High Bias aural fixations
January 13, 2002

PHIL ANGOTTI AND THE IDEA
Flower Bomb
(Jam)
An alternate title for Flower Bomb, the latest album from Phil Angotti, might be "Instant Appeal." The Chicago songwriter masterfully plays the heartstrings of a power pop fan like he does his Rickenbacker. He's got a luminous mix of acoustic and electric guitars, a yearning, boyish vocal style and, best of all, absolutely brilliant songs. He can go bang with "Pain in the Brain," "At the Bookstore" (every rock geek's fantasy) and the sly "Being Colin Blunstone" or sigh wistfully with "Sway," "Try to Dream" and the three-part title tune, a tribute to Nick Drake. The graceful "Myself in Your Place" puts a sparkling finish on minor-chord melancholy with expertly deployed 12-string. Angotti doesn't exactly innovate here, but he's not trying to; stretching boundaries isn't nearly as important to him as writing great songs. With irresistible melodies and clean, no-frills production, there isn't a track here that won't induce humming. Phil Angotti mines the veins of classic pop for nuggets, but refines them into his own burnished pieces of jewelry. Michael Toland

For fans of: Swag, Paul McCartney, Matthew Sweet

DR. JOHN
Creole Moon
(Blue Note)
That the great Dr. John continues to make awesome records under the radar of, well, nearly everyone is one of the universe's great mysteries. That Creole Moon came out with even less fanfare that usual is downright criminal. The latest from the Crescent City-bred, keyboard-tinkling cosmic R&B maestro dips into every flavor of N'awlins ice cream whipped up by the Night Tripper over the years. "Bruha Bembe" and "Take What I Can Get" conjure the voodoo psychedelics of Gris-Gris and Anutha Zone, "Now That You Got Me" and "Monkey & Baboon" revisit the second line streets of Gumbo and Goin' Back to New Orleans, "Imitation of Love" and "Georgianna" call back to the jazzy balladry of In a Sentimental Mood, and "Holdin' Pattern" and "Food For Thot" boogie down the syncopated alleys of In the Right Place. The title track manages to meld the all the Doc's Southern-fried approaches in one jazzy, laid-back, funky mystical number. Fellow New Orleans legends like slide guitar monster Sonny Landreth and Beausoleil fiddler Michael Doucet add their special spice to the gumbo cooked up by the Doctor's band the Lower 9-11, while many of the tunes were co-penned with the late Doc Pomus. No matter the style in which the former Mac Rebennack chooses to work, his distinctive vocals and virtuoso piano tie it all together, ensuring that his funky eclecticism never becomes a lack of focus. Creole Moon is like a grab bag of Night Tripper treats, each with a different flavor, but damn tasty no matter which. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Sonny Landreth, Kermit Ruffins, Johnny Adams

BRIAN FRAZEE
Feeding the Id
(Heart Attack)
This album had me from the first notes—it's filled with songs that are upbeat yet reflective, poppy and memorable. Newcomer Brian Frazee does it all on his debut CD—sings, plays the instruments, writes the songs and produces the whole shebang to boot. There's a hint of one of my favorite do-it-all-yourself-ers, Emitt Rhodes, throughout the CD. He seems to share the knack of creating good old-fashioned pop melodies stuffed with tales of love found, lost and psychoanalyzed in true contemporary fashion.

Although each tune is different, there is a consistency, an almost conceptual thread that winds throughout: relationships, relationships, relationships. Frazee sings about falling hard into romantic love, and then waking up to the realization that things are not the way he thought. Kicking off with "Red Roses Turning," he details all the ways he and his lover are wrong for each other, lamenting "Like lovers often do/We've grown from one to two/Red roses turning black" and resolving "I'm never looking back" as he heads off into a new relationship. By the second track, "Drunk On You," he's seducing a new girl with the lyrics "Pour me a glass of you/I'm so thirsty for a taste of your red wine." Hey, he could win me over with words like that and that voice, so seductive and plaintive. But we're on a roller coaster ride with Frazee, because in the third song he's bitching about backstabbing friends and sighing "It's too good to be over." A chorus of his own voice provides "oh-oh-oh"s behind his lead vocals, and his guitar work calls to mind The Edge on early U2 hits.

