Wooden Nickel ------Spins------CD of the Week $9.99 BACKTRACKS Every Marilyn Manson Bob Marley & The Wailers has released since 2000’s Catch a Fire (1973) has painted him into an awkward corner: without a tragic controversy With its single “Stir It Up,” this re- like the Columbine massacre to cre- cord introduced reggae music into the atively fuel his distaste for American mainstream during the early FM rock n’ media and culture, his relevance roll radio days. Bob Marley’s major label dwindles as he tries to generate controversy of his own that actually debut featured Bunny Wailer and Peter ends up making him sound desperate. While Born Villain is unlikely Tosh and blended African/Jamaican per- to fully revitalize his career, at least now he sounds like he’s fighting cussions with the groovy keyboards, mel- to remain relevant in an evolving culture that has long overlooked low and Marley’s own soothing vocals. him. It may be no longer interesting to hear his signature moans, Political and unapologetic, the album oozed with soul and re- groans and grunts covering topics like death, lust and being inhu- flection at a time when Jamaica had earned its independence less $11.99 man, among other Gothic oddities, but the rejuvenated music sounds than a decade earlier. like a best-of compilation of his post-Columbine . The Wailers weren’t the first to do it, but along with Jimmy Let’s face it, 2009’s was a indeed a low. Cliff and Toots Hibbert, they were among the first reggae bands to Old buddy/bandmate may have returned to the fold, reach a global audience. but the music was still disappointingly limp. Manson acted as the The album opens with “Concrete Jungle,” an endearing but If modern has a genuine crooner a la grumpy old man caricature growling at mindless teenagers blasting dark that musically has some of the bluesiest guitars ever Bing Crosby or Perry Como, it would have to be their loud rap music and was alarmingly unoriginal as he stretched heard in reggae up to that point. “Slave Driver” slows things Rufus Wainwright. The son of folk singers Loudon down with the background vocals that coo behind the track for Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle has been the same stale ideas shamelessly thin over 72 minutes. The lyrics in called “the greatest on planet” by no Born Villain are also guilty of these traits, but at least Manson acts about three minutes, as does the gritty “400 Years,” where Tosh less an authority on the subject than . his age, and the album knows when to stop before the audience gets takes over on vocals. Critics are calling Out of the Game his best work thoroughly bored and alienated. Side two opens with the familiar “Stir it Up” and then moves ever, which is saying a lot for the guy who made To hear like “Hey, Cruel World …” and “Overneath the on to the funky “Kinky Reggae,” a song that still resonates and is the classics and . Get Out of Path of Misery” early on in Born Villain is a pleasant assurance that one of my personal favorites 40 years later. “No More Trouble” the Game for just $11.99 at any Wooden Nickel those other albums are behind Manson. Okay, maybe not entirely, again hits the peace and love vibe, but doesn’t get in the way of Music Store. as the theme of broken love rears its stale head once more in the the scratchy guitars and beautiful backing vocals. rather embarrassingly sleazy and phallic “Pistol-Whipped.” Tracks Following the success of this album, Marley wanted to tour, TOP SELLERS @ in the middle like “The Gardener,” “Flowers of Evil” and “Children but Tosh and Bunny were inclined to cut another album. This led of Cain” may botch the pacing, but at least the riffs are enjoyable to the eventual breakup of the band, and separate careers evolved Wooden Nickel enough to merit at least one listen. Perhaps the best cut of the al- graciously for the next couple of years. (Week ending 5/6/12) bum is “Murderers Are Getting Prettier Every Day.” Manson’s music Marley died of cancer on May 11, 1981; Tosh was murdered hasn’t sounded this vital in years, and he sounds genuinely angry. in 1987, and Bunny still tours. TW LW ARTIST/Album This is still a Manson-by-numbers album, only this time the Fun Fact: Marley’s 11 children have released over 40 solo 1 1 result is a more cohesive product that almost resembles a full-on records. (Dennis Donahue) Blunderbuss (CD & LP) comeback. But for Manson to celebrate this improvement by cover- ing ’s “You’re So Vain” (likely a diss towards long-time that showcases the many, many different sub-genres White has 2 2 3 frenemy who