Wilco - The Whole Love

There are two tracks that immediately stand out on Wilco's eighth and latest studio album, The Whole Love, and they stand out both for being terrific songs and also for being different from the rest of the album.  It seems a shame to write just one review and have my thoughts on those two songs jumbled up with my thoughts on the rest of the album, but what can you do?

Wilco has been called "The American Radiohead," a designation that lost any meaning a long time ago, but is strangely apt on album opener "The Art of Almost," which starts with feedback and skittering electronic percussion that could easily have been cribbed from any of Radiohead's recent effort.  Like "Ashes of American Flags," the opener to Wilco's magnum opus Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, "The Art of Almost" features cryptic lyrics sung understatedly in a catchy melody over a backdrop of disintegrating chaos.  Drums drop in and out, strings rise and fall, organ chords set a spare mood.  It's a great track ... but it's not really what The Whole Love is all about.

Album closer "One Sunday Morning" (enigmatically subtitled "Song For Jane Smiley's Boyfriend") is another great track.  It's a quiet tune, backed by an acoustic guitar riff with a mirrored piano line and delicate brushed percussion.  The song features one of singer / songwriter Jeff Tweedy's best vocal performances; it's understated but you can feel the emotion underlying it.  The lyrics are cryptic, evoking images of loss but not of grief, of skepticism but not of judgment, of nostalgia but not regret.  The song goes on for twelve minutes ("This is how I'll tell it / Oh, but it's long," Tweedy sings) and it has no chorus or bridge, but somehow it never gets old.  Again, it's a terrific track ... but it's not really what The Whole Love is about.

So what is The Whole Love about?  Simply put, it's the group's poppiest statement since Summerteeth. "Sunloathe" is the band's most Beatles-esque track, featuring harmonies on the chorus and some George-Harrison-style guitar.  The title track is a bouncy jaunt keyed by John Stirratt's groovy bass line.  (Stirratt is just a monster on this album; the bass sets the mood on each track, from the snaking groove of "Standing O" to the gentle country bump of "Black Moon" to the slides of "Born Alone.")  "Born Alone" features depressing existential lyrics set against an upbeat verse and an anthemic wordless chorus.  "Standing O" is rocking power pop in the traditional of some of Big Star's finest moments.  "Dawned On Me" features a bop-along chorus that rivals "Kamera" and "Heavy Metal Drummer" as one of Wilco's catchiest moments.  "The Whole Love" is a treat for anyone who enjoys pop, and it's nice to see they can still bring it when they go this route.

I'm a Wilco fan and have bought each of their albums.  This is their best effort since at least A Ghost Is Born, maybe since Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, and one of the best records of 2011.

Wilco official site

Still Lost Bird Music - August

The greatest songwriters in pop / rock history invariably are compared to poets.  Still Lost Bird Music (the pop project of composer Simon Fink) decided to take things one step further, drawing on centuries of public-domain poetry for the lyrics to his latest album, August.  While the album continues in the rich pop vein of Still Lost Bird Music's debut, Sargent Egyptian Girl, it also includes a number of folk elements: banjos, fiddles, and acoustic guitars people the album throughout, giving it a pastoral foundation that melds with the poetic lyrics.

August, like SLBM's debut, is full of gorgeous pop backdrops for Fink's voice.  In the brief opener, "Storm," the echo-y vocals come out of a gauzy haze of acoustic guitar and organ.  "Nightfall" is a slow, spare pop gem, with jangly guitar over chimes and the gentle beat of a bass and snare drum.  "Luke Havergal" is set against a twangy backdrop of banjo and mouth harp.  "A Garden By the Sea," maybe the album's best track, is a dark tune accentuated by a snaking electric guitar riff and an explosive harmonica solo.  At its worst moments, the music and words conspire to indulgence; "The Stolen Child" sounds like it was pulled from a musical, and the melodrama of "Intrigue" is a bit overwrought.  But at its best, August is like nothing else.  "Lament For the Makers" is a super-catchy pop tune with a chorus in Latin; who does that?

August is unique and challenging, but it's still a beautiful and engaging listen.  Not every track is a home run, but it's amazing that a project like this worked, and produced one of the best albums of 2011.

Still Lost Bird Music official site

Packway Handle Band - What Are We Gonna Do Now?

The Packway Handle Band totally won me over with their live show, so I picked up their most recent album, What Are We Gonna Do Now?  The group shows off some of the humor and energy that characterizes their live shows, but ultimately the album lacks something; the PHB is more suited to the live format.

