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February 27, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

Superturtle: Student Flat Reunion

Superturtle

Student Flat Reunion

Sarang Bang

Darren McShane (Stick No Bills, Chainsaw Masochist) has long been a pop outsider with an innate understanding of the actual insides of a pop-tune, of what makes it move, how to propel an idea through 2-3 minutes, adding just the right amount of jangle and never sounding too much like a jingle.

As Superturtle – or at least as the driving songwriting force behind that name – he’s created a strange and often wonderful set of songs across the years. I’m always interested when a new Superturtle record is unleased. This one actually is a record – 13 of its 19 tracks are on vinyl and there’s an accompanying CD with the full run of tunes (and you can stream it and download it and do all of those non-physical format activities too of course). Read More »

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February 27, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

Antipodes: Good Winter

Antipodes

Good Winter

Rattle

Trust Rattle to find the gems. Well, I do. Utterly. For a quarter-century or so now a small team has been creating CD-artworks (yes, the format is dying, dead – but they breathe life through commitment to liner notes, design, the idea of creating the artefact) and yet this could only matter if there was music to match. And there is. Frequently. Jazz, classical, and New Zealand folk and art music, that’s the Rattle way. And so here with Antipodes, a band of talented jazzers (Callum Allardice, Luke Sweeting, Ken Allars, Max Alduca, Aidan Lowe and Jake Baxendale) from across Australia and New Zealand (as the name suggests) we have a set of stately compositions, piece that came from four of the members of the group; all originals. Read More »

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February 27, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

Kurt Elling: The Questions

Kurt Elling

The Questions

Sony Masterworks

Kurt Elling remains the finest contemporary male jazz singer – I’ve been a fan across most of the last 20 years. It’s his voice, of course. The warmth. The depth. The heart. But it’s also the repertoire – and maybe those same descriptors can be applied, but it’s certainly the breadth, the thought that goes into choosing – and the reasons behind selections. He can include original material and it’s as important as the covers or standards. But it’s really about the theme he states and shapes across an album. The way he makes a book or movie out of songs. And then sings them true. Read More »

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February 27, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

Anxiety Club: Black Heart [EP]

Anxiety Club

Black Heart (ep)

(Independent/Bandcamp)

Wellington’s Anxiety Club has built a following, a reputation across the last couple of years – meaning there was actual anticipation for this, their debut EP. And it’s a wise move too, an EP, just five tracks, a toe in the water, so to speak.

There’s some lovely shades and textures here, horns on loan from Eb & Sparrow, the production and engineering skills of James Goldsmith (Nadia Reid, Beastwars, Mermaidens) and the strong vocal presence of Kev Fitzsimons who achieves something very rare here, in that he evokes tones of Bono without summoning nausea.

These are classy adult-pop songs, mature-minded but never high-brow. It’s accessible, and yet there’s some real skill in the playing, some actual thought in the arrangements. Standouts for me are the middle tracks, the EP’s title song and then Lonely Night. And where there’s a slight weep of Wilco in the opening to the song Black Heart (it’s actually more Richmond Fontaine) I’m reminded of things like The Wallflowers and Bruce Hornsby & The Range. (My apologies to any of the band members or fans if that all seems terribly – or terminally – uncool. I could give a fuck about coolness, I’m more interested in hallmarks of quality).

I Give In kicks off like latter-day Springsteen, another nod to the widescreen nature of the way these songs are framed – and for that we must thank the stately keys of Clint Meech (bringing to mind The Range, The E-Street Band and that general ‘colouring’ role of sitting under but being able to reach either side of the tune), also the just-right, rock-solid, never-overplayed drums of Chris Hill. Guitarist Cam ‘Dusty’ Burnell deftly adds not only lead guitar but banjo, mandolin and lap steel at various points, making him perfect to state a chugging rhythm (Holes In My Skin) or to provide gentle-country vibes (the closer here, Love Rescue Me).

It’s very much a case of EP-as-business-card, a well-honed (possibly even well-heeled) band saying “look, here’s what we can do”. Fortunately there’s something printed on both sides of this business card. So, plenty to take in. It all lines up, it’s all ticked off, but there’s just a bit more emotion and heart to all of this than I’m perhaps suggesting.

I really like these songs.

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February 26, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

José James: Lean On Me

José James

Lean On Me

Blue Note (BLU)

When he’s not making his own great (original) music José James is the guy you want covering you. His tribute album to Billie Holiday is a gold standard.

