Review: New Order: Technique (Collectors Edition)

My review of Technique (Collectors Edition) can be found (click here) on treblezine.com

New Order
Technique (Collectors Edition)
Rhino
2008

Oh, how I was looking forward to the reissue of one of my favorite New Order albums, Technique. Originally released in 1989, the year I graduated from Winston Churchill High School in San Antonio, Bernard Sumner's lyrics mirror my isolationism in my life. Songs like "Loveless" and "Guilty Partner" reflected the beating loneliness inside this outcast.

"My life ain't no holiday
I've been through the point of no return
I've seen what a man can do
I've seen all the hate of a woman too…"

I know I'm not the only one, but my high school years were anything but legendary. As I've written so many times before, albums like Technique helped me get through the days and nights of being a shy stuttering teen who wished he could speak the words that Bernard sang and I could never say.

"I can't see the sense in your leaving
All I need is your love to believe in
And for you I would do what I can
But I cant change the way that I am."

Going to a very affluent high school made it difficult for someone like me to find compadres who truly understood the weirdness lurking inside of me. I was the one who was dubbed "hippie born to late" in the hallways with my tie dye Doors t-shirts, carrying my beaten up copy of Rolling Stone magazine and my Walkman with Technique cranked up in my ears, hoping that someone, anyone, would stop me, hear me and ask what I was listening to. No one ever did, they just laughed and kept walking which led me to keep on moving, faster, and I had been running ever since, until this past year.

So when I heard that Technique was being re-released, I was ecstatic. The album was the soundtrack of my Senior year in high school. When I opened up my copy of the reissue, dubbed `The Factory Years,' I expected these reissues to have the same care and content as the Joy Division re-releases of 2007. Boy was I surprised; disappointed is a better word.

Technique had all nine songs that I had engraved in my head from my final year at Churchill with a skimpy disc of remixes and instrumental oddities that left me aching for more. There was a poor excuse for liner notes with an essay that basically described New Order's recording experience for Technique as the band being 24-hour party people. What a shock, recorded during the heyday of the Acid House scene, it's no surprise that the Bernard, Peter, Gillian and Stephen were rolling on ecstasy and dancing all night long. What I wanted was more substance and some behind-the-music insight to some of my favorite songs form my teenage youth.

Why is there a computerized voice-Hal like voice saying "the past doesn't matter" on "Fine Time?" And was Barry White the influence for Bernard's low-pitched vocal for "Fine Time?" Was Technique really supposed to be Bernard's solo album, but Factory balked and wanted another New Order album? Was the riff on "Run" truly a blatant swipe of John Denver's "Leaving on a Jet Plane?"

I would have loved to read some kind of anecdotes on what inspired Bernard to write "All the Way," and one of the best New Order tracks ever recorded "Dream Attack."

What I can say is that all nine songs from Technique are perfectly sequenced. Listening to it, coming home from work, I realized how it seamlessly flows together like a treasured short story collection coming to life. An album like this deserves the best kind of reissue; alas this version does it no justice. This and the editions of New Order's first four albums—Movement, Power Corruption & Lies, Low-Life and Brotherhood are part of a re-release event that was supposed to cement the band's greatness with these remastered CDs. Instead, all of the faulty mastering and packaging issues tarnish New Order's legacy.

What I've always loved about New Order is that the band put poignant meaning behind their electric dance beats. It wasn't just dance music just to shake your ass to; Bernard's lyrics echoed my life beyond the dance floor. In many ways, songs like "Vanishing Point" gave my static life rhythmic colors with true faith lyrics that kept me going when I felt lost and a lonely soul during high school.

"And they gave him away
Like in whistle down the wind
By the look on his face
He never gave in…"

I never gave in because of albums like Technique. A personal one that deserves a better re-issue than the one New Order sanctioned with this inadequate re-release. We, New Order fans, all deserve more. How could Rhino do it right with The Sound of The Smiths, but fail us with their horrible mastering issues these Factory Years discs? Rhino would do right to follow the example of The Cure and Depeche Mode with their own remaster series with extensive liner notes, DVD videos and demos to see how a band rewards its followers with a true and faithful reissue.

"But I know that I'm ok
cause you're here with me today
I haven't got a single problem
Now that I'm with you…"

They were my musical friends; songs like "Run" are what I've always come back to. They are the ones who sheltered me with their rhythmic honesty when I needed some lyrical reassurance in my younger days. All I had to do is put on my cassette version of Technique and heed the advice of Bernard Sumner. The memory of these songs is everlasting, I used to find my peace of mind in songs like "Mr. Disco." I wanted a reissue that was equal to the powerful meaning that Technique had in my life. No thanks to the glitch-ridden package here, I'm still waiting.

Adrian Ernesto Cepeda
11.21.2008

Review: The Smiths: The Sound of The Smiths (Deluxue Edition)

My review of The Sound of The Smiths can be found (click here) on treblezine.com

The Smiths
The Sound of The Smiths
Rhino
2008

I know what you're thinking, because I, myself, had these same infuriated thoughts: another Smiths compilation? Before you start quoting me the lyrics to that infamous song, track 8 to be precise, from Strangeways Here We Come, there's a reason for hearing out this collection dubbed The Sound of The Smiths. Johnny Marr supervised the mastering of the 45 tracks on this deluxe edition.

The Sound of The Smiths is like hearing my favorite Manchester band with new ears. The Smiths as nature intended. It takes me back to first time I ever heard The Smiths—some of you may remember I have written about it many times for Treble, in the back of mi hermano's car, as he was playing a cassette version of The Queen is Dead. The song was "There is a Light that Never Goes Out." And from the opening notes and lyrics of "Take me out tonight…" my life changed. It seems like every year since that moment, my connection to my beloved The Smiths grows more deeply and devotedly. They were the ones—Morrissey, Marr, Rourke and Joyce—whose music was there for me when I was a recluse alone in my room with only their songs as my only friend. Their songs are still the soundtrack to my younger days. Those times, although filled with days and nights of melancholy and longing, will always be a part of me.

As I have grown, The Smiths' music remains a constant in my ever changing blissful life. The Sound of the Smiths is exempt from my usual lambasting of compilations released by successful bands. It's the songs and the sound of these songs that save The Sound of The Smiths from being just another repackaged album. This remastering is something that needed to be done to the canon of one of my favorite bands. With The Beatles reissues looming around the horizon, The Smiths are equally as worthy of remastering, perhaps even more so. Being a product of their time, the '80s was an era of disillusionment, which The Smiths reflected in such songs as "Last Night I Dreamt that Somebody Loved Me" and "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore." The Smiths were our saviors from our sadness and static lives. Through Morrissey's lyrical dreams, The Smiths gave us hope through these songs that still remain as vibrant and timeless, more so than when we first laid ears to them many years before.

So what songs did Morrissey and Marr select for The Sound of The Smiths, you ask? It's every song from the magnificent Singles CD that came out in 1995 plus "Still Ill," "Nowhere Fast," " Barbarism Begins at Home," "The Headmaster Ritual" and "You Just Haven't Earned it Yet Baby" round up disc one. Disc two has some rarities, including a cover of James' "What's the World," as well as live versions of "Meat is Murder," "Handsome Devil" and "London" from live album Rank. You'll also find "Pretty Girls Make Graves" from the often bootlegged and unreleased Troy Tate album sessions. The title track from my favorite Smiths album "The Queen is Dead" sounds more powerfully poetic than ever before. You will hear the difference in: Morrissey's wailing vocals on "Hand in Glove" and "The Boy with the Thorn in His Side," Johnny Marr's echoing guitar greatness on "How Soon is Now," Andy Rourke's funked out bass lines in "Barbarism Begins at Home" and Mike Joyce's signature backbeat on the Peel Session version of "What Difference Does it Make?", all restored to their original sonic brilliance

But I must add, even though I am advocating purchasing The Sound of The Smiths, Morrissey and Marr have left out some of the rarest of gems. They're not all here. For instance, where are the complete Peel Sessions? What about sonic artifacts like "Jeanne" with The Smiths backing Sandie Shaw? What about the complete version of "Rubber Ring/Asleep," unedited in eight minutes of pure beautiful genius, as found on the original 12-inch single of The Boy with the Thorn in his Side? What about the rest of songs missing from the October 26, 1986 National Ballroom show in Kilburn as heard on the Rank disc (including my favorite "There is a Light that Never Goes Out")? What about the famed unedited `director's cut' of "The Queen is Dead" as described brilliantly by Simon Goddard on the definitive book on The Smiths, their songs and the recording sessions, "The Songs that Saved your Life?" And where are the complete Troy Tate Sessions?

Alas, I may be harder to please than your normal Smiths fan, but that's because of their status as one of the most influence bands of our generation. I expect only the best for us, the die-hard fans in Smithsdom. Besides the long rumored anthologized box set, what I'm really waiting for are the original albums, The Smiths, Meat is Murder, The Queen is Dead and Strangeways Here We Come, all four of these brilliant LPs digitally remastered like this stellar compilation. The Sound of the Smiths is the first step in cementing the legacy of one of my favorite bands ever. This is how they were supposed to sound, in all of their glory in these songs that continue to save our lives. Go back to the old house again and relive the splendor of our beloved The Smiths all over again.

Adrian Ernesto Cepeda
11.12.2008

Review: David Bowie: iSelect

My review of David Bowie's iSelect can be found (click here) on treblezine.com

David Bowie
iSelect
Astralwerks
2008

My first ever memory of David Bowie was seeing him dressed up in the sorrowful pierrot's costume on Mars in the video for "Ashes to Ashes." He looked like an alien but there was something about his voice and the lyrics that stuck with me. He seemed otherworldly and strange. Bowie's eccentric persona struck a riff in the imagination of this very weird child. And I loved changing the words to the closing stanza of "Ashes to Ashes." I'd walk around our casa and sing at the top of the lungs, much to my Mami's annoyance, (with apologies to Bowie) "My mama said to get things done you better not fuck with major tom…" At the time I thought it was funny and to this day I feel like it fits better than "mess" but that's me and my childish imagination.

My admiration and devotion to David Bowie has grown throughout my years. From his '80s pop years of "putting on the red shoes and dancing the blues" through his aggro nights of Outside, the Nine Inch Nails-inspired "Hearts Filthy Lesson" and his Earthling jungle-filled days of "Little Wonder," all the way to my personal theme "Never Get Old" from Reality. The deeper I dig inside the canon of one David Bowie the more treasures I discover. The man is one of the most prolific singer/songwriters of our modern generation. What makes Bowie stand out is his chameleon-esque nature, as he incorporates post-modern rhythms and styles with his own personal artistic charm, and the results are constantly simply dazzling.

I'd love to say that I'm reviewing a new Bowie album but alas this is not the case. Instead, I just came across this compilation, yet another one, his twentieth, or… oh who knows I stopped counting after his last Best Of. But before I start going off on my clichéd diatribe about legendary artists releasing yet another hits album, I have to stop myself because iSelect is a different breed of compilation.

First released as a complimentary gift when purchasing the June 29th, 2008 edition of British's newspaper The Mail, iSelect, is a collection of songs personally chosen by Bowie himself. This is not a greatest hits per se, but in Bowie's own words, "I've selected twelve songs that I don't seem to tire of. Few of them are well-known but many of them still get sung at my concerts."

iSelect starts off with the very timely "Life on Mars." (I must quickly add that for years I have wrongly mis-titled this one "Life is Mars." Once again, my bad but doesn't change the connotation of song making it more cosmically mysterious. Maybe it's just me, I'm weird like that.) Alas, "Mars" is a song that Bowie frequently revisits in his live shows. It spawned a BBC hit series that has now debut in an American incarnation that takes the title of Bowie songs (watch the American version, it's worthy of Bowie's song name).

Bowie writes commentary on all of the songs he's selected. Think of this as a kind of storytellers/behind-the-song peek inside the mindset of where he was when said classics were written; time, place, etc. One thing that's not in the liner notes is that "Mars" was Bowie's attempt to rewrite "My Way" as an ode to Frank Sinatra. By the way, listen for the telephone ringing at the end of "Mars" kind of creepy goes along with the theme of the TV series.

Another one of the most requested songs, a perfect addition to iSelect, is "The Bewlay Brothers." At just about all of Bowie's shows, you'll usually hear some die hard fan scream out for him to play this classic. Bowie describes this song as a "palimpsest." He claims to have smoked something out of his Bewlay pipe, which inspired the late night recording of "Brothers." This one reminds me of an old flame I met in New Orleans, who was one of the biggest Bowie fans I ever met, and "Bewlay" was her favorite song. "Lady Grinning Soul" is one of my newfound beloved Bowie songs. This is a majestic one featuring the magical piano stylings of Mike Garson. Written for "a wonderful young girl whom I have not seen in over thirty years…a song…close to the past…that you can almost reach out and touch it." I adore the flamenco guitar strings over Garson's piano keys.

Is it just me or does "Teenage Wildlife" sound a little like "Heroes?" This is Bowie's attempt at Ronnie Spector. Listen to the dueling guitars by Robert Fripp and Carlos Alomar; simply splendid.

The rare find for all Bowie fanatics is the inclusion of the "Time Will Crawl (MM remix)." Originally found on Never Let Me Down with plastic drum machines having been replaced with real drums courtesy of Sterling Campbell. I also really fond the strings Bowie added to the song. It sounds as though "Time Will Crawl" has been resurrected, and is an apt theme for our current times.

The compilation closes with a track from Live Santa Monica '72 concert. If you've had the honor of seeing the Thin White Duke in concert, this live version of "Hang on to Yourself" captures the power of a Bowie live set circa 1972. Oh how we miss the electric guitar greatness of Mick Ronson—you can hear, as he shreds the riffs, that this right hand man to Bowie was the electric force behind Bowie's stage presence. The thing is that Bowie may have aged but he still sounds as lively and creatively challenging as he did back then. He may no longer be the same interstellar palimpsest I used to watch on the video for "Ashes to Ashes," but I will continue loving this alien. By discovering new treasures like the remix of "Time Will Crawl," iSelect is essential for the Bowie diehard in your life. He may change his guises but Bowie will remain the great one with the voice that will shine for me and all of us, beyond rhythms and all times.

Adrian Ernesto Cepeda
11.11.2008

Review: The Cure: 4:13 Dream

My review of The Cure's 4:13 Dream can be found (click here) on treblezine.com

The Cure
4:13 Dream
Geffen
2008

If you were like me, growing up an outcast in the '80s, there were three bands that were the soundtrack of your lost, lonely and lustful life—Depeche Mode, New Order and The Cure. While, mi hermano was devoted to Robert Smith and The Cure, my lyrical corazon belonged to Mode and New Order. I admit I wasn't a diehard Cure fan like him. It was nothing personal against Smith or The Cure, it's just that albums like Disintegration were too depressing for my already lonely existence. That's not to say that I wasn't a fan, just wasn't as loyal as my older sibling. Songs like "Just Like Heaven," "Close to Me" and "Love Song" were staples on my mix-tapes dedicated to my many unrequited crushes that never came true.

It may sound sacrilegious to fellow Robert Smith devotees but my favorite Cure album wasn't made in the '80s or '90s. To me, 2000's Bloodflowers was the best album in their career. This was supposed to be the swan song for Smith; he was finally going to retire his famous moniker and go solo, something he had been threatened to do for ages. Bloodflowers would have been the ultimate finale, as the last chapter in Robert Smith's "heart of darkness trilogy" that began with Pornography, followed years later with my brother's personal best, Disintegration.

Yet there was a hint in "Maybe Someday" and even in "Out of this World" that maybe Smith wasn't ready to hang it up at the end of the song.

"One last time before it's over
One last time before the end
One last time before it's
time to go again..."

Four years later, The Cure returned with a disappointing album produced by Korn producer Ross Robinson. The thing about The Cure is that it felt forced and unfinished. It sounded like a Robinson's idea of what a Cure album should sound like. It sounded liked Smith gave up some of the control and The Cure suffered because of this. Worse still, some of the best songs were left off the American pressing of the album. Who knows why Smith refused to allow stellar songs like "Going Nowhere" and "Truth of Goodness and Beauty" on the album? It was a definite step back for Robert Smith and made me think he made a mistake for not hanging up and leaving us with the everlasting legacy of Bloodflowers.

Following the misstep of self-titled 2004 album, Robert Smith went back to restore the glory of The Cure. Robert Smith reportedly was going to drop a double album in the fall of 2007, as he had recorded more 33 songs for his new album. Gone was Ross Robinson, who I blame for the relative disappointment of The Cure. Thankfully the double LP idea was scrapped and 13 tracks made the album. Smith decided to release an EP every month, starting in May and ending in September, before the release of 4:13 Dream.

Initially, I had my doubts. Some of the songs and remixes I heard were more of the same vibe from 2004's Robinson-produced failure. But I did have a sense of hope because of the track "Please," which Robert Smith recorded with Orbital co-founder Paul Hartnoll. "Please" was pure Robert Smith; he hadn't sound this energized and alive in years. It's the kind of song that The Cure should be creating.

Is 4:13 Dream a nod to "10:15 Saturday Night?" It's as if The Cure had gone fallen under an endless sleep but was miraculously revived at 4:13 AM. The album was the result of all Robert Smith experienced during that dreamlike state. Just when you thought it was over, Robert Smith returns stronger and more vibrant than ever in the opening `Underneath the Stars."

"Underneath the Stars" is the best opening Cure song, save for "Out of this World." Unlike "Lost" from 2004's The Cure where Smith sang, "I can't find myself
I got lost in someone else." Looking back, one could argue these lyrics were not about love but referring to his regret for placing his faith in Robinson's abilities. It may be a stretch but compare "Lost" to "Underneath the Stars" and you immediately hear the difference.

Echoing "Pictures of You," Smith comes out sounding the most confident he has in years. With his echoing dreamy vocals, he invites us to enter his dream world, a welcome return to a more electrifying Robert Smith something that we've been missing from The Cure. "The Only One" is a modern adaptation of "High" and surpasses the summit reached by the original found on Wish. You can actually hear Smith sounding excited as he reaches those upper notes, like he did during his early Goth incarnations of The Cure.

The Peter Hook-esque bass line could be an ode to New Order on "The Reasons Why." (This wouldn't be the first time Smith honored one of his fellow English alt compatriots. In 1998, Smith recorded a tribute to Depeche Mode with a rousing cover of "World In My Eyes" on For the Masses.) By this part of the album, one begins to notice a recurring theme, with Smith singing about stars and dreams as metaphors for falling in love. "The Reasons Why" sounds like a fan writing a letter to Robert Smith, wanting to feel some kind of connection outside of the song. Smith takes the idea of dream and turns into a more classical Shakespearean meaning of eternal sleep of death.

"Freakshow" is a funk burst of energy recalling 1996's Wild Mood Swings. The freaky guitar riffs enhance the dream state illusions of a damsel who's shattering his heart by slithering away a chance for true love. "Sirensong," one of my favorites, is one of the shortest, sweetest and most personal songs Robert Smith has ever composed on this or any album. I adore the dreamlike vibe that has Smith personifying his muse into the guise of a dream girl.

"Tell me you love me
Before it's too late
She sang
Give me your life
Or I must fly away
And you will never hear this song again"

Just like inspiration, she appears and vanishes before you can grasp at her infinite beauty. Yes, "Sirensong" is this beautiful. The next song reverts back to the classic dark side of Cure that has Smith revising the myth of Snow White. "The Real Snow White" is a lusty number dedicated to someone that Smith desires beyond belief. "The Hungry Ghost" has some of the best guitar work of Robert Smith's career. His vocal sounds electric and impassioned, but the lyrics "No it doesn't come for free/ but it's the price/ we pay for happiness," are lacking the substance behind the stylish power of the song.

Doors fans may recognize the familiar theme of "Switch." With lyrics like, "Friends are as strangers/ And strangers as friends/ And I feel like I'm wired in a why/ Yeah my friends are as strangers," "Switch" sounds like a stirring modern lyrical interpretation of Jim Morrison's "People Are Strange."

"Sleep with the Dead" is vintage Cure with 21st Century zeal. Robert Smith has unearthed this one from The Head of the Door songwriting sessions. Continuing his eloquent imagery, he calls out "I'll sleep when I'm Dead/ you angels…before I lay me down to dream."

The thing that impresses me even with a few on the tracks that don't stir me, there's transcendent transitions between songs of 4:13 Dream. It is in constant flow, moving from one emotional peak of "Underneath the Stars" through the breaths of despair in "It's Over." Speaking of "It's Over," the song closes 4:13 with a fury that's been missing from most of the sanitized Cure albums of the not so distant past. Think the guitar fire of "Burn" mixed with the vocalized passion of Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me. As Robert Smith sings "I can't do this anymore" I am hoping that 4:13 Dream is only the next chapter, and he doesn't walk away from The Cure.

Robert Smith has resurrected the legacy of The Cure with an album that dedicated fans and ripe ones would both adore. It's not perfect, but overall 4:13 Dream soars beyond my miscalculated expectations. I was ready to bury The Cure after Bloodflowers. Once again, Smith and The Cure have proved me wrong.

Adrian Ernesto Cepeda
11.03.2008

Review: Pretenders: Break Up The Concrete

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

The Pretenders
Break Up The Concrete
Shangri-La Music
2008

My first introduction to The Pretenders was seeing Chrissie Hynde play the waitress, and her band the customers, in the early video for "Brass in Pocket." But the video that I waited to see over and over again was the one for "Tattooed Love Boys." Seeing Chrissie all dressed in black, caressing that guitar like a machine, in my excited mind that made into a soldier of lust as she seductively tossed out lyrics like "Little tease, but I didn't mean it/ but you mess with the goods doll, you gotta pay." That was only the beginning, but Chrissie Hynde and her Pretenders had already won my little rebellious heart over.

To me, Hynde always had an air of timelessness to her music and on-stage persona. She's always been my ultimate dream rocker girl. She's rarely shown skin but there's definitely something sexy about Chrissie Hynde. It has to be her enticing and powerful stage presence that's matched with her lyrical tongue that's sharp, sultry and cerebral. I've grown and now have fond romantic memories that are linked to Hynde and her songs with The Pretenders. Longing love is a theme that has been a constant in many of my favorite Hynde-sung songs. I have a connection to these lyrics that mirrored the pining for a romantic connection in my life. "2000 Miles" was the theme for a long distant flame that moved to Portland. "Back on the Chain Gang" was the soundtrack of a wintertime love that was sparked on a drive through Lincoln Park, Chicago. Her cover of Ray Davies' "I Go to Sleep" from Isle of View, my favorite Pretenders album, reflected the yearning of a distant San Antonio lover who kept her kisses at a passionate distance.

I do have to say the ultimate Chrissie Hynde love song has to "Hymn to Her." Written by Meg Keen, a childhood friend in Akron, "Hymn to Her" is her personal "Hallelujah." Her lyrics reveal a timelessness of love. There's romantic passion, from the "let me inside you" line and especially in the amazing vocal delivery by Hynde in naked harmonium version from Isle of View. That version matches the lyrical intensity of the "Remember when I moved in you…" lyric from Cohen's. Both songs deal with intimacy. It's as if the lyrics connect the emotions of being in the moment of vulnerability being tied to the eventual loss of love. You can hear this clearly when Hynde sings:

"…something is lost
but something is found
they will keep on
speaking her name
some things change
some stay the same."

This same evolution of love is a theme that is heard in The Pretenders latest, Break Up the Concrete. Throughout the lyrics of this dynamic release, Chrissie Hynde is on a lyrical journey searching for the reasons why she always ends up lonely within the arms of amor. The opening number sounds like Chrissie and The Pretenders have been hanging out at Memphis, Tennessee's Sun Records. "Boots of Chinese Plastic" is a rockabilly number that has a John Entwistle-like "My Generation" bass line with a rolling, riffing backbeat that echoes Pixies "Isla de Encanta." When Hynde sings "Every drop that runs through the vein always makes its way back to the heart again…"the lyrics reflect her searching for faith to help her find understanding of heartbreak.

You will hear the return of this rockabilly vibe on the title track in which reverberates within Hynde's optimistic mindset of being alone. "The Nothing Maker" has Hynde singing a sympathetic number for the typical man she attracts. This is an ode to falling for the Lloyd Dobblers of the world or as John Cusack eloquent said, in Say Anything, "what I want to do for a living - is I want to be with you." I'm paraphrasing but it has the same effect about a man who wants no other fate than being with the object of his affection.

Hynde still tries to cling to these dysfunctional relationships on the next track. "Don't Lose Faith in Me" is Hynde trying to hold on to a failed relationship, crooning with a bit of Southern soul as she sings "If you lose harmony, you won't need me." It sounds like some of these flames are jealous of the connection Hynde has for her creative music. All they have is the love for her. I imagine that these guys can't get over the fact that Hynde's a rock artist and her music becomes a contention within the relationship.

Even with a song like "You Didn't Have To," when Chrissie sings "thank you boy for the time that we wasted…the things that you said," it's still a celebration of another broken affair. It goes back to the advice she sung on the opening number, everything makes it back to the heart.

I've fallen for the slide guitar sound in "Love's a Mystery." This is the definitive song on Break Up the Concrete. The key line in this lovely song is "A multiple offender should learn from his mistakes/ I'm ready to surrender if that's what it takes." It sounds like after a number of failed marriages, Chrissie still believes in love. You can feel it in her voice, which sounds as alive and passionate as ever. It's as if Hynde wanted to capture the spirit of her romantic inspirations on tape. You can hear it on each of these vibrant songs.

My favorite song, however, is Hynde's lusty "Almost Perfect." She is telling her new lover to never change. You know that feeling—the spark of a new love—Hynde brings these emotions to life when she instructs him to "come inside my hive." I love the feel of this song; it has an almost jazzy arrangement reflecting the romantic nature of Hynde's lyrics. Listen for Chrissie clearing her throat before the last verse. It brings a sense of nervousness as she's trying to seduce her new flame.

Break Up the Concrete ends with the bluesy heartache of "One Thing Never Changed." Eric Heywood's pedal steel guitar is showcased once again in this aching number in which Hynde sings about the boy that she loved, having to "go back to a world where I don't belong."

That lyric is why after all of these years, the older I become, I will always be a devoted follower of Chrissie Hynde and The Pretenders. Hynde doesn't just sing these songs, she's lived them. Her life has been all about reaching for something greater while falling in and out of love. When she sings, it's if her lyrics reveal the truth inside all of us. We hear the pain and pleasure in Hynde songs that are familiar tastes in our own lives.

Break Up the Concrete is an album about growing older and still learning about love in a voice and a feeling that's pure Chrissie Hynde. This is the same Hynde whose only consistent bond has been with the creative callings of her band The Pretenders. Traditionally, The Pretenders' sound is born from her two backgrounds—the classic American pop songs with a punk rock aesthetic. Hynde and The Pretenders have evolved into a band that has aged like a fine wine. After all these years, Hynde and her messages of Love are some of the most personal that I've consistently craved. One trip inside Break Up the Concrete and be prepared to fall once again. She's still the most passionate rocker I've ever had the pleasure to have grown up with. Since 1976, Chrissie Hynde has been someone whose lyrical heartstrings have been exposed in all that we desire within the glory of her songs.

Adrian Ernesto Cepeda
10.21.2008

Review: Nina Simone: To Be Free

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

Nina Simone
To Be Free
Legacy
2008

In the original era of 1960s political correctness when entertainers toned down their personal rhetoric to continue their careers as performing artists, Nina Simone could never be silenced. She was the voice of freedom. The original chanteuse channeled passionate reasoning and emotional fire to sing about growing up and living in a racially segregated United States of America. Nina stood on stage as a warrior queen with her sultry song whispering, moaning and roaring behind the piano. She held the keys to her independence during her concerts inside her protest songs that rallied against the injustice and mistreatment of her skin, her sex in the age of societal intolerance.

Throughout her multifaceted and ever changing career, Nina Simone was manipulated by record labels, mistreated by handlers, husbands and managers and wholeheartedly misunderstood and disrespected in her homeland. During her years in exile from America, this soulful siren had a spark that could never be extinguished by any type of discrimination. Any sign of exploitation only fueled Nina's rage and inspired her to sing out seductively louder and prouder than ever before.

As a confidant of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Nina Simone believed in his dream but the reality of coming of age as an outspoken African American female artist in the '60s was anything but luxurious. Fame eluded her and unfortunately infamy followed her everywhere she went. Nina's candid views were unheard of—she was a revolutionary ahead of her time. Even the Beatles refused to speak out against social injustice; Nina Simone considered it her duty to as a creative activist to criticize the powers that be about the injustice in America.

Throughout this tumultuous time and fueled by energetic fervor, Nina recorded some of the most memorable music of the 20th century. Prolific is an understatement; Nina Simone was a virtuoso on stage and in the recording studio. Between 1957 and 1973, Simone completed 27 albums for four different record labels. Unlike her personal heroine Billie Holliday, not only could Nina sing exquisitely, she, herself was a classically trained pianist. This made her a creative force as composer and lyricist. Because of this, Nina had a musician's ear and knew how to craft classic originals and adapt famous standards of her day.

It's the voice in such songs as "Wild is the Wind" that I first discovered thanks to David Bowie, "My Baby Just Cares for Me" and "I Want A Little Sugar in my Sugar Bowl" that first put a spell on me while living in the southern paradise of New Orleans.

I wish I could tell you that I've been a Nina Simone fan my whole life but in reality I first discovered her in the movies. Simone's music made her resurrected icon with songs that appeared in such films as Point of No Return, Stealing Beauty and the remake of The Thomas Crown Affair. Even then, it took Jeff Buckley's elegant cover of "Lilac Wine" and the appearance of Nina's spectacular rendition of Sandy Denny's "Who Knows Where the Time Goes" in the film The Dancer Upstairs to make me a full fledged Simone devotee while living in New Orleans.

The Mississippi River in the heart of America's South was the perfect place to fall for the voice that was Nina Simone. Even though she lived and recorded more than 30 years ago, her songs and vocal style are as timeless and legendary as ever. Unfortunately, the unspoken racism that existed in my modern-day New Orleans perfectly reflected the life and times that Nina Simone wrote and recorded about over three decades earlier. I saw it, lived it, and breathed in the silent stench of discrimination, poverty and disillusionment within the city that I loved so much. It was as if the world may have technologically improved but the bigoted traditions of the past were ingrained with the Southern culture of Louisiana. This was the type of inequality that Nina Simone sung and spoke out about. What would have been Nina's thought on America's passive ignorance towards New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast after the devastation left by Katrina?

"Mississippi Goddamn," the song she performed after Dr. King's assassination, would be the song that mirrors that outrage and disgust of post-Katrina New Orleans. This and many others are found in the new dynamic four disc (3 CD and 1 DVD set) To Be Free. Not only is this a collection of vintage songs written and recorded by Nina Simone, this is the soundtrack to American history from an artist that is unknown by the majority of modern music fans. It is a criminal shame that Nina Simone is rarely mentioned up there with Billie Holliday, Aretha Franklin, and Patsy Cline as queens of American music.

To me she surpasses all of those incredible singers because Nina composed the majority of the music and lyrics to all her originals. And Simone came up with the arrangements of her favorite artists that she covered, like Gershwin's "I Love's You, Porgy" Jacques Brel's "Ne Me Quite Pas," George Harrison's "Here Comes the Sun" and Bob Dylan's "Just like a Woman."

Although To Be Free may not include all of my beloved Nina Simone songs ("Lilac Wine," "Sinnerman" and her brilliant cover of "House of the Rising Sun" among others are missing), you will hear live versions of "Wild is the Wind," the Langston Hughes-penned powerhouse "Backlash Blues" any my personal favorite "Who Knows Where the Times Goes." The 30 minute DVD, Nina: A Historical Perspective is a breathtaking insight inside the mind, the music and the voice of Nina Simone told in her own words.

Inside the music and film of To Be Free, you will see and hear why and how she inspired a generation of artists and bands. Thanks to Mary J. Blige, Lauren Hill, Alicia Keys, Cat Power, Bowie and Buckley, the legend of Nina Simone sings on within them, their vocal styles and covers of her originals. We must not forget the many films that have showcased Nina's voice and songs and helped introduce her music to a new generation of soulful enthusiasts. If you're a novice and searching for a place to start your education of Nina Simone look no further than To Be Free. This box set captures the beauty, power and essence of all that encompassed the artistry and myth that was Nina Simone.

We all have hurt, loved and lost but nobody knows this more than Nina Simone. To Be Free captures the passion, the glory and the pain of life, love and dreams. It's time to feel the spark that was as electric as the wind was wild. She was an icon. She was an artist. She was a lover. She was a fighter. She was a mother. She lived for the art of the song, and nobody brought the music of her time to life like Nina Simone. You will be moved. You will be seduced by a voice who sang for us with a soulful revolutionary spirit that thrives inside these heartfelt songs of emotional empowerment. We hope to one day rejoice in her sounds of freedom that Nina desperately desired to believe throughout her defiant life and beyond.


Adrian Ernesto Cepeda
10.14.2008

Review: The Jesus and Mary Chain: The Power of Negative Thinking

My Jesus & Mary Chain review can be found (click here) on treblezine.com

The Jesus & Mary Chain
The Power of Negative Thinking
Blanco y Negro / Rhino
2008

"Do you remember the JAMC?"

Who could forget those immortal lyrics sung so eloquently by Death Cab's Ben Gibbard on their song "We Looked like Giants?" Ben, like many of us who grew up JAMC fans, knew the importance of this band born from Glasgow, Scotland, whose feedback fury and three minute love pop symphonies shook our world from the mid-'80s and on.

Some of you may have first heard the name Jesus and Mary Chain in the film High Fidelity when Jack Black's snobby record store clerk Barry scolds a customer for not owning any JAMC albums. "They always seemed really great is what they really seemed, they picked up where your precious Echo (& the Bunnymen) left off…"

In all reality, the JAMC were created by the brothers Jim and William Reid because, "…we couldn't find records that we liked to buy." It reminds me of something pompous I used to say to too many ex-girlfriends: the reason I couldn't find any good books to read was because I haven't written any yet. Unlike me, JAMC put their foot to the distortion pedal and created a band with a sound both Reid brothers desired.

Unlike the way out cacophony of the noisy resilience of Creation labelmates My Bloody Valentine, JAMC didn't just blow the guitar amps to make sound crafted songs. The brothers Reid incorporated, "the pop sensibilities of The Shangri-Las with the production values of (Nick Cave's) The Birthday Party...and that's us…psycho and candy two extremes on the same record." Mix in a little surf guitar inspiration and you have the JAMC sound in full effect.

The Power of Negative Thinking is not a greatest hits collection. These 82 songs are b-sides, covers, alternative versions and unreleased songs make up the essence of the sound the Brothers Reid had in mind when they first formed JAMC. I've said it before and I'll state it again, you can tell the greatness of a band by the quality of their b-sides. You can trace the evolution from the Joy Division inspired darkness of the never before heard demo "Up Too High," acoustic versions of "You Trip Me Up" through blistering covers like Prince's "Alphabet Street." You will also hear one of their last songs created as a duo, "Easy Life, Easy Love" that preceded their much publicized spilt on stage at the House of Blues in L.A. There are hints of the up and coming dissolution of the band in the lyrics.

"Goodbye to fame and goodbye to Jane,
Goodbye to yesterday.
I've been around, I hit the ground,
There was a price to pay."

Even before their eventual demise, The Jesus and Mary Chain crafted pop songs were stoic and romantic by nature.

There are so many jewels on The Power of Negative Thinking. Those who believed that The Brothers Reid went soft with help from Mazzy Star's Hope Sandoval on Stoned and Dethroned must have not been paying too much attention to the ever evolving careers of these Glasgow guitar gurus. You can hear sparks of their intimate stripped down flavor on the acoustic versions of "Teenage Lust" and "Taste of Cindy."

I, myself, love the Velvet Underground-inspired echoing beauty of "Psychocandy." It sounds like the best song that Reed, Cale, Tucker and Morrison never created. I can't forget the siren sounding and bluesy guitar ode brilliance of "Bo Diddley is Jesus." I dig the blow up of "Kill Surf City." What about two killer covers of "Surfin' USA?" There are so much more, the very romantic pop ditty "Till I Found You." I'm sure Leonard Cohen is smiling somewhere with JAMC's powerful cover of "The Tower of Song." I have to say "Little Stars" and the lyrics of "I'm gonna kiss your blues away" is my personal favorite.

There are way too many and with every other track I am finding new gems that I adore. I know I shouldn't have done it, gone out during these days of economic uncertainty but I had to buy this hefty priced 4-disc collection The Power of Negative Thinking. This is freaking JAMC, the band whose distorted pop crafted beauty was the soundtrack of my disorientated youth.

The brothers Reid inspired a generation of wanna be rockers to pick up guitars. You may have heard The Pixies cover of "Head On," but it's not better than the real thing. Crank it up, The Jesus and Mary Chain's b-sides and rarities will simultaneously blow your eardrums and mind. Take it from yours truly, fuck the stock market, make the wise investment by purchasing this soon to be classic The Power of Negative Thinking, and discover what you may have missed from their 21 Singles. The other side never sounded this beautifully sinister.

Adrian Ernesto Cepeda
10.06.2008

Review: James: Hey Ma

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

James
Hey Ma
Decca
2008

When one thinks of the music from Manchester, England, groups like The Smiths, New Order, Stone Roses and Oasis come to mind. James is one band that for years has been underappreciated and at time relatively unnoticed when it came from their birthplace of Manchester. James did acquire some notoriety in the early nineties with their 120 Minutes and college radio single "Born of Frustration." It wasn't until 1993's Laid that got them respect worldwide, thanks to the production of one Brian Eno. Laid is one of the most underrated albums and one of my top favorites of the '90s.

It was a shame that James didn't reach superstardom, because they were well on the way on the strength of the magnificent songs they created on Laid. From start to finish, it's their one masterpiece, imperfect as it was brought to life in a creative environment that flourished under James' secret weapon harnessing their revolutionary improvisatory nature on wax. Eno was a master of capturing their creative sparks on tape which one can witness on "Blue Pastures" from the misunderstood letdown, the follow-up to Laid, Whiplash. On that one song, Tim Booth's multidimensional whispered vocal uttered over a solitary bassline and distant atmosphere guitar echoes is brilliance in full effect.

Although James went on to find some commercial success on the other side of the pond with Millionaires and Pleased to Meet You, ever since the collapse of Whiplash they were unable to recreate the magic felt by millions on the classic Laid. After a much-publicized farewell show in their hometown of Manchester, James split and went their separate ways. After frontman Tim Booth released a pair of his own recordings (one with composer Angelo Badalmenti), in January 2007 it was announced that he would be rejoining James in a series of shows. The fruits of those concerts brought James back to life. The original line-up reconvened at Warzy Chateau in France where the band proceeded to build its own recording studio. This studio consisted on personal studios where each member could interact with producer Baker. This studio helped James go back to the spontaneous nature of recording which spawned the successful sessions of Laid.

Hey Ma was the result and what an album it is. "Bubbles" opens the record, their best lead song since "Out to Get You" first seduced us on Laid. Booth still has that lush vocal but this time "Bubbles" builds and by the climax as Booth exclaims "I'm alive," the band explodes in horns, guitars and drums announcing the glorious return of these Manchester greats.

If there was one word to describe Hey Ma it has to be `energetic.' Hey Ma oozes with vigor and passion never before birthed by James. You can hear the sense in resurgence of a band that was written off by American record labels long ago. The title track is the perfect example. As he sings, "Hey Ma/ the boys in body bags coming home in pieces," Booth unleashes a monumental lyrical moment in his career. He brings to life the images that the Pentagon refuses us to see. "Hey Ma" is not just an anti-war protest but a call to arms anthem and a coming together for all families affected by this unjust war.

The beat rolls on with "Waterfall." Inspired by an exhilarating swim under the Snoqualmie Falls, the same ones seen in the credits of Twin Peaks, Booth sings about being emotionally moved by nature's intricate beauty, something to which I could relate for I first heard Hey Ma on my vacation to Europe.

It's rare when you connect with an album, from the opening notes, that the music will take you to the place and bring up joyous memories in the place you first discovered it. To me, Hey Ma reminds me of that incredible vacation in Venice, Italy. The excitement of being in a wonderfully strange land was brought to life by the magic of this album. All I have to do is press play, close my eyes and I am there again.

"Oh My Heart" is Booth's plea to the heartbroken to "adore life." James comes alive in this electric number. The rhythms ascend thanks to Jim Glennie, Saul Davies, Mark Hunter, drummer Mark Hunter, and let's not forget the signature riffs from guitarist Larry Gott. We cannot forget the outstanding contribution by James as whole. As you will hear on Hey Ma, this isn't just Tim Booth's band. James are a unit, united to create a worldly sound to be shared by all of those enter.

