Grand Army - Love Is Gonna Eat You

Grand Army - Love Is Gonna Eat You
2013, Grand Army

Boston-based electro-art rockers Grand Army are back in action with Love Is Gonna Eat You, the follow-up to their 2009 debut Toys For Chaos. Full of big, quirky pop hooks and unusual song construction, Love Is Gonna Eat You is equally exhilarating and frustrating. Grand Army finds some sublime moments along the way ("Our Time", "Make Music" and the wonderfully catchy "Lost Our Mind"), but there is an almost mindful effort to tease the music beyond what it wants to be at times. Grand Army shows distinct potential for crafting a high impact mix of rock and pop on Love Is Gonna Eat You, but seems to get distracted by their own musical architecture. Everything here is well produced and well played, and vocalist Alicia Racine is equally convincing as a wildcat rocker or sultry crooner.  There is a lot here to like, but still a sense that Grand Army is struggling to find a comfortable musical balance.

Rating: 3

Learn more at www.facebook.com/grandarmymusic or www.reverbnation.com/grandarmy. 

A Clever Con - Mannequin Love: Part 1

A Clever Con – Mannequin Love: Part 1
2012, A Clever Con

New Jersey rockers A Clever Con returned recently with Mannequin Love: Part 1, the follow up to their 2009 debut, The Robot EP.  While still showing the same penchant for post-punk song craft and infectious pop hooks, A Clever Con spices things up with a bit of progressive song construction this time around.  The result is a sound that is perhaps still developing, but is very ambitious rock and roll full of powerful guitar and pop sensibilities.

A Clever Con launches a full sonic assault with "Thesis", a short entry most notable for its big guitar sound and economic structure. "Mexico" maintains the energy and guitar sound, but shows a more aggressive attempt at musical construction. A Clever Con finds a subtle balance between pop song construction and the heavier sound they carry on the dark and catchy "I Am Spartacus". This is one of the best hooks the band has dug up to date, and will have radio programmers trying to figure out where they can fit it in. The anti-war message will also appeal to popular media makers.

A Clever Con really hits their groove on "Twentysomething Blues", a paean to arriving into adulthood and wondering what happened to youthful expectations of what it would be like. Every generation has versions of this tune, and A Clever Con has nailed the mix of cynicism and angst that characterizes young adulthood in 2012. "SonLore" explores angst and mixed emotions in a wonderfully tuneful wall of pop/rock sound. This is perhaps the most commercially appealing song on the album, and sounds ripe for licensing for television or film.

A Clever Con heads back for the edge with "Skydivers and Tongue Biters", a frenetic rocker featuring a wonderfully complex melody line and an equally intriguing arrangement. There is no resting in this tune for either band or listener, and rock fans will find this a welcome joy to listen to. A Clever Con closes with "Katy Perry Sex Tape", a high energy song of propositions, insecurities and shattered dreams. It's an intriguing number seemingly named to draw attention to itself. The gimmick isn't needed however, as anyone with an ear for unique song construction and primo guitar work will quickly find this on their radar.

A Clever Con is a work in progress, as sketched out in the songs on Mannequin Love: Part 1.  There is a lot to like here, and the occasional un-polished moment born of pure creation and grit.  However you may hear them, A Clever Con definitely has a sound that is more potent from the stage than from the studio.  Nevertheless, Mannequin Love: Part 1 is a solid step forward for the band, and a sign that there is still more to come.

Rating: 4 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more at www.aclevercon.com. 

The Wildy's World Top-12 for 2012!

I try to do a countdown each year of the best albums I've reviewed.  The blog hasn't been as active in 2012, as I have been working on some other things.  Nevertheless, there were some incredible albums I did get to cover this past year that deserve recognition.  So without further adieu... the Wildy's World Top-12 of 2012.

12 - Rob Morsberger – Ghosts Before Breakfast
Morsberger is stunningly personal, and prophetic, in an album that explores mortality, legacy and all the emotions that swirl around these two concepts.  Written before Morsberger’s diagnosis with terminal brain cancer, Ghosts Before Breakfast transcends humanity and every day experience for simple truths on deep and dark thoughts.

