Album Review: The Ghost of Paul Revere - Good at Losing Everything

 

www.ghostofpaulrevere.com

The first curiosity with this album was checking who is Paul Revere and seeking the relevance. Apart from being a key historical figure of a nation's fledgling days and a fellow native of the New England states, enlightenment is none the wiser other than it is a catchy name for a core rock trio hailing from the great state of Maine. Curiosity aside, The Ghost of Paul Revere have put their name to a rather fine album that elevates from dependable to impressive once garnering a few spins. GOOD AT LOSING EVERYTHING weighs in at twelve tracks, slimmed down in reality to ten when stripping out a short instrumental and an even shorter 43 second fading out finale. 

While these two tracks are not quite representative of the album they do reflect the diverse nature that enables a record to rattle through its 39 minute duration without finding a seamless groove to define a sound. Instead we get a mixed set of Americana staples ranging from some rousing rockers to ones of a more rootsy disposition. 'Diving Bell' and 'Travel On' house this diversity in the midriff of the album, but it is the more prominent tracks in the opening throes that seal the positive appeal. 'Love at Your Convenience' blossoms as the key single, while the title track gets things off to the perfect start with a huge slice of high quality fare. 

GOOD AT LOSING EVERYTHING simmers to a fruitful conclusion to demonstrate that The Ghost of Paul Revere are a lot more than just a curious name. 

Album Review: Thee Holy Brothers - My Name is Sparkle

 

www.theeholybrothers.com

The year's end may soon be approaching, but there is still time for an album to spring a surprise. While MY NAME IS SPARKLE is unlikely to rattle the cage of the year's big hitters, it is capable of rousing interest and far from falls by the wayside. You could go as far and say that the album is a compelling piece of innovative art as the project appears to start life as a secular-spiritual play before rolling out as a set of easy listening folk-pop tunes that are kind to the ear. Thee Holy Brothers (the collaboration of longstanding LA based folk-rock practitioners Willie Aron and Marvin Etzioni) are the architects behind this fascinating project that is heavy on the narrative and more than a little inquisitive in how it transmits from record to listener.

There are almost two different stratospheres that this album resides in. One where you pay no real attention to the backstory and take the tracks at face value of being exceedingly catchy tunes. The stand out song from this perspective is the focal number 'Let the Great World Spin' that appears twice on the twelve track collection - with and without horns. The other track to flex interest in the ears is 'The End of Suffering', a song bringing up the rear of a segment when the album burrows deep into your psyche. The other faze of this record is to take a gander through the backstory of who is sparkle, what does it represent and what is the relevance of finding Elvis in Jerusalem. 

Take your pick of approach and MY NAME IS SPARKLE will prod your curiosity by royally entertaining with its clarity and ability to spin a complex thread in an engaging musical style. 

Album Review: Granger Smith - Country Things

 

The latest album from Granger Smith powers towards its destination like a blinkered thoroughbred waiving away any distractions that may knock it off course. The intended audience are a ripe target eager for the content and willing to lap up the sensibility of this deep rooted Texas country artist. Armed with the intent and tools perfectly equipped for the job, you get all the bases covered with plenty of little extras thrown in. Granger Smith doesn't hanker for navel gazing acclaim and advises that his music is absorbed with a huge smile. This is an artist who fully understands the industry memo alongside a road map to a hungry base. 

COUNTRY THINGS is perpetually idealistic in focussing on an embedded outlook alongside cultivating an image of life through the lens of a limited periphery. Granger Smith uses every ounce of his pride, wit and musical nous to inject a streak of optimistic fun into a record that skates across a rink of cliches while never losing sight of that lucrative winning post. This is country music of a specific persuasion; one popular with a massive sea of adulation and adoration. 

Taking a deep dive into the eighteen tracks of a release that has had a staggered unveiling to the wider world has been both affirming and laced with a touch of satiated indulgence. Rules may be adhered to, but you never lose sight of understanding what it is all about. Granger Smith makes music with a smile on his face and is the architect of a product honest to its core. No pretence is offered and thus not a minute of time is wasted upon those deciding to hook up with the music of a country artist on top of his game. 

Album Review: Martin Simpson - Home Recordings

www.martinsimpson.com

A studious looking folk singer, acoustic unplugged guitar, the family cat and a simple title of HOME RECORDINGS; a quartet of defining features that perfectly sums up the latest offering from legendary English folk artist Martin Simpson. Not one ever short on ideas and inspiration, Simpson has shrugged off the impeding traits of 2020 and set out on a mission of which he has excelled at for many years. Expect the stripped back sound of a frugal recording environment expanded by some virtuoso blues-style finger picking, and a raft of tunes both familiar and revisited showing Simpson's ability to speculate and interpret. 