Hear Tim's croon "Upside love, down side miss you, I'm here you are there" on "Upside," this uplifting lament echoing the feeling of being apart from the one that you love. James reflects these emotional resonating images like words kissing your face, with this rare sense of delicate honesty. I enjoyed the ironic urgency of "Whiteboy," the post-modern theme song for the game-lazy-boy generation. "I'm in awe of you/ we'll survive," Booth sings, continuing his musings of our disconnected society in the atmospheric grace that is "Of Monsters & Heroes, Men." Hey Ma closes with Booth letting his voice ascend by repeating the lyric "I wanna go home" as he created as a first jammer, and the result is this creation, a ballad about a man dying of remorse in a bar.

From the ashes of the Eno-lit creative flame that seemed to have expired long ago, Hey Ma resurrects the improvisational spirit that is James. It may have taken them more than 15 years but James has finally soared to greatness equaling the magnificent foundation of Laid.

Adrian Ernesto Cepeda
09.24.2008

Review: The Verve: Forth

My review of The Verve can be found (click here) on treblezine.com

The Verve
Forth
Megaforce
2008

At 2005's Live 8, after describing "Bittersweet Symphony" as the "best song ever written," Chris Martin introduced the man, the myth and the legend they call Mad Richard as "The best singer in the world." That singer was Richard Ashcroft.

Ever since the release of that song and the album Urban Hymns, The Verve's career seemed bittersweet, as if one of the best bands of '90s Britpop was forgotten. Why is that? When critics and fans talk about the'90s, why do The Verve get overlooked on many top lists? The Verve was one of the best and most influential bands of that decade. But what made The Verve so powerful—the explosive dynamic of Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bassist Simon Jones and drummer Peter Salisbury's—was what eventually broke up the band. The last straw was a post gig bust-up by McCabe and Ashcroft during the subsequent Urban Hymns tour, which led to the disbanding of The Verve.

Although The Verve split on a high note, it seemed like there was still ammunition left in the creative tank from one of the most essential groups to come out of the UK in the last twenty years. And it seemed that even though "Bittersweet Symphony" was their hit crowd favorite, they still didn't have a rousing live anthem to play at their shows that could lift the crowd into a wild frenzy. Say what you will about "Symphony" it is a classic song but it's not one that gets you off yr feet at a show.

It seems as though The Verve have finally come up with the ultimate live song to bring their fans to their feet during their electrifying sets, that song being "Love is Noise." But I'll admit it; I didn't really love the "Noise" when I first heard it. In fact, before obtaining my copy of Forth, I thought that The Verve had made another mistake in the vein of the plethora of bands that reunite only to make a sub par album, attempting to regain the glory of their inspiring past. Can you name one band that reunited whose new album was worthy of more than one single spin? Besides James' Hey Ma which I will be reviewing soon, I couldn't think of any. Can you name the last classic Rolling Stones album? Steel Wheels? Voodoo Lounge? Bridges to Babylon? A Bigger Bang? Hear what I mean, I rest my case.

Seriously, it took a while to warm up to "Noise." But then one day I had the opening vocal sample stuck in my head. I went around all that day in our apartment, in the car and at work singing "wooo woooo woooo ooo, ah ah ah ah aha." I soon realized that "Love is Noise" is the song that The Verve had been waiting to create, a song with the style and substance missing from today's modern airwaves. It's classic Verve. Ashcroft's eternal lyrics are inspired by William Blake's poem `Jerusalem' with McCabe's vintage riffs and the powerful rhythms of Jones and Salisbury made to come alive on stage.

From the opening salvo of "Sit and Wonder," listening to Forth for the first time is like opening the pages of the book you've been waiting to read for the longest time. With each chapter, the anticipation in this mystery becomes a reality. When Ashcroft sings, "give me some light," this is a sign of the impending trip we are all about to experience.

"Rather Be" continues the magic of a "Lucky Man" with a twist. It's as if Ashcroft is singing about the volatile conflicts that simmer around the relationships within the band:

"Always livin' under some vow
Always on the eve of destruction
Make you wanna scream out loud
and as I watch the birds soar"

Ashcroft himself has admitted that the band has never really kissed and made up. The unstable energy may be one of the aspects that led to the creation of Urban Hymns and now this most incredible sound of Forth.

One of my favorites is the aptly titled "Noise Epic." Who else but Ashcroft can write about God, Jesus, Mother Mary, Georgie Best, Muhammad Ali and Steve McQueen in the same song? You will also find evidence of Ashcroft penning more lyrics reflecting the band's unstable yet fiery creative fuel as he sings:

"Why did I let you down?
Can I carry that cross for you?
Is there anything I need to know?
Did you let me down?
Why did you let me down?"

You hear this as McCabe, Jones and Salisbury all explode with furious energy behind Ashcroft's prosaic lyrics. The Verve thrives within the confines of their volatile nature. These are four distinctive people with four different moods, mindsets and ideas about what makes a song shine. Whatever element they use to put all of their energies together is the most perfect example of what makes them simpatico. You can hear it all around Forth; it's their strength and will one day be the band's fateful downfall.

You get the feeling that Forth may be the band's finale hurrah on "Columbo." Mad Richard's lyrical assault on lusting of fame over love is highlighted by McCabe, Jones and Salisbury coming together with Ashcroft's high pitched calls, united like never before. The way we have always imagined The Verve to shine is vivid as they do on the rhythmic "Columbo" and the introspective finale of "Appalachian Springs" Listen to Ashcroft ask the eternal question: "Does anybody know where we're really gonna go?" That lyric might just be a hint to where The Verve may be heading. If this is truth, than what a way to go out—Forth is an instant classic.

In fact, from start to finish, I believe as a whole that Forth is the best album of their career. It's hard to imagine any band to top the incredible brilliance that is Urban Hymns but The Verve has done it. After another much publicized public bust-up on stage between Ashcroft and McCabe, unfortunately, Forth may be the last sounds in the storied legacy that is The Verve.

Adrian Ernesto Cepeda
09.22.2008

Review: Tricky: Knowle West Boy

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

Tricky
Knowle West Boy
Domino
2008

I told one of my co-workers, a fellow music enthusiast, at my nighttime bookstore gig that I had picked up the latest CD from Tricky. He looked back at me with this blank stare. `You know, Tricky?' I responded. He had no idea who I was referring to. I brought up the fact that he started out with Massive Attack in the early '90s. Nothing, he still had no idea who Tricky was. I continued divulging the CV of one my favorite artists. He released a critically acclaimed debut and Mercury Prize nominated solo album Maxinquaye. Nada, I felt like I was getting nowhere with this guy who claimed to be an intellectual music fan.

I didn't stop there; I kept going, explaining to him that Tricky was Nearly God, and along with Portishead he was at the forefront of the Trip Hop movement of the early '90s before succumbing to Pre-Millennium Tension in 1996. In 1998, he co-opted the title of a James Cagney film in the dark Angels with Dirty Faces, which incidentally featured collaboration with one Polly Jean Harvey on "Broken Homes." In 1999, he went into Juxtapose hip hop mode with Cypress Hill producer DJ Muggs.

My co-worker recognized Cypress Hill but still no Tricky. But, as I explained, Tricky still wasn't breaking through so he recruited some high profile friends including Red Hot Chili Pepper guitarist John Frusciante, Cyndi Lauper and Alanis Morrissette to help him Blowback in 2001. Those three he knew but Tricky, not so much. Alas, in 2003 Tricky became Vulnerable to his own creation that included two covers one of XTC's "Dear God" and The Cure's "Love Cats."

This leads us to his new album, Knowle West Boy. And by this moment in our conversation my co-worker was hardly as enthusiastic as I was for the triumphant return of the Tricky Kid. He shrugged his shoulders and walked away. Which is what many would have thought Tricky would have done with the lack of commercial success after Maxinquaye. But, he never packed it in, Tricky continued rolling up the songs and lighting them for the entire world to taste and savor the glory of his ever lifted creative endeavors.

What I should have told my co-worker is that Tricky's music is like the soundtrack to those old William Burroughs tripped out films of the 1950s. They're the sort of movies that show us pieces of ourselves the one's that we're all afraid to discover. The emotional lust and the fear of desire along with the desperate stench of hate as we hide everything deep down, drenched in paranoia. This is what Tricky brings to life on each of his albums since Maxinquaye and you wonder why this genius isn't a household name? For the most part Americans don't really connect with artists that make them think and ponder about their darkened despair that permeates within their relatively vacant lives.

