Japandroids "Celebration Rock"

 Released 06/05/12

Japandroids are a Vancouver based guitar/drums duo that play hook laden garage rock.  On this their second full album they go for a much larger sound than their first album.  The title "Celebration Rock" says it all folks.  Full of sing-along hooks this album is short and snappy.  Big crowd pleaser here.  Think of the anthemic best of the Clash and Green Day.  This is true '.fun' punk rock n' roll. 

Neil Young & Crazy Horse "Americana"

 Released 05/30/12

Melodies you've known since childhood ("Oh Susanna","Tom Dooley", "Clementine" et al) seem a startling contrast to the Neil Young & Crazy Horse guitar crunch and indeed they are.  Disconcerting at first, after repeated listening I'll be damned if it all doesn't work memorably well.  "Get A Job"?  Yep, it somehow fits. 

I expected "This Land Is Your Land" to work in this musical environment (and it does) but the others are a real pleasant surprise.  Kudos also for the great booklet notes on each song.  The only cooler thing I can think of is incorporating the Pistols version into their take of "God Save The Queen".  I'll bet it probably did occur to them.

Rolling Stones "LA Friday '75"

Released March 2012

Jann Wenner writing in Rolling Stone about the final 1975 L.A concert of the Rolling Stones:

"At the end of each number I was screaming at the person in the next seat: 'We're seeing the best show of the tour!'...I was convinced that I had seen not only the best show of this tour but possibly the best Stones concert ever."

You can now make up your own mind with the third official Stones Archive concert release of the June 13th 1975 Rolling Stones show at the forum.  (Only available online at StonesArchive.com).

Based on this release the concert is in the argument for best ever.  The opening salvo of "Honky Tonk Woman" establishes this as one of the strongest Stones live recordings out there.  Not just with the performance but also due to the incredible remastered sound.  Strong stuff indeed and it doesn't let up from there.

If you're at all a Stones fan this is one to get.  The only letdown for some may be the two Billy Preston numbers but, hey, that was part of the deal with this incredible tour.  If you saw Jagger swinging out over the arena holding onto a rope using only his hands and feet (and I'm talking waaaaaay out there) you'd realize they laid it all on the line on this tour (the first with Ron Wood).

While I'm at it, the two earlier releases "1973: The Brussels Affair" and "1981: Hampton Coliseum" are well worth getting.

"Brussels Affair" consists of two shows done the same day.  The afternoon show is easily the most infamous of the recorded Stones canon.  Heavily bootlegged it was also used in part for the King Biscuit Flower Power hour radio show back in the 70s.  The afternoon show may be the best Stones show ever (in the equation with Mr. Wenner's assessment of the above 75 show).  This official release is mostly the previously unavailable night show in Brussels on the same day.  I say mostly because "You Can't Always Get What You Want" and "Midnight Rambler" (extraordinary) are from the afternoon show.

"Hampton Coliseum" was one of the first Pay-Per-View concerts and although it's availability was rather limited...the stereo soundtrack wasn't.  I didn't have access to the video but the full stereo came through a local FM station.  I sat there with my audio cassettes and recorded the entire show.  I thought I knew this one by heart but with the remastering job done by Bob Clearmountain it's like a new show.  This is the show where Keef clocked a guy that jumped on the stage with his guitar then kept playing as if nothing happened.

       

Jack White "Blunderbluss"

 Released 04/24/12

Many of the tunes on Jack White's first solo album could fit on a new White Stripes, Raconteurs or Dead Weather album but they would sound very, very different.  White is a first rate collaborator who brings the sound of the whole to the fore yet retains that unique Jack White quality.  The sound on this album is all his.

And what a sound it is.  His lyrical cadences are intact along with the diverse instrumentation.  Fiddles, clarinets, pedal steels, upright basses and mandolins show up with the guitars, keyboards and drums.  Yes, the crunchy guitar is there ("Sixteen Saltines") and it does show up sometimes where not expected.  It's reported that he prefers old cheap department store electric guitars and given the sounds he wrenches out of those poor souls that is probably preferable.  More keyboard heavy tunes are prevalent but they certainly don't wimp out.  This is a strong album.

The roots of the songs are all over the rock and roll map.  One could probably spend a long time writing a track-by-track treatise on those influences.  But what the hell, just enjoy.

Album of the year contender.

Leonard Cohen "Old Ideas"

 Released 01/31/12

Not really associated in most minds as a rock artist, nonetheless Leonard Cohn is a poetic musical artist.  If his half-spoken baritone voice and exemplary lyrics hit your buttons then this one will not disappoint.  I'm one of those people and that's why it's here.

Musically it's similar, yet a bit more diverse, to recent original albums by Cohen.  Excellent vocal accompaniment from the usual female suspects. The songs cover expected weighty matters from life to death and beyond with emphatic musical wistfulness.  Atypically, he makes light of his own persona right from the beginning with "Going Home".  ("He's a lazy bastard living in a suit") 

If you are part of the spiritual/romantic party that is Leonard Cohen then "Old Ideas" (his first album of new material in 8 years) is required listening.  If not, maybe this one will change you mind...maybe not.

Bruce Springsteen "Wrecking Ball"

 Released 03/02/12

Once again answering the clarion call of current times, "Wrecking Ball" looks at working class America post 2008.  They are the same persons that populated his earlier work albeit 40 years later.  Then they were concerned with parents, street racing, relationships and facing the future.  Well, the future is here and, at this juncture, is rather bleak.  Is the answer rallying together for change or striking out in anger?  It's all in the make-up of this album.

The music?  With very little E-Street band involvement it still contains the essence of their sound.  This album does take chances, it's certainly not a straight ahead E-Street album.  Some of the production has been criticized as a mistaken try to remain "current".  That does Bruce very little credit.  He's turned into a master in the studio and this one reflects that.  There's a lot of variety in the music and the particular sound of each track stands on it's own.  As with any artist's efforts, some parts do work better than others,but the effort is sincere.

The bottom line is how often you come back to a particular album.  I seem to be going back to this one quite a bit.   Will that last?  Time will tell.   My past Springsteen listening seems to center on "Tracks", "The Promise (Darkness outtakes)" and the early stuff up to, and including, "Born in the USA".  "The Rising" is admittedly a great album, but when is the last time you listened to it?

Guided By Voices "Let's Go Eat The Factory"

 Released 12/20/2011

GBV are back after 8 years and it's hard to imagine that "Bee Thousand" and (personal fave) "Alien Lanes" were from 1994-5.  With "Let's Go Eat The Factory" it's as if they never left.  Titular leader Robert Pollard, after a less than distinguished solo career, reassembled many of the past members in 2010 and this is the result.  Twenty one songs ranging from under a minute to almost exactly 4 minutes (the average is probably right around 2 minutes).  You cover a lot of ground here in styles and the hit rate for memorable tunes is up there.  Many times you wish they would have fleshed out some of the tunes, some are just right and others...well at least they are short.  One thing though...they are all fun and that's something this group seems to understand in spades.  Worth checking out along with much of their back catalogue if you're not familiar.  A true cult band.

NOTE: Six months after the above release, GBV released another new album consisting of 21 new songs along a similar vein.  That seems a bit soon for me and listening shows this to be the case.  The ratio of songs you'd want to hear again on "Class Clown Spots a UFO" is a lot lower than that on "Let's Go Eat The Factory" by quite a bit.  As in the past they seem to be spreading themselves a bit thin.  Then again that's possibly what their true fans are looking for: Quantity versus Quality to arrive at those favorite tracks.  Lowers the standard for me.