Reviews

Ulysses Owens Jr. Big Band: Soul Conversations

Ulysses Owens Jr.

Soul Conversations

Outside in Music

Ulysses Owens Jr. is an exciting and in-demand drummer – he’s backed the likes of Wynton Marsalis, Kurt Elling and Christian McBride. He’s made a small handful of dynamic records as a leader – including the impressive, conceptual – political – statement Songs of Freedom and he still turns up to sit in with small combos including, most recently as a member of Alexa Tarantino’s band on this killer record. Read More »

Vincent Herring: Preaching To The Choir

Vincent Herring

Preaching To The Choir

Smoke Sessions

Vincent Herring is a hell of a player – a saxophonist that brings to mind the best of Charlie Parker’s sprightly runs and his way with a melody, just updated for the modern context. And his latest album is not just a celebration of his extraordinary talents (and his amazing band – featuring the great Cyrus Chetnut on piano, Jonathan Blake on the drums and Yasushi Nakamura on bass) but also the fact that Herring is still here and playing. You see, last year – and presumably on a flight back from celebrating Parker’s influence as part of a centenary concert – Herring contract Covid. And a side-effect from the virus was the development of rheumatoid arthritis. He worried he might not play again. But you’ll go no such worry when you hear this – it’s a lively session, with huge tunes and dynamic playing. Read More »

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May 7, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

Mandy Barnett: Every Star Above

Mandy Barnett

Every Star Above

BMG Rights Management (UK) Ltd

Mandy Barnett is sometimes referred to as “the country Judy Garland”, a modern day torch singer – a Nashville chanteuse. She’s a country singer but her ability to carry the depth and breadth of a tune and sell the story of a song has always been wider than just one genre. Country has been the pigeonhole – that changes here with this album. A tribute to Billie Holiday, specifically the Lady in Satin album – this classic set of standards (the songs have been recorded by so many other big names in vocal music – Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, Barbra Streisand) is here given the full 60-piece orchestra recreation; the feel is glorious. Instrumentally, this is a compelling piece – and then Barnett’s voice just lifts every song and places is back in Old Hollywood glamour. Read More »

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May 7, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

RNZ Reviews: May 2021

Once a month or so I have a chat on RNZ on their Afternoons show with Jesse Mulligan. I’ve been doing it for about five years now. Most months. This was my first time in for 2021.

This month I talked about two records from artists that have been in the game a while and have a recognisable, distinctive sound; quality work always and you could argue that both really came into fruition in the 1990s (you could also say both were heavily influenced by Neil Young – and in very different ways). One is a debut solo album, the other is yet another “comeback” record from a band enjoying a longer reunion than their first time at the wheel. Read More »

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May 6, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

Van Morrison: Latest Record Project Volume 1

Van Morrison

Latest Record Project Volume 1

BMG Rights Management (UK) Ltd

What was the line, there are those that like Van Morrison, and those that know him? Something like that. I’ve heard stories from people that have had a direct involvement with him – and the best you could say was that he is grumpy. But the argument against any of that has always been to pick one of a half-dozen of the very best albums he made and watch time stand still as you get caught in its sway and couldn’t ever imagine anyone else making that sort of music. There are moments within the songs on Astral Weeks, Veedon Fleece and the live document, Too Late To Stop Now that feel more significant than the full careers of many other artists. Read More »

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May 6, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

Olivia Jean & April March: Palladium (ep)

Olivia Jean & April March

Palladium (ep)

Third Man Records

I haven’t loved everything Jack White has done but I have always been in support of the aesthetic and business model of his Third Man Records – classic, old-fashioned record-making for people that love music. Novelty jukebox singles, quirky fan projects and an overall quality-control too.

Here’s a neat idea, then. The same three songs are performed first in French then in English, this isn’t so much a collaborative EP as it is a good old-fashioned split record.

April March haCles en français and then Olivia Jean covers the exact song in English. On the 7” record it’s Side A Team French, Side B Team English or if you listen digitally you can mix and match or have them stacked – so you can DJ your own dance-party with English/French alternates or double-ups. Lots of fun.

And the songs themselves, great throwbacks to 60s pop with a rockabilly vibe. Perfect to impress the music-snob in your life – or at least give it a go.

