MELOMANIA got the SIX for you! Every release completely different!
and just SEVEN DAYS until RSD BLACK FRIDAY
MELISSA CARPER - Ramblin' Soul [LP/CD](Mae Music/Thirty Tigers/The Orchard)
The ongoing problem with Americana and AAA is how they are continuously kept apart like bad siblings at Thanksgiving Dinner. The fact is the best Americana REALLY deserves to be on AAA radio far more than the music that is "made" for it. Fortunately, 2022 has brought a few "Country" -ish artists within striking distance of the Top 10. Nikki Lane's stellar Country-Rock and currently Charley Crockett's easy-going classic Country have edged the closest. Outside of the slipstream, throwback singers like Sierra Ferrell (the masterful "The Sea" and her duet with Shakey Graves on "Ready or Not") really should be higher because the purity of this music makes the rest of that chart far more palatable.
Melissa Carper is a natural for AAA and Americana radio. She possesses an entirely different voice and that old-time Hank Williams-style swing. "Ramblin' Soul" is as pure as Country gets. The title track is all winning parts of honky-tonk piano, pre-Rockabilly guitar, standup bass, and that steel guitar is the secret weapon. However, Carper's sweet warble raises the bar on the whole production beyond "throwback" and "revivalism" to "revisitation." Carper's vibrato, mini-yodeling, and high-range rasp are perfect. When she cools it down on the Blues-y "Ain't A Day That Goes By," Carper works her own vocal limitations to slide into both sweetness and sorrow. While the production is letter-perfect, Carper's songs really need space to make an impression on you. Sitting down to listen to "Ramblin' Soul" is not as rewarding as hearing a song or two sneak into a list of currents. However, once you hear it - it is impossible to shake.
REPTILE HOUSE - Repeater Taxx [CS](Deathbomb Arc)
Some Hip-Hop should make you uncomfortable. Starting with Gravediggaz "6 Feet Deep," the use of soundscapes with Rap has been the best way to capture the desperation of your words to the world and give listeners an aural glimpse of exactly how it feels. Reptile House trades on your emotions on "Repeater Taxx." The lo-fi, fuzzy production emphasizes its Goth/Emo feel."The Room With No Mirrors I & II" frames anguish in the guise of a horror movie. Swelling noise, strings, and haunted beats give Hareld a place to go off. "Mess Hall" is all over the place lyrically, but Hareld's streams of rhymes let you get to know his situation ("I got a couple of loose tubes") and talent for clever/darkly funny lyrics ("most of my roommates were spiders" expertly functions on both levels.) "2020" even sees Hareld in a chilling conversation with himself. While "2020" and "I Was Lost" use dense beds and repetition to sell the depths of Hareld's depression. Reptile House is like a Nineties Hip-Hop version of "For Those I Love," Hareld is asking you as a listener to accept a lot in this sprawl of raw emotions and rhythms.
TIM BERNARDES - Mil Coisas Invisiveis [LP](Psychic Hotline/Redeye)
In search of music to help weather the loss of the amazing Gal Costa, may we suggest the Tim Buckley-meets-MPB/Tropicalia beauty of Tim Bernardes. Bernardes' voice is so expressive ("BB (Garupa de Moto Amarela)") at times, one can imagine several of these tracks played only with his beautiful voice and guitar (or perhaps even, just his voice.) When he pours himself into the piano ballad "Olha," he uses every nuance to bring you into an almost Scott Walker-esque arrangement. Yet, Bernardes' range has no limits. Paired with synths and strings on "Esse Air," he thrillingly matches their pitches. The tour de force is "Fases," a song that needs to be translated into English so Adele and the other dramatic singers of our generation can incorporate Tropicalia trickery and the real Sixties Pop feel into music. The chorus moves from swooping notes to a delicate glissando which is a true highwire act for any vocalist. Bernardes owns it, imbuing every note with the emotional pull of days that are lost and nights never to be forgotten.
DEZRON DOUGLAS - Atalaya [LP/CD](International Anthem/Nonesuch)
On his second album for International Anthem, double-bassist Douglas leads his band into Sixties Blue Note-style Jazz just as it was colliding with the impulses of Free Jazz. On the title cut, drummer Joe Dyson, Jr. swings hard while saxophonist Emilio Modeste carries the melody with a Coltrane-ish sweetness. When Douglas takes the lead on the beautiful rising action of “Rose,” he first powers the quiet beginning before pushing his group to one high after another as they leave the melody behind for blinding runs and block chords. If there is a “typical” Douglas composition/performance, it needs to run the gamut. The players are both excellent and excellent at playing off of each other. When it slightly veers into the ESP-ish atonal (“Luna Moth,”) Douglas lays down a Paul Chambers-ish bass solo that resonates around a droning lower note. Pianist George Burton fills the indigo mood of “Jones Beach” with cascading arpeggios and elegant classical piano style flourishes. It all comes together the best on “More Coffee Please.” Burton’s McCoy Tyner-esque chords and Modeste’s tenor work peak at just the right moments. Dyson makes every stop thrilling and Douglas seems to be behind it all “blues walking” through the history of Jazz bass.
THE CURRENT - Yesterday's Today Is Not Tomorrow [3LP](Numero/Secretly/AMPED)
Midwestern and DC post-Fugazi Hardcore assimilate in the forgotten yowl of Detroit's The Current. Their second record 1993's "Coliseum" is a combination of the best parts of Sunny Day Real Estate ("Dial,") Fugazi ("Two And A Dime") and Eighties HC (the driving "Pave.") Along the way, The Current started writing music that separated themselves from the growing horde of Emo. Listen to their debut on 1992's "Feasting and Mirth" to hear the true transformation from Dag Nasty stylings to the LOUD/soft/LOUD of the Nineties ("Left To The Right.") Lyrically, the grit of Matthias's singing/screaming really started to take shape on "Bag of Threads" and the steamroller title cut. By the time they saw the end of the road on 1994's "Starvation and Grief," The Current learned the power of subtlety ("Basis" - even though those wails are pure Guy Picciotto) and post-HC drive ("Repetition" must have been a live rager.) "Frayed Ends" is one hell of a goodbye.
GAUPA - Myriad [LP/CD](Nuclear Blast/AMPED)
Even though Nu-Metal is coming back again (is it?,) Falun, Sweden’s Gaupa are already envisioning the return of what took the lead just beyond its brief reign. With Hendrix-ian guitar, Deftones-deep bass work, and Smashing Pumpkins-style drumming, singer Emma Naslund has the confidence to summon her emotion like an actress which is then translated through her Bjork-ian vocals. Sensing that all of these elements are likely oft-kilter with most active and favored branches of Metal, Gaupa simply writes great collections of riffs. “Diametrical Enchantress” is a slow Bluesy RAWKer with hellacious drum fills. “RA” borrows from Stoner Metal but drives it hard enough to slam into a central chromatic riff that is a bone crusher. Overall, Gaupa has a new energy that is missing from modern Metal. While the sounds they emit are indeed familiar, there is nothing showy about their presentation. The closer “Mammon” is played for true drama. The Tool-ian drum figure fits perfectly with the harmonic runs up and down the guitar. Then, it actually swings into its midpoint with all the derring-do of Black Sabbath playing Slint’s “Good Morning Captain.” Hard to say where subgenre-wise Gaupa belongs. Honestly, it is about time to simply enjoy it for what it is - not where it fits.
Well, another week, another list of several different styles and pursuits in music for you. Enjoy. Listen again. Share as you wish.
NEW RELEASES lovingly compiled for you from this very week!
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