Album Reviews

MICHAEL LEE FIRKINS
Decomposition
(Nuerra)
Michael Lee Firkins is a guitarist who made his name with numerous albums of instrumental heavy metal guitar flash on the "shredder" label Shrapnel. Firkins has more of a feel for American roots music, particularly country, than his neoclassical headbanger brethren; that alone is enough to set him apart from other Vai/Satriani/Malmsteen wannabes. That said, he's not doing himself any favors with a covers album that includes two Hendrix songs, including, of course, "Little Wing" (yeah, Hendrix had a big effect on you, just like EVERY OTHER ELECTRIC GUITARIST ON THE PLANET). At least the two Lynyrd Skynyrd tunes, "I Need You" and "I Know a Little," aren't the usual choices. Even the Duke Ellington piece, "Caravan," is hardly an original idea for rockers to record. The most eyebrow-raising covers here are Mancini's "Pink Panther" and the Average White Band's "Pick Up the Pieces." Aided by singer Sonny Reece, who for better or worse sounds like he was born to sing classic rock on Johnny Winter's "Still Alive and Well," Firkins assays fairly unimaginative versions of these songs, except for a reggae instrumental take on "Little Wing." It makes you wonder why he bothered, especially since the best track by far is the sole original, the atmospherically trippy "The Window." Maybe next time he should follow his own muse instead of trying co-opt somebody else's. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Richie Kotzen, Danny Gatton, Daniel Christopherson

CHRIS MCFARLAND
As If to Lay to Rest
(In Music We Trust)
Austin, Texas-based Chris McFarland is a perfect example of the new wave of singer/songwriters that have risen like phoenixes from the ashes of the alternative rock "revolution." He's absorbed the good points of the trend—overt passion, a sense of anthemic drama, a willingness to spike otherwise pop-friendly melodies with skewed progressions or just plain ol' noise—and ignored the lame ones, like excessive ironic posturing and musical blandness. He never goes for easy histrionics or melodrama when he can stick with the virtues of emotional sincerity and memorable tunes. His aggressive strumming and his rhythm section's insistent thrust serve notice that this is not your father's singer/songwriter, or even your older sister's—this most definitely falls under the category of rock. "One Good Thing," "Sick" and the exceptionally strong "Twang" (which doesn't) are the kind of songs that stick in the mind at first listen; their luster only grows brighter with each subsequent spin. As If to Lay to Rest isn't perfect, but it's a solid indication that greatness lies right around the corner. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Buffalo Tom, Bob Mould, Ani DiFranco

ROCK CITY CRIMEWAVE
Sounds From the Underworld
(Catapult)
From the unlikely location of Allston, MA, comes Rock City Crimewave, another louder-than-hell bunch of psychobillies heckbent on taking you on tour through their personal B-movie nightmares. With a supercharged rock 'n' roll sound that owes as much to the working class metal of Detroit as it does to backwoods rockabilly, the quartet introduces you to the "Soul Hustler," pays tribute to Russ Meyer's "Motorpsycho" and tells the touching fairytale "The Erotic Adventures of Frankenstein." The lowdown "I Wanna Crawl All Over You" and the lusty "I Wanna Light You on Fire" are as close to soul-baring as this crew gets. Vocalist EEE Adams has a serviceably menacing snarl, though it's not terribly distinctive. He and fellow string-slinger Rob Vengeance are hampered by the low budget production—songs like "Sinner" and "Rocket Skull" deserve a HUGE six-string sound. Still, the band gets its point across in suitably enthusiastic fashion and is probably a terror onstage. Sounds From the Underworld is perfectly adequate psychotronic rock. Michael Toland

For fans of: Nashville Pussy, Hasil Adkins, the Devil Dogs

ERIK TRUFFAZ
Revisité
(Blue Note)
Upon initial listen, even a jazz philistine would be hard pressed not to notice the obvious sounding similarities between French trumpeter Erik Truffaz' second U.S. release Revisité and the late 60s/early 70s recordings of Miles Davis. It's no marketing ploy (well, OK, maybe it is) that his label Blue Note refers heavily to those similarities in his label bio. An obvious student of the more-is-less school of thought, Truffaz lets the space and tension between the notes add weight and beauty to their effect on the listener's ears. His playing style borrows from the melodic phrasing techniques and stuttered bursts that Miles made famous on albums like In A Silent Way, Kind of Blue and Bitches Brew. On Revisité, a remix collection of tracks he recorded with his band in the late 90s, sampled rhythms and electronic sequences blend casually with live bass and keyboard sounds, while Truffaz' trumpet helps segue the songs smoothly into Latin and Afro-Cuban groove sections.

