Author Archives: Joseph Neff

Consisting of highly skilled enthusiasts, The Blasters stand tall amongst the very strongest exponents of the stripped down and wild sound that shaped the 20th century heyday of what the band described as American Music. For an extended taste of this outfit’s rare talents, just get in line on Record Store Day Black Friday November 29 for a copy of Over There, Live at the Venue, London – The Complete Concert, which expands a sharp six-song live EP originally released in 1982 to 23 tracks spread across four sides of vinyl. But heads up; only 1,500 copies of this double set were pressed by Liberation Hall, so interested parties should prepare to be disappointed. Demand will definitely exceed supply.

Formed in Downey, California in 1979 by vocalist-guitarist Phil Alvin, lead guitarist Dave Alvin, bassist John Bazz, and drummer Bill Bateman, by the time The Blasters recorded their self-titled second album released by Slash Records in 1981, they’d added boogie-woogie piano specialist and former Canned Heat member Gene Taylor, baritone saxophonist Steve Berlin (a contemporary from the Los Angeles scene) and veteran tenor saxophonist Lee “Walkin’ With Mr. Lee” Allen to the lineup. Upon landing in England to support Nick Lowe, they were a well-oiled machine just bursting with spontaneity and energy.

Perhaps the key component in The Blasters’ artistic success is that they couldn’t sit stylistically still for very long. Over There’s complete performance spans rockabilly, rhythm & blues, country, swamp blues, and soul. But on the downside (for the band; certainly not for listeners), this sheer diversity likely limited their commercial potential. Doing one thing repeatedly, e.g. the neo-rockabilly of The Stray Cats, increases the chances of breaking through, if only briefly. The Blasters had some chart success, but they never took a ride on the flash in the pan rollercoaster.

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Celebrating Andy Partridge, born on this day in 1953. —Ed.

In their early days XTC released a copious amount of singles, with this output appropriately corralled onto a handful of compilations situating the band as one of the more interesting acts produced in the late-‘70s UK. Amongst these songs were the three cuts that comprise their debut, ‘77’s “3D EP.” Many consider it as a strong but minor first effort in a scenario of future greatness, but investigating them apart from the group’s initial prolific tide provided this writer with the key that unlocked XTC’s substantial value.

By the time I became acquainted with them in the mid-‘80s, XTC was essentially a critics’ fave and one that was largely functioning as an album band. This was the era of Skylarking, and while “Dear God,” the b-side of that LP’s first single “Grass,” kicked up quite a bit of dust via MTV and even replaced “Mermaid Smiled” on the US version of the disc, in the US it only managed to land on a now defunct barometer of radio play named the Billboard Album Rock Chart, where it found modest success.

And on their home turf it barely even entered the Singles Chart, peaking at the severe back end at #99. This really is no surprise, since “Dear God” is a truly eloquent dispatch of religious disbelief, a song that likely would’ve caused their countryman Bertrand Russell to stand up and cheer had he only lived to hear it.

“Dear God” was so cogent (while simultaneously manifesting a well-harnessed anger) that more than a few believers in my personal circle considered it a legitimate expression of doubt and questioning rather than quickly dismissing it as merely sacrilegious. The tune’s that good. But even though ‘86’s Skylarking and its follow up Oranges & Lemons were both strong sellers and the group was very popular on college radio, the rise of their singles during this period seemed mainly tied to video play.

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Celebrating Joni Mitchell on her 81st birthday. —Ed.

Joni Mitchell’s discography gathers 19 original albums spanning from the masterful to varying degrees of flawed, a range highlighting her lack of artistic complacency. She’s had her share of compilations, and Rhino’s Love Has Many Faces: A Quartet, A Ballet, Waiting to be Danced is the third box set devoted to her work. Containing four CDs curated by Mitchell from a long stretch of productivity, it eschews chronology for a quite personal and sometimes frustrating thematic vision.

The first inapt tag I’ve read applied to Love Has Many Faces is “career-spanning,” its usage positing Mitchell’s musical activity beginning with 1971’s Blue. Indeed, nothing from ‘68’s Joni Mitchell/Song to a Seagull, ‘69’s Clouds or ‘70’s Ladies of the Canyon is included here, and it leads me to a minor quibble in the casual use of “greatest-hits” to describe this collection; a few of her larger singles did make the cut, but absent is “Big Yellow Taxi” from Ladies or “Help Me” from ‘74’s Court and Spark.

