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John Cale
Fragments Of A Rainy Season
(Reissue)
Following his time in the Velvet
Underground, John Cale made
a career out of leading classical
music astray. Where his fellow
composer Lou Reed made several
nods towards the avant garde up
until his death, Cale enveloped
music’s longest standing traditions
and turned them to his own
ends. Originally recorded during
a solo tour throughout 1992,
Fragments
makes the most of
Cale's piano and voice, veering
from Springsteenian odes to
downtempo ballads; Cale plays
in the high notes and lets his
vocals fill in the lower register. At
28 tracks, there’s an expectation
Fragments
is for Cale fanatics
only, but its compositions are so
beautifully realised that any ear will
find it enthralling.
(Domino) Jake Cleland
Metallica
Hard-wired... To Self-Destruct
Since hitting pay dirt in 1991 with
Metallica
(AKA 'The Black Album'), the band that so many
championed between 1983 and1988 have been on
a slow, trying decline. Now after an eight-year wait,
Metallica present us with the 2-CD set,
Hardwired…
To Self-Destruct
. The initial singles,
Hardwired
,
Moth
Into Fire
and
Atlas, Arise!
were surprisingly solid and despite a dip here and
there, this album maintains a consistency not heard in decades. It appears
as if Metallica had something to prove this time around
–
not just to their
fanbase and peers, but to themselves and the legacy that the albums
Kill
‘Em All
,
Ride The Lightning
,
Master Of Puppets
and
…And Justice For
All
created. Monoliths such as Metallica may never push the envelope as
they once did, but if
Hardwired…To Self-Destruct
is any indication of the
fire that has been re-lit in their collective bellies, then I hope it burns for
a while longer. A 3-CD deluxe edition is also available, with three bonus
cover versions, the 2016 version of
Lords Of Summer
, a nine-song live set
recorded at Rasputin Music and a live version of
Hardwired
.
(Universal) Simon Lukic
visit
stack.net.au22
jbhifi.com.auDECEMBER
2016
MUSIC
REVIEWS
A.B. Original
Reclaim Australia
Reclaim Australia
is a political
bomb drop from the title down. In
reclaiming the title phrase itself –
“Reclaim Australia” has threatened
to become synonymous with
xenophobic, racist factions of the
Australian population – A.B. Original’s
dual MCs Briggs and Trials wield
humour and heavy bass to shred
white Australia. That this album is
necessary is heartbreaking for what
it says about the world. Samples of
politicians talking about Indigenous
Australians as “savages” don’t
feel like an anachronism, they feel
miserably current, and Archie Roach
opening the album by reflecting
on the civil rights fight makes it
clear: however long folks have been
fighting, far too little has changed.
(Golden Era/Universal)
Jake Cleland
Frank Iero and the
Patience
Parachutes
Frank Iero has mad charisma. In
case you haven’t been fortunate
enough to be privy to his evolution
already, Iero has grown to be so
much more than the ‘guitarist
from My Chemical Romance,’ no
matter how many people insist
on still referring to him as such.
Parachutes
is just as delightful as
the man himself, if not infinitely
more raw and vulnerable (see
I’ll
Let You Down
and
I’m A Mess
)
than you would ever believe
the Frank Iero character to be.
Colourful even in the face of
melancholy, Iero has delivered a
strong second LP.
(Vagrant/CookingVinyl)
Emily Kelly
Neil Young
Peace Trail
Young wrote and recorded
Peace
Trail
six months after the release
of
Earth
, and like its predecessor,
his new album tackles social and
environmental injustices head on.
Backed by session musicians
including drummer Jim Keltner and
bass guitarist Paul Bushnell, Young
pulls no punches getting stuck into
racism, biased media reporting,
unlawful police shootings and
his support of Native American
protests against the Dakota
Access Pipeline. Minimal and
often unrefined, the music swings
wildly from acoustic arrangements
to some of Young's most primitive
guitar and harmonica sounds.
This is powerful, uncompromising
rock music from someone who
really cares.
(Warner) Billy Pinnell
A Tribe Called Quest
We Got It From Here... Thanks
4 Your Service
The comeback album is a difficult
mountain to climb, but
We Got It
From Here
embodies the classic
Tribe sound: a warm and crisp
blend of US east coast hip hop
and jazz, mixed and mastered
immaculately. Instead of digging
through old mixes to find the late
Phife Dawg’s verses, the group
recruited some friends to complete
the album. Andre 3000 pops up
on
Kids
(in his best work since
Stankonia
), Anderson .Paak adds
the smoothest voice of 2016 to
Movin’ Backwards
, and Kendrick
Lamar appears on
Conrad Tokyo.
The album is a reminder of why
ATCQ are so well-respected. It
isn’t a wake or an eulogy, it’s a
celebration – one final mic drop.
(Sony)Tim Lambert
Rodriguez
Rodriguez Rocks: Live In
Australia
The enigma immortalized in THAT
doco we all cried over; Rodriguez
has vocal chords immune to age or
punishment. Recorded during his
Oz tour in 2014 (apparently eons
ahead of his most recent), it’s
clear that his sing-along ballads of
bittersweet love and observation
transcend the myth to still touch
our inner child. All the staples
are here including
I Wonder
and
Sugar Man
, as well as Sinatra’s
Learnin’ The Blues
and Jefferson
Airplane’s
Somebody To Love
, just
to mix it up and show off his taste
and ability. Crappy cover art and
a somewhat flat production value
aside, this is still a Sunday arvo
treat to wipe away fears of the
working week ahead.
(Inertia) Chris Murray