LOOKING FOR REDEMPTION Terry Donaghue (independent) *****+
The latest from this Toronto-based singer/songwriter/ roots artist is a film noir-style concept album. Looking For Redemption is acoustic and sparse with a Leonard Cohen-like bleakness and emotional frailty that, if you let it get close to you, will really speak to you.
Donaghue envisions each song as a scene from a film about a man on the run from his past and a woman he meets along the way on the run from an abusive relationship, each searching for redemption. Musically Looking For Redemption is driven by simple yet emotional finger picking acoustic guitar with haunting sax throughout, along with keys and percussion to underscore the emotional content of each song. Like any record naming favorite tracks is your choice, but doing so would be like lifting favorite chapters from a book and just reading those. I prefer listening to LFR from beginning to end as one to revel in the emotional arch of the disc and enjoy the darkness that speaks so profoundly to me.
As a practicing manic depressive, there’s something about Looking For Redemption that resonates with me- not that I’m on the run from an abusive relationship or a man trying to get beyond a tragic car accident that claimed the lives of his wife and son, but I think many of us have had instances of trying to outrun the past. Though not as polished, this disc feels a lot like Jennifer Warnes’ stunning version of Leonard Cohen’s Famous Blue Raincoat. Looking For Redemption is destined to become a rainy Sunday afternoon classic.
HOT TRACKS: Looking For Redemption, Take Me Home, A New Road
WATCH YOUR STEP Mojo Minefield (independent) ****
This 3-piece blues rock combo from Southern Ontario has it going on. Watch Your Step is a combination of blues and distorted psychedelic garage rock topped by distorted vocals. The blues? Yeah… but this rocks, and it rocks hard.
Lead singer and guitarist Tyler Fry says the band had a definite target going into Watch Your Step; “It’s our own unique take on blues rock” he says, “kind of a Black Keys vibe, but heavier, like Radio Moscow. (It’s) blues rock with just the right amount of face melting added in.” It’s like getting punched in the face after which you’d say “please sir, can I have some more?”
Mojo Minefield is Tyler on vocals and guitar, Scott Carere on bass and Ethan Meyers on drums. The band formed in 2018 for a show in Mississippi in memory of local bluesman Mel Brown and have stuck with it ever since. From the blast furnace jolt of the title track that opens the record to the countrified Band-like groove of a song like Quiet Little Place it would seem there’s nowhere Mojo Minefield fears to tread. The production on this disc is rough around the edges like un-planed lumber, to its benefit… a sharp, pristine sound would have ruined it.
Watch Your Step is like the second coming of Crazy Horse or Matt Mays & El Torpedo; this disc will slap you around some, so be ready for it.
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HOT TRACKS: Livin’ Ain’t That Hard, Quiet Little Place, Forget You Blues
ORGY OF THE DAMNED Slash (Snakepit/Gibson Records) ****
This came out in mid-May; since then I’ve done plenty of humming and hawing before buying an I Tunes card to get this. I’m not the biggest GNR fan in the world but I do consider Slash the Jimmy Page of his era so this purchase was just a matter of time. Orgy Of The Damned is a souped up blues covers record featuring plenty of all-star guests and taken in the spirit with which it was made, Orgy will show you a good time- without nudity.
If you consider his stuff with Slash’s Snakepit and Slash featuring Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators to be solo projects then Orgy is Slash’s 8th record away from Guns and Velvet Revolver. Produced by Mike Clink (GNR) this baby has a dirty rock & roll feel. It’s a real treat to hear Slash let rip on some blues classics, and as you might expect he attracted some big names to the project. The appeal this has to you will certainly depend on 4 things; your fondness for Slash, the blues, the songs chosen to cover, and the guests that came along for the ride. See if these don’t get your mojo workin’; The Pusher with Chris Robinson on vocals, Hoochie Coochie Man with Billy Gibbons at the mic, Killing Floor with Brian Johnson and Stormy Monday featuring Beth Hart. How do you feel about this now?
Orgy Of The Damned is 12 tracks in all including 11 cover songs and an original instrumental called Metal Chestnut. Aside from being well produced with some fine performances, one of the keys to this highway is listening to Slash have all kinds of fun. I’ve always thought the blues were elemental to his playing style and this disc proves it. It may not win any Grammys or top the charts, but then again it just might. This baby is all kinds of fun to listen to.
