Two from Futureman Records: Brandi Ediss and Coke Belda

 By Henry Lipput

Bees and Bees and Bees

Bees and Bees and Bees is the amazing debut album from Massachusetts-based singer-songwriter Brandi Ediss (Futureman Records). She joins a long line of honest voices like Joni Mitchell that are not afraid to write about both their failures and successes at love. Many of Ediss' lyrics are honest, sometimes painfully honest, and her clear vocal lines and the album’s simple arrangements only add to what comes across as confessions of the heartbreak or joy of relationships.

One of my favorite songs on Bees and Bees and Bees is “Chicago.” Ediss sings about having written a song that she had hoped to sing to someone special but now she’s walking through the city by herself, trudging through the snow, tripping over tree roots: “The city feels new again / But not in a good way / And I now I just don’t know when / Chicago will feel like home again /’Cause I learned to see this town through you / Now I guess I’ll have to start brand new.” The song also has an incredibly beautiful string arrangement that only adds to the sadness of the lyrics.

There are also some upbeat songs like the full band “Stupid Boyfriend” that describes a guy who sends her poetry and flowers at work. But she’s self-defeating and wishes he’d just walk away but, in the end, “I love my stupid boyfriend.“  The very positive “Linoleum” tells of an abrupt turn-around from someone who had settled on living her life alone: “But here’s the thing I’ve been thinking / When I’m with you it all just seems so clear / Your arms around me in the morning / Your sweetest voice singing in my ear.” 

And based on the good vibes of “Linoleum” it’s clear that Ediss found what she was looking for in the wonderful song “I’ll Keep You Warm” even though at the time she was still searching for that special person and all the things she could give to them.

4

The pop-tastic delight that is Coke Belda's 4 (digital: Futureman Records / CD: Kool Kat Musik) is Belda’s follow-up to his 2017 Bee Gee’s tribute album. This time it’s a tribute of sorts to Paul McCartney. Like Macca, the Pittsburgh-based Belda plays nearly all of the instruments in his home studio on the new album. 

The opening track, “Thank You, Paul” has a number of references to Macca’s solo work and the whole thing has a real Badfinger feel to it (which isn't such a stretch since McCartney wrote their first hit). And McCartney’s influence, especially his early solo work,  is heard all over this album. 

“Another Day” isn’t a cover but a lush original from Belda. and it has a ear-worm hook that builds to a rocking middle eight. The short, sweet “Believe” lifts a hook from McCartney’s “Blackbird” which the former Beatle admits he lifted from a Bach piece he was playing. The lovely “1968“ also uses a similar guitar sound but the vocal and overall feel of the song recalls Crosby, Stills, and Nash’s “Our House.” 

“Broken Circle” is an orchestral gem with its George Harrison sounding guitar solo, a solid bass line, and Beach Boys-like backing vocals. When he sings “Everything you do is driving me insane“ I take it to be in a good way.

Next time: A new single from The Shop Window

Peter Hall Gets Physical

By Henry Lipput

When Peter Hall released his digital EP There’s Something Wrong With Everyone back in January on Bandcamp I immediately bought a download. This wonderful mix of melancholy pop and a few 70’s influences fit very well in my musical wheelhouse and it didn’t hurt that Hall‘s voice is gentle and welcoming. As for my definition of melancholy, a song has to have a mix of lyrics and music that may in theory work against each other but also provide a happy/sad feeling. And There's Something Wrong With Everyone has that going for it big time.

The EP has now been released as a CD with an additional track by The Beautiful Music label out of Canada. So if you’re like me, a fan of physical releases because that’s what you grew up with, then this is the purchase of the EP you need to get.

I didn’t know much about the work that Hall had done in the past (it turns out he was in a band called Play People who recorded a couple of EPs and a single) but it was the songs on There’s Something Wrong With Everyone that made me want to have this collection.

The sound of the opening track “Hold On” seems to me to owe more than a little to the late, great Emitt Rhodes and the occasional keyboard reminds me of Paul McCartney’s little-known gem “Arrow Through Me” from Back To The Egg. “Blood Flow” sounds like a Chris Bell song from Big Star’s  #1 Record with its 70’s guitars and there’s also some terrific organ that provides fills and a coda at the end.

The chamber pop of “Everything Is Fading Fast” brings to mind the gentle sound of “Your Love Is Forever” from George Harrison’s self-titled solo album. And “She Fell From The Sky” is just gorgeous and is over much too soon. 

As for the bonus track on the CD, you’ll just have to buy it yourself to find out. You won't be disappointed.

Next time: Two from Futureman Records: Brandi Ediss and Coke Belda

VickiKristinaBarcelona isn't just the name of a movie

By Henry Lipput

It’s no secret that Tom Waits is a great songwriter. Other songwriters, like Rod Stewart (“Downtown Train”) and Bruce Springsteen (“Jersey Girl”), have paid tribute by covering his songs. But his trademark growl has put off many potential listeners, myself included, to his work.

Now, VickiKristinaBarcelona, a trio of multi-talented female singers/musicians, have released Pawn Shop Radio (StorySound Records), an album of songs by Waits. The group members are Rachelle Garniez, Amanda Homi, and Terry Radigan and their look of Lower East Side hipsters (just check out the album cover) are a perfect match for these songs. With their fine-tuned harmonies and sense of humor it’s hard not to compare these three with The Roches especially on albums like Nurds.

Although some of the arrangements on Pawn Shop Radio are similar to the Waits originals, none of them are rote covers. The voices of Garniez, Homi, and Radigan, and their combination of harmonies and lead vocals, replace Waits’ barks and snarls and open up and re-imagine these songs to bring them to a new audience. 

VickiKristinaBarcelona play all of the instruments on the album which include banjos, bottles, and an accordion. Accordions were an integral part of Waits’ arrangements and Garnier, Homi, and Radigan make it one of the primary instruments on Pawn Shop Radio. And it never sounds cheesy. It shows up front and center on “Jersey Girl,” provides a Tex-Mex vibe for “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up,” and sounds like a pump organ on “Innocent When You Dream.”

All of these takes on the songs of Waits are terrific but it’s when the trio make the songs their own that the album soars. Waits‘ original “Jersey Girl” was a quiet, guitar-based recording (not unlike Springsteen's version) but Garniez, Homi, and Radigan crank up the NYC-in-the-70s feeling and turn it into “Spanish Harlem” as written by Laura Nyro. “Way Down In The Hole” is a doo wop delight. And on “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up” Waits made it sound like a rant from a stubborn six-year-old but the ladies take ownership and it becomes a rallying cry for all of the lost girls who fought pirates and dodged crocodiles along with the lost boys in Peter Pan’s Never Land. 

Next time: There's nothing wrong with Peter Hall

This tugboat captain is pulling a brilliant pop tune

By Henry Lipput

Tugboat Captain’s brilliant  new single“No Plans (For This Year)” (Bandcamp) is a sonic step up from their DIY roots but their pure pop sensibilities were already evident on the self-titled EP from 2016.

Although “No Plans (For This Year)” was written well before the virus shut down most of the world it feels like a theme song for where we are right now. But the song is far from morose. Its bouncy pop vibe could be mistaken for a missing track from McCartney’s RAM album. In addition, the piano-as-rhythm-instrument is a call-back to “Penny Lane” and the ending, with a piano coda that builds to a string-laden finish, is right out of the Abbey Road playbook (the single, as well as the band's upcoming album, was actually recorded at Abbey Road during spare studio hours over the last twelve months).

“No Plans (For This Year)” is in fact a taster for this London based indie-pop four-piece’s forthcoming debut album Rut. The album will be out in October and you can pre-order the vinyl from Double A-Side Records. If the song is any indication Rut could be well on its way to ending up on a lot of year-end lists.

Next time: VickiKristinaBarcelona isn't just the name of a movie