SMALL SUR - ATTIC ROOM

(LP on Worried Songs)

Teacher, woodworker, and songwriter Robert (Bob) Keel is one of the most grounded yet eloquent and expressive American country-folk singers to have emerged from the backwoods since I don’t know when. This is his second LP to the best of my knowledge, and I wouldn’t have heard this one (hot on the heels of his first, ‘Labor’, which was self-released nigh on ten years ago now) had it not been for Chaz Hewitt at Worried Songs, who I swear deserves recognition in the New Years Honours list for services to underground music. Bob Keel’s hushed, poetical delivery puts me in mind of John Martyn and his music is reminiscent of Bruce Cockburn, so already he’s keeping good company.

Like my other favourite Worried Songs release, Josh Kimbrough’s ’Slither, Soar and Disappear’, ‘Attic Room’ is a deeply personal record which draws on the wellspring of fatherhood for inspiration.  Keal’s particular talent lies in observing a fleeting moment in time and writing a song about it that captures it like a sepia-toned photograph in sound. “I will show you the sunrise / in the meadow at dawn” (‘The Meadow’) “there are rays of light hesitating in your breath tonight / when inevitably you fall asleep next to me” (‘Rays of Light’) “a thundercloud unfolding after the rain / and I’ve been falling forward through the forest” (‘A Clean Patch of Ground’)

The essentially introspective nature of the recordings are brought to life thanks to an assembly of friends, including (although far from exclusively) Cara Beth Satalino who lends some gorgeous vocals to three songs, ‘Love’, ‘ For Juniper’ and the wonderful ‘Aperture’ “The aperture is open but the shadow still floods the frame / we’re all captive of a moment and fist nor flight extinguishes the flame”; Matt O’Connell [Elephant Micah] who adds some tape dubs, piano, electric guitar sounds to all of the above and more besides; Dave Hadley on pedal steel and Andy Abelow on otherworldly sax.

For a collection of storied songs, the album’s sequencing holds together surprisingly well too, building to what to me is a truly majestic climax, the outstanding ‘Patchwork Patterns’ which closes Side Two of the record (it’s not actually that easy to see which is side One and which is side Two from glancing at the labels; the clue lies in the run-out groove where the matrix number ends E2/A whereas on side One it ends E1/A). ‘Patchwork Patterns’ starts in what by now is a familiarly introspective style, but the lyrics dissolve into a psychedelic melee (“patchwork patterns…. I have discovered there’s more to miss / straight line symbols / shifting stitches / like street lamps diffracted”) and the instruments are phased, echoed and played backwards in a sequence that’s redolent of the Steve Miller Band circa. ‘Sailor’. I’m not describing this particularly well, I know, but do please give it a chance: it’s a spectacular ending to a really special record.

(Phil McMullen)

CACHEMIRA – AMBOS MUNDOS

(LP, CD, Digital on Heavy Psych Sounds Records)

Barcelona’s high energy power trio Cachemira formed in 2015, released an EP in 2017, retooled their lineup somewhat and return here with their first LP proper.  They play a bluesy brand of hard psych/proto metal, with excellent female vocals from newcomer, bassist Claudia González Diaz.  Band mainstays are Gastón Lainé on guitar and backing vocals and Alejandro Carmona Blanco on drums and percussion.  The band are another light in the firmament of the thriving scene in Spain that has produced so many good bands and albums in the past few years.

Gastón Lainé certainly brings the goods on guitar.  He’s got a pedal board loaded up with distortion, fuzz and wah-wah, and the man’s not afraid to use it.  He mixes it up between rock, blues and funk stylings, and even some Hendrixian sounds.  On two tracks, opener “Don’t Look Back (To the Fire)” and “Future’s Sight” he’s augmented by guest guitarist Alexandre Sánchez Miralles.  It’s impossible to tell who’s playing which solo, but I’ll give the benefit of the doubt that both of them are formidable axemen and contribute copiously to the shredfest.

On “Keep an Eye on Me,” among other tracks, another guest, Camille Goellaen, adds organ, which entrenches the sound deeper in its late Sixties/early Seventies vibe.

While the compositions can sometimes stray in the general direction of AOR territory, with Cachemira you’re never far from an extended rock wigout, and they are LIGHTS OUT when they just kick back and play.  In the five years since their debut, they’ve clearly been getting it together in Barcelona and the results speak for themselves.

