Author: Jeff Giles (Page 21 of 41)

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy: How Big Can You Get? A Tribute to Cab Calloway

May 29, 2009 /

You’ve got to give Big Bad Voodoo Daddy credit for having enough chutzpah to dedicate an entire album to the repertoire of a legend like Cab Calloway – and for tracking the whole thing live on vintage gear – but it’s a well-known musical maxim that you needn’t bother cutting a cover unless you’ve got something new to add, and that goes double for someone whose songs have been bought, sold, covered, and compiled as often as Calloway’s. As a result, How Big Can You Get? is about as thoroughly inessential as you can get – it’s impeccably performed, and adds a dash of modern production sparkle to a stack of well-worn tunes that includes “Jumpin’ Jive” and “Minnie the Moocher,” but it lacks the heat and spice of the original recordings, and anyway, there’s no reason to spend money on relatively faithful interpretations of Calloway’s songs when plenty of compilations and reissues are available for a minimal investment. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy remains as likable as ever on these recordings, even if lead singer Scotty Morris doesn’t do himself any favors by encouraging comparisons to Calloway, and fans of the band should be consistently entertained. As a gateway to Calloway’s world, however, it’s not worth opening. (Vanguard 2009)

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy MySpace page

Big Band, CD QuickTakes

James Yuill: Turning Down Water for Air

May 22, 2009 /

Tradition and technology collide in the opening moments of James Yuill’s Turning Down Water for Air, a 12-song bedroom-pop set that’s been earning raves in Yuill’s native England since last fall. Leadoff track “You Always Do” begins with the familiar sound of an acoustic guitar – which is then pushed and pulled by what sounds like a defective tape head, thus setting the tone for the album’s overall aesthetic, which mashes up old-school, analog-driven new wave pop with mopey British folksinger confessionals. It’s an uneven mix, but when it works – as on “No Pins Allowed,” which kicks off with a NIN-esque burst of industrial noise before giving way to a gently surging melody over a dance beat that vaguely suggests something New Order might have done, or “No Surprise,” which rides a circular synth pattern and kalimba-sounding percussion around the edges of a classically monochromatic new wave melody – the album is positively entrancing. Next time out, Yuill could stand to write a few more standout tracks, but for a debut effort, Water ain’t bad – this is a songwriter who’s on to something. If you’ve ever wondered what Nick Drake might have sounded like with a skinny tie, be sure to check this out. (Nettwerk 2009)

James Yuill MySpace page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Folk, Pop

Green Day’s “21st Century Breakdown” meets the critics

May 15, 2009 /

Green Day - 21st Century BreakdownFive years after releasing 2004’s career-defining American Idiot, Green Day is back with their follow-up, 21st Century Breakdown, hitting stores today. Does it live up to the considerable hype?

According to Bullz-Eye’s David Medsker, Breakdown is a solid 3.5-star affair — perhaps not the towering achievement that Idiot was, but as he says, you have to “give the band credit … for not shying away from the impossible expectations that have been thrust upon them, and trying their damndest to make an album every bit as massive” as their last outing, even if their reach exceeds their grasp a bit:

The problem is that this time around, that whole reach-exceeds-their-grasp thing comes back to haunt them. The band simply bit off more than they could chew, and had they been willing to pare down the track listing to a more reasonable length (18 songs! 69 minutes!), we could be talking about Breakdown and Idiot the same way that people compare and contrast The Bends and OK Computer.

These sentiments are more or less in line with the qualified praise doled out in reviews from a number of outlets, including the UK’s Guardian (“a little less bold, a little less surprising than its predecessor”), Entertainment Weekly (“The band seem oddly immune to the fact that success … has rendered Berkeley’s gutter-boys-done-good accidental targets of their own ire”), and Popdose (“bucks the current trend of churning out singles in favor of creating deep tracks that beg for repeated listens — and may the gods bless ‘em for it!”)

And what does the band say? Well, watch this Total Assault interview clip to hear directly from the boys themselves:

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CD Reviews, News

Operation Aloha: Operation Aloha

May 15, 2009 /

They’re being called a supergroup, but Operation Aloha doesn’t carry the odor of a manager-brainstormed corporate rock merger, like, say, Damn Yankees; instead, it sounds like a bunch of guys dicking around between trips to the beach – which is appropriate, because that’s exactly how Operation Aloha came together. Sprung from a month-long vacation to a “treehouse compound” in Maui, Aloha loosely strings together contributions from a staggering 14-member crew whose members count Maroon 5, Phantom Planet, and Gomez among their respective day gigs, and the music is relaxed to a fault – though hooks occasionally poke through the mellow haze, for the most part, the album consists of perfectly pleasant sketches that sound like they might be on their way to becoming songs at some point. Not the type of record that’s going to grab you right away, in other words (or maybe not at all) – but given enough spins, it starts to feel awfully comfortable, like an old, patchouli-drenched poncho at a beachside campfire. It’s ultimately a little bit like a 21st-century version of the Traveling Wilburys – without the songs, mind you, but with more than enough charm to get by. (Operation Aloha 2009)

Operation Aloha MySpace page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Pop, Rock

Buckwheat Zydeco: Lay Your Burden Down

May 15, 2009 /

It really says something about the enduring appeal of an artist’s sound when his 30th anniversary announcement is surprising not only because of how far he’s come, but because it seems like he’s been around much, much longer. Such is the case with Stanley “Buckwheat” Dural, Jr., leader of the venerable Louisiana combo Buckwheat Zydeco; his music is tied in so tightly with its rich traditional roots – but constantly brimming with infectious, life-affirming energy – that it’s never sounded anything but timeless. To celebrate his three decades in the trenches, Dural has enlisted a drool-worthy array of special guests for Lay Your Burden Down, including Warren Haynes, Sonny Landreth, JJ Grey, and Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews – not to mention Steve Berlin behind the boards (and sitting in with the horn section). With all that talent in the studio, it’d be a shame if Burden was weighed down with pedestrian material; thankfully, the album shines on that front, too – it kicks off with a cracking cover of “When the Levee Breaks” and keeps on strutting through a combination of solid originals and equally inspired covers (including Bruce Springsteen’s “Back in Your Arms” and Captain Beefheart’s “Too Much Time”). Typically stellar stuff from Buckwheat Zydeco, in other words. May Buckwheat’s accordion ring for another three decades. (Alligator 2009)

Buckwheat Zydeco MySpace page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Zydeco

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