Vessels – Bryan Estepa (Laughing Outlaw)

This is the third album from this Sydney based artist and although the first two have apparently attracted a sizeable following in Australia and internationally, he remains one of those “best kept secret” type artists.

Lets hope that changes.

Bryan Estepa is a tremendously talented pop songwriter – and by ‘pop’ I mean the sort of pop that owes its existence to writers like Lennon and McCartney, Ray Davies and Brian Wilson, rather than ‘pop’ that is currently exemplified by Justin Bieber or Katy Perry. (If you don’t know who they are, don’t worry)

Digging deeper into the Estepa lineage you will find traces of Difford and Tilbrook, Alex Chilton and more obscure influences such as Mitch Easter – that is to say his ‘pop’ is breezy and melodic on the surface but beautifully constructed and layered as you scrape that very same surface.

Thus, by definition, this album doesn’t consist of a collection of genre-breaking, revolutionary, new frontier type music – rather its an example of the fact that a lot can be achieved by those old faithful ingredients of sweet melody, memorable hooks, and spirited performances. Songs such as Alone, Tongue Tied and the closer Ball and Chain contain all three ingredients in abundance and are spectacularly successful as a result.

There are a couple of darker songs on the album, when Estepa channels Tom Petty in a more somber moments – one of these is Let It Go which also manages to rachet up the instrumental textures a bit.

As the album evolves there’s a lit more time spent on working a slower, slinkier groove into some of the songs with the soulful Shade being an example. Another strain of influences that might include The Raspberries and some Otis Redding may even come into play. The Raspberries and Big Star impact is best felt on Instincts which is the sort of song that would have held pride of place on a Matthew Sweet album a decade or so ago.

Obviously for reviewers of my vintage playing “spot the influence” is fun and instructive – and if you are a fan of any of the above-mentioned acts you will find a lot to like about Vessels and its creator.  But if you are a youngster taking your first tentative steps on a voyage of discovery that goes beyond Video Hits, then you couldn’t find a better roadmap than this album.

See My Friends – Ray Davies (Universal)

It’s interesting to observe the different approaches currently being taken by various legendary artists to keep their legacy alive and breathing. Just today, in a JB-Hi store, I was confronted by the number of box sets, greatest hits compilations, re-packaged and re-mastered albums. There’s duets albums, tribute albums and albums matched with books, DVD’s, bonus downloads and t.shirts. It feels like just about every angle is being covered in the quest to wring every last drop of blood from great catalogues.

As an aside, I wonder how many of todays new artists will be given the opportunity to build such catalogues. I suspect very few. But that’s another debate.

Of all the re-workings of great catalogues this contribution by Ray Davies surely feels like one of the most joyous. He’s taken the “duets” route – re-recording some great songs from his extensive repertoire with fans and admirers who have been impacted by his work.

This isn’t the place to extol the virtues of the Ray Davies songbook – if you are not already aware of the depth and importance of his songs then you probably wouldn’t have been moved to read this far anyway! Suffice to say he has a multitude of truly great songs at his disposal and they have been well selected here.

The album opens with Better Things, a song that could easily have been written for or buy Bruce Springsteen. The two voices are contrasting, Springsteen’s gruff, robust vocal combining well with Davies thinner, reedier and needier approach. The song works, but its only an entrée to what is to come.

There are some absolute gems sprinkled across the album. Jackson Browne contributes to an incredibly gentle rendition of Waterloo Sunset. It loses the urban, London jauntiness of the original and becomes a delicate, very soulful acoustic ballad.  The late Alex Chilton combines with Davies and LA band The 88 to re-produce Til The End of The Day, a song that Big Star had already covered and the approach reflects that style. Davies lets Chilton dominate the vocal.

Who would have thought  Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora would actually elevate Celluloid Heroes? They do a great job, giving the song some added muscle without detracting from its extraordinary pathos. The same could be said for Lola – its probably the bravest choice on the album because its just so iconic in its original form, but British soul singer Paloma Faith does it justice and then some. She sings the song superbly, but more importantly she brings another type of understanding and perspective to the lyric. It’s not a song you can just ‘sing’, you’ve got to inhabit it  and that’s exactly what she does. And Davies subtle vocal parts provide a brilliant balance to Paloma’s inspired efforts.

