Reviews - Widespread Panic · Reviews OCTOBER 2009 | RELIX 73 Miles Davis ... both consid-ered...
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Reviews OCTOBER 2009 | RELIX 73 Miles Davis Sketches of Spain Legacy Edition COLUMBIA/LEGACY Miles Davis was certain- ly on a creative roll dur- ing 1959-60, recording back-to-back albums that would go down as jewels in his own discography (and as jazz essentials in general), both consid- ered significant enough to invite study decades later. Kind of Blue (with John Coltrane, Bill Evans and other heavy hitters) is simply one of the most indis- pensable albums in jazz history, but Sketches of Spain was no less of an achievement. Working with arranger/conductor Gil Evans for the third time, Davis assembled an orches- tra (among whom were such stars as drummer Elvin Jones and bassist Paul Chambers) to pay tribute to their shared love of Spanish song forms. The original five-track LP neither catered to prevailing Latin music, nor stayed with- in the lines of contemporary jazz, owing as much to classical motifs. The original Sketches is augmented here by a second disc, which is anchored by alternate takes (and snippets of others) of the album’s showpiece, Joaquin Rodrigo’s “Concierto de Aranjuez (Adagio)”—plus a rare, live 1961 version of the same number. Other included bonus tracks are taken from sessions only tangentially related. Some listen- ers, especially newbies, might find the extras to be overkill, but those already infatuated with the landmark album will no doubt take pleasure in hearing the bits hidden away till now. Jeff Tamarkin Grateful Dead Road Trips Vol. 2, No. 3: Wall of Sound GRATEFUL DEAD PRODUCTIONS This Road Trip culls 6/16/74 (Des Moines) and 6/18/74 (Louisville) onto two discs. The Wall of Sound, the Grateful Dead’s notorious 75-ton sound system, is fully operational—and driving some ultra-fine quality music. The grooving “Loose Lucy” is seminal. But this is the Dead of the soil and the wheatfield and the waters —both takes on “Eyes of the World”—still new—are epic, and loamy. “Playing in the Band” on 6/16 is oceanic. And the 55-minute “Weather Report Suite”> “Jam”> “The Other One”> “It’s a Sin Jam”> “Stella Blue”—now that’s seri- ous, serious business. With only one drummer and the greatest sound rein- Widespread Panic Huntsville 1996 WIDESPREAD RECORDS Every great touring band has a show like this. For Widespread Panic, it was Huntsville, 4/3/1996. The perfect storm: the band hitting its stride onstage and its fanbase coalescing on the ‘96-era Internet. So one day you wake up, check the previous evening’s setlist and say to yourself “Oh, no they didn’t!” and those days being what they were, with the Maxell XLII in your mail- box shortly thereafter, you could con- firm that yes, yes they did. The mes- sage of the third archival release from Widespread Panic is “remember Michael Houser”—not just the man, but remember his music at its finest. From the intergalactic grease-fire cover of Funkadelic’s “Maggot Brain” through the premier of the Houser/John Bell duet “Sandbox” to the pre-drums “Tie Your Shoes”> “Arleen”> “Vacation” jam- gasm, it’s that vintage Mikey guitar lead- ing the way, screaming through a pris- tine new mix. This is Panic at its absolute finest. Aaron Stein Miles Davis forcement that the planet had ever known, this band is peaking—the giant silver spaceship with a jazz combo at the helm. Richard B. Simon Zigaboo Modeliste Funk Me Hard—Live JZM RECORDS It’s hard to overstate the importance of drum- mer Joseph Zigaboo Modeliste. In the drum chair for The Meters, a group that defined New Orleans funk in the ‘60s and ‘70s, Modeliste is the model of funk and groove drumming for each succeeding generation of New Orleans musicians. This five-song EP features Modeliste with his band Gaboon’s Gang recorded live at New Orleans’s Saenger Theater in 1980. Culled from a long-lost live film project, the 24-track recording is crystal clear, capturing all of the nuances and ener- gy of the set. Highlights include “I Don’t Know Why” and the hard-hitting “Standing in the Funk.” With few releas- es under his own name, here’s a chance to truly give the drummer some. Tad