In Tune With Wade

Aaron Neville brings it on 'home'

Aaron Neville's new release "Bring it on Home ... The Soul Classics" is one of the sweetest and most inspirational new albums I have heard in recent memory. Only a singer like New Orleans icon Neville, who possesses an expressive tenor that is truly unique, could personalize R&B standards such as "Rainy Night in Georgia," "My Girl" and "Stand By Me" in such a meaningful way. The album concludes with an emotionally stunning rendition of Sam Cooke's Civil Rights anthem  "A Change is Gonna Come."
"Bring It on Home" was recorded in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, which destroyed Neville's home and the homes of his siblings and children, while he watched in horror from New York, where he had been for a performance.
Neville will be performing material from "Bring It on Home" when he plays 8 p.m. Sunday at the Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg.
"With everything that went on in the last year making this record was a blessing," Neville said in a recent phone interview with The Herald. "I laughed and I cried. Each song brought me back to New Orleans. I never know if my New Orleans will ever be back. But I remember exactly where I was in New Orleans when I first heard all these songs."

To read my Aaron Neville story pick up a copy of The Herald on Sunday.

In related news, it's time for me to shut off the computer and watch the New Orleans Saints hopefully pummel the slightly favored Atlanta Falcons at the first game at the Superdome since Katrina and the dreadfully slow response turned the venue into a living hell. U2 and Green Day are also scheduled to perform.

Timberlake shines, falls short

Justin Timberlake's new album "Futuresex/Lovesounds" (Jive) starts out as one of the most ingenious pop records that has been released this year. "Sexyback" is still the hottest thing on the disc but there are several other cuts that rival it, especially the title-track and "My Love," which quotes "My Humps," and then turns it inside out across frantic techno runs, and love-jones vocals.
 
Across the most expensive and innovative beats and arrangements money can buy, plus his own impressive guitar and keyboard playing, Timberlake brags with aplomb about being able to bed any woman in the club. He struts and preens, sonically, that is, like a disco version of Mick Jagger. The hooks are undeniable and lyrics are edgy and convincing, earning Timberlake his first "Parental Advisory" sticker.

Timberlake offers a sincere valentine infused with his own memorable acoustic guitar runs on the epic "LoveStoned/Think She Knows (Interlude),"  which clocks at 7 minutes-plus. The next track, number 7 of 12, is the love's-gone-bad ballad "What Goes Around," and it's the point where the disc starts to sour. "Chop me Up," featuring Three 6 Mafia and Timbaland is solid, with Timberlake managing not to embarrass himself alongside the rap stars. And "Damn Girl" is nasty fun.
 
But "Summer Love" sounds like something from his 'N Sync days, as does the soulless slow jam "Until the End of Time" and the closer "Another Song (All Over Again)." The album hits rock bottom on a track called "Losing My Way," in which Timberlake delivers an anti-crack message that is less convincing than those scrambled eggs commercials from the 1980s.

How can a disc start so strong and finish so weak? Five tracks into it, I was ready to hail Timberlake as some kind of pop genius on par with Prince. But then, well, the second half made me mostly cringe. That said, I'd still give the disc three out of four stars. "Futuresex/Lovesounds" boasts seven songs that will set dance floors on fire.

Dylan sounds delightfully old and wise on 'Modern Times'

On "Modern Times," Bob Dylan sounds like a sagacious old codger who just descended from the Appalachian Mountains. He searches for a woman like Alicia Keys, confesses to a pile of sins, sympathizes with the plight of the working man and shakes his head at the current state of the world. There's humor to be found, but it's the Kurt Vonnegut variety — dry as Monument Valley.

Well, there's the raw lede to my recently completed review of the new Dylan album that came out today. I was able to get my hands on a copy Monday afternoon. After spinning it about three times in a row while doing laundry and such I sat down to bang out my thoughts on the laptop, and played it some more during the writing process, which seems to take longer than it should lately. 

Dylan's "Modern Times" is captivating. Timeless. Fans of "Time out of Mind" and "Love and Theft" won't be disappointed. Like its two predecessor, "Modern Times" is a disc that disillusioned souls looking for honesty and gallows humor will be returning to for generations to come.

To read my complete/final review of Dylan's "Modern Times" pick up the The Herald on Sunday and flip to the A&E section.

Full disclosure: I put Dylan's previous album of new material, "Love and Theft," at No. 1 on my Top 10 list of 2001.

