Monday, March 18, 2024

Live Music Review // Abbie Gardner / Frank Critelli @ Best Video, Hamden CT, March 16th 2024



Additional photos can be found in an album on Facebook located here :::

  On Saturday night, the house was packed at Best Video for an evening of music with Abbie Gardner and Frank Critelli.   Every seat was taken and there was only standing room in the back by the time the show started, which was promptly at 7pm, as one thing I like about Best Video is they tend to have their events running on time.

Connecticut local Frank Critelli opened up this show playing an acoustic guitar and singing without a microphone.   The feelings within this music were that of an older folk singer (like when Bob Dylan seemed to just set up and play anywhere) or even at times Johnny Cash.   There was just this overall sound of the working class blues or that blue collar type of folk that it seems like everyone should be able to relate with.

One of the songs by Frank Critelli was specifically about how he thought by the time he was this age he would've had it all figured out.  I think as we get older we can really relate with that idea because at my age now my parents had a house and three kids, so I always felt like growing up that they had it figured out.  But maybe the secret is that we always think people have it figured out because they're "adults", but no one really ever has it all together.  

Not that long after Frank Critelli finished his set Abbie Gardner took the stage.  Each of the musicians seemed to also have their instruments ready to go before the show started so there wasn't that whole "check check" tuning thing in between.   Abbie Gardner played a few songs, took a brief intermission and then came back to play more songs.   I suppose this break was to visit the bar area at Best Video but it was still something I'm not used to experiencing.

I also got confused by the break because at one point I thought it was implied that after the break Abbie Gardner would be playing more songs but with Frank Critelli and when that happened it felt in a question of why we took the break in the first place.    But I'm sure there was a good reason for it and someone out there who isn't me knows exactly why it happened as it did.

Abbie Gardner plays the Dobro guitar which means it is lying flat when being played.  This is something to see just in and of itself, but the music which Abbie Gardner creates goes every where from country and blues to folk and even borderline rock n roll.   In between songs, Abbie Gardner told stories about them and this made the experience feel more personal, like that VH1 series "Storytellers", which I'm still not sure if it exists or not anymore.

The capacity crowd ate up every word of it and was just completely into this set.  From singing along with original songs to a cover of ZZ Top's "Sharp Dressed Man", the entire show was just full of energy- not just from the stage but from the crowd giving it back as well.   This connection with the crowd made the show not only feel like something you wanted to be a part of but it made the overall experience feel that much more special.   



Frank Critelli can be found on the world wide web here ::: http://frankcritelli.com/

Abbie Gardner can be found on the world wide web here ::: https://www.abbiegardner.com/

Best Video can be found on the world wide web here ::: https://www.bestvideo.com/

Thursday, March 14, 2024

Music Review // A Short Walk to Pluto "Everybody Wants to Rule The World"

                                       


As this is one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite artists, I think we do need a little history lesson first because of the timing of it all.  "Everybody Wants to Rule The World" appeared on Tears for Fears second album which was released in 1985.   Twenty years later in 2005, the duo of JamisonParker released a cover of this very song for a Fearless Records "Punk Goes 80s" compilation.  And now, nearly twenty more years later, A Short Walk to Pluto has released their version of this song.

While I understand that other artists have likely covered this song throughout the near forty years it has been around, that is just the one cover which really hit me and plus when I interviewed JamisonParker and asked them about this song they didn't make the same connection with it as I did, which is with The Dennis Miller Show.   In any case, maybe some new sort of political talk show can come forth and use this cover in their closing credits to bring this song even more full circle because the world is still acting like a game of Risk.

The idea of wanting to rule the world seems to be something that is constantly happening.  It doesn't seem like there has ever been a time when everyone has just been cool with ruling their own countries.  It always feels like some country is on the verge of trying to overthrow some other country and then the United Nations gets involved and it's this whole situation.  Sadly, this feels like it will be this way until the end of time and in another twenty years I bet someone else covers this song.

Not just Tears for Fears but this song specifically is so timeless.  A Short Walk to Pluto does a great job covering with the pacing, the melody and even busting out the sax solo near the end.  It's a very good tribute because it's not making the song unrecognizable but yet it also has that touch where you can tell it's not the original.  I think taking a slow song and covering it fast is okay, you know when artists really change things up, but the best covers are the ones that are right on that line between being so close to the original and yet not, which is what A Short Walk to Pluto has done here.  