sampled it himself over 10 years ago played around with over the last decade. I didn’t want a country re- Long Gone Daddy (CD & LP) and is now winning Oscars) is premature, considering his audience cord or a record. I didn’t want a pop record. White can do all 3 2 MARILYN MANSON may overlook him once more and lump Born Villain in with the past those things, absolutely, but it’s not what I want from the man. I want Born Villain couple of Marilyn Manson albums. (Colin McCallister) it all. And damn if I didn’t get exactly what I wanted. Blunderbuss plays through as a true tour de force, packed with so many ideas and 4 7 WARREN HAYNES BAND Jack White moods and heats that I’m almost tempted to call the 13-song collec- Live From The Moody Theater tion his best work since those albums I listed above. Blunderbuss White, like Ryan Adams and , just seems to have the his- 5 – BONNIE RAITT A few weeks ago Jack White tory of rock n’ roll etched on the back of his soul. He can summon Slipstream was featured in a New York Times tiny moments from history and make them his own. He can write exposé written by pop writer Josh songs that feel like classics that should’ve always been. And here he 6 4 HALESTORM does it over and over again, better than he has since he was playing Strange Case of ... Eells. Typed up in support of his then-upcoming debut solo record, to crowds of 50 in and around , and with better musicianship 7 – STORM CORROSION Blunderbuss, the story revealed than ever before (sorry, Megs). He does it better than, dare I say it, Storm Corrosion much about White, framing the ec- anyone else out there right now. Blunderbuss is not just the great centric song-maker as one of the new Jack White offering, it may be the best album of 2012 so far – a 8 – great musical auteurs of his time – the bastard son of , Son record that will be played all year long, over and over again, each Boys & Girls House and Iggy Pop. Then the advance reviews started to roll in – all song revealing itself in different ways, at different times, just like positive and many glowing. “A new classic,” I thought to myself as did when it first hit the public eye a decade ago. A 9 – SILVERSUN PICKUPS my last 13 bucks hit the Wooden Nickel counter on a Friday after- brilliant piece or work from a true genius of his craft, here realized Neck of the Woods noon. Surely. But, before I put the disc in my player, I revisited some better than ever before. The Third Man strikes again, finally. Good thing I had that 13 bucks laying around. (Greg W. Locke) 10 – LIONEL RITCHIE of White’s classic records he made with : White Tuskegee Blood Cells, Elephant and De Stijl, mostly. My favorites. Records that, to me, more or less always felt like solo Jack White albums, es- Bear in Heaven pecially when contrasted against the work he’s done with side proj- Saturday, May 12 • 1 p.m. All-ages • Free I Love You, It’s Cool Live AT OUR North Anthony Store: ects and . Then, finally, I put Blunderbuss in the players and turned the Bear In Heaven create a very HOPE ARTHUR knob to 9.9. Opener “Missing Pieces” felt instantly classic. Familiar. particular kind of music. At first lis- That Jack White sound that sounds both like every great ten, its icy synths, tribal drum beats W/SUNNY TAYLOR & record but also only like Jack White – poppy, Rhodes-driven, with and rather vaguely distant vocals the kind of verses and minor solos that I’ve been longing for put you in a head space not unlike ZACH KERSCHNER ever since Elephant ended the classic run. The man’s best song in Rick Deckard’s in Philip K. Dick’s 3627 N. Clinton • 484-2451 … well, ages. The next track, “,” also feels instantly 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of 3422 N. Anthony • 484-3635 like classic-era Stripes. The rip, the howl, the forever youthful mind. Electric Sheep? Is what you’re hear- 6427 W. Jefferson • 432-7651 White sings a John Hughes-like story of boy and girl, stocked with ing what you’re really hearing? You’re supposed to think one thing, We Buy, Sell & Trade Used CDs, LPs & DVDs guilt and sadness and loneliness. The riffs and howls carry to the end, but end up being drawn in a completely different direction. And like www.woodennickelmusicfortwayne.com another White classic. Two in a row. Hot damn. What I was hoping for was an eclectic, yet cohesive set of songs Continued on page 9 8------www.whatzup.com------May 10, ’12 SPINS - From Page 8 Deckard, the line drawn between what you think is in and out of the arrangement beautifully. It contains a real and what isn’t becomes all the more