Category: Bands/Comps/Splits
Boston’s The Noise reviews the new album from Bob Kendall
Bob Kendall – self titled album
11 tracks
It’s a Saturday afternoon; I’m trying to get a head start for once with my Noise reviews, so I slide Bob Kendall’s CD into my computer and I am so unexpectedly taken in by his songs that I have to keep remembering that I’m supposed to be taking notes and writing about it, but instead, I’m just plain happily sinking into each track and thoroughly enjoying the music that’s flowing from my speakers. I want to endlessly rave about this in a more original way than I usually do and while doing complete justice to such a great body of work, but all I can say is this should be on the airwaves (if it isn’t already) so that more people can derive the enjoyment. So what does Bob play exactly, you ask? Okay… he’s a singer/songwriter, who in these 11 tracks beautifully manifests lyrics… meaningful lyrics… into songs that perfectly bring to life his words. Need a genre? Americana, roots, blues, modern/alt rock/pop…. I love how his songs make me feel—they bring out emotions—both the dark and the encouraging songs. Just listen, feel, enjoy. By the way, this recording was produced by the wonderfully talented Paul Kolderie and kudos to the also-talented backing musicians. My picks (though I love them all): “Stay,” “New Day,” “Rage,” “Dazed.” (Debbie Catalano)
Matt Fraza – Let Trouble Go
75OL-190 Matt Fraza – Let Trouble Go CD
$9.99 S&H Included
Digital download is available here
Track Listing
1. Seventeen
2. Too Much Love
3. Forever
4. Sunset’s In
5. Libertine
6. Let Trouble Go
7. Watermelons
8. Tell Me
9. Hit the Wall
Let Trouble Go is the debut album by actor, surfer, and songwriter, Matt Fraza. A literate, melodic, and emotionally direct transmission from the witch-haunted wilds of Perryville, the record was captured by Kraig Jordan at Plan of a Boy, and features the production skills, voice, drums and keys of Warren’s nifty man, Tom Chace.
Allysen Callery For Folk Radio UK 2014 EP
75OL-191 Allysen Callery For Folk Radio UK 2014 EP CD
[sold out]
Limited to 125 handmade brown jackets, 100 of which are only available at live performances.
Digital download is available here
Track Listing
1. Intro
2. All in the Morning
3. Blackwaterside
4. The Huntsman
5. Spare Parts
“The session Allysen recorded for us features three of her own songs and one traditional song ‘Blackwaterside‘ which she first heard Anne Briggs performing. The session also marks a new direction for Allysen on which she intertwines her love of psychedelic and trad folk. Her friend Bob Kendall recorded her in his shed one snowy evening. I think you’ll all agree that this session is simply magical, she never disappoints and always leaves you wanting more.” – Alex Gallacher Founder Folk Radio UK
Original album artwork by William Schaff
Bob Kendall in Mercury Magazine
You can read the article here
Bob Kendall felt as if he was interrogating himself throughout the process of writing and recording his third, self-titled record — a sentiment that’s also reflected in the album’s cover art. Bound to a chair under a single light bulb, Kendall and his guitar take the stage on his 2014 release.
“I ended up pulling out five of the songs. I was forcing lyrics and started feeling like I was making false confessions, which is where the drawing came from,” says Kendall, whose Providence illustrator brother Brad Kendall drew the cover.
A marked change in both sound and approach separate “Bob Kendall” from his two previous efforts, “Midnight Flower” and “Enough is Enough.” The songs have space to breathe through more sparse instrumentation, and Kendall’s voice sits high in the mix, a decision he probably would not have made had he mixed the record himself.
For the first time in his solo career, Kendall handed over the production reins to his friend Paul Kolderie, a well-known engineer and mixer who has worked with artists like Radiohead and the Pixies.