But even that is not my highlight. That comes from another unexpected source – Billy Corgan. Destroyer was a song that Davies himself plagiarized from his own catalogue, borrowing the riff from All Day And All Of The Night and adding a wonderfully kooky, paranoid lyric.  Here they actually merge the two songs with Corgan doing a memorable job with the partially spoken word lyric.  He sings almost in character – with a wink and sneer and another wink that reveals how accurately he understands both songs of this hybrid.

There’s not a bad track on the album – proving that great songs can be approached in different ways and still be great songs. Other honourable mentions go to Frank Black who reads This Is Where I Belong as a country oriented ballad and Gary Lightbody who provides a fragile vocal to Tired of Waiting.

The overall impact of this album is joyful celebration of a masterful songwriter and it’s a long way removed from being a cynical exercise in mining a catalogue.

Ray Davies New Album Sound Very Cool

Ray Davies is rightly revered as one of the great songwriters in rock n’ roll history as well as being one of its more interesting characters. Thus it comes as no surprise when it came to recording his new album a fascinating cast of guests have been happy to appear.

Various confirmed and unconfirmed stories seem to suggest that some of these suggestions are close to the truth.

In 2009 Davies recorded a version of Better Things with Bruce Springsteen, while Bon Jovi contributed to Celluloid Heroes. An American magazine has reported that Billy Corgan has been working on the new album, with the Smashing Pumpkins singer contributing to a new version of  Destroyer from the under-rated Give The People What They Want album. If you know the song you can just hear Corgan sneering his way through that one with Davies playing the paranoid role!

Big Star frontman the late Alex Chilton is said to have recorded his contribution prior to his death earlier this year while Lucinda Williams also due to appear.

That would be worth the price of admission alone.

But to add to that there’s a few more contemporary stars said to be lurking around the studio.

Mumford and Sons,  Paloma Faith and Amy MacDonald are all expected to appear although a rumour of The Killers being involved is false.

Work on the new album is continuing with recent visitors to the studio including members of Spoon and possibly even Frank Black.

Alex Chilton Dies

Alex Chilton, singer and guitarist of Big Star, one of the most influential rock groups to emerge from the early 1970s, has died at the age of 59. Chilton  suffered a heart attack today in New Orleans.

Chilton had been complaining about his health earlier in the day, and was eventually taken to a New Orleans hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Big Star drummer Jody Stephens confirmed Chilton’s passing, “Alex passed away a couple of hours ago,” Stephens said. “I don’t have a lot of particulars, but they kind of suspect that it was a heart attack.”

Chilton’s influence far outstripped his mainstream popularity.  There’s a fair chance that even if you dont have an intimate knowledge of Chiltons music a lot of your favorite bands do.

For guitar bands of every generation since Big Star that band came to be of almost mythical importance. Whether it be The Posies or Even or The Replacements or Ice Cream Hands,  anywhere there was  jaggling guitars, sublime pop melodies and the wide eyed belief in the power of rock n’ roll to see life in a quirky, innocent and yet knowing way there is a fair chance there was a Big Star fan lurking.

Chilton began his musical career in his teens as a member of the Box Tops before returning to his native Memphis to form Big Star with guitarist/co-songwriter Chris Bell, drummer Jody Stephens and bassist Andy Hummel.

Described by Rolling Stone as “Blending power pop with the sound of the Beatles and the Beach Boys, Big Star were critically acclaimed but largely ignored commercially.”

Big Star only released three studio albums 1972’s #1 Record, 1974’s Radio City and 1978’s Third/Sister Lovers. Bell left the band after #1 Record, Hummel after Radio City but all three albums  featured on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and their classic tracks “Thirteen” and “September Gurls” both made the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

R.E.M. and the Replacements have both named Big Star and Alex Chilton as major influences, and the Replacements’ Pleased to Meet Me features a song titled “Alex Chilton” which served to introduce his name and subsequently his music to new audiences.

Chilton became a cult musical icon, and artists as diverse as Beck, Wilco, Elliott Smith, Cheap Trick, Jeff Buckley, Garbage,the Bangles and Whiskeytown have covered Big Star’s songs.

Renewed interest in the band’s music led to a reunion of sorts in the early ’90s and a new album in 2005’s In Space, which featured two members of the Posies, Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer.

