High Bias aural fixations
August 18, 2002

BRAVE
Searching For the Sun
(Dark Symphonies)
Virginia's Brave (formerly Arise From Thorns) explores the blurred area between progressive metal and soaring pop on its latest record Searching For the Sun. Guitarist Scott Loose alternates between shimmering glimmer waves, processed acoustic filigrees and raging power chords, with the (fortunately) occasional dip into a bag of metal god wankery; his sheer variety of six-string tones and approaches shapes the band's sound as much as the siren throat and textural keyboards of frontperson Michelle Loose. The dramatic bombast of songs such as "New Beginning" and "Escape" contrasts with the more gentile dynamics of tunes like "Before Nightfall" and "Candles in the Dark." But the group really flies when it mixes its virtues into stunning cuts like "Bleed Into Me," "Out of Focus" and "I Believe." The band's shining qualities, including an openly emotional outlook, easily overpower the often overwrought lyrics. Searching For the Sun may still be in seek mode, but it's already found enough bright light to stand out. Michael Toland

For fans of: Rain Fell Within, the Gathering, Grey Eye Glances

DIGITAL BLED
Caravana
(Tinder)
Paris is a haven for musicians who want to interbreed the indigenous music of other cultures with contemporary sounds. Digital Bled is a good example of that city's pan-cultural music ethic on its new album Caravana. Led by electronicist João Pedro Veloso Rodrigues (AKA DJ Pedro) and bassist/vocalist Youcef Boukela, Digital Bled mixes and matches elements of Afrobeat, Latin music, Rai, American funk and electronica for an AfroArabicBrazilianAmerican fusion that makes the techno crap in most clubs sound like random computer blips. Ambient soundscapes, percolating beats and gutbucket basslines provide the platform on which stand soaring Arabic vocals, scratching, samples and percussion accents. Tunes like "Trip Indiano" (featuring singer Abdelaziz Sahmaoui), "Esperando Chuva" (with singer Moussa AG Keyna) and "Batuquente" get groovy in ways that will appeal to anyone from any country—anyone with a slide in his glide and a dip in her hip, that is. While the melodies certainly hold up, this is definitely dance music—even the most sedate piece induces at the very least head-nodding. With the organic diversity of its approach, Caravana is what world music should be all about. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Afro-Celt Sound System, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Michael Brook, Bill Laswell

KNIFE IN THE WATER
Crosspross Bells
(Peek-A-Boo)
Austin's low-key rock combo Knife in the Water has gone about its career the old-fashioned way, avoiding glitzy videos or special promotions and simply going about its business by touring and making strong records. Crosspross Bells, the quintet's latest disk, is no exception in this regard. Songwriter Aaron Blount ups the melody quotient even further than he has in the past; tracks like "Exploding Seagulls" and "From the Catbird Seat" sport more memorable tunes than anything he's penned before. The amazingly sparse sound—you'll have a hard time believing you're hearing guitar, bass, drums, keyboards and pedal steel—compliments Blount's songs perfectly. The musicians fill in the spaces with absolute taste and economy; there's not a single wasted note or superfluous flourish to be found here. This isn't a record for someone in the mood to furiously rock out, but for winsome indie pop, you'd be hard-pressed to find a disk better than Crosspross Bells. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Pernice Brothers, Lambchop, Mojave 3

PETER MULVEY
Ten Thousand Mornings
(Black Walnut/Signature Sounds)
A singer/songwriter takes his acoustic guitar to the catacombs of Boston's subway system and makes a live record of covers. No, it's not Mary Lou Lord, who released the similarly-recorded Live City Sounds earlier this year, it's Peter Mulvey, who, like Lord, cut his teeth in front of tube system patrons. His seventh album Ten Thousand Mornings consists entirely of covers, everything from traditional folk ditties to modern rock songs, filtered through Mulvey's grainy vocals and groove-driven guitar work. He takes on Los Lobos' "Two Janes," Marvin Gaye's "Inner City Blues," Elvis Costello's "Oliver's Army," Randy Newman's "In Germany Before the War," the traditional "Rain and Snow" and the Beatles' "For No One," among others. His versions are always at least solid, and in some cases (Joni Mitchell's jazzy "Comes Love," a bluegrass take on Dylan's "Mama You Been On My Mind") even transcendent. (Gillian Welch's "Caleb Meyer" loses some of its power when deprived of its rhythmic drive and female vocals, however.) The main strength of this record is that it shows the length and breadth not only of Mulvey's taste but also the last three decades' worth of songwriting. No matter what genre Mulvey pulls from, all the tunes here sound of a piece with each other. It's like hanging with your talented amateur musician buddy as he runs through his favorite tunes. Ten Thousand Mornings isn't exactly essential, but it's at least quite enjoyable. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Peter Keane, Mary Lou Lord, Chris Smither

