Canadian rock

REVIEW: The Tea Party – Transmission (1997)

 

Scan_20160526THE TEA PARTY – Transmission (1997 EMI)

Tea Party fans are often split on Transmission.  There is little doubt that the previous Edges of Twilight album was a high water mark.  With over an hour of exotic and varied folks-blues-rock hybrids, it’s a favourite for many.  The band took a stark turn on Transmission, embracing electronics.  Jeff Martin produced the album himself, and you could not expect a more opposite album to Twilight.  Thanks to the opening single “Temptation”, the album was another hit.  Most fans seemed OK with the changes.

At first, it doesn’t seem like anything is unusual in Tea Party land.  “Temptation” (the album version anyway) opens with a fair bit of exotic strumming on some sort of stringed instrument, as the Tea Party often do.  Then the samples and looped drums kick in, and they are huge!  Middle Eastern exotics, radio noise, keyboards and a killer riff all combine with loops to create a new kind of Tea Party.  So far so good — the experiment paid off.

Martin had a penchant for odd song titles on this album, like “Army Ants”.  Vocals furiously distorted, this makes for a heavier Tea Party.  Jeff Burrows is providing some excellent drum backbeats, but at times they are buried under other sounds.  The title track “Transmission” is way better though, burning like electronic incense.  Static, loops and acoustics return for “Psychopomp”, one of the five singles they released.  While it takes a while to get there, “Psychopomp” boasts a powerfully melodramatic chorus, Martin roaring as he does.  “Gyroscope” has a spinning sound, one of the more hypnotic tracks (and also a single).  One of the more impressive singles was the ballad “Release”.  This was eventually given an EP of its own which we’ll look at another time.  A basic keyboard/drum ballad, it is simple and bleak but hard to forget.  It almost reminds of early 80’s Robert Plant.

There isn’t a lot of variety and distinction between the songs.  “Alarum” repeats the formula:  Electronic effects, exotic sounds, roared-out chorus.  This was the disappointing factor with Transmission.  The band had established themselves with a diverse sound, but that sound is narrowed on Transmission.  All the same ingredients are there, but they are focused by the electronic lens, which sharpens them but also bleaches them to all one colour.  “Babylon” is one of the exceptions, with drum & bass elements, and off-kilter song structure.  It was appropriately given a very bizarre music video.  An interesting experiment, but not as affective a song as something simpler like “Release”.

The Tea Party had some fun in other ways too. They like hidden bonus tracks, but this time they didn’t stick one at the end. They stuck an instrumental (dubbed “Embryo”) at the end of track 8 (“Babylon”). It’s actually a cool little piece of music.

Since the Tea Party are an ever-evolving band, it was safe to assume they would not stay in the electronics lab forever. Their next album, Triptych, was different again. Transmission remains their most loop-heavy album to date.  At least they did it at the right time — The Prodigy’s massive mainstream album The Fat of the Land was released mere months before.  The public were ready and hungry for computer-precise beats and samples, and the Tea Party delivered a unique hybrid with their own brand of rock.  For the most part, it worked.

3/5 stars

Scan_20160526 (2)

REVIEW: The Tragically Hip – Man Machine Poem (2016)

NEW RELEASE

Scan_20160620THE TRAGICALLY HIP – Man Machine Poem (2016 Universal)

The title Man Machine Poem reveals something about the new Tragically Hip.  The first song is entitled “Man”, and the last one “Machine”.  This album is an epic poem — the “Man Machine” poem.  It has a flow like a singular body of work, even though it is made up of individual songs.  Like most Hip albums of late, it is a brooding work thick with power in its quiet grooves.

Sounding a bit like like classic Radiohead, “Man” opens the CD on a suitably weird note.  Droning piano, strange echoey vocals…and I’m hypnotised immediately.  Granted, the subconscious mind keeps trying to find meaning in the music.  Now we all know the terrible news.  That in mind, we’re not going to treat this album like a funeral.  Brain cancer be damned, Gord Downie is doing that final tour, you know the one?  The one that nobody has been able to buy tickets for except on StubHub for many times their original value.  In other words, it’s a heavy atmosphere and you keep searching for hints and clues that are not there.  “Man” is a brilliant track, showing that the Hip were continuing to push their own limits.

