SOUND CHECK.VARIOUS: ``Barry Myers Presents Scratchy Sounds'' (Trojan/Sanctuary) - Four stars If you caught the Clash during the action-packed ``London Calling'' era, you heard a potentially life-changing preshow mix by tour DJ Barry ``Scratchy'' Myers, a radio and club spinner with a finely tuned ear for ska, dub, roots and rock steady reggae nuggets Nuggets can refer to several branches of interest:
Delroy Wilson (5 October 1948 - 6 March 1995 [1]) was a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae singer. . Reggae fancier or not, anybody with an ear for a great song elegantly fashioned will dig such revelations as Jackie Edwards' ``Invasion,'' Errol Dunkley's ``Stop Your Gun Shooting,'' the plain-spoken truth of Bruce Ruffin's ``The Bitterness of Life'' and other fine platters available on CD for the first time. Time for another, Scratchy. - Fred Shuster GURF MORLIX Gurf Morlix (born 1951, Buffalo, NY) is an American multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and record producer residing for many years in Austin, Texas. He has worked with many of the best known performers of Americana and alternative country music. : ``Cut 'N Shoot'' (Blue Corn) - Three stars Multiple instrumentalist, sure-handed songwriter and producer of many of the best alt.country albums ever, Morlix gets down to his twangy roots on this third album of originals. The singing is the disc's weakness; for all of his musical and compositional prowess, Morlix's voice is reedy reed·y adj. reed·i·er, reed·i·est 1. Full of reeds. 2. Made of reeds. 3. Resembling a reed, especially in being thin or fragile: and unlovely. But that doesn't take away much from this expertly engineered sampling of all good country subgenres, including Western swing, naughty novelties, Tex-Mex shuffles, murder ballads and, of course, a combine harvester full of heartbreak songs. - Bob Strauss TED GREENE: ``Solo Guitar'' (Art of Life) - Four stars This reviewer kept a turntable running over the years for two reasons: Joe Pass' 1974 set ``Live at Donte's,'' which finally came to CD three years ago, and this rare '77 record, which had been out of circulation for at least 20 years. Valley-based Greene, known primarily for instruction books from the '70s (including the harrowingly titled ``Chord Chemistry''), originally cut the jaw-dropping ``Solo Guitar'' for a tiny label, and the vinyl could normally be found only in guitar stores (We got ours at Studio City's arson-destroyed Valley Arts Guitar Valley Arts Guitar is a small electric guitar manufacturer currently owned and operated by the Gibson Guitar Corporation. Mike McGuire and Al Carness founded the company in the mid-1970s in North Hollywood, California, a district of Los Angeles, California in the San Fernando ). But on an album that doesn't exceed 40 minutes, Greene managed to raise the bar for solo guitar, combining the techniques of Pass, George Van Eps George Van Eps (7 August 1913 – 29 November 1998) (often called "the Father of the Seven String Guitar") was an American swing and Mainstream jazz guitarist noted both for his recordings as a leader, and for his work as a session musician. and Lenny Breau for what seemed like physically impossible feats of music-making. Fretting a Fender Telecaster, shimmering shim·mer intr.v. shim·mered, shim·mer·ing, shim·mers 1. To shine with a subdued flickering light. See Synonyms at flash. 2. chords, bass lines and melodies fly every which way in covers of eight standards including a stunning Gershwin medley of ``Summertime'' and ``It Ain't Necessarily So.'' Anybody want a turntable? - Steven Rosenberg VARIOUS: ``Sounds Eclectic 3'' (Palm Pictures) - Three stars The third in the ``Sounds Eclectic'' series may not deliver on the promise of its title, but with a lineup like this ... who cares? Culled from live performances for KCRW's influential ``Morning Becomes Eclectic Morning Becomes Eclectic is an influential, three-hour triple-A radio program broadcast live every weekday from KCRW in Santa Monica, California. Nic Harcourt has hosted the program since 1998; previously it was hosted by Chris Douridas and Tom Schnabel. ,'' the 13-track set casts a dreamy spell until midway through, when the caffeine kicks in. Radiohead tosses and turns on ``Go to Sleep,'' Kinky kink·y adj. kink·i·er, kink·i·est 1. Tightly twisted or curled: kinky hair. 2. goes clubbing with ``Mirando De Lado,'' and Franz Ferdinand drops a funky ``Take Me Out.'' Other standouts include such folk gems as ``The Blower's Daughter'' by singer-songwriter Damien Rice, ``Amongst Butterflies'' by former Jam leader Paul Weller and ``Jerusalem'' by politicized folk-rocker Steve Earle. - Sandra Barrera PETRA HADEN AND BILL FRISELL: ``Petra Haden and Bill Frisell'' (Sovereign Artists) - Three and one half stars Vocalist/violinist Petra Haden and jazz guitarist Bill Frisell combine to turn out an appealing eclectic collection, ranging from an artful take on Coldplay's ``Yellow'' to a slightly off-kilter version of Disney's ``When You Wish Upon a Star.'' Then you have tunes by Elliot Smith, Tom Waits, the Foo Fighters mixed in with a dreamy ``Moon River,'' an ethereal traditional Tuvan song and a lovely version of Stevie Wonder's ``I Believe.'' The airy vocals by Haden, once a member of '90s L.A. pop band That Dog and daughter of jazz bassist Charlie Haden, mesh well with Frisell's own airy and lush guitar work. Fun inclusions are Waits' kids'- song-for-adults ``I Don't Want to Grow Up'' and the traditional outlaw song ``John Hardy Was a Desperate Man. - Rob Lowman CAPTION(S): 6 photos Photo: (1) VARIOUS: ``Barry Myers Presents Scratchy Sounds'' (2 -- 6) no caption (CD covers) |
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