07/24/07
GEFFEN
SOUND THE ALARM/Stay Inside: Howard Benson sees the future, and the future of getting checks from major labels is in finding and producing kids. This bunch, still in their teens. is malleable enough to sound great under Benson’s production wand and deliver the kind of set today’s mainstream will enjoy. With one foot in Aerosmith and one foot in Foo Fighters, there’s plenty of teen age bombast on tap here. Loaded with the kind of angst lite you find in upper class, suburban high school hallways, you can bet your boots, this is the new sound of the suburbs.
MASSIVE MUSIC
JUDE JOHNSTONE/Blue Light: The ace songwriter goes deep into her emotional back pages for a personal set of new songs that strays from her pop work in content but not in spirit. You can almost feel the music pouring from her heartstrings as the soulful expression in the music and the singing can’t help but touch you. Sort of a classic singer/songwriter set and part catharsis you are over hearing, Johnstone hits it out of the park in a grand fashion that solid songwriting fans will resonate with. A can’t miss effort throughout. Omen noters may want to note this was recorded in the same studio as Lucinda Williams break out album.
40105 (Bojak)
MICHAEL BLOOM MEDIA RELATIONS
BRUCE EISENBEIL SEXTET/Inner Constellation (Volume 1): Jazz guitar improviser that has hung around with some of the more progressive cats of the era took his time in creating his own progressive opus and the wait was worth it. Not on our radar before this release, it’s time we had our ears opened by Eisenbeil. Not a set for the casual listener looking for an easy smooth jazz romp, Eisenbeil takes it back to jump for progressive music fans and delivers something well out of the ordinary that demands attention. With the title track being a 48 minute suite in which all members of the band contribute in a fashion reminiscent of something between classic Carla Bley and “Tubular Bells”, the ideas, execution and performance are almost cinematic in scope. An artistic win for lovers of the artistic side of jazz.
(Nemu)
TWO FOR THE SHOW MEDIA
RUSS SPIEGEL/Chimera: Back when there was a real record business, labels would sign cats like this for the prestige, or to keep others from signing them, or to have them handy if they needed a session cat to clean up a session that needed something extra. A killer guitarist that’s simply welcome all over the world, Spiegel lays it down without pretense or drama and let’s his clean lines and solid playing provide all the drama and dynamic tension non-smooth jazz should have, even when he’s playing it light and easy. A tasty cat you should definitely get to know.
31622 (Steeplechase)
Volume 30/Number 266
July 24, 2007
MIDWEST RECORD
830 W. Route 22 #144
Lake Zurich, IL., 60047
CHRIS SPECTOR, Editor and Publisher
(c)2007 Midwest Record