Reviews
Hope Orchestra - Gift - Deep Scene Records
Hope Orchestra is George Schuster (lead guitar), Gary Sosnick (rhythm guitar), Joe Stover (bass), Charles Miller (drums), and Asta (lead vocal). Their music on Gift, their third CD, is driving, sophisticated, intricate and outstanding. Twelve compelling ballads combine dual-guitar crosstalk, hard-charging drumming, Asta's spirited soprano voice, and an excellent production mix. The result is quite an earful, engaging yet different from much of pop music. Given the uniqueness and strength of their sound, this ensemble could perform TV commercials and still sound good.
But this recording is more than a mere ear candy. The songs, mostly written by Sosnick, show a keen understanding of the pop tune. The lyrics fit well with the supporting instrumentation, using the ballad form effectively to emphasize issues of environmental threats, people's rights, plus more pedestrian concerns of unrequited love. Although the strong vocals thoroughly grab you from the first listen, these tunes are capable of standing on their own - songs like the lyrically catchy "Girl In Your Eyes" and "A Matter of Time," the beautiful "Parallel Parking," the rhythmic "Why Oh Why," all would be successful tunes outside the presentation by this tight and impressive ensemble. These songs are well crafted, coupling a good sense of musicianship with excellent production sensitivities. The result is a recording that is a joy to listen to repeatedly.
David Menefee - The Brighter Side of Blue - Stone House Music
Local troubadour David Menefee has released a warm and friendly recording. With musical assistance from harmonica player Peter "Madcat" Ruth, mandolinist David Mosher, vocalist Cheryl Dawdy, and cellist Abby Alwin his material ranges from home-spun folk tales to classic ballads. The first two tunes give a good indication of Menefee's musical breadth. His "Brighter Side of Blue" is a happy-go-lucky tune reminiscent of that great northern Michigan bar where it was written. Madcat Ruth's harmonica plays well against Menefee's unobtrusive lyrics, sparkling like Menefee's eyes.
Dougie MacLean's "The Mhairi Bhan" is beautifully sung by Menefee. His baritone is clear and controlled. Accompanied by Chenille Sister Cheryl Dawdy, and on mandolin and vocal by David Mosher, the performance is strong and represents a certain aesthetic that Menefee uses throughout this recording: material that is soulful and literate allowing the deepest of feelings to emerge.
No better tune on this recording reflects this sentiment than the classic "Love Hurts." Sung by Menefee and Dawdy, the deep pains often found in love ooze from his rendition of this great tune.
The finale is another MacLean tune, "Until We Meet Again." Just Menefee and guitar, this parting tune, like the entire recording, leaves a feeling of warmth and camaraderie. Search this recording out. The vibes it gives off are infectious.
Robbie Fulks - South Mouth - Bloodshot Records
For many, the idea that country music, with its musical clicks, hiccupped and nasal vocals, and patriarchal, conservative ideals, could be politically insurgent seems downright impossible. Certainly listening to much of today's New Country, where tight-jeaned singers - both male and female - combine rock music hooks with country mainstream mannerisms, or popular music's alt-country, replete with mumbling vocals and jangling guitars which is often more southern folk/rock than country, clearly shows how deeply the current conservative hegemony has limited the creative spirit and the possible progressive nature of country music.
One reason why this conservatism prevails is that humor and the darker topics - although never main staples of the genre - have completely left country music. In the 1950s, there was Hank Williams's great word play: "Hey good lookin'/What you got cookin'/How 'bout cookin' something up with me?" In the 1960s and '70s Roger Miller and Jerry Reed produced tons of ditties that brought smiles to our faces. Even country stalwarts like George Jones ("White Lightning") and Merle Haggard ("Okie From Muskogee") imbued their musical statements with humor and irony. But somewhere in the 1980s and surely the 1990s, not only did humor leave country music but so did the good old-fashioned somebody's-been-cheating-on-somebody songs, and songs about heart-felt mayhem (check out Johnny Paycheck's 1960s recording for this darker side of country including "Take This Job and Shove It"), and I-hope-you-die songs; songs filled with emotion and angst.
My point is the sooner country music Iets its dark and humorous side re-emerge, the sooner there will be a chance to make a progressive point in country music again.
Robbie Fulks's latest recording takes huge steps in the right direction. While still using many of the musical tricks of the genre - featuring Dan Massey on drums; Lorne Rall, bass; Tuey Connell, guitar; D. Clinton Thompson, guitar; Torn Brumley, steel pedal - Fulks looks at situations or tells tales in a way that would cause Garth Brooks or Vince Gill to run in terror. His "I Told Her Lies" is about a philanderer who recommends a strategy for living today. The ironic twist is that when he dies and hears all the praise heaped upon his character, he declares that "if you want to stand tall in humanity's eyes/just pay no mind to the laws of God/keep on telling those lies." Hmmm, makes you think.
The darkest tune on this recording is "Cold Statesville Ground." Told in the first person, death-row inmate William Hayes tells the chilling story about running upon a misguided and unfortunate driver. With no clue of motive or remorse Hayes describes how he matter-of-factly choked and hammered her to death. Both the raw wonderment of such an act and Fulks's hair-raising narrative forces us to think about, yet get off, the subject as quickly as possible. We end up wondering if there is any redemption in such full-fledged evil or if there should be.
Probably Fulks's most telling tune is the one he wrote after moving from Chicago to Nashville, trying to "make it." After seeing the glitter, the phoniness, the cheating and lying endemic to the business, Fulks finally decided after three years to "Fuck This Town." A hot up-tempo swing tune completely opposite to the "crap" they wanted him to write, this tune is a very funny litany about the smarmy side of country music. One wonders if things will ever change.
The sentiment and form of this recording is solid throughout. Fulks has his musical chops down and finds in the dark and humorous sides of country music fresh arenas for thought-provoking music. Get this today.
Comments? Questions? Tapes, CDs, etc., may be sent to: AGENDA, 220 S. Main St., Ann Arbor, Ml 48104