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GO MEDIA
JANICE FRIEDMAN TRIO/Swingin’ for the Ride: Friedman was at IU around the same time as those Brecker boys, has a great resume, played with everyone bla bla bla. Long story short, why do we like her? This girl grew up eating Mose Allison records for breakfast and doesn’t bog you down with all the hype about “influenced by”… “in the tradition of”…and all the other hoo hah that tell you the act has nothing on the ball. Friedman isn’t derivative, isn’t imitative, she just has the Allison vibe down in a sincere way and plays it from the heart without sounding the slightest bit like a joker. On top of that, she does it without being too hip for the room. A really cool set by a piano ace that goes the extra mile without breaking a sweat.
(Janika Musik)
KARI ON PRODUCTIONS
ELIZABETH LOHNINGER/Only Way Out is Up: So Marlene Dietrich and Anita O’Day caught up with Nico in Ibeza to discuss the future of chill and down tempo thinking they needed to come up with a smoky sounding, late night kind of chick that could find the middle ground between Judy Henske and Julia Messenger while having commercial chops while knowing how to keep them in check. While they were stewing and brewing up this Frankensteinette scenario, Lohninger instinctively stole their thunder coming up with the kind of set that must be a sonar and a beacon reaching out to shy college boys that will do anything for her once it invades their brains. Since she’s done a lot of music for popular soap operas, there’s probably a signal in here that will make college girls that cut classes to watch soaps put down the Haagen Dasz before the winter 15 makes it impossible to cram into those rubber corsets. It’s that kind of album.
(Lofish)
LOTOS NILE
JOHN STARLING and Carolina Star/Slidin’ Home: Starling reunites with some country gentlemen who were mate in Seldom Scene for some hard charging bluegrass the way it was meant to be played. Just because we have some traditionalists here doesn’t mean they don’t appreciate the skills of a producer like George Massenberg or a fellow traveler like Emmylou Harris who lends a trill or two in fine style. The Scene kicked ass but started getting too slick to keep pace with the times. This reconstitution shows that sometimes you don’t have to worry about the direction of the zeitgeist, especially when you have the chops to back it up. This may well be the down home outing of the year.
1820 (Rebel)
MANHATTAN
VIKTOR KRAUSS/II: The sideman with the sense of humor checks in with another sets that’s hard to classify. Falling somewhere between industrial folk and a soundtrack for an unproduced David Lynch pic, this is an adventurous date for those that like their instrumental prowess on the money and their listening on the edge. A very different and left field kind of recording that manages to take you somewhere else than you might have expected.
60480 (Back Porch)
Volume 30/Number 99
February 7, 2007
MIDWEST RECORD
830 W. Route 22 #144
Lake Zurich, IL., 60047
CHRIS SPECTOR, Editor and Publisher
(c)2007 Midwest Record
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