Last year, a box set of Big Star’s entire catalogue, Keep An Eye On The Sky was released.

Chilton said in a 1987 interview with The Associated Press that he didn’t mind flying under the radar with Big Star and later as a solo artist.

“What would be ideal would be to make a ton of money and have nobody know about you,” he said. “Fame has a lot of baggage to carry around. I wouldn’t want to be like Bruce Springsteen. I don’t need that much money and wouldn’t want to have 20 bodyguards following me.”

“If I did become really popular, the critics probably wouldn’t like me all that much,” he said. “They like to root for the underdog.”

Chilton had been scheduled to perform with Big Star at the South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas. That performance went ahead as a tribute to Chilton with members of Big Star including Andy Hummel being joined by the likes of Mike Mills and Chuck Prophet

“Alex Chilton always messed with your head, charming and amazing you while doing so. His gift for melody was second to none, yet he frequently seemed in disdain of that gift,” the festival’s creative director, Brent Gulke, said in an e-mail.

Chilton also discussed his status as a “cult artist with Rolling Stone in 2000, making reference to the irony of the name of his best known band.

“It’s not like I’m a ‘big star’ constantly getting noticed, but I do get recognized, What’s nice is that the people in my neighborhood just know me as Alex. It’s funny, because I spent so much of my life moving from place to place and I went through a few dark periods, but in the last few years I’ve kind of settled down.”

Chilton is survived by his wife Laura and son Timothy.

Laura made her feelings known via a statement read at the Chilton tribute performance at SXSW last Saturday as read by publicist Heather West.

Even though Alex left this world way too soon, I feel so fortunate to have been his friend and wife. I would like to say a few things about his relationship with music and also speak of what he was about as a person. He was an individual who did what he pleased. However, he was also the most considerate and sincere person I’ve ever known. He loved life and people and usually befriended the underdogs. He saw beautyin what other people would just dismiss; old rickety-houses about to fall down- he would say, “now that’s a great house worth buying.” He would spend 10 minutes chatting with a homeless person on the street and always helped them out with some money. He was a good listener and was very compassionate. He was extremely generous, always giving time, energy and money to his friends with a no strings attached attitude.

There is one aspect to his personality that seemed to define how he approached and interpreted life and that is a consistent tendency to be absolutely clear in expression and communication. His mind worked analytically; he had a low tolerance level for vagueness and carelessness. His relationship with music was all about analysis. When listening and appreciating a piece of music, whether it be a Beach Boys tune or a Bach partita, he was able to pay attention to individual elements simultaneously; harmony, rhythm, melody, meter, etc.

I believe this is why he loved working in the studio producing records. He spoke a lot about John Fry (Founder of Ardent Studios) teaching him how to do work in the studio and how he enjoyed playing around with the different elements. The one thing he was absolutely proud of was producing The Cramps records. He would play them at home and just talk and talk about the experience. He was also quite proud of the Detroit garage band The Gories, both his work with them and the band itself. He was very excited for them now that they are playing shows again.

At home in New Orleans Alex lived a simple and relaxed life. He watched a lot of TV while fooling around on the keyboard and guitar. We played music together, both classical and pop. He rode around town on his bike and loved to strike up conversation with whoever he came across. For the past few years, when I lived with him, he listened and played classical Baroque music, Scott Joplin rag tunes and ’60s pop music. Names that often came up include the following: Carole King, Petula Clark, Brian Wilson, The Byrds, Frederick Knight, the band Free, George Frideric Handel, Georges Muffat, Haydn and the baroque performance group Musica Antiqua Koln. There are dozens more but these names come to mind as I’m writing this.

The final point I would like to draw attention to his valued spontaneity. This would seem to contradict his insistence on analysis and accuracy but somehow he managed to be both at the same time. Honestly, this remains a mystery to me and is probably why he has been described as a genius and a musician’s musician. I am only speculating on this but I am thinking it is probable. I will miss him forever and will honor him by maintaining and developing what I’ve learned from him: compassion, spontaneity, honesty, directness, generosity an excellent listener and enthusiasm about what life has to offer. He had a blase attitude towards death, it didn’t interest him. The same goes for sleep, he just said the other day that he wished he could be awake 24/7, life was too interesting and he didn’t want to waste it sleeping. I laughed at that but I knew he was serious.