DWEEZIL ZAPPA
Released August 25, 2015
NEW 2015 MUSIC: Achieved and fully realized through crowd funding (I contributed a taste), Dweezil Zappa has released his very first solo album in 10 years with the warm "Via Zammata'."
Performed with the full and current incarnation of the Zappa Plays Zappa touring band, we certainly are able to hear the connective tissue between Dweezil and the iconic work of his Father, the late Frank Zappa, on tracks like the opening instrumental "Funky 15," "On Fire," "Malkovich" (which does indeed feature the spoken word vocals of a certain inscrutable actor) and of course, the heavy metal shriekfest "Dragon Master," apparently the only song Father and son composed together.
But even so, Dweezil Zappa is his own man and has recorded a collection of songs that mostly are surprisingly earnest musings and meditations on the unpredictable nature of life, (including "Nothing," "Hummin'," "What If," "Jaws Of Life") and all filtered through rich, clean production, Beach Boys harmony vocals as well as Dweezil's inviting lead vocals and his inimitable guitar work.
I am actually not certain if the album is currently available through digital means but the physical release will occur close to Thanksgiving--so, check it out when it officially arrives!!
THE BLACK KEYS
Released April 1, 2008
MUDCRUTCH
Released April 29, 2008
THE ARCS
Released September 4, 2015
NEW 2015 MUSIC: At first, this debut album from The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach's new side project does not sound too terribly far removed from The Black Keys' most recent albums (especially the ones where they have collaborated with Danger Mouse) but that is not a bad thing whatsoever. Regardless, and after several spins, The Arcs have created one of the most intriguing and engaging albums that I have heard in 2015.
I do have to say that the album is a bit of an odd beast. That is true. Even so, "Yours, Dreamily" feels like one of those truly left of center releases that is highly accessible but keeps you off guard just enough to make you question what could possibly arrive next, after your bearings have been upended over and again.
The album's 14 tracks run the gamut from highly charged rockers like the opening "Outta My Mind," the deep bass psychedelic hip-hop groove of "Put A Flower In Your Pocket," the Jimi Hendrix meets The Delfonics stoned soul ballad of "Stay In My Corner," the clip-clop pseudo Western blues of "Everything You Do (You Do For You)," the grindhouse porn soundtrack of "Come And Go," the seductive lush dream of "Nature's Child" and even more, and all with Auerbach's terrific, soulful vocals and sizzling guitar work binding this musically diverse experience all together.
PRETENDERS
Released November 4, 1986
THE COLD AND LOVELY
Released January 20, 2015
NEW 2015 MUSIC: After the dark and brooding insular music of the debut album "The Cold And Lovely" (released June 5, 2012) and the expansive Gothic pop of "Ellis Bell" (released September 24, 2013), The Cold and Lovely, the configuration of Meghan Toohey (composer/singer/multi-instrumentlaist) and Nicole Fiorentino (bassist/vocalist), have returned with the 8 tracked "What Will I Become," easily their most propulsive and finest release yet.
Where the music of the first two releases felt to be more introverted, this third effort finds TC&L reaching outwards with songs, power chords, beats, rhythms and melodies meant for the stadiums. The brilliantly bombastic "Compass" sounds and swaggers as if Kate Bush fronted Led Zeppelin. The carnal romanticism and aggressiveness of "Dark Cloud," "Runaway" and "Lost All Control" all sound ready made for the dance club, at least the ones where slam dancing has made a comeback. And the soaring "Hold On To Me" is the best power ballad I've heard in a blue moon. Only the appropriately spooky "The Omen" and the closing euro-robotic dream pop of "Glow" suggest the music of the band's past, therefore expanding their musical vision, and making me anxious for whatever will arrive next time.
PRETENDERS
Released June 29, 1983
FLEETWOOD MAC
Released October 12, 1979
PRETENDERS
Released January 19, 1980
GARY CLARK JR.
Released September 11, 2015
NEW 2015 MUSIC: I won't say that Gary Clark Jr. is necessarily holding back on his unquestionable guitar heroics on his latest studio release but just as with his previous effort, the wildly diverse "Blak And Blue" (released October 22, 2012), he is downplaying his guitar fireworks in favor of showcasing his abilities as a songwriter, singer (his impressive falsetto shows up consistently throughout this album) and his serous chops as a multi-instrumentalist as he handles nearly all of the album's instruments himself. Additionally, where the blues remains the musical foundation, you are more likely to hear the influence of hip-hop, classic soul and gospel music in the album's thirteen tracks.
From the emotional, pleading acoustic introspection of "Church," the rousing mission statement of "The Healing," the hip swaying bass guitar driven "Star," the arrival and influence of the ghost of Curtis Mayfield on "Hold On" and "Cold Blooded" and most certainly, the nearly eight minute closing slow jam of "Down To Ride" (which, to my ears, sounds like a sonic sequel to "You Saved Me" from "Blak And Blue"), Gary Clark Jr.'s "The Story Of Sonny Boy Slim" is a slow burn of an album that does not leap out of the speakers. Like some of the finest blues, Clark Jr. takes his sweet time before laying out the sting. And while I do have to give it to Clark Jr. for being somewhat quietly defiant by not giving listeners what we just may be wanting from him, I also feel that there's still a GREAT album in him just waiting to be released and when it happens, we will all be laid out flat.
FRANK ZAPPA
Released June 25, 1975
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