Just about every track on Man Machine Poem is brilliant.  The first single “In A World Possessed by the Human Mind” sounds like something Bono wishes he had written.  The fuse smoulders, but the song blasts open brightly on the chorus.  Each song has its own character, but hard to define.  “What Blue” is simply lovely, a summery track that is hard to forget.  “In Sarnia” sounds more like “in the country”, but friends from back that way say that’s not too far from the mark.  Passion turned up to 10, Gord lets it all out.  The song is slow and quiet; all but Gord.

The days of “Little Bones” and “New Orleans is Sinking” are long behind now.  The Hip don’t write albums like that anymore, but what they do create still has innate power.  Listen to the acoustics and the slides blending with the electric guitars and steady beat of Johnny Fay.  The Hip run like a well oiled…gotta say it…Man Machine.  The older, wiser, and less loud Tragically Hip still rock, cranking it up when necessary.  “Here, in the Dark” is a fine example of placing the explosive charges in the exact right spots.  So is the growling “Hot Mic.”  The energy is palpable.  Even on a song called “Tired as Fuck”, there is energy in the air.

Man Machine Poem has an epic feel to it, from the strange start to the drawn out dramatic ending.   It’s temping to say something like “best Hip album in years!” but they’ve never stopped making great albums.

4.5/5 stars

 

A Tribute to Paul MacLeod (1970-2016) by Uncle Meat

PAUL

I first met Mac in the early 90s when I was dragged to the Walper by a mutual friend of ours Jeff Marsland (aka Chewie). Not long within the set he played Tori Amos – “Pretty Good Year” and Motorhead – “Ace of Spades” and I was hooked. Then being blown away by Six Months … as well as the re-named Hibakusha. Actually my most memorable Paul moment on stage was when Hibakusha broke into Supertramp’s “School” at the Starlight. One of the greatest covers I have ever seen.

Years after that I was fortunate enough to join the infamous MacLeod poker nights, and this was where we started becoming close friends. Also through him I was fortunate to meet and get to know his great and talented friends. We just seemed to enjoy pretty much exactly the same things… music…sports…darts…and I would say most of all…comedy. Considering how long before this I had admired him as a musician, it was surprisingly quick and easy for me to put that away and just look at him as my friend. A few times Paul brought up the first poker game I went to .. and said this statement that always made me laugh: “I had to be friends with you. You had the balls to tell me to my face, in front of my friends, that Scott Deneau was the the best guy you’ve ever seen with just a guitar and a voice.”  I can still picture the look on his face when he would say it and it still makes me laugh.

One Canada Day at the Boathouse (the year would have been 2011 ish? maybe?) Paul played two full sets of all Canadian tunes. Some of the songs he pulled out of the air that night were classic. They weren’t perfect. Some of the lyrics were wrong. But with every song the crowd just wanted to see what was coming next. His interactions with Kevin Doyle that night were so much fun. This was followed by an after hours set of Who tunes with Paul only singing and Chris Latta on guitar. Totally kicked my ass. Hard to forget moments like these.

A few amazing years of playing darts with the man. Getting my ass thoroughly kicked most of the time. Loved going to war with him for a few years on the same team. His personality shone through every dart venue we played at. What can I say? The man knew how to own a room.

I was lucky enough many times to get the gift of him just picking up his guitar and singing. Sometimes singing along but mostly just soaking it in. And then we would go back to comedy. And lots of it. Every time I would go over to his sister’s place he would be so “on” with the comedy. Relentless. The man loved making people laugh. So, included here is one of his favourite bits from his all-time favourite comedian Norm MacDonald. This is what made the funniest guy I know laugh.

Long live old Harold Delaney.

REVIEW: I Mother Earth – Dig (1993)

THREE REVIEWS FOR THE PRICE OF NONE!
For Aaron’s review click here.
For Boppin’s review, click here!

I MOTHER EARTH – Dig (1993 Capitol)

Toronto rock fans were ecstatic when local heroes I Mother Earth signed with Capitol and went to record a debut album with Mike Clink (Guns N’ Roses).  The goal was to take I Mother Earth’s long and meandering jams and turn them into recordable songs, and this was a success.  With an intense mixture of metal, alternative, funk, world music and everything else, the debut album Dig was a head-turner.  Loads of exotic percussion mixed with funky bass turned it into slow-burning hit.  Eventually the record buying public pushed the album gold, with comparisons to Blind Melon and Jane’s Addiction.

