JACK WHITE
Released June 10, 2014
As I stated at the very beginning of this site, Synesthesia is a place of celebration not criticism. While I still stand by that sentiment and mission statement, I do feel compelled to take some time to perhaps offer some uncharacteristically critical words concerning Jack White.
First things first I strongly feel, without question, that Jack White is a supremely gifted songwriter/producer and musician, who represents precisely what is indeed lacking in our current musical landscape as far as skill, creativity and overall musicianship are concerned. That being said, and aside from the brilliant double album "Elephant" (April 1, 2003) and a handful of songs, I also feel that The White Stripes is a hugely overrated band, undone by their own self-imposed limitations which led to a musical sameness that just grew somewhat tiresome for me. I thoroughly enjoy White's two other bands, The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather and White's solo album debut "Blunderbuss" (released April 23, 2012) much more than everything in The White Stripes' catalog due to the wider musical palate combined with stronger sense of collaboration. And I have to say that if you happened to have seen the episode of "Austin City Limits" featuring White and his two backing bands, one all male, the other all female, it truly encapsulated just how brilliant and blistering he can be.
But something "funny" happened on the way to his new solo album and it was almost enough to make me not even purchase it, despite my anxiousness to grab a copy.
In the pre-release hype for the new album, Jack White, in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, continued his long standing beef against The Black Keys, once again bemoaning the idea that they had somehow swiped their sound from his own work with The White Stripes. White further went onwards to express the following statement, "There are kids at school who dress like everybody else because they don't know what to do, and there are musicians like that, too I'll hear TV commercials where the music's ripping off sounds of mine, to the point I think it's me. Half the time, it's The Black Keys...There's a whole world that's totally fine with the watered down version of the original."
Jack White, I do believe that generations upon generations of Black musicians have a bone to pick with you.
What irritated me beyond having to wade through Jack White's massive ego was his complete disconnect to the fact that he himself is precisely the much watered down version of the original and his lack of self-awareness to his place in musical history just made my jaw drop to the ground. So, yes, I was annoyed to the point where I nearly did not purchase the album but of course, I did and thankfully, "Lazaretto" makes not only for a fine new addition to the Jack White discography but it is also one of th emost musically diverse albums he had made to date.
Granted, White's vocal "Lawdy "Lawdy" chants in the album's first track "Three Women" and his intentional dropping of the letter "T" in words like "rotten" and "cotton" in his hip-hop cadenced drawl on the album's title track nearly put me off of the whole thing as the proceedings threatened to spiral off into parody. But, I could not deny that stinging guitar work, the Led Zeppelin styled swagger, the ever shifting time signatures and the sheer forcefulness of what I was hearing, which almost sounded like that "Austin City Limits" special put to disc.
"Lazaretto" is an album that contains what feels like Jack White's most straightforward lyrics about love and loss but those are combined with music that smashes various musical styles together so effortlessly. Where the ballad "Temporary Ground" carries that Gram Parsons/Emylou Harris vibe, the striking instrumental "High Ball Stepper" conjures nothing less than Ennio Morricone combined with that Zeppelin thunder. We have the narrative acoustic numbers like "Entitlement" and "Want And Able" crossing paths with the likes of "Just One Drink,"which begins with an obvious nod to The Velvet Underground but then shape shifts into a hillbilly back porch fiddle dance. "Alone In My Home" surprisingly made me think of that Steve Forbert pop hit from 1980, "Romeo's Tune." And a track like "That Black Bat Licorice" nearly defies description.
So, in the end, and despite whatever nonsense Jack White decides to spew during a promotional interview, which I have since thought happened to be nothing more than a stunt to drum up interest, the music has to matter. And as far as Jack White is concerned, it cannot be denied that for him, the music does indeed matter the most.
"PINATA BEATS"
Released June 3, 2014
"ROCK KONDUCTA VOLUMES 1 & 2"
Released July 15, 2014
Both releases Produced by Madlib
-A few Summers ago, I somehow became heavily stepped into the musical wonderland of acclaimed hip-hop producer/DJ/musician Madlib, and what a deep and rich wonderland he has amassed through a wildly diverse and downright huge and prolific collection of releases (and even through mythical musical pseudonyms like Yesterdays New Quintet and also The Last Electro-Acoustic Space Jazz & Percussion Ensemble) that span hip-hop collaborations, instrumental jazz fusion albums, and encyclopedic DJ journeys through all manner of musical genres from jazz to disco and even the music of India.