And, probably because it is a novelty to me, but I’d say it’s Team French all the way, April March’s versions just feel like the ‘proper’ renditions. She certainly hits it out of the park with infectious opener, Allons-y; it’s such a catchy groove and danceable beat that when Olivia Jean translates it to Let’s Go I still think it’s great and I like listening to these two back to back.

But Sauce Piquante feels better than its English translation – Hot Sauce. The instrumental track is identical but there’s something about the French language in these hooky, catchy songs. That also have utterly throwaway lyrics, in English. It’s like I’d rather not know.

The closers are Petite Voyoutte/Punkette – with phoney Beatlemania-styled crowd screams atop. Olivia Jean’s version comes close to some of the 90s commercial-version of Riot Grrl – or at least Veruca Salt and the like.

A good fun EP. Worth a listen.

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May 5, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

Chris Abrahams / Mark Wastell: A Thousand Sacred Ships

Chris Abrahams / Mark Wastell

A Thousand Sacred Ships

Confront Recordings

Two great improvisers finally recording together. Back in 2018 The Necks had a European residency – so while over there and in that place pianist Chris Abrahams recorded this EP with multi-instrumentalist Mark Wastell. The British percussionist (at least on this recording) and Australian pianist were aware of each other and much of the music they made but here they sat down to create something together. Read More »

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May 5, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

Pink Floyd: Live At Knebworth 1990

Pink Floyd

Live At Knebworth 1990

Legacy

The Knebworth show from 1990 was really special to me – Pink Floyd was the closing act on the 1990 ‘Best of British’ bill. All the dinosaurs gathered – 30 years ago! – Status Quo and Dire Straits and Eric Clapton, Plant and Page, Elton John, Cliff and The Shadows, Paul McCartney, Phil Collins and Genesis, Tears For Fears were the hip young things I guess. Then there was the Floyd. It was the most dad-of-the-dadrock ever. Read More »

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May 4, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

Dianne Swann: The War On Peace of Mind

Dianne Swann

The War On Peace of Mind

Dianne Swann

Dianne Swann’s debut solo album is the “lockdown project” that was 35 years in the making. That the end-result is just eight songs (30 minutes) speaks to not only a lack of ego but to a love of music from a specific era, from growing up and through the time when 8-song albums were the norm (the 70s and into the 80s) – it is a reminder, too, of the careful and considered approach, the quality-control that has been a hallmark of Swann’s recorded career across various bands and as a contributor to so many projects – not a note is wasted. Read More »

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May 3, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

Dinosaur Jr: Sweep It Into Space

Dinosaur Jr.

Sweep It Into Space

Jagjaguwar

What a strange – brilliant – run it’s been for Dinosaur Jr and their three distinct careers. Get this. Three albums in the late 80s, noisy/beautiful, messy/ugly – wonderful. And if you didn’t hear them at the time you sure went back to them. Then in the 90s J carried the band as a glorified solo project, capitalised on that initial run and made some (more) great music. The “grunge” years – which ran through most of that decade and across four albums that all have merit. And then J (actually) went solo. Meanwhile drummer Murph had joined the Lemonheads and bassist Lou Barlow was also making solo albums but only after creating the bands Sebadoh and Folk Implosion. Read More »

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May 3, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

Kajillionaire: DVD

Kajillionaire

Director: Miranda July

Plan B Pictures / Focus Films

Across books and movies – and various performance-art pieces, her one-woman shows and talks – Miranda July has built a worldview through using the lens of empathy to consider the largely unimaginable, the downright quirky, the weird and profoundly wonderful; there’s a darker edge in all of this too – the sad and unimaginably grim. So it is with her latest film (now on DVD) where, if anything, the material it draws on and the way the story is told the best comparison to her previous work is with the book It Chooses You rather than her other movies. Read More »

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May 2, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

Things I Know To Be True: Theatre

Things I Know To Be True

Direction: Shane Bosher (written by Andrew Bovell)

Circa Theatre; Circa One (April 30 – May 29)

Andrew Bovell has here created the sprawling epic family drama that is a distinctly Australian version of the big theatrical experiences we so often associate with American playwrights – from Tennessee Williams on through Tony Kushner and Tracy Letts; in particular the work of Letts feels prescient. And Bovell’s own earlier work (perhaps specifically Speaking In Tongues, later adapted by the writer for the feature film Lantana) prepares us for his themes – of family hurt coming as by-product of family love; too much love this play’s script even warns. Read More »