Joshua Ketchmark - Under Plastic Stars (2017)

OFFICIAL: http://www.joshuaketchmark.com/
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/josh.ketchmark

Written by Daniel Boyer, posted by blog admin

“We Were Everything” begins Joshua Ketchmark’s Under Plastic Stars on a decidedly elegiac note, but this isn’t a dreary collection of songs. Ketchmark’s first full fledged solo effort, self-produced and written by Ketchmark, finds this longtime musical cohort of some of the music world’s biggest acts stepping out on his own with considerable talent and finesse. The primarily acoustic slant to this album is adorned with other touches like keyboards and even some occasional swaths of steel guitar, but you can’t comfortably consign it to a particular genre. “We Were Everything” has strong melodic virtues that continues with the second song “Every Mystery”, but the arrangement is a little more inventive and less straightforward than we hear from the first song. It doesn’t veer too far, however, from the tendencies established with “We Were Everything”.

The steel guitar present in “Let It Rain” is so thoroughly integrated with the rest of the arrangement that it never calls ostentatious attention to itself and, instead, proves to be just another color in Ketchmark’s toolbox. It’s easy to single this tune out as one of the undisputed high points on Under Plastic Stars and the emphatic nature of Ketchmark’s singing signals he views the song in a similar manner. “Lucky at Leavin’” sounds like it might be some classic country cut, based on title alone, but it’s actually a lush and carefully wrought acoustic number, folk for the most part, that benefits from a swell of keyboard color strengthening its sound. Ketchmark’s singing hits another high water mark with this tune that will, undoubtedly, linger in listener’s memories long after the song ends. “Hereafter” is particularly effective thanks to Brad Rice’s sinewy electric guitar lines crackling throughout the performance and another impassioned vocal never risking overwrought theatrics.

“Get Out Alive” has a little more of a rough hewn gait than the earlier tunes and owes its roots to the blues much more than anything else so far. It’s an evocative piece lyrically and Ketchmark brings just enough gravel into his voice to make this character dissection all the more convincing. He hits another high point with the commercial potential of “Saturday Night”, but Ketchmark isn’t a performer pursuing the path of least resistance. Instead, he throws himself into this tune for all he’s worth and it reaches heights the earlier songs never explore. “In Harm’s Way” is a largely solo acoustic tune incorporating more sounds in the second half and has a pleasing melodic core that will draw many listeners into its web.

“Sweet Surrender” takes some of the same template we hear with the song “Saturday Night” but, instead of relying on guitars, brings piano in to great effect and Ketchmark’s voice responds in kind with a showstopper of a vocal. The near orchestral sweep of this song stands out from the rest and makes it one of Under Plastic Stars’ more memorable moments. The last track “The Great Unknown” adopts a busier tempo than we’ve heard with much of the album and, thus, brings the release to an energetic close. Joshua Ketchmark’s Under Plastic Stars is an obviously personal work, but the entry points for listeners are numerous and inviting.  

Chris Murphy - Water Under the Bridge (2017)

OFFICIAL: http://chrismurphymusic.com/

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/chrismurphymusic1/

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Written by Jay Snyder, posted by blog admin

Like music you would expect to hear in a grand Civil War-era ballroom, Chris Murphy and his cohorts (The Blind Blakes Blues Band) fire on all cylinders with their latest eclectic instrumental album Water under the Bridge.  Molding a strong, soulful sound the record mixes and matches jazz, ragtime, blues, swing and country as so gloriously exhibited by opener “Moveable Feast.”  Saloon-styled piano that will make you want to soak back a sarsaparilla or three tangos hand-in-hand with vintage jazz rhythms, Murphy’s runaway train fiddle playing and some atmospheric guitar work.  This music is as catchy as it is progressive; welding together influences spanning a timeframe from 1930 to 2017. 

“Joan Crawford Dances the Charleston” furthers Chris’ out-there approach to his chosen stylistic attack in much of the same way that Frank Zappa threw caution to the wind in whatever sonic enterprise he decided to monopolize.  Murphy and his band’s take on the blues grooves with punchy upright bass work, ragtime piano, economical runs of downplayed electric guitar and numerous subtle tempo changes and aural fluctuations.  Neoclassical acoustic guitar lassos a flamenco element that positively dazzles the eardrums and only tangles the listener’s eardrums deeper in the artist’s audio webs.  The faster paced “Table for Two” incorporates bluegrass into the band’s repertoire with especial attention paid to high octane rhythms, fiddle on overdrive and spitfire, Nashville bound two/three-part vocal harmonies.  “Riverboat Blues” shifts into a slower waltz tempo that’s meant for swinging cheek-to-cheek sweetly with the one you love before “I Swear I’m Going to Learn This Time” settles on a danceable mid-tempo brimming with blue-eyed soul vocals with excellent harmonies, playful ivory tinkling, wayward fiddling and a rhythm section that’s completely locked into the arrangement.  A series of melodic stop/start instrumental licks and two-part harmonies enter at the 1:21 mark and craft an infectious sing-a-long you won’t be able to get out of your head with bleach and a wire brush.  An excellent segment of intricately picked, Hawaiian flavored guitar licks take the spotlight in one particularly potent segment which is immediately preceded by a fiddle lead and firmly bookended by some spotlight for the piano.  Even the bass guitar gets a shot to step up and command center stage.  Without a doubt this is one of the album’s finest tracks and my personal pick for a tester tune to see what Murphy and the boys are cooking up in their soul kitchen. 

