Monthly Archives: March 2017

EP Review: Erin Pellnat – Dream in Color

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Erin Pellnat

photo courtesy of Erin Pellnat

by Eric Harabadian, Contributing Blogger

EP Review of Erin Pellnat: Dream in Color

Erin Pellnat - Dream in Color

image courtesy of Erin Pellnat

Dream in Color is a four-song EP by Brooklyn, NY-based singer-songwriter Erin Pellnat that blends superior compositional craftsmanship, with insightful lyrics and tasteful musicianship. This talented young musician also currently fronts the NYC-based band Caretaker, with all instruments played, and the recording produced, by her father and co-writer Christopher Pellnat.

“Blue Skies and Happiness” opens the album where a jazzy samba-like rhythmic undercurrent sets the stage for a tale of love gone wrong. Based on Irving Berlin’s 1926 standard “Blue Skies,” Pellnat’s song reveals a touch of gray, with the opening lines: “Blues skies and happiness/Those were your promises/But it’s been raining for days and I’m so sad/Why does it have to be so bad?” This bossa nova-flavored  track kind of has an Eliane Elias meets Jobim quality to it.

Erin Pellnat

photo courtesy of Erin Pellnat

The title track “Dream in Color” is another slice from the songwriter’s collective pie. It’s kind of psychedelic folk, with a “glass half-full” perspective. Pellnat urges the listener to consider accentuating the positive aspects of life, with these opening lines: “Think fast, faster than you can haul ass/Away from your deep and dark past/Silence the voices and ask/Why don’t you dream in color?” She sings it with such laconic and self-assured conviction, how can you refuse?

“Stay” spotlights another interesting song construction that features lilting Beatles-esque verses paired with a waltz-like chorus. The spirit of this piece is ethereally poetic, with a subtle British folk rock quality to it. The violin and accordion are nice touches and add to the song’s allure and mystique.

Erin Pellnat

photo courtesy of Erin Pellnat

“Forever Kisses” finds Pellnat ever the hopeless romantic again, with the lines: “No love is lost in the end/Whether a lover or friend.” The tender folk song is driven by an odd-metered snare drum and atypical chord changes. This all adds to the eclectic and unique nature of the tune. She concludes the piece and this superb set of songs with words that are as prophetic as they are profound: “Why can’t we stay the same?/Young and beautiful again?”

With this being a debut release for the versatile and erudite singer, there is nowhere to go but up, as they say. Consider, if you will, some thoughtful and sophisticated pop that elevates the genre. It takes you, the listener, on a wonderful path that is least travelled and well worth the journey.

Album Review: Gretchen Peters – The Essential Gretchen Peters

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Gretchen Peters

photo by Gina Binkley; photo courtesy of Gretchen Peters Management

by Eric Harabadian, Contributing Blogger

Album Review of Gretchen Peters: The Essential Gretchen Peters (Scarlet Letter Records)

Gretchen Peters has been on the national music scene since 1996. She is a singer-songwriter who has plied her trade recording nearly a dozen albums and has written hits for Martina McBride, Etta James, Trisha Yearwood, Patty Loveless, George Strait, Anne Murray, Shania Twain, and Neil Diamond and has co-written with Bryan Adams. So, this album – a collection of demos, live tracks, alternate takes and album cuts – has been a long time coming.

Gretchen Peters - The Essential Gretchen Peters

cover photo by Gina Binkley; image courtesy of Gretchen Peters Management

When you’ve got such a prolific composer and performer as Peters, there is a wealth of material to draw from. Perhaps the greatest takeaway from experiencing Peters’ music is that there is a timeless quality to it. A classic song has staying power and can really speak to the heart and soul of the listener. That’s the kind of gift Peters has. You can hear it in the barroom banter of friends trying to define their purpose in “The Meaning of Life” or dealing with life’s futile struggles in “When All You Got is a Hammer.” There are also beautiful love songs that span the human condition from the longing of “On a Bus to St. Cloud” to her duet with Bryan Adams, “When You Love Someone.”

Gretchen Peters

photo by Gina Binkley; photo courtesy of Gretchen Peters Management

What’s really remarkable is that many of the songs on this two-disc package have been major and minor hits for many other people. But it’s nothing like hearing a master storyteller like Peters deliver them with her own inimitable candor and poise. She knows how to wrap an emotion around a lyric and make it come alive. She has a sincerity in her voice that’s not unlike Dolly Parton or Bonnie Raitt, sweet but with a knowing world-weariness to it. And it is that very sincerity that informs the self-reflective “Five Minutes” and the personally empowered “Woman on the Wheel,” with just the right amount of gusto and grit to get the message across.

To paraphrase a video interview seen a few years ago, she could be sitting at home writing songs and collecting hefty royalty checks for them. But thankfully she has always stayed true to her muse to be a performer as well as a writer. Hence, she writes from a place of experience and is compelled to complete the circle by going out there and playing those songs for people. With The Essential you have the Gretchen Peters story… so far. Here’s to her continuing that musical journey for many years to come.