The CD opens with "The Dawn Part I," an ambient-sounding, tribal drum-and-bass groove with eerie vocal samplings that lay back in the shadows while Truffaz' mourning trumpet glides softly above. The song sparks rhythmically at 2:00 and features a spoken word passage that breaks the darkness and moves the album into day. On "More" Truffaz' loose trumpet lines and muffled tone ground the listener in some semblance of melody while sampled bells and random noises clang repeatedly in the background. Just when the song seems to drag, a syncopated drum beat propels it forward and keeps the listener enthralled.

"Sweet Mercy" starts with a sampled trumpet playing over a groovy acoustic bass line, a Fender Rhodes keyboard with wah-wah and a tight hip-hop beat before a second trumpet line enters and drops an ice-cool melody on top of it all. The song then breaks down into a trippy sounding bridge with a short vocal: "No matter what must be, must be/Aw Lord, have sweet mercy on me." "Bending New Corners" seems to borrow inspiration (if not direction) from Bill Laswell's 1998 remixes of Miles Davis on Panthalassa: The Music of Miles Davis. It glides along beautifully for three minutes until another spoken word passage disrupts the groove and trades jabs with short accents from Truffaz' trumpet. The song redeems itself, though, ending with a magnificent two minute distorted bass solo playing over a balls-to-the-wall drum beat. All the while Truffaz' trumpet repeats a melodic chorus—the one constant throughout the song.

At times the spoken word passages and poetry jives seem to detract from the drum-and-bass groove of the CD. While the vocal lines do add a breath of originality to the music, the songs definitely shine brightest when the music does the talking (pardon the pun). At times derivative almost to the point of plagiarism (again, see Panthalassa), Revisité still has qualities bound to please any acid-jazz, funk or fusion fan. For Blue Note though, it might have been more honest to give more credit (or at least a bigger billing on the CD cover) to the album's five remixers/DJs, Pierre Audetat, Pierre Henry (Kraftwerk, Brian Eno), Alex Gopher, Gilles Peterson and Bugge Wesseltoft. It is their cutting and pasting of songs from Truffaz' European albums Out Of A Dream, The Dawn and Bending New Corners that lends the album its unique and compelling sounds. Ben Johnston [buy it]

For fans of: Miles Davis, Medeski Martin and Wood, Solex

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Down the Dirt Road: The Songs of Charley Patton
(Telarc)
Down the Dirt Road features a gaggle of old school and young gun musicians, paying tribute to Charley Patton. Some say Patton, and not Robert Johnson, is the true father of the Delta blues. And indeed, Patton, who was born in 1887 (Johnson was born in 1911) influenced Muddy Waters quite clearly. "Pea Vine Blues," done starkly by Charlie Musselwhite here, bears a melodic resemblance to Muddy's "Rollin' and Tumblin'."

Certainly, the most effective interpretations on this CD are the simplest. Graham Parker's solo, swaying take on "Poor Me" pairs nicely with the Musselwhite number. Snooky Pryor, who must have a lifetime supply of youth juice, does a down home "Pony Blues" with only voice and harmonica. Joe Louis Walker's solo rendition of "Sugar Mama" is energetic and inspired, though it's hindered by a few too many guitar solos; John Lee Hooker did it better in 1952. Corey Harris' "Moon Going Down" displays the man's mastery of tricky blues rhythm guitar.

The heart of this CD, though, is Paul Rishell and Annie Raines' somber reading of "I Shall Not Be Moved," backed by acoustic guitar and harmonica. On September 11, as I dove headfirst into the media coverage of the World Trade Center disaster, I heard Rishell sing, "Like a tree that's planted by the water/I shall not be moved." Something clicked, and my heart had its requiem.

Like a lot of tribute CDs, Down the Dirt Road has its ups and downs, though it's mostly ups. The simplicity with which most of the artists chose to interpret Charley Patton's songs works well. Honestly, though, "I Shall Not Be Moved" is reason enough to give this one a listen. Brian Briscoe [buy it]

For fans of: Corey Harris, Tampa Red, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee