Willie Nile has been releasing albums since 1980 and his latest release is New York At Night. He's also being celebrated with the covers album Willie Nile Uncovered.
New York At Night
Willie Nile’s new album, New York At Night (River House Records) is a knockout and a love letter to the city he obviously adores.
The current pandemic has shut down most of the city but New York has been down before -- a President telling it to “Drop Dead’ in the ‘70s, the September 11th terrorist attacks, the 2008 financial crisis, and Hurricane Sandy to name just a few -- but it has weathered the storms and will come roaring back if Nile has anything to say about it.
Willie Nile has been making records since 1980 and New York At Night shows that he’s lost none of his songwriting chops. Working with his long-time live band -- guitarists Matt Hogan and Jimi K. Bones, bassist Johnny Pisano, and drummer as well as co-producer Stewart Lerman at Weehawken, N.J.’s Hobo Sound studio, Nile has created a set of rock and roll gems as well as some melancholy beauties.
The kick-ass opening track, “New York Is Rockin’” describes Sinatra singing those “little town blues,” Baryshnikov putting on his blue suede shoes, and The Ramones at CBGB. The song is very much a look back at the city in the 1970s when Nile arrived at a place that could either lift your spirits or break your heart.
The bluesy toe-tapper that is “The Backstreet Slide” features dazzling lead guitar work. “Doors Of Paradise” is sad and beautiful and has some funky guitar fills. “The doors of Paradise swing both ways,” Nile sings in a song that is just aching to be a hit. The title track, “New York At Night,” provides a road map to the city after the sun goes down. A pounding drumbeat, crunching guitars, and handclaps give a sense of the excitement New York provides.
A solo piano provides the foundation for the beautiful “The Last Time We Made Love.” It also contains some wonderful imagery in its lyrics: “The last time we made love / The rain did somersaults on windowsills made of / ancient blocks of stone.” The wonderful, acoustic “Under This Roof” may be a love song but it’s also an invitation for a friend to escape the world we currently live in: “Under this roof will be a shelter where you can lay your head.”
And the closer, “Run Free,” is classic Nile territory. His fabulous band rocks your socks off with a combination of drums, guitar, bass, and keyboards. Add some amazing backing vocals from Tawatha Agee and Vaneese Thomas and the whole thing lifts off to another fantastic level.
Willie Nile Uncovered
Like all of the best tribute albums, Willie Nile Uncovered (Paradidle Records) will bring newcomers to Nile's work to get a crash course on some of the best songs in his catalog and old hands will hear some new voices.
With over 40 years of tunes to choose from, these artists interpret Willie’s songs in a range of styles -— rock, Americana, country, roots, and folk -- and contribute a combination of solid covers as well as excellent re-imaginings.
Here are some of the highlights from the two-CD set (your results may vary):
* Emily Duff’s “Hell Yeah” turns Nile’s bullet train original into a hoedown that almost demands that you sing along.
* “When Levon Sings,” about The Band’s singer and drummer, gets a full-band version from Quarter Horse that ends with a bit of “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.”
* Graham Parker’s “One Guitar” takes Nile’s version and turns it up a notch with the help of Willie himself.
* Nils Lofgren sings the psalm-like “All God’s Children” like a Gospel sermon on Sunday.
* With an extra added note of resignation, John Gorka does “I Can’t Do Crazy (Anymore)” because his days of wild living are over.
* In one of the most creative takes on one of Willie’s songs, Henroy Vassell & Friends bring a reggae beat to “When One Stands.”
* If you like early Wilco, you’ll really like Pete Mancini’s “Asking Annie Out” with its blend of alt-country and pop.
* “One Guitar” is covered again with a ska vibe on Johnny Pisano’s “One Guitar Mon’.”
"I read the news today" sang John Lennon in "A Day In The Life."
Martin Newell, of the long-time British band The Cleaners From Venus, has been reading the news as well and wants to share it with us on the Cleaners’ latest EP July (Bandcamp).
Newell, a well-respected iconic/ironic DIY legend, is known as the Jangling Man, a song from his great 1993 album The Greatest Living Englishman as well the title of an in-the-works documentary of his career funded by a Kickstarter campaign.
And he doesn’t disappoint on July fronting The Cleaners From Venus although he may not be fronting as much as being a one-man band. As the Bandcamp page notes, Newell is both “muse and Word-sick“ and he recorded the tracks at Chez Martin “between tea-breaks and sleeping.“
The lead-off track “Statues” blends the jangle with the rattle of today’s news. The line “A virus brings a planet to its knees” makes it clear where Newell is going and he continues with “protests on the breeze” and statues tumbling. The light-hearted popster is nowhere to be found and the guitar solo is full of crunch.