Hendrickson Times New Viking Born Again Revisited MATADOR Vivian Girls Everything Goes Wrong IN THE RED Times New Viking and the Vivian Girls (and Wavves and Psychedelic Horseshit and the Oh Sees and a whole posse of comrades) pose a thoroughly modern question: is it the songs, or is it the noise? The answer, gloriously, is both. On Born Again Revisited, its fourth full length, Times New Viking—a Columbus trio—crams 16 songs into 31- minutes of explosive fuzz, silvery organs, distorted vocals, and buried, clanking drums. They use it in arrange- ments on the dynamic opener, “Martin Luther King Day,” as well as a tool, blur- ring harmonies more colorfully than Auto-Tune in “(No) Sympathy.” It’s some- times a crutch for throwaways, like the centerless “Little World,” but the trio fares better on its longer numbers, espe- cially the nearly three minute “Move to California.” Everywhere the combina- tion is integral and used creatively. The Vivian Girls, meanwhile, tone down the impenetrability on its own second album, Everything Goes Wrong, but still place its 13 songs on guitar sheet pedestals. The distant vocals of “Tension” are alluring, “When I’m Gone” is decent surf-pop, and the call-and- response of “I’m Not Asleep” shows grander structural ambitions, but the Vivians’ noise merely blurs songs into one another. It is distortion with one set- ting, more of an affected accent than a dialect. Jesse Jarnow Wildbirds and Peacedrums The Snake THE CONTROL GROUP It’s entirely possible to miss the point of what a particular band is doing. And sometimes musi- cians just reach too far. The Snake could very well be a case of either one. The album feels as if you are witness to some sort of avant-garde pow-wow performed by Swedish hus- band-and-wife percussionist/vocalist duo Wildbirds and Peacedrums. Vocalist Mariam Wallentin explores some interesting melodies and shows her mastery of many different pitches, and Andreas Werliin’s unique drum- ming is wild and explosive at times. But there is nothing here to glue what Werliin and Wallentin are trying to piece together—it’s just all over the place. Then again, perhaps it’s just not for everyone. Mike Thomas
Transcript of Reviews - Widespread Panic · Reviews OCTOBER 2009 | RELIX 73 Miles Davis ... both consid-ered...
Reviews
O C T O B E R 2 0 0 9 | R E L I X 7 3
Miles DavisSketches of Spain Legacy EditionCOLUMBIA/LEGACY
Miles Davis was certain-ly on a creative roll dur-ing 1959-60, recordingback-to-back albumsthat would go down as
jewels in his own discography (and asjazz essentials in general), both consid-ered significant enough to invite studydecades later. Kind of Blue (with JohnColtrane, Bill Evans and other heavyhitters) is simply one of the most indis-pensable albums in jazz history, butSketches of Spain was no less of anachievement. Working witharranger/conductor Gil Evans for thethird time, Davis assembled an orches-tra (among whom were such stars asdrummer Elvin Jones and bassist PaulChambers) to pay tribute to theirshared love of Spanish song forms. Theoriginal five-track LP neither catered toprevailing Latin music, nor stayed with-in the lines of contemporary jazz,owing as much to classical motifs. Theoriginal Sketches is augmented here bya second disc, which is anchored byalternate takes (and snippets of others)of the album’s showpiece, JoaquinRodrigo’s “Concierto de Aranjuez(Adagio)”—plus a rare, live 1961 versionof the same number. Other includedbonus tracks are taken from sessionsonly tangentially related. Some listen-ers, especially newbies, might find theextras to be overkill, but those alreadyinfatuated with the landmark albumwill no doubt take pleasure in hearingthe bits hidden away till now. Jeff Tamarkin
Grateful DeadRoad Trips Vol. 2, No. 3: Wall ofSoundGRATEFUL DEAD PRODUCTIONS
This Road Trip culls6/16/74 (Des Moines)and 6/18/74 (Louisville)onto two discs. The Wallof Sound, the Grateful
Dead’s notorious 75-ton sound system,is fully operational—and driving someultra-fine quality music. The grooving“Loose Lucy” is seminal. But this is theDead of the soil and the wheatfield andthe waters —both takes on “Eyes of theWorld”—still new—are epic, and loamy.“Playing in the Band” on 6/16 is oceanic.And the 55-minute “Weather ReportSuite”> “Jam”> “The Other One”> “It’s aSin Jam”> “Stella Blue”—now that’s seri-ous, serious business. With only onedrummer and the greatest sound rein-