HOME RECORDINGS, a contender for the most simplistic and explicit title of the year, is no short sharp release as fourteen tracks tumble across a listening time gracing just shy of three quarters of an hour. Word laden songs rub shoulders with a smattering of instrumentals, and fans of American folk standards won't argue with 'Angel From Montgomery' and 'The Times They Are A-Changin' getting an English makeover. Other covers include Lyle Lovett's 'Family Reserve' which launches the album in a gentle folk lullaby style and 'October Song' from the Incredible String Band's 1966 eponymous album. The latter adding a traditional vibe to the album. 

Just to teach the guitar a lesson that it ain't the only instrument in town, the banjo makes an appearance in the mid rift of the album as Simpson plucks an effective intro and outro to book end the tuneful ditty 'Three Day millionaire/ Don't Put Your Banjo in the Shed Mr, Waterson'. For fans of imperious slide guitar listen intently to the four-minute display on the instrumental 'Plains of Waterloo' and any remnants of disappointment will extinguish. 

Making interesting records has sat comfortably alongside Martin Simpson's undisputed all round talent for many years to the extent that scheduling a near rotation of instrumentals and regular songs maintains the freshness of an album that is also rich in maturity. The set is concluded in a slightly impish way with 2020's indelible date 'March 22nd' adorning the title of a short thirty second instrumental to wrap things up and lead Martin Simpson onto whatever project his antenna points to next. No rest for an independent musician. 

Footnote to the release of HOME RECORDINGS is that Martin Simpson was scheduled to play a 'live' show in my hometown of Stourbridge on November 29th which inevitably fell foul to Lockdown 2.0. The curse of 2020 strikes again. 

Album Review: Ben Glover - Sweet Wild Lily (EP)

 

www,benglover.co.uk

The work of Ben Glover, Gretchen Peters, Colm McLean and Kim Richey has been entwined on many levels over the last few years that it is of no surprise that all four names crop up again in one of the year's surprising yet so tantalising releases. It is not quite a case of getting the band back together after a long break, but the momentous effect of recent events makes it seem like an eternity since Ben was writing with Gretchen, touring and collaborating with Kim, and spectacularly calling on the exceptional guitar playing service of Colm. 

Essentially SWEET WILD LILY is a Ben Glover release, but he has long made claim to being the king of the co-operatives, and all four names link up on this four track EP in some way or another. Let us begin not with the title track, but the release's most recognisable feature. Following in the footsteps of the menacingly dark 'Blackbirds', Glover has decided to record his own version of a Peters co-write, this time turning his distinct vocal style to the intriguing 'Arguing with Ghosts'. Both tracks had the honour of setting the scene in the opening salvo of a Gretchen Peters album and it is always fascinating to hear them in the rasp of a different voice. A true test of a great song is that you continue to explore its components long after first listen and a fresh take on it here shows no exception. To add an additional shine to the song, Kim Richey adds backing vocals here.

Of the three new songs springing into life on this EP, it is another Glover-Peters co-write that shoots to the fore. Fascinatingly, 'Broke Down' has lingered in the shadows for seven years, which makes you wonder what else might be lying in these songwriters' vaults. Giving this song a significant uplift is some gorgeous guitar work from Colm Mclean, obviously from afar, but this is not necessarily an obstacle in today's diminishing world. 

In the same vein as the production role on the record (no Nielsen Hubbard this time), the source of the other two songs is solely down to Ben Glover, with the title track 'Sweet Wild Lily' leading the way in the video promotion of the full EP. 'Fireflies Dancing' brings up the quartet and another prime example of Glover's trademark marriage of road tested delivery and insightful songwriting. 

There has been little fanfare accompanying SWEET WILD LILY just a welcome reminder why the music of Ben Glover has gathered recognisable momentum over the last few years. With the unearthing of gems like 'Broke Down', the first shots of the next album (whenever it will surface) have just rung out. 

ner’s

Album Release: The Sensational Country Blues Wonders! - The World Will Break Your Heart

 

www.garyvanmiert.com

Sometimes you can be guilty of spending too much time looking for a record's hidden depth when the appeal is designed to be clear, simple and transparent, In the case of Gary Van Miert it is just to make a fun album that purely indulges a lifelong passion to savour and share the spirit of classic country music. If you're going to dive full length into a celebratory project then you might as well drop the day name and conjure up a tag that yells from the treetops what you want everybody to get. So here's born The Sensational Country Blues Wonders! complete with enhanced punctuation and an all encompassing title boring to the core of country music.