Given the specifics of this box, the omissions make sense. Artist-assembled and love song-themed (the subject nowhere near as constrictive as a Joni newbie might suppose), these 53 tracks essentially underscore what Mitchell’s made clear since the arrival of Blue; in particular, she’s anything but just another strumming folkie, and as Love Has Many Faces’ accompanying book rounds up 54 poems and six new paintings, at this late date it’s hard to imagine anybody lumping her into that bag.

“I am a painter who writes songs,” Mitchell is quoted in the press materials, and after spending time with the entirety of this set, at less than a minute shy of four hours long no small undertaking, I consider the key portion of her statement as “writes songs.” Over the years she’s done a good job transcending mere writing to enter the realm of robust musicality, though her self-assessment does differ, and at points substantially, with this reviewer’s evaluation of her oeuvre.

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As one of the greatest of tenor saxophonists, Ben Webster amassed a sizable discography across a long career. His live performances were also extensive and on occasion, those nights were recorded. Released posthumously in 1985, At the Renaissance is a fine introduction to Webster’s full-bodied, mature style as he stretches out with a sharp band. On November 8, Craft Recordings reissues an expanded edition of the original LP on 180 gram vinyl as part of the label’s Contemporary Records Acoustic Sounds series. There are certainly more important albums in Ben Webster’s body of work, but he rarely sounded better than he does right here.

Ben Webster is most renowned for his work with Duke Ellington, who he joined for an extended period in 1940 after playing in numerous bands, including those of Bennie Moten, Fletcher Henderson, Benny Carter, and Cab Calloway. Considered one of the “big three” tenor saxophonists of the swing era (the others are Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young), Webster was the first major player on the instrument to have a significant role in Ellington’s band, though by 1943 he’d made his exit for the clubs of 52nd Street.

Webster briefly rejoined Ellington later in the decade (he’d first played with Duke in the mid-’30s), but from the mid-’40s onward his career path is noted for an association with promoter Norman Granz’s Jazz at the Philharmonic initiative, co-led sessions with Hawkins, pianists Art Tatum and Oscar Pederson and saxophonist Gerry Mulligan, plus plenty of records and club dates as a leader.

At the Renaissance is just one of numerous albums capturing those club dates. Prior to departing for Europe in 1964, Webster gigged frequently at the Los Angeles club the Renaissance, often with Mulligan, but on October 14, 1960 he was leading the band heard here, with Jimmy Rowles on piano, Jim Hall on guitar, Red Mitchell on bass, and Frank Butler on drums.

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The Ladybug Transistor’s The Albemarle Sound, an ambitious but tightly focused serving of baroque and at times lightly psychedelic pop, was released by Merge Records as the 1990s wound to a close. Having achieved classic status, it’s now receiving a 25th anniversary reissue on vinyl and compact disc from Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records in a deluxe limited edition that includes a mobile, a button set, a silkscreen print, and bonus tracks on the CD and accompanying the LP on a digital download. Bold and assured, it’s an essential addition to any comprehensive ’90s indie shelf.

It’s a common generalization that the music of indie rock’s heyday (let’s demark the late 1980s through the ’90s), if not as unembellished as the din that dominated the punk explosion of yore, is still modestly scaled, stripped down, and structurally straightforward, at least in comparison to the mainstream pop and rock sounds of the same era.

As is often the case, there’s a kernel of reality in that simplification, although plenty of exceptions did emerge to illuminate ambitiousness from across the indie scene’s wide stylistic spectrum. Arriving late in the timeframe established above, The Albemarle Sound remains a standout example, if maybe a bit undersung as part of the Elephant 6 Collective (Brooklyn wing).

The formative debut Marlborough Farms (Park ‘N Ride, 1995) and stronger, more focused follow-up Beverley Atonale (Merge, ’97) precede it, but the third time really was the charm from the group of Gary Olson (vocals, trumpet), Jeff Baron (guitar), Jennifer Baron (bass), Sasha Bell (keyboards, flute), San Fadyl (drums), and Julia Rydholm (violin).