Music Review // Dara Schindelka "Love Is Free"

 


When a song has a certain way about it that you feel like it's pop, I tend to think that means it isn't going to have a very strong message.  A lot of pop music is mindless and that's okay because sometimes you just want to put music on and enjoy it without having to really think about it.   However, on this song, "Love Is Free", Dara Schindelka has managed to tackle a topic which I think many people wish were addressed more often.  

"Love Is Free" seems to target a certain group of people and those are the people who claim to be religious but really are not.   There has been so much discourse about this topic that I feel like someone has probably written a book about it, but you know the people who are on social media and they say to love God but then they are out there clearly hating and going against the teachings of The Bible.

What's always been funny to me is that this type of hypocrisy doesn't exist in other beliefs and ideals, at least not as much as it does in religion.  You don't see people who have sworn off alcohol drinking light beers because they get a pass.  So there isn't really a whole lot to compare it with and how the people who are doing this cannot see it is just beyond me.  But this song, lyrically, is a nice reminder of it and maybe if you get moved by the beat you'll study the lyrics and have a new found realization.

With the synth in here, Dara Schindelka has created a dance number.  This is like old school Madonna and that's not something we hear enough of these days.   Yes, you very easily could put this song on and dance to it without giving it a second thought.  But I hope that as much as people enjoy this musically, they also begin to study it so that religion no longer becomes one of the great divides in this world.  


Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Cassette Review // Powerviolet / TLVS "HSAL #65 - "Powerviolet/TLVS"" (Harding Street Assembly Lab)

 





For those following along here and familiar with TLVS now, this is a nice split cassette because you get to hear both songs from them and from Powerviolet, who might be new to you.  Powerviolet starts things off on the first side with big electronic beats.  This has synth in it and it just feels like something you would dance to, a little bit like Orange Peel Mystic.   There is a nice drive and it's just banging.

Big beats open up the second Powerviolet song.  There are elements of New Order in here and as the first song was instrumental this one has some muted vocals within the electronica.  By the third song, "Object Impermanence In A Hospital Bed", you can feel it begin to move like an industrial song but it also has some pretty blissed out tones within as well.   Big, distorted blast beats end that song.

"Got Through" is a song which starts off with those sci-fi type of synth notes.  It's chaotic and a little bit of video game sounding.  Drum machines come in before the end of this first side.  I hear what sounds like those blink 182 bass lines and then the synths come in as well.  It's pretty and it just feels like floating away on a small boat in a large ocean, but in a good way.  Somehow it reminds me of a lullaby.

TLVS takes over on the flip side.  Steady rhythm drumming begins things with a sort of ambient drone.  Sharp tones come through in a way of song and then it becomes this big driving march.   We get into a breakdown with cymbal crashes and this all begins to remind me of post rock, as TLVS tends to do.  Big, distorted guitar riffs cut through and then we're back into that melodic post rock vibe.

There is almost a country rambling part when the first TLVS song comes to an end.  Big distortion takes us right into "The Shrine Of The Infant Jesus Of Prague" and there are such lovely guitar structures within here.   You can feel the FNL and then faster paced drumming takes us into the third song, "Honey From Every Wind".    Sweet tones come through like blissed keys and then the big guitars return as well.  Fast drums swirl as the guitars fade out and I can hear some guitars by the end which remind me of bagpipes.

What I really love about this cassette is that it's mostly instrumental and so both sides can feel similar as they explore a similar amount of energy but they seem to go about it in different ways.   Powerviolet has more of a synth-based dance rock whereas TLVS replaces that dance with a drive and the synth with the guitars.  Either way though, this cassette is fun to put on when you have a purpose- whether on a roadtrip or just trying to get chores done around the house- because it can keep you moving.  











Cassette Review // Ennaytch "Sweat Off Our Brows, Flesh Off Our Bones" (Black Ring Rituals Records)

 




We begin with the sound of static and it takes us into this electronic beeping.   As we continue the sound comes through choppy and as is the case sometimes I had to check this as a streaming sound against the actual cassette to make sure this wasn't just coming out this way because of something being wrong with my tape player.  But this sort of cloud of smoke glitching is what this is supposed to be doing.

As this goes on it's slow moving, so it can feel relaxing in a weird way but then it begins to make that airplane sound as it expands and contracts.   This almost feels like small wheels turning, as we go through the fog and slowly expand into electro synth.   A bit of a cross between an alarm and an animal screaming comes through now and you can hear it through this static cloud.  