indistinc- couple interesting lines, “I can’t be honest with myself Upcoming FREE Event tive. / no, I wouldn’t believe a word I say,” a paradoxically Brooklyn’s Bear In Heaven make music that is honest statement. Whatever those lines mean to the at Sweetwater both longing and content, sometimes even in the same band, they are a smart snippet of language to hang on song. With their last album, the excellent Beast Rest to and make meaning of for ourselves. Forth Mouth, Jon Philpot, Adam Wills and Joe Stick- Delta Spirit is a fantastic effort in which the band ney made songs out of blocks of big drums, droning achieves the promise that their earlier work suggested synths and a dark collage of lyrics both vague and la- they were capable of. (Steve Henn) ser direct about both the pain and pleasure of love, loss and that feeling that at any minute it could all go away. Curren$y Never leaving the shadows, that record was doom and the crackling of a distant emotional storm. But never Muscle Car Chronicles did it pander to anyone. Philpot and company did ex- Here’s where actly what they wanted to do. history repeats itself With I Love You, It’s Cool Bear In Heaven haven’t once again, and in an so much changed the story as moved on to another obvious but reason- chapter. There’s more of a 80s dance feel to this re- ably interesting way. cord. Juno synths, new wave drum beats and an al- Another ambitious most positive lean has taken over in Philpot’s delivery emcee, bored with his of the lyrics Songs like “The Reflection of You,” “Sin- mastery of the hip-hop genre and hungry for wide- ful Nature” and “Kiss Me Crazy” take you on a jour- spread acclaim and/or a new challenge, decides to ney through dance clubs and raves, searching through make a rock record. Or is it a rap-rock record? Or is it crowds of sweating 20-somethings looking for a set of Saturday, May 12 at Noon just another rap record with a band playing the music longing eyes wanting a connection. A soul in search instead of a producer piecing together the track? Or of love, or lust, all the while the pulsating soundtrack is it someone else’s project that an emcee somehow pushes you onwards. got roped into? Produced by Sean O’Connell and sup- But all is not strobe lights, neon colors and getting posedly featuring an accompanying film that’s some- Rich Redmond’s lost into the rhythm. “World of Freakout” brings back how linked to the music, Muscle Car Chronicles is that undercurrent of dread that gives you the impres- billed as the new record from NOLA-based emcee sion that not all is what it seems. “Warm Water” and Curren$y. It supposedly features Mars Volta drum- CRASH Course for Success “Space Remains” continue that downward spiral into mer Thomas Pridgen and musician Robert E. Corri- doubt until album closer, “Sweetness and Sickness,” gan, among others, and was recorded back in 2010, engulfs the listener into a droning, echo-filled end. before Curren$y’s breakthrough release, , hit Much like those replicants that Philip K. Dick record store shelves. (Some claim the album is more C.R.A.S.H. wrote about, this record looks and sounds like one O’Connell’s project than Curren$y’s, but Curren$y, thing but underneath is completely something else. All being the named artist, gets the headline.) Commitment. Relationships. Attitude. Skill. Hunger. the shimmer and shine and dance beats and driving O’Connell’s arrangements throughout feel live synths can’t hide what these songs truly are: nothing and jazzy, with sprinkles of funk, rock and hip-hop more than the search for those eyes that are search- tossed about for good measure. Like Curren$y’s last What to Expect from Rich Redmond’s ing for your own. Love, lust. A human connection. Or few records, all of which have been, to varying de- CRASH Course for Success: something close to it. (John Hubner) grees, quite great, MCC is a short, concise album full t&YUFOTJWFESVNNJOHQFSGPSNBODFTBOEJNQSPWJTFETPMPT of short songs and clever rhymes. Nine tracks, most t#FIJOEUIFTDFOFTBDDPVOUTPG/BTIWJMMFTUVEJPTFTTJPOT Delta Spirit under the two-minute mark, make up the meat of the t)PXUPNBOBHFUIFSFBMJUJFTPGCFJOHBQSPGFTTJPOBMUPVSJOH Delta Spirit release. If you purchased the download of the record on iTunes (the only way the record seems to be avail- and recording musician On their epony- able thus far, though a physical release is planned) for mous new release, 12 bucks you also get a 10-song original album from members of Delta O’Connell that sounds nothing like the Curren$y disc. Rich is currently on tour with Jason Aldean, and he’s