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Body Meπa is a powerhouse ensemble that’s lacking in a weak link. Their sound has some affinities with post-rock but the band prefers to describe their thing as “New York City body music.” While conducive to the movement of torsos and limbs, the collective energies soar from a rock framework, thoroughly unburdened by cliché. Available October 25 on vinyl (limited clear with a green tint, unlimited black), compact disc, and digital via Hausu Mountain, Body Meπa’s second full-length Prayer in Dub takes its place amongst the best records of 2024.

Body Meπa features Grey McMurray (Sō Percussion, Tyondai Braxton, John Cale, Colin Stetson) and Sasha Frere-Jones (UI, Loren Mazzacane Connors, Calvinist) on guitars, Melvin Gibbs (Defunkt, Power Tools, Rollins Band, Harriet Tubman) on bass, and Greg Fox (Teeth Mountain, Guardian Alien, Fox Millions Duo, Colin Stetson).

While many balk at the usage of term outside of the late 1960s-early ’70s, supergroup is a fitting way to describe Body Meπa. In short, supergroups were/are aggregations formed by individuals already well-known, and in many cases renowned for their output, and most likely in a band context. The original supergroup impulse was essentially doomed by general arrogance and individual egos; notorious as one-and-done affairs when cutting records, supergroups are often scorned as part of a larger takedown of the rockist impulse.

And so it makes sense that some contemporary listeners would disdain the supergroup concept and that pertinent bands on the current scene might seek distance from the descriptor. It would be no surprise if this was the case with Body Meπa, as their ensemble thrust is unfettered by the drag downs of ego, and Prayer in Dub extends and expands upon the quality of their debut, The Work Is Slow, released in 2021, also by Hausu Mountain.

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The dB’s first record Stands for Decibels received its first ever US vinyl pressing earlier this year, and with little delay comes a reissue of its follow-up, which is also making its vinyl debut in the States. Compact disc and digital options offer a bonus track. For the band’s second go-round, the songs remained edgy and distinctive with occasional flareups of quirk while building upon classic models. The whole of Repercussion, brighter and a bit bolder, completes one of the great rapid fire combo-punches in pop-rock’s long history. It’s available now through Propeller Sound Recordings.

It’s fitting that Propeller Sound chose not to dillydally in getting the dB’s essential early albums into stores, as both Stands for Decibels and Repercussion were released in 1981. In consort with their UK label Albion, the speedy pace of the band’s productivity strengthened the 1960s foundation from which guitarist-vocalists Peter Holsapple and Chris Stamey, bassist Gene Holder and drummer Will Rigby, sprang. Bands worked fast in the ’60s, often at the insistence of labels that would drop them if they didn’t; The dB’s set out to do the same.

Recorded in NYC and London, Repercussion marked the debut of Scott Litt as producer. For a long stretch in the late ’80s and ’90s, Litt had the rep as a guy who would sand down a band’s edges as he polished up their sound (therefore, he was something of a divisive figure), but the dB’s had too much momentum and Litt was just getting started, so while larger-scaled and more refined, Repercussion didn’t squander the energies of the debut.

Some will perhaps be thrown by the horn section in the opening cut, Holsapple’s “Living A Lie,” but it’s the Rumour Brass (backers of Graham Parker) who are doing the blowing, and the cumulative effect isn’t that far from the sound of Squeeze at the time. The next track, “We Were Happy There,” also a Holsapple tune, reins it in a bit (the Rumour Brass making their exit) and delivers a solid serving of power pop with new wavy tension.

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Remembering Laura Nyro, born on this day in 1947. —Ed.

In terms of elevated 2oth century pop songwriting, Laura Nyro has remained part of the discourse for decades, with her highest profile recordings likely her second and third LPs, both cut for Columbia in 1968-’69. But hey, don’t get the idea that her ’67 debut for Verve, More Than a New Discovery, is merely formative or somehow negligible. To the contrary, many know it under its reissue title of The First Songs, which featured a reshuffled track order and a mix with increased reverb. However, the Real Gone Records-Second Disc reissue, the first time the Verve edition has been repressed on wax, sets the track order right and offers Nyro’s preferred (and rare) original mono mix. 

The latter portion of the 1960s is loaded with singer-songwriters whose work is best known through the interpretations of others. Many of these cult figures are folky in comportment, but even as Nyro recorded her debut for Verve’s Folkways imprint (later renamed Verve Forecast) and made a crucial early song sale to Peter, Paul and Mary (“And When I Die,” later butchered by Blood, Sweat & Tears), she was a pop stylist of pronounced sophistication.

She was appealingly introspective as well, a quality putting her in the same neighborhood as Carole King, with sales figures excepted, as Nyro’s own albums never made a big impact commercially, although they did shift enough units that she never fell victim to record company disinterest. In this regard, she was similar to Randy Newman, and if he’s better known today that’s partly because he’s still alive and kicking (Nyro passed far too soon of ovarian cancer in 1997). Additionally, he benefits from a lucrative late-career pursuit in film scoring.

But the bigger difference between Newman and Nyro is the lack of the satirical and ironic in her work, though the songs of his that evince a palpable degree of sincerity provide a strong point of unification, as the two songwriters share a Tin Pan Alley foundation (and a piano-based approach) that is ultimately manifested in distinct sensibilities. That is, Nyro is as much of an auteur as Newman; once heard, she’s impossible to confuse with anybody else.

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The latest additions to Elemental Music’s Motown Sound Collection come from three of the Motor City label’s heavy hitters. There’s a mono edition of A Bit of Liverpool by The Supremes, Third Album by the Jackson 5 on red vinyl, and Sky’s the Limit by The Temptations. All three are available October 18.

No scientific testing has been done in connection with this roundup, but it sure seems like A Bit of Liverpool is the least esteemed record from The Supremes’ ’60s catalog. It’s an observation that applies to general listeners but also music writers, as not much print space has been devoted to the set’s thematic contents.

Hitting stores in 1964 as the British Invasion was in full swing, The Supremes’ third full-length record has often been described as a cash-in, though it’s unlikely many people were bothered about this at the time of the record’s release. Per the title, The Beatles get the most attention, but this focus reaches beyond just the hits.

There are versions of “A Hard Day’s Night,” “Can’t Buy Me Love,” and “I Wanna Hold Your Hand,” all pretty good as straight covers go, but there’s also a likeable take of “You Can’t Do That” and an even better “A World Without Love,” a chart topper by Peter and Gordon that was written by Lennon-McCartney, don’tcha know. Getting even deeper into the weeds is “You Really Got a Hold on Me,” a well-loved nugget by the Miracles that was an album cut on With the Beatles (and The Beatles’ Second Album in the USA).

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Barbados born British trumpeter-flugelhornist Harry Beckett had a long and distinguished career that was capped with a delightfully unexpected collaboration with producer Adrian Sherwood, The Modern Sound of Harry Beckett. Released in 2008 by Sherwood’s On-U Sound label, it has just received a worthy reissue, the set now available on vinyl for the first time.

The arrival of The Modern Sound of Harry Beckett shouldn’t have been a surprise given the number of times the horn-man recorded with Jah Wobble (more than a dozen releases across a two-decade span). Indeed, it was the extended relationship with Wobble that hipped Sherwood to the prospect of working with Beckett and sowed the seeds for this album.

Beckett, who passed in 2010 after a stroke, had a deep rep as an ace guest who added value to records spanning from the Small Faces (Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake) and the regular sized Faces (Long Player) to Jack Bruce (Songs for a Tailor) to Alexis Korner (Both Sides) to Manfred Mann Chapter Three (S/T and Volume Two) to Robert Wyatt (Nothing Can Stop Us) to Weekend (La Varieté) to Working Week (Working Nights) to David Sylvian (Gone to Earth).

The above excludes Beckett’s extensive work in the jazz field, which in addition to his own records (debuting with Flare Up in 1970) found him in bands ranging from big (aggregations organized by Graham Collier, Neil Ardley, John Dankworth, Mike Westbrook, Michael Gibbs, and Oliver Nelson) to mid-size (outfits led by Collier, Elton Dean, and Stan Tracey) to small (groups with John Surman, Mike Osborne, and Ray Russell). Of special note is his connection to South African musicians through his membership in Chris McGregor’s Brotherhood of Breath.