The strongest track are those which feature the band's sense of humor.  "I'm Glad You've Got My Priorities So Straight" is a vitriolic masterpiece delivered in a completely deadpan manner.  "The Packway Handle Song," instead of revealing the secret of the band's name, takes glee in obscuring it further.  It also gets some digs in at Tennessee folks (the band is based in Athens, Georgia, home of UGA).  These songs are both written by fiddler Andrew Heaton, who also pens the title track, which closes the album and serves as kind of a roster for the band.  By this time, the schtick wore a little thin, and I was left wondering, "another novelty song?"

The band shares songwriting duties, and the other band members tend to play things a little more straight.  Mandolin player Michael Paynter contributes many of the tracks.  Opener "Walking Disaster" is almost emo in its self-deprecation, but some of the imagery couldn't help but make me chuckle: "I'm what the rubber-neckers are gawking at."  Classic.  Paynter's ballad "Tired" isn't as strong, dialing back the album's energy three-fourths of the way through.  The third songwriter is guitarist Josh Erwin, who contributes unremarkable instrumental "Horse vs. Technology" and the deliciously dark "Lord Baltimore," a kind of bluegrass heir to Nick Cave's creepy "Red Right Hand."  It's one of the album's best moments and shows a nice contrast to some of the group's lighter moments.

All in all, What Are We Gonna Do Now? is a decent album, with some standout tracks (Priorities, "Walking Disaster," "Lord Baltimore") alongside some more forgettable ones.  Definitely check those tracks out, and be sure to catch the Packway Handle Band if they come to your town.  The live show is killer.

Packway Handle Band official site

Del McCoury - Deeper Shade of Blue

Del goes emo.  Actually, Del is often kinda emo, but in this case he's making a whole album out of it.  This isn't a recent release - A Deeper Shade of Blue was released back in 1993 - but it's new to me, as they say.  Nobody epitomizes the high, lonesome sound better than Del McCoury, so this album largely choc-full of sad tunes is right in his wheelhouse.  There are fully five songs with the word "blue" in the title, so the album name is appropriate (though, oddly enough, son Ronnie takes the lead vocal on the title track).

Despite blue theme the band does get to show off its versatility, both in terms of the presentation of the songs and the sources of inspiration.  There's the requisite blazing Ronnie McCoury mandolin instrumental ("Quicksburg Rendezvous"), the weepy waltz ("More Often Than Once In a While"), and the propulsive opener "Cheek To Cheek With the Blues."  The band draws from rock (a terrific version of Jerry Lee Lewis' "What Made Milwaukee Famous"), country (Lefty Frizzell's "If You've Got the Money Honey"), and gospel ("I Know His Voice").  In a lot of ways, this is a paint-by-numbers Del McCoury album, but his is a group known more for delivery and passion than originality anyway.  Delivery and passion aren't a problem here; a great example is the tragic "Cold Cheater's Heart," where Del's mournful delivery is bolstered by atmospheric dobro.

Sure, the album does get blue at times, but there's always a bright moment around the corner, even when the lyrics are sad.  "I'm Lonely For My Only" is no cryin' in your beer tune; it's almost rock n' roll with bluegrass instruments, including a bluesy Ronnie McCoury mandolin solo that would make Keith Richards proud.  This is the great tension of bluegrass music; the high lonesome sound with the rhythm and blues backbeat.  Nobody hits that balance better than The Del McCoury Band.  This isn't their most perfect album, but it's plenty good.

Del McCoury Band official site

Della Mae - I Built This Heart

It's appropriate that this reviews follows my review of Greg Kot's Ripped, a book focused on how the Internet has changed the music business and giving examples of paths bands might take to get their music to fans in the Internet/MP3 era (and hopefully, make a bit of money in the process).  As I noted previously in this blog, Boston-based Della Mae used Kickstarter, a startup company that allows artists and entrepreneurs to raise funds directly from patrons or their potential audience, to fund the production and release of new album I Built This Heart.  Della Mae was able to self-release their album, raising almost $12000 from 240 backers (for rewards at various price points) and without giving up any artistic control to a record company or investor.  It will be interesting to see how many bands, especially in niche genres like bluegrass, opt for this sort of approach rather than the traditional route.