making a Spirit claim to have fi- It sounds like the kind of wimpy that the special stop here in Fort Wayne for this special event! A rst-call nally found the sound kids in Juno listened to and helps to explain the often session drummer and percussionist based in Nashville, Rich has they are looking for. lifeless sound of MCC’s production. An odd pairing, toured and recorded with a who’s-who list of amazing musicians, The instrumentation certainly. Most listeners interested in this including Bryan Adams, Lit, Jewel, Hank Williams III, and many often sounds like an record, though, will buy it because they like the last others. Rich has said, “My life’s purpose is to entertain, motivate, attempt at creating an Americana “,” few Curren$y releases, and I can’t blame ’em, as he’s and inspire all the people of the world through the beauty and with driving but often fairly simple rhythms and the the by-far best thing to come out of the NOLA hip- power of musical drumming.” We’re proud to be able to invite sometimes soaring, sometimes gritty, sometimes in- hop movement of the last 90s, early 2000s. Better than you to Rich’s C.R.A.S.H. Course for Success! trospective vocal delivery of Matt Vasquez giving lit- Master P. Better than Lil’ Wayne. By a lot. eral meaning to a collection of songs that are undoubt- MCC doesn’t quite work as well as one might edly heartfelt and meant to be delivered passionately hope. There’s an overly tossed-off vibe throughout the ...Success in the music business & life! Vasquez follows through with passionate delivery nine cuts, as if Curren$y and O’Connell were not ever on every tune, while the dynamic rise and fall of the quite sure what they were doing in a room together. instrumentation behind him reminds me of any of the The music feels a little too live-in-studio for the genre, many great Pixies songs, except with much more lit- and Curren$y’s typically polished swagger comes off eral, straightforward lyrics. One of the most touching as sleepy, even a little uncomfortable. Unconvinced, Register for this special event at songs, one that is softer than most of the hard-driving even. That said, the results are far better than, say, Lil’ www.sweetwater.com/local/events/. tracks on the album, is “” in which Vasquez Wayne’s rock record. Or most live band experiments claims, “I want you to move to California for your- done by hip-hop artists not called The Roots. self / I want you to find whatever your heart needs,” So no, this is not another great Curren$y disc, and in a bittersweet breakup song where he wishes a past thus we don’t really see ads for the album, or even love well. The track that follows, “Idaho,” is a fantas- reviews. As I write this review the scheduled physi- tic tune that recounts being on the road with the band cal copies of the record still don’t appear to exist. where “some say that sleep’s for dreamers /we pack It’s a quiet release that wraps up the emcee’s career- up our things and make our way to the theater /the changing contract with Damon Dash’s mostly failing suits, they dropped the ball again / we’ll pass the hat DD172 subsidiary. And, I suppose, it’s a lead-in re- and make another plan.” lease for O’Connell, a seemingly mediocre songwriter One of the more cryptic tunes lyrically is “Other- whom I hear Dash really, really believes in. Most of Call (260) 432–8176 side.” Characteristically, it is carried by the vocalizing Continued on page 23 or visit Sweetwater.com. even as all the instrumentation backing Vasquez dives May 10, ’12------www.whatzup.com------9 SPINS - From Page 9 us, though, are just waiting for the upcoming Pilot Talk III, style is set firmly in that Phil Spector “wall of sound,” with leased as two separate LPs before seeing a single-disc CD set for release on a new label later this year. And, until that Brian Wilson’s knack for “pocket symphony” beauty. release. Both volumes are 40 minutes long and consist of 13 disc hits our speakers, I suppose Muscle Car Chronicles is a The highlight here is “The First Time I Ran Away.” Gen- and 15 short, dusty pop songs, respectively. Presley, like Jack good enough way to kill a little time. (G.W.L.) tle acoustics and echoed “oohs” with a distant pedal steel set White in the early naughts, has a sound that comes directly the tone of this narrative of leaving home and the inevitable from the countless records released in the 60s, M. Ward homecoming. This is the type of music M. Ward was born to both the obscure nuggets and radio gold. Like classic GBV, write and play. Tracks like “Primitive Girl,” “Sweetheart” the