This is what I respect about the artist formally known as Adrian Thawes. He is a singer/songwriter who challenges his audience to not only open their ears but open themselves out to the mirrors coming from his reflecting songs. Add to the mix that he sounds rather devilish, which is the reason that Tricky has recruited a number of famous sirens to contrast his darkest side. First there was Martina Topley-Bird who, herself, went on to her own quasi successful solo career. Then there was the already successful Allison Goldfrapp, Björk and the aforementioned PJ Harvey. Recently, Tricky has come to recruit unsigned talent on his albums—most recently he's discovered Alex Mills, Veronika and his former flame Lubna to sing on Knowle West Boy.

What makes Knowle West Boy his best album since his debut is the maturity in the sound. Tricky has a bit of help from former Suede guitarist and now producer Bernard Butler, who has helped sculpt Tricky's most diverse and eclectic album of his rather infamous career. "Puppy Toy" begins with a stripped arrangement of piano keys, some strings and a seductive back beat. It then explodes into a gigantic Butler-esque guitar riff before going back into the dynamic duet between two would be lovers, brought to life by Alex Mills and Tricky looking for a connection at a bar.

The album turns into a raga rap beat on "Bacative," starring Rodigan from New York. There's a mysterious female singer that Tricky and Butler slipped in beautifully between Rodigan's killer raps. What I love about "Bavative" and Knowle West Boy as a whole is that Butler has reeled in Tricky to create his most strict traditional song structures that he has ever attempted on record.

Listen to "Joseph"—the Tricky of old would have drowned the vocals of this unknown busker with atmospheric tripped out effects but for the most part Butler keeps each track at around the three-minute territory. The lone exception is the very climatic "Past Mistake." Butler helps Tricky turns these star crossed romantics featuring the vocals of Lubna on a doomed love affair that is distant and damaged from the start. Although, "Past Mistake" sounds like the anti-"Teardrop," "Past Mistake" would have fit perfectly on Massive Attack's Mezzanine.

There's no reason to worry that Tricky has gone Pop Idol on us as you'll discover on electric "Veronika" and the highly charged insurgent sound of "Collation." I prefer the stripped vibe of the very sensual "Cross to Bear." This is a new side to Tricky that features very sultry vocals of "Hafdis Huld." I love the way Tricky and Bernard mix the strings with Tricky's trademark tripped out beats.

One of the few missteps has to be Tricky's ill-advised cover Kylie Minogue's "Slow." This could have turned into a "Lovecats" surprise like cover that I so adored on Vulnerable but Knowle West Boy would have better off sans "Slow." It just sounds out of place in this very incredible but imperfect album.

Knowle West Boy closes with the acoustic beauty, "School Gates." It's Tricky's street-like version of "In My Life." Tricky sounds like someone who's comfortable in his own dark persona that created Maxinquaye but unafraid of reminiscing at those tender moments that inspired him to craft the Knowle West Boy that he is today.

With Portishead and Tricky releasing new endeavors and Massive Attack's new album on the horizon, this could well be the year of the resurrection of trip-hop. I know that I'll be putting Knowle West Boy on my top albums of 2008. Here's hoping that Tricky breaks through from the unacknowledged underground that has made him an unfortunate alias in the island of influentially unappreciated artists. Most of all, Tricky is the devil that we recognize reflecting the lies that we live in this age of post-modern impurity.


Adrian Ernesto Cepeda
09.15.2008

Best Albums of 1998: Review: Jeff Buckley: Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk

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

Jeff Buckley
Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk
Columbia
1998

On the cusp of Y2K came the final release of original material by the late great Jeff Buckley. Buckley's death is one of remorse for all that could have been for this gifted talent. How is it that we only have one official album from Buckley and he is still considered one of the most influential artists of the '90s? Take your pick of any successful band or singer/songwriter active today and they will most likely say that Jeff Buckley influenced their life. Chris Martin, Fran Haley of Travis and even Bernard Butler said that after leaving Suede, "No-one else has come along who made me feel that natural and unafraid of being myself. . . He made me smile… and encapsulated a lot of things that I'd been longing for, achieving a kind of spirituality in music without it being frowned upon. He stripped away a lot of myths for me about what you should be." Yes, Jeff inspired countless others including well-known rock heroes like Jimmy Page and Elvis Costello, and even Bono dubbed him, "a pure drop in an ocean of noise."

At least he left us with one final collection of songs. Sketches, was just that, a plethora of unfinished songs that were blueprints for the planned future album My Sweetheart The Drunk. This is one thing about Buckley that I never really understood. He constantly doubted himself and his gifts. He could never decide on a certain song or performance. He seemed unsure of next musical path. This is why artists like Ryan Adams should get more respect. At least Ryan releases his sonic experiments as lyrical documents for a moment of time in his life. You record and release these songs and move on. Sometimes you may miss, but they're sonic reflections of times you'll be able to remember.

The worst thing I could say about Buckley was that he second-guessed himself way too often and it hurt his official creative output. Legend has it that these Sketches were never going to be heard. Buckley wanted his band and former Grace Producer Andy Wallace to gather in his new home in Memphis to ceremonially torch these recordings Jeff made with former Television founder and producer Tom Verlaine.

I don't understand this way of thinking—why Jeff? Why would you want to destroy these amazing recordings? As posthumous collections Sketches honors the lyrical gifts that Buckley was blessed with. There are some incredible tracks on these discs. I wonder what frightened Buckley and did the success of Grace haunt him so much that it hindered the next direction of his ever-evolving muse.

Who knows what Jeff was thinking? But what we do know is that the songs on Sketches were some of the most timeless music that Buckley created during his short lifespan as a recording artist. Opening with electric "Sky is a Landfill" where Jeff makes the profound statement regarding his past, "Moving with grace the men despise and women have learned to lose/ throw off your shame or be a slave to the system." At the time he was writing songs for My Sweetheart the Drunk, Jeff was trying to stay away from the sensitive guy serenading women. Ever since the New York Times first reviewed Live at Sin-é along with Michael Bolton's album it flashed fearful future marketing meetings at Sony. "Sky is a Landfill" and "Haven't You Heard," just like "Eternal Life" from Grace are direct reactions to Buckley's fear that his label Sony was trying to sell him as a heartthrob balladeer.

This is why I feel like Sketches is Jeff trying to rediscover his true voice. Just listen to the lyrics to the haunted elegance of "New Years Prayer." Jeff sings "Feel no shame for what you are" like a mantra as if he's trying to convince himself to follow his creative heart. He wanted to distance himself from Jeff that sung on Grace. This is why Buckley originally chose Television's Tom Verlaine to helm the sessions. He knew that it would frighten Sony. He wanted to take back control of his legacy. Jeff wanted desperately to try something new. He didn't want to be a puppet of a major label. Originally he wanted to have the sessions for Drunk a Two Ninas band project instead of Jeff Buckley but Sony balked.

Eventually, he relented and Jeff continued recording. Having moved to Memphis, he wrote a very moving love song, "Everybody Here Wants You" for his paramour Joan Wasser. One of the highlights on disc two is sultry "Jewel Box" as Jeff croons "You left some stars on my belly." Whether Jeff wanted to admit it or not, he was a romantic at heart. His lyrics and voice reflect this. But he wasn't so easy to pin down. He was a lover and a fighter and you can hear the dynamic struggle within themselves on my favorite song on Sketches, "Nightmares by The Sea."

"All young lovers know why
Nightmares blind their mind's eye
Your rube is young and handsome
So new to your bedroom floor
You know damn well where you'll go"

He sounds sinister but he's still trying to seduce you. It's a rock song with beats that even the luscious will swoon over. Speak of the swooning, "Morning Theft" has to be one of the most beautiful songs that Jeff ever recorded. He has some of the most incredible lines Buckley has ever written. Where do I being? "A heart that beats as both siphon and reservoir" is a highlight but my favorite has to be:

"You're a woman, I'm a calf
You're a window, I'm a knife
We come together
Making chance in the starlight"

By the finale it's difficult to accept the light that was Jeff Buckley has gone out and will never spark again. Thankfully, Buckley's mother ended Sketches with the song she played at Jeff's funeral. "Satisfied Mind" is Jeff Buckley. It's his creed, his ideal and describes the way that he lived, loved and left this earth.