The songs on “Bob Kendall” are consistently mid-tempo with tasteful instrumentation. They immediately call to mind current artists like Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds and Richard Hawley as well as jangly groups like The Byrds and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
“The simplicity is the trickery of it — those are usually the best songs,” Kendall says. “They are to the point and they say exactly what you want them to say. Most of my songs are pretty depressing, but they all have some description of hope,” he says.
The record’s opener, “Stay,” is a testament to the Middletown resident’s affinity for the pop form — both musically and lyrically.
“That song was written six or seven years ago and I thought of it as a challenge song. I was listening to ‘Breaking Up Is Hard To Do’ and the more I thought about it, I realized that sometimes staying is harder to do,” says Kendall.
“Stay” sets the tone for the sound of the record: a mixture or ’60s pop and country-inspired ballads which result in 10 hook-centric songs, plus bonus track “The Wind.” Although it’s clear that Kendall unabashedly wears his influences on his sleeve, he’s able to keep the songs from being derivative.
“Some of those songs were kind of soul songs, ‘New Day’ and ‘Holiday,’ and ‘Dead End Dream,’ were heavily influenced by a Roy Orbison period of my life,” says Kendall, “and they never really fit in with anything else I was doing.”
Recording at Stable Sound studio in Portsmouth was a process very unlike what Kendall was used to. “Midnight Flower,” Kendall’s 2012 release, was done in his backyard shed. According to Kendall there was less pressure this time around as an engineer was present during the sessions. “And the cool thing about Stable Sound is that while you’re recording you can open the windows and horses will stick their heads in,” says Kendall of the rural studio.
While Kendall is credited with writing nearly all the songs, the band collaboratively worked on “Dazed,” a dreamy, pop ballad with the type harmonies and guitar lines that don’t seem to be written anymore.
Even with five additional band members (drummer Dave Narcizo from the Throwing Muses, keyboardist Dan Wright, bassist Kevin Zahm and both Chuck Ciany and Rafael Attias on electric guitars), the record does not sound too big. “There was more dissecting than adding,” says Kendall of the mixing sessions, helping mold “Bob Kendall” into a collection of perfectly compacted, well-crafted pop songs.
A record release show with Providence-based rock ’n’ roll group Smith&Weeden, who have also just released an album, will be held at the Narrows Center for the Arts in Fall River, Mass., on Friday, June 20. “Bob Kendall” is available at www.75orlessrecords.com and at www.bobkendall.com, as well as locally at the Music Box on Thames Street in Newport.
“This is the best sounding record so far, Kendall says. “The quality of it is so much better. I appreciate it much more now than I did before, as I’ve recently been able to remove myself from it and see it more objectively.”
Bob Kendall ‘Midnight Flower’ video
Motif Magazine covers Bob Kendall’s self titled album and the upcoming live performance of Stanatron
You can read the article here.
Bob Kendall – Self Titled
75OL-187 Bob Kendall – Self Titled
$9.99 S&H Included
Track Listing
1. Stay
2. Long Road
3. New Day
4. Waistd
5. Rage
6. Dazed
7. Dead End Dream
8. Holiday
9. Pall Mall Days
10. Can’t Have Everything
Providence Phoenix feature on Haunt the House
You can read the article here.
The House that Houlihan built
Haunt the House’s ‘Jack Rabbit Jones’
By CHRIS CONTI | May 28, 2014
Singer-songwriter Will Houlihan returns under his Haunt the House moniker with Jack Rabbit Jones (75orLess Records), the full-length follow-up to the 2013 EP Rural Introspection Study Group. Expect a packed house in the upstairs lounge at the Columbus Theatre (where the album was recorded) this Friday when Houlihan and his Housemates return to headline their album release party (columbustheatre.com). Fans of Brown Bird, the Low Anthem, Iron & Wine, and Bon Iver should grab a copy of Jack Rabbit Jones ASAP.
The album gleams with a stirring, spiritually-inflected sound that well represents the band name on the marquee, as Houlihan explained when we caught up following a particularly stunning performance a few weeks ago at Theatre 82 in Cranston’s Rolfe Square.