I would like to be post-feminist enough to make it through this review without mentioning that Della Mae is entirely composed of female musicians, but it really is core to their identity.  The cover songs on the album were both written by prominent female musicians - "Bowling Green" by Cousin Emmy, and "My Heart's Own Love" by Hazel Dickens, to whom the album was partially dedicated.  The guest stars - Laurie Lewis and Emma Beaton on harmony vocals, Alison Brown on banjo, and Brittany Haas on fiddle - are women as well.  But this ain't no knittin' circle - the characters peopling this album are strong, from the determined walker of "Down To You" to the burned out drunkard of "From the Bottle" to the late wanderer of "Sweet Verona."  There's also a sensuality to the lyrics, but it's more womanly than feminine - the besotted narrator of "The Most" wants to "make love with the windows open / So everyone will know."  No wilting violets, here.

The lyrics wouldn't have such weight if they weren't backed up by songwriter / guitarist Celia Woodsmith's powerhouse singing.  She's a dynamo, with range and passion, capable of cutting loose with a rock n' roll sensibility but also capable of subtlety.  A great example is "Aged Pine," the chorus of which gives the album its title.  The song is a slow waltz that demands both a real vulnerability - it was written during the terminal illness of Woodsmith's father - but a core of emotional strength; if the narrator's heart breaks, she'll "build it back again."  The rest of the band is up to the task of matching Woodsmith's intensity.  Kimber Ludiker is one of the feistiest fiddlers around.  Mandolin player Jenni Lyn Gardner and sometime flatpicker Courtney Hartman also display serious chops, and bass player Amanda Kowalski keeps the whole thing moving.

I Built This Heart is a terrific album, one of the best of the year, and you should pick it up if you like bluegrass, if you like rock, if you like strong female artists, or hell, if you just like music.

Della Mae official site
This review is based on a preview copy of I Built This Heart; the album is not yet available for general release.  Follow this blog or the band's official site for updates on its release.

Greg Kot - Ripped

One of the most fascinating questions in modern times is, with MP3 downloads readily available and folks swapping files left and right, how is anyone going to make money in the music business.  Greg Kot's book Ripped may not have a concrete answer (does anyone?), but it does raise a number of possibilities as well as provide history on how we got here.  Along the way, he tells how many of the most interesting bands in rock / indie today - Wilco, Radiohead, Bright Eyes, Death Cab for Cutie - took advantage of some of the changes in music technology and in the industry to achieve a level of success that might not have been possible for similar bands in the pre-Internet/MP3 era.

My complaint with the book is that Kot repeatedly casts the record companies, and corporations in general, as evil capitalist overlords that only do harm to consumers and artists.  And hey, let's face it - the record industry has not covered itself in glory over the past twenty years, missing the boat on the Internet despite numerous opportunities and making every wrong move when it comes to adapting to the digital music era.  It's clear that the industry is going to need to be re-molded to meet the needs of fans, artists, and distributors; what's less clear is that the record companies have no role to play in this process, which seems to be the position Kot is taking.

Still, while the book has few answers to what the future does look like, Kot covers an admirable breadth of possibilities in his examples.  Wilco was famously catapulted to "stardom" after Yankee Hotel Foxtrot leaked on the Internet.  Radiohead self-released album In Rainbows.  Death Cab was given huge exposure when they were featured on teen dramedy The O.C.  Arcade Fire and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah were jump-started by exposure through web 'zine Pitchfork.  These routes to success may not be open for every band, but they're interesting examples of how bands can reach a wide audience, often in a short period of time, independent of the model that has largely sustained the music business over the last half-century.

I'd recommend Ripped to anyone interested in the music industry and what the business of music looks like over the next couple decades.  There isn't anything earth-shattering for folks who have been following what's happened over the last decade, but Kot's writing is engaging and the anecdotes and quotes that fill the book are fun and interesting.  Kot continues to follow developments on his blog and on radio show / Podcast Sound Opinions.  You should check those out and if you enjoy them, Ripped is a great summary of how we got here and where we might be going.

Greg Kot official site

Classes at Passim School of Music

In conjunction with some of my musical goals, I've been taking classes at the Passim Cultural Center in Cambridge, MA.  These classes are great for improving one's playing.  At $132 for 6 weeks, they're quite a bit cheaper than private lessons, and I actually find the group atmosphere motivates me to practice more between lessons so I don't fall behind my classmates.  Especially interesting are the ensemble classes, which throws you in a room with strangers and lets you experience being in a band, picking, learning, arranging, and playing tunes.

If you're interested in learning music or improving your current skills, you should check it out.  Find out more information here.

Live Review - 8/8/2011 Packway Handle Band at Cantab

Wow, the Packway Handle Band was awesome.  I'm not sure I've seen a live band with that much energy.  Their stage act was polished but also felt spontaneous and fresh.  The group had clearly worked hard on it, working in a close space and moving to crowd around the stereo condenser mics.  The visual machinations complemented the sound; for instance, during the choruses of the caustic "I'm Glad You've Got My Priorities So Straight," fiddle Andrew Heaton and mandolinist Michael Paynter would stick out a limb as straight as the title suggests.

The group plays a lot of offbeat covers - The Pixies' "Where Is My Mind?" and Velvet Underground's "I'm Waiting For My Man" are two examples - and these were crowd pleasers, but the group's original tunes engaged the crowd as well.  Paynter eschewed his mando for a small drum kit on a couple occasions, and it fit the mood of those songs and added some variety.  Like Trampled By Turtles, the Packway Handle Band is pretty irreverent in their approach; the solos of Heaton, Paynter, banjo player Tom Baker and flatpicker Josh Erwin bordered on a punk aesthetic.  Another unique highlight was Paynter and bass player Zach McCoy beat-boxing at the beginning of a raucous version of the Violent Femmes' "American Music."  The Packway Handle Band does everything they can to make a live show a fun event, and it shows.

Opener Hickory Strings didn't have the same rapport with the audience despite incredible instrumental skill.  The trio of Geoff Brown (mandolin), Mark Whitaker (banjo), and Gian Pangaro (bass) played pretty instrumental tunes, often acoustic symphonies with multiple parts.  Brown and Whitaker are fine melodic players, and Pangaro showed great range, whether bowing in a cello-like feel, slapping a percussive backbeat, or keeping time in some sparse tunes.  But for all their skill, the group had a tough time engaging the crowd.  The Monday ambiance (bluegrass night is usually Tuesday) might have thrown things off; I'll have to check them out again on a more typical night.

Packway Handle Band official site
Hickory Strings official site

Dolly Parton - The Grass Is Blue

Ten facts you probably don't know about Dolly Parton (but would learn if your lazy ass would just read her Wikipedia page):

1. The fourth of twelve children, she helped raise some of her younger siblings as well as adopted the child of a deceased friend.
2. She has been married to the same man for 45 years.
3. She's done bluegrass covers of Collective Soul and Led Zeppelin songs.
4. She wrote "I Will Always Love You," featured in the Whitney Houston / Kevin Costner movie The Bodyguard.
5. The first cloned sheep was named after her.
6. She's nicknamed "The Iron Butterfly" for her steely business mind.
7. She's written 3,000 songs (not all recorded, obviously), starting at the age of 7.
8. She plays at least 10 different instruments, including the piano, guitar, fiddle, and banjo.
9. Dollywood, her theme park, attracts three million visitors to Parton's home town of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
10. She has 25 number one singles and 41 top-10 country albums.

Why do I do this?  Because maybe, like me, you used to see Dolly Parton as a bubble-headed  blonde with big boobs.  She has been known to play up this misconception when convenient, or maybe just because it's fun.  But you underestimate Dolly at your peril: as a singer, songwriter, musician, woman, and human being, she is a force to be reckoned with.

So it's not too much of a surprise that in 1999, when she wanted to make a bluegrass album, she assembled an impeccable lineup: dobro legend Jerry Douglas, mandolin master Sam Bush, Ricky Skaggs' banjo man Jimmy Mills, esteemed fiddler Stuart Duncan, amazing flatpicker Bryan Sutton, guest vocals from Alison Krauss, Claire Lynch, Rhonda Vincent, Patty Loveless ... it's an incredible group of talent.  The song choices are similarly super-powered; in addition to Parton's own compositions, there are tunes by Johnny Cash, Lester Flatt, Hazel Dickens, The Louvin Brothers, and (of all people) Billy Joel.

For all that talent, I put The Grass Is Blue in the "solid but not spectacular" category.  There aren't any real dud tracks here, but nothing standout either.  The musicianship on the album is predictably excellent, and Parton's powerful voice works well with the powerhouse band she's assembled, but there's nothing here I'm going to return to again and again.  It's just a tad over-produced, lacking some of the rough edges that appeal to me in roots music.

If you're a bluegrass fan, The Grass Is Blue is a solid album, full of top-notch performances.  If you're not a bluegrass fan, it might be a nice initiation into the genre; the boldness of the orchestration and the power of Parton's voice could appeal to those more familiar with rock music.  Whatever your bent, don't sell Dolly short - she's quite the lady.