The opening music, “The Mothers”, introduces a psychedelic bent that continues through the album.  “Listen! To the Mothers!” yells lead howler Edwin, with echoey 60’s guitar behind him.  This is all a fake-out:  “Feel heavy!” are the first words of the next song, “Levitate”, heavy as plutonium plated bullets.  The intense grinding riff and groove of “Levitate” are the perfect example of early I Mother Earth:  heavy, rhythmic and intense.  Edwin’s voice at the time was compared to Perry Farrell, but the two artists are easily distinguished.

The debut single “Rain Will Fall”, not that dissimilar from “Levitate”, focused on the intense heavy rock side of the band.  The complex beats and out-there lyrics are still there, but there is no denying the forward momentum of “Rain Will Fall”.  Either stay out of its way or get swept away; it’s your choice.  Edwin whispers the lyrics until the full-lunged chorus.  They really liked writing about themselves: “Four brothers make the Mothers, four brothers form the one!”  (Drummer Christian Tanna was responsible for all lyrics.)  But check out that funky wah-wah guitar, bass and percussion!  It’s worth noting that guitarist Jagori Tanna played all the bass on the album at the time.  Original bassist Franz had left and been replaced by Bruce Gordon, but that’s Jag playing all the funky shit on this CD.  “Rain Will Fall” has a long open jam section that shows off this incredible playing.

Time to get trippy.  “So Gently We Go” sounds like a 60’s Carlos Santana slow jam.  It was one of four successful singles from the album, in edited form, since the album track is seven minutes.  It’s a delightful journey of joyous vocals, psychedelic flower dancing and hippie jams.  Things turn intense on “Not Quite Sonic”, the most accessible of the album’s tracks.  Choppy guitars and percussion set the groove, then the bass drops in the low end.  “The sights are embryonic, say what you want, I’m not quite sonic.”  No idea what Christian is writing about, but Edwin sings it like he means it.  You can understand how this became a bit of a hit when it was released as a single.  It was great to hear music on the charts that really celebrated skilled playing and composition.

Super-fast paced funky guitar that sounds like Flea playing bass (jumping around joyfully naked) opens up “Production”, the most challenging of the songs. The sheer speed would knock most people for a loop, but I didn’t see that beat-poetry section coming! “Lost My America” is easier to swallow:  Big and grand Cult-like choruses, backed by laid back dusky verses.

The centerpiece of the album is the epic and heavy as fuck “No One”.  More than any, this one song combines all the band’s elements for maximum effectiveness.  The groove will initiate spontaneous leg-stomping, impossible to stop once started.  Edwin is on full intensity with his vocals.  I had this song on an early preview sampler cassette, and I played it relentlessly during the summer of ’93, treating locals to it quite loudly through the car speakers.  “No one leaves the caravan,” sings Edwin, but who would want to leave?  By the time the song has expired seven minutes later, if you are not dripping with sweat, then you haven’t been listening properly.

The album begins to wind down from “No One” to the end.  There are no more mindblowing songs, though plenty of jaw-dropping playing.  “Undone” is the quietest song on the album, stripped down and punctuated by congas and Edwin’s raspy singing.  Then “Basketball” is the funkiest of them all, blazingly fast, and hard to hold on to.  The final two songs, “And the Experience”, and “The Universe in You” blend together in my mind.  Is Dig perhaps overly long?  Ear fatigue sets in.   Your senses have been assaulted with a lot of notes and words to absorb and by this point, it’s overwhelming.  (And there were two more songs dropped from the album, “Subterranean Wonderland” and “Love from Revolution”, the former of which later turned up on a compilation CD called Earth, Sky and Everything in Between.)  “The Universe in You” ends the album on a bluesy Sabbath note, very epic indeed.

Dig is a mighty debut album indeed, but at well over an hour in length, perhaps they should have hung onto some of these tracks for B-sides.

4/5 stars

Scan_20160529 (3)

REVIEW: Helix – “(Gene Simmons Says) Rock is Dead” (2016 music video)

HELIX – “(Gene Simmons Says) Rock is Dead” (2016 music video from the forthcoming album Rock It Science)

“I don’t need no god of thunder to tell me what is great.” — Brian Vollmer

Helix are back once more, with a new greatest hits album called Rock It Science.*  You gotta have a new song on a new greatest hits (teased previously as “Mystery Track”), and this new song is timely and sharp.  Gene Simmons does indeed say that rock is dead.  In fact he’s been saying that for over 25 years.  I have a M.E.A.T Magazine interview with Gene from 1990 where he professes that rock is indeed dead.  And he’s still saying it now.  But Brian Vollmer retorts, “Don’t believe it when Gene Simmons says rock is dead!”

