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Monday, June 23, 2008
Tom Waits in Houston
Male concertgoers at Houston’s Jones Hall Sunday night sported more non-Stetson headgear than has probably been seen there for decades: Fedoras and trilbies were common; a Mad Hatter number drew no stares.
Tom Waits, the evening’s star, wore a black derby, which he exchanged at a crucial moment late in the show for one covered in mirrored tiles, reflecting shards of spotlight on dazzled fans.
No slouch at stagecraft, he spent most of the evening on a platform covered in dust that exploded whenever he stomped his feet. Hanging behind him was a sculptural array of battered loudspeakers, ranging from an old Victrola soundhorn to the kind of P.A. that delivered announcements on MAS*H.
A little surprisingly, Waits never actually used that display of speakers to make sounds — nor did he sing through the bullhorn at his feet, pound the upturned drum at his side, or wheel a calliope from the wings. He stuck to guitar and piano while supported by a five-piece band that featured an instrumentalist, Vincent Henry, who played not only most of the woodwinds known to man but sometimes — as on a rollicking version of “Way Down in the Hole” — played two saxes at once, Roland Kirk-style.
Taking liberties with familiar tunes and ignoring many fan favorites (there were no “Nighthawks” in this diner, no “Rain Dogs” stalking in from the street), Waits’s set list may have given some ammo to those who feel his growl has grown familiar. But then he’d break out something like “Lie to Me,” in which he hiccupped and wailed astonishingly over the band’s staccato beat, and reminded listeners how often he has surprised those who would pigeonhole his musical style.
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Three great local releases out this week
We profiled these three excellent local albums in the June 12 edition of XL. They hit stores Tuesday morning.
Alejandro Escovedo
‘Real Animal’
(Back Porch/Manhattan/EMI)
He’s never shied from personal albums, but No Depression magazine’s 1990s artist of the decade has never made one this straight-ahead autobiographical. And as such, it’s in the idiom he loves more than any other: straight-ahead, two-guitar, 4/4 rock ‘n’ roll, the kind he made with Rank and File and True Believers and not nearly enough since. In his words, from “Chip ‘n’ Tony”: “All I ever wanted was a four-piece band.” Co-written with Chuck Prophet, “Real Animal” is a grown man’s ode to punk and its discontents, a weirdly successful bid to recapture the sound of kicking out the jams while taking stock of the events that surrounded doing it in the first place. Glam-guru Tony Visconti mans the boards for a sympathetic production job. With its strings, sax and back-up gals, “Sensitive Boys” could be a “Transformer” outtake. (He’s never getting over Lou Reed, is he? Well, most folks don’t.)
“We came to live inside the myth of everything we’d heard,” Escovedo sings on “Chelsea Hotel ‘78.” The date’s important — Escovedo was 27 that year. It’s a cursed age in rock music (Jimi Hendrix, Brian Jones, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and Kurt Cobain are only the most famous of the 27 Club), but Al was just getting warmed up, hurling himself into a life of rock ‘n’ vice he’d only dreamed about.
He’s not adverse to name-dropping either — Neon Leon and “Nancy in her black underwear dead on the bathroom floor” show up in “Chelsea,” Lester Bangs in Austin with the “Vick’s Vapor eyes” shows up in “Chip ‘n’ Tony.” “Real as an Animal” is an ode to Iggy Pop (“Five feet four, trailer park kid”). “Nuns Song” shouts out his old band: “We don’t want your approval /It’s 1978/We know we’re not in tune/We know we’ll never be great.” Nice sentiment, but you can’t help thinking of it as a track from “Al’s Story: The Rock Musical.” Nevertheless, it’s a startlingly alive album from a guy whose life has been written off more than once. Welcome back, rocker.
Recommended: “Always A Friend,” “Sister Lost Soul” and “Nuns Song”
— Joe Gross
Reckless Kelly
‘Bulletproof’
(Yep Roc)
At this point, Reckless Kelly had to make a bold move without losing what they’ve built up over the past 12 years. “Bulletproof” is a statement record: We’re a rock band that writes country songs. And with “American Blood,” the Reckless ones brilliantly stand up for their country, while blasting the Bush administration (“sitting with his feet on the desk, when the boys have got theirs in the sand”). Under a sturdy rock riff tempo, Willy Braun forcefully sings the story of a kid not old enough to drink, yet sent to Iraq to fight. At 23, he’s old enough for booze, but his legs are gone, so he gets drunk and shouts “God bless America, but God (expletive) Uncle Sam!” It’s the most powerful moment in an album full of them.
Musically, R.K. is subtly subversive, although over the long haul of this album (14 tracks) the songs do tend to sound the same. The save man here is guitarist David Abeyta, who sets off the band’s Steve Earle tribute act with stunning guitar fills that sound based more on ’70s arena rock (bet he loves Queen’s Brian May) than on the usual chunk-and-twang such songs receive. When he’s got great material to work with, such as “Love In Her Eyes” and “Ragged As the Road,” Abeyta adds just enough sweetening without getting in the way. When he’s asked to carry a sleepwalker, such as the title track, he rips out an arsenal of swampy riffs that make the tune.