The dazzling “Golden Lion Of The Sun,” however, is the sound of classic Newell and would have found a fitting spot on his wonderful The Off White Album, the follow-up to Englishman. “King Inglorious” is the tale of a cad trying to make his case for not being hit in the head with a pan yet again. When he’s told “You are a fraud / Strutting around like a lord” it’s hard not to think how the description might fit any number of politicians. And the instrumental “Tricky Customer, Johnny Tomorrow” is the theme song for the sci-fi television series that has yet to be pitched to a streaming service.
Gary Olson could have named his solo debut album Swoon but it was already taken by Prefab Sprout. So he named it after himself but the self-titled release (Tapete Records) is an absolutely gorgeous collection that will make you swoon upon hearing it.
Olson was one of the founders and mainstays of the Brooklyn-based indie pop legends Ladybug Transistor. Since that band ceased operations Olson has worked as an engineer recording other artists. He released a single two years ago (the song “The Old Twin” is included on Gary Olson) and the self-titled album came out earlier this year.
Olson worked on the album over a period of eight years in his home studio in Brooklyn as well as another in Hayland, Norway, where Ole Johannes Åleskjær and his brother Jorn Åleskjær have the Tune-J studio. Basic tracks were recorded in Norway and then brought back to Flatbush for added vocals, horns, and strings. The recordings would then return to Norway for producer Ole to finish the tracks.
It’s fitting that the first song, “Navy Boats,” on Gary Olson mentions the past (“What a season / 1890”) because the whole album have a feeling of being from another time.
The arrangements for “Navy Boats” are a template used throughout the album with a gently strummed guitar, a delicate vocal from Olson, wonderful string arrangements (George Martin fans take note), and Olson’s trademark trumpet playing. There are also lovely backing vocals by Suzanne Nienaber of Pale Lights which give some of the songs a Prefab Sprout (yeah, I went there again) feel.
In addition to "Navy Boats" other highlights include the gems“Giovanna Please,” “Postcard From Lisbon, and "All Points North.” The whole album has a lightness of touch than makes it a joy to listen to.
“The Old Twin” is one of the few out-and-out upbeat songs on the album; it doesn't rock as much as sway gently from side to side. “Afternoon Into Evening” and "A Dream From A Memory" are two tracks that sound like they are being played by a full band and the closest to being Ladybug Transistor songs.
Next time: The Cleaners From Venus give us the news from July on their new EP.
The very cool pop tune “Evacuate” is the fourth single from The Shop Window, a band from Kent in the UK that consists of Carl Mann (vocals/guitars), Simon ‘Syd’ Oxlee (vocals/keys), Martin Corder (bass), and Phil Elphee (drums).
“Evacuate” opens with a single finger on a synth keyboard and the vocals begin with the song’s chorus (not unlike the arrangement for “She Loves You”): “Everything I do, I do for you / So calm down, calm down / Evacuate this anxious state and keep calm.” Described by the band as “evoking nostalgia” it’s a "warm hug sounding like today from yesteryear.”
After the chorus, the band is in full swing and it’s a joyful noise. One of the sounds this song recalls is the music of the land Down Under. Carl Mann has spent nine years in nine different places including New Zealand and the sound of that country has rubbed off on him. I’m thinking specifically of The Chills but there’s also some fine jangle from around the world that can remind you of bands from The Smiths to (insert the name of your favorite current jangle band here.)
Three of the four singles The Show Window released in the past months, including “Evacuate,” will be on their forthcoming album The State Of Being Human.
Next time: On his debut solo album Gary Olson is trumpeting his indie pop credentials.
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.
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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.
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
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.
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
In late May 1967 The Beatles released a concept album in what Paul McCartney called a “golden summer,” and the album was played around the world all season. And despite our current problems and concerns, Lisa Mychols and SUPER 8 have just released a wonderful album that can turn, to paraphrase Mr. Shakespeare, our summer of discontent into our very own golden summer and can brighten our lives all season long.
LISA MYCHOLS & SUPER 8 (US: Lisa Mychols, Bandcamp / Canada: The Beautiful Music label / UK: SUPER 8, Bandcamp) is also a concept album (it even has a theme song and a joke with a reference to Sgt. Pepper!) about summer loves. It’s a glorious sun-baked boardwalk stroll down memory lane for some and a perhaps a soundtrack for a future romance for others.
