Author: Jeff Giles (Page 28 of 41)

Jeff Beck: Performing This Week…Live at Ronnie Scott’s

December 18, 2008 /

Though almost universally acknowledged as one of the best guitarists on the planet, Jeff Beck has never been able to translate his brushes with superstardom into the sort of name value enjoyed by his fellow ex-Yardbirds, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page – due at least in part to his seemingly utter disregard for the importance of maintaining any kind of consistent industry presence and predilection for interminable waits between new studio albums. For a brief while, it seemed as though Beck might be changing his ways – between 1999 and 2003, he released three albums of new material – but since 2003’s Jeff, he’s re-entered the wilderness, popping out only for the odd “American Idol” cameo or live collection. Performing This Week…Live at Ronnie Scott’s is his third live release of the new millennium, which would seem annoyingly excessive if it weren’t for two things: One, a 64-year-old Jeff Beck still plays smoke rings around nine out of 10 of his fellow guitarists; and two, he plays here with an ace band that includes drummer Vinnie Colaiuta and an incredibly talented bass player named Tal Wilkenfeld. Ronnie Scott’s, which is also being released on DVD, plays solidly to Beck’s strengths – 16 tracks, culled from across his career, none lasting longer than a hair over six minutes – but since he’s always been more about discipline than noodle-fingered wankery, the set’s staidness makes perfect sense. If it ultimately doesn’t add much of anything to Beck’s legacy, well, there wasn’t much to add anyway, was there? (Eagle 2008)

Jeff Beck MySpace page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Rock

Brett Dennen: Hope for the Hopeless

December 12, 2008 /

Up ‘til now, Brett Dennen has been positioned as a sort of 21st-century troubadour, a scruffy kid with an acoustic guitar and a big ol’ heart pinned to his sleeve – which is why his third disc, Hope for the Hopeless, may give fans a bit of a shock, what with its generous coating of semi-glossy production (applied by John Mayer and Dave Matthews helmer John Alagia) and introduction of somewhat dance-friendly beats. Heck, there’s even a restrained Femi Kuti cameo on the first single, “Make You Crazy”! Fans who have loved Dennen for his previous albums’ strong coffee-shop vibe may cry sellout, but that’s just sour grapes talking: Hope for the Hopeless is no better or worse than what’s come before it, it’s just that Dennen’s less of an idealist than his lyrics might make you think, and he’s made a calculated bid to expand his audience. It’s a gamble that might have worked six or seven years ago, when this sort of pop-radio-friendly college rock was on the rise with the TRL set; in 2008, however – and coming from a smaller indie like Dualtone, which lacks the muscle enjoyed by Alagia’s more famous clients’ labels – it seems like an unlikely way for Dennen to broaden his fanbase. Still, the songs are solidly crafted and tastefully uplifting, and if the lyrics occasionally venture into softheaded territory (”Heaven ain’t got no prisons / No government no business”), the songs are more than capably presented by a band of session ringers that includes drummer Joey Waronker and guitarist Mark Goldenberg. It may not provide what its title promises, but if you’ve got room for a little more singer/songwriter pop in your diet, you could certainly do a lot worse than this. (Dualtone 2008)

Brett Dennen MySpace page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Folk, Pop

Donavon Frankenreiter: Pass It Around

December 12, 2008 /

If Joe Cocker had a little brother who was raised by England Dan and John Ford Coley, and he grew up to be a musician, he might sound something like Donavon Frankenreiter. Part of the Jack Johnson school of guitar-toting pro surfers, Frankenreiter has more of a fondness for things like melody and rhythm than some of his more famous peers (most notably Johnson himself); his last album, 2006’s Move by Yourself, was even something close to muscular in spots – in the context of the genre, anyway. In comparison, Pass It Around is more subdued; Frankenreiter is enough of a craftsman to flesh out his arrangements and make room for something more than his sandy vocals and acoustic guitar, and even if the vibe never wavers from “good ‘n’ mellow,” you at least get the feeling he’s trying to entertain someone other than himself. He doesn’t always succeed, mind you – Frankenreiter is still much more distinctive as a vocalist than a songwriter – but on the surf-rock continuum, Pass It Around is far closer to boss than bammerwee. (Lost Highway 2008)

Donavon Frankenreiter MySpace page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Folk, Pop

Clifton Williams and the Blue James Band: WILL

December 8, 2008 /

Clifton Williams and the Blue James Band bill themselves as “a rock, reggae, folk, and funk train riding through the world of music,” but if their second album is any indication, they’re really more like a smoky old VW bus aimlessly rolling through Humboldt County. WILL is brah rock of the first order, the kind of stuff you expect to hear blaring from the second story of a frat house on a Sunday afternoon (perhaps not coincidentally, the album contains a song titled “Sunday Afternoon”). Williams’ claims to rock, reggae, folk, and funk influences ring clearly enough over the course of these 13 tracks, but they’re all employed in the service of an extremely mellow vibe that renders them all more or less inert. It’s to Williams’ credit that most of the songs hover around the four-minute mark – most of the jamming is saved for the drawn-out closing track, “My New Window” – but they still feel curiously drawn out; the melodies wander, and the arrangements are full of noodly chord progressions that will be overly familiar to anyone who’s ever listened to a Dave Matthews Band album. And unless you really are a college student in your 20s, it’s probably best if you don’t look at the lyrics, which are heavy with searchin’-for-myself platitudes like ”Down this path I walk with uncertain steps / The life I live is a life built on hopeful promises.” In other words, don’t expect too much from WILL, but it’s excellent music for a barbecue, or the soundtrack of Matthew McConaughey’s next movie. (Chappy Payne Records 2008)

Clifton Williams and the Blue James Band MySpace page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Folk, Rock

Seal: Soul

December 5, 2008 /

Seal once famously advised us that we were never gonna survive unless we got a little crazy, and it looks like he may have been right, because few things are crazier than a slowly dying label footing the bill for David Foster to produce an album of hoary old soul chestnuts covered by Mr. Heidi Klum – and yet that’s exactly what Warner Bros. has gone and paid for with the erroneously titled Soul. It actually does make a certain amount of sense, given that Rod Stewart and Barry Manilow have recently topped the charts with their own moldy covers discs, but Seal’s Soul (try saying that 10 times fast) is a case of lost potential: Although Seal’s vocals are as fine as ever, Foster’s enervating production turns everything into dinner music – yes, even “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World” and “Knock on Wood.” Aside from Chinese Democracy, this is the most expensive-sounding album you’re liable to hear for the rest of the year, but nobody got their money’s worth – not the label, not the songwriters who will reap royalties for more unnecessary covers of these songs, and certainly not anyone who purchases this disc in hopes that it’ll live up to its title’s promise. Base familiarity seems to be the last failsafe path to sales for the foundering major labels, and Soul may very well find an audience with the same QVC-shopping shut-ins who lapped up Stewart and Manilow’s albums, but anyone who’s heard the original versions of these tracks should know better. (Warner Bros. 2008)

Seal MySpace page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Pop, R&B

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