Of Note: CD Reviews

One of the most deadly adversaries that a music reviewer can face is expectation. If you have heard an artist or heard about them before you get their disc, it can't help but color your observations. In the case of Aaron Bowen's new disc, Supreme Macaroni Co. Ltd., I certainly didn't get what I was expecting and had to adjust my ears in a hurry (but hold on, I didn't say that was a BAD thing!). Prior to hearing this CD, I had seen Bowen perform live once and had also checked out his videos on MySpace. This artist has supreme command of an acoustic guitar and his exciting virtuosity certainly plays a big part in making him an electrifying performer. Naturally, I assumed that the acoustic guitar would take front and center on this recording, but alas, Bowen throws the proverbial curve ball here. While there is certainly some stellar guitar playing here (can this guy fingerpick or what?), there are only a few tracks that really spotlight the guitar and even on those, don't be expecting the kind of "snap your head back" stuff you'll hear live. To be sure, Bowen seems to be veering away from guitar hero territory here, but the good news is that the curve ball he throws us is right over the plate.

Bowen lists Hoagie Carmichael and Brian Wilson as influences. I was also reminded of Tom Waits (without the raspy voice), T-Bone Burnett, and local mainstay Gregory Page as I listened to this stylish, moody music. The approach here seems to be as though a group of street musicians gathered in some Bohemian parlor, opened a bottle of wine, grabbed some acoustic instruments, and played their sad songs until the sun came up. Bowen plays all kinds of instruments from banjo to glockenspiel to toy piano in order to create the right atmosphere. The track that seems to make the best use of this highly stylized approach is "Mr. A," a beautiful tune that paints a vivid word picture of an (almost) love story between two good hearted creatures of the night. "Song #2" also makes for a very effective marriage between the retro/jazzy music and some wonderfully bittersweet lyrics (about how this cold world tends to snuff out most of our more whimsical pursuits and dreams). "The Bird" and "Don't Mind Me" also make for deliciously melancholy offerings, which will have you picturing the artist as a dignified and heartbroken street-busker from another time. The lyrics all throughout this disc are thoughtful, poetic, and downright poignant. Musically, the expertly crafted melodic/harmonic ideas sound fresh but also, somehow, pleasingly familiar. This recording is best enjoyed as a whole and it may take a bit of time for the vibe to rub off on you (and I highly suggest reading the lyrics sheet to catch all the subtleties), but a little patience will pay off big if you let this artist work his magic on you. While this disc isn't the best place to fully experience Aaron Bowen, the guitar wizard, you will certainly be treated to Aaron Bowen the master songwriter, musician, and storyteller. Just make sure your expectations are in check and enjoy this sublime music. If you find yourself jonesin' for a guitar fix, go see Bowen live and I am sure he will oblige.

Dead Rock West is a place buried deep in the California desert that you may only get to in a rusting convertible while Honey and Salt is playing on its aftermarket stereo; once you've thrown all caution to the wind, quit your job, and decided to lay it all on the line for some stranger who may just be "the one."

From the opening chords and dramatic build of "Highway One" to the fading lap steel of "All I Know," Honey and Salt rolls through the peaks and valleys of a vast musical highway, picking up along the way the best of the mid to late nineties adult alternative Americana acts (Wallflowers, Jayhawks, and Counting Crows) while leaving the yawn factor on the side of the road with the tumbleweed.

There isn't anything new or hip about this disc, but this is not to say it is at all boring or passé. From start to finish it is an interesting listen, which is more than can be said about many things new or hip. Just when you think you've got Dead Rock West pegged, you're surprised by the Beatles-esque harmonies of "Desert Rose," the June-and-Johnny style duet of "Boredom (How Did I Get Here)," the R.E.M. jangle-pop of "I Really Wanted You," or the lazy West Coast '70s Fleetwood Mac of "Burning House of Love."

If you like to think of songs as they would fit into a movie, "Going Home" is the moment where the drama ends, the protagonists kiss, and the credits roll. I believe this to be important as it illustrates the tender triumph invoked by the major chord melodies that lay the foundation for the lyrical experience of love, loss, and redemption to stand.

As a rock music purist, I do like to look at records from a presentation point of view as well as a musical one and from both an artistic and photographic standpoint the layout and packaging of Honey and Salt is flawless. I was a little irked by the blatant name-dropping in the liner note credits because I honestly feel that this band, and particularly this record, stands strong on its own two feet without such yesteryear pretense. However, this pretense does serve them well when applied to the overall production and mastering of the album, which is also flawless in a nice big "wall-of-sound" sort of way.

My only other gripe is the song order of Honey and Salt, which I felt could have flowed a little more smoothly, but I also see how this once important aspect of record making can be glossed over in the context of today's ADHD iPod shuffling world.

So stop what you're doing, find your "someone," and take a highway drive with this CD. Someday I'll guarantee the chorus to "Highway One" will sneak up to goose you, which is an effect any artist can only dream their music will have on anyone.

Eric Klein must have very eclectic tastes in music because his album, Road to Now covers an awful lot of stylistic territory. While primarily a rock album, he unabashedly flavors his songs with pop, blues, and even New Age. The first few tracks alone take a multitude of musical directions, more than some artists attempt in the span of an entire album. If you were to judge the CD on the strength of the first track, "Perfect Day," you might conclude that Klein is a folk rock singer-songwriter in the vein of Jackson Browne. However, it is followed by "Sugar Jones," a whiskey-soaked Southern blues raver that would do George Thorogood proud. Next up is the introspective "The Garden," which finds him crooning like the late Jim Croce over a spaciously textured musical backdrop. Yet once that concludes, the piano and guitar boogie of "Gainesville Girl" takes us back down South. "Bluesman," the next song is physically grafted to "Gainesville Girl," even though it takes a darker turn with its menacing minor blues beat. It's an interesting juxtaposition. The blues and the South are recurring themes, as is evident with songs like "MCWBB (Middle Class White Boy Blues)," a hilarious send-up of consumer culture with a catchy walking bass line, and "Diesel Town," a rolling country song that is firmly entrenched in the Cash/Carter camp.

