Music doesn’t often come more intense than on Micah P. Hinson’s new album. Intense, but with a laid back feel that puts you at ease just before the knock out blow.
White Denim are a power pop trio from Texas who can also deliver freakishly loose rock jams somewhere between the Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Faces. Meanwhile, Paul Weller is saying bye bye to Dad Rock and goes on a musical journey revisiting the styles that influenced him in the past 30 years.
Eclectic Ballads: Micah P. Hinson And The Red Empire Orchestra
Like Tom Waits meeting Leonard Cohen in a roadside ale house, this album combines lust, rage and sadness with a taste for sleezy late night music. Micah is out in a league of his own.
The first half of the album is folky with a dark streak. Somber songs sung with an authority that makes you listen. Then Micah takes on a different personality, turning into a flamboyant storyteller who commands a string orchestra for added dramatic effect.
‘You Will Find Me’, ‘The Wishing Well And The Willow Tree’, ‘We Won’t Have To Be Lonesome’ - The second half of the album is full of drama and passion. There is more than a touch of Roy Orbison’s excess and the Big O’s ambivalence between laughter and tears in these songs.
‘The Red Empire Orchestra’ is as eclectic a mix of old and new music genres as you are likely to find. Fans of Cohen, Waits, the Tindersticks, Nick Cave and Richard Hawley should definitely check Micah’s new album out.
Back To The Roots: Paul Weller ‘22 Dreams’
Weller’s turning 50 this year and ‘22 Dreams’ is a bit like a compendium of the different styles that inspired him over the years. That’s mainly Jazz, Funk, Soul and that particular kind of Georgie Fame style Rhythm and Blues that fuelled the original Mod scene. You also get a bit of Folk.
Musically, ‘22 Dreams’ offers a much wider horizon than any Weller album since 1995’s ‘Stanley Road’. The quality varies. Compare the title track ‘22 Dreams’, a tight R&B with crisp guitar work and nice organ, with ‘All I Wanna Do (Is Be With You)’, another R&B style number but to my ears much more cliched. ‘22 Dreams’ has attitude and style, while ‘All I Wanna Do’ is closer to the kind of Blues-by-numbers rock that pub bands produce with Weller taking on a not so convincing blues shouter tone.
There are a few groove nuggets on ‘22 Dreams’. Check out the Mod stomper ‘Have You Made Up Your Mind’ or the space funk of ‘Echoes Round The Sun’, which features Oasis’ Noel Gallagher on piano and bass.
‘22 Dreams’ is an ambitious piece of work. It features some classic Weller songwriting, a few sonic experiments and a good deal of plain blues rock. It doesn’t come together for me as an album, but there’s enough material here to keep me interested.
Listen Here to ‘22 Dreams’ and download the album from iTunes.
Sun, Fun & Rock’n'Roll: White Denim ‘Workout Holiday’
These Texans are best when they loosen up and come across like a mad cross between the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Faces.
It’s the guitar freak-outs with freestyle vocals and loose rhythms that really steal the show on ‘Workout Holiday’. I mean, listen to ‘All You Really Have To Do’ or ‘Sitting’ without feeling the need to play air guitar. Or dust off your dancing boots and slap on ‘Look That Way At It’. Pure rowdy goodness that matches what legendary party rockers The Faces put on vinyl back in the early 1970’s.
When White Denim are playing too tight, they stray into power pop territory. Songs like ‘Shake, Shake, Shake’, ‘Ieiei’ and ‘Let’s Talk About It’ are fast and fun, but sound flat compared to their less hurried numbers.
Listen Here to ‘Workout Holiday’ and download the album from iTunes.
