Elliot Schneider - Don't Put All Your Eggs in One Basketcase (2017)

OFFICIAL: http://elliotschneidermusic.com/

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/elliot.schneider.1

Written by Mike Yoder, posted by blog admin

Elliot Schneider took the scenic route to making memorable music nearly two decades into the 21^st century, but you finish Don’t Put All Your Eggs In One Basketcase believing he wouldn’t have had it any other way. The release is accompanied by some supplementary material intended, one would guess, to place Schneider’s life experience and musical education in the proper perspective and they are worthwhile listens, but the real meat on this release is the eleven songs constituting his latest studio album. These are tracks filled with sustained flashes of poetry, a firm command over a variety of rock and roll styles, and an assured vocal presence that deepens the emotional and occasional comedic aspects of the album. This is Schneider’s fourth solo album and finds his own dramatic and wildly improbable personal story evolving with all the unpredictable twists we discover in his music and, particularly, wordplay.

He announces the album’s excellence with tangible fanfare on the opening song “The Moon Has Flown Away”. There’s a quasi post-apocalyptic air to the song that he, thankfully, never overemphasizes and the pleasing musical accompaniment and likable vocals temper the lyrical darkness just enough without ever neutering it. “Diehard Killjoy” and “Lost on the Radio” take on a traditional rock and roll pose to two distinctly different ends – the former exhibits some of Schneider’s capacity for slightly cynical sense of humor while the other engages him in a bit of nostalgic reflection without ever risking sentimentality. His vocal on “Diehard Killjoy” manages to invoke both the light comedic elements and the speaker’s obvious disdain for the subject. “Are We Only Dinosaurs?” serves up some more of his quirky, distinctive sense of humor, this time shorn of the aforementioned song’s cynical bite. It has a nice uptempo thrust that never gets carried away with itself and some especially tasteful guitar work.

The big, ringing guitar chords and warm multi-part harmonies of “In a Sense Innocence” gives a pleasing veneer to another deceptively simple musical arrangement and lyric. The effortlessness behind an effort like this is totally beguiling – the track sounds like it sprang full borne from Schneider’s imagination, but we can only imagine that this is one of the more satisfying “tricks” on an album that makes everything sound off the cuff and utterly natural. He reverts to a classic rock stance once again for the track “Overruling Neo-Fascists”, but it’s spiked with an unexpected amount of fist waving attitude that Schneider hits just the right note with. Multi-part vocal harmonies play a key role once again on the song “First Day of Summer” and the folksy qualities of the performance and musical arrangement slot quite nicely near the album’s end. Another of the indisputable jewels on Don’t Put All Your Eggs in One Basketcase comes with the finale “I Just Don’t Really Know If You Exist”, an improbably titled stab, once again, in a folksy direction, but the lyrical content is obviously a little more unsettled. Schneider contrasts the slightly askew lyrical perspective with a straight forward and rather beautiful vocal performance. It is a shame we are not discussing this album in a scenario where Schneider has enjoyed a long and visible career in the music business and celebrating his fifteenth album release or more, but sometimes great talents are heard when it’s time to hear them. Elliot Schneider’s path, thankfully, led him back to recording music again and we are better for it.

Gregg Stewart - Twenty Sixteen (2017)

OFFICIAL: http://greggstewartmusic.com/

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/gstewartmusic

INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/thatgreggstewart

Written by Daniel Boyer, posted by blog admin

Gregg Stewart’s Twenty Sixteen might strike some listeners as a tribute album, but that isn’t Stewart’s avowed purpose. The unifying concept of the fourteen song album is that the performers who wrote or made these songs famous all died in 2016, a momentous year in terms of how many iconic musical figures passed away from the scene. Stewart selected songs from these artist’s catalogs and, refreshingly, doesn’t play to the obvious in regards to his choices. Some songs are rather famous, while others show Stewart’s familiarity with the artist by picking deep cuts instead. He thankfully isn’t content with duplicating the originals. Many of the covers on Twenty Sixteen are near total re-inventions with Stewart retaining the lyrics and changes, but little else. These are bold moves when they come. In the end, Twenty Sixteen is about something much more subtle than paying homage. This is a chronicle of influence and says just as much about Gregg Stewart as a feeling human being responsive to art as it does about the songwriters included on this release.

He couldn’t have picked a better song to open things with than “You Spin Me Round” from mid eighties English pop sensation Dead or Alive. The acoustic setting of the track dictates that Stewart can’t adopt the same stridency that propelled Pete Burns’ original vocal, but he’s wise to not ape Burns in any meaningful way. Stewart, instead, carves out his own individual niche for a vocal in this song and largely adheres to the basic structure of the original whilst coming off in a radically different way. He throws himself into the singing on George Michael’s “A Different Corner” with a total lack of inhibition and it helps him realize some of the blue-eyed soul emotiveness of Michael’s initial vocal. Once again, Stewart pursues an acoustic track with this song and, thus, it provides a very different listening experience from the original. It is clearly a cover, nonetheless, but Stewart wields his unique skill for transforming these songs just enough that they conclude with him owning some small but significant piece of their history. It seems improbable, but he succeeds doing that with Prince’s “Raspberry Beret” as well. The iconic singer/guitarist/songwriter scored many hits over his long career and “Raspberry Beret” likely ranks high among them, but it doesn’t intimidate Stewart at all. He manipulates and guides the familiar melody with skill and avoids attempting to mimic the trappings of Prince’s original in favor of something looser, uncluttered, and intimate.

