November 16, 2000
THE GOOD LIFE
Novena on a Nocturn (Better Looking)
Tim Kasher, AKA The Good Life, is yet another one of those four-to-eight trackin' bedroom pop artists that sprang up like particularly virulent weeds in the wake of Pavement, Guided By Voices and the Apples in stereo. In all fairness, Kasher is a member of a better known (by indie standards) band called Cursive, and Novena on a Nocturn was recorded in a real studio, with Kasher's tunes interpreted by real musicians, including members of Lullaby For the Working Class. Kasher's also got a much stronger singing voice than most of this ilk; it only gets out of his control when he reaches for those high notes that aren't just on the next shelf, they're on the roof. His emotional songs are strongly crafted and reasonably melodic, though none of them really stand out. There's really nothing bad about this record—it's sensitive, tasteful, sincere, etc.—but it just doesn't grab me. I'd like to think it's because it's mediocre, but maybe I'm just a heartless bastard. If homemade angst pop is your thing, though, by all means, enjoy The Good Life.
For fans of: Neutral Milk Hotel, Lullaby For the Working Class, the Smiths
NORTH STAR
Tempest (Space Monster Optional Entertainment)
Veteran American prog act North Star has been knocking around for nearly 20 years with far less acclaim than they deserve, probably because they've released a mere handful of albums in that time, Tempest being the latest. Since their last album Power, singer/bassist Joe Newnam retired from active duty. Rather than replace him, the remaining trio (keyboardist Kevin Leonard, guitarist Dave Johnson, drummer Glenn Leonard) decided to carry on as an instrumental trio. (Though Newnam does contribute "Raudra," a nine-minute sitar piece.) While Newnam's Peter Gabriel-like vocals are missed, his absence does help the band sound less like old Genesis. Johnson takes up the slack with more aggressive picking, his riffs often taking up the space vocal melodies would normally fill. Meanwhile Kevin continues his tradition of nimble keyboard riffs and lush synth textures, and Glenn holds it all together like Velcro. The band shows off some licks derived from jazz in their classically-influenced prog repertoire, adding extra dimension to their widescreen compositions. With the exception of the synth-vibes version of Bach's "Prelude in C," which is entirely too much like Manheim Steamroller for my taste, Tempest is a great record, especially for anyone who likes prog's melodic ideas but not the lyrics and vocals.
For fans of: Happy the Man, Brand X, Wendy Carlos
BROCK PYTEL
Second Choice (Scamindy)
One of the things about music in the 90s that makes me rant 'n' rave uncontrollably is do-it-yourself musicians who self-record and release albums despite little actual talent to speak of. You know, the kind that know two chords and haven't gotten laid in a while, and think this gives them the right to use their college loans to make an album. They get away with it because they're so "indie" and they're "bucking the system, man!" They're automatically afforded too much credibility to be criticized for anything so trivial as, oh, I don't know, actual musical ability. I'm not against artists who decide to go the DIY route—indeed, I think any musician with half a brain should do it that way, it's the only way they'll be paid fairly—but it seems to me that before someone sets one foot in a studio or hits "record" on a four-track they should ask themselves the question "Do I really have anything I should be inflicting on the rest of humanity" and try to answer that one honestly. Most of these folks, of course, listen to their Guided By Voices records and think, "Well, hell, these guys never bother to finish writing their songs, why should I?" and start tracking away. And we (mainly those of us in the music media—the general public is spared, to what would be their eternal gratitude if they knew about it) suffer for it.
That's why it's such a pleasure to come across an album like Brock Pytel's Second Choice. Yeah, the guy's bucking the system and the whole bit, but he can and should, because he's got real talent. A fine singer, solid instrumentalist (mainly drums and guitar) and a strong songwriter, Pytel gives us twelve soulful, melodic rock/pop gems that are well-recorded without being slick and artificial-sounding. In all fairness, he's no college student with a trust fund, but a veteran musician, best known as drummer/songwriter for obscure 80s Canadian punk poppers The Doughboys. That said, he hasn't made a record since 1989, so he might as well have come from out of nowhere, and all the Gen X 'n' Y four-trackers from the same locale could learn a few things about songcraft and sensitivity from Second Choice. The emotional depth Pytel displays here, though, has to be (l)earned on one's own. Sometimes there's just no substitute for experience.
