Half and Half

Soul Disguise
Cesar Rosas, 1999

I'm not sure exactlywhy I picked this album to review instead of one of the many Los Lobos records I have. For one thing, I suppose it gives me the opportunity to talk about some of my favorite kinds of music-group dynamics: the tense duality. You see, Los Lobos derive quite a bit of their greatness from the balancing of opposites, or so it seems to me. I'm oversimplifying to a very large degree here, but in the band, David Hidalgo (and to a lesser extent Louis Perez) represents restrained pristine beauty and devotion to folk tradition, while Cesar Rosas is wearing dark shades and rocking out, loud and dirty. There are plenty of other examples of dualities like this in popular music, another recent example being the fiercely intellectual Chuck D and the trickster-clown Flava Flav.

In any case, with that in mind, I picked this disc up from a Tower Records in Greenwich Village, not sure exactly what to expect when Rosas was let out on his own. I mildly enjoyed the Hidalgo/Perez outings, but this record I really dig. Rosas shows a broad spectrum of stylistic interests, and everything is deep, like he's digging down to claw at the roots of things while still having a party.

There's a very "big" sound to the production, even on the tunes where the instrumentation is stripped down and mostly acoustic. It's not exactly slick-sounding, but certainly very professional. That's the sort of thing that doesn't usually stand out on an album for me, save for a few, this being one of them.

I've got some favorites in the set, of course. The Ike Turner tune "You've Got to Lose" is a slamming blues tricked out as a vehicle for some blazing guitar licks. "Better Way" is an affecting simple mid-tempo ballad delivered in heartfelt gravel baritone, made extra-special by an obbligato on a Veracruzano harp. "Adios Mi Vida"is pure corrido, with a guest appearance by the inimitable Flaco Jimenez. And Rosas pays homage to Stax/Volt soul with a sly 6/8 churner he calls "E. Los Ballad #13."

Really wonderful tunes here, played with maturity, zeal, and great love for the music (do you get the impression sometimes, especially from big pop stars, that they aren't even really enjoying what they are doing and just have their eyes on the afterparty?). In listening to it all through carefully, I noticed that really everything is connected to the blues spirit in some way or other, so it's as if he took his "half" of the Los Lobos duality and nurtured it till it could stand on its own. Really enjoyable.

itunes link:

The Miracle that is Zoe Ellis

Full Cleveland
Cleveland Lounge, 1996

So while I'm technically talking about this one album by the band Cleveland Lounge, I'm really talking about the sublime singer Zoe Ellis. I've been listening to her sing all my adult life (and, as I believe I'm mentioned before on here, I'm kinda old), and she's never been anything less than a pure unalloyed wonder. Her tone is raw silk dragging over your forearm, her delivery full of passion and depth, her singing style just always right - somehow more divine by being so rooted to the earth.

I never got to see her perform with this band Cleveland Lounge - apparently they weren't together all that long. I have heard her perform a couple of the songs in other settings, though, and the album does a very nice job of featuring her voice. There's a certain sameness to a few of the tunes; they have that "quiet storm" radio-ready feel. Great musicianship, well thought-out arrangements, just nothing too raw or exposed here. "Drowning" (the only song available now, as a single on itunes) is the signature song, full of all the operatic grace and emotional realness I associate with Zoe Ellis - really nice vocal counterpoint at the end too. "Mood Swing," another favorite, has a stripped-down minimalist arrangement, and her voice is hushed, warm, and sort of clipped in places - perfect evocation of the lyrics, which are about the ease of slipping from love to obsession. "Someday" has a more upbeat, hopeful sound (almost, but not quite, ruined by the lame keyboard stabs on the verses), with the beautiful ascending lines you don't find often in pop music. And "Need to Know" is the closest to purely rocking out that can be found on this album.

Really amazing stuff. If you live in the Bay Area, you simply must listen to this singer live at every opportunity. If you don't, and you can get your hands on this album, at least you'll get a taste.

itunes link:

Talking Book

Talking Book
Stevie Wonder, 1972

So I'm dipping into the more popular vein today. Listened to all of this excellent album today, and I discover new things to enjoy about it all the time. When I listened to it as a kid, I really didn't have time for anything but "Superstition," and of course that song is still the jam, but there's just so much else going on here.

One thing that makes a good singer-songwriter album stand out for me is just simple variety. I don't want a lot of the songs to sound the same, and Stevie definitely delivers on that here, expending a lot of energy and studio time to make every song a unique expression. Maybe the lyrics aren't exactly the most subtle or anything, but the musical ideas are in confluence with them to a great degree.

Some highlights: the near-hypnotic stutter-step funky drone of "Maybe Your Baby," the breezy bright almost-tropicalia arrangement on "Tuesday Heartbreak," the vocal counterpoint and meticulously-crafted melodic contours on "Blame It on the Sun," and can we talk about "I Believe (When I Fall in Love It Will Be Forever)" for a second?

Because that song. Damn. My skin tingles a bit just thinking about it. And here's something that I rarely say about any music at all: I really think a big part of what makes this song great is the tempo. I try to imagine it even just a hair faster or slower, and it seems wrong. In fact, it used to bother me when I listened to it on a walkman (did I mention that I'm kinda old?) and the batteries were a bit old or something. The song is still really great, but there's something about the groove of it that speaks to my biorhythms or something. So nice to have it on CD and mp3, and really hear it in that in-the-pocket tempo every time.

Gorgeous album, definitely something you should own if you're any kind of fan of American popular songwriting.

itunes link: