Print Edition: November 13, 2013
Jody Glenham
Dreamer 7”
Vancouver-based singer-songwriter Jody Glenham released the simply titled Dreamer 7” on November 4, featuring two tracks from her upcoming Dreamer EP, out in February. Even without the backing of her surf-rock fellows Pleasure Cruise, Glenham proves she is more than capable of surviving without the reverb-soaked guitars that defined the Vancouver band. Her soft, intimate voice sings about matters of the heart, as she inches towards a more jazz-influenced sound. Glenham has a more tuneful voice this time out, as producer Raymond Richards lets harmonies soar over the hesitant musical accompaniment. Side A of Dreamer features the Phil Spector-inspired track “Between You and Me,” which successfully walks the line between puppy-love problems and the foundations of adult relationships. Glenham laments on the title track: “The world needs a champion / to hope for the best / to live in the moment / and get guilt off your chest,” before singing out the track with, “The world needs a dreamer / The world needs a dreamer.” The haunted gothic aspects of Glenham’s pop tunes somehow come off as downright lovely, proving that she is no run-of-the-mill solo artist.
Cass McCombs
Big Wheel and Others
Recorded music, Cass McCombs has said, is peripheral to the live experience. An album is only worthwhile in the way it opens up new venue invitations, as opposed to the work of actually laying down tracks like the ones that fill his new double album Big Wheel and Others. On the surface, McCombs writes and sings of elements (dirt, water, soul, fire) using colloquial quotations, biblical references, and terse judgments, usually in the form of couplets he casually extends into what, by length, are sometimes songs, sometimes jam sessions. Where the mark of a great singer-songwriter, especially one that falls anywhere near the folk genre, is often to be called “wise beyond their years,” McCombs is perfectly fine playing outside his age. Much of Big Wheel and Others is divided between McCombs the jokester, perched in the clouds, and McCombs the stream-of-consciousness love-song writer (sometimes within the same song). It’s an inconsistent approach, but one that frees every song from having to fit with other songs they clash with or render almost redundant. This is most apparent with the album’s best track, “Brighter!” and its two versions, one sung by actress Karen Black (Five Easy Pieces, Nashville), who passed away this August, a collaboration marked now by absence, but also by the mere fact its earnest, mocking perfection was recorded in the first place.
Avril Lavigne
Avril Lavigne
After a three-year hiatus, Avril Lavigne is back with a new self-titled release. With three notable singles (“Here’s to Never Growing Up,” “Rock n Roll,” and “Let Me Go,” featuring Chad Kroeger), Avril Lavigne is a CD to look out for. From first track, “Rock n Roll” to album finish, Lavigne is able to satisfy fans’ wants for sounds of previous releases, while also opening up to experimentation in new sounds. Not limited to pop or rock, Lavigne also includes electronic, metal, and acoustic sounds. They do showcase maturity, but still play on Avril’s image created in her “Sk8er Boi” days, especially when it comes to the ballads on the album. Though experimental and different from other songs on the track listing, the inclusion of “Hello Kitty” on the North American release is questionable. The same goes for “Bad Girl,” Lavigne’s unexpected duet with Marilyn Manson. However, both are fun tracks to listen to. With the inclusion of new styles along with what fans have enjoyed in previous releases, Avril Lavigne was worth the three-year wait.
The Avett Brothers
Magpie and the Dandelion
Coming at the end of a discography encompassing eight full-length albums over 11 years is the Avett Brothers’ Magpie and the Dandelion. With that amount of material it would be an easy assumption to see this album being an accomplishment in banality, but that’s far from the case. Under the continued guidance of producer Rick Rubin, it’s an enjoyably fresh release of dusty southern folk and rock, encasing a number of outstanding tracks – some of which take both Seth and Scott Avett to the edge of their vocals. The first of 11 tracks, “Open Ended Life,” is very much southern rock with a good dose of the harmonica to tell the tale of a vagabond. The follow-up is “Morning Song,” a song that resonates in tone. Coming later on is “Apart from Me,” a beautiful introspection on the journey of leaving the materialistic life for something meaningful. Then one of the more intriguing tracks would be “Vanity,” which, for the most part, is pleasing in its tenor. The last track to mention is the stunning and soft “Souls Like the Wheels” – a live recording to an acoustic guitar, telling a story of finding the way out of the dark and despaired world to something better. Magpie and the Dandelion might not be the absolute best of the Avett Brothers but it certainly insists on making its place near the top.
