ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND - Hittin' The Note

It took a while. First listen didn't work. No Dickey, some poor songs, "Heart Of Stone" living down to its hackneyed 80s guitar rock title. But eventually I managed to put my prejudices to one side. With Warren Haynes back, there were bound to some Mule moments, although it appears that he left some fine solos back on the superlative Phil Lesh 2002 release. But once you programme the ceedee player to skip the mince, there are some excellent moments.

"Desdemona", "Rockin' Horse" and "Old Friend" are well worthy of the ABB brand, although Gruntin' Gregg maintains a low profile throughout, which sometimes makes for more of a mid-tempo Gov't Mule album than an Allmans one. Strange. "Instrumental Illness" tries (and fails) to match some illustrious intrumental predecessors, but even the attempt is more than most jam bands can manage.

Bearing in mind some of the lamentable releases that the first reformation produced, this is to be commended. It's hard living in the shadow of the early seventies, and if you look upon the ABB sans Mr Betts, as a tribute to themselves, then you could be in for a very pleasant surprise. And, of course, with musicians of this calibre, even firing on three cylinders, there are bound to times when you forget how to breath, as the vibe carries you away.

TIM MUNGENAST - “Birth of Monsters” / “The Un-Stableboy”

‘Birth of Monsters’ gets off to a solid start with the rocker ‘Confidence Man’ featuring a couple of nice guitar breaks from Mac Randall and Tim and some solid drumming from Jonno Deily-Swearingen. ‘Mersault’s Blues’ features distinctive marimba by bass player/ multi-instrumentalist Michael Bloom. ‘Mahatma Wheel’ is a shimmering piece of 60s psychedelia complete with electric sitar (Tim) and flute (Ajda). The title track is one of two instrumentals on the album, the unlisted closing twelfth track (‘Masters of Cranberry’) containing the most ‘experimental’ music on the album.
On ‘Court-Appointed Lover’ with its infectious chorus ‘I want you to kiss me slowly’ (!) Tim is accompanied only by Jonno.
Tim works at a very high level of invention and creativity and his lyrics read like the pages of a very personal diary- how many artists come away with lines like ‘Denial is all that keeps us alive. It’s a therapeutic delusion’ as he ‘takes on’ popular psychology and literary trivia in general- (His life ‘enriched’ by the fact that now he knows that ‘spinach grows in sand’!)(Ha!) There is a country rock feel about this one and it’s driven along nicely by Michael Bloom on bass and Jonno on drums. Tim’s guitar work is subtle, nothing flashy but full of emotion and the Bruno fuzz machine pictured on the back cover in the solo is presumably used in the solo. ‘Demons’ has some nice vocal harmonies (Tim. Mac and Jonno) while ‘Daybroken’ is a catchy nugget of psychedelic pop. ‘Temple of the Unwell’ and ‘Spam’ both make references to food, the former having a kind of Bonzo Dog/ Neil Innes/ Monty Python whimsy, humorous yet serious at the same time- ‘does the answer lie in a taco shell’? ‘Spam’ (the one with the experimental stuff tagged on the end) reminds me of Zappa/ Mothers of Invention.
No subject is taboo for Tim, even illness- ‘If your credit’s good the drainage can begin’ and he delivers his observations on society with humour and a sense of the absurd.
On ‘Candles’ from ‘The Un-Stableboy’ he lays his cards on his table with the reassuring thought that you can access different levels of consciousness without ‘chemical change’. There are two versions of ‘He is Radio’ about, apparently, a departed soul (Sean Patrick Murphy, a DJ for WMFO in Medford, Massachusetts) literally existing as a radio wave. ‘Libation to John’ is a moving if drawl Jim Morrison type monologue about Tim’s dad, a larger than life character it seems and the album is graced by the vocals of Cheryl Wanner of Dreamchild on a few of the tracks.
Tim makes the rather eccentric claim that Crystal, a spirit greyhound inspires some of his music. Then again didn’t the great Schumann also claim nightly visitations (from dead composers not dogs though!)
Tim’s web site also tells us he is part of Boston’s ‘avant garde community’ with numerous musical collaborations in his cv.
He lists many inspirations in his music and I can hear Zappa, Syd Barrett, The Byrds, The Association possibly. It’s interesting that Captain Beefheart and Tom Waits are two of the main songwriters he identifies. You can certainly hear shades of Waits in his lyrics and arrangements and elements of Don Van Vliet’s totally unique approach to music production.
Revealingly Salvador Dali, Max Ernst ‘and the rest of them Surrealist yo-yos’ are also mentioned on his web site which also helps to explain a lot about where Tim is coming from.
Impressed though I was by ‘Birth of Monsters’ I found ‘The Un-stableboy’ a less ‘complete’ work- short in length, fewer memorable songs, more of a concept work perhaps. Having said that, it contains possibly Tim’s best song of all- the marvellous ‘Lithium Statement’ which contains two brilliantly constructive, individualistic guitar breaks the first by Tim, the second a real-time duel between Tim and Mac Randall. This is 6 minutes of sheer genius and worth getting the CD for on its own.
Essential listening from a great talent.
Contact:

(Goat River Productions)

(Reviewed by Phil Jackson)

Fred Bacher “Major Statement Man” (Manifesto)

Poet alert! Look away now, if offended by well meaning liberal, hippy claptrap. You know the drill, shooting to good etc, so hopefully the music and performance will make the trek worthwhile. And it kind of is.

Having an eight minute tune about Sid Vicious may not be the smartest thing to do if you want a good review out of mw, what with my prejudices about smackheads, but strangely I actually get the line, "We’ve all been murdered by Elton John and the Queen". Of course, the sin is compounded with a 9 minute song called "Glasgow Lullaby". Although fair's fair, I'd happily put the place and populace to sleep.

Fred is going for an anti-folk thing, crossing punk and country in a manner first devised by Mr William Bragg back in the heady days of the Divine Ms Thatcher, diva par excellence, but when he puts politics to one side, and writes a love song, it's all rather splendid ("Will You Marry Me?). I'm also rather partial to the amusing tale that is "Best Damn Eulogizers", a job I am thinking of applying for.

Mr Bacher spends a lot of time campaigning for charidee, so it would be churlish of me to say anything other than buy it, but it's also a sometime good listen. You can have alisten at the MP3 zone
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Oh, and a few more bonus points for suggesting that Justin Timberlake fans seek professional help, but please excuse "Work It", a great pop tune - You talking to me like you talking to an adolescent. I need to jump off, jump off, clothes, come off, come off, Heard Maze, Frankie B and so on, so on. Hey, let your waist pop huh, when the bass knocks yeah,

Now that's poetry!