“Do you like good music?”
True, it’s a simple question with a fairly obvious answer, but when it’s posed by Michael “White Lightning” McDonald at the outset of “Sweet Soul Music,” you can’t help but wanna get up and testify a hearty “yeahhhh!” That’s but one of many call-and-response-worthy moments to be found on The Dukes of September: Live at Lincoln Center, released by 429 Records on Blu-ray and DVD on March 18.
The Dukes of September comprise of the core trio of Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen, The Doobie Brothers’ Michael McDonald, and Boz Scaggs. All three have worked together in various roles and incarnations over the years, participated in the New York Rock and Soul Revue, and have toured collectively as the Dukes in 2010 and 2012. This 90-minute performance was shot in November 2012 in New York at the ... Read More »]]>
“Do you like good music?”
True, it’s a simple question with a fairly obvious answer, but when it’s posed by Michael “White Lightning” McDonald at the outset of “Sweet Soul Music,” you can’t help but wanna get up and testify a hearty “yeahhhh!” That’s but one of many call-and-response-worthy moments to be found on The Dukes of September: Live at Lincoln Center, released by 429 Records on Blu-ray and DVD on March 18.
The Dukes of September comprise of the core trio of Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen, The Doobie Brothers’ Michael McDonald, and Boz Scaggs. All three have worked together in various roles and incarnations over the years, participated in the New York Rock and Soul Revue, and have toured collectively as the Dukes in 2010 and 2012. This 90-minute performance was shot in November 2012 in New York at the always effervescent Lincoln Center, and you may also start seeing this gig show up on PBS on Great Performances as well as during March pledge drives.
In addition to a fair share of fan favorites — the songs Fagen refers to as the ones they did for sake of “the TV Babies” in his droll 2013 memoir, Eminent Hipsters — the Dukes also put mighty fine spins on some R&B, soul, and blues classics.
Still, the best moments come when the Dukes strut their own stuff, as buttressed by a sharp nine-piece band, essentially comprised of Steely Dan’s touring outfit. Scaggs shows serious blues chops on a cover of Muddy Waters’ (by way of Willie Dixon’s) “The Same Thing,” with ace guitarist Jon Herington playing ring-finger slide as tasty as Bonnie Raitt does. Herington is the Dukes’ secret weapon, as he blazes a formidable trail by shifting his tone and approach on a dime during “What a Fool Believes,” “Hey Nineteen,” and especially with his wah-laden solo during the final encore, “Them Changes.” His masterfully blazing runs during “Reelin’ in the Years” get an on-camera nod and “yeah!” of approval from Fagen.
One of Scaggs’ signature tunes, “Lowdown,” receives a standing ovation, and with good reason. The song opens with a tight hi-hat and snare groove laid down by Shannon Forrest, and the “wonder wonder wonder” harmony later repeated by background vocalists Carolyn Leonhardt and Monet Owens is pushed back just enough in the mix. Scaggs’ vocals have just the right growl, and Michael Leonhardt’s trumpet solo is of Freddie Hubbard caliber.
After that, McDonald literally goes to church in “Takin’ It to the Streets,” getting lost in the soulful testifying of his lyrics, while Walt Weiskopf’s sweet tenor sax sets the tune’s soulful bed. In the encore, Fagen unravels some fine “Pretzel Logic,” with each Duke taking a verse. “These days are gone forever, over a long time ago,” they all harmonize. (Say it ain’t so, folks — but maybe it is so.)
The disc’s overall sound — recorded and mixed by Patrick Dillett — is quite clean and front-stage-centric, though audience applause appears after every song in the rear channels (and you can sometimes hear smatterings of audience shout-outs and song requests between songs or during the Dukes’ intro patter). There are no extras included.
I’m not quite sure why the long-buried HD DVD logo appears on the cover packaging, spine, and in the booklet, but that’s just a quibble. Do you like good music? Of course you do. Let The Dukes of September remind you just exactly how much.
]]>“I felt the band, and myself as a composer, deserved one big, last splurge,” says Pete Townshend at the outset of The Who – Sensation – The Story of Tommy (Eagle Vision). And the key to getting there, he adds, was to do “an album as a piece of art.” Enter Tommy, the groundbreaking 1969 rock opera that raised the album-as-artform bar set by The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band just 2 years earlier. Released on Blu-ray and DVD on March 11, Sensation chronicles the trajectory of a band that catapulted from a buzzworthy pop act to an international, well, sensation, thanks to the depth of Townshend’s tale of a deaf, dumb, and blind kid who did quite a bit more than sure play a mean pinball.