Elsewhere “My Spanish Lover” a simultaneously laidback and engaging jazz number that’s afraid to strut both country and blues inflections over its 4 minute and 37 second course, “The Lemon Rag” is set aflame by a cavalry charge of busy fiddling heavy on the bluegrass touches while keeping the piano style firmly rooted in 1880s Americana, “Benzedrine Shuffle” buckles down on the blues in a well-layered storm of upright bass thunder mingling with every kind of stringed instrument imaginable, “Tomcat Blues” filters a blown out garage sound through the band’s usual and closer “Cheer uUp Mickey” relishes the minimalism of a kick drum and a rustic fiddle banging out complex melodies that are an absolute treasure to behold. 

Water under the Bridge is without a weak tune across its 14 track arc.  You get a little bit of everything on this record; from dazzling instrumentals to killer meat n’ taters singer/songwriter fare that sports a heightened level of instrumentation…it’s all here and sounds great.  This is a highly recommended release.        

Alpha Mule - Peripheral Vision (2017)

OFFICIAL: http://www.alphamulemusic.com/

BANDCAMP: https://alphamule.bandcamp.com/

Written by Laura Dodero, posted by blog admin

The debut from this Southern Cali, rural music duo Alpha Mule is an excellent lead-off album.  Featuring 10 main originals, a pair of bonus cuts and some pared down duo versions without additional instrumentation of the album’s main tracks, there’s a lot to digest here and it’s certainly well-worth the time and listening effort.  Joe Forkan (vocals/acoustic guitar) and Eric Stoner (banjo/vocals) is practically the band, though they bring in a few support musicians to help out on the majority of the album’s tracks. 

Start-up number, “Corpus Christi” pulls the lead on a taut, tense dark-folk attack that sees dirty n’ raw production wraparound a hearty banjo/guitar/upright bass workout with lyrics and delivery fit for a night under the black sky.  There’s something overcast going on here and it’s among the bleaker, weirder tracks on the album and an interesting choice for an opener.  It really makes you stand up and take notice thanks to its bleak, foreboding vibe.  This darkness dissipates on the immediately following “On the Moon” which culls a brighter country guitar twang and buoyant banjo swagger that ricochets over a particularly wild upright bass line that practically propels the vocals to some awesome melodic highs. 

The mood takes a dramatic sea change on the stalwart country n’ western swing of the title track and its inclusion of slide licks and steel guitars which really hammer home the atmosphere; the hurdy gurdy vocals and plucky traditional arrangements only further the sentiment, conjuring one of the record’s most powerful tunes.  “The Distance” follows the same standard making for a superb couplet, which “Pavlov” is happy to alter with its furious upright bass grooves and incendiary guitar/banjo trade-offs.  One can hear bits of Elvis and even Bill Haley on this old school rock n’ roll scorcher, and again they change up the mood on the pickin’ n’ pluckin’ country of “Mule in the Mine.”  As the record continues onward in its steadfast charge to the finish line moods swap and change with the drop of a dime; “Step Outside” being the most straight forward atmospheric ballad on the album, “The Ballad of Huell Howser” going for the country side-wind full-throttle, “Music of our Hearts” going the dark, mid-tempo country route and closer “Empire” capping things off with dreamy, drifting folk that’s completely pitch-black in its vibe and atmosphere.  Some worthy bonus tracks including duo versions of album favorites “Step Outside,” “Mule in the Mine” and “Corpus Christi” show just how well Forkan and Stoner lay it down with no outside help at their disposal.  These guys can play and they have chemistry to spare. 

Peripheral Vision is a modern classic of the genre with great songwriting and musicianship that makes each track an all-out winner.  As the grooves seep into your brain and the duo’s dual melodic vocals take over your mind, you’ll find yourself replaying each track several times before moving on.  This is a standout record with one excellent song after another, and it’s hard to believe that these guys are already THIS good on their debut…the sky’s the limit for Alpha Mule, that’s for dang sure. 