Sure, lots has changed, but Helix keeps going.  It’s not the 80’s anymore.  Very few can sell 2,000,000 copies of an album today.  It’s hard to make a living just by selling records.  You have to diversify.  Everything has changed — but like many things, the more they change the more they stay the same.  Rock is not dead.  In many respects, rock is more popular than ever.  Helix are still producing great quality music, and “Gene Simmons Says) Rock is Dead” is one more gem for their rock crown.  Daryl Gray and “Fritz” Hinz are still there on the rhythm section.  Chris Julke and Kaleb Duck handle the axes just fine.  This could have been on an album like Back for Another Taste.

As far as the video goes, Brent Doerner directed this one.  The Gene impersonator is bang-on — I hope Helix don’t get sued for this!  The video celebrates the old school.  It’s performed at Speed City Records in London, Ontario.  (Look for cool posters of bands such as Gob and VoiVod, who Gene slammed in the 1990 M.E.A.T interview.)  I really dig Daryl Gray’s Helix logo bass guitar.  That looks like a bitch to play.  Brent captured the fun side of the band in the video.  It’s not glossy, but I think it does the trick.

There’s no release date yet, but Rock It Science should be available to purchase soon.  Check out the CD cover, also designed by Brent Doerner.

Rock is dead?  Hardly.  Gene’s been wrong before, and he’s wrong again.

4/5 stars

ROCK IT

*The title It’s ROCK Science, Not Rocket Science was a working title for 2009’s Vagabond Bones.

 

 

#491: My First Tragically Hip Experience, by Scotty G (Guest Shot)

HIP

GETTING MORE TALE #491: My First Tragically Hip Experience, by Scotty G

As fans know, Gordon Downie of the Tragically Hip was recently diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.  It is devastating news.  Downie, living his life as an artist, has decided to go out as an artist and do a farewell tour in support of the new album Man Machine Poem.  As writers, we have been trying to come up with a way to honour the man without dwelling on the negative.  With that in mind, in a multi-site event, we have several posts for you today to honour the man and the legend, Mr. Gord Downie.  Mikeladano.com’s contribution  is this guest shot by the King of Rock Knowledge, and fellow ‘Fester, Scott.  He is what I like to refer to as a “Jedi Master of rock”, the kind of man that can pass down stories and legends to the next generation.  Scotty had the chance to see The Hip back in the early, early days and…well see for yourself!  Please welcome Mr. Scotty G!

 

My first Hip experience was around 1988 or so, just prior to the release of Up To Here (1989). Somewhere after the Spoons and Rough Trade, and possibly prior to Sass Jordan, (I cant remember) at a Canada Day concert at Molson Park in Barrie, the Tragically Hip hit the stage.

Obviously young and lacking a whole lot of support, they carried their amps on stage themselves, placed them on chairs and started to play. I was kind of familiar with “Last American Exit” from the video, but that was it. They hit the stage and I was BLOWN AWAY. Mid-set, after really rocking one out, Gord called out to the crowd and asked if anyone had a dime? Literally, the crowd pelted the stage with change.  Gord grabbed the coin of choice and proceeded to tighten a screw in his mic stand. He thanked the crowd for the help, and they blasted into another tune.

Months later, with this show still in the forefront of my mind, Up To Here was released and with it came more opportunities to see the Hip in many small venues. One in particular, the Highlands in Cambridge*, always offered up good opportunities to meet bands and in this case a couple of us were welcomed into the dressing room where Gord very politely obliged our fan talk.  Joint after joint flew from Johnny Fay’s expert rolling fingers. Although it’s a long time ago, I have a good memory of it. I have to add that I am still amazed that he gave us the time of day, and seemed cool with having two 17 or 18-year-olds sitting in the dressing room asking silly questions while the band got stoned….

I got to see the Hip many times after that, and look back on those early performances with fondness. I never saw them live after the Road Apples tour, but will always recall the welcome that Gord and the band gave two young fans after a great show in Cambridge. He is a cool shit….

SCOTTY G

* I saw the London Quireboys at Highlands in Cambridge in December 1990 

REVIEW: A Rebel Few – As the Crow Flies (2016)

A multi-site event: Let us introduce you to A REBEL FEW.

