CD Reviews / July 2008
By: J.J. Reimer
Published: 8/1/2008
Pre-edited: 8/1/2008
Hey, Who are you to judge?…
As the new music review writer for New Sound Magazine I thought I would introduce and qualify myself, as well as let you know how I do this process and what I listen for. My name is JayJay Reimer. I have been a singer most of my life; classically trained beginning at age seven, voted best male voice in south eastern Wisconsin three years in a row in high school, and offered a scholarship to attend The Milwaukee Conservatory of Music to study voice and composition. I have been a blues, rock, and alternative singer belonging to several bands over the years. I currently do studio work as a vocalist, and some production and promotional work for some Milwaukee bands. I am also the Music Director for a disc jockey company.
I critique music on several levels. I first look at packaging and presentation, then the over-all musicality, listening to every submission all the way through, beginning to end. I then listen to each selection again, taking notes, breaking down the instruments, vocals, lyric writing, and musical production. Finally I give an overall opinion and some advice. I do not do any on-line research on artists until after I write my reviews so that I am going off only what is submitted.
Rebecca Disque & Back In Blue (The South Knoxville Demo Sessions Parts 1, 2, 3 & 4)
Our first submission this month comes from Knoxville, Tennessee. A young female singer named Rebecca Disque. She is accompanied by John Disque playing all instruments as “Back in Blue”. Four discs were submitted each having three songs. All were produced and engineered by Larry Goins who also played some keys throughout the four discs.
The packaging was not very good. The front covers of the discs looked like someone had a scrapbooking class. There are inset pictures of each of the people involved, including the older Goins, except for the fourth witch simply showed the three of them in one main picture. The inside cover had a track list and contact information, as well as a bunch of unnecessary information.
Instrumentally the music leaves a lot to be desired. The main problem I have with one person playing all the accompanying instruments in studio is the lack of fluidity. Everything comes across very sterile. John’s guitar playing was weak in the early discs, but growth in musicianship was evident by disc four.
The highlight of this music was the vocals of Rebecca Disque. The Cowboy Junkies come to mind while listening to her low soft delivery. Her strength and timbre were evident throughout, however, her voice was too raw and it wavered with nerves and inexperience. She has fallen into a trap that a lot of vocalist fall into. Someone early on in her vocal career told her she was good and she never tried to get better. A voice coach or talented producer may help Rebecca, but by disc four in this series it was starting to appear that her voice was deteriorating.
Song writing throughout the offering was average. There were highlights, track two on disc one was a neat little song that easily could have been offered up by Rusted Root, or Phish. Aside from that John Disque’s writing was average and seemed to ramble at times.
The biggest problem (pay attention musicians) was the production. Larry Goins, in his advanced years must have had failing hearing. I don’t want to be too hard on him though as the last disc was dedicated to his memory. The third of the four discs was the worst. I actually wanted to pick up the needle and clean it off there was so much static. I cleaned the CD, tested my speakers, and still the static remained. Balance levels and overall production quality was horrible. Larry’s keyboard playing was also not very good.
My advice would be for Rebecca to find a voice coach and study classically. Her breathing and phrasing could benefit from the experience. John is a fine studio musician and could be a nice fill in performer for live performances, but the best thing for Rebecca would be to find a good band to front.
Aladin Sane
Next up this month is a rock band named Alladdin Sane or Aladdin Sane depending on where you look on the cover. Donnie Roxx, Dan Breneman, and Greg Davis make up this misspelled band…. And that’s all the information I get. There is no track list, no contact information; not even an indication as to who does what in the band.
The overall feel of this group is one of an 80s rock band trying to make it. There are moments of true musicality as with the second track (an instrumental), but several songs were choppy and sounded lazy. The first seven songs of the disc are made up of originals with the final three songs being covers.
The instrumentation is solid especially at bass. The bass player moves easily in and out of styles and progressions and does not miss notes. The guitar playing is amateurish, often relying on distortion and effects to hide his weaknesses. The guitar player has a good sense of composition, however, and could develop. Adding a lead guitarist, and the current guitar player relegating himself to rhythm work, would be a benefit. A solid job was done all around on the first cover on the disc, “Fire” by Jimi Hendrix, with again the bass player being the highlight.