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Stylistically complementary yet with contrasts in execution, the bands Dancer, hailing from Glasgow, Scotland, and Whisper Hiss, based in Portland, OR, each get a side on Split, a new LP that’s available October 18 (after a brief delay) via the reliable Athens, GA label Happy Happy Birthday To Me. It comes with hand-stamped labels in a handmade three-color screen-printed matchbook fold-over sleeve plus insert and a download card. Those with an unscratchable itch to hear these dozen tunes right now can snag a digital copy over at Bandcamp.

Split LPs span back nearly as far as the format itself, but the impulse to share sides really flourished as part of underground rock’s regional scenes in the years after punk’s big reset. Although not all split LPs featured contributors from the same or neighboring cities or towns, geography as a unifier was essentially the norm. But in these post internet days, long distance relationships are far more common and make far more sense as pairings, particularly when aligned by a record label majordomo who comprehends the value of close proximity over the release of two separate 6-song EPs.

Dancer’s side begins with “Priority Girl,” a bouncy, sassy, slightly new wavy dose of pop-rock that could’ve raised the eyebrows of an IRS Records scout circa ’82 or thereabouts, at least until the band lets loose with a little racket in the mid-section. “Didn’t Mean To” follows, delivering a more charged up strain of melodic clang with a solid undercurrent of post-punk.

The title “Paging Planet Earth” positively screams new wave, a scenario that’s aided by Gemma Fleet’s vocal timbre, a little bubbly but smart (shades of Debbie Harry and more so Claire Grogan). However, the cut has an arty edge (while still steadfastly pop) that deepens the appeal. So far so very old school, but “You Saint” brings a twist with prickly guitar lines giving the song a more contemporary spin.

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Celebrating Daryl Hall on his 78th birthday. —Ed.

While by no means an unknown work, it also seems fair to say that Daryl Hall’s first solo LP Sacred Songs gets nowhere near enough retrospective attention. This is mainly due to the inclusion of what many might consider to be an odd associate (at best) or an irreconcilable collaborator (at worst) in art-rock maestro Robert Fripp. Blue-eyed soul meets Frippertronics? Yes, indeed.

If the team-up of Daryl Hall and Robert Fripp remains an unlikely pairing from seemingly disparate areas of the ‘70s rock landscape, after some consideration their creative union shouldn’t really be designated as a case of strange bedfellows. The key to understanding how these two ended up in the same studio lies in getting beyond the surface perception of Fripp as a prog-rock outlier and Hall & Oates as simply a hit machine.

But folks who know Fripp’s contributions to Blondie’s Parallel Lines and especially Bowie’s “Heroes” have surely already comprehended that there’s more to the guy’s output than just King Crimson and (No Pussyfooting). And any fan of Hall & Oates that’s travelled back in their discography to their Atlantic Records period has been greeted with the unusual doozy that is Abandoned Luncheonette.

That 1973 album, their second after the pleasant but far from earth shattering debut Whole Oats, can be aptly described as a particularly ripe example of the commercial ambition of its decade. Not only does it include what’s maybe their best single, the sleeper 1976 hit “She’s Gone,” but the record’s second side heads into all kinds of unexpected areas, including the well-integrated use of electric violin on “Lady Rain” and even some fiddle and banjo on the seven minute album closer “Everytime I Look At You.”

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Dog Jaw Woman by The Guy Hamper Trio is amongst the latest worthwhile offerings from the indefatigable Damaged Goods Records of the United Kingdom. Featuring organist James Taylor as a returning guest, the trio’s deep ties to a particularly steadfast branch of the British R&R tradition are sturdy but not overemphasized, as the sounds tap into classic modes while avoiding the merely retro in a manner befitting said tradition (more on the specifics below). The 10-track set is out October 18 on vinyl and digital.

The Guy Hamper Trio consists of Julie Hamper on bass, Wolf Howard on drums, and Guy Hamper, aka Billy Childish, on guitar. The involvement of Childish might lead those who know him primarily through the copious combined output of Thee Headcoats and Thee Mighty Caesars (plus numerous other bands) to certain assumptions as to the sound that Dog Jaw Woman holds in store.