Leon Russell’s “One More Love Song” gets a loving, knowing vocal treatment from Stewart and his take on the late Merle Haggard song “If I Could Only Fly”, written by Blaze Foley, should prompt Haggard fans to re-evaluate the unjustly ignored excellence defining the last half of his career. Stewart does an excellent job invoking Haggard’s original weathered soul while still imbuing his voice with an added wistfulness that’s all his own. "Sing a Song" is written by Maurice White from seminal act Earth, Wind, and Fire, but Stewart shows no misgivings attempting to interpret something from a style far removed from his own and infuses it with real energy. He covers Glen Frey’s “I Found Somebody” to gently rollicking effect and throws a vocal out that’s brimming over with grins and fueled by genuine zest. One of the best performances on the album comes with its penultimate track “Leaving the Table” as Stewart takes on a cut from Cohen’s recent and final album. It’s a relatively audacious move, but he’s chosen wisely as Stewart clearly puts everything of himself into delivering these oddly general but specific lyrics practically bursting with all manner of suggestiveness. There’s really nothing to not love about this jewel of a release. Gregg Stewart’s Twenty Sixteen is clearly motivated by something more important and personal than mere tribute and holds up under repeated listens.

Sarah Donner - Black Hole Heart (2016)

Written by William Cline, posted by blog admin

Website: https://www.sarahdonner.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarahdonner/?hc_ref=SEARCH&fref=nf
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sarahdonner?lang=en

MUSIC VIDEO: (PHOENIX)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j13Jwyb-AnA

New Jersey headquartered singer/songwriter Sarah Donner has earned a certain amount of cachet in indie circles thanks to the success of her track “The Motherf**cking Pterodactyl Song”, but her talents extend much further than entertaining audiences with her wit and idiosyncratic sense of humor. The release Black Hole Heart amply illustrates this point. The album’s twelve songs bristle with effortless musicality thanks to her melodic gifts and fluid guitar playing, but their quality is largely driven by the light touch of her emotive vocals and exceptional songwriting skills. There’s a variety of emotions driving the tracks on this release, but those emotions are all united by a guiding intelligence and fully developed artistic sensibility that’s rare in both the mainstream and indie scene alike. There are few performers today who wield such a compelling balance of probing intimacy and full on musical ingenuity.

“Phoenix” explores a relatively common but durable metaphor in the arts and with loose, easy going confidence embodied by the acoustic guitar work and Donner’s vocal. She conveys the message behind the song with clear as a bell singing, but her emotive qualities help her stand out much more. Coupling her emotive range with evocative lyrics lightly touching on the myth underpinning the concept while artfully connecting them to her every day reality is the cherry on top of this delicious confection.  The title song has a sense of the grand surround it that’s inescapable – it’s due to two different factors contributing to this. The first is the lightly orchestration defining the track’s construction and the second is Donner’s masterfully handled vocal. Her voice is simply towering at key points during this track. Her storytelling powers emerge in full on the track “Tamsen Donner 1847” and the understated despair behind the narrative is nicely tempered by the sensitivity and devotion of Donner’s narrator. The musical accompaniment is understated as well but it has a crystalline beauty that’s quite appropriate for the track.

She brings organ and trumpet into play on “The Flood”, but they never assume any sort of dominant role and Donner does a superb job incorporating the instruments into her customary approach. Donner continues indulging her penchant for myth and metaphor with the track “Albatross” and it’s one of the album’s most successful straight ahead folk songs. There’s some double-tracking of Donner’s vocal during this performance that creates some interesting effects, especially because of her highly stylized take on this song. “Big Big Heart” is a piano driven ballad and speaks with an unflinchingly vulnerable voice. The lyrics are the sort that says more than their mere words convey and work splendidly within this arrangement. Even the most cynical music fan will find it difficult to not admire the sentiment and style informing this gem. One of the more special tracks distinguishing Black Hole Heart is “All The Things”. The terse acoustic guitar, fluid percussion, and duet vocal from Donner and guest Michael McLean are about as perfectly realized as such a piece could ever hope to be.  It’s moments like this performance and many others that make Sarah Donner’s Black Hole Heart such an enjoyable and rewarding musical experience.