HOT TRACKS: Oh Well (with Chris Stapleton), Awful Dream (with Iggy Pop), Stormy Monday (with Beth Hart)
BACK IN BOSTON LIVE The Bruce Katz Band (Dancing Rooster Records) *****
When you hear live jazz, blues or roots music, it gets raised to a whole other level, and nowhere is that more evident than on the new Bruce Katz album. Back In Boston Live sees the ridiculously talented keyboard player and his band return to his former hometown and give a master class on ‘how it’s done’. 9 originals and 2 covers, this righteous stuff.
He served apprenticeships with Ronnie Earl, Duke Robillard and Mighty Sam McClain, plus he taught at the Berkley School Of Music- how’s that for credentials? Full time touring band members Aaron Lieberman (guitar, vocals) and Liviu Pop (drums) are here of course, along with bassist Jesse Williams (North Mississippi All-stars, Jimmy Vivino) sitting in on 5 cuts. Of Katz’s playing, Allman Brothers keyboardist Chuck Leavell says he “has a groove that is as deep as the Grand Canyon, as wide as the Amazon, and fingers full of fire. Whether on piano or Hammond, he tears it up and rocks it out.” So that’s what you’re in for when you press ‘play’.
All 4 of the guys on Back In Boston, especially Katz, are playing at the top of their considerable games. A Particular highlight here is the Allman classic instrumental In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed, which serves as a nod to Bruce’s time playing in Gregg Allman’s, Butch Trucks’ and Jamoe’s bands, plus it includes a feisty drum solo from Meyers. Well recorded and spectacularly played, Back In Boston Live is one of the highlights of the year in ANY genre.
HOT TRACKS: In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed, Blues Before Sunrise, Gary’s Jam
WHEN WE WERE KINGS Stryper (Frontiers Records) *****
These Christian rockers have just returned with their 12th album and it’s a thing of forceful beauty. When We Were Kings puts Stryper square in the category of bands like Judas Priest; long in tooth sure, but putting out some of the most vital music of their career.
By and large I’d tag WWWK as ‘classic metal’ with chunky riffs a-plenty, but Stryper has never been a band to stand still. A good example is Love’s Symphony; of it singer/ guitarist Michael Sweet says “We’re always trying to merge the past with the present, trying to incorporate the classic sound that older fans miss with the modern sound that newer fans hope for. Love’s Symphony is a great combination of both… it represents who we were and who we are.”
Stryper has been around in one form or another since they formed as Roxx Regime in 1983. Original members Michael Sweet plus his brother Robert (drums) and Oz Fox (lead guitar) are still in place, with Perry Richardson now plucking the fat strings, and the consistency of their sound is nothing short of amazing. I didn’t discover them for myself until reviewing 2013’s No More Hell To Pay and I’ve been making up for lost time ever since with 8 of their albums now in my collection. Kings feels like a cross between early Iron Maiden and modern day Judas Priest, particularly on the aforementioned Love’s Symphony.
Do Christian-centric lyrics belong in heavy metal? When We Were Kings says a definite “yes”. If you’re a doubter, give this baby a spin and you’ll be convinced too.
HOT TRACKS: End Of Days, Love’s Symphony, Trinity
LUCK AND STRANGE David Gilmour (Sony) *****++
Hard to believe this is Gilmour’s first solo album in 9 years. Luck And Strange is a sumptuous reminder that Gilmour doesn’t need Roger Waters, and maybe never has. His guitar playing is atmospheric and immaculate, and lyrics by David and wife Polly Samson examine some intriguing issues like the existence of God on Single Spark to the folly of mankind in Piper’s Call. Sure Luck And Strange is a solo record, but Pink Floyd is never very far away.
David Gilmour is a precise studio craftsman and in that regard Luck And Strange is downright beautiful. It’s also a family affair, with Polly Samson contributing lyrics as noted above, plus his daughter sings on Between Two Points and son Charlie furnishes words for Scattered. The songs here are more straightforward and melodic than that ‘other band’ with more of a pop sensibility, but as a mainstay of Pink Floyd, there’s little doubt that Luck And Strange will be viewed by many in a pink light.
This is the 3rd of 5 Gilmour solo studio albums to join my collection, plus I have Live At Pompeii and Live In Gdansk too. What attracts me is the combination of overall atmospherics which recall Wish You Were Here (at least a little bit) and Gilmour’s gorgeous, lyrical guitar playing. Like Rattle That Lock and On An Island before it, Luck And Strange is a curiously effective blend of intensity and laid back-ness that wanders between airy and earthy. Gilmour doesn’t have to make new music but I’m sure glad he does. This disc is absolutely breath-taking.
