Reviews of Attainable Hi-Fi & Home-Theater Equipment
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- Written by: Joseph Taylor
Linn Records AKH 351
Format: LP
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William Orbit is probably best known as the producer of Madonna's Ray of Light (1998), and Blur's 13 (1999), but his resume as a producer, musician, and solo artist is extensive. He was the driving force behind Bassomatic, a house music band from the 1990s, and he has recorded seven solo discs since 1987. My Oracle Lives Uptown, his eighth, features atmospheric and danceable electronica. It's also beautifully recorded, and Orbit was eager for his fans to hear it in studio master quality. He has therefore released it on Linn Records, which offers My Oracle on CD and LP, as well as 24-bit and 16-bit downloads. My copy was pressed on two absolutely quiet 180-gram LPs at Pallas in Germany. The keyboard washes are beautifully textured, the kick drums -- real and electronic -- thump solidly, and the layers of musical detail are clear and precise, even on densely arranged passages. The music is emotionally stirring, but it has a cerebral undercurrent. "Hydrajacked" sounds like a theme from a futuristic cop show, and the title tune has a nearly Motown vibe. Orbit brings a human touch to music that can often seem distant and cold, and you can dance to it. He plays guitar and keyboards on the album, and he also produced, co-engineered, and mixed it. Geoff Pesche did the direct metal mastering, but it has the warmth and flow of analog.
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- Written by: Rad Bennett
World Village Music 468092
Format: CD
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It's been about two years since Catherine Russell wowed us with Sentimental Streak on the World Village label. Now she's back with a new collection on the same label, and the jury is in: Catherine Russell is one of today's most reliable and remarkable jazz singers. Blessed with a musical background (her father, Luis Russell, was a world-class band leader who often teamed up with Louis Armstrong), she was given a magnificent voice and has developed a keen sense for lyrics, the ability to make impeccable repertory choices, and endless spirit and heart. On Inside This Heart of Mine, she sings standard jazz and blues -- mostly from the 1920s to the '60s -- and she's recreated the spirit and style of those days without ever sounding camp or condescending. There are some welcome familiar songs here: "All the Cats Join In," "As Long as I Live," "Close Your Eyes," and "Struttin' with Some Barbeque" are peppered with some lesser-known classics, including the ultimate personification of liquor in "Quiet Whiskey."
Whiskey, whiskey on the shelf,
You were so quiet there by yourself.
Things were fine 'til they took you down,
Opened you up and passed you around.
Russell has a cream crop of New York musicians playing with her, and the engineering team has created a design that lets them shine without ever obscuring Russell. The overall sound is rich, warm, and clean.
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- Written by: Joseph Taylor
Bar None Records BRN-CD-199
Format: CD
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Rain on the City is Freedy Johnston’s first CD of new material since 2001’s Right Between the Promises, and it marks his return to Seattle’s Bar None Records after a four-CD run with Elektra. The title track is a medium-tempo ballad with vignettes of street scenes and romance, as the rain itself becomes a character and observer. “The Devil Raises His Own” sounds like an acoustic take on Gamble and Huff, and as with many of Johnston’s songs, its lyrics show a sharp storyteller’s eye.
Rain on the City is a deceptively spare recording, but small, rich musical touches keep popping up with repeated listens, and the space around Freedy’s voice gives him and the details of his songs the room they need. “That’s the Kind of Love We’re In” channels Jobim, “It’s Gonna Come Back to You” is rousing C&W, and it all fits Freedy, or maybe he just tailors it to himself. Either way, Rain on the City is a strong, welcome return from a songwriter who deserves a much wider audience. Richard McLaurin has tastefully produced the album, giving it a clean, unfussy sound, with instrumental support from him and other Nashville players.
