For the Toast-n-Jammer on the go, here are some quickie album reviews of recent releases in the “genre.” Of course, I dislike using the word “genre” to describe the Toast-n-Jam
oeuvre, since “jambands” are less a “genre” than a collection of genres with a similar mindset. Calling jambands a genre is like calling the Adult Contemporary radio format a genre.
Also, I must admit these are less “reviews” than a listening diary, more trying to describe the initial feeling-through-audio experience. At the outset, I will say they all possess a certain tasty goodness, otherwise I wouldn’t have felt the need to write about them.
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Chris Diestler
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TV on the RADIO “Nine Types of Light” (Apr 12, 2011 – Interscope Records)
Anyone who thinks this Brooklyn combo aren’t one of the most psychedelic around obviously hasn’t listened to them, or had a psychedelic experience, though this album (their 4th) plays more like a righteous come-down than some of the agitated or angry trips they’ve brought us in the past. The opener, “Second Song” is exhilarating and fresh, and makes me all smiles. It sets the tone for the nearly hypnotic-yet-electrifying series of songs which follow.
The band seems less obsessed with impressing its audience with art-funk-rock showmanship than with actually acquiring an audience, for a change.
Aside from the opener, which is already a shoo-in for my year-end best-of list, “Nine Types of Light” has several outstanding tracks I plan to enjoy repeatedly over the next few months, namely “You,” “No Future Shock,” “Killer Crane,” and “Will Do,” likely to be the best 4 songs-in-a-row on any album this year. “Killer Crane” pours actual atmosphere out of the speakers.
Although possibly by design, it’s a shame TV on the Radio seem less interested in writing hooks than just plain being groovy. It’s really difficult to recommend a band without a hook to most people simply because they’re groovy. Not that there aren’t melodies, they just aren’t what we’re used to thinking of as melodies. The opening riff to “You” is as catchy as any melody, but isn’t a vocal. The vocal backup on “Will Do” is catchy enough to be the chorus of most band’s songs, but gets buried in the background here.
Well, “New Cannonball Blues” makes it the best 5 songs in-a-row I’ll likely hear this year. This is a well planned set of songs that deserves to be called an “album,” unlike most albums these days.
And “Repetition” makes it the best 6 songs in-a-row. The last 4th album from a band I remember impressing me this much was “Ghost in the Machine” by the Police, 1981.
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P.S. [4/21/11] Sadly, TV on the Radio announced yesterday their bass player, Gerard Smith, had lost his battle with lung cancer and passed away. The band has cancelled several shows, including a date in Denver. Here's the link to their official website. R.I.P.# # #
HOT TUNA “Steady as She Goes” (Apr 5, 2011 – Red House Records)
Wow, this is not what I expected at all. Those who’ve followed Jorma and Jack through their transition from Jefferson Airplane (before it morphed into Jefferson Starship and later, sadly, just Starship) into the more front-porch friendly Hot Tuna may have expected this, but not me. This sounds more like a straight up Jorma Kaukonen record than a Hot Tuna record to me, but maybe the coke-addled A&R men of the 70s weren’t about to allow something this down-home onto a “rock” record.
It is slightly less concerned with acoustics and olde-timey song preservation than most Kaukonen albums, but it still has that feel. Even at Hot Tuna’s folkiest, I expect a certain extravagant density in the recording. These songs are almost Spartan in their lack of appointment. If the last 20 or 30 years of Tuna gigs have been classified as either an “Acoustic Hot Tuna” or “Electric Hot Tuna” show, this set is definitely the “Acoustic Hot Tuna” variety.
Not to say it doesn’t have its charm, I was just hoping for something (anything) along the lines of a swampy, electrified “Bowlegged Woman” or “Funky #7.” Sorry to say, not to be found here.
On the plus side, “Second Chances” is just plain gorgeous, old-fashioned songsmanship. “Children of Zion” and “Mama Let Me Lay It on You” are catchy updates of Reverend Gary Davis, an artist whose catalog Kaukonen seems intent on eventually remaking in its entirety.
“A Little Faster” and “If This Is Love” are likewise catchy, and do their best to push the collection in a more electric direction, but come off a little naïve and clunky.
The fantastic opener “Angel of Darkness” may prove to be the gem of the set, and “Mourning Interrupted” at least hints at being timeless.
All in all a very pleasant listen, if not a historical one.
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TONY FURTADO “Golden” (Dec 14, 2010 – Funzalo Records)
This guy is one of the best musicians and songwriters almost nobody’s heard of. Unfortunately for Tony Furtado, I’d have said the same thing when I first heard him nearly a decade ago. Maybe he’s content flying under the radar, being as kick-ass as he is, and doesn’t need the adoration of millions.
Even among his always-impressive albums of sounds, “Golden” is a standout. Songs like “Toe the Line” and “Can’t Lie Down” are instantly memorable, and the instrumental “Portlandia” does a nice job of showing off Furtado’s virtuosity without being too baroque.
“Angelina” has an unusual ranchero-country flavor and finds itself in a rare category indeed: the beautiful sad song.
“Devil’s Dust” has an impressive, thumping rock-n-roll swagger, even though it also comes off like a folk song, which may be one of Furtado’s biggest strengths: combining genres to make interesting sounds. If Tom Petty were singing it, I could believe it was one of his outtakes that, insanely, had never made it to an album.
One of the last tracks on the album, “River Song,” is as fine an entry into Furtado’s songbook as you’re likely to find, hitting on at least two of the things which drew me to him in the first place: extraordinary musicianship and an unashamed revival of folky, almost archetypal themes.
Earthy yes, but with ecstatic, soaring moments, “Golden” is a splendid trip that many might dismiss as merely ordinary.
And, if you’re reading this before April 27, 2011, and happen to be in New Mexico, you’re in luck – he’s playing the Cooperage in Albuquerque. Here’s the
link.
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