Tag: music reviews

The Blues Blows In From Jersey Shore

If you like blues and jazz played by excellent musicians and spiced up by straight-talking (sometimes raunchy) lyrics, you’ll enjoy The Danny Petroni Blue Project (featuring artist Frank Lacy) by The Blue Project (released 11th January, 2014) This is late night music – the kind that used to be heard in smoke-filled rooms.

Petroni plays guitar in the band and all tracks are written by him. All the musicians and singers involved on this debut album, which include Frank Lacy on lead vocals, trombone and flumpet, bring something to the party. With the likes of Louis Jordan and Joe Turner sitting on Petroni’s shoulders, he explores different shades of the blues tradition. The guitar plucks at your heartstrings; the horns make you shuffle your feet. By the way, ‘flumpet’ isn’t a typo! I looked it up and, apparently, it’s a hybrid instrument which merges the trumpet and the flugelhorn.

Traditional blues kicks off the album, with I Changed My Ways, a slow song with vocals from Frank Lacy and Jo Wymer plus fabulous blues guitar and swampy violin. As well as terrific vocals from Frank Lacy throughout, which reverberate from years of experience, he gives us fine musical moments such as the trombone solo on Mouse in the House. Danny Petroni’s guitar playing is also assured, no matter what style he’s playing in. Cracker Jack and Diminishing Returns are the two instrumentals present, the former with jazz horns and country/ rock-tinged guitar and the latter featuring a mellow Petroni on a Fender Strat.

God of War is a hard-hitting anti-war protest and the most rock influenced track on the album. Requiem for the Working Man, probably my favourite contribution, begins with a wonderfully mournful upright bass intro. This song is about those on minimal wage struggling to get by, with simple lyrics which eloquently describe their plight. As for the track, Peanut Butter & Jelly, I can’t help thinking that “peanut butter and jelly” may be a euphemism for something…..

Danny Petroni’s motivation for forming this band from fellow Jersey Shore musicians was in the wake of Hurricane Sandy in 2012 when the aftermath saw the local music scene all but stop. This record is their phoenix rising from the ashes, so to speak.

There’s purity in this music, which shows a modern audience that you don’t need studio tricks and endless layers of production; you just need a soul.


Streaming link: http://theblueproject.bandcamp.com/   

 

 

Monks of Mellonwah Are Becoming Addictive

Take a great big cooking pot; put in some experimental Incubus, a pinch of epic theatricality from Muse, and spice it up with Red Hot Chili Peppers. Leave to simmer under the baking Australian sun and what do you get? Monks of Mellonwah have this stew coursing through their veins but still manage to be original.

This alt-rock/indie band from Sydney (Vikram Kaushik – vocals, Joe de la Hoyde – backing vocals/guitar, John de la Hoyde – bass and Josh Baissari – drums) has been together since October, 2009, and they are as tight as the proverbial drum. They’re going from strength to strength having gained lots of airplay and have also developed a fan base from their national and international tours. Plans for 2014 tours in America and Europe will promote their latest offering, which is their debut full-length album, Turn the People. A&R Worldwide signed the band, and they can certainly hold their own with the likes of stable mates, Muse and Coldplay.

Turn the People has actually been part released, teasing and drip- feeding fans with tantalising selections. Volume 1, released in June, 2013, is titled Ghost Stories. This was followed up in October, 2013 with the second volume, titled Afraid to Die. Volume 3, with the title, Pulse is scheduled for release in March, 2014, along with the album in its entirety. Having already heard (and reviewed) Volume 2 – Afraid to Die – I’m familiar with the four songs on that EP that appear on the new release, namely title track Afraid to Die, Downfall, Alive For a Minute and I Belong to You. My earlier review of the first three tracks reflected my great enthusiasm for the music but inability to connect to the lyrics. However, the powerful ballad, I Belong to You blows me away, always threatening to make me cry.

As for the remaining tracks on this new album, the opener, Ghost Stories – Intro is 57 seconds of a strange, otherworldly instrumental. This is followed by Ghost Stories, an epic drama with inventive, unnerving and menacing lyrics. You can feel the kick of Kiedis and Co. on the aggressive rock of Vanity and the gentler Pulse, which also has some gorgeous harmonising.  Tear Your Hate Apart has exceptional vocals and dark lyrics.

A frenetic outpouring puts you within those “hallowed walls” in Escaping Alcatraz. Sailing Stones rocks along, with a surprising Arabian Nights-like instrumental break.  The track, Turn the People has great imagery and ends with soaring guitars.  Sky And The Dark Night – Part 2 – Control, as the title implies, is part two of an earlier release – more great imagery and guitar virtuosity.