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- Written by: Rad Bennett
Analogue Productions CAPB 8755A
Format: Hybrid SACD
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In 1990 Dennis Hopper directed The Hot Spot, which starred Don Johnson and Virginia Madsen. It was a good stab at noir in color, but critics were unimpressed. Hopper asked Jack Nitzsche to write the music, and Nitzsche decided that the best way to accompany the images on screen was to use the blues. To play those blues he secured the artistry of John Lee Hooker, Miles Davis, Taj Mahal, Roy Rogers, Tim Drummond, Earl Palmer, and Bradford Ellis. He basically asked them to improvise on riffs, and since they aren’t just any musicians, their noodling produced some awesome results. Many of the tracks sound alike, but things really move on the vamp-like “Bank Robbery,” which lets Davis shine with muted trumpet licks intoned above a persistent rhythmic figure. The overall result is sultry and hot, and it’s exactly what the film needed.
The recorded sound is excellent and definitely audiophile quality. The moaning of Hooker’s vocals; the smooth sound of Rogers’s slide guitar; and the sassy, pointed attacks from Davis are all exposed with wonderful clarity. The CD layer is fine, but the SACD tracks seem to add a little air around the players, resulting in greater presence. Both sets of tracks are stereo; there’s no effort to synthesize any surround. For this recording, I think that was a good idea.
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- Written by: Shannon Holliday
Deadbeet Records DBR-103
Format: CD
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Eloquent imagery and raw acoustics paint pretty, bluesy ballads on Dutchman’s Curve, David Olney’s April release. The Rhode Island-born singer-songwriter has produced an impressive discography since the early 1970s, and his latest album is a worthy addition. Unafraid to bring nontraditional instruments into the blues realm, Olney invites cellist/violinist David Henry and Jim Hoke on autoharp to throw the listener for a loop on several tracks, and he tries his own skillful hand at the ukulele, which fits in smartly on the opening “Train Wreck” and the loping, sultry “I’ve Got a Lot on My Mind.” “Little Sparrow” offers an oddly country-tinged homage to French chanteuse Edith Piaf, but it somehow hits the mark.
Each song tells an intricate story, and Olney reflects on a variety of subjects, from a 1918 Nashville train wreck that was the worst in American history to Vermeer’s painting “The Girl with the Pearl Earring.” With poetic inspiration from such a wide range of sources, it’s no wonder that his songs have been covered by such artists as Emmylou Harris, Johnny Cash, Linda Ronstadt, and Steve Earle. Each of Olney’s songs bears a saga, a narrative, or a recount of some forgotten piece of history. On “Way Down Deep,” Olney snarls a murky number over a resonating electric slide guitar and beefy baritone and tenor sax. Most of the tracks are originals, with the exception of the Tommy Goldsmith song, “Hey Sha La La La,” and The Flamingos’ “I Only Have Eyes for You,” both soul songs that reveal Olney’s passion for belting out a good “doo wop sh’bop” now and again. Dutchman's Curve is a highly enjoyable album that’s not too serious but is seriously well produced. It’s a thoughtful and intelligent disc that’s rife with pretty riffs and imagery.
- Details
- Written by: Rad Bennett
Courageous Chicken Music/Nash Vegas Flash CCNF CD 0001
Format: CD
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A band called Jason and the Scorchers should have energy to burn, and it’s been a while since I’ve heard a longish CD (14 cuts) that never lets up, wallows, or runs out of steam. The country punk-rock band has been around, but Halcyon Times is their first album since 1996. It presents band founders Jason Ringenberg and Warner E. Hodges in the company of a new, energetic rhythm section consisting of bassist Al Collins and the young Swedish drummer Pontus Snibb. The recordings were done live with a studio audience, which might account for some of the infectious spontaneity. The songs are about people, events, and Americana that the band has experienced and then written as bigger than life. Consider this character from the opening of “Moonshine Guy / Releasing Celtic Prisoners”:
And he yells and he roars
Likes the Stones, hates the Doors
Thinks the Beatles sing for girls
He’s a moonshine guy in a six-pack world
The recording is sometimes refined but often deliberately coarse. When the band is really humping, it sets up an appealing and powerfully raucous sound. There’s a short, homemade documentary on their website that shows how a lot of the album was recorded, and it looks like it was as much fun to make as it is to listen to.