11 – Mara and the Bitter Suite – Unspoken
An actress/Broadway singer and a composer/musical director venturing into alt/folk/rock would generally be an omen for disaster, but Mara and the Bitter Suite find a bit of magic in Unspoken.

10 – Meghan Cary – Building This House
Eight years might seem like too long to produce an album of songs, but for Meghan Cary it was apparently just right.  Highly personal and evocative, Cary takes a craftsman’s approach to storytelling, weaving each scene and story to perfection against minimal yet striking arrangements for a listening experience you won’t soon forget.

9 – The Hollyfelds – Title Stealers
The Hollyfelds might keep a low profile nationally, but they shine in their home market of Denver, Colorado.  In fact, they shine so bright on Title Stealers it’s hard to imagine them staying just a regional band.

8 – SethGlier – Things I Should Let You Know
Seth Glier’s first album earned him a GRAMMY nomination.  His second, Things I Should Let You Know, is even better.  Glier is more nuanced and personal than ever, and maintains the intense musicality that has always made him such an intriguing listen.

7 – Nate Kimball – Warrior’s Journey
By far one of the best collections of classically oriented original jazz have ever heard.

6. Jodi Shaw – In Waterland
Jodi Shaw writes from the heart and lays it all on the line.  She lays out her stories and characters in wonderfully robust and ethereal musical arrangements.  The imagery peppered throughout In Waterland is nothing short of brilliant.

5. The Do Good Assassins – Rome
The Do Good Assassins are the latest outgrowth of Ron Hawkins’ personal muse. This time out he is helped and supported by good friends in creating one of the best and most divergent double albums of the last several years.  Personal songwriting, amazing lyrics and an organic feel make this a can’t miss listen.

4. Cara Luft – Darlingford
Cara Luft is one of the darlings of Canadian folk music.  A former Wailin’ Jenny and Juno Award nominee, Luft delivers one of the most compelling singer/songwriter turns of 2012 with Darlingford.

3. Rob Morsberger – A Part Of You
Morsberger manages two albums in the top-12.  A Part Of You is a song cycle written to Morsberger’s youngest son; a collection of songs to see his son through the times when Morsberger anticipates not being there.  This intimate collection is full of laughter, hope and the joy of discovery.  There is also a hidden sadness; a melancholy of the artist who is envisioning all that he might miss out on.  This is what songwriting is all about.

2. Jason Plumb and the Willing – All Is More Than Both
Jason Plumb takes his prodigious writing/singing talents and his crack backing band (The Willing) and puts them all to work under the watchful eye of Canadian super-producer Michael Phillip Wojewoda.  The result is Plumb’s most soaring collection of songs since his days with The Waltons.  In almost any other year this would be the winner.

1. Delta Rae – Carry The Fire
There are great albums, and then there are albums that transcend their time.  These are the albums that people look back on two or three decades later as benchmarks of their era.  I fully believe that Carry The Fire is just such an album.  From the alternating lead vocals of Eric and Brittany Hölljes to the alternative folk-rock arrangements that soar one moment and lie down beside you and rock you to sleep the next, Carry The Fire is the sort of debut album that only comes along once or twice a generation.

Nate Kimball - Warrior's Journey

Nate  Kimball - Warrior’s Journey
2012, TNC Recordings

If you’re looking for the next big name in jazz, you might be very happy to settle on Nate Kimball.  His list of credits is impressive: Chick Correa, Natalie Cole, Barry Manilow, The Count Basie Orchestra, Jessica Simpson and The Killers, to name but a few.  The 28-year old Las Vegas native is more than just a wizard with the trombone however; Kimball is a composer nonpareil who has been recognized by the International Trombone Association (2006, 2007, and 2010); the Reno Jazz Festival (2012); and the Nevada Jazz Society (2007).  One of his compositions, “Side Effect”, was recently premiered at the Monterrey Jazz Festival by the Las Vegas Academy Jazz Ensemble.  You’ll see why the accolades rain down on Kimball after listening to his album Warrior’s Journey. 

