A friend who regularly reads this column remarked on how rarely I publish negative reviews. It's true, I tend to feature stuff I like, and that's because I do this for the love of music (and writing). It's a source of satisfaction to me to be able to give some exposure to good new indie releases that can use all the help they can get spreading the word.
No one's paying me to write about any specific releases. I request only releases that look like they'll be up my alley, or at least interesting. And when it comes to unsolicited stuff, I focus on what I consider to be the best of the pile. I have boxes full of CDs that didn't inspire or interest me enough to write about.
When I do publish a negative review it's usually because a recording interested me in some way even though I didn't like it. Sometimes I'm using it as an excuse to rant about my more general opinions and prejudices. Other times I'm mad at a CD that disappointed me and I want to yell at it in public.
Also - and particularly when it comes to real do-it-yourself indies - my philosophy is to give weight to the positive aspects of a recording even when there are significant negatives. I feel justified in doing this since readers can generously sample virtually all releases online before they lay out any cash. Who buys music without sampling it first these days anyway, regardless of whether they've read a review?
And now for some music.
Bill Kirchen, Hammer of the Honky-Tonk Gods
The guitarist Bill Kirchen, the "King of Dieselbilly," first made his name with Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen back in the late '60s and early '70s, and has since played with everyone from Gene Vincent to Ralph Stanley to Elvis Costello to Emmylou Harris. He is both a musicians' musician and an accomplished, warm-hearted singer and songwriter.
Mr. Kirchen's new CD stops at just about every station the Telecaster master has visited in his career - from Texas swing ("One More Day") to Motown ("Soul Cruisin'"), from desert blues ("Rocks Into Sand") and good old rock and roll ("Working Man") to gritty rockabilly ("Heart of Gold," the masterful "Get a Little Goner"). The title track - a churning ode to the Tele, "born at the junction of form and function" - is the only hint of the self-referentiality that sometimes swamps recordings by journeyman musicians more known for their skills than their personalities. This CD covers a lot of musical ground but is showoffy in only the humblest possible way. Kirchen's easygoing, woody hum of a voice unites all the tracks, while his guitar playing is best appreciated over multiple listens, since the songs roll so smoothly from your speakers that you tend not to notice how they are made - which is, after all, the prime sign of good music.
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