Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Review: The Doors: Live in Boston

My Doors review can be found (click here) on treblezine.com



The Doors
Live in Boston
Bright Midnight/Rhino
2007

Enough with all the rumors surrounding Jim Morrison's demise all over the internet, the real news is The Doors' new three CD live set, Live in Boston. Die hard fans have been waiting for this release that arrives courtesy of the band's own Bright Midnight label. I've heard the majority of these treasured BMA releases, and I own everything from the Detroit to Aquarius Theater shows. I even picked up the bizarre and boisterous Backstage and Dangerous Rehearsal discs. All of these recordings are an amazing glimpse at band that thrived performing in a live setting. The Doors were famous for improvising on stage and the results would range from brilliant to arduous, all depending on the mood and sobriety of Morrison.

When some people think of The Doors only the iconic image of Jim Morrison comes to mind. But die hard Doors fans know that guitarist Robby Krieger, drummer John Densmore and keyboardist Ray Manzarek were and will always be instrumental pieces of the majestic aura that made this L.A. band shine with immortality. The BMA, Bright Midnight Archives, are proof positive and these recordings testify to the truths that I speak of. If you've only heard the studio recordings then you're missing out a key element of The Doors mystique. The Doors came alive in concert. Songs like "Light my Fire" evolved into epic medleys that thrive in this live setting. While the albums are black and white portraits of power and poetry, The Doors shows are full color sounds-capes that enrapture your imagination with every song that recreate on stage.

Just press play on Live in Boston and you'll hear The Doors, warts and all. Listen for Krieger's guitar feedback distorting in and out of space and Jim's mic shorting in and out on Disc One's "Alabama Song." Get ready for the primordial overtones of a cocked and loaded Jim Morrison as he howls his poetic croons throughout this electrifying recording. The Doors actually played two shows in Boston on the night of April 10th 1970. It's pretty amazing that a band with a history like that of the Doors would have ever played two shows in one night. Most bands are lucky to hit the stage for an hour and a half before one or two in the morning? Ya heard me? Yeah, I'm talking about you, Axl Rose.

The Doors were famous for not having a proper set list for these or any live shows. Even though some songs like "Roadhouse Blues" and "When the Music's over" are repeated on this three-disc set, unlike most live bands, The Doors never played any song the same way twice. There are nuances within each of these different live versions, be they the way Krieger plays his picturesque guitar riffs, Manzarek's atmospheric splendor of his trademark keys or Densmore's soulful drum beats, each fills these transcendent rhythms into an ever changing experience with every Doors performance.

Highlights from Live in Boston include the nine minute version of "Five to One." Morrison adds the improvised "Wrap your legs around my neck, alright…" section turning this revolutionary classic to a call to arms anthem oozing with seduction. I love the soaking, sensual blues medley of Muddy Waters "Rock Me" blending smoothly into rocking railings of "Mystery Train." These cuts showcase Krieger, Densmore and Manzarek laying the sultry southern soundtrack to Morrison's bluesy vocals. Speaking of the blues, check out Morrison's Elvis-like scat singing in this killer rendition of "The Spy."

The Doors are in sync through The Boston shows. Listen how an appreciative Morrison proudly asks the crowd to give his comrades in arms some love after their amazing recreation of the instrumental coda during the revamped version of "Light my Fire." After that familiar melody, "Fire" then morphs into immortality with the addition of "Fever," Gershwin's "Summertime" and "St. James Infirmary Blues." What makes this version memorable to me is Morrison reciting "Cemetery cool and quiet/ hate to leave your sacred lay/ dread the milky coming of the day," at the coda of "Fire," from "Graveyard Poem," my favorite of all his writings.

Listening to the powerful splendor that is Live in Boston helps you forget about all the rumors surrounding Morrison's death. Who really cares how Jim died? Yes, I admit it was a tragedy. Morrison has always been a hero to me. The Doors changed my life. Their art and music opened my doors of perception. They have influenced my voice as a hungry artist and inspired me through out my grateful life as a struggling writer.

I finally had the chance to pay my respects to Jim. I made a pilgrimage to Père-Lachaise cemetery a few years back when I was in Paris. I left him some gifts; some flowers and a poem that I wrote for him on his gravestone. That emotional day will stay with me as long as I live. I will also never forget the first time I heard The Doors' scratchy seven inch single of "Light My Fire" on my first antique turntable. I believe that we need to celebrate Jim's life as an artist and member of one of the greatest American Rock bands in history.

Doors fans of all eras will cherish this live artifact. Live in Boston is a testament that encapsulates the legacy of The Doors. I believe the best bands thrive by molding their imperfections into epic greatness and The Doors are no different. Live in Boston is a glimpse inside the magic of what made this band so timeless. Although these shows lack perfection, these performances have the distinctive sensation of documenting the glory of the ultimate concert experience of The Doors.

Adrian Ernesto Cepeda
08.08.2007

Review: Recoil: subHuman

My Recoil review can be found (click here) on treblezine.com



Recoil
subHuman
Mute
2007

As a 17 year-old, I remember watching Depeche Mode on the big screen and their breakthrough road trip film 101. My favorite part was seeing Alan Wilder showing how he created most of the sounds Mode made famous on the albums and songs we grew to love as die hard fans. He always seemed to be the most accessible and underrated member of the band, and since his departure after the Faith and Devotion sessions, his impact and imprint of the band are now known to have been the key ingredients to the band's world wide success.

In 1988, Wilder was the first member of the band to release a solo project, under the moniker Recoil. Recoil's releases 1 + 2 and Hydrology showcased Wilder as the electronic guru who came up with all of the sonic landscapes of all of our favorite Mode songs. In 1992, Wilder released Bloodline, and took those same landscapes and molded them into more of an alternative flavored electro-song format recruiting Nitzer Ebb vocalist Douglas McCarthy, Moby and Curve frontwoman Toni Halliday. McCarthy's vocal contribution "Faith Healer" was an underground sensation when it first came out. It was Recoil's genius use of old bluesman Bukka White with electro beats that inspired Moby to crib the idea for success years later on his breakout album Play. After 1997's Unsound Methods, Alan Wilder decided to leave the friendly confines of Depeche Mode and concentrate all his time and creative energies on Recoil. This lead to Recoil's best album 2000's Liquid. Inspired by wilder witnessing a plane crash yards from his car, the song "Black Box" revolved around this track and life changing incident.

I first heard Liquid at a Nine Inch Nails Fragile show in New Orleans. My favorite track from the album was a remix of "Jezebel," featuring the bluesy Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet mixed with the most eerie and mind blowing drum and bass backing track ever created by Alan Wilder, which made my driving through the French Quarter during Halloween reflect the true gothic atmosphere that is New Orleans.

On the subject of Louisiana, Wilder must have needed more of that soulful 504 vibe (that's the New Orleans area code for those out of the loop) on his next creative excursion, because he recruited Southern Louisiana bluesman Joe Richardson as his main collaborator on subHuman. When I heard the news of this up and coming collaboration, I was readying myself for greatness. After hearing opening track "Prey," I could safely say this exceeded my expectations.

As Richardson sings "It's time to get down on your eyes" over Wilder's trademark electronic backbeats, it turns "Prey" into a 21st Century enlightened pièce de résistance. It is the culmination of the sonic undertakings that Wilder began with Liquid. Richardson helps resurrects this sacred vibe into the song that personifies what hardships everyone in South Louisiana have encountered since the aftermath of Katrina. A perfect way to reintroduce Recoil back into the consciousness of underground music fans everywhere.

"Allelujah" is the prefect song to follow "Prey." English vocalist Carla Trevaskis croons more of an angelic piece where her vocal floats in and out of the mix as if she was appearing from the heavens. An impressive performance from Trevaski, whose work picks up the mantle where other female singers like Nicole Blackman and Halliday have captured in songs from Recoil's underrated yet glorious past.

What I particularly love about Wilder's music is how he lays down distinctive beats yet he's content to let these singers carry the loaded spotlight on his ever-evolving project. Richardson returns on "5000 Years," laying down his trademark blues riffs and a vocal that sweats the sounds of the Dirty South. Wilder sprinkles this blues number with a number of minimal backbeats that accentuates Richardson's mesmerizing performance into a post-modern number that one might hear coming from a blues club in a resurrected French Quarter in New Orleans. The vibe in this song reminds of the same chilling feeling that came over me when I first heard in the remix of "Jezebel." I love the samples of the radio evangelists towards the end of the song. It reminds of industrial bands like Front 242 that I used to listen to during the slam-dancing days of my youth.

Trevaskis returns on the Massive Attack-esque "Intruders." This song sounds as if would fit perfectly on Mezzanine. If you're a Massive Attack fan and dying for an album that echoes the lyrical darkness of Mezzanine then subHuman is for you. Richardson shows again up as he trades vocal lines with Tevaskis, reflecting a little bit of electronic darkness and light in the bluesy night sky. It's the perfect combination that lifts subHuman as the ultimate addition to Recoil's explosive canon.

Adrian Ernesto Cepeda
08.08.2007