Frightened Rabbit

The Winter of Mixed Drinks

Fat Cat Records

4.5 out of 5 stars

Frightened Rabbit are single-handedly putting Scottish indie rock on the map. Having taken their time between heavy touring to record their much anticipated followup album to 2008’s The Midnight Organ Flight, Frightened Rabbit have delivered their most cohesive and musically engaged album yet, The Winter of Mixed Drinks.

Formed in 2003 in Selkirk, Scotland, by chief songwriter, vocalist and guitarist Scott Hutchinson, Frightened Rabbit was originally used as a stage moniker for Hutchinson’s solo shows. As local musicians gained interest, members were slowly added over time, including Hutchinson’s brother, drummer Grant Hutchinson.

The group released their debut in 2006, Sing The Greys, and followed it up with 2008’s The Midnight Organ Flight, which was a 2009 sleeper hit after receiving widespread critical acclaim. A few of the album’s songs were showcased in episodes of the popular television shows “Grey’s Anatomy” and “One Tree Hill.”

Frightened Rabbit’s latest release is an album of musical expansion. Whereas the beauty in 2008’s The Midnight Organ Fight was in its breakup themes, raw performances and passionate lyrics, The Winter of Mixed Drinks still follows course, however it also has an uncanny optimism that was lacking in their previous releases. The growth on The Winter of Mixed Drinks lies in the strength of the songwriting, the band’s ability to create a unique feel for each song and the sonic exploration of those songs, in which the band received grand contribution from producer Peter Katis.

Katis, who has worked with Interpol, The National and Guster, has taken Frightened Rabbit’s acoustically-driven sound and layered tasteful instrumentation over it — the arrangements are superb. He has made the band’s sound more mature, edgier and more interesting without compromising the overall spirit that Frightened Rabbit fans have come to love. Katis has simply made Frightened Rabbit sound better, more powerful and more unique.

Not only does the band sound more mature, the songwriting of Scott Hutchinson has reached great new heights as well. Hutchinson wrote the album in Fife, Scotland following a heavy 2009 touring schedule and it is no wonder the album revolves around themes of escape and emotional breakdown. The writing as a whole is much more cohesive than The Midnight Organ Flight, and while there isn’t a song that’s as catchy as “My Backwards Walk,” there also isn’t a misstep on the album — it showcases Hutchinson’s strongest body of songwriting yet.

Highlights include the album’s opening track, “Things,” which unfolds with a wash of distorted, droning guitars before slowly building into a full band effort as Hutchinson’s lyrics soar over the top. The refraining acoustic guitar in the song’s outro is a perfect example of Katis’ superb production, allowing the hard-driving tune to transition beautifully into the next song, “Swim Until You Can’t See Land,” the album’s first single.

The Winter of Mixed Drinks should be a nice accompaniment to this year’s change of season for anyone who is in need of a welcomed lift in spirit. — Jonathan Keller

Great American Taxi

Reckless Habits

Thirty Tigers

4.5 out of 5 stars

Great American Taxi has always flirted with paying homage to their historical influences, such as The Byrds, Gram Parsons and Uncle Tupelo. But for their new album, the band’s second full-length release, Reckless Habits, the era of innocent flirting has stopped. Great American Taxi is now down-right copping a hearty feel off of those influences, while also flexing its love muscle by putting their own hippie-tonk stamp on the country rock genre.

Fronted by Leftover Salmon’s big papa, Vince Herman, and keyboardist Chad Staehly, Taxi teamed up with Railroad Earth’s Tim Carbone, who produced the album, which was recorded at Backbone Studio in Loveland, Colo. With a relatively new lineup solidified, and with compliments from the Black Swan Singers and the Peak To Freak Horns, the Taxi finds itself, joint-in-hand, cruising down the road of Americana roots music and having a blast along the way.

— Brian F. Johnson

:: Great American Taxi ::

:: Black Sheep :: March 4 ::

:: Bluebird Theater :: March 20 ::

Beth Thonley

Wash U Clean

Independent

4 out of 5 stars

Me likes.

I had never heard Beth Thornley’s name before I was asked to review some material for her upcoming and third CD release Wash U Clean.

