Rachel Gaudry, Leaving Traces (Virt/Redeye)
Listening to Australian singer/pianist Rachel Gaudry's debut album, Leaving Traces one can't help but wonder: What have we here? Another Lilith Fair second-tier performer? Tori Amos light? Or, perhaps, a real contender? The answer is . . . all of the above. A solid, albeit not-all-together unique effort, Gaudry shows amazing potential on this record, with a breathtaking talent as a pianist. Like fellow ivory-tickler Vanessa Carlton, Gaudry's voice is strong, but not quite as strong as her playing. (Only Sarah McLachlan and Tori Amos, it seems, have voices that are a fair match for their fierce musicianship). On the "dazzle" scale, this record's dimly lit, metaphorically speaking (and perhaps intentionally so). Sometimes that works in Gaudry's favor; other times, not. With its subtle production by ex-Zappa drummer Chad Wackerma, Leaving Traces is a reflective, intelligent record that is, hopefully, a precursor to greater things for this young talent.
-- Nicole Pensiero
Tim Krekel, Happy Town (Free Falls Entertainment)
The latest release from this singer-songwriter is a deft mix of roots rock and melodic pop. Beginning with "Sunshine Baby", Krekel brings to mind a cross between Nick Lowe and Blue Rodeo's Greg Keelor. Singing like a man who's lived more than a few lives, Krekel tones things down a bit with the Beatles-like "Who You Think You Are". The consistency of the songs and lyrics make the early portions very enjoyable, including the uplifting and soulful "It's a New Day". Fans of John Hiatt will love the album from start to finish, especially the dichotomy between fast and slower, blues ballad material. Krekel knows what works and what doesn't if the list of people who covered is stuff is any gauge: Rick Nelson, Aaron Tippin, Crystal Gayle, and Martina McBride to name a few. "Sugar from My Baby" is a tad off-tempo but works quite nicely. "Come Back Baby" is probably the album's high point, a mix of Springsteen and Petty. Just as strong though is the Southern fried Skynrd rock of "Fell Down in Memphis". Excellent!
-- Jason MacNeil
Lifehouse, Stanley Climbfall (Dreamworks)
Success like theirs might seem an absolute dream, but the beat can't be too easy when you're walking it in Lifehouse's shoes. After a hit debut single, "Hanging By a Moment", and a smash album to go along with it, round two time must be a difficult process, especially these days, when one-hit-wonder bands are a dime a dozen, pumping out three minutes of radio-friendly angst never to be heard from again. Lifehouse are unlikely to recreate the success of their first hit, yet Stanley Climbfall is just as worthy of acclaim as 2001's No Name Face. Obviously written about the band's rise and the boys' -- Jason Wade on vocals and guitar, Sergio Andrade on bass and Rick Woolstenhume on drums -- sudden change in lifestyle, its three main themes, stand, rise and fall (personified by the title) are clear on its 13 songs, about loss, regret, image and stability. Stand outs "Breathe", "Anchor", "Empty Space" and the title track prove the band can still spin a few good yarns, with glorious modern rock riffs to move them along. The album suggests a smarter, more self-aware Lifehouse, who, it seems, have no desire to disappear into any kind of musical void just yet.
-- Nikki Tranter
Jennifer Marks, It Turned Me On (Red Kurl)
This album, marking the New York City-based singer-songwriter's third album, is the sort of melodic, light radio-friendly pop that is timeless and generally great. With a voice that resembles Aimee Mann and Fiona Apple, Marks gives a good showing on "Make It Right" before opting for a darker alternative pop sound on the title track, a tale about Marks being intrigued by a room of naked females. "I never realized just how soft I am," she says over a lurking bass line. What makes the record work is Marks not resorting to polish to get her music across, relying on her chops and knowing what makes a great pop rock track flow. "Happy" is somber pop with some subtle strings, but Marks and her lovable voice does so much with so little. "You Won't Let Me Go" misses the mark with too much sonic gloss, but it's a nice try. The latter songs get a bit soppy in places, especially during "Really Something". But up-tempo rock tracks like "Get Me Out of Here" bring Sheryl Crow to mind.
