The tea pary is over and I can finally return to my music listening in earnest. This week is a mixed bag, as is the norm, but there was still enough for quite an astonishing surprise.
CD Reviews
The Bakerton Group: El Rojo
I confess to have never known about this lot of jazzy proggers. One thing I can say without hesitation is from the first listen I really enjoyed this release. It’s a more accessible version of jazz prog that can be found obsessing the bearded hordes of “serious” prog fans. There are songs here that have a catchiness rarely seen in this sort of music.
As you would expect its vocals free and the instruments do all the talking. Jazz prog funk fusion never sounded this good. It was only when I dug a little that I learned why this was so impressive. It also explained why there was an amusing tinge of southern/country rock to some of the tunes. It seems the guys from Clutch like to have some black turtlenecks in their closets and like to get them out to noodle away. They even invited along an Opeth man, to lend his key abilities, to add to the fun.
I doubt you will hear a better instrumental album this year. It's catchy and is a great background to whatever you are doing. If you were ever thinking of dipping your toe into the jazz prog arena, let the guys from Clutch be your guide. This is great stuff and well worth listen to the open minded rock fan. As one faux jazz fan on a comedy show in the UK would put it…nice!
The Black Crowes: Warpaint Live
When the Robinson brothers first brought their train-wreck cum band to the attention of rocker’s ears they quite intrigued me. Since their heights I have always found them to be over-rated and rather dull on record. They mustered something special for their live offering with Jimmy Page, but little else really warranted a notice. Then came the recent Warpaint which has been hailed as “a return to form”. A decent album yes, but nothing that great.
Article comments
1 - Marty Dodge
Update: The Great Kat was unamused by my review. The email proclaiming their deleting me from their database can be found here.