“I like to write in a variety of styles,” Thornley wrote in her online bio.  “As a piano-based singer/songwriter it’s very easy to fall into all-too familiar patterns, so I like to step into some different musical shoes for inspiration.”

I’d have to say Thornley succeeds wonderfully in her intention of creating something unpredictable. Her compositions are fresh and her lyrics have substance, while the production is immaculate. Oh, and did I mention she could sing? Helluva voice!

Watch out for Beth Thornley. I imagine she’ll be around for a while. Her music is definitely worth a listen.

- By Cheebo Acevedo

Big Motif

Big Motif

Big Mo

Big Mo

3.5 out of 5 stars

This is one of the more polished Front Range blues/funk fusion acts to emerge in recent years, and this first EP by the up and coming four-piece shows that the young group has set the bar for themselves very high indeed.

Produced by Colorado guitar badass Dave Beegle, it’s no wonder that the group comes out of the gate with their debut so dialed-in. Though the musicians range in age from 18 to 20, they sound skilled beyond their years, and imaginations run wild about the levels at which these musicians will be playing once they get more real world experience. Playing together for five years now (orignally as the Runnin’ Wild Band), the musicians had a foundation laid down that allowed Beegle to come in and simply tweak the group into a formidable outfit. The result is polished and slick, but raw and loose enough to still be fun.

— Brian F. Johnson

:: Big Motif ::

:: Piper Inn :: March 12 ::

::  Quixote’s True Blue ::

:: (CD Release Party) :: March 27 ::

Megan Burtt

It Ain’t Love

Independent

3.5 out of 5 stars

If you only read the lyrics to a Megan Burtt song you’d pretty quickly file the album under “chick music.” But Burtt’s got tricks up her sleeves that few musicians and, sadly, even fewer young female musicians have these days — the first of which are guitar shredding abilities, which quickly take her disc out of that aforementioned “chick music” bin and place it, more appropriately, into rock and blues songwriting categories.

It’s not surprising that Burtt’s got skills. She attended Berklee College of Music. She’s been awarded multiple accolades (most notably on the local level from both Rocky Mountain Folks Festival’s Songwriting Competition, 2009, and Telluride Bluegrass Competition, 2008).

With It Ain’t Love, the songstress gets far more rockier than she could have at either of those events, and flexes guitar and vocal chops reminiscent of Bonnie Raitt.                      — Brian F. Johnson

:: Megan Burtt ::

:: Women w/ a Cause Benefit :: Beta :: March 9 ::

:: Toad Tavern :: March 12 ::

:: Swallow Hill :: March 27 ::

:: Rialto Theater :: April 2 ::

Joe Pug

Messenger

Lightning Rod Records

4 out of 5 stars

With a million dollar voice and a songwriting pen torn from the fingers of the old-school folk tradition, Joe Pug has created one hell of a debut album. Messenger delivers on all levels and with Pug’s current success sitting on the laurels of two EPs, I can officially say the man’s got the talent to carry one’s interest for a full-length album.

A college dropout, Pug (whose real name is Joe Pugliese) worked as a carpenter by day and spent his nights practicing his musical craft.  Eventually, those nights morphed into recording sessions at a Chicago studio where a friend snuck him into the late night slots after other musicians had cancelled. The outcome, Nation of Heat EP, drew critical praise almost immediately upon its release in 2008. While gigging in Chicago, Pug decided to take a grassroots approach to self-promotion. The plan was simple: At concerts and through his website, Pug offered existing fans unlimited copies of a free two-song sampler CD to pass along to their friends.  To the new fans that contacted him via email, he would also send out CDs at his own expense, even paying the postage.

Inside each package was a personal note thanking the fan for helping to spread the word. The response was overwhelming—to date, Pug has sent out over 15,000 CDs and seen his fan base grow ten-fold. Without the backing of radio, Pug managed to turn his small dedicated fan base into a daisy chain of Pug-promoters that stretched across the country.   Having created a substantial fan base to tour on, Pug played more than 200 shows, recorded another EP, 2009’s In The Meantime, and finally got the backing from Lightning Rod Records to settle down to record his debut album, Messenger.

Messenger is a to-the-point affair featuring 10 songs, clocking in at just under 38 minutes.

There are no extended solos, no songs over five minutes in length and no fluff. It is all about Pug’s songs, voice and acoustic guitar. While most of the songs are delivered in an acoustic fashion similar to both his previous EPs, a few do feature full-band backing, including drums. The album’s title track is an upbeat affair and will most likely be the album’s lead single. While the track sounds like something that could be played on country radio, it still has Pug’s unmistakable lyrical charm and swagger which floats in and out of the musical passages.  “The Door Is Always Open” starts out with Pug’s voice and guitar until a barrelhouse rhythm section propels the song into its chorus. In all, the accompaniment works just fine and shouldn’t irk Pug fans too much. If anything, it makes his music even more accessible, which I believe was the goal for this release. The accompanying musicians don’t distract from Pug’s acoustic charm — the ethereal pedal steel guitar that creeps into “The Sharpest Crown” being a perfect example.

The most striking thing about Pug has to be his age and the maturity he shows beyond it. While he is only a tender 25 years old, his vocal delivery and songwriting gives the illusion you are listening to someone much wiser than you will ever be.

Hard to believe this is only his first full-length album.

— Jonathan Keller

Brian Jonestown Massacre

Who Killed Sgt. Pepper?

A Records

3.5 out of 5 stars

Brian Jonestown Massacre is a very beautiful thing. The band, which centers on the musical leadership of notable eccentric Anton Newcomb, is probably never going to glide into the mainstream. They have been around in various incarnations for nearly 20 years and seem fine floating under the mainstream radar. In a way similar to Frank Zappa’s recording philosophy, Brian Jonestown Massacre seem fine with creating music only for themselves — disregarding the temptation to create engaging singles. In their tortured process they have been able to create some of the most interesting experimental music in recent memory.

Formed in 1990 by Newcomb, The Brian Jonestown Massacre floundered in relative obscurity in the 1990’s, releasing seven albums while struggling with personnel changes mostly brought on by Newcomb’s own struggles with heroin addiction. The 2004 documentary film DIG!, chronicled the band’s struggles and quickly immortalized Newcomb as a tortured artist and as a narcissistic asshole incapable of keeping it together. Although the film provided a surge in the band’s underground popularity they soon slid back into relative obscurity, releasing only two full-length studio albums and a few EPs since the documentary’s premier.

After Newcomb’s apparent success in rehab, the band reconvened to record 2008’s My Bloody Underground. The album showcased the band’s avant-garde approach to producing and recording with its space-rock/neo-psychedelic sounds. When listening back it is clear to see how that album was a musical prelude to Who Killed Sgt. Pepper.

Who Killed Sgt. Pepper? continues that musical pattern with the introduction of electronic elements, industrial sounds, creative production, and cohesive ideas.

With a current lineup consisting of nine members, Brian Jonestown Massacre recorded Who Killed Sgt. Pepper? throughout 2009 in Iceland and Berlin. The album is full of industrial elements and, for the first time, finds each song centering on a hard beat-driven groove.

The album’s first track, “Tempo 116.7 (Reaching for Dangerous Levels of Sobriety),” really sets the stage for the entire album. It opens with textured feed-backed guitars, hand drum rolls and a looped drum beat. Soaring over the top is an obscure keyboard melody line and electronic sounds that roll from speaker to speaker. The track breaks down with various vocal samples, enters sonic chaos, then comes out clean on the other side, refraining the gentle intro. It is highly interesting, engaging and a total shock to hear. It is like nothing the band has ever done before.   Granted some of the songs on Who Killed Sgt. Pepper? simply border on the edge of experimental mess (“White Music,” and “Detka! Detka! Detka!”), many of the album’s tracks work extremely well, including the upbeat and pulsating “This is the First of Your Last Warning (Icelandic),” the guitar driven “The One,” and “Super Fucked,” which is a perfect mix of acoustic guitars and hard industrial beats.

Brian Jonestown Massacre is not going to change the face of music as a whole, but they have a knack for making interesting music. Who Killed Sgt. Pepper? is not going to appeal to large audiences, but it is an album that should be noted as one of the more interesting releases of the year thus far. I can’t wait to see what this band does next.

— Jonathan Keller

For a full version of this review, visit

www.marqueemag.com and click on CD Reviews.

INU

Monster (EP)

Independent

2.5 out of 5 stars

The San Francisco based producer “Count,” who has worked with DJ Shadow, Radiohead and New Order, has been the mad scientist in the indie super group Inu on their latest LP. They’ve just released an EP entitled Monster, a precursor to their full-length release due later this year.

Monster has a “sound” for sure. It kind of reminds me of something that would’ve come out in 1988, or maybe 1998? Inu’s sound is fairly simple and “poppy” in its production. There are textural synth patch pads and dry rhythm guitar tracks throughout. There isn’t much instrumental flash as the prominence of vocals and drum beats outshine the rest of the production — a slightly sad thing because the vocals are fairly monotone.  It’s not that the vocals are bad per se, but from what I can tell, none of the melodies sung are outside the range of an octave, and this ain’t Billie Holiday.

Trying to figure out a good comparison isn’t easy, but I’d have to say they sound a little like a really mellow version of Nine Inch Nails mixed in with essence of The Cure, or maybe a more simple blend of Radiohead and fellow UK rockers, Spiritualized, with a dash of Coldplay.

— Chibo Acevedo

Runaway Express

Howlin’ At the Moon

Raven Records

4 out of 5 stars

If you’ve been to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival there’s a 99 percent chance you’ve heard the title track to this album. That track was written by Colorado picker Jim Ratts and bluegrass legend John McEuen, but it was Telluride staple Sam Bush who took the song to number three on the bluegrass charts.

This album, which Ratts says is a 60th birthday present to himself, is a testament to doing things right. Even someone who disdains bluegrass music cannot find flaws in this album’s execution and presentation. From the absolutely impeccable artwork (designed by award winners Greg Carr and Salli Ratts) to the phenomenal production value to the spot-on playing by a giant list of pickers, Howlin’ at the Moon is most certainly a best-foot-forward project, and one that pays homage to a softer side of bluegrass that’s sometimes hard to see in Colorado’s jamgrass scene.

— Brian F. Johnson

A Friend of A Friend

Acony Records

5 out of 5 stars

While the name might not be immediately familiar, you’ve likely heard David Rawlings’ music. He is probably most widely known for being the longtime musical partner of singer/songwriter Gillian Welch. Rawlings has also produced and/or accompanied a wide variety of other artists including Ryan Adams (the Morrissey “argument” at the beginning of Heartbreaker is between Rawlings and Adams), Old Crow Medicine Show, Bright Eyes, and Robyn Hitchcock.

With his new project, David Rawlings Machine, the man who once spent most of his time behind the scenes has decided to step out into the forefront with a fantastic debut album, A Friend of a Friend.

When a successful producer decides to record a solo album, you never really know what you are going to get. Most of the time these albums are experimental, released for novelty purposes and appeal to smaller audiences. Rawlings took a different approach, though, staying away from experimentation and opting to bring in those artists he has helped over the years, including: Gillian Welch, the entire Old Crow Medicine Show clan, Benmont Tench (founding member of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and Mudcrutch), Nathaniel Walcott (Bright Eyes) and Karl Himmel (Neil Young). The outcome is an album packed with great artists, giving stellar performances of top-notch songs.

A Friend of a Friend is definitely a folk/bluegrass affair and there isn’t a bad song in the bunch. For fans of Gillian Welch’s solo albums, think of Rawlings’ album as a reversal of roles. Whereas Rawlings would supply harmony vocals on Welch’s solo albums, Welch returns the favor on A Friend of a Friend. She is on almost every song, lending vocal support on the choruses, and it is no wonder the two have collaborated for so long — their voices mesh together beautifully.

Four of the album’s nine songs were co-written by Rawlings and Welch, including the gorgeous album opener “Ruby.” The mid-tempo folk number explodes into a sea of voices at the chorus, giving the illusion that you have heard the track before; folk at its best.

Rawlings’ take on “To Be Young (Is To Be Sad, Is To Be High),” which he co-wrote with Ryan Adams for his Heartbreaker album, is an all-out bluegrass affair with Old Crow Medicine Show lending full support. When it comes to covering other artists, Rawlings and Welch have always had choice selections in their live shows (Radiohead’s “Black Star” as an example). On A Friend of a Friend the pattern continues. Of the three covers on the album two are joined beautifully as one 10-minute track: Bright Eyes’ “Method Acting” and Neil Young’s “Cortez the Killer.” Rawlings and Welch perform the songs in what sounds like a live setting — two acoustic guitars and their voices. “Method Acting” is played at a much slower tempo than the original, which allows Conner Oberst’s lyrics to really shine, and it transitions perfectly after a short instrumental section into the dark beauty of Young’s “Cortez the Killer.” After two back-to-back verses of “Cortez,” the song once again slides back into “Method Acting.” The transitions are as smooth as can be and they work brilliantly.

With A Friend of a Friend, Rawlings shows he can do it all. This is one of the finer albums I have heard in some time. I hope Rawlings continues to find the time to record more solo efforts, because it would be a damn shame if he didn’t.                        — Jonathan Keller

Dreamin' Man Live '92

 Reprise Records

3.5 out of 5 stars

When word leaked that Neil Young was planning a series of archive releases in 2005, fans rejoiced at the prospect of finally getting their hands on unreleased archive material, including two fully completed, unreleased studio albums from the 1970s and a plethora of multi-tracked live concerts spanning nearly four decades. In the four years since the announcement, the archive project has yielded a poorly-received (and expensive) boxed set entitled Volume One: 1963-1972, and four separate live concert albums including: Live at Fillmore East, Live at Massey Hall 1971, Sugar Mountain: Live at the Canterbury House 1968, and the latest in the series, Dreamin’ Man Live ’92. Dreamin’ Man Live ’92 should please Young’s fans, especially those who enjoyed his 1992 studio album Harvest Moon.

Unlike the archive concert releases of the past, which were complete concerts consisting of varied setlists, Dreamin’ Man Live ’92 is actually a compiled live album, culled and recorded  on Young’s 1992 tour in support of his then-latest release, Harvest Moon. Although the track listing on the latest release does not follow the exact order of the original album, all songs on Harvest Moon are represented with Young giving solo interpretations of the original album’s work without the aid of a band. The album is a bare-bones affair and on some songs the strategy works brilliantly, and on others the songs simply fall flat.

Harvest Moon’s success in the early 1990s was attributed to a few things: Young’s return to acoustic guitar, piano and banjo, which had dominated his highly successful albums such as Harvest and Comes a Time, his return to a minimalist songwriting style in the folk/country fashion and his collaboration with the backing band The Stray Gators, who provided the country instrumentation on Young’s 1972 breakout album, Harvest. Dreamin’ Man Live ‘92 still has the great songs that were featured on Harvest Moon, but it is sorely missing the near-perfect accompaniment of The Stray Gators. Some songs, such as “Dreamin’ Man,” “From Hank to Hendrix,” and the wonderful, 11-minute version of “Natural Beauty” work really well. The musical accompaniment is barely missed from the original versions and the songs are more powerful, delivered with just an acoustic guitar, harmonica and voice.

All in all, Dreamin’ Man Live ’92 is a document of time, which is what Young’s Archive Series is all about.  Being the fifth release in a series of 12 live albums means there are more to come. You can’t hit a home run with every release, but sometimes a double will do just fine.

— Jonathan Keller

Fogshack Music Volume 2

Avila Street Records

3.5 out of 5

The opening 17 seconds of Fogshack Volume 2 sounds pretty lame, to be honest. But as soon as the intro subsides, the album starts kicking ass and it doesn’t really take a break until its entire 40 minutes has passed.
Fogshack sprung forth from the master reels and outtakes of the veteran funk band’s Flea Market recording session, as re-envisioned by Bay Area production team The Rondo Brothers, along with long time Vinyl producer Tony Mindel. But just to turn it up a bit, in addition to their signature grooves, the band landed Les Claypool, Yossi Fine, DJ Quest and the aforementioned Rondo Brothers.
This is a great remix and showcases some of the mastery with which Vinyl attacks their chosen genre.                                        — Brian F. Johnson