The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit

For fans of Sunderland’s indie pop masters Field Music, the two-plus years since their announced hiatus felt like anything but.  Scarcely a year after the January 2007 release of Tones of Town, co-founder David Brewis released an album under the School of Language banner.   That was followed up in August ‘08 by the self-titled debut of brother Peter’s project, The Week That Was.  To confuse matters even further both albums were only nominally solo efforts, as each brother contributed to the other one’s disc.

So while I greeted the news of Field Music’s official resurrection as a musical concern with enthusiasm, it was hardly a shock.  I’ll just chalk the whole hiatus thing up to artists needing to be artists, and leave it at that.

All of which brings us to the first proper Field Music record since the aforementioned Tones of Town – a self-titled affair that’s been unofficially subtitled Measure by the brothers themselves.  To me, a self-titled record that’s not a debut usually signals one thing above all else: “Forget everything else we’ve released, we’re going to record whatever pleases us and if you don’t like it then go pound salt.”  Depending on the act involved this can either be a blessing or a curse.

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I swear that each year I have less and less time to spend listening to new music.  It seems like a losing battle anymore to keep up with all the new albums coming out, but I have to keep trying.  So rather than pontificate on the albums of the past year – as I’ve been known to do – I’m going for brevity in an attempt to get more done.  And I’m adding one new feature to this year’s year-end music wrapup (and future releases as well), by introducing a grading system.  Here’s the rundown:

• Dig It – You can safely part with your hard-earned money for this and not feel like a sucker.
• Download It – Still worth a listen, but you’ll probably want to just download it and cherry-pick the best tracks.
• Ditch It – If you can find something of lasting value, you’re a better person than I.

Got it?  Good!  Let’s begin…

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Man, I take a short break from updating the site and, just like that, I’m buried under a pile of new music releases.  Not to mention, of course, the Beatles remasters.  So with no big preamble, let’s get right into it…

Ace Frehley – Anomaly (Brooklyn Born Records)

Peter Criss couldn’t do it, Paul Stanley almost did it, and who the hell knows what Gene Simmons was trying to do.  I’m speaking, of course, about original Kiss members putting out a solo album this decade that even approached their best work from previous decades.  So how does the Spaceman fare on his first release since George Bush Sr. was president?  Pretty decently, by and large.  Sure the album art is…well, it sucks.  It’s just bad.  But who even notices such things anymore?

The music’s the thing, and Ace acquits himself rather nicely over the course of a dozen tracks.  “Foxy & Free” kicks things off, and it’s as intense a slab of hard rock as you’re likely to hear this year.  Frehley intimated in interviews promoting Anomaly that he purposely was trying for the vibe of his outstanding 1978 solo record.  I can hear that in places, but mostly this album is another serving of the tuneful, meat and potatoes hard rock Frehley churned out in the ’80s with Frehley’s Comet.  That’s not a bad thing, mind you, but what surprised me was how Ace managed to stretch his formula out a bit – witness the Middle Eastern (OK, Led Zep Middle Eastern) flavor of “Genghis Khan”, the starkly confessional and heartfelt lyrics on “A Little Below the Angels”, and the laid back philosophizing and relaxed arrangement of “It’s a Great Life.”

Ace is indeed back, and I told you so.

Muse – The Resistance (Warner Bros.)

Depeche Muse anyone?  Now look, I’m all about bands trying out new sounds and taking their music in new directions.  The problem with this album is that for the most part Matthew Bellamy and friends don’t sound like they’re sure what direction they want to go, and as a result it has twice the indulgence of Black Holes and Revelations with half the impact.  Kicking the album off with “Uprising”, an electronica Gary Glitter anthem for the 21st century, was a bold move and I can dig it even with Bellamy’s cockamamie populist conspiracy lyrics weighing it down.

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Patrick Jarenwattananon over at NPR’s A Blog Supreme posits a most interesting challenge – name five albums I’d recommend to someone looking to get into jazz.  The twist is that the list needs to made up of recording from the last decade or so, in order to showcase what jazz is about today rather than in its heyday.  In other words, no Kind of Blue or Time Out (even 50th anniversary reissues).  Hmmmmm….

