Album Reviews

THE BITTER LITTLE CIDER APPLES
Still
(Pink Hedgehog)
The Bitter Little Cider Apples are a small town British pop band with ties to the Lucky Bishops and Cheese. Surprisingly, the quartet pretty much eschews the psychedelia its cohorts indulge in so freely; unsurprisingly, its album is full of gently eccentric, aggressively melodic, often brilliant pop songs. Michael Toland [buy it]

BLONDIE
The Curse of Blondie
(Sanctuary)
The latest Blondie record finds the group doing what's it's always done: folding elements of contemporary dance music into classic guitar pop. It's good to see these veterans keep up with the times without sounding trendy. Now if only Debby Harry (who's still working out her mature-years voice) and company can work their songwriting mojo back to full strength, the ongoing Blondie reunion will be worth celebrating. Michael Toland [buy it]

BLUERIDGE
Side By Side
(Sugar Hill)
Led by mandolinist Alan Bibey and guitarist Junior Sisk, BlueRidge proudly carries the torch for traditional bluegrass. The band's third album Side By Side leans heavily on gospel, but leaves plenty of room for massive heartbreak. The musicians are expert (particularly the demon-fingered Bibey) and the singing soulful and heartfelt. There's nothing groundbreaking here, but it's a job beautifully well done. Michael Toland [buy it]

CHROMATICS
Plaster Hounds
(Gold Standard Laboratories)
Chromatics revel in the art of ugly music, and I mean that as a description, not a value judgment. Bassist Nat Sahlstrom and guitarist/vocalist Adam Miller take their cues from bands like Suicide, the Laughing Hyenas and the Fall, with repetitive grooves, harsh guitars, burbling synths and singing by way of a drunken Pentecostal preacher. The presentation of this kind of rant & roll is usually more of a challenge than an invitation, so consider accordingly. Michael Toland [buy it]

GREY DELISLE
The Graceful Ghost
(Sugar Hill)
Grey DeLisle's is a voice actor by day, but if The Graceful Ghost is an example of her extracurricular activities, she'll need to leave work soon enough. Her debut record is an endearingly quirky, casually spiritual concoction blended from folk, country and gospel, like a combination of Dolly Parton, Gillian Welch and Victoria Williams. Her songs are excellent and the accompaniment from husband Murray Hammond and producer Marvin Etzioni is perfect. The Graceful Ghost is too charming to deny and too deep to dismiss. Michael Toland [buy it]

EARTH, WIND & FIRE
I Am
(ARC/Columbia/Legacy)
This 1979 album boasts two of EWF's biggest hits: the disco apex "Boogie Wonderland" and the slow-dance classic "After the Love Has Gone," plus slick ear candy like "In the Stone," "Wait" and "Let Your Feelings Show." This edition also contains the intriguing, funky-butt "Dirty," featuring, of all people, blues harpist Junior Wells. I Am ain't quite on par with the band's classics That's the Way of the World or All 'N All, but I can't imagine any serious EWF fan being without it. Michael Toland [buy it]

THE ELECTED
Me First
(Sub Pop)
A spinoff of the indie rock band Rilo Kiley, the Elected revolves around singer/songwriter Blake Sennett, a young man with a C&W soul and a serious Elliott Smith jones. Like a lot of indie rockers, he tries to balance heartfelt sentiment and cooler-than-thou studio trickery, like a low-budget Sparklehorse. His reach exceeds his grasp as for as his heroes are concerned, but he's got the potential to become your new favorite sensitive guy, and I don't mean that as an insult. Michael Toland [buy it]

FIVEHEAD
Guests of the Nation
(Tight Spot)
Austin's Fivehead makes indie rock that's melodic but not too melodic, sincere but not overtly heartfelt, hampered mainly by the lack of a strong vocalist. Tunes like "Remember to Forget" and "Wallet Chain" show craft as well as heart. There's absolutely nothing wrong with Guest of the Nation, yet I find it easier to admire that enjoy. Which says more about me than the band, frankly. Michael Toland

THE GLASSPACK
Bridgeburner
(Small Stone)
Art in music is a damn good thing, but sometimes you just gotta rock. And if you wanna do that, you'll find no better soundtrack to your head/finger/groupie-bangin' dreams than Bridgeburner, the new album from Kentucky's Glasspack. Dirty Dave rocks the ear wax out of the garage grunge riffs, the heavy groovin' melodies, his poor Telecaster, "Sympathy for the Devil" and pretty much anybody who gets too close. Who will thank him for it later, believe me. Michael Toland [buy it]

J.A. GRANELLI AND MR. LUCKY
Gigantic
(Love Slave)
Closer to instrumental blues rock than fusion, Gigantic posits bassist Granelli and his band as heirs to the legacy of Zony Mash and Ronnie Earl. Though Granelli writes the tunes, it's really slide guitarist David Tronzo and keyboardist Jamie Saft who feature most prominently here. Odd (but strangely beautiful) cover: Yvonne Ellman's "If I Can't Have You." Michael Toland [buy it]

THE GURUS
The Gurus
(Rainbow Quartz)
Like mid-period Beatles, or the Hollies right after they took acid, Spain's Gurus conjure up bittersweet psychedelic pop enchantments that break zero new ground. But "Silver Rain," "Purple Blue" and "My Beautiful Home" simply sound too good to deny. If the word "retro" doesn't make you break out in hives, the sweet sounds of the Gurus will make you smiley smile. Michael Toland [buy it]

HELLBORG/LANE/SIPE
Time is the Enemy
(Bardo)
More power trio fusion madness from bassist Jonas Hellborg, drummer Jeff Sipe (AKA Apt. Q-258) and late guitarist Shawn Lane. The latter uses a very John Scofield-esque tone on his ax for these 1996 performances, while Hellborg lays the funky-butt bass solos on thick. (Sipe is his usual beatkeeping, unobtrusive self.) As with the trio's previous platters, this is for musos and fusion fanatics more than for casual listeners, though the rock influence is unusually prevalent. Michael Toland [buy it]

INK PUDDLE COMPOUND
Tantrum Seas and Dust Lands
(Camera Obscura)
Musician/artist Brandon Siscoe lives in his own mysterious world, in which can be found "Sirens in Our Bed" and "Furnace Palms," where "Our Sculptor Was a Lazy Prince," "We Had Frost On Our Bodies" and "A Third Eye on Every Child" is to be devoutly wished for. His quirky, droning synthesis of acoustic guitars and electronics, unsettling Goth and acid folk, will either conjure bliss or induce nightmares. Or both, which was probably the aim in the first place. Michael Toland [buy it]

LITTLE RICHARD
Get Down With It: The Okeh Sessions
(Epic/Legacy)
In one of his many comeback attempts, Little Richard signed with Okeh (now part of the Sony empire) and made 1966's The Explosive Little Richard with producer/songwriter Larry Williams of "Slow Down" fame. Get Down With It puts that record together with seven outtakes for a wild ride through 60s soul as sung by "the originator, the architect and the creator of rock 'n' roll!" Besides making absolutely clear what Otis Redding owed Richard, it's a great set of on-the-edge R&B tunes. Michael Toland [buy it]

ALLISON MOORER
The Duel
(Sugar Hill)
Like her sister Shelby Lynne, Allison Moorer has rapidly outgrown the C&W dress and embraced a more all-encompassing worldview that includes rock, soul and the blues. Her songs (co-written with her husband Butch Primm) are strong and melodic, and the arrangements center quite rightly around her soulful voice, which she manipulates without the slightest hint of bombast or false emotion. The Duel has Austin City Limits written all over it. Michael Toland [buy it]