-- Jason MacNeil
The Record Time, The Always (My Automation)
Last year, The Record Time released one of the best EPs of 2001, Dream in Color, Dream in Sound. In it, they fused a type of not really mathematical math rock with some seriously happening kinetic rock. Well, now they're back with their first full length release, The Always that builds upon the promise of the earlier EP and cashes in its chips in a mighty payoff of hot songs and pure emotion. They've since been thrown in the same ring of comparison as Hot Water Music, but that group was never one of my favorites. Instead, I always thought these guys had their very own sound. Singer Grant Passmore is still pushing the soul full tilt in his emotive singing, as on the stunning opening track "Chimecal Reaction" and the terrific "Adeventures of Maddie". Passmore's guitar playing fuses perfectly with second guitarist Ramzi Beshara, while the rhythm section of drummer Daniel Hawkins and bassist Stephen Henderson is one of the best on the indie circuit today. The band does reprise "A Girl a Rose a Stage" from last year's EP, but it's an entirely new version that shows off just how good this band is and how far they've come in just one year. While the older version exuded some wild passion, this new take bottles that anxiety up just a bit and tightens down the screws, making for a more polished, fully realized take that pummels the older version into the ground. The bottom line is The Always is a tight-ass record that succeeds on a ton of levels, be they musical, lyrical, or emotional, and The Record Time deserve every accolade they receive.
-- Jason Thompson
Sakesho, Sakesho (Heads Up)
Andy Narrell ploughs a lonely course.He has given himself the task of making the Trinidadian Steel Drums (Pans) a creditable vehicle for jazz improvisation.With Sakesho he has finally produced an album that will appeal as much to jazz fans as to lovers of the bright but rather brash tones of the instrument. Mixing Caribbean, Latin and mainstream styles, and drawing with particularly success on melodies from Guadaloupe and Martinique, Sakesho (pans, keyboards, bass, drums), Sakesho is suitably exuberant but also subtler than you would expect. From the classical poise of "Roule Quadrille" to the romantic swing of "Grand Fabrice", there is a delicacy and inventiveness that will surprise those who associate pan music simply with all out attack. In a convincing group performance, pianist Mario Canonge deserves special praise. The interplay between his keyboard skills and Narrell's steel drums forms a rich and meaningful dialogue that runs throughout the set. The closing "Song for Mia" is the highlight. Rhythmically intense, enlivened by the region's indigenous musical forms yet lyrical and unhurried, it is the perfect fusion of the many influences that make up this original and highly rewarding album.
-- Maurice Bottomley
Simple Plan, No Pads, No Helmets . . . Just Balls (Lava/Atlantic)
A quick glance at the bands Simple Plan thank in the album liner notes reveals everything about what kind of album this is going to be. Good Charlotte, Blink 182, New Found Glory and Sum 41 toured with Simple Plan on the recent Warped tour, and sure enough, Simple Plan is the latest identikit band jumping on the lucrative pop-punk bandwagon. Although there's nothing remotely new on No Pads, No Helmets . . . Just Balls, the band make a pretty good job of sounding like all of the aforementioned bands. All the trademark elements are in evidence -- plenty of angst-ridden songs with razor-sharp guitars, a thudding rhythm section and lashings of sugar-coated melodies as well as five youthful and rebellious-looking band members. The instantly hummable and frenetic opener "I'd Do Anything" is a good indicator of what the rest of the album will be like, and although it's all undeniably melodic, as tunes like "God Must Hate Me", "The Worst Day Ever" and "Addicted" pass by, things become as predictable and forgettable as a Hollywood ending. If it's innovative, groundbreaking music you're looking for, think again. If it's disposable, throwaway melodic punk with plenty of lustre and sheen you want, then you've hit pay dirt with Simple Plan.
