Odds and Ends

Each week I use this space to post some mini-reviews, cool tracks, random thoughts, neat news, or whatever else I damn well please.

MiniReview
The Brigadier “Holiday Special” [EP] - Our old friend Matt Williams, aka The Brigadier is back with another EP in his seasonal series. This one celebrates summer and is called “Holiday Special”. Things couldn’t start off better than with the beautiful sunny side up spirit of “When The Sun Comes Out”, which contains just enough crunch in the guitar to give the brilliant harmonies a nice little kick. Not only my favorite off this EP, but one of my favorite Brigadier songs. “Swansong” is a pleasantly melancholy goodbye tune while “A Holiday Romance” is a cute island-flavored song. “Ogmore-by-Sea” is an interesting mix of surf and country guitar. Like holidays, all good things must come to an end, and the Brigadier departs for now with an epic, extravagant ballad entitled “Time To Go Home”. Among his most ambitious tunes, “Time To Go Home” oscillates between breezy orchestration and rocking fuzzy guitar breaks. Definitely a few tracks on here going onto my summer playlist. More info here.

Surprise of the week
New research from Australian scientists will convince you to always have some AC/DC handy if you take out your boat into shark-infested waters. Read why here.

News
New Chickenfoot record in sight? “Chickenfoot’s second album is almost finished, and we’re hoping to mix sometime in June,” says guitarist Joe Satriani. “It is heavier, and better than the first one, and I can’t wait to get it out there!” Read more here.

In related Van Hager news, Sammy Hager and the third Van Halen singer (Gary Cherone, better known as front man for Extreme) will be sharing a stage tonight. Cherone's new band, Hurtsmile, will support Sammy Hagar and the Wabos at Casino Del Sol tonight. Cherone also commented that Extreme is back at work on a new album. The full story is here.

How about some new Pearl Jam? With Eddie Vedder’s solo record out of his system (“Ukulele Songs”), the band is back at work on new material for their tenth album. Read the full report here, and check out this video from Vedder’s solo outing.



Random iPOD song of the week
From her breakthrough record, “I Do Not Want What I Do Not Have”, this definitive breakup song from Sinead O'Connor leaves me with chills every time. This particular performance is also noteworthy as it shows Sinead in rare form – with hair!

Review: R.E.M. “Collapse Into Now”

As I predicted after hearing “Accelerate” (reviewed here), R.E.M. has finally gotten back into the groove that most fans have been longing for since “Adventures In Hi-Fi”. “Accelerate” was a solid release in my book, and a decent ramping back up to form. The band felt like they had the pedal to the metal, but weren’t 100% sure where to go. On “Collapse Into Now”, the band is on cruise control and taking the listener down the roads they know and love.

Easily the band’s most consistently good release in over a decade, “Collapse Into Now” sounds like it belongs in the strata with their best work. It is not quite a masterpiece, but definitely resurrected my affection for the band I knew and loved as a teenager and young adult. Overall, the record is upbeat and rocking, exuding more power and energy than we’d come to expect from today’s R.E.M. The ballads that are present are well done and not so cumbersome. Stipe and company come out with both guns blazing on “Discoverer”, a track that might have been a single from the “Monster” era (Patti Smith lends some vocals on this one as well as “Blue”). On “All The Best” they sure do show the kids just how it’s done. “Uberlin”, “Walk It Back”, and “Oh My Heart” bring back the classic R.E.M. folk ballad side, incorporating mandolin, piano, and/or accordion in ways not heard since “Automatic For The People”. “Mine Smell Like Honey” is generating a lot of buzz – and justifiably so, being one of the most accessible rockers on the record. I also got a kick out of the peppy “Alligator_Aviator_Autopilot_Antimatter”, which features someone named Peaches on backing vocals, and the sublime but almost too short “That Someone Is You”. Also be sure to listen for Eddie Vedder on “It Happened Today”.

Thank you R.E.M. for another terrific record – I can see myself reaching for this one as often as I reach for some of the classics. Just one word of warning – don’t stare at the inside of the digipak too long. Those black and white stripes will make you dizzy!

iPOD-worthy: 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10

R.E.M. on MySpace. Official site.

Check out the video for “Oh My Heart”