So I was walking around work today with some songs running unstoppably through my head, and it came to me that I'd promised a review of one of these CDs some time ago. Not that anyone's particularly waiting with baited breath for me to do this, but for your edification and enlightenment I provide the following CD reviews.
John Mann Acoustic Kitty - The once and once-again Spirit of the West singer/guitarist gave us this solo effort in 2002, so it was presumably put together while the Spirits were on hiatus or just regrouping. While it bears some slight resemblance to SOTW's most recent, Spirit Trails, it's otherwise a nice departure from the SOTW sound.
There's a full-band breadth to the sound, style and scope of the album that lead-singers-gone-solo recordings too often seem to lack. And while it doesn't sound like a Spirit of the West album, neither does it sound like a self-conscious effort not to sound like Spirit of the West -- add some accordion here, some tin whistle there, bring in the Spirits to do vocals, and many of the songs would've suited the band.
For Acoustic Kitty, Mann abandons much of his usual almost over-the-top lyrical cleverness (which has always been one of his most appealing traits to me) for a more direct songwriting style without losing any of his sardonic wit -- two standout songs are the title track, which tells the story of a $26-million CIA program to wire a cat internally to bug the Kremlin, which ended abruptly when the aforementioned feline died under the wheels of a taxicab, and "American TV," derived from his experiences in acting.
Mann's never been one for the straightforward love song, fortunately, and despite the more personal feel of a lot of the material here, he doesn't disappoint by offering up any sappily heartfelt love songs. Instead, we get "Our Sick Love" (a frenetic song of the tune-stuck-in-your-head-all-day variety), "Love's a Sobbing Idiot" and the lovely (no, it really is!) "What Language," in which he laments never knowing how to treat his partner when they make love.
Michael Phillip Wojewoda, an associate for some time of Spirit of the West, puts in a great production effort, with some sonic cleverness that always enhances and never overwhelms Mann and band or the material. And though most of the arrangements are underpinned by acoustic guitar, there's so much variety in the other instrumentation (electric guitar, keys, bass, layered vocals, horns, organ and, ferchrissake, glock!) that there's no simple singer-songwriterness anywhere.
I'll admit it took me awhile to digest this album, though I think that's because at first I expected a SOTW-lite album. With repeated listens, though, it's grown on my something fierce. It's hard to find (I ordered it through Canada's A & B Sound after it had been on backorder with amazon.ca for about four months. But it's worth the search.
Chumbawamba Un - Yes, I'll admit, I picked up on these guys because of "Tubthumping," though to be fair that was at least a month before it was a hit and I quickly acquired context by snapping up their back catalog. English Rebel Songs continues to rank among my favorite folk albums ever.
Sonically, Un sticks to much the same ground as their more recent albums, the mix of loops, samples, programming, acoustic instruments, heavy harmonies and psuedo-rapping. A lot of the samples are drawn from field recordings of singers and players from around the world, though, which gives a special layer of irony to "On eBay," a song that starts out at the appearance of Iraqi museum artifacts on online auction sites but uses it to develop a broader point about the merchandizing and global homogenization of culture divorced from context.
It occurs to me that practically any discussion of Chumbawamba quickly devolves into what The Point is. Basically, if you get what they're about, you're going to like what they have to say, regardless of what it sounds like. And if you don't know what they're about, or you violently disagree with them, you're going to hate it, regardless of what it sounds like. So, as is the case with so many 'message' bands, the music is pretty much secondary.
It's a shame, really, because, although there's not much new-sounding here, they do what they do very well. Melodeonist to the stars Andy Cutting, as well as New Model Army's Justin Sullivan and his harmonica, make appearances here. Chumba's words are reliably clever and dense, but the songs are catchy and groovy enough it's easy to overlook them.
They're back under the radar, folks, and though this is only a workmanlike continuation of their recent work, it's worth a listen. Or three.
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