On cuts like "Wildest Heart" and "Once In A Moment," or the biting morning-after song "If You Told Me So," with its Queen-like harmonies, the voice draws you in and the words surprise you with their disarming charm and introspection. Brian Frazee is talented and enticing and it sounds like he's got a great future in pop music, if he can get someone with enough money to secure the promotion needed to get him on the radio and out on the road beyond his home town of L.A. Then all of you can discover Frazee too. Judee Gould

For fans of: Todd Rundgren, Jeff Buckley, Rufus Wainwright

KAMELOT
Karma
(Noise)
The genre of power metal is a curious one. The bands, mostly European, with the veteran German crusher Helloween as the primary pioneer, endeavor to fuse the bombastic power of thrash and death metal with the soaring melodies of classic rock and the lyrical musings of progressive rock. Much of it almost sounds like the poodle haircut bands of the 80s—the Swedish band Europe seems to be a particularly potent influence—but with a standard of musicianship and ambition in subject matter the hair metal bands were too busy doing blow and getting blown to bother attempting. Power metal is impressive stuff, though it's also a bit silly and more than a bit bombastic. But the best of it has an undeniably passionate craft.

Tampa, Florida's Kamelot is one of the few American power metal bands that can stand among the ranks of the European masters, as exhibited by their sixth album Karma. Guitarist Thomas Youngblood knows his way around a mountain-scaling riff, and he keeps the arrangements open and airy, despite the sledgehammer rhythms and orchestral accompaniment. Vocalist Roy Khan conveys absolute sincerity with his clear, lofty tenor, never indulging in metal god clichés. He has a particular talent for ballads like "Don't You Cry," and he always sells the song, even if it's a trilogy of tunes sung from the point of view of Elizabeth Bathory ("Mirror Mirror," "Requiem for the Innocent," "Fall From Grace"). Khan and Youngblood also keep the memorable melodies front and center at all times; even a rampaging rocker like "Forever," which charges forward like a distempered rhino, manages to inspire more humming than headbanging. The quartet even experiments with Middle Eastern exoticism during the intro of the title tune, before the raging drums and guitars kick in. Make no mistake, this is a band that's never met a top it couldn't hurtle itself over, but there's still an unusual degree of tuneful subtlety in their music. Adventurous metal fans should apply here. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Gamma Ray, Rhapsody, Angra

LI'L RONNIE AND THE GRAND DUKES
Young & Evil
(Planetary)
Being the leader and principal songwriter for a band has its advantages. Among them, you get to decide who sings. Unfortunately, too often this person decides it is he or she who gets to sing.

What Li'l Ronnie and the Grand Dukes' second CD, Young & Evil, has going for it are seven good originals, four choice covers and a crack band. The group's brand of jump blues, aided here and there by guest Anson Funderburgh, is well-rendered and likable, to a point. Ronnie Owens, though, as fine a songwriter and harp man as he is, makes a grievous error by acting as the primary singer. His somewhat workable range and control might suffice on a number or two. But the real drawback is his pervasive vocal affectations. Particularly, "Buck Naked," which is otherwise a barrel of fun, finds Owens marching out an unflinching black caricature. It's hard to say whether it's more shocking or grating. And "I've Been Your Good Thing" is a fine fifties-style ballad, but it belongs in the hand of a crooner.