Dolly Parton's official site

Revisiting the Ratings

Rating System

I haven't revisited the rating system since the beginning of this blog and I think it's time for me to do so.  The grade ratings have largely fallen in a narrow band, limiting their usefulness for readers.  In addition, my initial criteria - how replayable a tune is - has gradually gone out the window.  I'm not sure a one-dimensional grade or rating makes a lot of sense; some albums are awesome because they're super-fun (like Girl Talk's All Day), some albums are tough listens but very meaningful (like Elvis Perkins' Ash Wednesday).  Some great albums feature brilliant songwriting (like Josh Ritter's So Runs the World Away), and some are wonderful interpretations of old tunes and feature no new songs at all (like the recently-reviewed American Legacies).  How can I boil down all these factors into one grade, and what value does it have if I do?

So what am I going to do?  Not totally sure yet, but I'll feel it out as I go along.  The next couple reviews probably will have no ratings.

Kenny Baker Plays Bill Monroe

Rating: A-

Kenny Baker died a couple weeks ago.  His loss was fresh in the mind of those at Grey Fox Bluegrass festival, and one album that was mentioned repeatedly was Kenny Baker Plays Bill Monroe. I try not to read or comment on other reviews of albums, but the Allmusic description of the album started deliciously: "Is this the best bluegrass album ever made?" I will say this: it is the best instrumental bluegrass album ever made.


Much is made of Bill Monroe's presence on the album, and hey - he's a legend, and any time you can get Big Mon to play on an record, it's a win.  But let's face it - this is Kenny Baker's show.  What's amazing is how tasteful he is.  In a whole album of fiddling, there isn't a single self-indulgent note.  Even a blistered-fingers romp like "Monroe's Hornpipe" or "Wheel Hoss" feels like Baker playing the tune rather than showing off mile-a-minute virtuosity.  Gentler tunes, like "Lonesome Midnight Waltz," are almost elegant.  And "Jerusalem Ridge," which features both some mile-a-minute sections and some haunting minor key passages, has for good reason come to be associated with Baker even more than Monroe.


Baker is a masterful player of tunes, not an interpreter.  There are no seven-minute jams here that lose the melody only to find it again; the longest track is just over four minutes and most are in the two-and-a-half range.  It's professional; each song is fiddle - banjo or mandolin - fiddle again.  That could be read as a criticism, but it's refreshing here; the tunes feel almost perfect the way they are, and any frills would just unnecessary.  The final tune, "Ashland Breakdown," is a microcosm of the album; Baker takes a melodious break, full of long bow strokes and double-stops, then Monroe takes a typically excellent break, followed by a final Baker solo, which ends suddenly on a double stop, as the rhythm backing falls out.  It feels like it ends too soon.

Live Review - 7/23/2011 Della Mae at Passim

I dubbed Della Mae the break-out band of this year's Grey Fox, and they did not disappoint in their late pre-release show for their forthcoming album, I Built This Heart. Even the minor criticism I had of their Grey Fox set - that the guitar breaks of newcomer Courtney Hartman were too quiet and disrupted the group's dynamics - were addressed; her skillful solos sounded great and did not disrupt the group's dynamics.  The group was all loose and lively, it being their second set of the evening.  Most of the songs were originals by lead singer / rhythm guitarist Celia Woodsmith, but the group also played some covers - Bill Monroe's "Muleskinner Blues," Hank Williams' "Hey, Good-Lookin,'" and Flatt & Scruggs' "Big Spike Hammer," from which the group gets its name.  The originals stole the show, though, from the bouncy "Jamie Dear" to the dark "From the Bottle" to the delicate "I Built This Heart."  Woodsmith sings with a passion rare in bluegrass music, and the rest of the group - bassist Amanda Kowalski, fiddler Kimber Ludiker, and mandolinist Jenni Lyn Gardner - were matching her intensity with their playing.

Opening act Laurie Lewis and Tom Rozum did a short, tasteful set, with their spare two-person sound complementing The Carter Family's "Texas Girl" or original tune "The Oak and the Laurel."  For their last tune, traditional "Ain't Gonna Work Tomorrow," they showed their spry side, bringing Kowalski and Ludiker on to jam.  Later, they joined Della Mae for a few tunes, including a barn-raising version of "Bowling Green."

It was a memorable night; look for a forthcoming preview of Della Mae's new album!