KeepsMeAlive – Aaron’s review
BoppinsBlog – Boppin’s interview with ADAM SHORTREED of A REBEL FEW
BoppinsBlog – Boppin’s review

Scan_20160422A REBEL FEW – As the Crow Flies (2016 A Rebel Few)

Now here’s a local success story in the making!  Four guys with nine songs headed south to record their debut album in Texas with producer Sterling Winfield, whose name you might recognize.  He has Pantera, Damageplan, and Hellyeah albums on his resume, so it seems obvious that A Rebel Few were going for a heavy sound.  What they ended up with is one of the best sounding indi heavy rock albums you’ll likely get to hear.

There are Pantera influences, and you can hear some Zakk Wylde too.  What sets these guys apart is singer Raposo (just Raposo).  He’s more than just another melodic growler.  The world is full of those.  We have enough.  Raposo has depth and control, as well as expression.  He can do a smooth voice, not just the growls.  He’s world class.  He fits the band, who combine shredding with riffs, groove, heavy bass and drums.

All the songs are good, but there are some that really stand out.  “A Rebel Few” hits the highway with anti-matter propulsion, so furious it is.  Many of the riffs on this album sound Sabbathy in origin, and “Born Again” is one such moment.  “Empires Fall” is radio-ready riff rock.  There is some seriously good shit on this album, and it’s all crunchy and heavy on the low end.  What it lacks in originality, is made up for by the vocals.  Listen carefully; you will hear a serious amount of vocal quality that you don’t get out of the general rock herd.  When Raposo really gives’er, he almost sounds like a young John Bush.

This album will give you a burst of energy like one of those awful caffeine drinks…but good for you!  If you are not air-drumming or air-bassing or air-guitaring along, then you are not doing it right.  This review is taking longer than average to write, because you can’t type while you’re furiously air-drumming along with Chris Spiers.   As for the air-guitar part, I find lead shredder Barry Marton on his way to developing into a monster.  He can play it bluesy, he can play it slick.  The raw material is there and you can hear glimmers of depth between the blurs of notes.

The big surprise is saved for last, and it’s a doozy.  “Pure Revolution” would be a good title for a speedy rock number, but it’s just the opposite.  Touches of piano and light guitar introduce the only power ballad on the album, and it’s a good’er.  Maybe calling it a power ballad isn’t right, but it has ballady moments, and also powerful riffs, so why not?  There are heavy Dio guitar chugs, but also those quiet spaces where the vocals really get to come out.  Either way, it’s a kick-ass song.

Get this CD.  Use your fingers, Google the band “A Rebel Few”, and do what you gotta do to get this music in your ears today.

4/5 stars

REVIEW: The Tea Party – The Edges of Twilight (20th anniversary deluxe edition)

 

Scan_20160409THE TEA PARTY –  The Edges of Twilight (20th anniversary Universal deluxe edition, originally 1995)

The Tea Party have long been slagged as derivative.  “They sound too much like the Doors!” screams one corner.  “Zeppelin copy-cats!” cries another.  The first complaint isn’t true; singer Jeff Martin has a Morrison-like vibe but the Tea Party sound nothing at all like the Doors.  The second carries some weight to it, especially when it’s 1995’s The Edges of Twilight we’re talking about.

Due to an early connection with folk singer Roy Harper, a cover of “Train Kept a-Rolling”, and exotic world music influences, the Tea Party have long been compared to the mighty Led Zeppelin.  This was cranked up a notch on The Edges of Twilight.  From dirty electric blues, folksy English-sounding ditties, and and wealth of stringed instruments from all around the world, the Tea Party just went for it.  Though many praise the band’s prior album Splendor Solis (their major label debut) as a high water mark, Twilight exceeds it in almost every way.  I seem to remember reading that the album had something like 50 different instruments on it.  The sheer ambition and skill involved in pulling off an album this complex has to be admired.

That all sounds very heady and sophisticated, but the first single and opening track “Fire in the Head” rocks plenty hard.  A perfect 50/50 mix of the exotic and heavy sides of the Tea Party, “Fire in the Head” is savoury.  The Zeppelin comparisons are unavoidable, but because Jeff Martin is not that kind of singer, it has a darker more ominous ambience.  “The Bazaar” then takes it up a notch and into North Africa.  Still heavy, but with the world music more prominent, “The Bazaar” too was a single and a hit.  Let’s face it, the last major band to combine Gibson Les Pauls and world music in this way was in fact Led Zeppelin.  Is that a reason to criticize the Tea Party?  The answer is no, because they did not choose to do something easy.  They took the hard road with The Edges of Twilight.

