Sounds (originally intended as a solo album by singer/guitarist Paul Chastian) worth celebrating.
The bulk of Soft Sounds was recorded in Chastian’s home resulting in a relaxed off the cuff feel that only serves to heighten the enjoyment of VC’s always pleasing melodies. The record avoids the heavy lead guitar histrionics that somewhat marred 1997’s The Heavy Changes, preferring to keep the songs in lean fighting shape. Tracks like “Staying Found” (with its awesome George Harrison styled lead break) and the jaunty acoustic number “Feels Like Forever” prove that the long-running partnership between Chastian and vocalist/songwriter/drummer Ric Menck is nowhere close to running out of pop music fuel.
Rating: 8 out of 10
