Of Note: CD Reviews

San Diego native Curtis Peoples boosts his ascension up the cluttered Hollywood pop chain with his self-titled debut album. The 10-track album, produced by Marshall Altman (Matt Nathanson, Kate Voegele, Marc Broussard), pops off with the Tom Petty-analogous "Back Where I Started" and wraps up with predictably titled "Exit Scene." But in between the pseudo cover and hackneyed conclusion, Peoples unfurls a simple yet fluidly crafted pop compilation, predominantly easy rock in nature, but with funk and folk overtones, and characterized by harmonic choruses and rolling rhythms.

Peoples' musical influences percolate nearly every track, evident by "Holding Me Down," destined to be a radio-friendly smash with its Bon Jovi edge and relational angst-driven lyrics. "Gotta break away if I'm gonna survive/To hell with you, baby, my worst love of all time," capitalizes on the time-tested therapeutic powers of music. Look for "Holding Me Down" bottom feeding on the Billboard.

Or listen for "Tell Me I'm Wrong" (co-written by Tyler Hilton) to become the next theme song for a CW network-produced television show. This funk-laden number possesses the je ne sais quoi essential of contemporary teen series. (Hilton played Chris Keller on the popular show "One Tree Hill" and his song "When It Comes" parlayed as the show's promotional instrument.) Peoples' songs have already turned up on MTV's "NEXT" and NBC's "Last Call with Carson Daly."

The stripped-down "All I Want" plays to Peoples' raw talent as a singer/songwriter, showcases his U2's Bono-like tendencies, and departs from the pure pop. The song leads with a short piano solo and builds with a rhythm guitar and Peoples' vocal range. The bass drum enters the track shortly thereafter and holds the tune steady until Peoples hits the crescendo.

Starting with "All I Want," the backside of the album transitions to a distinctly acoustic-folk resonance and slows in tempo considerably. "Wake Up" speaks to the listener's introspective nature and metaphorically calls for action, rather adeptly as well. "Wake Up" lets the lyrics roam free with just a guitar and drums assisting in their delivery. 

As the album hits predictable neutrality, Peoples delivers a small yet necessary wrinkle with the addition of a subtle female vocal on "Got What I Wanted." This delicate introduction again reinforces Peoples' flexibility and his grasp of crafting songs that, he says, "got to have a little bit of all the things I love..."

Peoples broke into the Hollywood music scene quickly since moving to the City of Angeles, making friends with musicians and fans alike. He is sure to garner more fans and accolades as he embarks upon a national tour with his self-dubbed "coffee shop arena rock," hitting bars and nightclubs from San Diego to New York.  

The unabashedly pop-driven Peoples embraces his radio sound. After the first song, you'll know quickly if you're Peoples' people.

I've been waiting for this a long time. Being one of those collectors who thought he had every recording Hank Williams ever made, I was surprised to learn about eight years ago that Hank did 72 15-minute radio shows on electrical transcription for the Mother's Best Flour Company. Those shows were still in existence (although embroiled in legal entanglements for a long time) and some of them had been bootlegged from time to time, although most had not.

The legal issues have finally been sorted out and these incredible recordings will finally see the light of day, starting with a three-CD set of 54 tracks. Each show had a song by Hank, an instrumental by the Drifting Cowboys, and a gospel trio or quartet by Hank and the boys. The shows also featured pitches for Mother's Best Flour, which included some great repartee by Hank, showing that he was far from the morose figure you might expect from his tragic life story.

Over the course of these shows Hank recorded his own songs but also performed 40 or so songs that he never recorded commercially! Although many of these were other people's songs, once Hank recorded them he owned them. Songs like "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain," "Cherokee Boogie," "Dust on the Bible," "Gathering Flowers for the Master's Bouquet," "Have I Told You Lately That I Love You," "I'll Fly Away," "I'll Sail My Ship Alone," "Lonely Tombs," "I've Got My One Way Ticket to the Sky," "Low and Lonely," "Next Sunday Darling Is My Birthday," "On Top of Old Smokey," "Pins and Needles in my Heart," "Seaman's Blues," "Tennessee Border," "The Blind Child's Prayer," "The Prodigal Son," "You Blotted My Happy Schoolday," and a whole lot more. I've heard a lot of these songs (though not all of them) on low quality MP3s and I can assure you this is Hank at his best.

This box set promises to be the best and most important release of the year and quite possibly the twenty-first century so far. It's been many years in coming and I know I can't wait to get my hands on a copy. Watch out for it.

A labor of love for all involved, Happy Ron's latest opus, Terribly Happy, will go down as his masterpiece, his Sergeant Pepper's if you will. True, his sandpaper vocals and quirky songs, with titles such as "All She Needs Is a Spanking" or "Dickless Wonder," won't be everybody's cup of tea. But anyone who listens will be amazed at the depth of Happy Ron Hill's songwriting.

Keeping the Beatles analogy for a moment, producer Sven-Erik Seaholm is the George Martin of the equation, casting each song in lush arrangements that manage not only to bring out every melodic nuance in these songs, but also to somehow emphasize the sentiment in the lyrics.

A true showcase, the pair have put together a stellar backing band featuring a who's who of San Diego musicians; guest appearances include the Smart Brothers (banjo, guitar, hand drums, backing vocals), Cathryn Beeks (backing vocals), Isaac Cheong (backing vocals), Robin Henkel (bass), and Kelsea Little (harp) of the Wrong Trousers. Topping the cast are Paul Litteral (trumpet) and Paulie Cerra (saxophone) of the Pacific Coast Horns. That's Litteral heard on such hit records as the B-52's "Love Shack," James Brown's "Living in America," and Tom Waits "Rain Dogs" album.