“Dirty Roads” might be my favorite, and starts with a Jimi Hendrix-type riff, always a good beginning.  Claudia González Diaz’s vocals are strong and confident.  This is followed by a red-hot passage between Camille Goellaen’s keyboards and Lainé’s killer guitar work to finish out the track.  On “Mujer Vudù,” the only track in which González Diaz sings in her native Spanish, she brings some vudú of her own while her compadres wail away.  Another highlight, “Coast to Coast,” is a concise rocker at only two minutes and change, but overflows with funky blues guitar and organ.  The best gifts come in small packages.

Closer and title track “Ambos Mundos” is the most album’s most interesting offering.  It mixes in the usual acid rock with a more native Spanish rhythmic middle section, and a flamenco-inspired classical guitar section played by another guest, LG Valeta (this would represent the “Both Worlds” of “Ambos Mundos,”) before rocking out again for the finale.  In the future I would hope Cachemira goes down this path a little more.

I also dig the cover art, and must give props to Heavy Psych Sounds, for being one of the few labels who consistently prints enough copies for everyone who wants one, in lots of varieties.  More please, Cachemira, and hopefully we won’t have to wait another five years.

(Mark Feingold)

ADAM GEOFFREY COLE – THE TRACKS OF THE AFTERLANDER

( from   Adam Geoffrey Cole & Trappist afterland  )

Having reverted to his own name, Adam Geoffrey Cole mixes the past with the future on a release that sees him re-visiting some Trappist Afterland songs as well as presenting us with a bunch of new tunes.

   One of the attributes I love about Adam's work is the fact that he has a style of his own, an instantly recognisable blend of hypnotic, rolling tunes, lyrics that explore mysticism and personal history, all delivered with his distinctive voice and augmented by subtle percussion, flute and other instruments.

    Opening in strong style, the brief but beautiful “Stars in the Appletree” is calm and delightful, a hint of ISB or a more wistful Gorkys to be found be found in its gentle charms, the mood continued as “Regeneration Sect” takes over, a soft flute gliding over the tune, the lyrics perfectly illustrating Adam's ability to ground the mystical whilst also elevating ordinary lives to greater meaning, the lyrics having a different tale for every listener I suspect although the core message is universal.

    Throughout the album it is the sacred dance and fluidity that holds the attention, a search for holy mystery the gives the music an extra dimension, each song seemingly part of a whole.

      Trying to pick favourite tracks from this album is just as difficult as choosing a favourite album from Adam's ever growing body of work, but there is a peak moment for me with a perfect trilogy of tunes that begins with the gently folk of “House On The Hill”, tumbles into the delicate majesty of “Clay Sparrows” and leads us on with the seventies acid folk drone of “From Which Burning Bush”, three tunes where lyrics and music collide with harmony and purpose, not only that but there are more tunes afterwards, happy days.

     By the time we get to “Godbothering(part 5)” you are completely converted and for me it is very difficult to just play one album from the catalogue, I am never sure what I want to play next apart from more of the same. If you are not familiar with Adam's music this is a great place to start, if you are an old friend just dive in, you're gonna love that holy mystery.

(Simon Lewis)

AROOJ AFTAB – VULTURE PRINCE (DELUXE EDITION)

(LP, CD, Digital on Verve)

When I saw Arooj Aftab at the Newport Folk Festival this year, I was captivated by her performance - I and all the others present at the packed stage.  You could hear a pin drop during her solemn songs.  She was new to me, but when I later did a little research, I found she was quite celebrated, being showered by awards and recognition from the Grammys to Barack Obama, with prestigious performances to go along with them, largely on the back of this album, proving to me I need to get out more.

Aftab is a Pakistani singer who now lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.  Her music combines many influences, including classical Hindustani, folk, jazz, Sufi, minimalism, and ambient.  She makes extensive use of the ghazal form, an ancient style of poem or song expressing pain and loss, while espousing love despite the pain.  Vulture Prince, sung largely in Urdu, sees her combine her own writing with poetry from great masters of bygone eras.  Her singing is low, slow and full of sorrow.  She lost her younger brother Maher while writing the album, and the record is indelibly colored by that sorrow and loss.

What clinches Aftab’s music for me though, both live and on the record, is her musical backing.  Although minimal – at any given time it sounds like there are about three musicians, there are actually a plethora of players on the album.  She mixes it up between harp, violin (Darian Donovan Thomas’s violin playing is some of the most sensitive and affecting work on the album), classical guitar, double bass, strings, flugel horn, piano and synths.  But there’s lots of breathing space between them, and the musicians are all brilliant and full of soul.  It’s unyieldingly classy and tasteful.

The song that seems to have generated the most buzz is “Mohabbat.”  It includes another of Aftab’s characteristically beautiful instrumental backings, including harp, classical guitar, flugel horn, synth and percussion.  The lyrics are from a 1921 poem by Hafeez Hoshiapuri, and are translated as:

Seeing as you have ample lovers around you,

I will not be one of them.

This is sad, as I love you the most.

The sadness of this is equal to the sadness of all the world.

And were there not this one sadness, how much happiness would there be in this world.

And even if I do somehow get to be one of your lovers,

The sadness of my time spent in separation from you will be all that consumes me.

I will not be one of those lovers to you.

The “Deluxe Edition” of Vulture Prince includes the original 2021 album, plus new 2022 track “Udhero Na,” featuring some of the most sublime sitar playing I’ve ever heard, courtesy of the great British musician Anoushka Shankar, daughter of Ravi Shankar.  Her ghostly sitar sounds to me to be combined and intertwined with light synths, as well as harp and classical guitar, for a very intriguing and calming sound.

Aftab spoke to Stereogum of “people who create very personal music and don’t really fit into any heritage or any place or any time period.  That’s the kind of artist I want to be.”  She achieves that with great distinction, and produces uncommonly beautiful, melancholy songs.

(Mark Feingold)

SWEET HOLY SPIRIT - FADE IN

(bandcamp.com) 

Created by Reuben Rios, previously from the rather excellent Grimble Grumble, “Fade In” is a three track EP that will still your demons and fill your home with engulfing ,pulsating drones that crackle and vibrate with slowly dissolving tones and textures.

    Beginning in a soft haze, “Witness of Time” swiftly becomes a howling wall of kosmic distortion, the sound of a huge wave destroying your neighbourhood, showing an intensity and purpose that seems to scramble your inner organs before ceasing abruptly, leaving you pleasantly shell-shocked. Emerging from the wreckage, “Halo” offers a much needed sense of redemption, sunlight breaking through the fog, shimmering tones that shift and intertwine with a majestic sheen, the feeling of hope spanning the entire seven minutes as you drift above.

    To conclude the release, “I See Your Face” is another rising drone that allows you to lie back and dream, a slowly revolving undertow enhanced with twinkling notes and drifting harmonics, the feeling of cloud watching with your eyes closed, a wonderful end to a far too brief release that is an masterclass in drone, less is more, just let it wash over you.

(Simon Lewis)

OLD CALIFORNIO – COUNTRY

Self released CD, DL & Stream www.oldcalifornio.bandcamp.com

Nice to see LA folk country rock band Old Californio still recording and releasing records, this new album (due sometime in November) is a bit of a departure in that it only features three original songs and 10 choice covers. The band is boosted this time around from members of I See Hawks In LA and GospelBeach. The band is comprised of songwriter and singer Rich Demboski, Woody Aplanalp – guitars, vocals, Justin Smith – drums, Jon Niemann – keyboards, Kip Boardman – bass, Paul Lacques – dobro, guitar with a couple of guests, Anthony LeGerfo – drums, Corey McComick – bass and John Avila – bass and vocals.

Things kick off with a loose, laconic, losers lament with ‘Shorten Your List’, which is followed by the rootys mandolin led ‘I Won’t Cry’, not a million miles from the sound of the Everly Brothers. A lilting, frailing, banjo led ‘Because’ is a winsome delight. A very tasteful cover of John Prine’s excellently observed song ‘Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness’ is an early highlight. Merle Haggard’s ‘Lonesome Fugitive’ works well in this rootsy version replete with twin vocals. ‘Knockin’ On Your Screen Door’ allows the members to play a few succinct solos. Woody’s ‘I Say That Too’, fits well with the rest of the songs and indeed already sounds like an old classic with some fine b-bending string action, its lyrics speak of modern times. ‘Maybe It’s Time’ questions the validity of moving with the times and of our increasing abandoning of religion, some wonderful slide guitar informs the instrumental section. 

A couple of very familiar songs are tackled next, with a fine version of the old Rolling Stones classic ‘Wild Horses’, from the period when Keith was hanging with Gram and a wonderful version of Lowell George’s old chestnut ‘Willin’. Next they get to grips with Guy Clark’s ‘Stuff That Works’. The old folk song ‘The Cuckoo’, is another highlight, the album ends with a stirring version of Neil Young’s ‘Lotta Love’, which rings out with some nice 12 string guitar and oozes with fabulous harmonies.  This is a very good album indeed, it already has the feeling of an old classic after only a couple of plays.