Kimball recorded Warrior’s Journey with four impressive cohorts.  Joe Lano (guitar) has played with Lena Horne, Mel Tormé, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, Nancy Wilson and Henry Mancini.  Brian Triola (piano/keys) is part of Las Vegas and regional favorites Moksha.  Bassist Steve Flora plays the top rooms in Las Vegas, and drummer Larry Aberman has recorded with The Vaughan Brothers, Ric Ocasek, Wynton Marsalis, David Lee Roth, Daniel Lanois, Lionel Richie and Danielle Brisebois (to name just a few).  This will give you an idea of the quality of play on Warrior’s Journey, but mere words don’t do the album justice.

Kimball sticks to classic jazz stylings, allowing the occasional progressive wave to pass through the waters.  It’s easy to see Kimball and crew fitting into any era of jazz from the Big Band era on.  Kimball kicks things off with “Warrior’s Journey”, beginning as a sleepy rumination but moving soon into a quietly energetic jazz waltz.  Kimball’s trombone is stellar, but the rest of the quintet is flawless as well.  Brian Triola adds perfect punctuation to Kimball’s lead, and whips off some amazing solos of his own.  Perhaps the most impressive part of the song, however, is when Larry Aberman takes the lead on drums.  If you want to analyze what he’s doing you’ll need a couple of cameras and the ability to slow tape on playback.  It’s amazing.

“Way Station” shows the same sort of breakdown of duties, with Kimball taking the lead, but passing it around for all to share.  What’s most impressive is how seamlessly Kimball’s quintet moves together, never seeming to miss a beat or an exchange.  “Far Away” has a distinctive, melancholy, blue-jazz feel.  Kimball brings emotions alive in the lyric trombone lines, while Brian Triola creates a bit of rhythmic dissonance that helps to appropriately shade the mood.  There is magic here.  “Road To La Coruna” takes a on a subtle Latin jazz sound, and features some of the best low-key work on the album.  Things get a bit more progressive on “Hello World”, with Kimball himself getting aggressive in his soloing style.  Triola picks up this vibe and runs with it, getting into a Vince Guaraldi groove that’s mellow yet not.  “Back Home” is an interesting closer.  You might say the ensemble play is a bit looser here, as Kimball et. al. look to push the boundaries with some off-the-cuff and speed-based solos.

Nate Kimball shows his worth as a composer, bandleader and musician on Warrior’s Journey.  With a killer supporting cast, and some of the best original jazz of 2012, Kimball challenges the world of modern jazz with a traditional-leaning album that reinvigorates the art form the way artists like Miles Davis, J.J. Johnson, Dizzy Gillespie and Harry Connick, Jr. have done before him.  Thirty years from now you’ll hear jazz aficionados discussing Kimball in the same reverent tones.

Rating: 4.5 Stars (Out of 5)

Lisa Matassa - Somebody's Baby

Lisa Matassa - Somebody's Baby
2012, It Is What It Is Records

Lisa Matassa’s voice might ring a faint bell if you were a fan of dance pop back in the late 1980’s.  Signed soon after she graduated from high school by Emergency Records, Matassa had two top-ten dance singles under the name Lisa Lynn.  Matassa quickly gravitated toward original rock and roll, but her label went out of business and Matassa settled into life.  Still, she fronted a club band on Long Island for 20 years, and in 2010 found here way to Nashville with childhood friend and producer Joey Sykes.  The EP resulting from those sessions, Me Time, blended country, pop and classic southern rock.  Matassa continues that sound on her latest effort, Somebody’s Baby.

Matassa kicks things off with the powerful country/rock of "Somebody's Baby", a message of love from mother to daughter. This is a powerful tune with a kicking arrangement that will have your toes tapping. The momentum carries through to "Wouldn't You Like To Know", a paean to the secret conversations between women out at a bar on a Saturday night. Matassa's playful vocal and the rebellious rock and roll arrangement are a joyous match.

"Girl With A Rock N Roll Heart" finds Matassa recalling her youth and over the top tendencies. This is a feel good song about being yourself and chasing your dreams, and it’s incredibly catchy mix of classic rock and country has serious crossover potential. "Learning As You Grow" is a sweet song written from mother to child that's not so much apologetic as it is realistic about trying to good parent. Matassa's cover of Bryan Adams' "Heaven" is reverent to the original, but adds an orchestral country aspect that seems fitting.

