Large selection of Jazz and Blues
LPs , CDs , 78s , 45s and cassettes
Many great year-end HOLIDAY SELECTIONS !
Remastered
Editions of classic releases !
18 illinoisentertainer . com december 2024
Vintage titles arriving all the time ... Check our website to see the latest !
Open Monday – Saturday , 10:30 am – 6:30 pm
Bob ' s Blues & Jazz Mart
3419 W . Irving Park Rd Chicago , IL 60618
773-539-5002 bluesandjazzmart . com
Continued from page 18 ments and emotive vocal performances
with Alannah Currie ’ s relatable lyrics . For its 40th anniversary , the album has been remastered at Abbey Road and pressed onto red vinyl with terrific-sounding results . A three-CD deluxe edition is also available , which includes bonus tracks , edits , extended mixes , and new sleeve notes from band members Bailey , Currie , and Joe Leeway . The Thompson Twins ’ influential synth-pop avoided rock guitars while blending traditional instruments and percussion with big synthesizer sounds . Currie ’ s notes say , “ the human warmth with cool machines was what we aimed for .”
– Jeff Elbel
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BUCK CURRAN One Evening and Other Folk Songs
( ESP-Disk ’/ Obsolete Recordings )
Singer-songwriter Buck Curran offers the aptly named One Evening and Other Folk Songs as a snapshot of creative evolution since 2020 ’ s No Love is Sorrow . Learned quickly and captured mostly in intuitive live takes in an Italian studio , these psychedelic folk songs find Curran and keyboardist Jodi Pedrali in communion with drummer Dave Barbarossa ( Bow Wow Wow , Adam Ant ). The tone is intimate , confessional , and troubled . “ We can run , but there ’ s nowhere to hide ,” sings Curran on the moonlit “ One Evening ,” with traces of Wovenhand ’ s portentous gothic folk . Bassist Roberto Frassini Moneta contributes to the foundation , stepping out on the restless and unsettled “ Deep in the Lovin ’ Arms of My Babe .” Vocalist Adele Pappalardo takes the lead vocal atop a brooding jazz groove during a reinvention of Scottish-American folk song “ Black is the Colour ,” rising to a heady crescendo . Sparse instrumental “ Sadness ” breathes with an arid spaghetti-western twang a la Brokeback . Curran and Pappalardo sing in arresting harmony during the lament “ Red Bird .” “ Song for Francesco ” and “ Zitkala-Sa ( Song for Shylah )” shift moods into an upbeat samba and tumbling Afro-pop . Performances occasionally get a bit loose , but only enough to know that the musicians are inhabiting the moment and treading uncharted ground together . Additional versions of three songs demonstrate the malleability bundled into Curran ’ s arrangements and his improvisational spirit .
– Jeff Elbel
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NEON HORSE Habit of Creature
( Velvet Blue ) The originally clandestine gothic rockers Neon Horse released a second fulllength album called Haunted Horse : Songs of Love , Defiance , and Delusion in 2009 . Already about as underground as they come , the band went further underground . Fifteen years later , the disbanded band has re-banded to lob this Molotov cocktail of four songs through unsuspecting record shop windows before careening around the corner , cackling and racing out of sight again . The brutal but tuneful set draws dire elements from alternative metal , emo , punk , surf , hard rock , and hardcore , making the kind of sound that might reasonably be expected from the serendipitous collusion by members of Stavesacre , Starflyer 59 , and Project 86 . Stavesacre frontman , Mark Salomon , aka Norman Horse , delivers a caustic vocal with a whiff of Bruce Dickinson ’ s siren howl during the pulverizing psychobilly of “ Haskell Moon ,” sneering venomously about “ snake oil sales to the snake bit suckers ” before describing the empty legacies of those hapless , duped souls . “ A cloud of pink dust is your mark on the earth ,” he sings with pity , disdain , or both . The band locks into a grinding groove worthy of The Damned . Poison-tongued kiss-off “ Nuttin ’ There ” surges with jagged rhythm and glam-rock swagger atop Charlie Martin ’ s two-ton drumbeat . Starflyer 59 guitarist ( and Charlie ’ s dad ) Jason Martin launches “ Moana Lisa ” with a snarling and bluesy earworm of a riff . When the band shifts into sludgy propulsion , it ’ s like a supergroup jam by members of Black Sabbath and AC / DC . The song unloads withering castigation onto a self-centered drama queen . “ Would it kill ya to die a little to yourself ?” chides an exasperated Norman Horse with echoes of New York Dolls ’ David Johansen . “ Poor thing !” he adds with derision . The song brims with layers of Martin ’ s coolly restrained but perfectly acerbic twang . The dark and sinister flow of the fatalistic “ I Know That It Can Be Confusing ( When It ' s All Your Fault )” is anchored by Project 86 veteran Steve Dail ’ s growling and rumbling bass . Even for a band that bucks convention as a matter of course , including bebop saxophone during the lurching unison riff-rocker ’ s breakdown was an unexpected twist . Salomon / Horse offers another catchy chorus melody , swathed in echo and fighting its way through Martin ’ s deliciously dense guitars . Habit of Creature is as gloriously unkempt and proudly filthy as the roughneck mascot depicted on the EP ’ s painted cover . After the long wait , this EP-length outing may seem like teasing or perhaps more like a drive-by assault . These four ferocious tracks will entice new fans while leaving veteran listeners hoping it won ’ t be another 15-year wait for more . ( velvetbluemusic . bandcamp . com )
-Jeff Elbel
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