The best song on the disc is the instrumental. This is the best statement I can make about the vocalist. Being a vocalist myself I can be hard to impress and this singer didn’t even come close. He is often flat, sharp, and off key. As with the guitarist, adding a polished vocalist, or a tarnished vocalist, wouldn’t hurt.
Lyrics were not a hindrance or highlight. A few decent mental images and turns of phrase are evident and there isn’t any awkward moments either. If someone else were singing the song, writing would be a strength.
I’m a little torn about the production quality. It doesn’t have any glaring weaknesses, but it is obvious there was not an engineer's hand in the mixing or mastering. My guess would be it is a “basement” production. Without any production information contained on the disc I am tentative to comment more.
In the end this is a bar band, plain and simple. They would fit in well with most city’s music scene and probably be fairly successful. I can not see Aladdin Sane becoming anything more without the additions mentioned earlier.
My Politic (A Few Words I Couldn't Find Yesterday)
The band My Politic was the highlight of this month’s submissions. The art for the disc was obviously hand drawn, but this was the only disc I received this month with a band name and actual title of the disc. There is a lack of a track list but there is contact information as well as a rundown of who is doing what. A simple presentation that matches the simple style of music contained within.
A Few Words I Couldn’t Find Yesterday (disc title) is a great piece of musicianship. A minimalist acoustic offering with depth and style. I can’t help but bring comparisons to Deathcab for Cutie, My Morning Jacket, Bob Dylan, and Canada’s favorite son, Neil Young. This is a true example of Americana music at it’s Midwest finest.
Kaston Guffey plays guitar with deftness and clarity. I can hear, in his playing, what is most important, passion. Nick Pankey is a perfect compliment on bass and it is evident these two have played together for some time. The fluidity of the music is consistent and a joy to listen to.
Vocally Kaston paints amazing pictures with his voice. He gives a solid vocal offering that is very much like a young Bob Dylan. There are times he is a little too breathy and I found myself wanting Kaston to belt it out a little. Nick, as with his bass playing, was a great compliment to Kaston’s vocals. Nick’s harmonies were never off note or off timing.
Even after all the good things I’ve said so far about My Politic the accolades don’t come close to how impressed I am with the lyrics and song writing. Grand vistas and subtle moments throughout the mental imagery kept me drawn in to everything being sung. Most of the lyrics turned to inward self discovery and expression. I can only see brighter things for these guys lyrically as they experience more life.
According to the inside cover the EP was mixed by the band members and James Carter at JRCIII records in Nixa, MO. I assume this is a low budget “basement studio” type production but it is very well done. The sound was very clean and balanced. I also really liked the background sound that was intentionally put in between songs and on several tracks to build the fullness of the sound. The last track on the EP had some backwards sounding track that was subtle and a perfect compliment to the instrumentation. My only criticism is that the bass was a little heavy on some tracks.
I only have one bit of advice, and that would be to add simple percussion. Someone on a cajon or djimbe would bring the sound of My Politic to near perfection.
Billy Compton (Out On Dauphin Island)
My final review for the month will be short and sweet. Billy Compton submitted a cassette titled Out On Dauphin Island. The packaging is the most complete and best presented of all this month’s submissions, and I really looked forward to hearing the music contained within. Unfortunately it’s a cassette.
For those of you that are unfamiliar with this format for music it was developed in the early 80s and lasted in the US well into the 90s. A small rectangular device that contained actual audio tape on small reels. A cassette could be played on either side dividing the music into A and B sides much like a vinyl album. This revolution in media did away with the 8track and became the preferred form of music media for a mobile generation.
I couldn’t listen to it. I have not owned a cassette player for about seven years and recently tossed my remaining cassettes in the garbage. (For those of you living in snowy areas, cassettes make great snow and ice scrapers for your vehicles.) The best cassette player I owned was a Sony Walkman that I lost one night walking the train tracks on my way to a party in high school, also losing my copy of The Scorpions “Virgin Killer”.
I understand that old habits die hard and there may have been a slight financial advantage to releasing a cassette, but if you are still submitting demo tapes… it’s time to call it a music career.
Well there it is, my first of many review columns. Please submit your music for review and send a note along, with as much information as you can in reference to the members of the band, production, etc.
J.J. Reimer
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