High Bias aural fixations
October 14, 2001

LIBBI BOSWORTH
Libbiville
(Ramble)
Forget your Faith Hills, your Martina McBrides and especially your LeAnn Rimeses. You want great country music sung by a woman? You're not going to find much better than Libbi Bosworth's Libbiville. The Austin-based thrush has strong songs, a rootsy aesthetic and a beautiful voice. She keeps her arrangements spare and simple, using some of Austin's best players (guitarists Paul Skelton and Caspar Rawls, steel guitarist Lloyd Maines, trumpeter Martin Banks) in support of cool tunes. She's versatile without being showy about it; she's not out to prove what she can do so much as indulge herself in everything she likes. The two-stepper "Man Overboard" finds Bosworth sharing funny lyrics ("If he docks his dinghy in somebody else's port/Sister throw that man overboard") with Toni Price, while the honky-tonkin' "Pine Box" gives a dead ex the audio finger ("I got your old love letters/All two of them"—no wonder she's pissed). Bobby Braddock's "Necessary" allows her and Skelton to tastefully rock out, and "Baby Your Baby" goes for a late night jazz club feel with superlative results. "Something to Brag About" celebrates good lovin' with Don Walser, while "Back in Texas," one of three songs namechecking her home state, is simply an awesome heartbreak tune. Get a beer and your partner and visit Libbiville—a great time is guaranteed. Michael Toland

For fans of: Christy McWilson, Toni Price, the Derailers

HOVEN DROVEN
Hippa
(Northside)
The Swedish quintet Hoven Droven is best known for its turbocharged mixture of Nordic folk, rock, funk and jazz, with a catalog of beat-happy records and near-legendary live shows. For Hippa (which literally means "party" but also has the connotation "hip"), though, HD turns down the volume several decibels and emphasizes the melodies. Guitarist Bo Lindberg keeps mostly in the background, allowing fiddler Kjell-Erik Eriksson and saxophonist Jens Comén the majority of the spotlight. Bassist Pedro Blom and drummer Björn Höglund play with unusual subtlety, shading rather than driving the songs. The focus here is entirely on the tunes, which are uniformly excellent. Like many of their compadres in the Nordic folk scene, HD has an amazing talent for making traditional tunes sound fresh and contemporary and their originals sound like old standards. The playful trad pieces "The Norwegian" and "Gart Sjouf" sound perfectly comfortable next to originals like "Drömmen om Arto" (dedicated to JPP's Arto Järvelä) and "Larven" (dedicated to a beloved brand of snowmobile). Old fans may miss the high-powered romps, but Hippa's melodies are too enticing for anyone with ears to stay disappointed for long. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Väsen, Boiled in Lead, JPP

FRANK MARINO & MAHOGANY RUSH
Eye of the Storm
(Just a Minute)
Canadian power trio Mahogany Rush was one of those 70s AOR acts—think Wishbone Ash, Pat Travers and the like—that got a bit of airplay, sold a few records and toured arenas, but almost always as opening act for bigger bands. They worked hard but never broke out of a kind of middling level of success. Leader Frank Marino dropped out of the biz for a few years in the last decade but is now mounting a low-key comeback with Eye of the Storm. The good thing about Marino's lack of superstardom and his distaste for the music business is that he has no expectations, commerical or otherwise, to which he has to live up. He can make exactly the kind of record he wants to make, knowing that his small but loyal following will accept whatever he does and to hell with everybody else. There's a degree of freedom in this particular state of grace that more successful bands don't usually enjoy. Marino doesn't use that freedom to do anything particularly radical, mind you—he still trucks in bluesy, vaguely psychedelic hard rock, with only the opening sound collage "Storm Warning..." pushing any envelopes. But now he can stretch out to his heart's desire, letting his guitar do more talking than previous labels have allowed. He does it frequently, too, sometimes to absurd lengths—three songs are over 10 minutes a piece, and it's mostly lead breaks. He's a good player, but there are very few rock guitarists who can sustain interest in a single song for that length of time, and he's not really one of them. The other advantage to his particular career state is that he can write about whatever he feels like writing about, without worrying about hit singles and the like. For Eye of the Storm, this means blatantly declaring his Christian faith in songs like "He's Calling" and "Ordinary Man," or simply contemplating the state of the universe in "Window to the World" and "Heat of the Moment." He's a fine player, a surprisingly soulful singer and a limited but heartfelt writer, though one might wonder if an outside producer might have helped him curb some of his more excessive instincts. At the same time, though, you have to admire the fact that this is probably the most honest record by a supposedly over-the-hill classic rocker in many years. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Robin Trower, the Eric Gales Band, Glenn Kaiser

THE MOTO-LITAS
For the Greater Good
(Daemon)
Okay, what do you get when you cross Exene Cervenka and the Go-Go's with a dash of Maria McKee? Either the weirdest cross-dresser you have ever encountered or a damn fine band! You thought I was going to say "girl band"—well, I didn't because it doesn't matter. These women rock and there ain't no Girrrllll power about it. Okay, so there is a little girly power in there, especially in the track "Not Pretty Today," where the singer fends off a potential stalker with "What can I say to that when you won't take 'no' for an answer." Indeed. The wrought-iron back bone of this ensemble is granite due to the consistent wailing of Stacy Kerber. Three chords, Southern-driven twisted homilies and insidious hooks create an indelible stain on one's psyche. I caught myself yesterday humming the melody to "Welcome Mat"—"No parking in my driveway/My mat won't welcome you." The first offering "Cheated" is one of the hardest-driving woman-done-wrong-anthems I have ever heard. Whoever this was written for must have been ridden out of town on a rail. Not to be missed. As soon as I listened to this CD five times (I said it was damn fine, didn't I?) I started an Internet search and found they were playing at the Kudzu Film Festival in Athens at the legendary 40 Watt Club—you bet I am going to be there. This CD made my blackest of hearts sing. All my angst seems justified. Blythe Christopher [buy it]

For fans of: Go-Go's, Exene Chervenka, Lone Justice

LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III
Last Man on Earth
(Red House)
Almost ten years ago, Loudon Wainwright III's father died, which sent Wainwright into a creative jag that resulted in History, his finest record to date. Now his mother has passed on, coincedentally at the same time as a romantic relatioship was dissovling, and once again, he's taken his pain and translated it into another career-highlight album. (Let's be clear about one thing before we continue: Wainwright has always drawn heavily from his personal and family life for his subject matter, so accusations of exploitation don't hold much water. Or at least not any more than usual.) He dives headfirst into his grief with "I'm Not Gonna Cry," "Homeless" and the lovely, touching "White Winos," which fondly recalls times spent drinking with his mom. He also reflects once more on his father's death in "Surviving Twin" and contemplates his newfound orphanhood in "Graveyard" and "Donations." His former love affair gets its props as well in "Missing You," "Out of Reach" and "Living Alone." This is an unusually somber album for Wainwright, who can usually find some humor to lighten the gloom, but the issues he's dealing with here are just too much for forced levity. Still, a few stray lines here and there testify to his sense of humor's staying power, but overall this is perhaps his most thoughtful, serious album. Producer Stewart Lerman provides tasteful folk rock backing, but the focus is, as it should be, entirely on Wainwright's plainspoken vocals and superlative songs. Last Man on Earth is a fine, very adult record. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: John Hiatt, Phranc, Freedy Johnston

Copyright © 2001 High Bias