Let’s start off the new year with a potpourri of goodies; a rarely heard gem by one of rock music’s greatest sidemen, a smattering of new releases, and a boxed set worthy of your holiday cheer. Remember that if it’s reviewed in these pages it’s worth having; and be sure to support your local independent music store.
Wilco
Alpha Mike Foxtrot: Rare Tracks 1994-2014
Nonesuch Records
Seriously, you didn’t expect the band’s initial career retrospect to be the considered norm, did you? From the start Wilco has rarely followed any blueprint other than their own, wildly serving the whims of grandmaster Jeff Tweedy.
This four-disc collection of live and non-LP recordings aptly show the depth and range of those whims. Twenty years into the game the band has created an imposing and wildly varied body of work; Alpha Mike Foxtrot collects 77 tracks from singles, promo releases, movie soundtracks, bonus discs, and downloads from their website. It’s a cornucopia of delights, an alternate soundtrack to the group’s history that, while clearly intended for the hard core fan, would be no less appealing to the neophyte.
Chronologically sequenced from the first post Uncle Tupelo demos Tweedy cut in his living room, to extended live takes of songs from A Ghost Is Born, Alpha Mike Foxtrot traces the evolution of Wilco from a lively but ragged alternative country combo to the sonic powerhouse they would become. In purest terms nothing here is previously unreleased but having such gems as the ten minute on stage workout out “Spiders ( Kidsmoke)” alongside the soulful “The Thanks I Get,” and the pop/rock send up “The Good Part” is the stuff of pure delight.
It’s a fascinating look at the many paths Tweedy and company chose not to take, complimented by a comprehensive booklet, liner notes, and all the extraneous accouterments that make record collecting so much fun. Now this is how boxed sets should be done! *****
Yusuf Islam
Tell ‘Em I’m Gone
Sony/Legacy Music
“When a door is closed somewhere/ there’s a door that’s opening” sings the artist once known and loved as Cat Stevens. And while Stevens’s conversion to Islam-and subsequent comments he made regarding the fatwa on writer Salman Rushdie-made international headlines, his post millennium return to writing, recording, and performing music as Yusuf Islam has been largely ignored.
Tell ‘Em I’m Gone, his third release in eight years, finds him leaning towards the folk/pop he does so well, while demonstrating the power of his still magnificent voice. The material is at once more thoughtful, deliberate, and whimsical (traits that earmarked his earliest records) than he’s sounded in years.
To help him along, Yusuf has enlisted longtime friend and guitar genius Richard Thompson, who adds an air of authenticity, and enlisted the contemporary production talents of Rich Rubin. It’s a more rhythm and blues sounding album than you’d expect from the man who recorded “Tea for the Tillerman” but it’s a sound that largely works, even when he tackles such unlikely material as Edgar Winter’s “Dying to Live” or Jimmy Reed’s “Big Boss Man.”
The original songs are typically autobiographical, as Yusuf sings lovingly about his boyhood in London and his struggles with stardom. As a whole the album suffers from a few curious song choices and a paucity of Yusuf written songs, leaving it something of a near miss. The closing track “Doors,” referenced at the start of this review, offers hope that Yusuf has worked through the hesitancy that marked his return to performing and is ready to again make the sort of music that resonates with his fans.
As of this writing he’s in the midst of his first North American tour in 35 years, and by all reports sounds great. As one who still plays those early albums over and again I’ll be eagerly looking to see where the journey next takes him. ***
Bobby Keys
Self Titled
Aurora Records
The now late and great Bobby Keys only made one solo album but it’s a joyous groove of soul, blues, and rock. Backed by the cream of the crop-including Jack Bruce, Ringo Starr, Leslie West, George Harrison, and Keys’ longtime cohort Jim Price-it’s a raucous jam session delight. Keys lived hard, once describing his partying as “making Keith Richards look like a choir boy” and played with a ferocity that belied his quiet Texas roots. Long out of print but well worth tracking down this 1972 release is quintessential 70s star power. ****
Heather Kropf
Chrysalis
Reverie Records
On her latest full length release this Pittsburgh based singer/songwriter delivers a fine set of up-tempo folk and finely crafted pop tunes with a heart. While her first three releases found Kropf searching for her muse-and a delivery complimentary to her songwriting-Chrysalis hits the right notes, ranging from swinging ballads to pensive introspection.
