Various
Dimension Mix:
The Music of Bruce Haack and Esther Nelson
Eenie Meenie Records
Pioneering electronic musician Bruce
Haack is a hero to some, like Beck and Tipsy and the Eels. To others — like
the police, parents, and neighbors — he was a presumed pedophile.
Let’s
take a step back. In the ’60s and ’70s musician Bruce Haack and teacher Esther
Nelson made experimental records for children that combined primitive, homemade
synthesizers and Sesame Street-style
instructional lyrics. Together, they started Dimension 5 Records and
independently unleashed a set of records that surely warped children’s minds
from coast to coast.
Eenie
Meenie records has issued Dimension Mix:
The Music of Bruce Haack and Esther Nelson with stellar renderings of the
originals from the likes of Money Mark, Stereolab, and The Apples in Stereo.
Yeah, it’s a tribute album, but it transcends the genre. Bottom line: It’s a
lot of fun — it’s what the Muppets might listen to if they were consuming
mass quantities of bootleg pharmaceuticals. Hopefully, this record will inspire
some reissues of original Bruce Haack records beyond the over-priced Japanese
imports out there.
— Michael Neault
Smog
A River Ain’t
Too Much to Love
Drag City
On his latest Smog release, A River Ain’t Too Much to Love, Bill
Callahan narrates spare and vulnerable folk songs with such a close and lilting
tone, his voice is downright visible. These are songs written from a comfort
with your place in the world — comfort found in rivers, brambles, colts,
“Running the Loping,” love, death, and rebirth.
And
Callahan may have found such comfort. Recording at Willie Nelson’s studio in
Pedernales, Texas, seems to have helped cast the delicate and graceful air that
hangs over the entire recording. Callahan has allowed spare acoustic guitar,
hammer dulcimer, fiddle, piano (played by Joanna Newsom), and the elegant
drumming of Jim White (The Dirty Three) to translate the open space of his
natural surroundings. On “Say Valley Maker,” Smog oscillates between restraint
and reverie — all while offering a wide-angle pass of the landscape.
And
the sound of Callahan’s fingers sliding against his guitar strings as the piano
gently sparkles on “Rock Bottom Riser” will leave you floating in the “mighty,
mighty river” his crystal clear baritone sings about. Take this record slowly
and allow these folk hymnals to shimmer quietly like light off water.
— David Merulla
Brian Setzer
Rockabilly Riot Volume I
Surfdog
It’s
beyond me why guitarist Brian Setzer took so long to cut this album, a greasy
and reverent tribute to the very heart of his passion and success. Whether with
The Stray Cats, on his own, or with his big band, Setzer has never strayed far
from the hillbilly bop found on the Sun Label. With Rockabilly Riot, he digs into the catalogue a whole lot deeper than
Elvis, except when he employs The King’s old friends The Jordanaires on
“Stairway To Nowhere.”
What the album lacks in Setzer’s
usual revved-up fleet guitar pyrotechnics it makes up for in authentic tone and
charm. All the songs are given plenty of boogie room and guts with Setzer’s
twanging guitar and snarling vocals. Though he’s capable of stratospheric
re-workings of these classics (done plenty with The Stray Cats), Setzer knows
the songs are strong enough to stand on their own, with their menacing swagger
and shake appeal.
Stand out tracks like The Killer’s
“Real Wild Child,” Roy Orbison’s “Rockhouse,” and Carl Perkins’ “Put Your Cat
Clothes On,” rock pure and mighty with Setzer’s Trio’s authentic talent and
restraint.
Setzer even manages to etch his name
in rockabilly history with Gene Simmons’ “Peroxide Blonde In A Hopped Up Model
Ford,” a song whose demo tape was partially destroyed, leaving Simmons with
just half the song floating in his head after all these years. On Simmons’
urging Setzer penned the missing verses.
Brian Setzer is as classic as the
music he reveres on this disc.
—
Frank De Blase
Bill Charlap
Bill Charlap
Plays George Gershwin: The American Soul
Blue Note
Bill Charlap seems intent on looking
back over the 20th century and putting his stamp on the great American
songbook. Last year he produced a satisfying album interpreting the music of
Leonard Bernstein. His most recent effort, showcasing the music of George
Gershwin, is even better.
           While
Charlap’s trio remains at the core of the recording, no small part of the
album’s strength lies in the addition of an all-star horn section on six of the
10 tracks. “How Long Has This Been Going On” features a wailing tenor saxophone
solo by Frank Wess. Not to be outdone, alto saxophonist Phil Woods contributes
his own heart-wrenching reading of “Bess, You Is My Woman Now.” The horns,
rounded out by Nicholas Payton (trumpet) and Slide Hampton (trombone), sound
like an ensemble that’s played together for years. Charlap’s arrangements are
all superb, but sometimes — as on “A Foggy Day” — the orchestrations by
Torrie Zito steal the show.
           Three
wonderful trio tracks owe a great deal to the understated bass and drum work of
Peter Washington and Kenny Washington. On each — “Who Cares,” “I Was So Young
(And You Were So Beautiful),” and “Liza” —Â
Charlap delivers gorgeous solos. Of course, Gershwin’s brilliant compositions
make all of this possible. Charlap’s final track, a sad solo rendition of
“Soon,” can’t help remind us that Gershwin died too soon at the age of 38.
— Ron Netsky
This article appears in Aug 31 – Sep 6, 2005.