There are many excellent songs on the album, including another single “Sister Awake”, one of the most complex tracks.  There are heavy electric blues tracks like “Turn the Lamp Down Low” and “Drawing Down the Moon”, and fully acoustic songs like “Shadows on the Mountainside”.  The best tracks are the most pompous.  Similar to the singles from the CD, tracks such as “Walk With Me” and “Coming Home” are big and bold with loud choruses.  Though not a single, “Walk With Me” is a fan favourite and considered one of their must-haves.

But that’s not all!  After several minutes of silence (oh, the 1990’s!) there is a hidden unlisted bonus track!  “The Edges of Twilight” is a poem written and spoken by Roy Harper backed with music by Jeff Martin.  Having a guy like Harper in the band’s extended family lent them credibility that other bands could not hope for.  And then there’s even another hidden snip of music.  After another silence is a few seconds of a rehearsal of the song “Correspondences”.

Harper also appears on the bonus CD, on a song called “Time” which originally appeared on the 1996 Alhambra EP.  This is a full-on 70 minute Tea Party track with Roy Harper singing instead of Jeff Martin.  Ballady and somber, and then explosively electric, “Time” is a triumph that deserves a second look.  (Other tracks lifted from that EP are acoustic versions of “Inanna” and “Silence”.)  The bonus disc is otherwise loaded with demos, acoustic versions and alternate versions, and live takes.  With the exception of “Time”, this is all purely supplemental stuff and mostly interesting to fans of the band.  The demo versions are remarkable for how near-complete they are.  The band did not need to tinker much with arrangements in the studio.

There are ample liner notes and photos.  Co-producer Ed Stasium praises the CD and says it is one of the top five he has ever been involved in.  Serious praise, but the album deserves it.  The Tea Party took a detour after this into the world of electronica, with 1997’s Transmission.  20 years later, The Edges of Twilight remains the most impressive Tea Party album and the most heady mix of world music and rock and roll.

4.5/5 stars

REVIEW: Killer Dwarfs – Reunion of Scribes Live 2001
The Best Fucking Collaboration Week Ever, Pt. 2
 Mike and Aaron are doing simultaneous daily reviews of albums that these two intrepid music reporters have sent to each other. Buckle up, buttercups, it’s gonna be a blast!

 

 

“You guys do like to drink, don’t ya?  You are Canadian aren’t ya?  Most of us are Canadian in here, except for there’s one guy that I know of.  Security!”  — Russ Dwarf

Scan_20160313KILLER DWARFS – Reunion of Scribes Live 2001 (2002 Bullseye)

Aaron scored this for cheap at his “junk shop” and passed it down to me.  It was the only Killer Dwarfs CD I was missing — and for good reason.  I had the chance to hear it once, at the Record Store, while I was working for a stretch in Hamilton.   I didn’t think much of it then.  Has anything changed?

The Killer Dwarfs quietly went extinct after their final studio album, 1992’s Method to the Madness.  10 years later, the band reunited including Mike (Hall) Dwarf, who had actually left the band prior to 1992.  This is a full reunion of the classic lineup:  The Dwarfs Russty, Mike, Darrell and Bad Ronbo.  Let’s “Go DuNK” and see what the Killer Dwarfs 2001 sounded like.  At one hour and 11 minutes, Reunion of Scribes is the longest Killer Dwarfs album to date.

Strangely enough for a Canadian band, the concert begins with a recording of “The U.S. Air Force” (also known as “The Wild Blue Yonder”) before the band emerges with a limp version of their own “Dirty Weapons”.  What’s the problem?  It’s certainly not Russ Dwarf, who sounds vintage strong.   The guitar is too thin, and blemished with sour notes here and there.  Hey, it’s been a long time since Mike was a Dwarf!  The drums also sound disconnected from the song from time to time.  Chock it up to a bad recording?  (At the Docks, in Toronto.)  “Stand Tall” also suffers: the guitar needs to be front and center.  The sound of the band suddenly becomes sparse and weak every time Mike Dwarf stops playing the riff in order to lay down a solo.  The bass isn’t fat enough to fill the gap.