On the flip side this begins with a deeper drone which sounds more electronic, like a bugzapper.   Sounds like birds chirping are coming through in the background now, as laser synths can also be heard joining in.   This sound is just dropping and expanding now, like a nuclear bomb.  There is also a strong lightsaber vibe to this and yet it remains somewhat calming.  Laser shots are fired now.  

The synth still comes through but it feels like we have this electric scattering with some water and all I can think about are mice running around in sewers.   It feels like we're going into a space laser battle as this deep synth continues to breathe in and out.  It feels as if we're falling off now, like rats running and just falling off the edge of a cliff (which I admit is something lemmings would be more likely to do)  The end can sort of cut off but it still felt so relaxing throughout.  












Friday, March 8, 2024

Music Review // Sabrina Monique "It Was Always You"


There is an old saying in relationships that goes "It's not you it's me", but Sabrina Monique has turned the tables with the song "It Was Always You", blaming the other person for the relationship ending.  I'm a firm believer in relationships taking two people to work and so if they don't, it's sometimes a load both participants have to acknowledge.  However, there are relationships where one person is straight up trash and hopefully this song helps other people to see that.

Musically, I really enjoy the sound of Sabrina Monique because this is unlike anything else out there right now.   The beats and it being somewhat catchy make it pop (It has a chorus you can sing along with, but you have to really listen more than three times to get it) but there are also elements of R&B within here.   Along with that, there are these reggaeton type tones going on within this song as well, which pushes it more towards hip and hop and even dance.  

One thing I feel strongly about this song is that it can stand as it is and be a great radio hit, but at the same time I imagine a lot of "club remixes" and things along those lines to take it to a whole other level.  The lyris here also have depth as a relationship is described as being toxic where the other person just doesn't seem right for you.  Lines like: "Fill her head with gasoline and tell her she's got issues" are a lot of what's wrong with relationships in modern times because too many people are playing games.

"It Was Always You" is a song which works on two levels.  On the surface, you can hear this song and just move along with the beat, not really paying attention to the lyrics.  Maybe twenty or thirty years from now people will have thought this song was about it being the opposite of what it is, where the "you" in the title is the chosen one.  But if you listen closely enough and get into the complexity and truth of the lyrics, you'll have a whole new experience and see things for as they are, which also happens to be the point of the song.  


Thursday, March 7, 2024

Cassette Review // The Electric Nature "We Will Burn This Place To the Fucking Ground" (We, Here and Now!)


https://wehereandnow.bandcamp.com/album/we-will-burn-this-place-to-the-fucking-ground


Guitar notes and horns blaring begin this one.  We go darker into bass and the guitar notes begin to come through with intensity.   Windy now, the guitars have a little bit of that 90210 feeling going on.  As this grows louder it just creates that sound which can fill a room.   The way this can wah-wah though also makes it feel like the blues, as the cymbals crash and the percussion begins to make itself more known.

As the guitar rattles, cymbals crash and everything just begins coming down now to the point where this just feels like destruction.  The very soul of this music becomes a force to be reckoned with.   This is just such an onslaught, but also a great way to be reminded how brutal music can be without having to fall into the genres of metal or hardcore.   This one guitar line comes through louder than the rest now, but it all just still feels that force.

All of these sounds begin coming together in a way which sounds like horns honking in traffic.  It's very heavy now but also just chaotic.   The guitar is still finding the way to make itself be heard, cutting through the distortion and how all of the other sounds can blend together, outside of those cymbal crashes which keep reigning down.   Loud sounds come through now, like sirens and this one has just become all sorts of hectic.  

On the flip side we begin things much quieter, much more minimal.  Some shuffling around and a few guitar notes to start things off.   The guitar begins to come through with that rambling note sound.  I hear spoken words now, as if this is live and people are talking in the crowd.   As the guitars come through now, shaky, it can also sound like a swarm of bees.  Notes come in now and it feels like a piano is falling apart.   Electronic skramz now fill the sound.  

Everything comes through scattered now and it dives back into chaos.   Things slow down and the guitar notes come through winding, like an old western.  The rambling returns with these back and forth sharper notes.   This all dives into a deep bass now.   It feels like we're going underwater.   Sharp tones cut through the distortion now and this is a noisy symphony.   As we reach the end, it feels like the waves are just washing us out to sea.