Continued from page 28
Campbell flubs a line in a song sung by his
daughter Ashley, in which she promises to
"do the remembering" for both of them.
But about "I'm Not Gonna Miss You"– it
means what it says. And a more heartbreakingly ironic attempt to find the silver
lining around the dark cloud of one's vanishing awareness would be hard to imagine.
—Arsenio Orteza
6
ALABAMA SHAKES
Sound & Color
(ATO)
When Alabama Shakes released their
2012 debut Boys & Girls, they immediately
seemed poised to be the heirs of the
Southern Rock grail. Their straight-forward songwriting and R&B infused guitar
choogle-all anchored by the emotive
vocals of Brittany Howard-helped to sell
records, concert tickets and swiftly garnered themselves a rabid fan base. The
path of least resistance would have been to
simply refurbish their established brand
for their sophomore effort. What they’ve
done instead on Sound & Color is challenged themselves by ignoring what made
them so popular in the first place.
Howard’s vocals are still the centerpiece,
but this time out they’re wrapped in a
dizzying array of styles. "The Greatest" test
drives punky abandon while the first single "I Don’t Wanna Fight" feels like it was
lifted from some long ago misplaced Stax
compilation. And the surprises keep coming. "This Feeling," with it’s sleepy guitar
and drum arrangement, feels sparse
enough to drive a tractor-trailer through
without ever feeing anorexic and "Gemini"
delivers six minutes of sultry, slow burn.
Howard even tries to one-up Prince with
her aching falsetto on "Gimmie All Your
Love," on which she lays down a performance for the ages. At every given opportunity, Sound & Vision takes the gravel road
instead of the open, paved highway. What
makes that approach even more impressive is that most of time their destinations
shimmer.
– Curt Baran
7
BILLIE HOLIDAY
The Centennial Collection
(Columbia/Legacy)
In honor of what would be her 100th
birthday,
the
vaultmeisters
at
Columbia/Legacy have put together a
treasure trove of 20 essential Billie Holiday
recordings from 1935-1945, her most productive and vital decade. Save for those
born and raised under a rock and/or
bereft of media, there isn’t a person alive
that hasn’t been touched by her interpretative vocal genius with the great American
songbook; and when paired with some of
the finest musicians/arrangers/producers
as on this collection, the result is quite simply some of the finest, most emotionally
enigmatic performances in the history of
recorded music. From her first hit single
"What a Little Moonlight Can Do" to her
own contribution to the American music
vernacular and signature song "God Bless
the Child" to the haunting recalling of a
lynching "Strange Fruit" to her final charting record "Lover Man (Oh, Where Can
You Be,)" this is a must-have addition to
everyone’s library.
--David C. Eldredge
9
KENDRICK LAMAR
Pimp To A Butterfly
(Top Dawg/Aftermath)
It happens. The rappers, they get to
feeling Chosen. Nas got it, and we
laughed. Common got it, and we cringed.
Kanye got it, we laughed, and he tattooed
that ridiculous motorcycle video on our
subconshees. Now Kendrick has it.
Lamar's four-year ascendency from quiet
drunk to K.Dot X rather predictably comes
at the expense of humor and perspective.
The overriding sense is that we're supposed to feel To Pimp A Butterfly's importance and flock to Lamar while he stands,
bathed in sunlight, wearing a white suit.
None of this is to discount his brilliant
wordplay, experimental verse, or shadow
the stunning "How Much A Dolla Cost."
But it's as if while swooping in to save hiphop, Lamar accidentally knocked it and us
down the stairs.
– Steve Forstneger
6
Record & CD
Collectors Show
The Midwest's Largest Record Show
MUDDY WATERS AND
FRIENDS
Soundstage: Blues
Summit In Chicago
(Legacy)
In 1972, local PBS affiliate WTTW started broadcasting Made In Chicago, which
was one the earliest (if not the first) program to present live musical performances
focused on the musicians as musical artists
and not mere lip-syncers or interchangeable acts of a variety show. Two years later
and renamed Soundstage, the WTTWbased program went national via local PBS
affiliates around the country and would
continue on into the '80s. Fittingly