Music at Elsewhere

Bonnie Prince Billy: Is it the Sea? (BBC)

15 Oct 2008 | 1 min read

Recorded live in Edinburgh before the release of his last album Lie Down in the Light (which as noted here was a slightly more upbeat if not uptempo outing for this prince of dark places) this is an exceptional release in the ever-expanding Billy (aka Will Oldham) canon. With a small band of folk-locals Harem Scarem and guest voclaist Alex Neilson, Oldham reaches right back to some material... > Read more

Bonnie Prince Billy: Wolf Among Wolves

Jenny Lewis: Acid Tongue (Lost Highway)

15 Oct 2008 | <1 min read

Frankly I'm a bit ho-hum about too much of this by the woman who brought us the terrific Rabbit Fur Coat (with the Watson Twins). When it is good it is very, very good (the eerie alt.folk of Pretty Bird, the fragile Bad Man's World with stabbing cello, the dsriking title track) but then in other places she veers off into alt.rock (The Next Messiah is an ordinary slide guitar blues rock),... > Read more

Jenny Lewis: Godspeed

Jolie Holland: the living and the dead (Anti)

14 Oct 2008 | 1 min read

There are no liner notes on the advance copy of this album I received some weeks back, but it would be interesting to speculate which of these songs from this San Francisco-based singer-songwriter were penned while on a writing retreat in New Zealand: the throwaway Enjoy Yourself ("it's later than you think") at the end perhaps where she giggles away? While there is still the... > Read more

Jolie Holland: Sweet Loving Man

Oasis: Dig Out Your Soul (Sony BMG)

14 Oct 2008 | 2 min read

Well, no one - least of all the man himself - ever said Noel Gallagher was a wizz with a lyric, but this rowdy and sometimes thrillingly psychedelic album hits some new lows when it comes to raiding his beloved Beatles or just going for the bleedin' obvious. Among the laugh-out-loud moments here are references to "revolution in her head" (Revolution in the Head was a fine... > Read more

Oasis: Falling Down

Lila Downs, Shake Away (EMI)

7 Oct 2008 | <1 min read

The new album by the US-Hispanic singer should get a good reception here given her popularity at the last Womad (see tag for interview) -- but this one sees her embracing a more centrist rock position with piercing guitars and a sharp backbeat in places, and at other times reaching for Nashville and New Orleans. Of course the Mexican elements remain prominent: there is a striking cover of... > Read more

Lila Downs: Black Magic Woman

Paul Motian: Conception Vessel (ECM)

6 Oct 2008 | <1 min read

Another in the mid-price reissue of early albums on the ECM label, this one from 1973 under drummer Paul Motian's name is an oddity in the ECM catalogue: unlike virtually every other album on the imprint where stable groups or studio-arranged line-ups present a cohesive music, this one has only Motian as the constant. And it is almost a primer into free jazz as it opens with a quite lovely... > Read more

Paul Motian and Keith Jarrett: Conception Vessel

David Gilmour: Live in Gdansk (SonyBMG)

5 Oct 2008 | 1 min read

Although perhaps only the most dedicated Pink Floyd fan might want this double disc (or the double CD-double DVD version, or the collectors edition which is a five disc set!) let's get a little focus on this exceptional guitarist and his place in the pantheon. From the moment he joined Pink Floyd and more so immediately the band had cut loose Syd Barrett, Gilmour proved to be a player unlike... > Read more

David Gilmour: Astronomy Domine

Reb Fountain: Holster (Fountain)

5 Oct 2008 | <1 min read | 1

This Auckland-based singer-songwriter impressed Elsewhere greatly with her debut Like Water, but this album is a real step up on every front, from the elaborate and evocative cover art, through the supportive musicianship from the likes of Sam Prebble (aka Bond Street Bridge), Dylan Storey, Simon Gooding and others. But with Fountain writing everything and playing guitars everywhere, this... > Read more

Reb Fountain: Wrecking Ball

Rodney Crowell: Sex and Gasoline (Shock)

1 Oct 2008 | 1 min read | 1

Crowell's 2001 album The Houston Kid -- hard-won narratives in passingly autobiographical songs - hinted that he was getting a late-career second wind after some pretty indifferent albums in the late 80s/90s. This album confirms that, after The Outside of 2005, his songwriting and story-telling skills certainly haven't deserted him and in fact when it comes to crafting a bitter... > Read more

Rodney Crowell: The Rise and Fall of Intelligent Design

Dub Asylum: Ba Ba Boom! EP (www.dubasylum.co.nz)

1 Oct 2008 | <1 min read | 1

If I've been tardy getting to this terrific EP of beats, hip-hop meets reggae culture, and much more it's that I have been so busy backloading the archives. But let it be said that in downtime from that seemingly endless - but endlessly enjoyable - task I have been cranking these five tracks up way, way loud. Largely the sole project of former Hallelujah Picassos-man Peter McLennan these... > Read more

Dub Asylum: Ba Ba Boom!