“I started off playing solo at open mics and people would often tell me how haunting my songs were, but it also has a spiritual origin whereby the Holy Spirit is often referred to as ‘living within you’ after Christian conversion,” he said. “Our bodies are also called the temple of the Lord, so it just made sense to me that the Holy Spirit haunts your house.”
And while Houlihan remains the lyrical architect, this time around he has assembled an impressive backing House band which includes Stephen Law (mandolin), Vudu Sister’s Amato Zinno (upright bass), Bessie Bessin (accordion/vox), and backup vocals and harmonies from the best in the biz, Allysen Callery.
“I am really happy for Will — he is one of the sweetest, funniest, and most wise people I know,” Callery said after the show. “When he asked me to sing on his new album I was delighted.”
Houlihan also enlisted the Columbus Theatre and in-house mixologists (and Low Anthem co-founders) Ben Knox Miller and Jeff Prystowsky.
“I feel very blessed and fortunate to have worked with Ben and Jeff and the Columbus folks,” Houlihan said. “We couldn’t have asked for a more friendly, patient, and professional set of engineers.”
Prystowsky had nothing but praise for the House that Houlihan built. “Will’s voice sneaks up on you, it’s subtle and intense, and before you know it, he’s jumped into falsetto and a powerful wave of musical joy washes over you,” said Prytsowsky via email. “I remember him telling me his journey that led him to music and it was so compelling it inspired me for weeks. His music is charged, not just with an aptitude for words and melodies, but with a deep feeling of soul.”
Westerly/Charlestown native Houlihan decided to once again release his music via Warren-based imprint 75orLess. Label boss Mark MacDougall met Houlihan through artist William Schaff at his Fort Foreclosure, where MacDougall screenprints CD jackets and hosts his “That’s Not Incredible” podcast. 75orLess labelmate Callery had also been in MacDougall’s ear exulting Houlihan’s music. He caught a Haunt the House set and was convinced.
“Will happily embraced reverb on his vocals, reminding me of Jim James and Roy Orbison, while the music was stark, bare, and emotional,” MacDougall told me. “When I finally got to speak with him after the show, I found out how ‘organizationally challenged’ he was, and we agreed to start working together.”
Houlihan’s vivid and stark storytelling is carried by weary yet warm vocals as his schizophrenic character ruminates over a lost lover. Each of the 13 songs on Jack Rabbit Jones portrays a conversation between the two personalities,Jack Rabbit Jones and his evil alter ego King Amish. The album is meant to be “projected into your mind’s eye, and viewed as a theatrical experience,” the Jack Rabbit press release notes.
“I initially had a grand scheme to release a small comic with it and do an elaborate stage production early on, but as I got deeper into the writing process it became clear that the songs would be cohesive enough to allow the listener enough room to imagine their own interpretation,” said Houlihan. “The songs evolved into a dialogue between two people, one of which has a split personality like a Jekyll/Hyde character, and this creates a messed-up love triangle.”
The album opens with Houlihan’s acoustic gallop on “Mosquito Coast,” where he wraps a well-worn couplet in the chorus: “Tell my body not to leave my soul, I’ll grow up but I’ll never grow old/I’m so tired doin’ what I’m told, breakin’ my back for another man’s gold.” Houlihan certainly channels Orbison on standout cuts “Black Butte” and “Burial Waltz.” In “Jealous Vow,” Houlihan’s conflicted character vows, “I will have my vengeance on your soul” and is “tortured by rushing winds” on “Pity Creek Ravine,” though on “Emerson” he confidently declares that “love can heal our scars.” And it’s no coincidence that some of the most beautiful moments occur when Houlihan and Callery are entwined around the mic, particularly on “Little Bird” and “You’ve Disappeared” (she will join HTH for the entire performance on Friday). Their rendition of “Ease Your Troubled Mind” at the Theatre 82 show held the room in total silence. This song is absolutely gorgeous.
