Have No Fearby Daniel Michael Alleva

Like it says on their Myspace page, Long Island's The Fearless is ready for world domination. And anyone who takes a sample of the collection of tunes featured on the page will see it's hard not to imagine their worldly aspirations gracing computer screens all across the world.

"It's so crazy now because with a MySpace page, it's like "Who needs a website?" says guitarist/vocalist John Neder in a phone interview conducted from his Long Island home. This summer, The Fearless have been packing the Long Island clubs with eager fans and curious observers alike. "Now that people have access to the music [at the Myspace page], I see more and more people singing along with us, and that's really great - because we're just a much better band in a live setting when we've got this kinetic energy going between us and the fans. We're wild up there, and it's no fun when there's no one else to share that with."

If this weekend serves as any indication, The Fearless won't ever have to worry about playing to an empty ballroom. This Saturday night at Mulcahy's in Wantagh, Long Island, the band will be featured as one of the finalists in The Long Island Music Festival, sponsored by Good Times Magazine. Neder, a festival winner in a previous outfit - has an altruistic outlook on the festival, and its impending outcome. "You know, it would be really great to win the whole thing, but they've got an early projection of a thousand attendees at this thing, and that's definitely the largest crowd we'd ever played to. Just to get to this far is enough in itself."

The Fearless, with their uncanny harmonies - like if Revolver was made by the Kings of Leon instead of The Beatles - are the surely the act to catch at this year's festival, but if you miss them, they'll be at the Arlene Grocery in NYC on September 21st. From there, the band will retreat back to their own studio, deep in the sand of Long Island, and by November, we should be able to expect brand new material from The Fearless. And continuing the tradition, it will all be featured on their MySpace page.


The Long Island Music Festival
featuring The Fearless
8/25, Muchahy's Pub
Wantagh, NY
www.myspace.com/thefearlessmusic
www.mulcahys.com

Ciao, Bella!by Daniel Michael Alleva

Canadian-based Bella have a lot to be happy about. Touring through Canada and the American West since 2003, the indie-pop trio will be coming to Piano's, located at 158 Ludlow at Stanton in NYC, on the 20th of September - just two days after the release of their new record, No One Will Know (Mint Records), on September 18th.

Bella - Cameron Fraser, Tiffany Garrett Sotomayor, and Charla McCutcheon - is a catchy and upbeat synth three-piece that keeps the tempo steady while keeping the hooks coming, much like their buddies in Imperial Teen, who stop by to add a little spice to No One Will Know. On the heels of the album, Bella's multi-talented members will be criss-crossing the States, as no soon do they leave the stage at Piano's, they are of to Seattle, where they will be playing at the Crocodile Cafe the very next night! Be sure to cath them in your area!

Catch Bella On Tour This Fall!

SEPT 5, VANCOUVER - at The Media Club (with The Brunettes)

SEPT 20, NYC - at Piano's

SEPT 21, SEATTLE - at Crocodile Cafe (with Imperial Teen)

SEPT 22, PORTLAND - at Lola's Room (with Imperial Teen)

SEPT 29, SAN FRANCISCO - at Bottom of the Hill (with Imperial Teen)

OCT 4, VANCOUVER, BC - at the Railway club
(No One Will Know CD Release Party!)

OCT 12, EDMONTON - venue tba

OCT 13, CALGARY, AB - at The Marquee

OCT 21, MONTREAL, QC - venue tba

OCT 22, OTTAWA, ON - at Mavericks

OCT 23, TORONTO, ON - at The Horseshoe Tavern

OCT 24, GUELPH, ON - at the E-bar

OCT 26, LONDON, ON - at the Alex P. Keaton

OCT 27, WATERLOO,ON - at the Starlight (with Mother Mother)

OCT 28, TORONTO, ON - at The Drake

Click here for more Bella!

A Lap Steel Slides in Brooklynby Daniel Michael Alleva

Megan Hickey’s The Last Town Chorus is a collection of Brooklyn musicians, lead by Ms. Hickey, the Pittsburgh native, and her elegant lap steel guitar. But before you let the image of a female-fronted Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals creep into your mind, give a spin of TLTC’s Hacktone Records-debut, Wire Waltz. Instead of playing the instrument in a traditional blues sense, Ms. Hickey and company create a spacious and accentual environment to compliment the storyteller, much like Nick McCabe did for Richard Ashcroft in The Verve, and much like Angelo Badalamenti did for so many films of David Lynch, all the result of a unique relationship between a girl and her guitar.