DOUG POWELL
The Lost Chord
(Parasol)
Now that Nashville pop supergroup Swag has imploded, Doug Powell, the little-known singer/songwriter who provided the Swag record with many of its best moments, can get back to the business of being a one-man power pop auteur with his fourth album The Lost Chord. Powell has long been a master of post-Beatles tuneage and heartfelt lyricism—see the record's "A Roar Boring Alice," "Baby Blue" and "The Palace of a Sigh" for examples. But here he also adds an experimental streak that gives his music a more unpredictable edge. "Merlin Laughed" uses a descending hard rock chord progression and angry distortion to fuel a song that has more in common with prog metal than Badfinger. "Queen of Hurts" runs its singalong melodies and busy drum tracks through enough fuzz to choke a lint trap, while "Machina" marries its heavenly melody to romantic cyberpunk lyrics and an odd-metered machine percussion track. The headline cut, an otherwise dreamy ballad, fades out over a squealing, speaker-shredding solo that may be a guitar but could be a pennywhistle under all that effluvia. No matter how much audio crud (a description, not a value judgment) Powell may heap on a track, though, he never overpowers his trademark knack for hooks. Powell has added enough spice to his pop recipe to take his artistry to the next level, making The Lost Chord his best album yet. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Cotton Mather, the Posies, Electric Light Orchestra

THE VINES
Highly Evolved
(Capitol)
The Vines are the latest rock band to be nearly buried in hype, touted as the saviors of rock & roll by media pundits and industry buzz. As with the Strokes, the White Stripes, the Hives and other modern rockers choking on their own press, there's no way the young Australian quartet could live up to its advance notices, especially with Highly Evolved as its calling card. Not that the record is bad, mind you. Frontman Craig Nicholls is capable of writing in a variety of different styles and the band is comfortable with all of them. And that's precisely the problem. Between the punk/pop of "Outtathaway," "Get Free" and the title track, in which Nicholls screams himself hoarse over wall-of-fuzz guitars, and the Beatlesque psychedelic pop of "Autumn Shade," "Mary Jane" and "Homesick," on which Nicholls sweetly sings over languid melodies, this is a seriously schizophrenic band. There's nothing wrong with being proficient in a number of styles, but it helps to sound like the same group on every song, instead of a couple of different ones sharing a split CD. The Vines seems most comfortable with the beauty and emotional landscapes of the psych/pop tracks; the perky ska/punk of "Factory" seems to work for the band as well. But the combo tends to sound generic on the raging rockers, and it doesn't help that all of the more aggressive tracks end with the same fadeout over incoherent screaming. Nicholls' instantly appealing tunes tend to tip the scales in the band's favor, but the Vines would probably be better off picking a direction and sticking to it. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Idlewild, Nirvana, Supergrass

ROGER WALLACE
The Lowdown
(Lone Star/Texas Music Group)
It happens so often that it's become a cliché, but here it is: Texas has produced yet another quality country singer. Austin's Roger Wallace proves his C&W mettle on his third album The Lowdown. He's got the requisite emotive baritone, the necessary traditionalist accouterments (pedal steel, fiddle, top-rank Austin roots musicians like Brad Fordham and Lisa Pankratz) and, most significantly, a ten-gallon hatful of good songs. Texas shitkickers like their tunes tight, raw and danceable, and Wallace happily gives them what they want with floor-shufflers like "So Long (Be Gone)," "What Did I Do (The Teardrop Song)" and the Western swing-based "Me and Abalina Jane." Being not only a good writer but also a student of his predecessors, he also includes takes on Teri Joyce's "Blow Wind Blow" and Harlan Howard's "I'll Catch You When You Fall," one of the most unsentimental love songs ever written. Derek O'Brien's clear, to-the-bone production perfectly suits Wallace's Texas two-stepping. The Lone Star state has a habit of honing the careers of aspiring honkytonkers, and Roger Wallace takes his place in the pantheon. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Dale Watsons, Dallas Wayne, Hank Williams III