Superb production, arrangements and musicianship are in evidence throughout. Lyrically, the simpler and more direct ones work better for me. When they rock, they rock hard; when they go the electronic route – it’s inventive, and vocalist, Vikram Kaushik has the emotional weight to take you with him to some sublime places. The cover art indicates this is going to be experimental and outside the norm, but what I like about this band is you never know what’s coming next.

Turn the People is an emotional rollercoaster – the kind of album where you’ll hear something new with each play. This band is really getting under my skin.

Soundcloud (https://soundcloud.com/monksofmellonwah/sets/turn-the-people) 

 

Lael Summer Uses Soul to Fight the Good Fight

Lael Summer’s debut album, titled Burden to Bear is to be released on 21st January, 2014 through True Groove Records. Apart from Lael’s cover of Hall & Oates’ Do What You Want, Be What You Are, all the tracks are written by Lael Summer and Tomas Doncker (album produced by Tomas Doncker and James Dellatacoma, with executive producer, Marla Mase).

Old school soul and funk meets modern-day themes and a contemporary sensibility in the lyrics, all wrapped up in a polished pop production. This New York City performer has had her battles and explores some of her demons in these songs. She has a soulful voice, which she uses well on both the up-tempo songs and the ballads.

Wringing every nuance from a melody, she has soul and r&b in her DNA.  The line-up of accomplished musicians on the album, which includes Tomas Doncker, complements the vocals so well.

I’m a sucker for that fat horn section sound, which used to regularly fill a dance floor, and opener, I Need a Man struts its stuff beautifully. Apparently, the man referred to here is coming online slots up short in the bedroom! Hard-hitting lyrics also appear on You’re So Small; again, she’s telling the guy just what she thinks of him! Lael shows her sensitive side on the emotionally moving Make You Whole. I’m also a sucker for fat, funky keyboards, which appear on It’s About Soul, a song about body image and how women try to live up to what they see in the magazines and “some ideal”. This is a feisty Lael Summer, again telling it how it is without compromise.

A slow and sensual Latin beat with sultry vocals on In Time puts the listener in a mellow mood once more, and there’s more sensual lyrics on Kiss and Tell, a piece of soulful pop. As for the cover here, Lael does justice to the Daryl Hall and John Oates song, Do What You Want, Be What You Are with a soulful rendition and the musicians in great form. What Do I Know (about love) is a pop / r&b track, once more with a great arrangement. Look Around Me has those funky horns again. The Good Fight has a plaintive piano intro leading to an uplifting, rousing finale with Lael in defiant mood. Other tracks are titled Too Much and Unconditionally.

Burden to Bear takes you through different moods and emotions and shows that soul and r&b can be about whatever a songwriter wants it to be about. There are songs here to dance to, to be romantic to and to set the world straight to – a musical and personal achievement.

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/laelsummer/sets/burden-to-bear

 

 

 

Amelia Scalies – Blossoming with a Message

 

If someone is 14 years old and promoting herself as a singer songwriter, she needs to have the maturity to back it up. Fortunately, Amelia Scalies does and her melodies and lyrics are impressive. It’s always hard to describe a younger creative person without sounding patronizing, which is something she doesn’t deserve.

Amelia, who hails from Philadelphia, released her debut album, titled I Should’ve Known on July 18th, 2013. It contains twelve tracks, eleven of which are her original compositions. The remaining track is her cover version of Welcome to the Black Parade by My Chemical Romance. This is pop music with a harder edge lyrically and ventures into musical influences that channel her individual style well. Her themes include the sting of love going wrong and the sometimes painful ebb and flow of friendships, so important during adolescence. However, it would be unfair to dismiss these lyrics as mere teenage angst; they’re more truthful than that. Given that her compositions carry a lot of emotional weight, it’s not surprising, then, that the one cover she has chosen is My Chemical Romance’s classic.

Oh, she does like writing songs when she’s pissed off! Opening track, Bottom of the Ocean is an angry slice of thrash pop verging on pop punk. Small Talk Friends, my favourite track, is in similar vein. In this song, she threatens to hit back at the bitchiness aimed at her in the school hall and hit back hard. I wouldn’t like to cross her when she’s roused! More Than Words is another thrash pop blast of anger and she’s not in a forgiving mood. The title track, I Should’ve Known, reminds me of Ladykillers, the Britpop hit from Lush.

There is country tinged pop here too, with sweet country guitar, a genre that really suits her voice and her song writing too, on tracks, Phoenix, Rose Blossom, Macey Brown (Green-Eyed Girl) and What I Should’ve Said. Rose Blossom shows that she is capable of writing about the joy of falling in love and not just about being hurt and angry. What I Should’ve Said contains heart-breaking lyrics about a loved one slipping away and regret over not telling her she was loved.

