06/10:

Noun, Holy Hell

Noun is the solo project of Marissa Paternoster, the singer/guitarist of Screaming Females. Noun and Screaming Females came into being around the same time, but the latter takes up most of her time, obviously. The songs of Noun vary dramatically in style and tone, from slow, dirge-y kind of songs to rockers that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Screaming Females album.

Noun, “Holy Hell”


Lush, Lovelife

I liked Lush alright in their 90s heyday, but came to realize how great they were much later, upon reflection. The bigger names in “alternative” may have been catching my ear at the time, but I listen to Lush a lot more frequently now than, say, Pearl Jam.

Lush, “Ladykillers”


The Rolling Stones, Exile on Main Street

The regulation version, rather than that fancy reissue that came out awhile back. I’d like to hear that, though. A dense album, it took a lot of listens to really appreciate. Maybe not as accessible as some of their other work, but it’s not regarded as one of their best if not the best for nothing.

The Rolling Stones, “Loving Cup”



The Bloodsugars, BQEP

One of many bands I stumbled across on eMusic one Tuesday evening. They have a fun, unpretentious rock’n’roll sound of a type that isn’t terribly common these days. The song below employs the familiar Motown drum fill, which always makes me smile.

The Bloodsugars, “Cinderella”

Solomon Burke, Don't Give Up On Me

The rare big comeback record from a classic artist that is absolutely fresh, vital, and exciting. Produced by Joe Henry and featuring songs written by Henry, Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello, Brian Wilson, Van Morrison, Nick Lowe, and the below song written by Tom Waits, my personal favorite. Pairing Burke’s powerful voice and unmistakable style with some of the best songwriters of the 20th century made for a knock-out album. From the playful blues of Dylan’s “Stepchild” to the searing “None Of Us Are Free” with the Blind Boys of Alabama, every song is essential.

Solomon Burke, “Diamond In Your Mind”


Charley Patton, Founder of the Delta Blues

An NPR story about floods and music and Charley Patton made me put this on. All it takes to get me to listen to something is a good reference. Patton was a singular voice of early blues, one of the genre’s first celebrities and, as the title of this collection suggests, one of the founders of the Delta sound. His voice is captivating, filled with gravitas, and he tells his stories with passion and conviction. He was an innovator on the guitar, originating a lot of the techniques and tricks later performers would make common place, with a fiery performance style. Known for his songs about the great flood of the 1920s (which is why he came up in the NPR story), his music can be harrowing and tragic. Or, as below, it can be pretty silly.

Charley Patton, “Shake It And Break It”



Bob Dylan, Love & Theft

Hey, speaking of Bob Dylan... Love & Theft is my favorite of his recent work, and features a tribute to Charley Patton. Sometimes it’s all connected! The beginning of the “American troubadour” period he’s clearly still enjoying: recycling, repurposing and reinvigorating ancient folk music for a new era. It’s not unlike the way he and his contemporaries in the 60s folk scene worked, but where an early 60s Dylan song might’ve taken the tune of an Irish folk song and added new words, the songs he’s recorded in the 21st century are much more complex than that. Dylan blends so many references, lyrics, melodies and concepts from obscure tunes, you’d have to be a music scholar to catch it all, cobbling together new songs from the bones of the old. And it’s fun, mostly. I don’t think Dylan has ever sounded like he’s having as much as he has on the cycle of records that began with this one.

Bob Dylan, “Cry Awhile”


Clutch, Pure Rock Fury

Sometimes a band sees that they need to try a new direction and take drastic measures. For Clutch, that meant shelving the near-complete Slow Hole To China album in 2000 and beginning work on what would be their 5th album, Pure Rock Fury. They had gotten perhaps too comfortable with their sound (A notion supported by the tracks that saw later release on their rarities collection, also called Slow Hole to China), caught it, and challenged themselves to try some new things. This album featured a lot of new tricks, from taking advantage of stereo mixing like few bands have since the 70s to mixing live & studio recordings in a single track, but it also featured the band sounding completely revitalized, harder than they had been in awhile, and ready for action.

Clutch, “Pure Rock Fury”


Yup.

--D