tracks feel slightly messy and often lo-fi, with little bot- A Wasteland Companion (with Zooey) and “I Get Ideas’”veer too close to his work tom end and a focus on simple pop structure and economy of M. Ward is an interest- with She And Him and Monsters Of Folk. His mastery in sound. Presley adds his flair for sloppy but impressive solos ing individual. He seems to the studio can become more of a gimmick than an asset, but to many of the tracks, howling away in a manner that re- be -to guy when indie when he’s sitting in front of a microphone with an acoustic minds of an early-90s Stephen Malkmus. Fractured and dis- supergroups need a fourth guitar in hand, M. Ward becomes the artist he’s meant to be. jointed, but also not that different than the kind of solo you’d member. He’s got the gig A Wasteland Companion doesn’t break new ground. It hear on records by The Sonics or even early Kinks. with Zooey, as the Him to doesn’t resonate with the immediacy that albums like Post- Clearly a man on a determined, inspired and romantic her She. He produces beau- War and Transistor Radio did. But M. Ward over the years creative streak, Presley claimed to have 60 of these lo-fi tiful country blues-inflected, has become a more consistent maker of records. With you gems completed before he arranged his final tracklist. He cut pop that sounds simultaneously timeless and can write and record songs like “Crawl After You,” “Wild that collection in half to form the CD version of the album modern. You would think he would always be in the company Goose” and the aforementioned “The First Time I Ran and then cut it in half again to make up the two LP volumes. of some indie superstar pals or doe-eyed American Apparel Away,” you don’t need to explain yourself. Just play your Some songs are quiet and gentle and folk-influenced; some model types. But listening to his new album, A Wasteland them. The world will listen. (J.H.) are psychedelic and drugged out and weird. But most are Companion, it seems to be more the opposite. He sounds just retro-sounding, home-recorded pop songs that match the alone yet content, waiting for the end of the world with an White Fence modest but effective production value of Elliott Smith’s first acoustic guitar in his hands. Family Perfume, Vol. 1 & 2 three solo records. At his best, M. Ward creates these sonic landscapes you I don’t love every single track in this epic drag, but I do can easily get lost in – melancholy, sometimes morose, but Possibly named after enjoy most of them very much. They’re gentle, understated always a beautiful walk on some desolate beach. At his worst, the classic East L.A. street gems that feel both personal and universal. Epic but minor. M. Ward can sound like an indie rock Jack Johnson – overly gang, retro-psych-- Subtle, timeless pop tracks that – excuse me here – hold the enamored with the musical past, so much so that you feel ers White Fence, led by – spirit of rock n’ roll in a way we rarely hear in 2012. A re- you’re listening to a tribute album as opposed to an album of and more or less consisting cord to live with and treasure. In closing, I leave you with a original music. When someone is as musically talented as M. solely of – Timothy Presley few words about White Fence from Presley’s biggest fan, Ty Ward, you want so much more from him. His best attributes (Strange Boys, Darker My Segall himself: “This [album] is not a joke. This is the hit far outweigh the worst, fortunately. Love), seem determined to factory. This is the eye. This is another planet. And hurry up, He is at his absolute best with an acoustic guitar in his break out in 2012, first re- cause this perfume ain’t available at no Macy’s.” (G.W.L.) hand and beautiful melody following his words. Songs like leasing a collaborative album with garage hero Ty Segall and Send new CD releases to 2305 E. Esterline Rd., “Clean Slate,” “Wasteland Companion” and “Pure Joy” are now offering up an impressive double album called Family Columbia City, IN 46725. It is also helpful to send bio infor- Ward at his absolute best – beautifully plucked acoustic, his Perfume, Vol 1 & 2 on up-and-coming indie imprint Wood- mation, publicity photos and previous releases, if available. whispered vocals and harmonies rising above the melan- sist Records. Sorry, but whatzup will review only full-length, profession- choly to put you in a different frame of mind. His production Made for the LP format, Family Perfume was first re- ally produced CDs. Looking for a Band?

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