Watch the the video for "When the Deal Goes Down," the first single off "Modern Times." Doesn't Scarlett Johansson look perrty?

Heard the CD? Whatcha think of it? Whatcha think of Dylan in general?

My new favorite tune

It's a smile-inducing slice of power-pop tailor made for people over 25 years old. The melody is warm and friendly with punchy electric guitar, sweet piano runs and heart-worn lyrics about making time for a little fun after reaching the age of marriage and kids. In short, The Drams' "Unhinged" is my new favorite rock tune.

"It's about me trying to inspire some of my friends who have lost it," said The Drams' singer/songwriter Brent Best (pictured, dude with the beard) in a recent phone interview.

The Drams play Skipper's Smokhouse on Aug. 20. My interview with Best, who formerly fronted the band Slobberbone, runs in The Herald's Weekend section on Aug. 17.

Listen to The Drams' "Unhinged" here.

Whatcha think of it?

Any new new rock tunes I should be checking out?

Jas. Mathus: "Old Scool Hot Wings"

Who's in the mood for a kickin' jugband record?
Do I jest?
Heck no!
This is good music.
Click here to hear tracks from Jas. "Jimbo" Mathus's "Old Scool Hot Wings."
Click here to read my review of the CD.

Get 'Laid Back' with Gregg Allman

This is the time of year when I start to go a little batty. It's not even August and every time I step outside it feels like a big, fat sweaty dog licking my face. To combat this oppressive heat I've been hunkering down indoors with cool beverages, and cool, relaxing tunes whenever possible.

Topping my list of "chill albums" lately is Gregg Allman's masterful solo debut "Laid Back." Released in 1973, the same year the Allman Brothers Band issued "Brothers and Sisters," "Laid Back" features Allman's voice at its finest. Each note eases out of the man and sizzles. The overall sound of the record is a remarkable synthesis of country blues, soul and gospel led by Allman's beautiful organ playing.

The song selection includes Allman's hit cover of his own "Midnight Rider," the stirring self-penned ballad "Queen of Hearts,' a superb, steel-guitar laced rendition of Jackson Browne's "These Days" and an innovative take on the folk standard "Will the Circle Be Unbroken." With only eight tracks, the disc clocks in at just 35 minutes. But there's not a dead second on it.

For my money, "Laid Back" is as rewarding to hear as anything the Allman Brothers Band has ever released. Granted, there's no virtuoso guitar playing or dueling drums on it, but the emotional weight of the recording is spellbinding from start to finish.

Hopefully, Allman will perform a good chunk of "Laid Back" when he headlines The 16th Annual Sarasota Blues Festival on Oct. 28.

Agree or disagree ... Gregg Allman is the greatest white soul singer of all time?

What are some other classic "chill albums?"

Johnny Cash: "American V: A Hundred Highways"

The dying gunslinger draws his last breath and tells his companions to press on. The cowboy silently rides off into a burnt orange sunset. It's the farewell most men dream of issuing.

Johnny Cash accomplishes the sonic equivalent of such iconic Western movie scenes with "American V: A Hundred Highways."

The album is being billed as the singer's final recordings. Death hangs over nearly every track but not in a shameless way. Cash is making his peace with family, friends, and fans. The Man in Black is hardly asking for pity.

Anyone who has heard the fourth edition in Cash's gorgeous, career-reviving "American" series produced by Rick Rubin is familiar with the raspy croak that replaced the fortified baritone that was the singer's voice in decades past. Of course, that fragility is what makes Cash's reading of Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt" manifest the song's pain so clearly. The missing strength and added vulnerability of Cash's vocals provides what might be called a portal to the great man's soul and, as listeners, it's impossible not be pulled in.

On "American V" Cash sounds weaker than ever. The vocals were recorded between 2002-2003, with sessions taking place before and after wife June Carter died  May 15, 2003. Cash passed on Sept. 12, 2003. Rubin then went back and added tasteful overdubs that range from well-placed electric guitar solos to a flute that fits perfectly on Cash's reading of Bruce Springsteen's "Further on Up the Road." Like on the first four "American" albums, Rubin's production compliments, rather than overshadows, Cash's ability to make each song his own.

"American V" also features "Like the 309," the last song Cash ever wrote. Fittingly, it's a song about trains and is backed by a rhythm section that hints at the classic boom-chicka-boom sound The Man in Black invented on his legendary Sun Records sides of the 1950s. The best part of "Like the 309" is that Cash sounds upbeat, and even cracks jokes about his appearance and breathing difficulties — one can't help picture the man smiling when "Dr. Death" loads his box on the 309.