On Sensation, Townshend, singer Roger Daltrey, and other Who principals thoughtfully dissect Tommy ... Read More »]]>
“I felt the band, and myself as a composer, deserved one big, last splurge,” says Pete Townshend at the outset of The Who – Sensation – The Story of Tommy (Eagle Vision). And the key to getting there, he adds, was to do “an album as a piece of art.” Enter Tommy, the groundbreaking 1969 rock opera that raised the album-as-artform bar set by The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band just 2 years earlier. Released on Blu-ray and DVD on March 11, Sensation chronicles the trajectory of a band that catapulted from a buzzworthy pop act to an international, well, sensation, thanks to the depth of Townshend’s tale of a deaf, dumb, and blind kid who did quite a bit more than sure play a mean pinball.
On Sensation, Townshend, singer Roger Daltrey, and other Who principals thoughtfully dissect Tommy and its ongoing impact. Daltrey notes there was always something “mathematical” about the chemistry of four distinct individuals who somehow managed to always come together sonically. And speaking of sonics, Townshend admits that engineer Damon Lyon-Shaw’s decision to bring Daltrey’s vocals to the forefront of the final session mix was the right call, because his interpretation of young Tommy’s story needed to be the album’s linchpin. The best aural example of that decision comes when Daltrey, shown sitting in front of a mixing console, moves some faders to isolate his impassioned “see me, feel me, touch me, heal me” mantra from the overall mix, which lets you hear just what Townshend did when he got to the studio the day this passage was recorded. Once Townshend took it all in, he knew there was no question about who he was going to enable to sing those key words — key words the songwriter had initially envisioned singing himself.
And if you’re wondering when The Who truly kicked it all into sonic overdrive, their May 1969 debut of Tommy at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London, in a ferocious set literally driven by its cacophonous volume level, embedded (to use Daltrey’s word) the passionate, vengeful animus that became The Who’s live signature from that point forward.
Bonus footage consists of The Who performing about half of Tommy in black-and-white on the Beat Club on September 27, 1969 in Bremen, Germany, along with a few interview segments with Townshend interspersed in the midst of the proceedings (complete with German subtitles). Be sure to keep an eye on the antics of the ever-playful Keith Moon and marvel at bassist John Entwistle’s, er, bone-jarring outfit.
No doubt about it: Sensation will take you on an Amazing Journey into discovering the universal yet individual enlightenment that comes from immersing yourself in The Who’s indelible classic.
And if you want to get even deeper into Tommy, there’s no better way to do so than by diving into The Who: Tommy Super Deluxe Edition box set, especially when it comes to the 5.1 mix on Disc 3.
As I said in my Reference Tracks review of the amazing Tommy box over on soundandvision.com, the 96/24 presentation of Tommy in surround sound is a revelation of breadth and precision that serves as the aural blueprint for how producers and engineers should approach all future historical 5.1 remixes. Bob Pridden and Richard Whittaker’s 5.1 mix, presented via Universal’s relatively new High Fidelity Pure Audio Blu-ray format, often places the listener in the position Daltrey would take onstage, and you’ll instinctively feel yourself turning and facing each band mate depending on the song’s vibe. Once you accept literally becoming Tommy himself in the mix, you won’t be jarred by having Moon’s drums emanate mostly from the surround left like a recurring percussive devil perched just over your left shoulder.
Tommy, can you hear me? Listening to you in 5.1, I truly get the music.
]]>Could there be a more apt title for an album these days than High Hopes? While there are those who continue to loudly (and, well, annoyingly) ring the death knell for the album format, Bruce Springsteen once again proves the viability of the LP concept, making every song count on his 18th studio (ahem) album.
Ostensibly a collection of disconnected songs Springsteen had stockpiled over the past decade or so, High Hopes (Columbia) actually threads together quite well, with a common theme of ascendance and transcendence squarely at the forefront. (In fact, this theme has dominated much of The Boss’s post-millennial work.)
