Let’s take the chill off winter with a smattering of under the radar new releases and a fresh take on an older classic. As always I suggest you buy your music at any of the fine locally owned records shops Asheville is so fortunate to have. With rare exception, downloads are a distant second best.
Lady Lamb the Beekeeper
Ripely Pine
Ba Da Bing Records
Everyone loves a “good things happen to good people” story and there’s few better than that of multi-instrumentalist Aly Spaltro, who records under the curious nomenclature of Lady Lamb the Beekeeper. While working the night shift at a Portland, Maine, video rental shop – the type of job that likely offers plenty of opportunity to observe and dissect human behavior – the 23 year old quietly crafted her music.
Written and recorded over a four year period, with Spaltro putting what little spare energy, time, and money she could muster into the project, Ripely Pine is a rather strange beast: It’s a glowing but often bewildering stew of indie rock sing-along folk, and whatever else meandered through her rich but somewhat unfiltered imagination. The pulse is difficult to describe; it abruptly shifts from mellow and melodic to slightly irritating, but there’s a significant charm found in such odd fellows as “Regarding the Stairs” (a bit of dada like nonsense) and the lilting “Florence Berlin.”
Spaltro gets the most out of her somewhat limited instrumental skills – none are played with particular precision or vibrancy – and her modest voice is just pleasant enough to carry the day. All of which sounds more like a left-handed compliment than I intend. Despite it all I found myself intrigued enough by Ripely Pine to give it several spins, and I suspect I’ll do so again. There’s plenty of mystery here, and who doesn’t enjoy a good puzzle? ***
Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale
Buddy and Jim
New West Records
An album that might be better described as “Buddy and Jim meet the Everly Brothers” is as frustrating as it is infectious. Anyone hoping that the long rumored pairing of roots rock gods Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale might set new standards in country twang originality is going to be sorely disappointed in this set, but the truth is that expectations ran far too high and their own ambitions aimed a bit too low.
Drawing upon a variety of American sounds – country, rock, bluegrass, soul, jazz, blues and rockabilly – Buddy and Jim is as casual affair as you might expect. It’s certainly well-crafted – and with such stellar support players as Stuart Duncan, and Russ Pahl leading the way one can hardly go wrong – but there’s remarkably little zip and energy between the two.
The traditional numbers, especially the twangy grin of “The Train That Carried My Gal from Town” work best while most of the new material seem like cast offs from other, more substantial efforts. Only “It Hurts Me” which features Julie Miller on vocals, manages to catch and sustain some real fire in the belly.
At less than 35 minutes Buddy and Jim is as offhand as it is dispensable: Nothing here is even remotely offensive, and there is certainly an air of good time fun. But neither will it attract new listeners to the wonderful body of work these two artists have independently created which is darn shame. Okay guys, you go this out of your system. Now let’s go back to making real records again. **
Nightlands
Oak Island
Secretly Canadian Records
As bassist for the band War on Drugs Philadelphia based musician Dave Hartley has achieved a certain profile of success that allows him to branch out a bit, indulging whatever musical whims might strike his fancy while exploring his own inner workings.
The son of a genetic engineer Hartley – who plays more instruments than some people can name – began working on his first solo outing, Forget the Mantra, during breaks between the sessions that would eventually become War on Drugs majestic 2011 release Slave Ambient.
Two years later, with War on Drugs taking a hiatus for the road and studio, he returns with Oak Island, an at times brilliant and oft perplexing mix (in a good way) of dreamy pop, loopy lyrics, and layer upon layer of sonic delight. It displays Hartley’s passion science as well as his love of 1970’s soft rock – a sidebar of that decade that hardly engenders fond memories. Yet it does so in surprising and reassuring fashion, turning a few musical conventions into wildly interesting detours.
Building on the epic feel of its predecessor Oak Island happily rifts on bands Hartley admires while retaining its own identity. Its skillfully juxtaposes the breeze of MOR radio music (the sort that existed four decades ago) with purposely ambivalent lyrics (“Born to Love”) and infectious pop ( “So Far So Long”). There’s even a bit of Average White Band type brass on “I Fell in Love with a Feeling” and some Weather Report inspired free form fusion.
Much like Beck’s tributes to the classic (and not so much) albums he grew up grooving on, your reaction to Oak Island will largely depend on your affinity for the source material; it’s hard to tell whether Hartley is spoofing on or paying homage to a bygone era but either way there’s no shortage of happy memories found herein. And a few decades from now, as my ancestors travel past the boundaries of time and space (listening to music on who knows what devices) Oak Island might just inspire a few memories of their own. ****
Richard Barone
Cool Blue Halo – 25 Anniversary Edition
RBM Music
About the only people who noticed the 1987 debut of former Bongo co-founder Richard Barone were the critics who, at the time of its release, were rightfully effusive in their praise; and while the album slowly gained a bit of cult status it never garnered much in the way of sales or long term momentum. Which remains a darn shame; it’s one of the finest albums of its time, and one that sounds even better with age. Making your debut album a live one was a bold creative move, but not such a great marketing strategy.
Released on the fledgling PVC label – just weeks before it went belly up – I first encountered Cool Blue Halo in a dollar cassette bin a year or so later. It became one of those impulse buys – I was barely familiar with Barone but intrigued by anyone willing to cover both David Bowie’s “Man Who Sold The World” AND The Beatles’ “Cry Baby Cry” – that has repaid my meager investment again and again.
Barone shifted from the snappy power pop of his New Jersey band (also critical darlings) to atmospheric but never indulgent chamber styled pop, and he did so with confidence and authority. He traded his backing band – a traditional ensemble of bass/drums/guitar, for the innovative percussion of Valerie Naranjo and Jane Scarpantoni’s magical cello; he also added acoustic guitar to his own stripped down electric with brilliant results.
The sound remains as unique 25 years after the fact as it was that May 31st evening at New York’s famous Bottom Line club. Difficult to obtain in the CD era, it has now been resurrected with remastered audio from the original tapes and eight bonus tracks for what is the definitive version of this overlooked gem.
Barone mixes some Bongos tunes, and new (at the time) originals with the aforementioned covers of Bowie, The Beatles, and T Rex; everything is imaginatively rearranged for his backing musicians, in an iridescent, occasionally rocking, always inspired outing. The result is mesmerizing, a layer upon layer masterwork of shimmering delights the like of which is rarely heard.
This deluxe reissue includes a companion two CD/DVD live package (released simultaneously but available separately) that finds Barone back in a different small New York City club in 2012, fronting the same stripped down band from way back when. He then adds guests Garth Hudson (accordion and piano), original producer Tony Visconti (on bass) and others that barely squeeze onto the tiny stage, rolling through some new songs and terrific versions of the Stones’ “Child of the Moon” and the Velvet Underground’s “I’ll Be Your Mirror” for a two hour set, beautifully captured on the DVD.
A bonus 30 minute documentary reveals the history of the album and the recent concert, providing fascinating behind the scenes details to what is already an absorbing back story. It’s an invigorating concert that shows Barone remains as creative, vital and youthful looking as ever. Despite a solid solo career Barone has never matched the transcendent glow of Cool Blue Halo, and I doubt he ever will.
If you missed it the first time around, which nearly everyone did, it’s never too late to latch onto the singer/songwriter’s magnetic, challenging and often dazzling art pop masterpiece. Even better, Barone now owns all rights to the record, so why immersing yourself in some fabulous music you’ll also be putting some well deserved dollars into his pockets. *****