And now he gives the Bill Withers catalogue his touch – this is more of a straight reading, a warm tribute, James’ voice close to Withers in timbre, even the players here aping some of the magic (the great Nate Smith on drums sounds like an Energizer-Bunny version of James Gadson, particularly on Kissing My Love. Read More »

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February 20, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

UNWIND Chisholm/Meehan/Dyne: Orange

UNWIND: Chisholm/Meehan/Dyne

Orange

Rattle

I first heard Hayden Chisholm (saxophones) – well at least first really took notice on the glorious collaborative album Small Holes In The Silence featuring Hannah Griffin’s voice and Norman Meehan’s piano. The music was sparse, the lyrics drawn from famous New Zealand poems. Griffin and Meehan have an ongoing project in collaboration with Bill Manhire. Chisholm was the silent star of that record.

As he was when Meehan, he and long–serving Wellington bassist and educator Paul Dyne recorded a lovely record called Unwind.

Now they’ve taken that on as a band-name and here provide us with more – this time the music was recorded in Christchurch’s Orange Studio, so that’s the name of the album; there’s an accompanying DVD where you get to see Hayden, Norman and Paul place this music out in the spaces of the night.

It’s gorgeous stuff. Meehan and Dyne are tender accompanists, they now how to sit back and tease at the stray threads of the melody’s waft. Chisholm is the leader here, in the sense that his is, most often, the lead instrument. He’s the one stating the works, stamping them into place – even though it’s a collaboration and the writing comes from across the group. It’s Meehan and Dyne in underneath. And you couldn’t ask to be in better hands.

If there’s one last chance to hear the perfect plod of a looping bassline then you’re going to want to walk the plank with Paul Dyne.

Chisholm is all at once Chet Baker and Dave Liebman and Arve Henriksen – and Meehan is a soft set of guiding hands. He so often sets the mood, these after-hours ballads, these stately homilies; stoic, refined.

This is music stripped to the essence. There’s nothing left to trim here. It’s the sound of the shadows, a pensive joy. Where the Unwind album announced a brave, thoughtful trio creating spiritually connected, deeply contemplative music this, the announcement of Unwind the band, is a further reminder of the talents. Something deep, stirring and soulful. Something profoundly lovely lives in the spaces within these pieces.

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February 20, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

Pet Shop Boys: Agenda [EP]

Pet Shop Boys

Agenda [EP]

x2 Recordings Ltd

A ‘surprise’ new Pet Shop Boys EP? Yes, please! Apparently it’s a standalone release…which is to say these four songs won’t appear on the next new album (which is – or rather will be – a thing). So for now we have a set of political songs.

Now Pet Shop Boys has always included anthems with an activist’s heart and mind attached – and so here it’s to once again to that perfect dancefloor, celebratory pop aesthetic – all dated but warm and lovely synths one minute and day-glo melodies mixing with just a hint of mournful melancholia.

But here it’s a case of every song reacting to the current political climate – songs about extreme wealth (What Are We Going To Do About The Rich?), extreme ignorance (On Social Media) and extreme stupidity (Give Stupidity A Chance) – and then there’s the more forlorn, tender closer, The Forgotten Child. It is, by virtue of being the least gimmicky and the most thoughtful, the highlight. The standout track. But that’s not to say that the slogan-songs aren’t also worthwhile.

Give Stupidity A Chance bursts from the speakers, with a story-song approach to the lyric – sardonic balladry (a sub-category of Pet Shop Boys song from across the stellar catalogue) and On Social Media returns us to the late 80s/early 90s scene of their biggest, best dancefloor triumphs.

What Are We Going To Do About The Rich? is perhaps a little too Ab Fab for me, but I like the lyric enough to be pulled along by it.

What I like most about this though is that it exists. The Pet Shop Boys. Forever relevant. Usually brilliant. With their excellent and on-point one-word album titles, their mix of infectious pop/dance-template backdrop and literate, vital lyrics.

There’s no one like them. Their longevity is now somewhat astounding. And if this is the sound of them with just one hand on the wheel…well, they’ve long ago earned that right.
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February 18, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

Sam Newton: Stare Into The Dark

Sam Newton

Stare Into The Dark

Sam Newton/Independent

Sometimes exactly what you want is a songwriter that is dialing it right back. Across three albums Australian singer/songwriter Sam Newton has been exploring that concept. Here with his latest it is almost entirely about ‘the song’.

Sure he has a pleasant voice – he summons the requisite vulnerability, heartbreak, and in fact a range of emotions. He’s a competent player, there are some lovely textures to support these songs, nice ideas from great players – brushed drums, weeping guitars, anchoring piano lines that seem to have been borrowed from any number of Cold Chisel or Paul Kelly songs…

But it’s about the songs. These musical ideas are all in support of the contemplative songs that Sam Newton pulls from his soul.

Country tinges drip from these songs. But Newton’s voice is without affectation – it’s a pure singer standing up to speak candidly from and about the soul.