Della Mae official site
Laurie Lewis official site

Still Lost Bird Music - Sargent Egyptian Girl

Rating: B+

Still Lost Bird Music is the solo pop vehicle for Simon Fink, a classically trained composer.  One would think the music would reflect that classical training, but Sargent Egyptian Girl, his debut album, is more steeped in American rock and pop than Italian arias and German symphonies: the opening finger-picked guitar riff evokes The Replacements' "Unsatisfied"; the guitar solo in "The Dream of Falling" suggests Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues"; the various "la"s and "bop"s pay homage to pop music from Phil Spector to the Counting Crows.  But the album that this ultimately makes me think of is Wilco's Summerteeth.  Summerteeth is almost a lost gem, a pop masterpiece nestled between the alt-country of Being There and A.M. and the experimental genius of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and subsequent albums.  Like Summerteeth, Sargent Egyptian Girl carries both of those influences - "Chocolate Heart" is permeated by fiddle riffs, while "French Lessons" is drenched in effects and synths.  And like Summerteeth, Sargent Egyptian Girl is peopled with perfectly-crafted tunes, with the lyrics, melody, production and deliverable working together.

"Take This Town" is my favorite track on the album, a gorgeous stark tune keyed by gentle acoustic guitar and lyrics that paint a portrait of loneliness and disenchantment.  Another strong track is bubblegum closer "Wet Paint," which features triple entendre lyrics.  "It's about painting a room."  "Wait, it's a metaphor!"  "Wait ... I think it's about painting a room after all."  It's clever and catchy.  The album shows diversity, stretching from the fuzzed out post-relationship recriminations of the title track to the quirky funk of "Coin Star" to the psychedelic melancholy of "Water Border."  It's a strong collection of tunes, and Fink is skilled at several instruments and capturing the essence of the songs in the studio.

Still Lost Bird Music's second album, August, is coming out in about a month.  If Sargent Egyptian Girl is any indication, it will be one to look forward to.

Still Lost Bird Music official site

Live Review - 7/14/2011 - 7/17/2011 Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival

This was my eighth Grey Fox and the festival just keeps getting better.  This year had an embarrassment of riches; it seemed like every time slot had competing acts of great interest.  The downside was that there weren't really any new discoveries this year; who has time for new bands when the bands you know are so awesome?
The death of fiddle great Kenny Baker was definitely on the minds of many of the artists and fans at the festival.  There was a formal tribute on Friday, but there were many artists who played a Baker tune as a tribute, including three versions of "Jerusalem Ridge."  Friday's fiddle workshop at one point turned into the panelists swapping Kenny Baker stories.

Some highlights through the weekend:

• It was a coming-out party for Boston-based Della Mae, fresh on the heels of recording their newest album I Built This Heart.  They were everywhere the first two days of the festival, with a workshop gig, a main stage appearance, and a set at the dance tent.  The dance tent set was a firestorm, showing the group's power and variety.  The only quibble was that the band had to quiet down to hear the virtuoso flatpicking of Courtney Hartman, disrupting some of the dynamics.
• Chris Thile and Michael Daves' collaboration Sleep With One Eye Open is one of my favorite albums of the year, and their set did not disappoint.  Thile gave a sneak preview with an amazing set at the workshop tent, showing his range (from Bill Monroe tunes to Bach) and his incomporable mandolin playing.  The set with Daves was the highlight of the main stage for me this year; Second Cousin Curly wrote a great review of their recent Boston show that does their live act more justice than I can.  Thile's improvisational skills are amazing; he hears things no one else does and makes even older tunes fresh again.
• I joked that Del McCoury should release a live album, "Del Forgets the Words To Your Favorite Tunes."  He struggled with at least three songs, but his attitude is so great he was forgiven right away.  His voice still sounds terrific and his band is amazing.
• I was hoping for mandolin masters redux (see my report from last year) with the banjo masters tent workshop, featuring Tony Trischka, J.D. Crowe, Bill Keith, and Mike Mumford.  The music was quite good, but there was a lot of talking, and they only did two jams with all four of them; most of the times they just took turns soloing.  My favorite was Mumford doing fiddle tunes on the banjo in a Kenny Baker tribute; I'm not familiar with his work but he is a master of the melodic style.
• The Infamous Stringdusters were typically excellent.  Not much to add to what I've written before, but one interesting note was dobro player Andy Hall mixing his instrument through a wah pedal.  The 'Dusters have always pushed the envelope and this seems like just another way they're doing so.

Della Mae official site
Chris Thile and Michael Daves official site
Del McCoury Band official site
Infamous Stringdusters official site

Country Music

Peter Cooper at The Tennessean wrote a funny column on how fake a lot of country music lyrics are.  I love music with some twang, but mainstream radio country spends a lot of time talking about how country it is.  In a lot of ways it's the opposite side of hip hop's coin (rappers rap about rapping a lot) - for some people, it's more about identification than the music itself.  You see that in the inverse, too - how many folks do you know who say they "like all music, except for country and rap?"