Tenor sax legend Grady Gaines, who has played with everyone from Sam Cooke to James Brown, has the credentials to do whatever he wants in his own touring band. Still, he hires singers, good ones. Owens should take a lesson from guys like Gaines and step back to enjoy what his talent could render. Brian Briscoe [buy it]

For fans of: Candye Kane, Jimmy "T99" Nelson, Eddy "The Chief" Clearwater

THE NORTH MISSISSIPPI ALLSTARS
51 Phantom
(Tone-Cool)
There are tons of white-boy blues rock bands out there, tearing up some roadhouse or bar with yet another version of "Crossroads" full of macho vocal bravado, screaming guitar solos and a knowledge of the blues that doesn't go any farther back than the first Stevie Ray Vaughan album. Fortunately, the North Mississippi Allstars don't sound much like those losers. Brothers Luther and Cody Dickinson and bassist Chris Chew grew up playing in Mississippi mud, and they're still dirty. Their inspirations aren't Eric Clapton or SRV or even B.B. King, but R.L. Burnside, Junior Kimbrough and the raw, tough strain of Southern blues they pioneered. The blues ain't pretty for these cats, and they've listened to way too much punk rock in their young lives to believe that slick guitar solos=any kind of emotional truths. This isn't to say that on the combo's second album 51 Phantom Luther doesn't indulge in a bit of healthy wankery here and there—see the band's cover of Kimbrough's "Lord Have Mercy"—but for the most part the trio believes in finding the groove and pounding it into the ground.

The title track and "Snakes in My Bushes" come snarling out of the gate like junkyard dogs, a one-two punch that demands attention. "Circle in the Sky" and a take on Pops Staples' "Freedom Highway," which gives Chew a chance to air out his Southern Baptist gospel chops, add just enough funk to make the tunes danceable without terraforming them into different worlds. Thanks to Luther's gritty baritone, the ballad "Storm" and the second-line powered "Up Over Yonder" trade lighter-lifting bombast for soul. "Mud" takes a conventional boogie and puts it through enough distortion, electronic percussion percolations and sheer dirty attitude to make an Antone's audience run for cover. Not everything works; "Sugartown" sounds like a ZZ Top cast-off, while "Ship" sounds more like the jam bands with whom the Allstars have toured than themselves. But overall 51 Phantom gives the masses hope that the transmogrification of blues into rock doesn't have to be a night train to nowhere. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: the Rolling Stones, Doyle Bramhall II, the Converters

OSCAR & CO.
Tell Mambo
(Tinder Records)
Tell Mambo is the third CD from French salsa band Oscar & Co. A dozen cool grooves either written or arranged by vocalist/percussionist JF "Oscar" Hammel are featured. What the band lacks in passion they almost make up in sophistication and creativity. True, any music with the Afro-Cuban vibe should sweat more than this, but "& Co." manage to create a palatable sound with more than a few clever twists (example: "Indiana," which features a horn refrain from the Indiana Jones movies).

Hammel, though, is no singer. His range is exceedingly limited, his timbre is bland, and in places his control is questionable. One needn't speak French to understand that this band needs an extraordinary vocalist, and that serving as the leader's vanity project won't lead to positive results. It's a real shame too, because his arrangements sound fresh, the horn charts are crisp, and the band melds together seamlessly; they may not have much chemistry, but they put forth a pleasing sound collage. Their potential is sunk by Hammel's instrument's inability to hold its own. Brian Briscoe [buy it]

For fans of: The Afro-Cuban All Stars, Tito Puente, Ruben Gonzalez

JON REGEN
Tel Aviv
(HiTone/Q&W)
A protégé of jazz great Kenny Barron, Jon Regen is a pianist of great lyrical gifts, using his masterful technique to caress a melody like a lover strokes the object of his desire. He's also a singer of moderate skill and great feeling. Tel Aviv was recorded live at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art in Israel with a pickup band of local musicians. He plays tunes by his mentor, Herbie Hancock and Cole Porter with flair, but his best performance comes on his originals, particularly the three-part "Tel Aviv Suite," a marvel of collective improvisation and jazz piano melodicism. The locals stay right in the pocket with Regen, with flautist Itai Kriss in particular rivaling the leader in his flights of melodic improv. Very nice. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Kenny Barron, Herbie Hancock, Diana Krall

Copyright © 2002 High Bias