These are night-time sketches, the album’s and title and overall gentle nature reminding us of that – where Jo Meares might pull from the dark night of the soul, Sam Newton is more contemplative, calm and thoughtful and sure of the musical accompaniment that allows him to drape these shade-cloth songs over subtly built moods.

When The Blues Come Around, Lullaby In The Key of Relief, Looking for Answers, Mountain, Stare Into The Dark, A Meaning For Living – it’s pretty clear that Newton is asking some big questions, but he avoids cliché in both his lyric writing and vocal phrasing. It’s a subtly crafted set of songs. It rewards over several listens.

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February 17, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

Francisca Griffin: The Spaces Between

Francisca Griffin

The Spaces Between

CocoMuse

With 20 years off since her last release you could definitely say there have been some spaces between – but welcome back Francisca Griffin (formerly Kathy Bull of Look Blue Go Purple) and The Spaces Between, recorded over a few days in 2015 and 2016 and released now – is wonderful. Right from kick-off. Read More »

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February 17, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

Matt Brewer: Ganymede

Matt Brewer

Ganymede

Criss Cross

Master bassist and composer Matt Brewer has been making ‘heady’ art-filled jazz music across the last two decades as sideman and leader, and importantly as a writer, working with the likes of Dave Douglas, Christian McBride, Greg Osby, Brad Mehldau and many more. Most recently he’s been creating dizzyingly wonderful larger-ensemble workouts, but here it’s back to the trio format, and to a mix of re-imagined staples and his own originals.

Here the tunes sometimes go way out (Ornette Coleman’s Eos) and other times there’s passionate drive but it’s ultimately safe, very inside (Joe Henderson’s Afro-Centric).

Joining Brewer on this excursion the dynamic drummer Damion Reid (Robert Glasper) with his Billy Higgins-gleaned tiny explosions and saxophonist Mark Shim (Jason Moran, Vijay Iyer) who can effortlessly move from Coltrane-isms (Don’t Wake The Violent Baby) to Sonny Rollins’ wild, infectious grooving (Rj).

This trio is not to be fucked with – this trio couldn’t fuck up a tune if it even tried. There’s just a colossal collective wisdom at play here; a deep understanding of the pulse and groove that is required to drive this music with just enough breaks for reflection so that the relentlessness is given pause. The balladry of When Sunny Gets Blue for instance, or Brewer’s melodic meditation when he solos to slow down Willisee.

Frighteningly good jazz – the best I’ve heard in a while.

This one will be turning heads this year.

Utterly masterful, deeply inspiring.

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February 15, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

Chaka Khan: Hello Happiness

Chaka Khan

Hello Happiness

Island

Well, first up, it’s just excellent to hear from Chaka Khan again – her voice is one of the great things to have straddled funk, soul, gospel, blues, jazz, pop, rock and of course ultimately disco. She’s a legendary force. And despite live appearances, sometimes with reports that she can still fire, it’s been over a decade since we’ve had a new album. Read More »

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February 12, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

Kate McGarry/Keith Ganz/Gary Versace: The Subject Tonight is Love

Kate McGarry/Keith Ganz/Gary Versace

The Subject Tonight is Love

CD Baby

Yes, nominally Kate McGarry is the ‘star’ – she’s the one out front, the voice, but this talented trio works together to pull new flavours and subtle nuance from oft-recorded chestnuts.

There are only a handful of modern jazz vocalists actually doing something – actually working, exploring, instilling their personality, able to take on the most-covered songs and create something fresh. McGarry is one of them. She’s so utterly believable – she only ever apes in a way that lets you know she’s done the listening, there’s never an approximation of anyone. It’s always herself. But you’ll spot the moments of 1990s-era Joni Mitchell on Fair Weather, the Anita O’Day-sass (and scat) on a towering recreation of Gone With The Wind and even some of Eddi Reader’s phrasing – or more the timing, I guess – on the Celtic-heritage balladry of Climb Down/Whiskey You’re The Devil.

Here folk songs and jazz standards are twisted to meet, as if one fluid genre, on a subtly startling collection of love songs. It’s like a book as much as an album, replete with intro and outro motifs.

The Karrin Allyson-via-Elvis Costello soft-twirl through My Funny Valentine, the so-gorgeous Secret Love where we hear piano, guitar and voice in a dance; there are so many highlights.

But a big part of this, a big part of McGarry sounding as good as she does here is also in Ganz’ sublime guitar playing and in the multi-instrumental textures added by Versace (here contributing a range of pianos, keyboards, organs and accordion). This is a trio that moves as one. This is not about egos. It’s about song-serving. Every second musician will tell you they’re there for the song. And then the prove they’re not. Or at least forget to pack any memorable tunes. Not the case here.

This is just deceptively simple, utterly divine music – the spell its casts, it lingers, it’s as if the music is lovingly draped across the room when you hit play. A shadow of it hovering long after the final note.

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