The title track opens with a NIN-like loop before Springsteen’s main Hopes foil, the ever-adventurous and innovative guitarist Tom Morello, comes in with his signature saddle-squall style. Acoustic guitar takes root in the left channel while Charlie Giordano’s ... Read More »]]>
This Is His Sword: Bruce with one of the axes purported to kill fascists. Photo by Danny Clinch.
BY MIKE METTLER
Could there be a more apt title for an album these days than High Hopes? While there are those who continue to loudly (and, well, annoyingly) ring the death knell for the album format, Bruce Springsteen once again proves the viability of the LP concept, making every song count on his 18th studio (ahem) album.
Ostensibly a collection of disconnected songs Springsteen had stockpiled over the past decade or so, High Hopes (Columbia) actually threads together quite well, with a common theme of ascendance and transcendence squarely at the forefront. (In fact, this theme has dominated much of The Boss’s post-millennial work.)
The title track opens with a NIN-like loop before Springsteen’s main Hopes foil, the ever-adventurous and innovative guitarist Tom Morello, comes in with his signature saddle-squall style. Acoustic guitar takes root in the left channel while Charlie Giordano’s accordion stays centered during the chorus. And Morello’s ace squealy solo dances quite nicely around the horn lines.
A gutteral gangster tale, “Harry’s Place” commences with a funky intro, with Bruce spit-seething out the lines in a slow build like a modern-day “Smuggler’s Blues.” Masterful Morello does his thing in the right channel after a horn break, and continues to wail on during the fade. And did I really hear two “F” words blow by in the lyrics? One helluva heavy track.
A longtime livewire live staple, “American Skin (41 Shots),” opens in a foreboding manner, with Bruce’s repetition of the phrase “41 Shots” embedded in a vacuum in the right channel before his stark lead vocal moves front and center; “It ain’t no secret” indeed. A brief vocal echo at 5:30 recalls vintage Bruce production values, and Morello takes a nod from longtime E Street guitar wiz Nils Lofgren for his solo choices.
Bruce covers The Saints’ punk classic “Just Like Fire Would,” giving it a “Small Town”-like intro, with Giordano’s organ fills, Roy Bittan’s piano vamps in the right channel, and a traditional Max Weinberg backbeat.
“Down in the Hole” begins with industrial clanging and slamming, with effects on Bruce’s initially buried vocals. Weinberg’s stickwork glides from a deliberately slower-paced “I’m on Fire” feel until the band kicks in, and Bruce’s lead vocals have him literally crying out from the hole. Oh yeah, the track also features background vocals from his offspring. (Must be something in that Springsteen-Scialfa DNA.)
“Heaven’s Wall” takes a cue from Wrecking Ball‘s uplifting “Rocky Ground,” with a spiritual female-driven chorus inviting you to “raise your hand.” Morello returns to the proceedings by trampolining solo calls and answers in the left and right channels in two different breaks.
“Frankie Fell in Love” is a good-vibe, ’round-the-campfire jamola. When the band kicks in, it’s full-on E Streetery, with some nice slide riffs and mandolin lines from The Boss. If radio was still, well, radio, “Frankie” would make for a solid deep AOR/FM cut, a la “Bobby Jean.”
I absolutely adore Cillean Vallely’s Uilleann pipes all throughout “This Is Your Sword,” a track that serves as Bruce’s latest pass-it-on prayer to the young. I also dig Bruce’s “ho ho!” outburst at 2:18. Vallely’s pipes and whistles take the track home. (Hmm, is Bruce aspiring to be the American Chieftain?)
Much like the soundtrack to a vintage Western, “Hunter of Invisible Game” has a wagon-train string-section intro, with Bruce’s whispering, outfront vocal making him out to be a High Plains Driftin’ Troubadour. “Hunter” also ends with a pretty badass left-channel warbling static fadeout.
The album’s centerpiece, a reimagined 7 1/2-minute take on “The Ghost of Tom Joad,” follows the much more aggressive live version of the past decade than 1995′s original acoustic version. Doom chords lead into a fine mesh of Soozie Tyrell’s violin and Giordano’s accordion. Bruce’s world-weary vocals take the initial lead, and Morello takes over part of the way in before the pair share some great harmonies. Solos duel in each channel in the middle section before Morello goes into full Rage-tastic channel ping-pong mode. And I must make special note of Weinberg’s cymbal crashes throughout the onslaught, which hit in all the right places. (Somebody call up Graham Yost and get this version of “Joad” on Justified for one of Raylan Givens’ upcoming long-simmering all-guns-drawn confrontations.)