Even more impressive is Matassa's cover of "I Will Always Love You", combining the sweet vulnerability of Dolly Parton's original with some of the soul and strength of the Whitney Houston cover. Matassa winds down with a solid rendition of "The Christmas Song" just in time for the holiday season. The song has a classic sound as interpreted here, and Matassa makes it hers without making it over.

Lisa Matassa has a voice that can croon a classic or belt out a rock and roll anthem. She's like a female Garth Brooks, part country star and part rock n roll queen. Somebody's Baby has it all: Bombast, sweetness, grit and heart. Not to mention a voice that will leave you begin for more. Welcome to the world Lisa Matassa. Country music has been pining for a voice like yours.

Rating: 4.5 Stars (out of 5)

Learn more at www.lisamatassa.com.

Les Misérables: Highlights From the Motion Picture Soundtrack

Les Misérables: Highlights From the Motion Picture Soundtrack
2012, Universal Republic

Editors note: I have always strived not to be negative on this blog.  However, I consider this a public service. - Wildy

Les Misérables, the long awaited screen adaptation of the Tony Award winning musical, hit theaters on Christmas Day. We received the soundtrack in the days before Christmas, and my visceral reaction to the album was so bluntly negative that I chose to wait and give it another chance. Suffice it to say that my prior plans to go see the film in the theater has been permanently set aside, as I cannot imagine paying to sit through a film featuring the sort of community theater performances in the film.

Russell Crowe is a primary villain, both in the film and to fans of the musical. Crowe is unable to summon the voice or charisma required to portray Javert. The result is an impotent and ineffective villain who leaves Hugh Jackman (Jean Valjean) to carry the story. Unfortunately Jackman isn't up to the task, between over-emotive vocal passages and strained attempts to carry some of the more challenging songs in the score.  Even Sacha Baron Cohen, who landed the plum role of Monsieur Thenardier, is woefully miscast. The role, generally an over-the-top show stopper that serves as comic relief is so underplayed as to be boring. The fact that he can't seem to decide whether he's singing in a French or English accent simply adds to the woe.  Helena Bonham Carter is simply lifeless as Madame Thenardier.

Aaron Tveit stands out as Enjolras, outshining Eddie Remayne in his turn as the lovelorn revolutionary Marius. Remayne steps up for the duet "In My Life", which also features a frightened sounding Amanda Seyfried as Cosette and an utterly amazing Samantha Barks as Eponine.  We should also note that young Isabelle Allen shows off an amazing voice in the role of young Cosette.  She will be one to watch.

Many of the movie's signature songs pale in comparison to any one of a number of cast recordings available. Jackman's run through "Bring Him Home" is painfully strained. Likewise Anne Hathaway and "I Dreamed A Dream" and the usually inspiring "One Day More". None live up to their histories in the film version. Hathaway is at least passable, but simply doesn't have the voice or vocal charisma to carry the role.

"Javert's Suicide" simply can't be over soon enough, and is perhaps only outshone for utter lack of heart by Russell Crowe's ineffective stumble through "Stars". The soundtrack closes well with the powerful "Empty Chairs At Empty Tables", even with the afterthought of "Epilogue". Curiously enough, original Jean Valjean Colm Wilkinson was cast in the film version as The Bishop. While Wilkinson easily has the finest voice in the cast, he is stuck in a role here where he never gets to use it fully. It's a nod in homage, but to put him anywhere else would have upstaged the rest of the players.

It's sad, really. Sad to see a majestic show with a soaring musical score cynically cast by a major corporation more interested in fielding eye candy than real talent for musical theater. Hugh Jackman has been playing on his appeal for years, but it simply doesn't carry the weight here. Anne Hathaway and Eddie Remayne are both solid but would be hard pressed to carry their roles on stage. Russell Crowe is just plain awful here, creating a distinct list in the balance of power of the movie.  The real talents here are stuck in smaller roles where there is less risk of upstaging the principals. Samantha Barks, Isabelle Allen and Aaron Tveit shine brightly, if briefly, and Colm Wilkinson's sublime voice is never truly heard.

Even the one original song (“Suddenly) offered here seems as if it was added more for Oscar consideration than anything else, and is pretty well bludgeoned by Jackman in any case.   If you've spent the past 20 years or so waiting for the magic of Les Misérables to grace the silver screen, you've longer still to wait. Finding a local or regional stage production of the show might be more fruitful.