Salmonella Dub with the NZSO: Feel the Seasons Change (Virgin)

30 Sep 2008 | 1 min read

To be honest, I have always been vaguely suspicious of the rock-meets-orchestra thing. For a kick-off I wonder who such events/albums are made for. But then again I had Deep Purple's terrible Concerto for Group and Orchestra as a formative experience and have since listened to various orchestras attack rock songs, and have found very little of interest in those much bannered symphonic... > Read more

Salmonella Dub and the NZSO: Love Sunshine and Happiness

Frightened Rabbit: The Midnight Organ Fight (FatCat/Rhythmethod)

30 Sep 2008 | <1 min read

This three-piece from Glasgow have an urgent delivery which puts you in mind of the Waterboys at their best, but of course this is very Scottish. Tossed out with garage band energy and a rare passion, they sound like they could play local halls to mature audiences (the charming Old Old Fashioned) as well as post-punk clubs where a wee bit o' headbuttin' wouldn't be uncommon. Driven by an... > Read more

Frightened Rabbit: Fast Blood

Bill Frisell Band: Lookout For Hope (ECM)

26 Sep 2008 | 1 min read

It would be a brave or foolish person who tried to give a snapshot of the career of this guitarist in just a few short sentences: so here goes a fool. Frisell came out of the Midwest (so there's some country, widescreen sensibilities and folk for you) and studied at Berklee with Jim Hall (some straight jazz into the mix). He became an integral player in the New York Downtown scene with... > Read more

Bill Frisell Band: Little Brother Bobby (1988)

Fatcat and Fishface: The Bestest and Horriblest Songs for Children (Jayrem)

26 Sep 2008 | <1 min read | 2

We here at Elsewhere don't disapprove of children (three, and a full stop) but rarely want to be subjected to kids' music which can actually be worse than tweenies music for sheer mindless repetition. But in the spirit of being a good citizen I bring this amusing item to your attention if you have people in your house you wouldn't let near a toaster with a fork, or your DVD player. Know... > Read more

Fatcat and Fishface: Favourite Undies

Yule: Aaaarrrggh!!! (Scandal Street)

26 Sep 2008 | 1 min read

"Interesting" is a word which suspends judgement ("Do you like my new dress?" "Hmmm, it's interesting") but to say that this debut album by a young New Zealand singer-songwriter who seemed to have done his apprenticeship in flats in Grey Lynn and Dunedin is "interesting" means that it is of genuine interest. He opens with a lo-fi complaint about... > Read more

Yule: Night Night

Fripp and Eno: Beyond Even; 1992-2006 (Opal/Southbound)

23 Sep 2008 | <1 min read

As mentioned in the previous posting of the Travis and Fripp album, when guitarist Fripp got into the studio alongside musician-without-portfolio Brian Eno for the albums Evening Star and No Pussyfooting in the early 70s a particular magic was created. Not ambient music (that was to follow from Eno) but more like music as an emotional landscape -- and if that's a description somewhat... > Read more

Fripp & Eno: Triploli 2020

Robert Wyatt: This Summer Night (Domino)

21 Sep 2008 | <1 min read

If you didn't know Wyatt and came to this soulful, slightly funky and utterly charming single by Robert Wyatt -- released in advance of the reissue of nine of his albums -- you'd never think this was the same man who delivered the definitive version of Elvis Costello's anti-Falklands War classic Shipbuilding; or that he is a lifelong socialist and has albums with The Red Flag and Trade... > Read more

Robert Wyatt: This Summer Night

The Weather: Aroha Ave (Powertools)

18 Sep 2008 | 1 min read

The singer and songwriter behind the Weather is Matthew Bannister, formerly of Sneaky Feelings who drew their inspiration and aspiration from the pantheon of classic pop (Beatles, Beach Boys) and reputable country (the Louvin Brothers). And that meant they were isolated in the middle of Velvet-influenced bands and noisy neighbours on the Flying Nun label. After three fine albums the Sneakies... > Read more

The Weather: Ask Anyone

Little Feat and Friends: Join the Band (429/Shock)

18 Sep 2008 | <1 min read

That Little Feat survived the death of founder Lowell George back in 79 wasn't so surprising. Much as George was the charismatic, stoned frontman there was no denying that this was a band of stunning musicians. They took time out after George's death -- a decade almost -- but their re-formation was somehow inevitable. Naturally their critics will tell you that the version touring these days... > Read more

Little Feat: Champion of the World (with Jimmy Buffett)

Josh Rouse: Best of the Ryko Years, 1995-2005 (Ryko/Elite)

18 Sep 2008 | <1 min read | 2

Some artists may always be the private passion of a few, and you sense this American singer-songwriter is hailed by some and utterly unfamiliar to most, many of whom would like him if they only knew. Rouse has been a regular at Elsewhere and his albums like Under Cold Blue Stars (02), the slightly troublking 1972 (of 03 when some said he'd retreated into LA-lite pop) and the terrific... > Read more