 

 

Album Review: Circuline – Counterpoint

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Circuline

photo by Rob Shannon of http://fotopic.com/; photo courtesy of Circuline

by Eric Harabadian, Contributing Blogger

Album Review of Circuline: Counterpoint (Inner Nova Music)

Circuline is a NYC-based progressive rock band that blends theatrical vocals with a very vivid and cinematic fusion-esque approach. The personnel includes keyboardist Andrew Colyer, drummer/keyboardist Darin Brannon, lead vocalist Natalie Brown, lead vocalist/guitarist William “Billy” Spillane, bassist Paul Ranieri, and guitarist Beledo. What’s nice is that they augment the ten tracks here with a series of special guest guitarists from some of the finest progressive sources on the planet. And, to the band’s credit, those guest artists add something extra and unique to each track.

Circuline - Counterpoint

image courtesy of Circuline

“New Day” opens the disc, with a sound collage of musical snippets and taped speaking voices. Atop that is a cacophony of multi-layered guitars courtesy of Beledo and Randy McStine of the band Lo-Fi Resistance.

Guest guitarist Doug Ott, of the band Enchant, and Fright Pig’s Alek Darson trade off solos and ornamental riffs on the personally reflective track “Who I Am.” This cut kind of sets the pace for the inventive and eclectic pace of this disc.

Circuline

photo by Rob Shannon of http://fotopic.com/; photo courtesy of Circuline

“Hollow” is a standout track that not only features great vocal harmonies from Brown and company but puts a spotlight on Colyer’s Keith Jarrett-like melodic fluidity. The lyrics are quite insightful, as well, and could be applied to what’s going on in society at the moment: “Rest your head… no one said it would be easy to change the ways of the land… casting your lines from sinking sand. I don’t want to follow you. I don’t want your hollow view.”

Circuline

photo by Rob Shannon of http://fotopic.com/; photo courtesy of Circuline

“Stay (Peter Frankenstan)” is another highlight that features guest guitarist Stanley Whitaker of Oblivion Sun and Happy the Man fame. This track has a very Pat Metheny/Jeff Beck kind of quality to it atop jungle-induced rhythms. In it, the futility and fragility of life is discussed, with dynamic vocals from Brown that reach the stratospheric range.

Just like the movie, their song “Inception” is abstract in content and execution, with crazy drums and a trance-like mid-tempo feel. Glass Hammer’s guitarist Alan Shikoh adds tasteful depth to Beledo’s lead guitar riffs.

Circuline

photo by Rob Shannon of http://fotopic.com/; photo courtesy of Circuline

“Summit” closes the disc with a smooth, mid-tempo, swinging groove. Colyer’s creative comping behind Sound of Contact guest guitarist Matt Dorsey is textbook in how it’s done.

Counterpoint is an album that works well on a number of fronts: as a collection of individual songs, as a compendium of some of the best and brightest in progressive music today, and as a soundtrack to your adventurous musical and spiritual soul.

Album Review: Richard Palmer-James – Takeaway

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by Eric Harabadian, Contributing Blogger

Album Review of Richard Palmer-James: Takeaway (Primary Purpose Records)

Musician Richard Palmer-James may not be that proverbial “household name” one thinks of in recording artist circles, but he has quite a colorful pedigree. He was a founding member of Supertramp and probably had some of his greatest international success as a lyricist working with British band King Crimson on three of their key albums. The singer-songwriter collaborated with long-time associate bassist John Wetton on the King Crimson releases Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Starless and Bible Black, and Red.

Richard Palmer-James: Takeaway

image courtesy of Glass Onyon PR

According to Palmer-James himself, “ Having spent the last few decades writing words for other people to sing, and thus being obliged to comply with the ambitions and sensibilities of others, I wanted to present a collection of songs that are uncompromisingly my own.” And on his latest solo effort Takeaway, that’s exactly what he’s done. Armed with his trusty arsenal of guitars, mandolin, and words, Palmer-James gets back to his roots. Vivid storytelling draped in flourishes of blues and folk-oriented rock is the order of the day. This is music for grown-ups; sophisticated, yet never snobby or pretentious.

Takeaway is a collection of songs that seem very cinematic and stand alone as little “movies” in and of themselves. The lead track “Aerodrome” depicts a dichotomy of past wartime versus modern time where an aircraft hangar, which once housed fighter planes, now serves as a venue for trance or rave parties. In it Palmer-James sings, “Sad to say the world we knew went down in flames… you’ll understand it’s hard to understand your fun and games.” In two lines he summarizes a generational divide to a T. The next tune, “A Very Bad Girl,” is a rousing blues-tinged rocker with a wry and clever lyrical twist. Here he takes the position of initially criticizing this “bad” girl’s behavior but actually has more in common with her than first realized. There are also songs like “Dance for Me” which, on the surface, seems like an innocuous folk song about cutting loose but appears to have a deeper side that deals with persevering in the face of adversity.