LISA MYCHOLS & SUPER 8 is a meeting of musical minds and a true collaboration with both of them writing lyrics and music. As she sings in the joyous “Trip & Ellie’s Music Factory” they were “changing words to make better sense” and turning up the tunes a few degrees to create the perfect mix.
After their first musical partnership (the fantastic single “Timebomb“ which is featured on the new album), singer/songwriter/“Queen of Power Pop” and Californian Lisa 'Ellie' Mychols and UK-based singer/songwriter/mad-scientist-in-his-home-studio Paul “Trip” Ryan decided to just keep going. They wrote and recorded an entire album using every trans-Atlantic means possible to send each other ideas, music, lyrics, and even videos.
Lisa is the cool girl who’s not your girlfriend but your friend. She whispers secrets in your ear and giggles when you say funny things. You’d be really mad at her boyfriend but it’s your best friend Trip and you think this couple is perfect especially because you’re spending the summer hanging out with them and they‘re singing terrific songs.
These terrific songs include the opening track, the psychedelic “What Will Be?,” the album’s overture and, with its brief lyrical passages, it sets up the idea of songwriting as a way of finding the right recipe. There’s also a monster bass line and fuzzed-up guitar from Trip. Following is the theme song “Trip & Ellie’s Music Factory” which is a give-and-take between the two as they cook up their musical partnership. A vocal give-and-take is also part of “Honey Bee,” another pre-album single and a pop treasure that will find you dancing around your living room all summer to this tune.
“You & Me, Me & You” is another pop delight and showcases Lisa‘s ability to express what being in love sounds like. In many ways it’s about the mysteries of love: You can see someone at a school yard as kids and barely notice them but years later you fall in love with the person.
“Flying Close To The Sun” compares falling in love with Icarus’ attempt to reach that far-away star; as a result you will either connect with a true soul mate or come crashing down to earth. It’s another gorgeous vocal turn by Lisa and an understated accompaniment from Trip with strummed guitar and just the right amount of Mellotron fills. On the flip side of love, the up-beat, short, and sweet “Laguna Nights To Remember” and the bossa nova-inflected “Your Summer Theme” describe what happens when everything goes right in a relationship.
Trip takes the lead on the cover of the late, great Kenny Rankin’s “Peaceful.” As an addition to an album of mostly summer love songs it fits perfectly as it reflects the feeling you have after a day spent with your loved one.
By the way, if you buy the CD of LISA MYCHOLS & SUPER 8 you’ll get a secret track that’s not available anywhere else.
Next time: This tugboat captain is pulling a brilliant pop tune
Vince Melouney’s new single, “Women (Make You Feel Alright)" (available on Bandcamp and other digital vendors), is a crash course in garage rock.
In case you didn’t know, Melouney was a member of the original BeeGees from 1967 to 1969 and appeared on seven of the band’s U.S. Top 20 singles including "New York Mining Disaster 1941," "To Love Somebody," "Holiday," "Massachusetts," "Words," "I've Gotta Get A Message To You," and "I Started A Joke."
But don’t expect to hear soothing vocals on “Women (Make You Feel Alright).” The song crunches from the word GO! And to help him achieve his take on the Merseybeat’s 1966 tune, Melouney has assembled a crack team of musicians to help him carry out his mission to rock'n'roll.
In addition to Melouney on vocals and lead guitar, the band includes the genre-hopping Jonathan Lea of The Jigsaw Seen on additional guitars and maracas, Alec Palao on bass and Paul Kopf on backing vocals (both are members of the San Francisco-based band Strangers In A Strange Land), and the always amazing Clem Burke of Blondie on drums.
The track is produced by veteran knob turner Shel Talmy (yes, THAT Shel Talmy) who was responsible for producing early recordings by The Kinks and The Who among others. For a garage rock song, "Women (Make You Feel Alright)" has a crisp and clear stereo mix. Melouney and Lea’s guitars are in separate speakers and Burke’s drumming is dead center. There are also handclaps which gives the song a real cool 60’s vibe.
Make sure your favorite listening device is on repeat because you’re gonna want to hear this song more than a few times.
Next time: Trip & Ellie are throwing a party and it's going to last all summer long
The Proper Ornaments’ Mission Bells album (Tapete Records) is the band’s follow-up to last year’s shoegazey and Velvet Underground-influenced 6 Lenins. There are more musical references on the new disc and there is also what may be a new indie genre in the making.
In between the release of these albums the band (James Hoare, Bobby Syme, Max Oscarnold, and new bassist Nathalie Bruno) toured Europe. New song ideas were born during soundchecks and soon after the tour ended they began recording at Hoare's home studio in Finsbury Park, London.