Lest anybody think that this is merely a collection of tunes assembled at the behest of one guy's wide-ranging whims, I have news for you: it hangs together surprisingly well! When you listen to this album, it feels as if a singular vision unites the array of styles presented. Klein is a talented songwriter and musician who has undertaken a very ambitious project with this CD. He plays a lot of instruments and sings almost every note. For things like drums, percussion, piano, pedal steel guitar, and female backing vocals, he notes that they were assembled from software loops. Truthfully? It sounds as if he recruited a tight band of great players and brought them into the studio. The attention to detail and care in the creation of these tracks is really quite remarkable.

Klein is a versatile guitarist and vocalist, rising very capably to the occasion with each musical style he attempts. I have already noted his voice's similarity to George Thorogood and Jim Croce, yet on "Now," the psychedelic closing track, I can close my eyes and see Roger McGuinn of the Byrds at the mic. How cool is that? His guitar playing is immaculate, whether he's burnin' on an electric blues solo, laying down atmospheric textures, or taking us to the bayou with his dobro. What he does is perfect for the songs. While I can't credit him with breaking much new ground, he makes a very strong statement within the artistic territory he has staked out for himself. There is a lot to see and hear on the Road to Now.

San Diego's own Fran Hartshorn's debut CD, Introducing Fran Hartshorn, is a sparkling set of re-imagined jazz standards from the '30s, '40s, and '50s.

The youngest of nine children, Hartshorn began singing in her hometown of Evansville, Indiana. A professional vocalist for 20 years, she has studied both privately and on her own. She has performed with theater groups in New York City and Tucson, Arizona, and has appeared in Lyric Opera San Diego productions at the Birch Theater in North Park. Currently she plays the role of the housekeeper in LOSD's production of Man of La Mancha.

Hartshorn's musical theater training and experience are evident here; each of the CD's ten songs comes to life with crisp, clear enunciation and the theatricality one would expect from musical theater but with appropriate restraint. The songs are original arrangements by Hartshorn's bandleader and pianist Jaeryoung Lee and they assuredly balance Hartshorn's influences (Diane Schuur, Ella Fitzgerald, and Sarah Vaughn) with her own fresh vocal styling.

The album opens with Kevin Koch's catchy brushed drum solo, claps, and an impressive 20-second scat by Hartshorn on "East of the Sun and West of the Moon" and segues into a languid vocalized "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To." Lee thumps a piano-bass beat to "Let's Fall in Love" until Danny Weller's bass solo picks up where she left off. The song comes full circle when the piano rhythm and Hartshorn's scat are nicely reintroduced toward the end of the song.

Three of the first four songs utilize Hartshorn's infectious scatting, so it would appear at first that the album is too scat-heavy, but after the fourth song the scatting disappears. If these songs were spaced more evenly throughout the album, it wouldn't sound so front-heavy with scat and it would give one's ears a chance to catch their breath between songs.

Listeners may expect to hear familiar tempos based on their own record collections, but Hartshorn's band playfully reinterprets them, alternately speeding them up or slowing them down in unexpected variations. Examples include the unusual bass-thumping funk of "Just One of Those Nights" and the finger snapping (literally) "How High the Moon." "Lush Life" begins sparingly and grows into a musical-styled ballad, later turning into a jazzier version of its own self.

Hartshorn's voice is strong yet malleable. She effortlessly changes pitch and places herself solidly within the framework of her accompanying musicians, each of whom showcases his or her instrument expertly. Available at cdbaby.com and at wirediva.com.

One of the best things about being a CD reviewer is being able to take note of the abundance of great music coming from the San Diego region. I am constantly blown away by the talent above and below the radar. And the new CD by the Hereafter is no exception. Here are a dozen well-crafted, concise, and very catchy pop songs. Some are mellower than others, most of it is spirited. Some of the mixes are thicker with distorted guitars and some are sparse leaning on piano motifs and a good melody. All of them wreak with the kind of catchiness that has you bouncing your head from side-to-side like a rubber ball.

Remember that song "Video Killed the Radio Star"? This is the fun sense of "pop" that I'm talking about. Add a Paul Simon sense of song structure and vocal mannerism and you're almost there.

Kudos to John Elliott who wrote the material, performed lots of instruments, sang the songs and – low and behold – produced and engineered the album. The effort is a successful one as he manages to push the boundaries of where his pop goes, while keeping the common denominator in tact, making for a wide sonic range without any of the songs alienating that common denominator. Some of the songs have a happy bluegrass influence. Some simply rock out. None go on longer than they're supposed to. The melodies and lyrics are smart and fun, sweetly approaching the line of saccharin without going over it (which is one of the things Paul Simon was so good at). They get in, make their statement, kick you in the teeth, and get out before they start talking too much – the concern and faith is focused on the songwriting over existentialist jamming. And this lends to the urge of rolling any track to its beginning for another spin.

Let's talk about John's voice. It's a great radio-friendly voice. I can't imagine that anyone would find it displeasing, especially when he sings from the introspective approach. It's a lullaby of a voice that's likeable and believable. My only (somewhat) negative observation comes at the one moment in this CD when he reaches for the "gruff' line in the vocal take on one of the more rocker tunes, which is ever so slightly incongruous with the rest. But really, that's it.

This is a marvelous record for the fun, catchy-hook lovers of the world. Buy one and pop it in your player at www.thehereafterishere.com