Ike Reilly has appeared on this blog before. He’s back with Because the Angels, a blue-collar album about blue-collar folks in the vein of Billy Bragg and Bruce Springsteen. His is a combination of raspy protest folk, country rock, blues, and attitude. The album title comes from a song titled “Little Messiahs” and it would be safe to say that Reilly has no time for the hollow promises of politicians. He asks: Who will sing these working blues/for the working poor/whose souls are oozing/solvent as each day it passes on?” When he sings: Because the angels are in the chamber/They’re casting ballots/with made up names/And all the dead men/they’ll vote again friend/And the angels/they’ll take the blame, he’s not talking about Trumpian paranoia or Fox News lies. His sympathies are solidly with those who struggle hard and fail (“Trick of the Light”) and those who try to drown their despair of a closed factory in drink (“The Failure of St. Michael”). And don’t get him started on hope testing negative/false prophets and positives dispatching all those lies (“Healing Side of the Night"” or cops who shot a man in front of his children in the back self-proclaimed Christians who proclaim the shooter a martyr or a saint (“Someday Tonight”). In some form or another, Reilly spends most of the album calling out BS and hypocrites. If you wonder where protest music has gotten to, look no further. What a relief to hear someone call a spade a spade.
If you need something catchy to bring you up from the (needed) medicine Reilly gives you to drink, try a dose of the pop-laced offerings of Hadley Kennary. Crooked Roots is more than balloons and sugar. Think of it as pop-like in places, but not the stuff dipped from the radio play slop bucket. The title song makes a few things obvious. First, Kennary (rhymes with canary) can really sing. She knows when to let the melody drift and when to open the dam. Second, she makes sure to enunciate the lyrics. About those, they are decidedly a cut above the usual in that they are personal and confessional in ways associated more with folk music than pop: My roots are shallow but they’re many/Hallowed strong and steady, and I know I’ll be fine/With these crooked roots of mine. I rather wondered why her material is labeled “pop,” and suspect it’s because “folk” doesn’t market well these days. (More’s the pity!) The studio version of “"Orbit” has pop hooks and sheen, but they’d lose little if the latter was stripped away. By the way, I love the little catch in her voice and the off-kilter cadences in the chorus. She’s been called part pop starlet and part troubadour. Let’s go with the latter, shall we?
I like bold artists who aren’t afraid to put themselves out there no matter what anyone thinks. That fits Marisa Monte like a glove. But I guess it helps one’s self-confidence to be acknowledged as one of Brazil’s greatest vocalists and the recipient of four Latin Grammys. Her latest, Portas, is another rose in the hair of a 30+ year career. The title track video captures her various personae: elegant, sophisticated, quirky, Gothic, sexy. Her repertoire is a combination of pop, Latin soul, and salsa. “Calma” shows that mix as well as the effortlessness that marks truly great vocalists who save their sweat by not forcing the voice to go outside its range, though Monte’s is considerable. Check out the breath control and exquisite timing in the pop-meets-cool jazz “Medo do Perigo.” Or her smooth-as-silk duet with Seu Jorge e Flor on “Pra Melhoar.” I get it that some might find her too mainstream for their taste, but watch some of the clips to see a legend in the making.
Jonathan Paull Gertler is currently based in the Boston area. He’s one of those artists who gets slapped with labels such as folk rock, folk, or Americana. No Fear won’t resolve this, so pick one. “Grasp the Moon” is a sweet song with some nice tumbling guitar runs, but I guess it can’t be pure folk because there’s no pain in it! It’s about a stable relationship and calls upon him and his main squeeze to Grasp the moon/Shoot the stars, a metaphor for being open to serendipity. He ups the tempo and adds catchy melody lines in “I Wish I Knew” but its theme is similar. “Just Another Day” has a touch of shuffle, but like most on the album it has an upbeat message of getting up when life tries to slap you down. “Low Lying Sun” has a folk rock vibe, but also a little dash of Spanish-style guitar work. ’m not wild about Gertler’s voice, but his message of perseverance is a needed antidote for our times.
Thomas Friedman proclaimed that earth is flat. If you doubt him, listen to the Barcelona-based quarter FlamenGrass. Their new recording Alegria (“Joy”) is North Amercian styled bluegrass with a lot of other stuff thrown in. That album-defining song has a grassy feel with hints of Roma and klezmer. As you’ll see right away, the band is anchored by Lluís Gómez on banjo and vocalist/fiddler Carol Durán. (Maribel Rivero is on double bass and Javi Vaquero on acoustic guitar.) As you will see on “Station to YourHeart,” Durán is the sparkplug and Gómez is the quiet virtuoso. But everybody gets do his or her thing on “RumbaGrass,” with its take-your-turn breakout solos. FlamenGrass is fun to hear and watch because their music is at once familiar but not too familiar.
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