“Bulletproof” is an aggressive album with an anti-war song that outprotests James McMurtry. Even in the most stagnant of subgenres (alt-country), the Kellies strive to remain fresh and when that fails, they have Abeyta to fall back on. It’s a good album, perhaps their best, but it would’ve been better with a bit of the deadwood cut out. Can we somehow pass a city ordinance that limits the number of songs on an album to 12?
Recommended: “American Blood,” “Love In Her Eyes”
— Michael Corcoran
Ian McLagan and the Bump Band
‘Never Say Never’
(Maniac)
Because he’s such a monster keyboardist, best known for backing the likes of Rod Stewart and the Rolling Stones, Ian McLagan is a woefully underrated singer and songwriter. While Stewart is printing money by pillaging the Great American Songbook, it’s the man they call “Mac” who’s following through on the Faces legacy with pub rockers such as “I’m Hot, You’re Cool.”
He’s also finding new styles of tenderness with “An Innocent Man,” an acoustic guitar song about being lost and lonely.
The overall theme of “Never Say Never” is using music as part of the grieving process. (The official release date is June 24, although it’s been available online for awhile.) “Nothing that I can write can help you,” he sings on “Where Angels Hide,” his voice almost breaking. It’s a sad and beautiful song, as is album-closing “When the Crying Is Over,” which is practically a gospel song.
Anybody who ever saw Ian and Kim McLagan together, so perfectly prepared to grow old together, knows that when Kim died in a car accident in 2006, a big part of Mac died, too.
But, as evidenced by this record, which has its light moments with parlor tune “Killing Me With Love” and the naughty, smoky “A Little Black Number,” perhaps a new part of McLagan has shown itself. He’s been to a place we all pray that we’ll never have to visit and somehow he’s getting through it. With his music. With his band. With his friends. With his memories and dreams.
McLagan couldn’t have written “An Innocent Man” three years ago. A minuscule concession, to be sure, but in McLagan’s quest to make sense of the senseless, he’ll help others understand along the way.
Recommended: “Never Say Never, “An Innocent Man,” “A Little Black Number”
— Michael Corcoran
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Boy George denied visa
It looks like there’ll be no “Karma Chamelion” singalong at Stubb’s Aug. 21; the Boy George summer U.S. concert tour is off unless the government has a change of heart..
Here’s the statement from B.G.’s management:
“At the moment, Boy George cannot come to the United States of America because he has been refused permission to enter by the USA Administration. This is not in respect of anything he has done in the past but because he is facing a trial in November in London for something that happened in April last year. George’s lawyers in London have absolutely forbidden us to speak about the facts of that case and all I can say is that George is astounded at the decision and is having lawyers here in the States look at it in the hope that someone will change their mind. George has not been convicted of anything in London and there is a presumption in the Western World of innocence until proven guilty… George really would love to come to America and repay his American fans loyalty and that is why we are asking the US Authorities to reconsider their decision”.
After a history of drug busts, Boy George was arrested for allegedly assaulting and falsely imprisoning a man in his home in East London last April.
Promoter Charles Attal could not be reached immediately. A spokesperson for Frontgate Tickets, which still has the Aug. 21 Boy George show on its schedule, says they’ve not yet been notified that the show is cancelled.
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Musicmania Top 10 for the week ending June 22
Lil’ Wayne ‘Carter III’ (Cash Money)
Plies ‘Definition of Real’ (SlipNslide)
Blood Raw ‘CTE Presents Blood Raw’ (Def Jam)
Bun-B ‘II Trill’ (Rap-A-Lot)
Lucky Luciano ‘Ahead Of My Time’ (Dope House)
Usher ‘Here I Stand’ (LaFace)
Rick Ross ‘Trilla’ (SlipNSlide)
Trae ‘Stretts of the South Pt. 2’ (Oarfin)
Pimp C ‘Greatest Hits’ (Rap-A-Lot)
Big Moe ‘Unfinsihed Business’ (Koch)
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SIMS appreciation event Thursday
Outgoing SIMS Foundation president Sandra Bruce will be feted Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at the mezzanine at Central Market’s 4001 North Lamar Blvd. location. Bruce has led the musicians assistance program for the past three and a half years. She will begin teaching at the University of Texas in the fall and do consulting work.
Live music will be provided by Chris Gates (ex-Big Boys, ex-Junkyard).
To learn more about or make a contribution to the SIMS Foundation, visit the website.
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Waterloo Top 10 for the week ending June 14
Coldplay, “Viva La Vida” (EMI)
My Morning Jacket. “Evil Urges” (ATO)
Grupo Fantasma, “Sonidos Gold” (High Wire Music)
Wolf Parade, “At Mount Zoomer” (Sub Pop)
Fleet Foxes, “Fleet Foxes” (Sub Pop)
James McMurtry, “Just Us Kids” (Lightning Rod)
Emmylou Harris, “All I Intended To Be” (Nonesuch)
Eliza Gilkyson, “Beautiful World” (Red House)
Silver Jews, “Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea” (Drag City)
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, “Raising Sand” (Rounder)