As a result of the band’s touring and going right into the studio, they’ve become a tight group that effortlessly falls into a groove. On “Downtown” the groove is not so much funk as swamp like The Beatles’ “Come Together” as they cover a song originally sung by Petula Clark. Hoare sings “Just listen to music of the traffic in the city / Linger on the sidewalk where the neon signs are pretty” but it’s nearly unrecognizable which means they’ve made it very much their own.
There’s a brooding, nearly claustrophobic vibe to some of the songs. For example the lyrics of the opening track “Purple Heart” (“Your enemies are close / The walls are closing in”) match the overall tone of the song. “The Wolves At The Door” has a similar mood. But the delicate “Stings Around Your Head” and the closer “Tin Soldier,” with it’s Sterling Morrison-like guitar licks, are breaks in the musical clouds.
Two of the last songs on the album borrow lyrics from other songs on Mission Bells for their titles. “Music Of The Traffic” is an instrumental-only “Downtown” and “How Do You Get To Be So Cold” is a lighter, piano-based take on “Purple Heart” with a new set of lyrics.
My favorite moments on Mission Bells are the sounds and the instrumental passages within the songs. There’s the ending of “Downtown” where the band continues its groove, “Broken Insect” has a terrific, jangly rhythmic strumming guitar like on Lloyd Cole and the Commotion’s “Mr. Malcontent” as well as a droning bug sound like XTC’s “Fly On The Wall,“ and there’s the hypnotic drum and electronic beat of “Strings Around Your Head.”
And the new genre? There‘s a bit of it at the end of “Echoes“ but it‘s on “Flophouse Calvary” where there’s what sounds like a pedal steel guitar in with The Proper Ornaments’ brand of gazey stuff. I may be wrong but this may very well herald the arrival of -- wait for it -- Nashville shoegaze.
Next time: Vince Melouney will make you feel alright.
Davey Woodward's band Karen has a terrific new single, "Carrier Bag," on Bandcamp and a new video, too.
The song has an upbeat arrangement with a lyric that undercuts it with a look at the continuing struggles of the underclass: "Unemployed youths in CK T-shirts / Girlfriends with blue hair gasping for a fag / School's a bore and everything's a drag / You either look cool or you end up sad."
The video has a split-screen, lockdown setting with Woodward on guitar, Hugo Morgan on bass, and drummer Tom Adams doing his best Bez impression.
According to the Bandcamp page, "Carrier Bag" is one of ten songs the band recorded for their as-yet-untitled debut album. Karen already released the Filwood Broadway EP in 2018 and Woodward also released the very fine Davey Woodward and the Winter Orphans album that same year.
Next time: Have The Proper Ornaments created a new indie genre?
It's not quite The Beatles vs. The Rolling Stones but on his album, Kenny vs. Thrust (Big Stir Records), Anton Barbeau pits two bands, both led by him, against each other.
Within the last year this prolific Sacramento-native and Berlin resident released an initial Kenny single “My Adelphi Twin“ (also on Big Stir), the second album from SALT (The Loneliness of Clouds), a collaboration between American and French like-minded souls, and the mutant neo-cabaret of Berliner Grotesk.
It’s clear that everything Barbeau touches reflects his distinctive voice. He did it on Allyson Second’s amazing 2016 Little World album and on last year‘s SALT release for which he contributed lyrics and lead vocals. And it’s the same with Kenny vs. Thrust although the bands are from different parts of the globe and bring different colors to his songs.
Kenny is based in Sacramento, California, and includes Kevin Allison on guitar, Tom Monson on drums, and Jeff Simons on bass. Thrust is from Oxford, England, and consists of Matt Sewell on guitar, Jules Moss on bass, and Richard Nash on drums (they also perform under the name Charms Against The Evil Eye).
Kenny provides a straight-up rock-and-roll sound on “Land of Economy” and the Byrds-like “Jingle Jangle”while Thrust brings more of the "pre-apocalyptic psychedelic pop" that Barbeau is known for on songs like “Popsong 99” and “Beautiful Bacon Dream.“
The songs on Kenny vs. Thrust were written by Barbeau as a teen right up through the present day. But the terrific performances of the two bands make them sound as if they were brand new like the songs that he revisited on 2018’s excellent Natural Causes album.
Which band does Barbeau prefer? I’m convinced it’s Kenny because he’s stacked the deck for them. There are eleven songs on the album and six of them are by Kenny leaving five for Thrust. But you can decide for yourself after you’ve enjoyed another delicious slice of what musical master chef Barbeau is serving.