So here’s my list in no particular order, in case anyone reading this is looking for one collection of high-quality, contemporary jazz.

1. Robert Glasper, In My Element (Blue Note, 2007) – As much as I do like Glasper’s latest offering I think it would be too jarring for someone just getting into jazz.  In My Element showcases Glasper’s ability to meld his muscular yet cerebral style of jazz with blues, hip hop, rock, and R&B to create a winning brand of music.  This is highlighted to great effect on “Maiden Voyage / Everything in Its Right Place”, a deft hybrid of the ’60s Herbie Hancock classic with the latter day Radiohead gem.
2. The Bad Plus, Suspicious Activity? (Columbia, 2005) – I’ve written about this trio before, and every non-jazz music lover I’ve exposed to them has come away impressed.  TBP’s output takes a decidedly rock approach to jazz.  That’s not to say it’s all bombast and volume, as tracks like “Prehensile Dream” and “Lost of Love” prove.  Just as progressive rock groups like Emerson, Lake & Palmer were a gateway to appreciating classical music for me, so I think TBP can be the same for non-jazz fans.
3. Koop, Waltz for Koop (Quango/Palm, 2002) – Stockholm-based duo Oscar Simonsson and Magnus Zingmark didn’t invent the rather nebulous Nu Jazz genre, but they’re about the best ones doing it.  At least when they get around to it, as they’ve released just three proper studio albums since 1997.  That’s mainly because of the rather labor-intensive way they create their sonic treasures, which is by assembling songs from thousands of separate sound clips.  If this sounds like a recipe for cold, soulless music it’s not.  It’s got the the feel of jazz at its breeziest and bounciest, but is thoroughly modern in every other way.
4. Tord Gustavsen Trio, The Ground (ECM, 2005) – This is pretty much the complete opposite of Koop, just for some variety in the list.  This album is beautiful and glacial, with just a hint of swing to it.  There are few better albums equipped to help you relax without putting you to sleep.  It’s smooth, but not smooth jazz.  It’s studied without being academic.  In a word, it’s art.  Leave it to the Norwegians.
5. Russell Malone, Sweet Georgia Peach (MAXJAZZ, 1998) – This falls just outside the decade mark, but I had to get some guitar jazz love in here.  This is easily the most straightforward jazz outing on this short list; something a non-jazz fan might expect to hear.  But that’s OK, sometimes just hearing mainstream jazz performed at a high level is all you need.

It’s been quite a few years since we last got a full-length release from Swiss DJ/producer Robert Jan Meyer – who does business as Minus 8.  His last proper release, 2004’s Eclectica, just didn’t do much for me.  I longed for a return to the bold and refreshing nu jazz and downtempo he produced on earlier albums.  Fortunately his latest release, Slow Motion, is a return to form of sorts.

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Jazz piano giants Hank Jones and Tommy Flanagan, who both sprang out of a very fertile post-war Detroit jazz scene, entered Fantasy Studios (the in-house studio of Fantasy Records) in Berkeley, California to record an album of piano duets in January 1978.  The result of that session was the Galaxy Records release Our Delights (GXY-5113).  The album art indeed reflects the very sweet music contained within:

It took a few glances at the photo before I figured out that those aren’t chocolate hearts, but chocolate pianos.  A nice little juxtaposition for sure.  Unfortunately I don’t know who’s responsible for this rather clever photograph, but if anyone has that info please let me know.

The same recording session also yielded a second duet album, More Delights, which featured a similar piano/candy theme.

Since it’s been so long since the last entry, I’ll give you a two-fer.  This marks (I believe) the first entry in the ACotW series featuring a compilation, as well as the first entry from the Fab Four.  These two albums were released in April 1973, less than three full years after the Beatles officially disbanded in 1970.  In contrast to the iconic covers of albums like Rubber Soul or Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, the images for this career-spanning set are simpler yet more powerful in my opinion.

Up first is 1962-1966, also known as the Red Album.  This shot of the Beatles looking down from a stairwell at the EMI building in London was taken by Angus McBeam, and is actually from the same photo session that gave us the cover of the group’s debut, Please Please Me.

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