SELECTIVE HEARING
continued from 29
Booker T’s “Green Onions,” and McCartney’s
“Blackbird.” Beegle offers a virtuoso solo
flamenco guitar performance as well. To
sweeten the deal further, Roe adds three recent
studio performances, including a languorous
cover of Cole Porter’s “Too Darn Hot” and a
brother Troy), his gutsy vibrato none the
suite with strong 60’s/70’s pop elements. The
worse for the wear. Metal albums run the
only misstep, “Empty House,” sabotages its
risk of “it all sounds the same” syndrome,
poignant lyric of estrangement with heavy
but Zaring proves adept at mixing it up nicely
autotune, as passé as it is obnoxious.
from track to track. Tasty guitar licks propel
CASTRO
Diamond Dreams (EP)
uncompromising lyrics through thirteen tracks
perfect for gospel headbanging.
Jason
RELIENT K
Air for Free
lovely electric instrumental in the vein of “Don’t
This Way.”
made
an
impression on the 2008
season of American Idol
In the eleventh round of this
THE WORLD WILL BURN
Severity
Castro
with his clear tenor pipes
band’s ongoing tug of war
and dreadlock hair. The
between “pop” and “punk,”
In the 90s, brothers Dale
and guitar pop wins out in
and Troy Thompson set the
a big way this time around,
White Metal world on fire
but so do listeners. Matthew
with scorching albums like
Thiessen and company deliver a collection
Kinetic Faith and Snakes
of relentlessly happy, infectiously hummable
in the Playground that still
anthems, each with its own personality within
reward listeners today. Dale returns in this
the framework. Topics include the Cleveland
new collaboration with multi-instrumentalist
Browns, a cat, and belief in God. The most
Alan Zaring (and occasional assists from
striking track, “Runnin’,” lays out a story-song
dreads are gone, but the
pipes remain, as he shows in tandem with
siblings Michael and Jackie on this countrypop collection. The lyrics hit romantic (“Rock
and Roll”) and spiritual (“Waters of Jordan”)
topics alike. The vocals alternate between
sweet country harmonies and spacious gang
vocals; Jackie’s voice bears more than a
passing resemblance to Taylor Swift. Producer
Charlie Peacock balances the organic and pop
elements, giving the shared vocals free reign to
shine. “Hearts Going Home” strikes the best
and most memorable balance between the
musiciansthreads.
com.
mashed-up genres.
BILLY CROCKETT
Rabbit Hole
Always
an
extraordinary
acoustic guitarist and an
able
singer/composer,
Crockett has lately added
lyricist
and
producer
to
his credentials, organizing
musical gatherings at his Blue Rock Studio
in Texas. Following up a memorable 2013
collaborative Very Blue Rock Christmas album
which featured Bob Bennett, David Wilcox,
and Pierce Pettis, Crockett now returns with
his first solo collection since 2009. His guitar
phrasings and sweet, and his vocals remain as
impeccable as ever. Songs of joy and longing
wear it well
30
Nov Dec 2016
mingle, celebrating the wonders of musical
heroes, social activism, corporate worship, and
marriage. The album’s cover depicts him fading
away, but the contents say otherwise.
ChristianMusician.com