Turning to a mellower mood, Bruce’s take on Joe Grushecky’s heartfelt war memorial “The Wall” finds his vocals intimate and very much forward in the mix. Organ fills from the late Danny Federici are as haunting as Phantom Dan himself. Accordion accents from producer Ron Aniello and the track-ending coronet solo by Curt Hamm add classy touches to a moving track.
The final cut is Bruce’s take on Suicide’s punk firebrand “Dream Baby Dream,” just as mesmerizing as when I first heard Bruce close a solo show with it at the Tower Theatre in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania on May 15, 2005 during his Devils & Dust tour. It’s a loop-de-force with repeated vocals and Morello a-blazing. Totally hypnotizing.
The next time someone says the album is a dead format, just cue up High Hopes, an album on which every song matters. That’s what an LP is all about, folks. The proof is in the grooves.
Bonus Traction Department: Order the High Hopes Bonus Limited Edition from Amazon, and you’ll get a bonus DVD: Born in the U.S.A. Live London 2013. Here, in Dolby Digital 5.1, Bruce and the E Street Band blaze through the iconic 1984 album on all cylinders. Weinberg pummels out an intense 31-second drum-solo section on the title track in all channels, with the camera panning back and forth between his epic skins-bashing and Bruce yelling “That’s it, Max!” in rapt approval.
Live Baby Live: Bruce and Little Steven tear it up in Rome. Photo by Jo Lopez.
Bruce’s song-closing monster riffage roars in the rears before he takes off directly into “Cover Me,” his melodic Telecaster-blaster jam taking root front and center (and rightly delayed into the rears). Bruce screws on his guitar-hero face as his “Cover Me” solo sequence starts in the rear channels before rooting itself in the front stage. “Come on Steve!” he beckons to lifelong guitar partner Steven Van Zandt, who picks up the solo baton and totally smokes it, then trades licks with Bruce to the end, both men locked in primal jam sync. The full E Street Band energy is palpable in every channel.
And that’s only the beginning. Here, Born is reborn. Rediscover its power for yourself.
]]>Just when you think Steven Wilson is at the surround sound pinnacle, he ratchets it up another level.
I first heard The Raven That Refused to Sing (and Other Stories) at a playback session in New York’s Avatar Studios back on January 15, 2013. And this is how you know I’m super-hardcore dedicated to championing the glories of 5.1, since January 15 was literally the day after I had returned from a full, exhilarating but exhaustive week at CES in Las Vegas. But nothing was gonna stop me from hearing Raven in the best environment possible.
Right from the outset of that listening session, I (and everyone in the room) knew Raven was something special. Since then, I’ve played the album countless times, and I can unequivocally say that the 96/24 LPCM Blu-ray mix of The Raven That Refused to Sing ... Read More »]]>
Just when you think Steven Wilson is at the surround sound pinnacle, he ratchets it up another level.
Studio Rats: Wilson and Mettler behind the board at Avatar Studios in NYC, 01.15.13.
I first heard The Raven That Refused to Sing (and Other Stories) at a playback session in New York’s Avatar Studios back on January 15, 2013. And this is how you know I’m super-hardcore dedicated to championing the glories of 5.1, since January 15 was literally the day after I had returned from a full, exhilarating but exhaustive week at CES in Las Vegas. But nothing was gonna stop me from hearing Raven in the best environment possible.
Right from the outset of that listening session, I (and everyone in the room) knew Raven was something special. Since then, I’ve played the album countless times, and I can unequivocally say that the 96/24 LPCM Blu-ray mix of The Raven That Refused to Sing (and Other Stories) has wiped the surround slate clean and set the benchmark anew. Yes, it’s that bloody good.
(Oh, sure, you can also select the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 option if you wish, but 96/24 is the way to go. And, naturally, there’s also a wonderful-sounding vinyl release if you want to take Raven out for a double-disc 180-gram spin in stereo.)
Shoot, the Moon: Cover art for The Raven album.