The Midway Point

I posted some New Year's Resolutions for 2011 at the beginning of the year, and as we're halfway through it's time to check in on them:

1) Playing music.  Mostly things have been going well.  White Mountain Murder Circus released its first album, which I wrote several songs for and played several instruments on (mostly fiddle).  I took three classes at Passim and have been progressing with my fiddle playing.  I'm still working on fundamental things like tone and the nuances of the fiddle; I still feel like a mandolin player trying to play fiddle.  I stopped working through Hot Licks; with Passim out of session for the summer I should pick it back up.

2) I'm killing this one.  My grand total for books read this year is 24, including The Complete Works of H.P. Lovecraft, Jim Tressel's The Winner's Manual, the twelve novels of Anthony Powell's A Dance To the Music Of Time, Red Harvest, Rework, Blood Meridian, True Grit, Popular Crime (by baseball writer Bill James), The Big Sleep, Shackleton's South, Naked Lunch, I Am Legend, Ubik.  That knocks six off my Time 100 list, bringing me to 35.  I think I can average a book a week for the year (meaning I need to read 28 more), including at least 10 Time 100 books (which will get me almost halfway to my goal).  Unexpected problem: my rapid reading rate is causing me to spend too much money on Kindle books!  I'm trying to temper this by reading some free ones, such as Edith Wharton's The Age Of Innocence.

3) I set a goal of 1.5 posts per week, which would be 39 posts so far this year.  This is my 36th post of 2011, so I'm a little behind, but I've averaged two / week over the past couple months, so there's plenty of time to get on schedule.

Live Review - 6/22/2011 Deadly Gentlemen at Passim

I spent a lot of time in my review of their latest album Carry Me To Home talking about the unique vocal style of the Deadly Gentlemen, and I can honestly now say after seeing them live: I didn't get it.  Their unconventional technique is a mix of rapping / talking and singing / harmony, but rather than borne out of an inability to sing (as I previously suggested), it's an exploration of the psychedelic properties of the vocal instrument.  Imagine the surrealistic poetry and relentless rhythm of Bob Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues" over dense melody and harmony as performed by some of the most talented musicians in the Boston acoustic scene, and you get some of the idea.

Which isn't to say it's all high-falutin', because Deadly Gentlemen are FUN.  The crowd was completely into it, especially after some of their punchier numbers like "Police."  When they announced "one more song," it seemed like they had just gotten up there; they were so entertaining, the time flew.

Most excitingly, frontman / banjo genius Dr. Greg Liszt suggested that the quintet might get a residency in Boston, playing weekly gigs at a club starting in the fall.  The Punch Brothers did this, and it helped to solidify their tightness as a group as well as allow them to experiment with anything from Bach to Radiohead.  Given that the Deadly Gentlemen features Liszt (most known from Crooked Still) as well as young turks Sam Grisman (also plays bass with his dad David Grisman's band), Dominick Leslie on the mandolin, fiddler Mike Barnett (who I saw with John McGann at Cantab), and charismatic guitarist Stash Wyslouch, they could be Boston's answer to The Infamous Stringdusters or the Punch Brothers - an uber-talented group that's constantly redefining acoustic music for the new millenium.

Check them out if they come to your town!

The Gibson Brothers - Help My Brother

Rating: B

The Gibson Brothers have been one of the most successful acts of recent years in bluegrass circles; their last five albums have all hit #1 on the Bluegrass Unlimited charts.  Somehow I've missed them through the years, both live and on recording, but with my newfound affection for their mandolin player, Joe Walsh, I thought I should check them out.  Their newest offering Help My Brother seemed like a good place to start.

They've got a great sound.  The album is all songs, no instrumentals, and it really showcases the brother harmonies.  They use harmony as a weapon in many different ways - it's a sledgehammer in "I'll Love Nobody But You" and "Singing As We Rise," bringing out the power and joy in those tunes, but it's a scalpel in "Want Vs. Need" and closer "Safe Passage," just adding a little emotional punch when the song needs it.  The brothers have different voices that complement each other; Leigh has the cleaner voice and Eric has a bluegrassier high twang.  The band is built around the vocals.  Leigh's banjo, Walsh's mandolin, and Clayton Campbell's fiddle fill in the holes, bassist Mike Barber adds percussive slaps on "Walking West To Memphis," but ultimately the players accentuate the tune.  The album is not about instrumental showmanship; it's about the songs. 

