Archive for the ‘CD Review’ Category

FREIGHT TRAIN BOOGIE BOOGIES ON

Saturday, February 20th, 2010

ftb2Freight Train Boogie is the name of the radio show and website of  Americana fan Bill Frater who with Doug Jayne has released Freight Train Boogie 2, a compilation of 19 “best of” songs.

This CD had to have been assembled by DJs.  It rolls like a big train over tracks that vary in tempo and style yet hang together as a compilation because it’s programmed like a radio show rather than just a bunch of tracks.

Dave Alvin, formerly of The Blasters; local bluegrass gal Laurie Lewis; former Marin songstress (now in Nashville) Audrey Auld; Texas songwriter Wayne “The Train” Hancock; and former Wayback now on his own Stevie Coyle are among the contributors.  FTB2 is noteworthy for bringing us talent that we might have missed like Hayes Carll’s “She Left Me for Jesus”.

“She says I should find him/and find peace at last
but if I ever find Jesus/I’m kickin’ his ass.”

Dave Alvin’s “It Don’t Make Sense (If You Can’t Make Peace)” adds social consciousness in the mix as does Peter Cooper’s “For Hank Aaron” which chronicles the prejudice Hammerin’ Hank dealt with while breaking Babe Ruth’s home run record (without steroids).

Some songs like Bill Kelly’s “20 Years in the Big City” and Slaid Cleaves‘ “Tumbleweed Stew” are for fun.  Others like Sam Baker’s haunting “Who’s Gonna Be Your Man” and Sharon Allen’s “Do-Si-Do” aim for the heart.  Other’s like Bruce Robinson’s “Born to Roll” just rock out.  It all adds up to a compilation built for Americana fans by Americana fans, and ain’t that a good thing?  Roll on, big freight train, roll on.

SHOVELMAN’S FOLKTRONICA

Monday, November 16th, 2009
Shovelman

Shovelman

A marriage between folk and electronica was destined, so if Shovelman hadn’t come along someone would have had to invent him.

Why “Shovelman?”  Well, because he plays a snow shovel rigged to be a combination fret-less guitar and percussion instrument.  Said shovel feeds its sounds into an array of samplers, compressors and other foot-operated gizmos to put the tronic in folktronica.

Every song is mixed from scratch, starting with a simple beat which Shovelman will sample and build upon (more…)

QUARTER MILE COMBO ROCKS THE HOUSE

Monday, November 2nd, 2009

Quarter Mile CDNorth Bay rockabilly outfit Quarter Mile Combo spent a good piece of  2008-2009 fretting about the slow progress of Motels, Gas and Beer, their first CD with Nettie Hammar (Mighty Slim Pickins) on vocals.  Gary Daly (drums) and Justin Barr (guitar) played in the late Hopped Up! and QMC 1.0 while Todd Troublemaker (upright bass) joined from Revival Revue.  Collectively these musicians have rocked Sonoma County, the Bay Area and Viva las Vegas for a decade or two.

The CD opens with a few mid-tempo chords that power into a pedal down rocker called “Kitten” — a take no prisoners tribute to the long clawed, human variety.   Nettie loves her some cat songs, including “Cougar.”  “She’s older than your mother and all of her friends.”

And, to make sure that she’s not just a one cat lady, (more…)

PORKCHOP EXPRESS: FAULT LINES & GOOD TIMES

Saturday, October 10th, 2009
Porkchop Express - Fault Lines and Good Times

Porkchop Express - Fault Lines and Good Times

When it comes to sound, Porkchop Express doesn’t seem to catch many breaks at its live shows, and their CD release party for Fault Lines and Good Times was case in point.  It took place at the best dive bar in SF’s Financial District, Beale Street Bar & Grill, where the band, not necessarily well-rehearsed or entirely sober, played without luxuries like sound checks, monitors or a particularly music-friendly room.  As it’s been at shows past, the HWS Music Appreciation Team left wondering how the band, which has ranged from a 5-piece to an 8-piece, would sound with a decent mix.  (more…)

YARD SALE’S BLESSED CAMPER

Tuesday, September 1st, 2009

Yard Sale God Bless Our CamperYou might meet a wide-eyed, sweet smiling, corn-fed gal and find the soundtrack in your brain kicking into “Everybody Loves a Midwestern Girl.”  Or, it might happen while driving in unfamiliar territory when the melody “I’m ‘Lost’ and I can’t find my way” tiptoes across you synapses.  Or perhaps you’ll be shy of funds, and hear “Fell off the ‘Gravy Train,’ fell off of the gravy train…”  Or there could be a road tangle with a bad driver and “Don’t drive too slow.  Don’t Drive too fast.  ‘Don’t Drive Like an Ass,’” that will chorus through your brain pan.  In every case, you’ve entered Yard Sale’s  God Bless Our Camper zone: a CD thick with aural crazy glue.

Officially an acoustic trio, Yard Sale has added some studio horsepower, including a harp, to give their second CD a full band sound.  All three – Melanie DiGiovanni (guitar), Denise Funari (rhythm guitar), and Jill Olson (bass) – write, sing, and put their own style into the songs and they cover three tunes.  One might expect a mish-mash with all this going on, but fast or slow, light or heavy, the songs play well with one another.

The CD is rich in its variety of inputs, yet remarkably seamless.  They skimmed the cream off their abundant material, invited a few pals into the studio (trusty Wally’s Sound), and developed a country and pop flavor that is special to Yard Sale.  They are as country as they want to be on Tom T. Hall’s classic “That’s How I Got to Memphis” or their own “Talkin’ Whiskey,” but they can also be the envy of the Shirelles on that girl group’s hit “Baby It’s You,” or with their own girl group remix of the Rolling Stones’ “Out of Time.”

Catch them at one of their potluck Sundays at SF’s Rite Spot, or at a CD party near you, or hear them now on YardSpace.