THE WORLD WILL BREAK YOUR HEART is not clamouring for awards, recognition or influential status, nor does it proclaim to save any genre. It is straightforward entertainment, free of pretence and wholly representative of a performer who has apparently gained a cult notoriety on the Jersey City music scene. 

Apart from putting a smile on your face as you're taken on a wild ride across the plains of the American roots landscape, there is some seriously rhythmic fiddle, steel and double bass to supplement the joyous wit and good time feel. From the play on words that greets opener 'Second Fiddle to a Steel Guitar' to a murder ballad for the modern times in 'My Baby Stabbed Me with a Steak Knife', the whole dance hall aura casts life's woes to one side for forty minutes.  Of course there are country literary staples littered across the ten track titles and Van Miert is doing nothing more than paying homage to his love of Memphis blues, Texas swing and everything in-between as long as its wholesome, traditional and country to its deep roots. 

The comparison that sprung to mind when listening to The Sensational Country Blues Wonders! was Deke Dickerson; a blast from the near past there. Hats off to Gary Van Miert for conjuring up his team of likely virtual accomplices for THE WORLD WILL BREAK YOUR HEART and cutting a disc that is just pure, honest and a wholehearted take on a genre that will never tire of being celebrated. 

 

Album Release: Manny Blu - New Ink (EP)

 

www.mannyblumusic.com

The music of Manny Blu is definitely at the heart of the polarisation of country music as it rides the wave of the movement that courts the huge numbers vacated by a dormant soft rock market. It yearns for the adulation of a rapturous live audience and makes sure the sound bounds to a crescendo in each track. Subtlety is not there by design and maybe it is best consumed in social settings where a shared appreciation is rife. If the five tracks of NEW INK are on a mission to make a designer record for a moment in time, then it is absolutely spot on. Perhaps it doesn't warrant too much navel gazing and will maybe fit a time when pretensions are shed. This record is a diversion from my mission, but maybe we need a pitstop occasionally. Fifteen minutes to kick back and let inhibitions ebb away is not a lot to ask and a space has been found for the time being. 

Album Review: Los Brujos - Alchemy (EP)

 

www.chuckmelchin.com

The pandemic has thrown a lot of artists of course, but on the other hand many are finding alternative ways of channelling their creative focus with remote interactions becoming the norm. Los Brujos are one outfit born out of the ashes of 2020 and announce their arrival in the sphere of recorded music with the release of a debut EP titled ALCHEMY. The band, and the five tracks forming this extended play, are the fruition of long term colleagues Michael Spaly and Chuck Melchin getting together. Both took time off their respective own bands to deliver a record that tempts, teases and ultimately delivers across a brief expanse of 18 minutes. 

Shades of dreamy psychedelia lace the opening number 'Reckoning', very much in mystique synch with the classical imagery confronting you on the cover. 'Bronco' follows to deliver enchanting harmonies complete with mandolin interplay.  A slightly more uptempo number follows in 'Everything I can' cementing the proof that the innovation gone into Los Brujos is beginning to pay off. 'High Times' has the chorus start to hook a listener into the groove, yet still creating that air of wonder in how this set of songs is going to be defined. 'Bitter Blue' rounds things off with the guys in a relaxed mode with some quirky vibes chilling the proceedings. 

ALCHEMY can take a few listens to crack its code with the architects seemingly tossing around a few ideas in the loose confines of their combined musical craftsmanship. Los Brujos come through this process with a slice of lo-fi roots rock to tempt the listener to conclude that short, sharp and slightly off the straight and narrow can work. 

Album Review: My Darling Clementine - Country Darkness

 

www.mydarlingclementinemusic.co.uk

You frequently come across debates about the merits of recording covers versus original music, and the various credentials. Of course not every artist can be an equally adept songwriter and the traditional trajectory of music would be very different if versions lay dormant in the realm of the originator. With reference to the latest My Darling Clementine record, it is not a case of being devoid of original material or intuitively raising the profile of hidden music. In contrast, this latest venture to record twelve Elvis Costello songs is very much a calling. 

After recording three successful albums almost entirely comprising of self-written songs, Lou Dalgleish and Michael Weston King have parked the original material on one side and used their My Darling Clementine moniker to re-interpret a dozen Costello songs in the guise of their trademark country duet style. Apart from indulging a brace of life long passions, the duo attracted the services of legendary musician Steve Nieve, who counts being a long serving Costello sidekick amongst many other musical associations of the last forty-plus years. 

