Review: Elvis Costello - Secret, Profane & Sugarcane

Label: Hear Music

Released: June 9, 2009

Elvis Costello has had quite a long and varied career to say the least, making albums bordering on punk on one hand and working with the likes of Burt Bacharach and Allen Toussaint at others. The genres he's avoided, like metal or hip-hop, are surely more by choice than inability. There's no question that as both a performer and a songwriter, he has few peers in terms of the breadth and quality of his work. That's not to say he's all things to all people, but that, as particularly evidenced on Secret, Profane & Sugarcane, he's Elvis Costello to whatever audience he chooses.

This time around, Costello takes on a particularly rootsy, unabashedly American form, dabbling in folk, country and bluegrass throughout. What he displays here, as he has so often in the past, is that he really doesn't play in each of the genres he engages so much as he adapts those genres to work with his distinct songwriting.

This works particularly well here for two reasons. First, Costello can write some great songs. There have been plenty of points in his career where the songs weren't up to the standard he had set, but they certainly are here. This is the strongest set of songs I've heard from him in some time and many could just as easily have been performed in a style he explored on another of his albums. They just work fundamentally, maintaining that which makes them distinctly his work.

Second, he understands the subtleties of the style in which he's working. These aren't just pop songs with some sting band instrumentation and a twang in his voice. The arrangements are careful to both evoke country music's vivid history and retain Costello's unique qualities. In addition to that, Secret, Profane & Sugarcane demonstrates an understanding that goes deeper than the music itself. It walks country's fine lines between the secular and religious and the happy and the sad.

The album succeeds largely because it isn't a superficial carbon copy, but a continuation of a long tradition. Elvis Costello hasn't inserted old-time country into his repertoire, but rather inserted himself into country's rich history.

Ratings
Satriani: 8/10
Zappa: 7/10
Dylan: 8/10
Aretha: 7/10
Overall: 8/10

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Review: Paula Sinclair - Steadygirl

Label: Old Sombrero Music

Released: March 17, 2009

Some albums are amazing in the way they push the boundaries and change the rules while others are amazing in the way they perform within existing boundaries and prove long established rules. There isn't much that's new in Paula Sinclair's music. She plays something that walks a fine line between country and folk so much so that it's difficult to tell whether it's country-tinged folk or the other way around. The rough edges hints at the garages of the mid-60s and Sinclair's voice is the perfect mix of raw and rich to broaden her appeal well into the realm of rock music. While all of this has been done by artists from the Indigo Girls to Gillian Welch, it still sounds fresh for Sinclair, because her delivery rings true. There is both honesty and trust in her music that is best summed up in the words of Steve Earle that she sings on Steadygirl, "I've got me a fearless heart/Strong enough to get you through the scary parts." These same words also reveal another great truth about her songs. The love she writes of is a giving love and what could be more true than that?

Ratings
Satriani: 7/10
Zappa: 5/10
Dylan: 6/10
Aretha: 8/10
Overall: 7/10

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Review: Carrie Rodriguez - She Ain't Me

Label: Manhattan Records

Released: August 5, 2008

Carrie Rodriguez's voice is beautiful. It's dynamic and full and she can be sultry, powerful and breathy at will. It is, as it should be, the centerpiece and strength of this album. She has the kind of voice that could lead her down any musical road she might choose and it seems more often than not, the technically talented stick to refined, methodical styles. Rodriguez doesn't though. She Ain't Me is a rootsy, country-tinged affair that allows her to exercise her voice in a very natural way. Rodriguez shares vocals with Lucinda Williams on "Mask of Moses" and they sound great together. Likewise, her songs aren't the silly fluff that runs through so much popular music. She's written songs that deal with humanity and faith and discontent and yearning.

The trouble that She Ain't Me runs into is that it never quite seems to break out. The overall feel is just too much like the studio and the band is very good, but, with few exceptions, uneventful. Without the innate sense that comes from a band really being together, the performance becomes a cage that prevents anyone, most notably Rodriguez, from really breaking free and taking flight. Throughout, I waited to hear her let go and it just never quite happened.