Another weakness to this recording is a concentration on songs from 1988-1992.  There’s nothing at all from their first self-titled album, even their first single “Heavy Mental Breakdown”, the song that helped put them on the map.  Instead the Dwarfs focused on more radio-friendly later music for this set.  Of that tunage, most of the hits are here:  “Stand Tall”, “Keep the Spirit Alive”, “Dirty Weapons”, “Doesn’t Matter”, “Hard Luck Town”.  Their first big label single, “We Stand Alone” is missing from the set, which instead includes lots of notable album cuts.  The best of these include “Believe in Me” from their second album Stand Tall.  Russ Dwarf’s ageless voice delivers hard-edged numbers like “Starting to Shine”, “Last Laugh”, “Nothin’ Gets Nothin'”, and “Comin’ Through” with all its usual intensity.

The most emotional moment (for fans) has to be the ballad “Doesn’t Matter”.  “Roll the dice and play the game, for the fortune and the fame.”  The Dwarfs did roll the dice, at least they tried.  “Doesn’t Matter” is a pretty simple lyrically:  get out there and give’r.*  The live recording doesn’t deliver its full power, but I do get the feels to hear them return to Toronto and play this song for their friends.

Most of these songs are still high-quality hard rock workhorses.  While Russ Dwarf brings it all and then some, the poor recording renders Reunion of Scribes an album that will only get infrequent plays at LeBrain HQ.

2/5 stars

* The Killer Dwarfs are the only band I can think of who actually used the word “give’r” in a song lyric.

REVIEW: Russ Dwarf – Wireless (2013)
The Best Fucking Collaboration Week Ever, Pt. 2
 Mike and Aaron will be doing simultaneous daily reviews of albums these two intrepid music reporters have sent to each other. Buckle up, buttercups, it’s gonna be a blast!

Aaron’s review: Russ Dwarf – Wireless

RUSS DWARFS – Wireless (2013 Smoothline)

I don’t know where Aaron finds this stuff up in Owen Sound, but here is a pristine digipack CD of Russ Dwarf (of Killer Dwarf) and friends doing acoustic versions of old Killer Dwarfs classics.  Wireless is a great name for such a venture, and the friends list includes Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal (ex-Guns N’ Roses) and Glen Drover (ex-Megadeth).  Holed up in a studio in Newmarket, Ontario they laid down some pretty cool acoustic renditions of these numbers.

“Keep the Spirit Alive” remains irresistible today in acoustic form.  That’s because a good song has a lifespan.  A great chorus and memorable lyrics plus a pinch of magic made “Keep the Spirit Alive” a minor hit.  It’s one of the most purely enjoyable Dwarfs tunes and works well as an acoustic spirit booster.  Russ can still hit all the notes.  From the same album (Stand Tall, 1986) comes “Stand Tall”, which also makes the acoustic transition successfully.  A pretty incredible guitar solo (it’s not clear who is playing what) ensures this isn’t just “KD Lite”.

1988’s “I’m Alive” was an upbeat morale booster in its band arrangement.  Acoustically it’s the campfire version of the same thing.  The musical arrangements on Wireless do not deviate very far from the originals.  There are no radical re-imaginings.  What makes Wireless special for fans is Russell Graham’s earnest and still strong vocals, and of course the impressive six-string slinging of Drover and Bumblefoot.  The harder rock songs transition into an acoustic versions well enough, but ballads like “Doesn’t Matter” really shine.  A touch of piano and a vintage Russell vocal are the perfect topping.  A lot of this sounds live in the studio.  It doesn’t sound like a lot of time was spent mucking around fixing things in the mix, or sweetening things up.   What it sounds like, more or less, is Russ singing live in your living room.

The one thing that I did not think would work acoustically was “Comin’ Through”, the angry barnstormer from Dirty Weapons (1990).   It exists acoustically as a semi-epic and righteous twister through the plains of Canada.  “Crazy fuckin’ people living in the past, can’t you see that ain’t gonna last?” sings Russ with all the grit of the original.  Whatever Mr. Dwarf is doing to maintain his voice…well, good on you sir!  “Dirty Weapons” itself is mournful and slow rather than aggressive.  Interestingly, Russ arranged this album in chronological order.  The last three songs are from the final Dwarfs studio album Method to the Madness (1992).  That puts a nice bow on it, serving as a reminder that the Killer Dwarfs were still writing great tunes right to the end.  I can’t think of a better tune to end with than “Driftin’ Back”.

I quite liked Wireless and recommend it to any fan of the mighty mites known as Killer Dwarfs who wants to check out some quieter versions of their best material.  No new songs, sadly.  That would have been bitchin’.

3.5/5 stars

Spot the Mitch

Spot the Mitch