CD Reviews

Various Artists | Johnny Boy Would Love This ... A Tribute to John Martyn

Hole In The Rain (2011)

By JIM MACNIE | August 10, 2011

3.0 Stars

If Nick Drake was Britain's ultimate forlorn folkie, John Martyn was his jazzier bro, a pub crawler with an intoxicating way of creating richly desolate moods. Martyn's early-'70s blend of romantic blues and eerie valentines remains potent, and on this double-disc tribute, 30 participants give him a smooch of respect, trying to update the hazy passion he brought to his best work. There are several successes. As far as conjuring an ethereal atmosphere goes, the Cure walk through a delicious fog on "Small Hours," and a swaying chant like the Swell Season's "I Don't Want To Know" brings a personalized grace to a Martyn signature piece. The Beck of Sea Change boasts a bit of Martyn's wobbly gravitas as well, so his update of "Stormbringer" makes good sense. Of course with 30 attempts to hit the bull's eye, there are bound to be a few darts in the outer rings. Snow Patrol tilt toward a greeting-card vibe with the anthemic ending of "May You Never." Syd Kitchen takes the originally gossamer "Fine Lines" and puts an overt groove on it: #fail. These guys should know: innuendo is the operative tack with Martyn material; the singer's magic was based on an ephemeral feel. A ghostly track like his "Spencer the Rover" ends, and listeners awake from a dream: did something just happen? Which is perhaps why Johnny Boy's zenith just might be Lisa Hannigan's hurdy-gurdy prayer on "Couldn't Love You More." Turns out all you need to win is two chords and a drone.

Various Artists | Are You With the Band?
With this new comp, Lauren Denitzio — former vocalist/guitarist of New Brunswick pop-punk outfit the Measure — has collected tracks by 17 of the best current underground female-fronted pop punk bands.
Trans Am | What Day Is It Tonight? Trans Am Live, 1993 - 2008
Trans Am are distillers of guilty pleasures, mixing fat AOR riffs with sleazy electronic accents and a propulsive attitude typically reserved for arcade soundtracks. What Day Is It Tonight? covers the DC-area band’s 20-year history with high-quality, high-energy live cuts taken from their many tours.
Various Artists | Where the Action Is: Los Angeles Nuggets 1965 - 1968
More than three years in the making, the most recent installment of Rhino's legendary archival garage-rock series offers an amazingly comprehensive excavation of an absurdly fertile scene.
Various Artists | Nippon Girls: Japanese Pop, Beat & Bossa Nova 1966–1970
Girl-group records are great and everything, yet the countless compilations out there were becoming a little hit-or-miss until 2005, when the great Girl Group Sounds Lost and Found box set finally gave this diverse genre a proper taxonomy.
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The notion that regional musical flavors exist independently in American cities is quickly becoming an archaic truism, seeing as how the world really is a stage these days, at least in the digital sense.
Bearstronaut | Broken Handclaps
There's a distinct absence of wildlife or astronauts on Lowell electronica quartet Bearstronaut's latest release.
Avi Buffalo | Avi Buffalo
Look, I get it: the last thing we need right now is yet another band who can be described as “sun-baked,” “reverb-soaked,” or even just “psychedelic.” But Avi Buffalo (I know! An animal name to boot!) are worth your attention for a few reasons.
Review: Brandon Flowers | Flamingo
Brandon Flowers has gone on record saying he brought the songs on Flamingo to his fellow bandmates for the next Killers album and was given the brush-off.
Review: Kevin Dunn | No Great Lost: Songs 1979–1985
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Review: Teengirl Fantasy | 7AM
If the demise of traditional record making is designed to foster any band’s fruitful existence, it’s that of Teengirl Fantasy.
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Topics: CD Reviews , Music, CD reviews, compilations

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