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| What's
on Disc by Thomas Schulte |
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| JUNE
2001 REVIEWS >>>>>>>>>> |
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Linda
& Del
Something Special
Biograph
http://www.biograph.com/linda&del.html
Linda & Del have an easy manner and natural delivery to their hot
jazz and back porch, old timey songs that fit nicely with ragtime
and jug bands. Their dozen original tunes bring traditions of the
previous century up to the current one. The simple instrumentation
is Del Goldfarb's acoustic guitar and Linda Michelet's percussion.
Both sing, usually in phrase-trading duets. Drums and a few other
suitable guest musicians on such things as washtub bass and washboard
show up across the album. Two of the tracks are live from radio
broadcasts. (3.5) |
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Lisa
Hunter
Alive
Spirulina Records
http://www.lisahunter.com
This Ann Arbor, Michigan folk and pop-folk singer-songwriter's Alive
is another vibrant, personal continuation of her discography. Picking
up a guitar as a Yosemite National Park ranger led to a 1996 debut.
Each release built on the next and this, her third, is the most
sophisticated and varied yet. The dynamics of such tracks as the
title cut and the reverberating, transforming chorus of "Dark Night"
begin to show the energy of her live shows showing through in the
studio. Snippets from her fans included on the disc make this a
personal communication to her loyal fans. Another, more imaginative
way of drawing in the listener is the introduction to the confessional,
redeeming "2 Truths & Uh Lie." It begins with the sounds of a keys
jingling and a car turning on. We are in the close, personal space
of the car's front seat with Hunter as, a cappella she tells the
story of discovering a lover's drug addiction to the backdrop of
passing traffic. (4) |
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 Low/Dirty
Three
Low + Dirty Three: In The Fishtank
Konkurrent
This is the seventh volume in the Konkurrent In The Fishtank series.
Konkurrent distribution invites bands touring through Holland to
record with complete artistic freedom for the series. As the series
takes shape each project begins to be an opportunity for the recording
artists to step aside from their defining styles and do something
singular. For this recording, Low and Dirty Three fused into one
project for something slightly spacey, slightly western - a starry
sky and a desert chill. There is a scintillating noir beauty to
this album where drummer/vocalist Mimi Parker's vocals, as on Neil
Young's "Down by the River," are soft moonlight accents on a midnight
lake. (4.5) |
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 Laura
Nyro
Angel in the Dark
http://www.rounder.com/
Laura Nyro pioneered the sound of the '90's singer-songwriters.
Angel in the Dark brings together her last recordings from the years
before her 1997 death. Seven original pieces combine with eight
of what Nyro called "heartbeat songs;" such torch song standards
as "Embraceable You." These well-known pieces are what she sang
in her youth with New York street corner harmony groups: pop and
soul music classics by Rodgers and Hart, Bacharach and David, the
Gershwins and more. Half the material is especially intimate, performed
with only her piano and harmony vocals. The remainder features many
of New York's best musicians of the time. (4) |
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 Blake
Babies
God Bless the Blake Babies
Rounder/Zoe
http://www.blakebabies.com
http://www.rounder.com/
Blake Babies are part of what defined the nascent beginning of college
rock and thus indie pop rock in general. They are a compass point
on the map of late '80's music. This is a new recording, marking
a decade since they parted ways in 1991; Juliana Hatfield going
onto a solo career and guitarist John Strohm and drummer Freda Love
continuing as Antenna. It is as if they picked up where they left
off and once again point the direction for intelligent, yet hip;
sophisticated yet cool power pop music based on the sounds around
them and behind them. Three tracks here features guest vocals from
Evan Dando (Lemonheads). (4.5) |
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 Rebecca
Moore
Home Wreckordings 1997-1999
Knitting Factory Records
On this Moore retrospective we hear her fascinating, intimate experiments
with strings and electronics backing her will-o-the-wisp voice,
a disembodied, floating expresser in rhythm section-less arrangements.
Recorded at home over a two-year period this album is the personal
level of material that can only arise from one's domicile and the
simplified beauty of creativity on fire in a barebones studio. Moore
plays all the instruments herself with a few guest musicians on
two tracks, one of them Earth, Wind & Fire's "Fantasy." The other
track she calls for help on is another rendition; a convincing,
nightmarish apotheosis of "Telegram Sam." Recalling Bjork's Homogenic,
Home Wreckordings is a subtle and adventurous work of rare beauty.
(4) |
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 Billie
Holiday
The Great Billie Holiday, Vol. 2
Qualiton/Goldies
Billie Holiday began her career at the age of 15 singing in nightclubs
where John Hammond and Benny Goodman discovered her. Such a long
career steeped in stage performance gave the adult Holiday a peerless
ease and naturalness in her delivery. This album, bereft of any
recording or personnel notes, presents a collection of her genuine
and inspired interpretations of torch songs and ballads. Among the
14 selections are "Miss Brown to You," "These Foolish Things Remind
me of You" and "Yankee Doodle Never Went to Town." (3) |
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Rhea's
Obsession
Initation: The Mudra Mixes
Metropolis
Canada's Rhea's Obsession is a fascinating collaboration between
Sue Hutton, an Indo-Celtic-Bulgarian ethnic vocalist and Jim Field,
largely a composer of experimental industrial music. Dead Can Dance
is probable the best reference point here. The mix of quasi-medieval
vocals, tribal percussion and world folk drones sets the duo apart.
Re:Initation: The Mudra Mixes is a reissue of their attention-getting
debut LP along with several bonus tracks revisiting material on
the album, The Mudra Mixes. (3) |
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Teresa
McCollough
New American Piano Music
Innova
California pianist Teresa McCollough send out nationwide a call
for new, classical piano pieces by American composers. Out of 300
scores, she chose seven for her recitals and national tours. This
album is those seven selections. The pieces are exciting, daring
adventures in contemporary music. The composers distilled hard jazz,
delicate sonatas and Copland-esque Americana into a new and stunning
voice for McCollough's playing. The contributing composers are David
Rakowski, Henry Martin, Charles Griffin, Tomas Svoboda, Alex Shapiro,
Steve Heitzeg and Elizabeth Pizer. (5) |
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_________________________________
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DID
YOU MISS ANY OF TOM SCHULTE'S REVIEWS?
BACK ISSUES:
1999
| JULY | AUGUST
| SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER
| NOVEMBER | DECEMBER
|
2000
| JANUARY | FEBRUARY
| MARCH | APRIL
|
MAY | JUNE
|
2000 |
JULY | AUGUST
| SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER
| NOVEMBER | DECEMBER
|
2001 | JANUARY | FEBRUARY
| MARCH | APRIL
| MAY |
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_________________________________
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Outsight
brings to light non-mainstream music, film, books, art, ideas and
opinions.
Published, somewhere, monthly since July 1991. Feel free to re-print
this article.
Ratings are (1) = :(, (5) = :)
"Don't be normal, be natural!"
Visit or Join Outsight's Web ring: http://d.webring.com/hub?ring=music1432
Outsight Radio Hours Webcasts
Sundays 6pm-8pm EST @
http://www.outsight.mu
NEW MAILING ADDRESS:
Tom 'Tearaway' Schulte,
5224 Shoreline Blvd.,
Waterford, MI 48329-1670
E-mail Outsight at: outsight@usa.net
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_________________________________
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Current
reading list:
"Mazes for the Mind" (Pickover)
"The Alphabet versus the Goddess," (Shlain)
"Angela's Ashes"
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