Rating: 2 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about the film at www.lesmiserablesfilm.com.  You’d be better off sticking with the musical though, at www.lesmis.com. 

Mara And The Bitter Suite - Unspoken

Mara and the Bitter Suite – Unspoken
2012, Adam Waite & Mara Davi

Mara and the Bitter Suite plays on the combined talents of Broadway actress/singer Mara Davi and composer/conductor Adam Waite.  Davi has graced the stages of the Great White Way in productions of The Drowsy Chaperone, A Chorus Line and White Christmas.  You might also have seen her playing Bianca Sanfino in Blue Bloods.  Adam Waite is the Co-Artistic Director and Resident Conductor for Lyrica Chamber Music.  He’s worked with dozens of Broadway Casts as a musical supervisor, and serves as a Director for Broadway’s Carols For A Cure.  He’s also won several ASCAP awards for original compositions.  The Tonawanda, NY native has been lauded by the L.A. times for his work, and has performed on Good Morning America, as well as at New York’s Birdland and at the opening Gala for the Walt Disney Concert Hall.  The fact is that Mara Davi can flat out sing, and Adam Waite has an ability to craft arrangements that fit perfectly to her voice.

Unspoken unfurls with uncertain opening strains of "Solo", with a stumbling guitar walking Davi along. On the second pass things become more certain. It's a wonderfully artistic expression of finding oneself again on the other side of a relationship. The quiet strength that grows here is inspiring, wrapped as it is in an essential goodness that is palpable. "Playground Song" uses hand rhythms and the unfettered dreams of youth to sketch out a carpe diem vision of the future. The arrangement is a perfect mix of simplicity and complexity, with Davi's voice bridging that gap in precarious and pretty fashion.

"Walking Thru Water" is built on a contemplative melancholy vaguely reminiscent of early REM. The difference, of course, is Davi's gorgeous voice full of quiet accusations and even quieter hopes. This number ends in ethereal folk fashion, with voices layering and creating beautiful echoes that are both there and not there. "Hurricane" opens as part of an incessant if unobtrusive dance beat but turns into a new age pop number. This is relatively unsatisfying even in spite of Davi's voice.

"Clover And Clementine" finds Mara & The Bitter Suite at their very best in a song about personal heavens and perfect moments. The light, airy feel of the song is sweet, and you could imagine this being a surprise hit on commercial radio. On "Lighthouse", Mara and the Bitter Suite" delve into the lonely quiet of the heart of a woman whose love is at sea. Whether taken figuratively or literally this is a thing of beauty, and when Davi wails in her anguish toward the end, you can feel the unwinding of her heart strings plucking one by one.

"Unspoken" is about the strings of memory that tie old flames together. In this case it's a shared melody that will never mean anything to anyone but them. This quiet meditation is aesthetically lovely but carries a universal weight that is hard to ignore. On "Lay Your Battle Down", Davi offers up her edgiest vocal work of the album. The darkness here is underwritten with a gritty sort of hope, with beauty just a swipe of the hand away. Unspoken closes with "When I". If there has ever been such a thing as pure poetry on the form of a quiet pop song then this is it. Davi waxes poetic about movie stars such as Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire. This is a tear jerker; a moment of utter aesthetic bliss brought to you by a flawless arrangement and the angelic voice of Mara Davi.

Mari Davi and Adam Waite would seem to be a perfect match, as evidenced by their collaborations on Mara And The Bitter Suite’s Unspoken.  There are perhaps a couple of slow moments but not a stumble is in evidence, and there’s a certain chemistry within the songs that speaks of connections that are deeply musical and bordering on spiritual.  Unspoken wants to be an alternative pop/rock experience, and manages to get there but relies on some artfully theatrical songwriting.  Davi handles all of this with the aplomb of a seasoned veteran of the stage, and a voice that stops people in their tracks.  All the while Waite is behind the curtain pulling the musical strings that back her up.  The result is a brilliant mix of talents and sounds.  Unspoken is well off the beaten path, and very much worth the detour.

Rating:  4.5 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more at www.maradavi.com.