All in all, Rodriguez is way too good to be dismissed. Her voice, even restrained, has so much to offer and that strength makes the restraint even more pronounced. She Ain't Me is a rewarding listen that nonetheless leaves you feeling a little bit short of full, but hungry for the next album.

Ratings
Satriani: 8/10
Zappa: 6/10
Dylan: 7/10
Aretha: 6/10
Overall: 6/10

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Review: Johnny Cash - The Great Lost Performance

Label: Island Records

Released: July 24, 2007

Frankly, I'm not sure why this is the great lost performance. Surely, in a career as long as Johnny Cash's, there were many performances that didn't get recorded or where the tapes were lost. Obviously, this is the one that managed to get itself found, but that only makes it the found performance, not the great one.

This album, recorded at the Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park, NJ in the summer of 1990, finds Johnny Cash on his way back up. He was working with Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings on the Highwaymen's second album during this time and had just finished working on Will the Circle Be Unbroken Vol. 2 with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and a host of country music legends (including June) the year before. He was just a few years away from what may have been the best work of his career in the American Recordings series. This was not the shell of Johnny Cash that did variety shows in the 70s, but a very vital artist. All of this points in one direction: a fine performance. And that's just what was uncovered here.

Cash sounds good, the band sounds good, the audience even sounds good. He hits the standards like "Ring of Fire," "Folsom Prison Blues" and "I Walk the Line" with loose vigor. He includes some of the less common greats like "Hey Porter" and "Ghost Riders in the Sky." He even throws in a few newer ones. June sounds tremendous in her duet of "Jackson" with Johnny. Best of all, he treats us to a few of his stories, the ones that reveal his honesty, his integrity, his humanity. However, at times the whole thing feels a bit too safe. Like they're all going through the motions just a little bit. Granted, Johnny Cash going through the motions has more heart than most artists would if they were singing with a gun to their head. Still, to be great, it should feel 100% on and it doesn't.

Don't get me wrong, The Great Lost Performance is worth hearing even if it's slightly mistitled. Somehow, I just doubt that this would be picked for the live release if there wasn't the hype of it being "lost."

Rating: 7/10

Review: Various Artists - Down Home Saturday Night

Label: Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

Released: July 31, 2007

As the liner notes describe, all across the country on a Saturday night music and good times go hand in hand and always have. American roots music, from bluegrass to zydeco, has been an influence on modern music as well as a vital part of life for many, many people. It's the latter that this compilation tries to capture.

Down Home Saturday Night crosses time and genres, mining the Smithsonian Folkways archive to create a collection of what is essentially an American roots music party. From the opening track, John Sebastian and the J Band (yeah, the "J" is for "jug") doing the old classic folksong "Minglewood Blues," to "Uncle Bud," the zydeco closer recorded by Boozoo Chavis and the Magic Sounds, every track can be taken on two levels, educational and enjoyable. Over the course of the album, cajun, bluegrass, jump blues, conjunto, Western swing (courtesy of no less than the Texas Playboys, masters of the genre), and country are all represented without the album seeming the least bit haphazard. Among all 15 excellent tracks, the New Lost City Ramblers version of "Bill Morgan and His Gal" still manages to stand out. The song itself has a clever comedy that eludes today's hip, cool indie artists along with a sing along chorus that is irresistible. Complaining about his spendthrift girl, Bill Morgan sings, "You might have known me pretty long / But sure have got my initials wrong. / My name is Morgan, but it ain't J.P.," over great old string band backup. It's more infectious than any of today's pop songs.

This may be seen as a label sampler by some, but that misses the point. Typically, a compilation like this would focus on a particular genre, be it folk or blues or zydeco or any other, as its theme. While that's a logical way to approach it, Smithsonian Folkways understands there's an even more fundamental connection, the spirit of the music. With that understanding, they create what may be the ultimate party album for people who love music. Sure, there's something to be learned on Down Home Saturday Night, but the album is such a good time, you don't even realize it's an education.

Rating: 10/10