In short, the expectation would be raw and tough ’60s UK Beat Rock-Maximum R&B with nods to Link Wray and a ’77 punk edge. Doing it sans vocals, the Trio does lay down a punky Freakbeat-ish foundation, although distinct from the general Headcoats-Caesars thrust, and expands upon this curve with the contributions of Hammond organ ace James Taylor, formerly of ’80s outfit The Prisoners and the long-running James Taylor Quartet (where Wolf Howard was a contributor).

The first Guy Hamper Trio record, All the Poisons in the Mud (2022, Damaged Goods), was a mostly instrumental affair, the set offering one track with vocals by Childish. When he wasn’t singing, the band’s groove, raw but lithe, often suggested a bunch of mods turning their amps way up while under the influence of organ trio soul jazz and the brilliance of Booker T. Jones.

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Ludicrously prolific as a session mainstay for a slew of indispensable figures in the grand scheme of 20th century Jamaican music, saxophonist “Deadly” Headley Bennett only cut one solo record, 35 Years From Alpha, which was released in 1982 on the fledgling enterprise of Adrian Sherwood, On-U Sound enterprise. Flash forward to right now, and the same label is giving the album its first vinyl reissue, with compact discs and digital downloads also available. According to Bandcamp, the LPs and CDs ship out on or around October 11. Loaded with guests, the ten selections flow with roots warmth and dub edge. Two previously unreleased bonus tracks intensify the already considerable value.

Deadly Headley began recording as a teenager in the 1950s, with his skills on saxophone landing him in studios with numerous outfits, including Lynn Tiatt & The Jets, Sly & The Revolutionaries, The Aggrovators, The Arabs, The Mighty Vikings, Sound Dimension, The Abyssinians, The Professionals, The Roots Radics, and the Studio One house band, and backing such major artists as Alton Ellis, Bob Marley (on his first recording “Judge Not”), Derrick Morgan, Prince Far I, Horace Andy, Mikey Dread, King Tubby, Augustus Pablo, Gregory Isaacs, and Dennis Brown.

And then, most relevant to this review, there was Bennett’s work in connection with Sherwood, playing on records by Creation Rebel, Singers and Players, Dub Syndicate, African Head Charge, and Bim Sherman. That a man as passionate about Jamaican music as Sherwood would give Bennett the opportunity to record his first solo release is no surprise, and neither is the number of contributors he lined up to secure the album’s success.

Too many big names has spoiled many a well-intentioned recording, but fortunately not here, in part because of a low-key feel that avoids a parade of personalities and taking any big masterpiece swings. Instead, the set registers as an extended appreciation of the utility player, and with plenty of room for Bennett to get his licks in, particularly in the opening title track. Jumpy and fast paced, the cut spreads out, with Nick Plytas on keyboards, Style Scott on drums, Lizard Logan on bass, and Rico Rodriguez on trombone.

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Alto saxophonist Art Pepper is well represented in Craft Recordings’ Contemporary Records Acoustic Sounds Series. Originally released in 1960, Gettin’ Together is available in a fresh 180 gram vinyl edition on October 11. It’s the second of three Pepper LPs landing in the store bins across 2024, and if not his most lauded studio date, the contributions of pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers, drummer Jimmy Cobb, and trumpeter Conte Condoli elevate the whole, along with Pepper, who is up to his usual high standard throughout.

The most celebrated album in Art Pepper’s discography remains the first one he cut for the Contemporary label, Art Pepper Meets the Rhythm Section, which was released in 1957 with Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums, a triumvirate highly regarded at the time of the album’s recording (with no loss of esteem today) for their association with trumpeter Miles Davis.

Pepper first came to prominence in the big band of Stan Kenton, a gig that began in the early 1940s. With the exception of WWII military service, Pepper remained with Kenton through the beginning of the following decade. During this stretch Pepper contributed to some of the progressive bandleader most ambitious albums.

Although Pepper’s profile continued to rise through a handful of LPs released as leader or co-leader in the mid-’50s, it was Meets the Rhythm Section that vaulted him to the forefront of the era’s jazz scene and cemented his name into the canon. Rest assured that any serious list of the essential jazz recordings will include Meets the Rhythm Section, and rightly so.

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