A Generous Gift
It was a very generous gift; a friend of David’s sent us a care package of new tunes. I couldn’t believe the generosity. And the added pleasure was that the music was to take us to a new sound. I don’t know if I like all of the music yet. 8 CDs of music certainly take sometime to get used to, fed them into the iTunes library, set them up on one play list and set them on play, the first couple of days, just a random list, getting used to the voices, the bands. I don’t know how many times in the past that a bands CD has rubbed me wrong on the first play though only to become my all time favorite later. The White Stripes were one, Smashing Pumpkins another, and then there are those sets of music that rip into your soul from the very start, Charles Mingus’ Mingus Ah Um. I don’t know how many times I have played that CD, if it was a vinyl and I did hear it once on vinyl, the needle would have worn through the platter, ripped to shreds, Rufus Wainwright’s Rufus Wainwright and Poses are heavy heavy rotation on my library – I have painted so many paintings to that sound of his voice, it’s very difficult at times thinking of painting without itâ€_and the real one that beats into my brain over and over is Joseph Arthur, can’t wait to see him in concert, when will he tour? Exhausted is one incredible piece of soul sound. Anyway back to the gift of sound. Sounds of male voices started bobbing up out of the sound-scape of voices I wanted to know and get to know better. Kris Kristofferson’s This Old Road caught my ear first, here was the raw voice grasping onto the spirit of ageing, a likely candidate for the pete seeger Parthenon, his observations of his world are stripped of all pretension, here is a father happy with his family, and a song of thanks that renders you speechless, Final Attraction is a sweet benediction to the heroes of the music that has made his world, made my world a better place to be. This is an incredible piece of music, standing up with Cash’s American Series. Chuck Prophet’s Age of Miracles. What is it about this guy’s voice, shades of Dr. John, but there is a rock sensibility, a twist that makes for want of exploration. Monkey in the Middle, You Did (Bomp, Shooby Dooby BomP), Automatic Blues – the lead off song on the CD and the title song, Age of Miracles are strong contenders for a good soulful rock play list. The voice crept up on me, and the sound I’m not sure what it is, do I dare compare it to Cat Stevens, cranky, thoughtful, Virginia, and What Do You Mean? Rambunctious Cloud and Little Caesar have been listened to more than a few times separate from the rest of this gift set, Vic Chestnut’s Ghetto Bells, including Van Dyke Parks guest appearances is a CD that is not at first easy to listen to, not that it isn’t pleasant, but you have to listen, have to think, hear the voices, the words, the tunes and let them sink in. I really like the Tim Easton Break Your Mother’s Heart CD, Poor Poor LA, Lexington Jail, Hummingbird, Amor Azul and John Gilmore are great pieces of song and story writing, John Gilmore every time I hear it makes me prick up my ears and listen, the words catch you before you slip away to listen to the melody, Ammunition his newest CD release – out in May will be a great addition to his output. I got to say though that I am really blown away by the next musician’s CD, Nic Armstrong & the Thieves. The Greatest White Liar, Wow! I love every bit of this CD, Can’t wait to see him and the group in concert. I Can’t Stand It, Broken Mouth Blues both really strong start off songs, we have a beat, a brash voice, hopping lyrics, a brit beat, a bluesy hook, reminding me of King Bee on the England’s Newest Hit Makers The Rolling Stones Vinyl, with a bit of that swagger ala Jack White and harmonica that just twitters down to your soul, “how can you be so cruel to someone who wants to kiss you sooâ€_.â€_, if the image of Jack White dancing on stage to his own music wasn’t’ so strong in my head I wouldn’t make the comparison but I like this sound, In Your Arms on My Mind, god this is a great heart song, sharp edged vocals, you can hear him sitting in an almost empty bar singing this song to his one, I really almost have to stop driving while listening to this Kinks felt sound to feel the emotions, and Down Home Girl – crank this one up, for those that remember there is a Van Morrison, Donavan sound going on here, I hear in the back beat and in the instrumental Sunshine Superman just working it’s way through the sound, his voice is a gritty, swaggering jumble down that early 70’s, 60’s swagger, I am reminded of the base guitarist playing with John Cale recently at the Royce Hall – bobbing and lanky dancing almost while he played, stagger and stance making the sound more incredible, On A Promise, well if there is a dial on this radio channel it is switching to that clap happy early sixties, hoot sound, then mixing into I’ll Come To You, this song gets me down and sweet in love, bringing up it’s rear is Back In That Room, rock on, Too Long For Her slows us down but you got to listen, She Changes Like The Weather, you can see this gal, he’s captured the spirit of affection for a happy love, Natural Flair, blues rock at it’s finest, Scratch the Surface while tracking through this CD I am reminded of how I have felt over the years about the Led Zeppelin list of songs, every once in a while they would shift gears and throw a great little toe tapping song like Bon Yor Stomp into the Mix, You Made it True, The Finishing Touch, Mrs. The Moralizer and I want to be your Driver give this CD a full range of music that will have to putting it on your CD heavy rotation list.