The term 'project' is deliberately used for COUNTRY DARKNESS as the twelve songs have been issued to the wider world in the format of three periodic EP releases, and their associated vinyl offering, followed by a climactic event of combining the cumulative amount in a conventional album. This has kept the profile of My Darling Clementine floating above the parapet during a period when the crucial arm of promoting your music up close and personal has been cruelly stripped away. With this project long in the can, the state of the world may be incidental to how these songs were going to roll out. 

While the songs chosen hold great relevance to Lou and Michael, they are labelled as tracks stored away on Costello albums and my status of being far from an aficionado of the man, introduces them as new songs. Therefore of the two ways to evaluate the content, I can clearly steer clear of comparison and leave to others to go down this route.  

The admission of being a fan of My Darling Clementine probably casts a shadow over the next statement, but having listened intently to the twelve tracks they could quite easily have been a compendium of unheard songs written by Lou and Michael over the last ten years. Maybe this lavish praise would be rejected by the pair (both Costello nuts), but it has been said and not to be retracted. Maybe this assertion is born from the classic country duet sheen that has been applied, although the likely effect of Nieve's presence has raised the recording stakes accordingly. 

As the project reaches its conclusion with the full album release, twelve becomes thirteen with the inclusion of a My Darling Clementine original, and one not heard before. The hope is that this is a subtle teaser that the indulgence is in the bag, and there is plenty more mileage in My Darling Clementine as fine purveyors of the classic original song.

There is no begrudging Lou and Michael in pursing this project and COUNTRY DARKNESS is a gorgeous listen from start to finish. Quality covers can sit comfortably against well oiled originals if crafted as wisely as this collection. Whether you choose to compare the originals or just soak up the interpretations, the route is as free as the desire of My Darling Clementine to engage in these songs and deliver them in a trademark and endearing style. 

For more info on the tracks selected, check out the listing:

‘COUNTRY DARKNESS’: TRACKLISTING: 

1. Either Side of The Same Town (from The Delivery Man) VOL 2

2. I Lost You (from National Ransom) VOL 2

3. I’ll Wear It Proudly (from King Of America) VOL 3

4. Why Can’t A Man Stand Alone (from All This Useless Beauty) VOL 3

5. The Crooked Line (from Secret, Profane & Sugarcane) VOL 3

6. Heart Shaped Bruise (from The Delivery Man) VOL 1

7. That Day Is Done (from Paul McCartney’s Flowers In The Dirt and I Couldn’t Hear Nobody Pray by The Fairfield Four) VOL 1

8. Different Finger (from Trust) VOL 2

9. I Felt The Chill Before The Winter Came (from Secret, Profane & Sugarcane) VOL 1

10. Stranger In The House (from Taking Liberties) VOL 1

11. Indoor Firework (from King Of America) VOL 3

12. Too Soon To Know (from Brutal Youth) VOL 2

13. Powerless (MDC Original)

Album Review: Darrell Scott - Jaroso

 

www.darrellscott.com

Live gigs - oh so retro as we approach the final months of ill fated 2020. On the other hand if you are missing your up close and personal fix then checking out Darrell Scott's new record could be just the tonic. For fifty minutes one of American roots music's most esteemed practitioners will take you back into a world of audience cackle, enthusiastic applause, group singalongs and introductions both witty and insightful. The sound is as pure as the Colorado air which acted as the location for this live recording. 

To be more precise the gig was held in a renovated catholic church in the village of Jaroso on the New Mexico border. You can see that Scott didn't exert much thought in drafting the title of the album, but simplicity runs riot right through the record from the sparse instrumentation and isolated cover image to an audience providing an intimate homely feel.

To counter the enthusiasm for this record, critics could point out that music like this should remain the sole occupant of the in-person unfiltered experience and there will always be something lost when transmitting from the venue to the home. Others might also prefer a little less polished effort as we all know warts and all are often part of the live experience. The sound can also comes across as almost too perfect to an overtly critical ear and it is easy to visualise this as a studio record. 

Having blown hot and cold with live albums over the years, I am going to yield in favour of Jaroso on the grounds that Scott does an incredible job in transporting you into a heavenly place. One where you are serenaded with a cradle of the very highest quality of gospel, folk, country and roots music. 

Tagged onto the end as a bonus track is a live recording of 'A Satisfied Mind' in collaboration with Scott's Band of Joy teammates Patty Griffin and Robert Plant. I haven't quite grasped the link of this with the intimate night in Jaroso complete with the clicking of late summer crickets. Perhaps you can check out this release and let me know. 

While we wait for live music to drift back into our lives, a space can be made for JAROSO and a grateful glow that Darrell Scott has lent his considerable talent into serving up something that we are desperately missing. 

www.propermusic.com