Written while recovering from a life threatening illness, Kropf choose not to retreat, forging ahead while launching a Kickstarter campaign that funded the effort. Overwhelmed by the support of her fans and newcomers she’s paid them back with her strongest outing yet, one which promises to sound vibrant even after repeated listens. Yippee for Kickstarter! ***1/2
Cracker
Berkeley to Bakersfield
429 Records
While he was “proudly born a Texan” Cracker principal David Lowery has always embraced the California ethos, reflecting both the warm glow and cold reality of its vast terrain. Growing up there has shaped his musical identity, from his early years with Camper Van Beethoven (who went so far as to record a pair of concept albums about The Golden State), to his on again off again tenure with Cracker, and his far too occasional solo efforts.
Berkeley to Bakersfield is a two-disc set exploring the distinct personalities of Cracker’s music-lean guitar driven rock and roll balanced with a more courteous acoustic approach-that beautifully matches the twin extremes of urban and rural Californian life. The “hard” side (San Francisco) is as fierce as the band has ever rocked while the “softer” side (Bakersfield) showcases them at their country gentlemen best. Yet both extremes take aim at the duality of California-and in a larger sense our nation-with poverty and opulence, racism and race baiting, and hope and fear tugging side to side.
It is weighty stuff but Lowery and company know better than to drag it down with dogma, offering the hard realities of everyday life with neither judgment nor assumption; they are what they are.
Lowery is still one of our finest chroniclers of the American dream gone wrong (in that regard I consider him on a par with John Fogerty) while Cracker remains a band that deserve all the critical praise they receive. Berkeley to Bakersfield is among their most ambitious efforts yet, and quite possibly the best set of songs they’ve given us in two decades. ****1/2
Ben Rabb
Until It’s Gone
New York based folk rocker Ben Rabb packs a lot of punch into his debut EP, straddling a line between confessional rock and observational Americana with equal success. The gritty storytelling of “On The Fence” brings to mind primo John Mellencamp while Rabb’s skill at painting pictures with words-witness the shattered hopes of “New York”- assert him as a songwriter to be reckoned with. Half a dozen songs, each one well thought out and compactly presented, makes for a fine introduction. ****
Pegi Young and The Survivors
Lonely In A Crowded Room
New West
It’s a fair question to wonder if Pegi Young could have made it this far in music without the association of her soon to be ex-husband-certainly being Mrs. Neil Young has helped her enlist the support of such “A” list musicians as legendary Muscle Shoals keyboardist Spooner Oldham, producer Niko Bolas, and bassist Rick Rosas-but the answer to such is neither here nor there.
Young does have the modest talent to assemble a perfectly listenable record and while the apocalyptically titled Lonely In A Crowded Room (written and recorded prior to their much publicized break up) may not set the world on fire, there’s enough here to warrant a bit of attention.The bass driven jazz/rock of “In My Dreams” sounds much like early Tom Waits while the mid-tempo “I Be Weary” fits nicely with her honest and unassuming way.
The best moments are the cover songs, especially a cooled-down take on Irma Thomas’ “Ruler of My Heart” and the Tex/Mex flavored “Lonely Women Make Good Lovers”, both of which reveal the pleasant range of her voice. Oldham brings a sturdy laid back groove to the proceedings while the musicianship is (not surprisingly) first rate.
Those moments help elevate Lonely In A Crowded Roomto a slightly higher status, and while that may not exactly be a strong commendation I’d have to say it’s at least as interesting as Mr. Young’s latest, which says much more about Neil than it does about Pegi. ***