Don’t Let Them Win addresses the topic of bullying, urging victims to stay strong and not to let themselves be overwhelmed. Amelia wrote this when just 10 years old.

Amelia’s voice isn’t outstanding in any way, but she uses it well and it will mature, no doubt, as she grows older and as she continues to perform live. Perhaps more importantly, she is a good role model for young girls going through problems, sending out a message that in preserving strength and dignity, you can win in the end.

https://soundcloud.com/tony-scalies/sets/i-shouldve-known

 

 

 

 

 

The Lockhearts Unlock the Power

 

http://greatvines.com/webmd-pfizer-erectile-disfunction

How to make the ‘performing to camera’ video more interesting? Day-glo colours! Mashing up  60’s psychedelic  colours  with 80’s style rock,  The Lockhearts present their Freakshow track (released 25th October 2013)  in an entertaining debut video with lots of tricksy fluorescent lighting effects popping out of the darkness. Bikini-clad babes also make an appearance, but it’s done quite tastefully for once. Feature film director, Tanzeal Rahim has brought fresh thinking  to the classic performing band, promotional video. With a catchy chorus, stonking good guitar solo and lots of energy driving the whole thing along, Freakshow is a radio-friendly and car stereo-friendly song, which can only be helped casino online by more people being aware of it through this  video. This kind of sing-along rock will never go away.

Hailing from Sydney, the quartet has been likened to Cheap Trick and the Foo Fighters. They are Tim Meaco on lead vocals and guitar, Jameel Majam on bass guitar, Age Vella on lead guitar and Brenton James on drums. They’re a hit on MTV, with Freakshow having peaked at Number 2 on the MTV Hits Chart.

The future looks busy for The Lockhearts, with plans for more recording and for extensive tours. Long hair. Tight trousers. Powerhouse rock. Arenas get ready. They may just blow your roofs off.

View Video at http://goo.gl/flNJdJ

 

 

 

The Plum Magnetic Cooks up a Musical Gumbo

 

What do you get when you put an electric 6-string banjo, a tabla, guitar, bass and drums together? The Plum Magnetic! And don’t you just love that name? Terms such as ‘world music’ and ‘fusion’ are bandied around a lot, but this group of musicians has embraced these musical areas with a passion on their album, Terra Animata (released 23rd February 2013).

They are a quartet from New Orleans and with a cooking pot full of different ingredients, just like New Orleans itself, this musical stew bubbles away, spitting out jazz, reggae, classical Indian music, country, Latin and more; each time you listen to a track, you get a different flavour. Only the most accomplished musicians could carry this off. In the hands of the less able, it could have been a mish-mash. Other instruments used include saxophone, trumpet, steel pan and cello.

The cover art for the album is infused with the spirit of William Blake and promises something epic and dramatic, but what we get is something far more gentle and subtle.

Comparisons to Bela Fleck, Talking Heads, The Grateful Dead and the Mahavishnu Orchestra will only take you a little way in knowing what to expect from these eight tracks. This music doesn’t hit you over the head; it kinda seeps into your brain like a raga, and the high level of musicianship keeps your interest. Four of the eight tracks are over nine minutes long, but they aren’t self-indulgent; it just takes that long for the complexities to develop. Every note on this album was probably carefully rehearsed, but sometimes it sounds like an impromptu jam.

Spring is the opening track, softly lapping the airwaves with echoing a-cappella, harmonic vocals. At just 25 seconds long, it’s a gentle introduction and unlike anything else heard on the album. Apart from Spring, I prefer the tracks without vocals, which I don’t think are of the same quality as the instrumentation and for the layers of sounds to carry me along undisturbed. Standout tracks for me are The Electric Jungle, with melodic banjo and cello (it’s not often you see those two instruments in the same sentence), Shesh Besh, one of the more straightforward rock tracks, led by melodic guitar and The Delicious, a gentle jazz, country and rock track  with banjo and guitar weaving in and out. As for the closing title track, Terra Animata, it’s the most complicated, with some pleasing Latin rhythms and Tijuana horns, but overall, I think the vocals definitely detract from it.

Terra Animata is an ambitious project, and it’s good for fresh things to drip into your ears. Certainly, jazz on the banjo is a new and welcome sensation for me! The juxtaposition of different instruments is intriguing, and it’s interesting to try to deconstruct it. But for all the complexity going on, my favourite tracks are the ones where less is more.

 

https://theplummagnetic.bandcamp.com/album/terra-animata