-- Andrew Ellis
John Sinclair & His Blues Scholars, Fattening Frogs for Snakes, Volume One: The Delta Sound (Okra-Tone)
Showcased on Sinclair's first album for Okra-Tone records, Fattening Frogs for Snakes, Volume One: The Delta Sound, is John Sinclair's verse, which is centered on the music of the Mississippi Delta and is actually the first part of a book that will be published by Surregional Press. The verse is read over various grooves and riffs borne out of the Mississippi Delta. Each track is essentially a brief but surprisingly complete biography of a legendary Delta blues musician, the first track acting as a primer on the Delta blues. The stories Sinclair recites of the practitioners of this style of blues, such as the legend of Tommy Johnson, who, like Robert Johnson, supposedly sold his soul to the devil to be able to play the blues, and Howlin' Wolf, among others, are compelling and extremely informative. However, the actual music is dryly produced and a little tired sounding, as if the musicians were nodding off every now and then to the drone of Sinclair's voice. The track that stands out among the eight tracks on the album is "21 Days in Jail", a hilarious recounting of time spent in prison by Robert Lockwood and Rice Miller and how the two blues musicians made more money playing their music in jail than they did outside of jail. Although at times the stories drag on and the music is a bit stale, there is plenty of humor and intensity here, as well as plenty to learn about a very important component of American music, the Delta blues.
-- Chip O'Brien
Andy Snitzer, Sugar (A440 Music Group)
Andy Snitzer has toured with the Rolling Stones and is currently part of Paul Simon's backing band. He has also made some smooth jazz albums. None of which information prepares you at all for this marvellous straight-ahead set which, while hardly breaking any new ground, contains more solid jazz values than many more pretentious projects. Some dangerously familiar standards are given an assured and soulful treatment. The pick is probably the title track, Turrentine's "Sugar". This is turned into a Hammond-sax work-out directly from the top drawer. Brave choices such as "Blue Trane" and Rollins' "Blue Seven" remain beholden to the originals but truck along very acceptably. The most surprising success is the Stones' "Wild Horses", which makes for a very poignant jazz ballad. Only a rather tentative "Mack the Knife" ("Moritat") sounds at all forced. Snitzler's tenor is an uncomplicated but potent instrument and he has a warm tone that gives each number an instant appeal. His band are rock-solid, with Alain Mallet a keyboards man of some distinction. James Genus on bass and Clarence Penn on drums make a formidable rhythm section. This is the sort of no-nonsense album that critics tend to ignore in favour of more ambitious or self-conscious fare. This is a shame for there is plenty here for all but the most ascetic jazz buff. The closing track, "Mr.Groove", is no idle boast and sums up a well-executed and thoroughly enjoyable exercise. Check it out.
-- Maurice Bottomley
Something Corporate, Leaving Through the Window (Drive Thru/MCA)
The artwork for Leaving Through the Window, featuring a scantily-clad woman, well, leaving through the window, may trigger preconceptions that Something Corporate are another brainless modern rock band recycling what's already come before. Not so, as this album is a refreshing twist for the genre, utilising piano and strings to maximum effect to give the band a rich, full sound that comfortably fits with the boundless energy and contagious melody the songs possess. The mature-sounding "Astronaut" is perhaps the best example of Something Corporate's craft, brilliantly harnessing Andrew McMahon's pleading vocals with an instantly accessible piano-based hookline. "Cavanaugh Park" is along similar lines, and "Drunk Girl" has a distinct retro feel. The breathless trio of "I Want to Save You", "Punk Rock Princess" and "I Woke Up In a Car" prove the band's rock credentials impressively, and the whole album is characterised by a sonic diversity and melodic consistency that remains throughout. Leaving Through the Window is one of the best debuts of the year, and it is to be hoped that MCA persevere with the band for more than one album. Given a chance, long-term talent like Something Corporate could rescue the current sorry state of the industry.
-- Andrew Ellis
— 13 January 2003