Perhaps the most poignant moment on the album is another railroad number, the Hank Williams penned "On the Evening Train." The song is about a father and son bidding the family matriarch farewell. It's hard to imagine this song wasn't recorded in the wake of June's passing. Lines like "I heard the laughter at the depot but my tears fell like rain ... They're taking momma from us on the evening train" might sound maudlin in lesser hands, but not in Cash's.

And Cash's reading of Gordon Lightfoot's "If I Could Read Your Mind" — a tale of love and longing about "heroes who often fail" — is saturated with a similar sadness. It's as if The Mighty Cash is blaming himself for not being able to save his beloved wife June. "The feeling's gone and I just can't get it back," Cash sings with what sounds like a lump in his throat and tears in his eyes.

But there is optimism on the album, too.

"We'll meet somewhere further on up the road," sings Cash on the Springsteen original he delivers with conviction and ease. Of course, Cash has always had a way with a Springsteen lyric. Check out Cahs's covers of "Johnny 99" and "Highway Patrolman."

The last song on "American V" is also uplifting. Titled "I'm Free from the Chain Gang Now," which makes good on the old metaphor of being freed from the warden's shackles and this world's shackles, is an apt farewell from a man who carried himself with a dignity most men never achieve.

"But like a bird in a tree I now have my liberty," Cash sings.

And it's easy to picture him smiling in heaven with June by his side.

Click here to listen to a full preview of "American V: A Hundred Highways."

Purchase the album when it comes out, appopriately enough, on Tuesday, July 4.

WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE JOHNNY CASH SONG?

With a name like Wolfmother...

How can you take it seriously? Or at least that's what I thought. But then I heard the hard-rocking Australian band's hit single "Woman" and ... I dug it.

Wolfmother is totally ripping a page from the heavy metal bible of Black Sabbath and others but with enough skill and conviction to sell it.

Click here to listen to Wolfmother's hit single "Woman."

Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Judas Priest, Metallica, Spinal Tap ... what is the greatest heavy metal band of all-time?

Regina Spektor casts spell with 'Fidelity'

There is something in the way she stretches the word "heart" into a thousand frames of sadness that makes for pop music perfection. Her voice is a soft, passionate kiss that dips and rises — makes a man want to follow wherever it goes and believe every note. The tune is called "Fidelity" and it's the first track on singer/songwriter and pianist Regina Spektor's new album "Begin to Hope."

It's a classic break-up song.

Maybe it was her fault. Maybe it was his. What we know is that a cautious person took that leap, threw herself into a relationship and now feels down and disillusioned.

It's a song for long, lonesome nights filled with cigarettes and wine ... sitting by the window and watching the stars ... reflecting on love won and lost.

"I never loved nobody fully, always one foot on the ground," goes the opening line.

Spektor's voice is a whimsical whisper. The emotional bloodletting comes during the chorus, especially the final chorus. I could listen to the way she stretches the word "heart" for hours.

"I got lost in the sounds I hear in my mind,
I hear in my mind all of these voices
I hear in my mind all of these words
I hear in my mind all of this music
And it breaks my heart"

Click here to listen.

Let's all be sappy. It's a slow, gloomy Wednesday and slow, gloomy Wednesdays are good days for feeling sappy.

What's your favorite break-up song?

Gnarls Barkley CD is slam dunk

It's official. Gnarls Barkley's "St.Elsewhere" is my favorite album of the year and "Crazy" is my favorite tune.

This disc boasts a mix of beats and live instrumentation that actually take you somewhere fitted to lyrics that offer an enlightened and sympathetic peek inside the mind of a man on the mental edge. This an album to get lost in — put it on repeat and go chest-deep into this masterstroke of rap/soul/funk that results in high art pop.

Click here to dig some songs from Gnarls Barkley's (pictured left to right: Danger Mouse, Cee-Lo Green) killer album "St. Elsewhere." Start with "Crazy," the best pop tune I have heard in years.

Let us know whatcha think of Gnarls.

And don't forget to vote on The Herald's poll regarding the banning of persons under 21 from concerts at bars and nightclubs. With almost 100 people weighing in the split is about 60/40 in favor of keeping 18-20 year-olds from attending shows at places like Rockerfella's in Manatee County.