Review: Paul Phillips - Every Time I Leave

Paul Phillips - Every Time I Leave
2009, Paul Phillips

Marblehead, Massachusetts is home to Paul Phillips these days. The former bassist/singer for Spinoza and Nico has opted for a quieter life after spending several years in New York City, but stays active in recording and touring. Phillips has played bass on over thirty albums to date, but it is as a singer/songwriter that he's done his most interesting work. His debut album, Shooting Cars, Building Stars was released in 2002 under the name Sheffer Stevens. Seven years ago Phillips is reborn as himself, offering up a highly personal album entitled Every Time I Leave.

Phillips opens with Come Home, a musical entreaty full of melancholy delivered in a peppy arrangement. It's a great opener for the album. Jefferson Road is a song written about Phillips preparing to leave home for the first time for New York City; it's a song about the comforts of home and is full of a distinct longing for home that most of us never lose. Every Time I Leave is a love song written from someone who makes their living on their road but has their life at home. It's a wonderful tune that's likely Mix Tape material for anyone who lives in that fashion. The simple arrangement here highlights a grand melody that will stay with you long after the CD has stopped spinning. On The Digger, Phillips laments the passing of years and the missed chances that have gone with them, resolving to live life to its fullest going forward. It's a heartwarming song that's full of the joy of opportunities found rather than those lost, and is even upbeat enough to get your feet moving.

Until We Meet Again is a touching goodbye to a friend who has passed away; a poignant melody and lyrics that will hit hard for anyone who's experienced a recent loss. I'll Love You Still is the ultimate expression of love; a true statement of "no matter what". Done up in a gentle Americana arrangement, there's something of a melancholy feel here, but the sentiment is unquestionable. Time, Time addresses someone returning into your life after exiting badly in the past; it's essentially a request to be left alone to someone who's already done quite enough. Phillips returns to his southern gospel roots with Honey From The Rock, done in a Robert Johnson finger-pick Blues style that works perfectly with the song.

Paul Phillips has an affable voice, an easy delivery style and serious songwriting chops, all of which are on full display throughout Every Time I Leave. Honey From The Rock is the highlight of the album, but that's like saying an all-star player raised his game in the closing moments. There are no weak moments here; just the usual ebb and flow of a great songwriter/performer. Make sure you check out Paul Phillips and Every Time I Leave.

Rating: 4 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Paul Phillips at or www.myspace.com/paulphillipsband or http://www.paulphillipsband.com/, where you can purchase Every Time I Leave directly from the artist.

Review: Blues Divine - Shine Like The Sun

Blues Divine - Shine Like The Sun
2009, Wide Eye Music

Philip Franchini is the force majeure behind new blues act Blues Divine. With deep Blues roots running the gamut from Magic Sam to Robert Johnson and Elmore James, Franchini's Blues Divine can deliver traditional blues as well as modern takes on the art form. Blues Divine's debut album, Shine Like The Sun, infuses gospel and jazz as it loosely follows the evolution of blues as it rolled out of Mississippi and down the great river. Traditionalists will be thrilled with Franchini's style, and modern Blues fans will find a lot to like here.

Shine Like The Sun opens with Knockin’, a great bit of old school Rockin’ Rhythm N Blues. The guitar work here is excellent. Down By The River brings in the gospel sound that Franchini seems to adore, while Don’t Settle For Less heads straight for a 1970’s groove with a hybrid of Jazz, Blues and Rock N Roll with just a touch of Funk thrown in. Apocalypse Blues is a great deal of fun, the sort of thing you might hear in a blues club on a Saturday night. Things get a bit rough in the middle of the album, but by the time Blues Divine comes to My Father’s House they’ve found perfect form. This is a southern Gospel tune that is played here in a Rockabilly/Blues mix that is amazing. This seems to be the sound that most becomes Blues Divine. Shine Like The Sun is done in a country arrangement that is definitely worth hearing, and Sacred Ground, the last track, is perhaps the best on the album. The piano, organ and guitar work perfectly together here on this Gospel and Blues hybrid.

Blues Divine has a sound that while not wholly original, is distinctive. Shine Like The Sun is a strong presentation, although the middle of the album is a bit rough at times. Blues and Gospel fans will enjoy this offering. Give it a few listens; it’s one of those albums that opens up to the listener more and more with successive listens.

Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Blues Divine at http://www.bluesdivine.com/. You can purchase a copy of Shine Like The Sun at CDBaby.

Review: J-P McGill - Against The Sea

J-P McGill - Against The Sea
2008, Pipeline Music

New York City-based singer/songwriter J-P McGill makes music for himself. In a refreshing and unusual turn, McGill creates music he likes without regard for what the laws of commerce or fashion might prevail upon. With roots in Chicago Blues and folk, McGill has dallied in styles from around the world, and all the chickens come home to roost on his latest album, Against The Sea. McGill uses the sea as allegory for the human condition. Part Don Quixote and part Arthur Miller, McGill's subjects rail against their own personal constructs in a constant struggle to transcend themselves and become who they already are. It's a classic tale of suffering as a means to finding paradise, a la Siddhartha. Throw in the coloring of Cape Breton shanties, Afro-Cuban, Latin, Blues and even a touch of Southern European flavor, and you have a dynamic package that ranges from tuneful to frightening, but never fails to be compelling.