Grace Freeman - Shadow (2017)

OFFICIAL: http://www.gracefreeman.net/

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/gracefreemanmusic/

Written by Mike Yoder, posted by blog admin

Grace Freeman’s solo debut Shadow sets the bar high for this impressive songwriter’s future releases. The eleven song collection of originals positions the nineteen year old prodigy as one of the most promising songwriting talents to emerge on the scene in recent years and it is frankly only a matter of time until she garners widespread exposure. This isn’t your typical quivering and sensitive release from a songwriter with delusions of the poetic. Freeman is a fine writer, a fact evident from the first track alone, and has a sure hand for seamlessly molding her lyrical explorations into the larger framework of her songwriting. Her vocal talents aren’t confined to the ethereal; there are more than a few instances where she’s able to bring impressive gravitas to performances despite her higher register vocal gifts. Shadow is a worthwhile purchase for anyone interested in top flight adult songwriting and thoughtful musical composition.

“Oliver” is a character study of sorts that ends up, by its conclusion, saying just as much about the songwriter as it does any outside subject. The lyrical eloquence of the acoustic guitar playing is excellent accompaniment for Freeman’s lyrics and vocals but, moreover, it doesn’t belabor any musical points and resolutely avoids even a hint of self indulgence. “Shadow” takes a decidedly different tack. Rather than focusing on acoustic guitar, the title song makes use of tasteful rhythm section work and evocative piano playing that unwinds with considerable melodic grace. The most commercially minded cut on Shadow, “Trying to Say Goodbye”, exerts a widespread appeal not because Freeman dumbs down her presentation in an effort to earn increased attention but because Freeman explores another side of her talent and produces something intensely catchy and melodic. “Another Long Night” is solidly in the singer/songwriter tradition and a very melancholy tune that finds Freeman in a reflective, slightly downcast state.

“Dreams” has a nice, striding quality despite being built around the acoustic guitar. The slightly exotic flair of the melody differs from a lot of the other tracks on Shadow but never sounds out of place despite its upbeat slant. It’s a different story on “Muddy Puddles”, however, as Freeman returns to her customary formula with the extra bonus of some exceptional writing that stands out even amongst the other artfully turned compositions on Shadow. She hits another peak with the cawing, surprisingly wide emotional range of “God Forbid”, a track that moves from palpable hurt, sarcasm, and biting criticism that never goes too far in any particular direction. The musical arrangement gives the lyric a more pronounced dramatic edge. Shadow closes with the enigmatic poetics of “Gemini”, but Freeman doesn’t revel in obscurity and a keen ear and mind will form their own interpretations of this track. It ends Shadow on an appropriately thoughtful note and clearly points the way to Freeman’s bright future.

KALO - Wild Change (2017)

OFFICIAL: http://www.kaloband.com/

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/kaloblues

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/kaloblues

                     

Written by Mike Yoder, posted by blog admin

Bat-Or Kalo has attracted a lot of much deserved attention for her scintillating guitar work and dramatic, heavily emotive vocals, but her three piece KALO is a band that brings the goods across the board. The interplay between Kalo’s six string, vocals, and the rhythm section of bassist Mack McKinney and drummer Mike Alexander pops the band’s latest release Wild Change from the beginning and retains its capacity to entertain over different styles. This band has garnered plum concert and festival spots and numerous laurels since their formation and this release, their fourth overall, seems to be geared in such a way that it will expand their growing profile on the scene. It is unlikely KALO wants to be confined to the roots music genre and everything about this offering suggests that they shouldn’t be. They may be influenced by traditional blues, funk, and R&B, but they present a thoroughly modern product for listeners.

The blues dominates much of the album. It’s gritty, amps dialed to ten, electrified blues with immediate presence and Kalo’s vocals are forceful each time out. “One Mississippi”, “Isabel”, “Fix”, the title song, and the second to last cut “Bad Girl” embody the various approaches that KALO uses to tackle this venerable form. “Isabel”, the title cut, and “Bad Girl” rely on a brawling, intense instrumental attack that overwhelms listeners every bit as much as they bewitch them with skill. “One Mississippi”, the album’s opener, and “Fix” are a little more sedate in comparison and focus on a more commercial side of their approach without ever lapsing into cheap vulgarity. The band goes in for some stabs at R&B and even funk on songs like “Upside Down” and “Pay to Play”. The first one incorporates brass into the musical arrangement with great success – Kalo seems to delight in playing her voice off against these added instruments. The second track, “Pay to Play”, is a delicious groove-oriented attempt to craft a hard funk tune and succeeds quite nicely. Kalo’s guitar isn’t far from the spotlight on either song, particularly the second, and it concludes “Pay to Play” on an impactful note.

The band has other surprises in store for listeners. They come late on Wild Change, but the acoustic “Smile and Blush” and the album’s final curtain “Calling All Dreamers” help bring the album to a wafting, gentle conclusion even with the blasting “Bad Girl” sandwiched in between both songs. “Smile and Blush” is a little more musically involved than the last song, but the spartan beauty of “Calling All Dreamers” is quite appropriate given the subject matter. It also shows off another way that the trio approaches vocals – the vocal arrangements on each tune help highlight the band’s possibly underrated lyrical content and the sheer solidity behind their songwriting. Wild Change provides ample evidence that this three piece is growing in talent and power with each new release. KALO packs quite a wallop, as it is, and they play like musicians who refuse to be denied.