Sonically, the disc reminds me most of Waits, perhaps as scored by Van Dyke Parks, but the bottom line is, this is an old school album, every song loving crafted and avoiding a template of any sort. It's made for listening rather than background audio. Especially effective are the bits of studio chatter and media clips that show up at key points in the proceedings, further immersing the listener in Happy Ron's aural world.

The high point is "No Angel," with a dreamy, impossibly catchy chorus and a sweeping harp that colors a melancholy lament. Seaholm's mellotron work adds just the right amount of tension to the song. It's the closest thing to a single here, the sort of tune that could become a barroom standard.

Contrasts are plenty. There's "Pretty on the Inside," which comes across like a modern day pirate tune, albeit with relationship type lyrics and call and response backing vocals. Terribly Happy also manages to rock a little, with "The Good New Is," having a bit of the seventies Stones about its riffage, the sort of tune that the Dragons could've once blasted out at the Casbah, while "Boy Toy" sounds like a ready-made stadium rocker.

This album is unique and clearly comes from the heart. Perhaps it's a little too quirky for Top 40 play, but Terribly Happy has all the makings of a cult classic.

Kenny Eng's new CD Self Centered is a collection of six songs, arranged mainly around his vocals and acoustic guitar. He has a pleasant voice that is more than up to the task of carrying the melody. He takes an effortless approach to singing, never obscuring the words with overly showy technique. Additional instruments are added for nuance and effect, largely leaving the rhythmic duties to the guitar. Occasional synthesizer washes, light percussion, and subtle cello lines add subliminal texture to the album's uncluttered arrangements. It's all recorded and mixed very nicely, giving emphasis to the most important tracks. Effects are wisely kept to a minimum, preserving the natural sound of the performances. There is a lot of space in the music, allowing it to breathe.

The songs themselves fit squarely into the singer-songwriter category with lyrics that are personal and introspective. Eng makes some interesting choices when it comes to chords and melodies, and it is perhaps these that make the songs distinctive. There is a pleasing flow to the music, even though the songwriting avoids being predictable. The overall sound of the CD is quiet and reflective. One can easily imagine these tunes being performed on the coffeehouse circuit with just the singer and his guitar. The first cut, "Who Says," sounds a bit like an undiscovered song that America might have recorded in their heyday. In fact, the same could probably be said about a number of the songs. I'd be willing to bet that they, along with other classic acoustic acts like James Taylor and Cat Stevens, are influences.

For the most part, the music tends toward a mid-tempo pace, lending the project an easygoing feel, even when the lyrics get a little dark. He can be self-deprecating without being self-pitying. For the most part, one gets the impression that Eng is an observer and commentator on life, searching for meaning where he can find it. One notable song is the brightly wistful "If I See You Again," whose jazz chords and sunny melody bump along at a more sprightly pace. Eng is a solid guitarist who navigates his intricate chord progressions with confidence and fluidity.

While I completely understand where Eng is coming from on an artistic level, I did find myself craving a bit more variety in the arrangements. He and his collaborator Aaron Bowen play directly to the strengths of the music, but in my opinion they might have taken fuller advantage of the studio environment. Light percussion and possibly some bass could have lent an entirely new feel to a couple of the songs. An occasional harmony vocal or instrumental solo could have brought extra dimension to the music. The extra production touches that do exist on the album are good, and I felt they could have gone a little further with them without detracting from the vocal and guitar. However this is only a minor quibble. The choices they made work quite well. This is an easily likeable collection of songs, delivered with earnestness and emotion.

AC/DC have just released their 15th studio album Black Ice, and early reviews have it sounding virtually the same as any other album from the Australian quintet's oeuvre, with its austere salutes to rock 'n' roll and its worldly cynicism (albeit with less thinly veiled sexual innuendo). Rolling Stone journalist Brian Hiatt commends the band's if-it-ain't-broke ethos, positing that by refusing to evolve, AC/DC have remained timeless. Still, it raises the question: What if they had changed or otherwise refined their sound (e.g. if singer Brian Johnson had made less ear-curdling use of his naturally deeper baritone) and how interesting - or even commercially appealing - would the results have been?

Joy of Life has virtually nothing in common with the latest AC/DC record, aesthetically or otherwise, but there is a point: a very evident evolution has occurred since the release of 2003's raggedly puerile, charmingly inept How to Play the Songs of Matt Curreri. And for the most part, that evolution, as reflected in the juxtaposition with this new release (which now finds Curreri killing two birds with one stone backed by his other band the Ex-Friends, featuring creative counterpart and muse Joanie Mendenhall), has been a good thing.

The growth is apparent even before you press play; you'll notice the professional digipak graphic presentation (kudos on the environmentally friendly packaging), giving it the magnanimous look of a sophisticated label release (which it is, actually - from City Salvage Records out of New York).

A lively insouciance and an innocuously wicked sense of humor pervade this radio-ready lot. The heart-on-sleeve songs of life and love, encompassing the Decemberists-meets-Pogues pastiche of hyper-vaudevillian tableaus and indie-rock joyriding, are positively bristling with well-recorded and mastered instrumentation (the vibes and violin on "Old Mistakes" are a gas). And you'll hear Curreri's refined, restrained vocals anchoring tight group harmonies on the title track, "Hope for the Future" and "I'll Be Here."

Fans who have followed Matt's career since How to Play... might wish there was more of the unschooled abandon of his earlier work - especially his frenetic, grass-blade-between-thumbs singing - still present in songs like "Dirty Stayout" and "Happy When I'm Gone." However, if you can find your way past the evolved polish, or you're just getting on board with this particular release, you will be wildly rewarded.

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