Against The Sea opens with Moby Told Me, a disjointed bit of rock noise that is almost as charming as it is sonically disturbing. McGill has taken elements of Electronica and Lo-Fi Garage styles and melded them into something you can't quite comfortably listen to but don't want to look away from either. McGill keeps up the madness on Psycho Sub Samba, but this time he battens down a Samba beat with a bit of folk survivalist madness. Better Man heads straight for the gutter blues, Big Rude Jake style. Listening to Against The Sea all the way through, I am thoroughly convinced that J-P McGill has a tuneful if rustic voice, but a fair amount of the time he eschews a tuneful sound for a rough, melody-wary vocal style not uncommon in folk/blues circles. The result is an anachronistic sound that purports to be more amateur and rough than it really is.

Walk On Water is a prime example of this rough, raw sound. McGill's relationship with a distinct melody line here is tenuous at best; the arrangement strongly minimalist. What the song does have is force of personality; a primal je ne sais quoi akin to a car wreck. McGill goes a bit cabaret on The Dutchman, accompanied by a reserved piano and quiet percussion. One Note Float returns to the Electronica-gone-Garage sound we heard on the opening track, and borders on difficult listening at times. Fish And Bird is a love song that is surreal, and lends itself to the general atmosphere of the album. The difficulty is that the longer the album goes on the more difficult a listen it becomes. What was charming for a few songs can be wearing on the listener. By this point in the album I found myself questioning my initial assessment that McGill can sing musically when he wants to.

Lyrically, Against The Sea is raw; occasionally jarring. Musically McGill is very inventive, mixing styles in unusual ways that run the gamut from appealing to bizarre and disturbing. In this respect Against The Sea is a compelling listen, as you can't be sure what's going to come next. A decent whiskey voiced vocalist could do wonders with these songs, which lend themselves almost to a bardic style. Once in a while J-P McGill throws us a curve, like on Ken & Catherine, giving us a little roadhouse Rock N Roll and a vocal that's spot on musically and stylistically. Even The Rosa Maria finds McGill digging into his more musical side for a great sea chantey, but it does take some listening fortitude to get there.

J-P McGill has done one of two things with Against The Sea. He's either delivered a highly artistic and anachronistic album or he's offered up a commercial project with little or no demographic. In fact, the two positions aren't incompatible. The question comes down to whether the style here is intentional or just an accident of his persona as an artist. I don't have the answer to that question, but I can tell you that there are some bright moments here as well as some dark, hard to listen to moments. There are some songs on Against The Sea that could be interpreted in wonderful and compelling ways by the right artist or personality, and there will be a niche market for this album, but it's not widely commercial, and a lot of listeners won't get through more than a couple of songs. In the end, J-P McGill sounds a bit like a hypothetical cross between Shane McGowan and Phoebe Buffay. It's interesting and compelling, but I am still not sure whether I enjoyed it or not.

Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about J-P McGill at www.jpmcgill.com or www.pipelinemusic.net. You can order a copy of Against The Sea at Amazon.com.

Review: Anne Weiss - Concrete World And The Lover's Dream

Anne Weiss – Concrete World And The Lover’s Dream
2008, Potter Street Records

Anne Weiss is the consummate professional. From recording with such luminaries as Shawn Colvin and Patty Larkin to performing with the likes of Ani DiFranco and Cephas & Wiggins, Weiss is a performer that other musicians look to with respect. She’s also an Allen Ginsburg Award winning poet, a former street gang member and political organizer. Weiss’ fourth CD, Concrete World And The Lover’s Dream is a collection of pop, country, blues and rock and roll that will surprise and delight listeners with Weiss’ ability to change character and presentation without losing the essential sense of her self. Let’s check it out!

Weiss opens with Ain’t Got No Reason To Lie in a deceptively bluegrass tinged rendition that is amazingly straight forward when compared to what comes later. It’s a refreshingly uncomplicated take on the song that is startlingly apropos. The Song About The Affair That I Am Not Having finds Weiss moving a little more in the Soul sound she is comfortable with, but still staying with a somewhat light, pop sound. It’s as if with the first two songs Weiss is leaving herself open to multiple genres (Country, Americana, Pop) whereas she later moves more solidly into a Soul/R&B sound. Special Delivery is built around a beat box core that ties everything else together. This is one of the more intriguing songs on the album as we get to see the real shading of Weiss’ voice here for the first time.

Anne Weiss drops any and all pretenses on Concrete World And The Lover’s Dream, bringing out every ounce of soul she possesses in a performance not to be missed. It just keeps coming on Robert Johnson’s Come On In My Kitchen, The Blues/Soul sound here is as thick as cream cheese. Weiss reminds me distinctly of one of my favorite female blues vocalists, Pamela Betti. There’s a Janis Joplin vibe here as well as Weiss opens up the throttle on a voice that has transformed from a vaguely sweet pop voice to a husky and worldly blues/rock sound in the course of five songs. Write Me A Few Of Your Lines is the highlight of the album. The classic tune from Mississippi Fred McDowell sounds like it was written for Weiss, and she does it full justice. Other highlights include Fall, Shadow Of Doubt and the cover of Jackson Browne’s These Days.

Anne Weiss fits equally well into the Country, Blues and Rock genres that she dances across on Concrete World And The Lover’s Dream. Her voice is a diamond in the rough. Not smooth or pretty, but hewn by life and effort and full of a natural beauty that can’t be crafted. Weiss owns the songs she sings and wears them like a favorite dress. The real Weiss is millimeters from the surface in each song, striving to break through and touch the listener like a breeze. Concrete World And The Lover’s Dream is a fine album.

Rating: 3.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Anne Weiss or purchase a copy of Concrete World And The Lover’s Dream at http://www.anneweiss.com/.