(Andrew Young)

SULA BASSANA – NOSTALGIA

LP/CD Sulatron Records www.sulabassana.bandcamp.com

A new record from Dave Schmidt is always welcome; with previous group Electric Moon currently on hiatus he has certainly very busy elsewhere, what with his other group Zone Six plus running a record label with all that it entails.

For this outing he is playing guitars, basses, drums, synths, organ, Mellotron, and electric sitar, which is immediately heard on album opener, the expansive, nine minute plus ‘Real Life’. I must also mention the excellent cover art which is by the French born painter Herve Scott Flament.

Both that track and the following track ‘We Will Make It’, feature vocals. Over a dark brooding riff, this track suddenly gets real spacey, it slows right down and drifts about for a bit before motoring right back with some epic space rock for the last couple of minutes or so, arriving back again at the beginning.

The title track ‘Nostalgia’ is lovely, the Mellotron really adds atmosphere, and it’s almost exotica in style; with a melody straight out of one of Eden Ahbez’s songs, completely different from what’s gone before.  ‘Wurmloch’, is a real gem, pulsing and throbbing all over the place, a good motorik beat is laid down over which synths bubble and guitars crunch, it also runs to a good ten minutes.

The final track ‘Mellotraum’, is ace.  Prior to recording, Dave had just taken delivery of a new Mellotron 4000d, which he uses to great effect here. Over a mid paced beat the tron gets put through its paces, wheezing away like a pair of iron lungs. It’s a real nodder of a tune which ebbs and flows away merrily.

(Andrew Young)

THE GREEN PAJAMAS - FOREVER FOR A LITTLE WHILE

Available on Green Monkey

The Pajamas have released over 20 albums since their re-emergence on Camera Obscura 25 years ago following a well-received appearance at the inaugural Terrastock Festival in 1997. According to front man Jeff Kelly, their latest, a 19-track double album, is influenced by those early “reunion” albums. Last year’s Sunlight Might Weigh Even More was influenced by 1997’s Strung Behind The Sun - a sunny Yin to “Forever…”’s autumnal Yang, which Kelly assembled with 1998’s All Clues Lead To Meagan’s Bed in mind. The Eastern reference is apt, as several tracks reflect Kelly’s fascination with the films of Akira Kurasawa (‘The Hidden Fortress’) and Japanese actress Meiko Kaji (‘Menthol Girl’), embellished with nods to ‘Princess Misa’ (a melding of the Princess Yuki character in The Hidden Fortress and the actress who plays her - Misa Uehara) and the cinematic story-song ‘Kimono Dream’s. The album even begins with a sound byte from a North Korean TV News Broadcast (which Kelly titles ‘Theme for A World Neurotic’ and could easily describe the current global pandemic panic)! And for the curious and observant, the Japanese characters on the album cover represent “Green Pajamas”, while the characters on the inside cover and CD represent “This Floating World Is A Dream”, Kelly’s original title for the album and the title of an alternate version of the album to be released on vinyl on a Greek label. Keep your eyes peeled for that one! [The alternate title is based on a song sung by the Princess Misa character in The Hidden Fortress!]

     ‘Six Minutes in Heaven’ continues the paranoiac pandemic theme, with our protagonist dulling the senses with narcotics to get through the daily grind. The guitars are set to stun and fuzz boxes are wheeled out to join tablas, backwards guitars, and assorted psychedelic accoutrements while the sexual innuendo in the title suggests another way to dull the pain! A brief piano sorbet courtesy of Kelly’s excerpted variation on Satie’s ‘Gnossiennes No. 3’ eases the initial adrenaline rush for the first of two tender moments riding the synthesizers with ‘Princess Misa’.

     ‘Touch Her That Way’ is another killer pop tune that reflects ‘Meagan’s Bed”’s paisley pop sensibilities (you can make your own guesses which track might have set the blueprint). I also hear a nod in Tom Petty’s direction. Keyboardist Eric Lichter’s gruffer vocals add bit of a Tom Waits’ vibe to his ‘Constance Gray’, it’s rollicking, toe-tapping melody imbued with deft brass touches. Satie’s influence also kicks off the romantically playful ‘I’ve Got Love’ which swoons with deft Parisian atmospherics.