"Money can't buy back all your youth when you're old
A friend when you're lonely, oh peace to your soul
The wealthiest person is a pauper at times
Compared to the man with a satisfied mind"

Jeff Buckley didn't create music to make money. He wrote and recorded because it gave him meaning. When he sung his soul and spirit soared. These Sketches were reflections of the dichotomy that was Jeff Buckley. He may have never really been satisfied with any take that he recorded; I hope he left this world the way that he soulfully sung this cover version, with a "Satisfied Mind."

Adrian Ernesto Cepeda
08.21.2008

Best Albums of 1995: Polly Jean Harvey: To Bring You My Love

My Polly Jean Harvey review can be found (click here) on treblezine.com

Polly Jean Harvey
To Bring You My Love
Island
1995


"I was born in the desert
I been down for years
Jesus, come closer
I think my time is near

And I've traveled over
Dry earth and floods
Hell and high water
To bring you my love"

To Bring You My Love was simply PJ Harvey's baptismal leap in the Delta water, before her storied commercial rebirth Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea. Thanks to the stellar production by Flood and John Parrish you can hear Harvey dive inside the lyrics of her Southern-inspired tides, searching for creative salvation within the sinister soul of The American Blues. During "Down By The Water," as Harvey sings "Little fish big fish swimming in the water/Come back here, man, gimme my daughter," you can hear lyrical odes to one of her heroes while growing up, Leadbelly, particularly his classic tale "Salty Dog." And you can hear these same blues influence, throughout, that Polly Jean was reared on while growing up in Dorset, England.

But there's also a touch of post-modernism that lifts Harvey's style of into a twisted sort of 21st Century blues that's timeless, twisted and out of this world. Lyrically inspired by the dark prose of Tom Waits and soon to be lover Nick Cave, Harvey's lyrics lean toward serial killings in "Working for The Man," drowning of children in the already mentioned "Down by the Water," and deep penetrating sexual role reversal of "Long Snake Moan."

Some of my favorite numbers have a legendary acoustic Latin flavor. "Send His Love to Me" is a highly erotic plea to the heavens to send her back the Lover she so desires. To Bring You My Love closes with the Cave-inspired, western themed "The Dancer." In between orgasmic wails of affection, Harvey sings.

"'Cause I've prayed days, I've prayed nights
For the lord just to send me home some sign
I've looked long, I've looked far
To bring peace to my black and empty heart"

To Bring You My Love is a longing for a woman's independence and search for true love in a wasteland of misogynistic blues of despair and loss of God. You can feel this in her bloody and heart-clenching lyrics. These aren't the domestically spirited songs from last year's White Chalk. The incarnation of Polly Jean Harvey that emerged in 1995 is one of a siren sonically slithering around the tales of these desolated songs like an outlaw seductress. You feel her sensual spark oozing from her soulful croons as she attempts to lure her lover to bed in "C'mon Billy."

What I remember most of hearing To Bring You My Love for the first time is that Polly Jean isn't just trying to seduce us, she slowly lures us inside of her world of sex and death with a voice that sweats a scent that we cannot resist. The funny thing is that these songs aren't as commercially accessible as Stories from The City, Stories from The Sea but are equally as memorable.

I just remembering being so being excited and extremely turned on by Polly Jean and her sultry voice. It was no accident that she wore that scarlet dress in the video from "Down by The Water." Polly Jean was reincarnated from a tomboy songstress into a sexy siren. She was the imperfect dangerous damsel that I dreamed would take me away from my isolation. With every spin she sent me inside her songscapes of danger and desire.

I finally witness the dark world of To Bring You My Love come to fruition this past year when I saw Polly Jean Harvey live in Los Angeles. She opened with the title track, and the bluesy guitar riff that comes out of nowhere on the album came alive on stage as she stood there, elegant and stoic, minus the red satin dress from the video. As you hear on the album, Polly Jean came to bring us her love. The reason I love her so is that she's a daring and uncompromising artist that's unafraid to show us the dark side of her lusty soul. To Bring You My Love is the bravest example of this from her eclectic catalog. It's one that I frequently go back to, and has evolved in my ears from a young man's fantasy into a journey while discovering the true meaning of love, lust and dreams. To these ears, To Bring You My Love is the ultimate musical canvas brought to life so wickedly by Polly Jean Harvey.

Adrian Ernesto Cepeda
08.18.2008

Best Albums of 1993: Review: Suede: Suede

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

Suede
Suede
Nude/Sony
1993

The grand rise and tragic fall of Suede was an era of my life as a music fan that I will not soon forget. Even before their first single was released, Melody Maker threw a hefty title to the band as they dubbed Suede the "Best Band in Britain." How could this be, you ask? Suede were anthem inspiring anti-heroes and lyrical saviors to Smiths fans searching for musical salvation after the demise of their favorite band. Lead Singer Brett Anderson and guitarist Bernard Butler single-handedly took up the mantle that went missing when Morrissey and Marr split during the release of Strangeways Here We Come.

When Anderson and Butler placed an ad searching for a drummer in a UK music paper, guess who answered? Mike Joyce of The Smiths. This was not an accident—to my devoted ears Suede were The Smiths of the nineties. Brett Anderson made Moz-like declarations such as "I'm a bisexual without a homosexual experience." But on wax is where you heard the most similar vibes as Butler's guitar roared next to the gentle purring of Anderson's elegant vocals; it mirrors the way Marr's riff reflected the wailings of his counterpart's musings. Morrissey, himself, covered one of their b-sides "My Insatiable One" as an ode to these new British pioneers.

From the opening riffs of "Metal Mickey" you felt the power of Suede's glorious melodies. A legion of music fans and I were hooked from the beginning. Even from across the pond, in my own little world in San Antonio, Texas, Suede took me over. They hit a light that had gone out after Strangeways and turned me on with their muse. Suede were the first UK band of the '90s that I worshiped, and I went out and bought all of their UK singles. There was something about their songs that transcended their unique UK background. I connected with them instantaneously, like I did when I first discovered "There's a Light that Never Goes Out" a decade earlier.

Suede were far from a musical replicant of The Smiths. The Smiths and their music represented the growing malaise and madness of growing up in England during the Margaret Thatcher regime of the eighties. Suede had more of a glam-inspired glory that represented the beautiful brawn of the overindulgent '90s.

I waited for the debut album to arrive in America. I even went out and bought it on vinyl and CD as imports. All it took was one spin of Suede and I became an instant disciple. Just listen to the opening number as Brett sings, "Because we're young, because we're gone/ we'll take the tide's electric mind, oh yeah?" He did it for us, for all of us. Anderson wrote about for the lost, lonely and lustful freaks, like me, that were outcast in their individual cosmos.

"I was born as a pantomime horse
Ugly as the sun when he falls to the floor
I was cut from the wreckage one day
This is what I get for being that way"

The words that came out of Brett's mouth made each of us feel like someone out there understood us, how we felt in not belonging. We all felt Brett's heartfelt croon from the same song, the epic "Pantomime Horse." Brett, also, talks someone off the edge of suicide with the touching "Sleeping Pills." Anderson seems to have a knack for bringing to life the euphoric state of distant emotional attractions. "What does it take to turn you on?" he asks in "Animal Nitrate." You also can't forget the feeling of falling for the crush in the addictive chorus of "Slow down/she's taking me over" of "The Drowners." One of my favorites is the back beat rhythms through the soaring sensation of leaving the comforts of your friendly confines as you pack your bags in "Moving."

But to me, the memory of Suede remains from the closing number on their debut tour when I saw the band in concert before Butler left the group, as they played the last song on their self-titled album, "The Next Life." With Bernard playing the keyboards and Anderson singing his high pitched heartening pitches in a song about the end, "The Next Life" ended up being the lasting legacy that foreshadowed the eventual shattering of the relationship between Anderson and Butler.

I'll never forget seeing them together alone on the stage during that one song. To this day, Suede's performance of "The Next Life" will go down as one of the top five musical highlights ever. Even to this day, when I spin Suede I think of the promise of all that could have been. What if Butler hadn't left? Would Suede have been immortalized like The Smiths? In my mind, they were the best, and should have been the greatest band of my generation. This was the ultimate album from the sweet and the sour Brit Pop era that was the '90s. To me there was no other.

Adrian Ernesto Cepeda
08.14.2008