Nick Lowe - At My Age (Yep Roc)/Rock
Wow, this guy's been around forever. Is there an echo in here? Anyway, Lowe has always been a great songwriter. Any of his releases are worth a listen.
Rasputina - Oh Perlious World (Filthy Bonnet)/Rock
Goth chicks wielding cellos. That and super-quirky songwriting.
Steve Vai - Sound Theories I and II (Red Ink/Epic)/Rock
You know, at first glance a description like "songs performed with guitar and orchestra" might be enough to scare a person off. I have to admit to only enjoying Vai's work with Zappa and his early Flexible material. For some reason though, I'm drawn to a record that starts off with a song named "Kill The Guy With The Ball."
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Article comments
1 - Pico
Dang, I just love the Tsadik label.
Amen, brutha, amen.
2 - Tom Johnson
I've heard the Beastie's new one and, unfortunately, it's a dud. I love their instrumental work in the past, but here it just completely falls flat. It sounds like instrumental work waiting for lyrics, not finished pieces. Really disappointing, sadly. I was really looking forward to this one.
I missed that Ribot Masada set. That will definitely be on my list.
I still have a deep love of Vai's Passion And Warfare. Completely bombastic, but perfectly so. He never quite matched what he did on this one again, but then again, I never again quite had the interest in his kind of guitar work that I had when this album came out, so maybe it was just me.
3 - duane
Steve Vai playing with an orchestra? I'm skeptical. Vai is at his best (and his best is stunning) when he's blazing away against a bass/drums/keyboard background (and NOT singing). He don't need no steenkin violas. I dunno. Maybe he's getting bored. Say it ain't so, Steve.
I saw him jamming in the parking lot at the Carvin show in San Diego last year with Tony MacAlpine, Virgil Donati, Patrice Rushen, and Bunny Brunel (collectively, aka Cab). He didn't seem bored. Ahhhh, my hero!
4 - Michael J. West
I wrote a freelance review of two recent Tzadik releases not long ago. Including the most recent Zorn.
5 - Michael J. West
Apparently the system thought my faux tag at the end of the last review, which said, "< /shameless self-promotion>," was real....