2007 Albums Review jazz: bad blood blues fusion james blood ulmer jazz nola ornette coleman
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James Blood Ulmer – Bad Blood in the City (Hyena Records, 2007)
Updating the blues is a task many take on. Ulmer continues encompassing many disciplines, but lands short of even some lesser Buddy Guy efforts. Bad Blood finds the guitarist and Vernon Reid, amongst others, moving past 2005’s Birthright and into a socially concerted effort. This album focuses on Katrina and what occurs in her wake. A number of covers, including “Grinnin’ In Your Face”, exemplify the bent of this recording, while incorporating fiddle and mandolin to give the disc a blues and country sound that’s absent from other Ulmer recordings. In a thorough listen, the album is vaguely rewarding based upon the players’ ability and endearing song selection. But the content gains meaning for those listeners willing to examine the material through multiple cultural and contextual lenses. Instead of doing all that though, just go get Tales of Captain Black and this album won’t matter.
2005 Albums Review rock: albini crain dischord inner ear speed Temporary Residence
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Crain – Speed (Temporary Residence Ltd., 2005)
Crain was a little bit too early and a little bit too late. Earlier, they would have preceded the first Fugazi full length and been hailed as ushering in alternative rock. Later, they would have been considered a catalyst for whatever screamo is. But as luck has it, Crain released this, their first album in 1992. Speed was recorded at Inner Ear Studios (home to pretty much every Dischord band) and produced by Steve Albini. Since it’s worth noting the appearance of Albini, it’s also worth mentioning that he is above all else a businessman and has stated the he’s be willing to work for anyone with the funds. So his appearance doesn’t necessarily dictate quality, but it should hint at the sound. What Albini did manage to get down on record wasn’t exactly punk or metal or pop, but an early nineties amalgam. There’s almost funky drumming coupled with a brusque bass player and couple of noisy guitarists. Since Speed is an early ‘90s recording, there are marks of SST and the aforementioned Dischord bands everywhere. Most notably, the Minutemen are evoked consistently on the tracks “Monkey Wrench”, with the start/stop timing, the seven minute “Kneel”, “Ten Miles of Fiction” and “Ribcage”, which showcases a screamed chorus of, “Let me loose/Let me free”. Amongst the fourteen tracks, there’s no undeniable stand out, but only one complete loser. “Blistering” comes towards the end of the album with an enticing guitar part, but then surges forward with off key crooning. This band isn’t your life. And there’s a reason that Speed wasn’t repressed for thirteen years, but it’ll probably please you if you’re a fan of early-nineties-tiny-label-rock.
Tracklisting:
01. Car Crash Decisions
02. Monkey Wrench
03. Proposed Production
04. Kneel
05. The Dead Town
06. King Octane
07. Skinminer Pastel
08. News from Warsaw
09. Ten Miles of Friction
10. Ribcage
11. Fuckerman
12. Stabilizer
13. Blistering
14. Breathing Machine
Fuck Buttons – Street Horrrsing (ATP, 2008)
Forming late in 2004 on an island called England, this duo possesses the sensibilities of any band. It’s able to create a stirring melody, one that’s even hum-able. To counter that normalcy, Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power also exhibit a penchant for noise and electronic manipulations.
Suited to its interests, Street Horrsing is six tracks deep, with each offering pushing past any general pop-song time limit. And while there is no reason for the lead off track, “Sweet Love for Planet Earth”, to be 9 minute long, Fuck Buttons do include every sound, sometimes even touching something that might remind the listener a bit of an ominous horror movie theme song. That, however, is not the pointed objective of this group.
“Ribs Out”, which one would imagine to be a biblical reference, is all percussion, yelps and a brief electronic bit of fuzz which leads seamlessly into the next track. The simplicity of that track really is the essence of the duo. While creating music that is basic enough for any (advanced) listener to grasp, Fuck Buttons, move seamlessly to a more menacing statement – often recalling nasty film scores.
The most engaging track, “Bright Tomorrow”, seems to be the duos effort to cop other sounds as opposed to having lap-top freakouts. At once recalling ‘80s pop, with a standard keyboard melody, the song eventually evokes Spacemen 3 before the bursts of distortion bring the song back to its owners.
Street Horrrsing is obviously not for the faint of heart, but Hung and Power probably like it that way. There’s not, unfortunately, a lot to be done with this genre (new or re-created), but it’ll be interesting to hear further explorations on what is the Fuck Button’s thesis on noise.