Tow'rs - Grey Fidelity (2017)

OFFICIAL: http://www.towrsmusic.com/

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/towrsmusic/

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/towrsmusic

Written by Daniel Boyer, posted by blog admin

Flagstaff, Arizona’s Tow’rs has a relatively slim discography thus far, but already boasts an outsized reputation on the indie scene thanks to chief songwriter Kyle Miller’s uniquely personal mix of spiritual concerns, reflection, and essentially romantic nature. Despite the presence of electronic instrumentation in the music, there’s something truly pastoral about the sonic feel of the collection. There are certainly strands of melancholy running through the album’s nine songs, but it’s always handled with a supremely artful hand. Their latest album Grey Fidelity keeps its eyes turned skyward, but there’s an inescapable sense of the cost experience incurs on our lives and it makes for a richer musical experience.

“Girl in Calico” is a marvelously evocative opening. The carefully modulated swell of synthesizer rising from the background is accompanied by delicate guitar melodies bubbling to the surface of the mix. The dream-like atmosphere of the song extends to its lyrical content – Kyle Miller proves adept at mixing just the right amount of specific imagery with more general sentiments. “Revere” finds him joined on vocals by discreet harmonies by his wife Gretta Miller and their singing partnership is punctuated by exquisite acoustic guitar and gently weaving violin lines. This song has a comparatively brighter hue than many of the songs on Grey Fidelity and placing it early in the album is an intelligent move. The post-modern folk of “Gold Parade” find the vocal roles reversed with Gretta Miller leading the way and Kyle providing low-key support. The song has certain gossamer like qualities at first, never quite settling into a form, but eventually settles into a quasi near-shuffle with light percussion.

The elegiac swing of “When I’m Silent” provides the perfect hook for one of the best songs on Grey Fidelity. There’s a light, ambling country music influence coming through on this number, as well, but it’s very understated and not a constant presence. The keyboard work on this track is particularly notable for the color it provides. “Consolations” has a slinky groove with guitars working in the background that snap with convincing reverb driven bite. Kyle Miller’s voice finds the right mood and timing for the groove from the outset. The chorus is, undoubtedly, one of the biggest payoffs on the album as a whole. Grey Fidelity concludes with the song “Revelator Man”. The obvious blues connections bring a level of meaning to the lyric, but the imagery is definitely all Kyle Miller with its surprising turns of imagery and the breathtaking specificity he’s capable of conjuring. Tow’rs will expand their profile a great deal based on the quality of this release and their music is clearly evolving as the band’s powers, across the board, continue to grow.

Grace Freeman - Shadow (2017)

OFFICIAL: http://www.gracefreeman.net/

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/gracefreemanmusic/

Written by Lydia Hillenburg, posted by blog admin

This is a release that a lot of people will get behind without much persuading. Grace Freeman’s talents shine through on each of Shadow’s eleven cuts and she has a naturalness as both a performer and writer that is a rare gift in any era. Don’t make the mistake of lumping her in with the gaggle of female singer/songwriters who’ve appeared in the last two decades – Freeman possesses a singular, transformative talent that certainly takes in the right influences but, ultimately, speaks with its own certain and convincing voice. She brings in some other instrumentation on various songs, but Freeman confines much of Shadow to making its mark via her voice, piano, and acoustic guitar. These songs are so good that scarcely anything more is required. She inhabits these spartan musical landscapes like a knowing, generous spirit and unstintingly gives herself to the audience.

“Oliver” begins Shadow on a muted note, but the artistry is undeniable. Few songs of this ilk in recent memory share such an obviously sympathetic bond between the musical arrangement and vocal. Freeman’s voice locks into the guitar from the first and her phrasing varies enough at critical points during the performance to make for some interesting juxtapositions. “Shadow” has a quasi-classical air thanks to the inclusion of piano, but this soon gives way to the inclusion of drums and bass that takes the song into a more high brow pop direction. It’s one of the most successful tunes on Shadow and one can only assume Freeman agrees since it comes so early in the album’s running order. “Trying to Say Goodbye”, like the later “Dreams”, doesn’t overtly pursue the suggestion of pop in performance, but it certainly has commercial appeal in a way that other songs on Shadow do not. The pained lyrics take on an unusual quality, almost playful, when placed against the arrangement on “Trying to Say Goodbye”. The acoustic guitar has a near gypsy flair on the later “Dreams” and it prompts Freeman to respond with one of her most invigorating vocals on the release.

“Another Long Night” and “God Forbid” are two of the best songs on Shadow thanks to lyrics just as strong as the musical ideas driving each track. The former song focuses on the marriage between Freeman’s voice and entertaining acoustic guitar – the unusual bluntness of the lyric serves it quite well and Freeman makes no real attempt to sweeten its sentiments. “God Forbid” is reminiscent of Regina Spektor’s songwriting, but Freeman is a far clearer lyricist while still retaining the capacity for a poetic turn of phrase. This is a collection that will stick in the memory for some time to come thanks to the virtuosic songwriting clinic she puts on and the burning focus we sense applied to each of Shadow’s eleven songs. Grace Freeman has struck gold with this one.