“Will is a gifted songwriter and an amazing soul,” commended Callery. “I can’t wait for everyone to hear his music.”
Jackson Jillson – Self Titled
75OL-192 Jackson Jillson – Self Titled CD
$7.00 S&H Included
Track Listing
1. Her Many States
2. Broken Heart Attack
3. I’m Your Man
4. My Love For You Is At A Very High Level
5. Lee Majors (in E major)
6. Nonphenomenon
7. Whiskey Chicken
8. (You Can Be At) Home Here
With more than 40 years as a customer of the music industry, Jackson Jillson’s 2014 eponymous CD offers an album that falls alphabetically between Jackson Browne and Jack White. The sound is described as “County” music; an unique brand of country music that appeals within narrower borders. With these 8 songs Jackson Jillson marks his territory with a dogged irascibility that you’ll surely enjoy.
75OL-181 Jacob Haller ‘Time to Break Up the Band’ CD
75OL-181 Jacob Haller – Time to Break Up the Band CD
$10.00 S&H Included
Digital download is available here
Track Listing
1. Time to Break Up the Band
2. Way Down in the Hole
3. Kitten Knitting Blues
4. A Fork in the Road
5. Waterbugs
6. Binders Full of Women
7. The Ballad of the Oregon Highway Department
8. Seven Years of Fat
9. Was the Moon Too Full?
10. gchat Blues
11. Barista Blues
12. Song Written in the Shower
13. Blue Yodel (T for T-Rex)
14. The Wreck of the Crash of the Easthill Mining Disaster
Jacob Haller has been a fixture of the Rhode Island music scene for the past ten years, and has been frequently featured in popular shows such as AS220’s Empire Revue and Common Fence Point Music’s annual Gathering of Fiddlers & Fishermen. For this, his third album, he has brought together some of his favorite musicians to record songs on topics such as: Satan, relationships, kittens, exploding whales, criminal activity, coffee, loneliness, and time travel. The result is an eclectic mix of songs that will entertain and confuse you.
Praise for ‘Time To Break Up The Band’:
“With ‘Time To Break Up The Band’, Jacob does one of the hardest things a songwriter can attempt, and he does it successfully: he takes forms that seem familiar and imposes completely his own unique sensibility. The resulting songs are full of wry stories that take unexpected turns; they’re truly original, and they do not disappoint.” — Ian Fitzgerald, singer-songwriter
“A refreshingly light-hearted take on Blues and Folk music. Time To Break Up The Band gives you a nod and wink to accompany the foot tapping that ensues.” — The Blues Record
“If you’re a fan of Jacob Haller for his witty clever approach to lyrics, “Time To Break Up The Band” will not disappoint!” — Heather Rose
“Jacob Haller’s next album, after this one, I predict will be called ‘Quitting My Day Job’. A talented cast of characters both in Jacob’s head and outside of it have put to record a friendly bit of listening. The only thing that bothers me about this release is that I didn’t think to write ‘Fork In The Road’, you win this round Mr. Haller!” — Sonny Roelle, the Sentimental Favorites
Praise for Jacob Haller:
“Jacob Haller does music as though he were the secret love-child of Warren Zevon and Burl Ives, and while this is impossible, I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t let that stop him. Nor should you let it stop you. Enjoy the music!” — Jeffrey Channing Wells, “Skin Horse” co-author
“Providence musician Jacob Haller is as unique as his lyrics are clever.” — Annie Messier, Providence Daily Dose, May 10, 2012
“No one spins a tale more uniquely than Jacob Haller.” — Chris Conti, The Providence Phoenix, November 15, 2011
“If B.B. King and Weird Al Yankovic had a child, well…they probably wouldn’t admit to it. But it would definitely be Jacob Haller!” — Eddie Delta, Co-Host of The Blues Record podcast
“Jacob Haller is not only a talented musician and songwriter, he’s also a talented songwriter and musician.” — Harper Johnson, Co-Host of The Blues Record podcast