Widespread Panic Huntsville 1996WIDESPREAD RECORDS
Every great touringband has a show likethis. For Widespread
Panic, it was Huntsville,4/3/1996. The perfect
storm: the band hitting its strideonstage and its fanbase coalescing onthe ‘96-era Internet. So one day youwake up, check the previous evening’ssetlist and say to yourself “Oh, no theydidn’t!” and those days being what theywere, with the Maxell XLII in your mail-box shortly thereafter, you could con-firm that yes, yes they did. The mes-sage of the third archival release fromWidespread Panic is “rememberMichael Houser”—not just the man, butremember his music at its finest. Fromthe intergalactic grease-fire cover ofFunkadelic’s “Maggot Brain” throughthe premier of the Houser/John Bellduet “Sandbox” to the pre-drums “TieYour Shoes”> “Arleen”> “Vacation” jam-gasm, it’s that vintage Mikey guitar lead-ing the way, screaming through a pris-tine new mix. This is Panic at itsabsolute finest. Aaron Stein
Miles Davis
forcement that the planet had everknown, this band is peaking—the giantsilver spaceship with a jazz combo atthe helm. Richard B. Simon
Zigaboo ModelisteFunk Me Hard—Live JZM RECORDS
It’s hard to overstate theimportance of drum-mer Joseph ZigabooModeliste. In the drumchair for The Meters, a
group that defined New Orleans funkin the ‘60s and ‘70s, Modeliste is themodel of funk and groove drummingfor each succeeding generation of NewOrleans musicians. This five-song EPfeatures Modeliste with his bandGaboon’s Gang recorded live at NewOrleans’s Saenger Theater in 1980.Culled from a long-lost live film project,the 24-track recording is crystal clear,capturing all of the nuances and ener-gy of the set. Highlights include “I Don’tKnow Why” and the hard-hitting“Standing in the Funk.” With few releas-es under his own name, here’s achance to truly give the drummersome. Tad Hendrickson
Times New VikingBorn Again RevisitedMATADOR
Vivian Girls Everything Goes WrongIN THE RED
Times New Viking andthe Vivian Girls (andWavves and PsychedelicHorseshit and the OhSees and a whole posseof comrades) pose athoroughly modernquestion: is it the songs,or is it the noise? Theanswer, gloriously, is
both. On Born Again Revisited, its fourthfull length, Times New Viking—aColumbus trio—crams 16 songs into 31-minutes of explosive fuzz, silveryorgans, distorted vocals, and buried,clanking drums. They use it in arrange-ments on the dynamic opener, “MartinLuther King Day,” as well as a tool, blur-ring harmonies more colorfully thanAuto-Tune in “(No) Sympathy.” It’s some-times a crutch for throwaways, like thecenterless “Little World,” but the triofares better on its longer numbers, espe-cially the nearly three minute “Move toCalifornia.” Everywhere the combina-tion is integral and used creatively. TheVivian Girls, meanwhile, tone down theimpenetrability on its own secondalbum, Everything Goes Wrong, but stillplace its 13 songs on guitar sheetpedestals. The distant vocals of“Tension” are alluring, “When I’m Gone”is decent surf-pop, and the call-and-response of “I’m Not Asleep” showsgrander structural ambitions, but theVivians’ noise merely blurs songs intoone another. It is distortion with one set-ting, more of an affected accent than adialect. Jesse Jarnow
Wildbirds and PeacedrumsThe SnakeTHE CONTROL GROUP
It’s entirely possible tomiss the point of what aparticular band is doing.And sometimes musi-cians just reach too far.
The Snake could very well be a case ofeither one. The album feels as if you arewitness to some sort of avant-gardepow-wow performed by Swedish hus-band-and-wife percussionist/vocalistduo Wildbirds and Peacedrums.Vocalist Mariam Wallentin exploressome interesting melodies and showsher mastery of many different pitches,and Andreas Werliin’s unique drum-ming is wild and explosive at times. Butthere is nothing here to glue whatWerliin and Wallentin are trying topiece together—it’s just all over theplace. Then again, perhaps it’s just notfor everyone. Mike Thomas
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