Palmer-James is joined on this album by a crack unit of, primarily, German musicians from Munich, where the British singer-songwriter has resided for many years. Co-producer Evert van der Wal does a great job of capturing his mellow honey-dripped tenor voice to perfection. As a result, his vocals add a tinge of vulnerability and world-weariness to many of the subjects in his songs. It’s a performance style he’s obviously crafted after years of singing in pubs, taverns, and intimate spaces. And, perhaps, that is exactly Richard Palmer-James’ appeal, that you will listen to his words and delivery and feel like you’re connecting and sharing a drink with a very dear friend.

 

Album Review: Brett Newski – Land Air Sea Garage

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Brett Newski

photo by Emma McEvoy; photo courtesy of Reybee, Inc.

Album Review of Brett Newski: Land Air Sea Garage

Brett Newski‘s music combines ’90s/’00s pop-rock singing and songwriting, a punk attitude, and a coffeehouse delivery style to form a catchy, engaging, understated-yet-rich sound that would comfortably fill an auditorium. He’s simultaneously unique and familiar. Think Matchbox 20’s songwriting with Green Day’s attitude and a hint of a nod to Wally Pleasant’s offbeat delivery, perhaps a little more oddly unique than Barenaked Ladies. And damn, the songs on Land Air Sea Garage are catchy.

There is a great deal of detail in Brett’s songwriting, and if you pay attention to lyrics on this disc you’ll learn the following three things, and probably more, from his songs: 1) There must be at least two Mollies; 2) Girls with purple hair are the arbiters of who is and isn’t cool; and 3) “Post-normal” is a fun self-descriptor, and we should really all consider using that phrase more often.

Brett Newski - Land Air Sea Garage

image courtesy of Reybee, Inc.

The most surprising thing about the song production on Land Sea Air Garage may be how Brett’s able to maintain the purity-of-rawness of his stripped-down music while recording it with such lush, rich, room-filling sound.

The album opens with a raw-alt-folky-rock explosion via the energetic mid-tempo “Garage.” That’s followed by a jog to the mildly hauntingly eerie “Stranger,” suggesting a little Americana influence, mostly by way of a surf guitar-esque edge in spots, at least to the degree someone like Chris Isaak might mix that with alt-pop-rock.

Indeed, Brett maintains his central musical persona throughout the album, with various external influences making cameos, resulting in a cohesive, complete disc with more than enough variance from song-to-song to keep it interesting across dozens of listens.

The most noticeable song on the disc, of course, is “D.I.Y.” It’s the song that most reminds me of Wally Pleasant, with its lyrical cleverness drawing a vivid picture in each verse. The song also leaves the listener to wonder why Brett uses the f-word freely repeatedly in the chorus but swallows it in one verse. This traack simultaneously embraces and critiques D.I.Y./punk/alt-music culture throughout, including an amusing nugget referencing Modest Mouse. And wow, it’s a monster earworm! I guarantee, within a listen or two, you’ll be singing along to this one.

Brett Newski

photo by Emma McEvoy; photo courtesy of Reybee, Inc.

Also interesting is “Molly,” a love-gone-wrong warning tale in which Brett creeps along wistfully throughout the verses before belting out its faster-tempo, jangly “damaged goods” chorus and building in power through the end. It’s a great song-tempo format when done this well, one I’d expect to conclude with an out-of-breath exhale at a live performance.

“Bending Spoons & Skipping Prayers,” a mild-manneredly rambunctious number, is also worth noting because it utilizes a recurring Neil Diamond/”Sweet Caroline”-ish sing-along segment that jumped out at me as something special during my very first listen.

But my enduring personal favorite seems to be “Barcelona.” The song itself is simply a mid-tempo, strumming, alt-pop-rocker with some well-placed orchestration. But it’s well-written and just hooky enough to grow on the listener. It wasn’t an early favorite, but now, after several dozen listens, it’s the tune I most often sing along to. I’d rate it “most likely to still be a favorite in ten years.”

Seriously, though, the whole disc is strong, including the songs I didn’t mention by name. One of those may well end up being your personal favorite.

Land Air Sea Garage was my introduction to Brett Newski’s music. The album showcases his meticulous attention to detail when crafting his songs (in such a way that it’s supposed to seem he didn’t try very hard), his awareness of the importance of a subtely great hook if a song is to withstand multiple listens, and his comfortably mainstream-yet-quirky delivery. It leaves me hoping to catch him on tour and anxiously awaiting his next release. I suspect his longtime fans are just as satisfied by this disc.

Looking Ahead

From clicking the “Tour” tab on Brett’s website, it looks like he has a few shows lined up this month (March 8th in Youngstown, OH; March 11th in Pittsburgh, PA; March 12th in Fort Wayne, IN; and March 15th in Madison, WI) before heading to SXSW in Austin March 15th-18th. That’s followed by a March 24th through April 12th tour of South Africa. And on April 28th, he’s releasing his next album. So spin Land Air Sea Garage with impunity because there’s a new album coming to replace it soon. (“Join it.” Not “replace it”; “join it.” You’ll be allowed to keep this one, too.)