Music Review: Royal Blood, Royal Blood

Published on August 29th, 2014 in: Current Faves, Music, Music Reviews, Reviews |

Jack White, what hath you wrought? The debut album from Brighton UK’s Royal Blood sounds amazingly like the White Stripes, from the gutbucket blues stylings to Mike Kerr’s anguished howls and yelps. They, too, are a duo, though the thing that sets them apart is they are a bass and drum combo. I have no idea how one can make a bass sound so guitary, but Kerr does it. Hell of a trick, that is.

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Music Review: Orenda Fink, Blue Dream

Published on August 22nd, 2014 in: Feminism, Music, Music Reviews, Reviews |

By Melissa Bratcher

To call Orenda Fink’s Blue Dream meditative isn’t at all a stretch. It’s an exploration of the meaning of love, death, and spirituality, all filtered through a dreamy, gauzy haze and sung in an incredibly intimate way. Listening to Blue Dream is like walking into someone else’s slumber: a place where you’re welcome, but it’s all a bit disorienting and dark and a little eerie. It’s a captivating record.

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Music Review: Billy Joe Shaver, Long In The Tooth

Published on August 8th, 2014 in: Current Faves, Music, Music Reviews, Reviews |

By Melissa Bratcher

Billy Joe Shaver is quite a character. His songs have become classics (“I’m Just An Old Chunk Of Coal,” “Ain’t No God In Mexico”); he was the spiritual advisor to Texas gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman (who is himself a character); he’s acted in The Apostle; and he even sings the theme for Adult Swim’s The Squidbillies. He’s kicked against the country music establishment, recording what is regarded as the first “outlaw” country album, and he shows no signs of giving up his prickliness just yet.

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Music Review: Various Artists, Country Funk II, 1967 – 1974

Published on August 1st, 2014 in: Culture Shock, Current Faves, Music, Music Reviews, Retrovirus, Reviews |

By Melissa Bratcher

If you’re like me, the first thing you think when you hear the name “Kenny Rogers” is “that guy sure does bring the funk.” Perhaps, though, you don’t, and honestly, I didn’t either until I heard his track (with The First Edition) “Tulsa Turnaround” on Country Funk II, 1967-1974. “Tulsa Turnaround” is a swoony slow ride about an “Omaha honey” who learned the Tulsa Turnaround from someone called “Funkybutt,” I believe. I never did learn exactly what the Tulsa Turnaround is, but I did glean this nugget of information from the song: “If a man’s gonna eat fried chicken/he’s gonna get greasy.” It’s a pretty damned amazing song, and would be great on a soundtrack for a movie where there are car chases and someone is called “Rooster.”

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Music Review: Janiva Magness, Original

Published on July 25th, 2014 in: Current Faves, Feminism, Music, Music Reviews, Reviews |

By Melissa Bratcher

If there were any justice in the world, Janiva Magness’s newest, Original, would be as ubiquitous as Adele’s last album. You should hear her songs pouring out of car windows, women (and men) singing along, tears in their eyes from the sheer power of it. After all, Magness has an unbelievable voice, emotive and strong, and writes personal lyrics that speak to everyone. Janiva Magness, of course, isn’t marketed that way, which is a shame. She needs to be heard by a wide audience. She’s amazing.

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Music Review: The Blow Monkeys, She Was Only A Grocer’s Daughter (Reissue)

Published on July 25th, 2014 in: Current Faves, Music, Music Reviews, Reissues, Retrovirus, Reviews |

By Melissa Bratcher

After reissuing The Blow Monkeys’ first two albums, as well as their stellar newest album, Feels Like A New Morning (review), Cherry Red Records has released a deluxe edition of 1987’s She Was Only A Grocer’s Daughter. And a deluxe edition it is—remastered, chock full of remixes and astoundingly good demos, enhanced by an interview with The Blow Monkeys frontman, Robert Howard (Dr. Robert), in the liner notes. It is a boon for completists, collecting all the bits and bobs into one excellent package.

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Music Review: La Roux, Trouble In Paradise

Published on July 25th, 2014 in: Current Faves, Feminism, Music, Music Reviews, Reviews |

By Melissa Bratcher

Though the BPMs on La Roux’s new album, Trouble In Paradise, are lower than on her surprise hit debut, it’s still the kind of record that moves you to the dance floor. After a tumultuous break (losing her voice, breaking off from her former partner in La Roux), Elly Jackson has returned with a much warmer, fun record, and it’s a very welcome one.

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Music Review: Rebirth Brass Band, Move Your Body

Published on July 18th, 2014 in: Current Faves |

By Melissa Bratcher

For a band that was founded in 1983, Grammy-winning Rebirth Brass Band sounds amazingly fresh. One of the leading lights of the New Orleans brass band revival (see also: Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Hot 8, Soul Rebels), Rebirth hasn’t slowed, hasn’t stopped doing what they do well: making music that makes you move your feet. Or, as it states on the tin, Move Your Body.

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Music Review: The Last Hombres, Odd Fellows Rest

Published on July 18th, 2014 in: Music, Music Reviews, Reviews |

By Melissa Bratcher

After a decade of not recording together, roots rock band The Last Hombres have reunited for Odd Fellows Rest. Noted for being the band that Levon Helm asked to join, The Last Hombres make what could be considered bar band music: bluesy guitars, that certain middle of the road tempo, sing along choruses. The thing that sets The Last Hombres apart and far above the fray is their outstanding musicianship. Each song is like a master class on how to play with technical excellence as well as passion and is paired with literate lyrics.

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Music Review: Jim Mize, Jim Mize

Published on July 18th, 2014 in: Current Faves, Music, Music Reviews, Reviews |

By Melissa Bratcher

You can call Jim Mize a lot of things: eccentric, a hopeless romantic, and a visionary. You can also call him a great storyteller in the fine Southern tradition of raconteurs. On his latest release, the self-titled Jim Mize, he makes snapshots through well-placed words and his singular guitar work. The album feels rooted in the South in music and lyrics, though there’s not much that explicitly states it. But the South gets in, like kudzu, and Mize is an Arkansas native. It’s in the water. Or the air. Or possibly the dirt.