Spiritualized, "Live At The
Albert Hall"
A little warning
before I get into this album. While I am of the opinion that Spiritualized
is one of the most amazing bands out there right now, I concede that they
are not for everyone. Their style of music can go from very sparse songs
that might only include a repetitive guitar and a voice, to full band playing
that blurs the lines between music and noise. This is not for the conservative,
this is for those who are willing to experiment. That said, this is one
of the most amazing albums I've heard in a long time.
For those who
are unfamiliar with Spiritualized. The band was formed by J. Spaceman,
of Spaceman3 fame, after that band broke up. This is their 4th US album,
and as the title indicates, this is a live show. Now, I was introduced
to this band about a year ago, when a cousin of mine took me to see them
in DC. I have never been so mindf%*ked by a live show before in my life.
And it didn't take me long to find their new album, at the time, "Ladies
and Gentlemen, We Are Floating In Space." That album as well is a great
album, but it just couldn't compare to the amazing things I heard at that
live show. Now, with this album, I have been given what I want. The albums
starts with the sparse Intro, and then quickly descends into pure sound,
like a bad trip. Then, just when you think you can't take it anymore, the
band turns on a dime and you find yourself in the relative safety of Shine
A Light, knowing full well though, that the safety will not last, and is
not under your control.
My advice with
this album would be to throw it on a stereo with well placed speakers,
take the phone off the hook, hit the lights, sit in-between your speakers,
and just give yourself over to it, mind, body, and soul. And don't worry,
as long as you don't panic, you should be able to find your way back when
it's all over.
That said, the
album does contain some rough sections. The most obvious would be the use
of a choir on some of the songs on the second disk. On "Ladies and Gentlemen..."
the choir works perfectly and really enhances the songs. But, live you
don't get the same effect. Especially during I Think I'm In Love where
the second vocal has been given to the choir. It would have been much more
effective to give it to another band mate like on "Ladies and Gentlemen..."
These few problems aside, this album is still amazing, and will still leave
you wondering what the hell just happened to you.
Material, "Hallucination Engine"
What happens
when Bill Laswell asks Wayne Shorter, William S. Burroughs, Liu Sola, Simon
Shaheen, Nicky Skopelitis, Bernie Worrell, Bootsy Collins, Shankar, Sly
Dunbar, Jeff Bova, Jihad Racy, Jonas Hellborg, Zakir Hussain, Trilok Gurtu,
Vikku Vinayakram, Fahim Dandan, George Basil, Michel Baklouk, and Aiyb
Dieng to appear on his next album? You get an amazing album that shows
you how funky world beat music can be. A brilliant mix of funk and acid
jazz with Indian and African music that will take you on one hell of a
music journey.
The only vocals
at all on the album is supplied by William S. Burroughs, who reads his
Words Of Advice For Young People essay. The rest of the album is just some
of the best musicians around, showing why they are some of the best musicians
around.
Mickey Hart/Planet Drum, "Supralingua"
I'm not going
to say much about this album because I have a feeling a lot of you own
it. And if you don't, you should.
Francis Dunnery, "Let's Go
Do What Happens"
I don't know
that much about Francis Dunnery, except that he writes some really good
songs. Not everything on here I love, but there's enough on here to love
that it's definitely worth the price. The music is singer/songwriter stuff
delivered in a 90's style of rock and roll. The lyrics tend to be the thing
of interest on this album though. While the music is not always amazing,
the lyrics stand up to the test. From the questioning nature of My Own
Reality, to the acoustic delivered Revolution, and the Beatles tinged,
Give Up Your Day Job, Francis Dunnery, is a rare commodity in this day
in age of singer/songwriters, he's actually got something interesting and
new to say.
Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin,
Paco de Lucia, "Friday Night In San Francisco"
Three men, three
acoustic guitars, a packed Warfield. That was all that was needed back
in Dec. of 1980, when Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin, and Paco de Lucia played
the concert that would become this amazing CD. Most of the album is the
style that you would expect from these three masters of the guitar, but
they weren't above pulling out a little blues and teasing the Pink Panther
during this performance. If you've heard the other albums that this Trio
recorded, but haven't heard this one, or if you enjoy listening to masters
performing with masters, you owe it to yourself to own this album.
Dr. Didj, "Serotonality"
So, what does
the idea of a band centered around the didgeridoo bring to mind? New Age
meditation music? Aboriginal field recordings? How about funky songs that
make you want to shake your ass? No? Well then, you've obviously never
heard Dr. Didg before. Serotonality is the band's second album and it might
be a little hard to find (the album is released in the States by Rycodisk),
but it's worth the trouble. This album is made up mostly of either live
tracks or of songs that were born live at shows in England. The band uses
live looping on the didg to give the band a much fuller sound. And to let
the Didg player also play keyboards. The rest of the band includes, guitar,
bass, and drums. And this band must be heard to be believed.
Rusted Root, "Rusted Root"
For a full review
of this album I point you in the direction of www.pauserecord.com and Tim
Lynch's review. My own thoughts though are that Root never disappoints.
I'm amazed at how the band has been able to reinvent itself for everyone
of it's albums. There are quite a few bands out there that I definitely
look forward to new albums from, but Root is at the top of that list, because
every album is something brand new. And this one doesn't disappoint. This
album seems to tip it's hat to the previous two Root albums, but yet never
looks back, taking the band into an area that seems to focus more on song
crafting. One of the many pleasant surprises on the album is the track
Moon, written and sung by Liz Berlin. Having had a chance to see Liz perform
solo on one of the side stages at HORDE '96 I can only hope that they give
her a chance to perform her own songs more often.