Josh Savage

 Mountains in Hurricanes

This is a very good debut by a song writer of great, great potential.  

The title track is, by far, the best of the three songs included here, showcasing what seem to be key strengths for this artist --- intelligent lyrics, clear, strong arrangements, structural intelligence, and a warm voice that pleases on many levels with its suppleness and precision.  

Where there are missteps, they are forgivable and interesting, save in the case of the remix of the title track. The best one can say of the remix is that it is unnecessary, as it adds nothing of interest to the original version.

That said of the remix, it would be interesting to see what this artist might do with some elements of electronica a la early Beth Orton.

I recommend Hurricanes and Mountains with 4/5 stars.  It will be well worth your time, and well worth the minimal expense.

John Foxx/Hannah Peel/ and your music submissions

I've been working on a major piece about John Foxx and his work over the past 8 years. Please stay tuned. I hope to have it up by Thursday.

Also, Hannah Peel's new EP will be out in less than 10 days time. I will post a shorty the day it comes out, then a more nuanced take when I've had a very good listen. It will, I'm sure, merit both.

In the meantime, enjoy posts about Tenek, LoneLady, Kevin Dunn, Anna Calvi and Apt.

And if you'd like your music reviewed (or at least listened to), please let me know.

Tenek --- Another Day, On the Wire

In anticipation of the release of EP+1 by Tenek, I downloaded and listened to the above cited works. If it is difficult to counterfeit good taste, superb taste is impossible to duplicate. And Tenek demonstrate superb taste throughout both of these releases --- musically, lyrically, and production-wise. There simply isn't a false step.

What should pop music do? First, it should impart drive in a way that is relentless, should seem familiar enough to engage without being cloying, and then should take the listener somewhere new. Almost everything on the radio does the first two by some measure, but almost none achieve the third. This is where Tenek standout.  They wear their influences lightly, and always in service of twisting them. If they are a house, then once past the front room one never knows where one might be taken, and one can only dimly guess the layout. Second, a good pop song references only itself. One doesn't need the song before or after (Suede were masters of this). Tenek succeeds here. Third, one should want to hear the song that comes before or after. To here a Tenek song is to be drawn along, left satisfied but wanting.

If you had three releases to choose from and could only afford one, please put anything by Tenek at the top of your list.

LoneLady --- Nerve Up

If, as I did, you missed Nerve Up when it was released in 2010, repair the damage quickly.

LoneLady creates a beguiling sonic universe filled with spot-on musical allusions and compelling influences, many of which one would not expect from a Manchester artist of this vintage, and  some which you might --- Polyrock (80's protégés of Phillip Glass), Gang of Four, Wire, Pylon and New Order.

The songs are built around wiry, new wavish guitar and straight if edgy vocals. The instrumentation is spare and thoughtful. The lyrics, well, they reward close listening, and music, structure and lyrics all work together with a jointure that is rare in any sort of music outside opera or lieder. The songs create atmosphere without becoming "atmospheric".

I certainly hope that we see a new release from LoneLady shortly.

Hannah Peel

Hannah Peel has been getting around. And that's a good thing. With a late February release of a new EP, Fabricstate, scheduled, HP has already released significant work, and worked with significant people, not least of which are John Foxx and the increasingly present Benge.

There is an unfortunate tendency nowadays to type female artists by appearance or, in a slightly more sophisticated vein, by aesthetic. Skip those tendencies with HP, please.

Peel is firmly rooted in a cultural perspective solely because she has a genuine voice that comes from history, personal and cultural. Her music is muscular and elastic, thought filled and proactive. Melding acoustic, electronic and electric elements, the songs are well proportioned and balanced. Lyrically they do excellently what song should do --- they tell stories, melancholy and subversive. And it is gorgeous --- silky and romantic and never cloying.

I won't pinpoint standout tracks in this squib because all of the songs are excellent and worth multiple listens. It's obvious that as much care went into their inclusion and sequencing as into their composition. Give yourself pleasure and listen.

Kevin Dunn --- The Miraculous Miracle of the Imperial Empire

Kevin Dunn was a songwriter, guitarist and singer in seminal Atlanta band The Fans. Formed in the 70's, The Fans were pop purists who preceded the onslaught of punk and new wave, prefiguring both movements return to roots sensibility while eschewing the more obvious pitfalls and dead ends that truncated the arcs of both. The Fan's songs had guts, were savvy and knew their musical history. They weren't a new conversation so much as a particularly articulate side conversation. Interestingly enough, while they were born (and died) in the desert that was 70's FM radio, populated largely by dinosaurs --- Kansas and the Alan Parsons Project on the avant end, and Led Zeppelin and Heart on the less prog side ---no one at the time seemed to sense the greater wasteland ahead for rock. Disco, largely derided as meaningless, was actually a harbinger, stripping away grandiosity and focusing on the senses. Disco cleared a great many fallen trees, culling the overgrown underbrush, letting in light, and, generally simplifying things so they could be recomplicated in new ways.

After the demise of The Fans, Dunn continued to record and put out music until 1985.

In 2013, Kevin Dunn released his first new recording in almost 30 years, The Miraculous Miracle of the Imperial Empire --- described by Dunn as an "old fashioned" concept album.  A full, nuanced portrait, filled with ideas, musical and lyrical, and framed by a sense for and a knowledge of history --- musical, cultural and political ---  TMMIE is fully invested in an idiom that has largely been discarded, superseded or horribly cheapened. Whatever it's faults and shortcomings in the 80's, rock was still credible. Now, however, instead of the landscape detail limning TMMIE, we are presented with the megapixel flatness of bands like Bastille and St. Lucian, all posture and tired trope, not convinced enough of themselves to convince many others, but,  more importantly, unable to extend or change the conversation. As we say so often of the unable --- well, they try.

Dunn does more than try. Over the course of 14 songs he creates a musical world that is, tired phrase, greater than the sum of its parts. Working with elements that have not, essentially, changed since the 80's, Dunn creates a voice that is fresh, original and timeless. Stand out songs, such as Little Miss Orange Alert, brim with musical quotations and sly allusions, yet stand on their own as pulsing and original, invitations to the dance rather than the presentation of a full dance card.

Interestingly, and I mean this as a compliment, the album is a time capsule. There are few if any hints of the radical streams, whether you like them or not, that have flowed into pop music in the last 25 years --- no hip hop, no electronica, no world music. And that's absolutely fine. Dunn's voice is fresh and sure. He is a master of what he does. If he doesn't want to kowtow to the market, this doesn't mean that he is not thinking of his audience, rather he prefers not to underestimate their taste.

Porcelain Pill --- Lovely and smart

Melbourne's Porcelain Pill's eponymous EP was released about this time last year. It was, for me, a lovely, by-chance find, but I hope you will follow the link below and not leave your own discovery of this duo to chance.

The standout tracks on the EP are May 13 and Anomaly, and each seems to encapsulate some of the poles of Porcelain Pill's musical continuum.

May 13 is a haunting, elegiac song built around roots guitar and a legato cello line. The plaintive understated vocal and spare harmony create a perfect little world of regret and longing --- mysterious yet accessible.

Anomaly alternates between an intriguing chord progression filtered through an icy sensibility, and a strong, minimal bass line. Clattery percussion and synth noise are used to thoughtfully round the song.

The songwriting and playing are strong, and the simplicity and care with which the elements are deployed display supple, smart musicality. While there are interesting hints of influences, Porcelain Pill have a sound that is singular and complete. I will be interested to hear what next they put out.

http://porcelainpill.bandcamp.com/album/porcelain-pill

The EP and a single are also available on iTunes.