     One of the Pajamas’ secret weapons has always been the presence of several gifted songwriters and although Kelly has been at the centre of most of the recent Pajama releases, Lichter, guitarist Laura Weller and bassist Joe Ross all contribute songs to the collection. Weller’s ‘Give Me A Penny’ (also featuring husband and Pajamas drummer Scott Vanderpool) is a busy pop journey, full of sitars (or possibly a 4-string Persian setar), synths and Vanderpool’s galloping stick work.

     Kelly reaches back even further than the Camera Obscura revival for an excerpt from a 50-year old cassette of a neighbourhood kid introducing his first “band”, The Springwater Ferries to a bunch of 10- and 11-year olds who paid a nickel to hear the Ferries perform in Jeff’s parents’ basement! This smoothly transitions to ‘I Love The Way You Smile’, which only goes to show that those early Beatlesque touches never go out of style! Lichter returns for the melancholic weeper ‘Psychedelic Sun’, an enigmatic piano-based story-song the Pajamas do so well. The bluesy Stonesy swagger of ‘If You Leave Me Today’ and Lichter’s nasal twang brings another Petty memory to ‘Wildly Polite’, which Kelly reworked from Lichter’s 2002 solo album Palm Wine Sunday Blue (Hidden Agenda).

     As expected ‘The Hidden Fortress’ oozes an eerie, cinematic ambience as befits its Kurasawa source material, but Kelly adds plonking Eastern-tinged keyboards and a tasteful fuzz solo for an East-meets-West marriage of sights and sounds made in those ‘Six Minutes In Heaven’ we experienced back at the beginning of our trip!

     I’m tempted to bring out the Japanese references again for Joe Ross’s ‘Joy Ride-The Happy Ending’, but maybe we should just concentrate on the music! His wah-wah guitar intro and lowdown dirty fuzz 6-string strangulation permeate this nostalgic rap attack (!?) that name checks their ’97 compilation: “listening to Indian Winter…” and throws whatever’s lying around the kitchen sink into the production before fading out on a long Tangerine Dream-ish synth coda. And if you try to get me to suggest “Proggy Pajamas”, I’ll deny it! Cheers and kudos all around for another fine accomplishment to while away many an hour in the coming cold months.

(Jeff Penczak)

MOLLY LEWIS – MIRAGE (EP)

(LP, CD, Digital on Jagjaguwar Records)

We don’t give enough love or credit to professional whistlers, either those from afar or they who walk amongst us [we don't?! - Ed.]  Hopefully the work of Molly Lewis, who’s part Oz and part LA, will help rectify that situation.

OK, so say you’re a pro whistler, trying to make it in the music biz.  You still need some songs, some music to whistle to.  That’s where Molly shines.  On both her 2021 debut EP The Forgotten Edge, and this follow-up EP, working with producer Tom Brenneck (Charles Bradley, Amy Winehouse), she cleverly crafted this style which is the intersection of Les Baxter lounge exotica, Ennio Morricone spaghetti western soundtracks, and library music with a Brazilian sway.

Between the Tiki torches along the breezy island beach and riding a horse along the dusty trail, Lewis conjures up a romantic, chill world.  Brazilian guitarist extraordinaire Rogê strums softly (in a hammock in my mind), while vibraphones, bongos and a jazzy piano gently play and a wordless female voice oohs and aahs off in the distance.  Lewis comes in over the top with her signature instrument – her lips.  Reach for a martini and you’re almost there.

‘The Forgotten Edge’ EP and this one are very similar, so grab ‘em both and you’ve got a complete album.  Highlights from ‘Mirage’ include “Miracle Fruit,” which kind of puts all the elements of her style together in a perfect little package.  Also, eden ahbez’s evergreen “Nature Boy” seems tailor made for Lewis and this collection.  (ahbez’s brilliant 1960 ‘Eden’s Island’ album seems to stand watch as a guiding hand for much of what’s on display here.)  On ‘The Forgotten Edge,’ opener “Oceanic Feeling” has you lazily daydreaming beneath swaying palm trees, with just the right David Lynchian feeling of underlying creepy weirdness.  “Satin Curtains” flies in a low flute, harp, ghostly voices, organ, trumpet and saxophone for a cinematic early 70s library music homage.  “Wind’s Lament” takes us to a stylish spaghetti western showdown between grizzled six-gun toting gunmen.

Molly Lewis’ music is both instantly likeable and uber chic.  She’ll have you snapping your fingers to the exotica groove and wanting to brush up on your whistling.  As Lauren Bacall said to Humphrey Bogart in To Have and Have Not, “you know how to whistle, don’t you Steve?  You just put your lips together and…blow.”

(Mark Feingold)