Sunday, April 19, 2009

I hope everyone enjoyed Record Store Day, I picked up a few albums I’d been meaning to buy, as well as the new Wilco live DVD, Ashes of American Flags.  It’s definitely got some good concert footage and short interviews, though I’m still a fan of the pared-down shows of the YHF era, where Jeff was still learning how to solo properly and all the A Ghost Is Born tracks were still being written.

But let’s get down to business.  Two great new local albums that came out in the past month or so are just begging to be heard:

Black Joe Lewis - Tell Em' What Your Name Is!

Nearly a year ago a cut of Black Joe Lewis’ Gunpowder was floating around the internet providing a little taste of what was to come.  The name was more than fitting, giving the suggestion that all the band needed was a little flame under their ass and kaboom! - an album like Tell ‘EM What Your Name Is comes barreling at you.  Actually, that’s exactly what happened (with a little help from Spoon’s Jim Eno at the producer’s helm).  Drawing from the best of your James Brown collection, Black Joe Lewis and a entourage of pure talent on horns, guitars and drums (collectively known as "The Honeybears") groove through an album of spitfire one-liners, blaring horn lines, raucous stop time and the occasional croon.  Through Eno’s direction, the album comes much closer to capturing the spirit of their live shows, especially when the band step outside the traditional boundaries of the genre into groovy garage-rock and slower soulful numbers.  While the record is worthy of a good listen, and a real accomplishment for the band, it still functions primarily as an invitation back to the live shows that made Black Joe Lewis famous.

Lucky for us then they’ll be touring all over the US, making regular stops in Austin the next few months.  By the way, you can preview the entire album on the Lost Highway website.

:Black Joe Lewis - Sugarfoot:
 

Balmorhea - All Is Wild, All Is Silent

After a whirlwind of critical acclaim for last year’s release, River Arms, Balmorhea headed back into the studio to follow up on the gorgeous instrumental tracks that buoyed River Arms to the top of any knowledgeable music-geek’s stack of records.  The product is All is Wild, All is Silent, and it is as satisfying a record as anyone could ask for, with the band carving out even more space to adorn with the warm acoustic tones of their heavily layered compositions.  A mere 9 tracks cull from the finest combinations of classically-influenced string lines, somber compositions of acoustic guitars banjos, and percussion that varies between naturally abrasive and much calmer textures.

The album cover (which I included above) is a perfect metaphor for these tracks, with the faded landscape in the foreground retreating to a veil of fog, just as it comes natural to breathe along with every one of Balmorhea’s melodies, but perfectly impossible to catch every background detail.  But while the illusion of infinity is artistically applausive, Balmorhea masterfully cater for the goodwill of the listener: not a single one of forty-two minutes on this album sounds repetitive or dull.  Where other instrumental albums saunter through their own indulgence, All is Wild pushes forward with such graceful energy that 10 listens are over before you even knew they began, and that last one still invites yet another.

:Balmorhea - Remembrance:

- John Michael Cassetta -



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