Well, how about the songs?  It's about half covers and half originals.  They do a good job mixing up the pace; opener "Help My Brother" and "I'll Love Nobody But You" are barn-burners, while "Talk To Me" and "Frozen In Time" are slower.  The songwriting is a bit of a mixed bag - the first few times I heard "Help My Brother" and "Dixie" I cringed at some of the lyrics ("I've been more selfish than I dog with a bone").  But after a few listens the melodies stuck in my head anyway, and the earnestness the Gibson Brothers show really sells their tunes.  "Want Vs. Need" is a great example; in lesser hands the simple moral might be considered melodramatic and saccharine, but the band really sells it with their earnestness.

The end of the album is really strong, with "One-Car Funeral" and "Safe Passage."  Both are originals; "One-Car Funeral" is a stomping lament of a wasted life that has a Carter Family honesty, while "Safe Passage" is a modal journey through the generations that is both epic and personal.  Leigh Gibson describes his family's journey from Scotland through generations of farmers to the present day, and he cleverly highlights what's the same and what's different between the generation.  It's simultaneously epic and subtle; it's really like almost nothing else.  I wish they had captured that brilliance more consistently on Help My Brother, but it's still a good album and a fun listen.

Gibson Brothers official site

Della Mae's new album

It's been getting quite a bit of pub already, but I'd like to chime in for all my (two?) readers: Boston-based bluegrass band Della Mae is coming out with a new album, and they're funding it themselves with the help of their fans, patrons, and the like.  They are offering some pretty sweet incentives: check it out.  I saw them a few months ago right about the time Celia Woodsmith was joining the band; her powerhouse vocals really complement the band's ferocious sound.  I'm really looking forward to I Built This Heart!

Della Mae Kickstarter page

Yeezy

I'm digging Grantland, the new sports / pop culture site from ESPN's Bill Simmons (aka The Sports Guy), and Molly Lambert's article on Kanye West can't pass without comment.  She nailed a lot of what I was trying to get it in my review of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy:

Kanye West is having an identity crisis. Kanye is always having a crisis, but I'm really excited about this particular one because he's on the edge of intense personal revelation. Rather than getting stuck in any one static Kanye persona, he's allowing the "Kanye West" persona to continually evolve. He wants to know what the hell is happening with him psychologically, and so do we!

Muleskinner - Live Original Television Soundtrack

I'm kind of a sucker for "lost bands," like The Flatlanders, and this is a doozy.  Legendary flatpicker Clarence White (of The Byrds fame), singer / songwriter Peter Rowan, mandolin virtuoso David Grisman, accomplished fiddler Richard Greene, and banjo man Bill Keith.  Even at the time, Muleskinner was something of a supergroup; White had been with the Byrds, Rowan, Greene, and Keith were former Bluegrass Boys, and Grisman had played with Red Allen, Del McCoury, and Jerry Garcia. 

The band is frankly inspiring.  White has a reputation as the godfather of acoustic flatpicking, and he shows it off on several of the tracks here, such as "I Am a Pilgrim."  Grisman is the most respected mandolinist alive, and while this is more conventional than some of his "Dawg music," he has no problem with "New Camptown Races" or "Opus in G Minor."  With so many talented pickers, Keith's banjo gets a bit of short shrift, but he still shows off some tasty melodic licks on tunes such as "The Dead March."  Rowan is really impressive here - he's maybe the greatest minor key singer in the bluegrass idiom, and he just nails it on folk tune "Red Rocking Chair" and his own epic, "Land Of the Navajo."  But Richard Greene is the revelation for me here.  Despite his extensive career I'd never heard of him before this project, and now that makes me feel like an idiot.  He's all over this album, and whether playing it straight in a old-time melody line in "The Eighth of January" or really creative, organic use of rhythms and slurs in "Blackberry Blossom" or some of both in blistering closer "Orange Blossom Special," he's incredible.

This album is more of a tease than anything else, showing what might have been if not for Clarence White's tragic death in a car accident.  The Live Original Television Soundtrack shows the skill of each of its members, but just scratches the surface of the inventiveness each would show through long careers.  Could they have been New Grass Revival, ten years earlier?  Could they have been Punch Brothers or The Infamous Stringdusters twenty-five years earlier?  Who knows.  Even if it doesn't show everything the group was capable of, this is still a fine album and a heck of a listen.