For fans of: Soul Asylum, Fastball, Joseph Arthur
RHAPSODY
Dawn of Victory (Limb/SPV)
OK, now this is just silly. It's one thing to record a progressive (and I use the term loosely) metal album with fantastical sword & sorcery themes, a full orchestra and choir and melodies adapted from European classical music, medieval folk songs and Hollywood blockbuster soundtracks—all with a board-straight face. It's quite another to do that same record four times in a row. Once is amusing, if you're in a "look at all the effort put into this piece of hooey" state of mind. Four times is just plain aggravating. There's precious little here to distinguish Dawn of Victory from its three predecessors (one of which masqueraded as a solo album by guitarist/composer/conceptualist Luca Turilli). The guitars have been ever so slightly mixed forward a bit (probably so they could be heard over the din of the choir), and a few melodies almost border on poppy, in a Poison/Warrant sort of way, but you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference between this and the Italian quintet's previous buckets of gruel. Dawn of Victory (the cover of which seems to have kidnapped Iron Maiden's longtime mascot) sounds like the soundtrack of a Hollywood swords & sorcery flick—I mean, just check out these song titles: "Holy Thunderforce," "Triumph For My Magic Steel," "Dargor, Shadowlord of the Black Mountain"—which would probably please the band immensely. And the cover poses some dude in a latex elf mask going by the unlikely moniker "Aresius, the ancient wizard" as if he were a member of the band! This was cheesy fun once, but four records in it's just tedious.
For fans of: Erik Norlander (whose Into the Sunset is infinitely better than this dreck), Blind Guardian, over-the-top Hollywood soundtrack music
JOE JACKSON
Big World (A&M)
In 1986 Joe Jackson was on a creative roll. He'd put out two albums in a row, Night and Day (1982) and Body and Soul (1984), that were both critically and commercially successful. With his latest batch of new material, he meant to equal, if not better, that success with an album that put together pretty much everything he'd dabbled in up to this point. And he was going to digitally record it live to two-track. The result of this effort is Big World (1986), an album that sees him return to the stripped-down quartet format of his first three records, but that includes stops at just about every musical signpost he'd put up along the road. (Except for the Louis Jordan sounds of Jumpin' Jive, but that was a covers album anyway.) There's a bit of pretty much anything Jackson felt like giving a go here. Instead of being a dilettantish mishmash, however, it's a stunning tour-de-force. Jackson's winsome way with a melody and his strong vision as a bandleader means that every song here, no matter the style, sounds of a piece with the rest of the album, from the Latin sound of "Tango Atlantico," Gypsy feel of "Fifty Dollar Love Affair" and exotic Eastern licks of "(It's a) Big World" to the epic balladry of "Forty Years," the angry rock of "Man in the Street" and straight power pop of "Precious Time." He's also at the top of his game lyrically, going from sarcastic ("The Jet Set") to sardonic ("Right and Wrong") to wistful ("Home Town," one of the greatest songs he's ever written) to romantic ("Tonight and Forever") with ease, sounding confident and sincere with each stance. Big World is quite simply an amazingly consistent set of great songs, a sustained creative high on a par with Hüsker Dü's Warehouse: Songs and Stories, John Hiatt's Bring the Family or Jimi Hendrix's debut album. Yes, folks, it's that good. Unfortunately, it's also out of print. Despite its high quality, it didn't sell in nearly the numbers of Jackson's previous platters, and A&M eventually let it slip into oblivion. Get a musical bloodhound and track the sucker down, though—it will reward you many times over.
Jackson followed Big World with his sleep-inducing symphonic debut Will Power, but quickly recovered from that near-debacle (he'd eventually get it right in the 90s with Symphony No. 1) by issuing two killers in a row, Live 1980/86, one of the greatest live albums of all time, and what may very well be his masterpiece, 1989's Blaze of Glory. He continues to write and record prolifically today. Check his website for details.
For fans of: Elvis Costello, Mike Viola and the Candy Butchers, Randy Newman