This Summer, I have been voyaging through two new releases. The first, an instrumental version of "Pinata," his collaboration with rapper Freddie Gibbs, gave me a window into the world of how tracks are established to assist with creating the proper musical mood and landscape for the rapper's lyrics. And in this case, since I have not heard the original vocal version of the album, I am only left to guessing the lyrical content, which by the sounds of the actual music just may be as reflective, melancholy, nostalgic and moody as it is swaggering.
With "Rock Konducta Volumes 1 & 2," Madlib's latest entry in his expansive "Konducta" series, we have a 2 disc instrumental travelogue through the world of rock and roll via a dizzying and kaleidoscopic collection of beats and samples of obscure European rock, Krautrock, prog rock and psychedelia. And like the music that inspired this album, it is indeed a TRIP worth taking.
JENNY LEWIS
Produced by Ryan Adams and Mike Viola
except "Head Underwater" produced by Jenny Lewis and Jonathan Rice and
"Just One Of The Guys" produced by Beck Hansen
Released July 29, 2014
As it has so often happened with me over the years, I have this uncanny ability to fall in love with a band only to have them break up shortly thereafter. One of those bands happened to be Rilo Kiley, whom I discovered at the time of what would eventually become their final album, "Under The Blacklight" (released August 17, 2007). Thankfully, Jenny Lewis, Rilo Kiley's primary songwriter, has returned with "The Voyager," her third solo album, which finds her largely in collaboration with the mighty Ryan Adams and creating a soic palate that sounds as if it had been recorded just down the hallway from Fleetwood Mac circa 1977.
Lyrically, "The Voyager" is a collection of short stories, character portraits and monologues, starring a collective of women (or quite possibly, representations of Lewis herself) all presented in an state of emotional turbulence or transformation and realized through the filter of strikingly well written and instantly accessible pop songs. The album opening and sugary sweet "Head Underwater" details the fractured mental state of a woman enduring insomnia (something Jenny Lewis herself has battled), while the story song standout "Late Bloomer" chronicles the tale of a cross country journey featuring a young woman, her near obsessive crush upon an older woman and the songwriter they are both chasing. Introspective insecurities and inner demons arise in the "The New You," "You Can't Outrun 'Em," the doomed romantic vacation of "Aloha And The Three Johns," and the terrific Beck produced first single "Just One Of The Guys," on which Lewis proclaims, "There's only one difference between you and me/When I look at myself, all that I can see/I'm just another lady without a baby."
For me, the song that I have practically played on repeat is the shimmering, soulful "She's Not Me," the tale of relationship woe and regret from a character unable to process how her ex has moved onwards while she has remained at a point of stagnation.
Trust me, dear readers and listeners, if you have not heard the first class songwriting and warm vocals of Jenny Lewis either through Rilo Kiley or as a solo artist, I urge you to give her music a much needed spin. And if you are so inclined, I cannot express to you emphatically enough that "The Voyager" is an excellent place to start.
TAME IMPALA
Released May 16, 2014
Now you all know about my passionate love for the 21st century psychedelia of Tame Impala, whose second album "Lonerism" (released October 5, 2012) was my number one favorite release of 2012. As I not so anxiously await future music from the band, I am pleased to be able to hear "Live Versions" a digital album that was first released as an exclusive vinyl only recording for this year's Record Store Day.
Having seen the band perform live, this album is a wonderful souvenir as the 9 collected tracks perfectly showcases the group amalgam of Beatles' psychedelia merged with the expansiveness of Pink Floyd and even Genesis, while not ever sacrificing pop songcraft. One thing I also appreciated was how raw of a recording this actually happens to be. Unlike most live albums that are later tweaked or heavily augmented in the studio, this album feels like the real deal as we can hear bandleader/guitarist Kevin Parker's voice crack on a few occasions and a couple of other minor missteps that come from a band playing music this complicated.
Now...bring on LP3 already!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment