FRANK SINATRA
IT MIGHT AS WELL BE SWING
1964 – REPRISE
Produced By SONNY BURKE
1. Fly Me To The Moon (In Other Words)
2. I Wish You Love
3. I Believe In You
4. More (Theme From Mondo Cane)
5. I Can’t Stop Loving You
6. Hello Dolly!
7. I Wanna Be Around
8. The Best Is Yet To Come
9. The Good Life
10. Wives And Lovers
Perspective. While they were active, The Beatles stayed on top by releasing two studio albums per year. In 1964, Frank Sinatra released five studio albums. Five. One of those five turned out to be one of his more famous records. It Might As Well Be Swing not only pairs Sinatra with Count Basie & His Orchestra…the orchestra is conducted and arranged by none other than Quincy Jones. How could this album NOT be huge? It contains the definitive Sinatra version of “Fly Me To The Moon”, as well as standards “The Good Life”, “I Wanna Be Around” and “Wives And Lovers”. And it really does swing…if Sinatra ever did rock, this is as close as you’ll find right here.
However, the more things swing, the more they stay the same. And after a while, this record starts to sound like one long track. The Basie Orchestra is in fine form, but they aren’t being given a lot of variety to work with here. Which means that songs that could have really shone (“Hello Dolly!” and the Don Gibson classic “I Can’t Stop Loving You”) end up buried in horns, and it seems that every track ends with the same Basie piano lick. It Might As Well Be Swing is one of the more recognizable titles in his discography, and you’re gonna want “Fly Me To The Moon”, but overall, this one fall short of the mark.
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MANDOLIN ORANGE
HASTE MAKE / HARD HEARTED STRANGER
2011 – MANDOLIN ORANGE
Produced By JEFF CRAWFORD, ANDREW MARIN & MANDOLIN ORANGE
1. Haste Make
2. No Weight
3. Lines On The Floor
4. Wake Me
5. Runnin’ Red
6. Not A Word
7. Slither
8. Ships Sail Away
9. Angel
1. Big Men In The Sky
2. Never Die
3. Clover Tune
4. Killer
5. Hard Hearted Stranger
6. Next To Nothing
7. Train Song
8. Darling Girl
9. Birds Of A Feather
One of my personal favorite acts…Mandolin Orange has changed their name (foolishly, if you want my opinion) to Watchhouse, which may mean more to them, but means…what? to their fans. In 2011, the Orange released their second album, which was actually a double. Haste Make / Hard Hearted Stranger was self released and largely ignored by pretty much everyone. It would be four more years before they even made a blip on any kind of a chart, but that’s not a big deal. What’s great about this duo (Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz) is that they are so good at sharing the spotlight. Unfortunately, this set is so focused on Marlin that it seems more like a solo album. Which is too bad…because the contributions made later by Frantz are what makes the balance of them so great.
You won’t find hits here…or on any of their other albums. This isn’t a duo that reaches a wide audience…they’re a group that you stumble onto accidentally one day and end up really liking them. The high point for Mandolin Orange was 2015’s Such Jubilee. This double set is likable enough, but it won’t set your world on fire. And after having seen them live as Mandolin Orange, I have to wonder how they fit now with their new name. I’m sure they still have their chemistry (they are married), and their use of mandolin and fiddle makes what they do ever so charming. Their later four albums are better than the first three (this was the second). But if you do fall in love with them, you’ll want it all.
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ORNETTE COLEMAN
THE SHAPE OF JAZZ TO COME
1959 – ATLANTIC
Produced By NESUHI ERTEGUN
1. Lonely Woman
2. Eventually
3. Peace
4. Focus On Sanity
5. Congeniality
6. Chronology
One of the more influential albums in jazz, and a great way to end the fifties into the future of the sixties and beyond. Ornette Coleman’s third album helped pave the way for avant-garde jazz, and his quartet (Don Cherry on cornet, Charlie Haden on bass and drummer Billy Higgins, along with Coleman on alto saxophone) are exceptional. The songs all feature sections of free improvisation, and the album made Coleman a leader in jazz. The centerpiece here is “Lonely Woman”, which became one of his best known songs. The Shape Of Jazz To Come is not a perfect album, but the doors it opened and what it led to are hugely important.
Coleman stayed prolific until the late 90’s, and passed away in 2015. He spent the sixties expanding his free jazz sound, then dabbled in fusion by adding electric instruments in the seventies. He’s not as big as Davis, Coltrane, Mingus…but his place in jazz history is secure, and that’s in large part thanks to this album. Free jazz can be difficult, but if you have the patience for it, the rewards can be massive. This is the best album by Coleman, and a must have if the avant-garde side of jazz means anything to you. It’s not for everyone, but it is important, excellent, and set the stage for large amounts of the music that was to come after it.
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FischmanRockMonster, JazzMeister, Bluesboy,ClassicalMasterProfile Land of Enchantment
BLUE MOTHER TUPELO
HEAVEN & EARTH
2009 – SELF RELEASED
Produced By RICKY & MICOL DAVIS
1. Always Lookin’
2. Heaven And Earth
3. Give It Away / Hard Times
4. The War
5. Goin’ Down Midnight
6. Wandering Soul
7. Tupelo
8. Ramblin’ Train
9. Biloxi
10. Hand In Hand
11. Wish I Was In Heaven Sitting Down
12. High In The Sky
13. Runnin’ ‘Round
14. Gustard Bellue
You just never know what you’re going to find when you turn a corner in Memphis. You really don’t. A few many years ago, I turned a corner during a street fair a ways from Beale Street and found, on the little stage at the end of the street, a band called Blue Mother Tupelo. Fronted by the married couple Ricky and Micol Davis, this was a show that I did not want to end. This pair is as southern as they get. They also have incredible chemistry together onstage, and they are both deeply talented. Ricky is a guitar hero. Acoustic. Electric. Dobro. He burned them all. And Micol is as gifted a singer as she can be…and live, she is a force. Together? On stage? Damn.
So I bought what turns out to be their third album. The first was from a decade earlier. What you don’t get on record is the raw and electric stage presence that this duo (especially Micol) brings. But what you DO get is the understanding that they have of how well they blend together. They trade lines within songs. They trade songwriting and lead vocals. Ricky is happy to be just showing his guitar prowess, but he sings with Micol like it was (and is) meant to be. Their songs are good and catchy and fun, and the pair of covers are well chosen. You gotta be in the south to hear them live…and it’s worth every mile. But don’t sleep on their recordings. A really good, hard working band with something special that never quite made it.
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KORN
UNTITLED
2007 – EMI / VIRGIN
Produced By ATTICUS ROSS
1. Intro
2. Starting Over
3. Bitch We Got A Problem
4. Evolution
5. Hold On
6. Kiss
7. Do What They Say
8. Ever Be
9. Love And Luxury
10. Innocent Bystander
11. Killing
12. Hushabye
13. I Will Protect You
An indication that Korn may have been a bit tired and uninspired in 2007 would be that instead of coming up with a title for their eighth album, they decided to leave it without one and let people call it what they wanted to. Oh well. Untitled indeed sounds a bit tired, and not at the same level as, say, Follow The Leader, Issues, or the self titled debut. The band is in a state of transition here. Drummer David Silveria had left Korn, and instead of finding a a replacement, they made Untitled with session drummers Terry Bozzio (Frank Zappa, Missing Persons) and Brooks Wackerman (Bad Religion).
The best tracks on Untitled are “Evolution”, “Hold On” and “Kiss”…these are the most energized songs. There are some fine moments here, but there is also more filler than you’d want from a band as metal as Korn. Most of their better days were already behind them by now, so if you want to discover this band, go for their earlier material. There are rewards on Untitled if you’re patient…it does become stronger with repeated listens. But you have to be willing to sit through this mostly average record a few times to get it. Overall, this is not the place to start or end up with Korn. There’s just too much transition and not enough energy here to make it essential.
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RICHARD THOMPSON
MIRROR BLUE
1994 – CAPITOL
Produced By MITCHELL FROOM
1. For The Sake Of Mary
2. I Can’t Wake Up To Save My Life
3. MGB-GT
4. The Way That It Shows
5. Easy There, Staedy Now
6. King Of Bohemia
7. Shane And Dixie
8. Mingus Eyes
9. I Ride In Your Slipstream
10. Beeswing
11. Fast Food
12. Mascara Tears
13. Taking My Business Elsewhere
It's rare to find a Richard Thompson album that was not received well by fans and critics…but here you are. Mirror Blue, his eighth album, is the follow up to the successful Rumor And Sigh. The album is very good…Thompson is at the top of his game as both a guitarist and a songwriter. But what put people off here is the production by Mitchell Froom. Seemingly miles away from Thompson’s folk rock style, the drums are dark, loud and lacking in…snare sounds. The beats seem to sometimes be working against the songs. It can make a first listen confusing…this isn’t what a Richard Thompson record should sound like.
But stick with it…the rewards are plenty. Mirror Blue contains one of Thompson’s most beautiful songs, the acoustic “Beeswing”, as well as a handful of tracks that show a jazzier side of him than we’d grown accustomed to. And his guitar work is stellar, his voice in fine form, and his songwriting hadn’t missed a beat. Thompson approved of the production chances that Froom took here…and there’s nothing wrong with an artist stepping outside of his boundaries in one form or another. It’s what keeps things interesting for us all. Mirror Blue is curious, entertaining, and different. And you should be able to play “Beeswing" whenever you want to.
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DAVE MATTHEWS BAND
EVERYDAY
2001 – RCA
Produced By GLEN BALLARD
1. I Did It
2. When The World Ends
3. The Space Between
4. Dreams Of Our Fathers
5. So Right
6. If I Had It All
7. What You Are
8. Angel
9. Fool To Think
10. Sleep To Dream Her
11. Mother Father
12. Everyday
Maybe the most disliked and misunderstood album in the career of Dave Matthews…and also a massive hit, becoming the second of seven consecutive records to reach number one in America. It’s the follow up to his successful Before These Crowded Streets, but it sounds like an almost completely different band. Matthews took this moment to record his most pop album to date, almost clinically mainstream, and simple in terms of songs…which he never had done before, and which he hasn’t done since. The results are that Dave Matthews, who can never be described as average in any way, made an album that is…average.
“The Space Between” was Matthews’ first top 40 single. “Everyday” and “I Did It” are also very good and very accessible. Everyday is a very good album…but because Matthews seems to be playing it safe here, there aren’t enough moments that make you turn your head and say, “that was cool”. Matthews is at his best when he surprises you and makes you take notice. Everyday has little of that…and yet, it still stands as a huge success for him. And he never looks back. Dave Matthews is one of those artists who always seems to come out on top. But Everyday is maybe the least on top he has ever been. A must have if you’re a fan.
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RASPUTINA
OH PERILOUS WORLD
2007 – FILTHY BONNET
Produced By MELORA CREAGER & CHARLIE CAMPBELL
1. 1816, The Year Without A Summer
2. Choose Me For Champion
3. Cage In A Cave
4. Incident In A Medical Clinic
5. Draconian Crackdown
6. Child Soldier Rebellion
7. Oh Bring Back The Egg Unbroken
8. Old Yellowcake Breaking News
9. In Old Yellowcake
10. We Stay Behind
11. A Retinue Of Moons / The Infidel Is Me
12. The Pruning
1. The Question Of Time
2. Identity Tokens
3. The Humanized Mice
4. The Pruning (Pat O’Brian / Access Hollywood Mix)
5. Flood Corps
6. Incapable Of Regret
7. Desert Vampire
8. The Contractors
9. Infidel (Instrumental Demo)
My very first instrument was the cello, so there is always a special place in my heart for Rasputina, a rock trio whose main instrument is…the cello. Oh Perilous World is a somewhat insane, yet irresistibly fun concept album about the world in the years post 9/11, as told from a purely fantasy driven alternate universe. Confused? It doesn’t matter. Cellist, singer, songwriter and visionary Melora Creager (she played cello on the last European Nirvana tour in 1994) is massively talented and endlessly entertaining. This, their fifth album, showcases her abilities nicely. And who does not love the sound of a cello absolutely rocking out!
You won’t find any hits here. That’s not what Rasputina is about. This is a band that is truly an adventure, and Creager is at the very core of it all. It’s big cello, big vocals, and big drums. And that’s it. Along with a nice, big dose of lunacy. Oh Perilous World appeals to my sense of wanting something different and unhinged. It also appeals to my fourth grade self who was barely big enough to cart that damned cello (which felt more like a stand up bass) to and from school. If you can be okay with having your rock served without guitars or boundaries, then this may just be the album for you. The second disc (this is a deluxe edition) is just as entertaining as the first. Enjoy!
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