STACK #156 Oct 2017

MUSIC REVIEWS

visit stack.com.au

Rick Price & Jack Jones California Dreaming To everything there is a season. And what a magical combination this is – two guys who can sing like angels with a songbook that’s second to none. Rick Price and Jack Jones, two Aussies who now call America home, are taking a trip to the West Coast, revisiting easy listening anthems from the ’60s and ’70s with heavenly harmonies. The songs tell a compelling tale of success and excess and how the counter- culture became corporate, with the hippie dream going from Take It Easy to Running On Empty . Jones and Price’s take on Joni Mitchell’s Both Sides, Now is something to behold, while Jones was born to sing Heart of Gold . (Sony) Jeff Jenkins

Joe Bonamassa Live At Carnegie Hall: An Acoustic Evening

Eilen Jewell Down Hearted Blues Can a white girl from Boise Idaho sing the blues? Well

Richard Thompson Acoustic Classics II

Richard Thompson, one of the pioneers of British folk/rock, has released this second collection of acoustic versions of songs from his back catalogue. Casting a wide net that includes songs from Fairport Convention (the band he co-founded in 1967), selections from celebrated '70s albums with then-wife Linda, and many of his subsequent solo albums, Thompson cements his place as an absolute master of guitar-based story telling, with a full band playing electric or solo and unplugged. If you're unfamiliar with Richard Thompson's work, this album is a good place to start. (Plane/MGM) Billy Pinnell

This is Bonamassa's 22nd solo album release (on two CDs) in the last 15 years, recorded in January 2016 with an entirely acoustic nine-piece band. What's different about these performances is the line-up the singer/ guitarist has assembled; along with familiar collaborators pianist Reese Wynans and drummer Anton Fig, you'll find acclaimed Chinese cellist Tina Guo, Egyptian percussionist Hossam Ramzy, multi-instrumentalist Eric Bazilian and three Australian vocalists: Mahalia Barnes, Juanita Tippens and Gary Pinto. Highlights include Bonamassa and Guo sparring on Woke Up Dreaming , Wynan's piano intro to Jethro Tull's Locomotive Breath as a precursor to This Train , and Bonamassa's singing on two covers, Hummingbird and The Rose . (Only Blues) Billy Pinnell

heck she can. That’s what Eilen Jewell had to convince herself of before recording a blues album – after all, this is the genre that ignited her to make music in the first place. She says it was “like digging for buried treasure,” and found herself 12 vintage blues gems by the obscure to the renowned, including Willie Dixon, Memphis Minnie, Charles Sheffield and Betty James. With her extraordinary band and her brilliant voice, these blues tunes are given new life with her unique country/ blues/folk sound. (Signature Sounds/Redeye) Denise Hylands

Bully Losing Alicia Bognanno's gorgeous howl is swooping in to land like a sun-kissed, bloody-beaked buzzard. The former producer and her bandmates, Clayton COMING UP

Here're a few more gems you can expect from the music stork later this month and into November.

Mavis Staples If All I Was Was Black Here's what Grammy-winner, R&B queen and all over icon Mavis Staples has to say about her new album: “It's the compassion that I feel. I want you to feel that same compassion… You can't stop me. You can't break me. I'm too loving.” If All I Was Was Black is produced by Jeff Tweedy (Wilco) and it's due out November 17 through ANTI.

Parker and Reece Lazarus, are set to release the sharply written and meticulously engineered (obviously) pop- punk treasure Losing on October 20 via Inertia.

St Vincent Masseducation Multi-instrumentalist and your #1 crush Annie Clark, AKA St. Vincent, will be releasing her sixth studio album on October 15 via Lorna Vista/Caroline. If you love her you probably already knew that, but did you know JB is stocking Masseducation in hot pink vinyl? As if you don't need it; pre-order now.

Weezer Pacific Daydream Remember when Weezer and LCD

Soundsystem both released new songs 24 hours apart last month? That was a good day. Well, LCD delivered big time, and we don't think Weezer are going to drop their end of the bargain with Pacific Daydream . The album's due out October 27 via Atlantic/Warner.

Taylor Swift Reputation Just in case you forgot: Schwifty is following up her insanely decorated 2014 release 1989 with sixth studio record Reputation , out November 10 through Universal. My Magic 8-Ball says all signs point to another wildly successful album cycle for the pop star.

Jeremy Neale Getting The Team Back Together Jeremy Neale is the former frontman for Brisbane group Velociraptor. He's also extremely good half-smiling as well as writing barefaced, jaunty pop. He's releasing his debut solo record on November 3 via Dot Dash/ Remote Control Records. ZKR

jbhifi.com.au

OCTOBER 2017

068