One of the reasons Raven cuts such a wide aural swath is that the man and his associate producer and recording engineer, Alan Parsons, captured the core of Wilson’s Grace for Drowning touring band performing live off the floor at East West Studios in Los Angeles in September 2012. (You can watch the band at work in the “Studio Documentary” that was shot by longtime Wilson visual collaborator Lasse Hoile in the Blu-ray’s Bonus section.) The intuitive muscle of that band, buttressed by the addition of lead guitarist Guthrie Govan, comes through in the improvs and overall natural mastery of A-level material.
Raven commences with the 12-minute hard-charger “Luminol,” with a Nick Beggs-driven bass line leading the way while Guthrie’s guitar swatches ping-pong in the fronts and Theo Travis’s flute lines swirl around your head until the instrumentation halts and a massive, layered vocal bed swoops down on you. And then Wilson deploys the King Crimson MKII mellotron as Beggs’s bass returns to the center stage (and the subwoofer channel) before giving way to keyboard wiz Adam Holzman. The second movement begins with an almost buried “Planet Caravan”-like guitar line setting the stage for the verses. Drummer Marco Minnemann deftly Bruford-izes a Yes-like passage that’s anchored in the rear channels, and there’s an elegiac vocal harmony section that would make Crosby, Stills and Nash proud. And as I noted in my Top 25 Songs of 2013 list, “Luminol” is officially my personal favorite benchmark 5.1 demo track.
The tone downshifts a bit with Track 2, “Drive Home.” On the verses, Wilson’s near-falsetto vocal warble weaves around his acoustic guitar figures, while the track opens up wide on the choruses thanks to the all-channel reach of the London Symphony Orchestra string section, conducted by Dave Stewart (as in Hatfield and the North/National Health Dave Stewart, not onetime Eurythmic Dave Stewart). In November 2013, Wilson released a Drive Home Blu-ray EP that includes hi-res live tracks, a new track (“The Birthday Party”), remixes, and video footage, and it’s well worth picking up as your official Raven companion.
Holy Thinker: Wilson contemplates Govan’s licks in the East West Studios sessions in Los Angeles, September 2012.
Track 3, “The Holy Drinker,” opens with shimmery, Twin Peaks-ian keyboard riffage that leads into snarling guitar, a left-turn cool down, and an eventual full-channel pummeling that’s a twisted cousin to the sinister undertones of Drowning’s “Index.” (And, uh, those outro, rear-channel howls? Chilling.)
“The Pin Drop,” Track 4, is another tone break, commencing with a dreamy, clockwise, Gilmour-ian guitar line as Wilson vocalizes high notes in the center channel before a full-band, full-channel assault hits you at 1:15, with drummer Minnemann just tearing it up in the rears and Travis’s lofty sax solo wafting all around you.
The epic Track 5, “The Watchmaker,” begins plaintively, Wilson’s guitar delayed front to back as he starts singing the verses, his doubled vocal lines emphasized in the rears. The aforementioned mellotron makes a welcome return to echo a vocal lilt before the middle movement commences and picks up the pace, Minnemman’s cymbal work sharp in the rears with the rest of the band filling in — Travis’s flute and Holzman’s organ setting the stage for Govan’s down-the-middle overdriven solo. Another movement commences with lush, overlapping harmonies until mellotron and band absolutely envelop and crush you with their abject power.
Raven’s titular last call, Track 6, balances yearning piano, vocal pleading, wistful clarinet, and the rise, fall, and rise of the strings. It’s Wilson’s most heartfelt, raw-emotion-invoking song since Porcupine Tree’s Stupid Dream closer, “Stop Swimming.” After seeing “Raven” performed in live quad at the Nokia Theater in Times Square in NYC back on April 26, 2013, Holzman’s wife, ace guitarslinger Jane Gitter, told me backstage, “It made me cry.” (Me too — but, uh, don’t tell…)
Raven-ettes: SW & MM & Raven vinyl, in a still from our video interview that will post in early 2014.
The breadth and scope of Raven represent Steven Wilson at the height of his creative powers, where surround sound music and mixing has reached a heretofore unheard aural apex. Our ever-searching ears are lucky to be consistently challenged and rewarded by this man’s muse.
What”s next for the Surround King? Well, I spoke with Wilson recently about his colossally satisfying 5.1 Blu-ray mix for Yes’ Close to the Edge, his upcoming surround projects, and his view of the future of high-resolution audio, and you’ll see the full breadth of our Q&A in The SoundBard Interview in early 2014. Until then — happy immersive listening!
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