Ms. Hickey, who grew up listening to 80’s new wave and pop country, says that the pairing of these two dynamic elements (Megan’s wide open voice rings out for city blocks, like Hope Sandoval meets Beth Orton, circa-Trailer Park) is the central unity within The Last Town Chorus. Trained in other instruments, Ms. Hickey feels strongly that her true motivation as a songwriter comes simply from the doors the instrument opens. One listen to the jangly “Caroline” from Wire Waltz, and it’s easy to see why. The lap-steel is what pushes songs like “Understanding” into becoming sonic flights through the sky. The song could easily play it safe as a simple ballad, but add the longing howl of a lap-steel – there just to make Wire Waltz that much more as an album – and The Last Town Chorus gives a brand new outlook on roots music.

While Wire Waltz was written, produced, and engineered by Megan herself, this summer she has had the chance to take The Last Town Chorus out on the road, and play with another truly great songwriter, Hacktone label-mate, Mark Olson. Recently, the two performed together at The World Café; a stream was available online courtesy of NPR. Ms. Hickey has also brought her traveling circus through New York twice this summer, first at a free in-store performance at the Border’s in Columbus Circle, and as part of the River to River festival. The Last Town Chorus returns to New York once more, back on the road again with Olson, on August 30t at The Bowery Ballroom.

Beastie Boys: Mixing it Up, and Speaking Outby Daniel Michael Alleva

Last week, before their performance at McCarren Park Pool - which coincidentally marked the first ever Beastie Boys performance in Brooklyn - AdRock, Mike D, and MCA fielded questions from a handful of journalists as part of a very intimate press conference, which was held at the SOHO House in NYC. It appeared early on that their latest release, a collection of instrumentals and jams entitled The Mix Up, has been on the minds of many journalists, specifically in regards to the "statement" the Beastie Boys - one of the earliest success stories in hip-hop culture - were trying to make on the status of hip-hop music by releasing an all instrumental record. "We've been getting asked that a lot lately." says MCA, and AdRock follows up by saying, “In a way, the album was a reaction to our hip-hop. Our last record was an all rap record, so when we started recording [The Mix Up] we wanted to work with some instruments, and it just sounded cool, so we kept with it.”

But Mike D offers another explanation. “We get asked [about The Mix Up], and we also get asked "What do you think of the state of hip-hop today?" Maybe I’m being defensive, but it seems like people always look for us to come out and criticize hip-hop. But hip-hop is what we grew up on, and it continues to be one of the only forms of music left that strives on evolution and innovation. Yeah, we might be in a spell where we’re waiting for that next record to come out and change everything - but still, that’s what hip hop is and that’s what puts it in its unique place."

On some level, it must be difficult for Michael Diamond (Mike D), Adam Yauch (MCA), and Adam Horovitz (AdRock), to field questions like these. Together, the Beastie Boys are a polite, incredibly funny, and relatively soft-spoken group. But to this day, twenty years after the release of their debut record, License to Ill, they are still asked if "they still feel the need to fight for their right to party." And if that wasn't bad enough, they are still rather crudely regarded as "the white boy rappers" by certain journalists. "I'm not trying to call anybody out," says MCA, "but we always seem to get asked by journalists in other countries about being white rappers. There seems to be some kind of focus on that, and I'm not sure why. I think what is most important is that people are making music regardless of what color they are. Some people are making interesting music, and some people aren't, that's just how it is."

Even their Jewish heritage is still a topic of discussion for some people, primarily in regards to the emergence of Jewish artists like Matisyahu. To this point, Diamond offers, "I think how we identify ourselves with being Jewish has more to do with how we identify ourselves as being New Yorkers. It's more of a cultural connection than a religious one. When we started out, I was living in Brooklyn Heights, and Yauch lived a few blocks away. Once we started playing, a lot of our friends were in bands as part of this downtown New York City hardcore scene. We never thought it was going to last this long, let alone be successful and inspire people, but at the same time, if it does inspire people for whatever reason, that's good." Yauch adds that, "I don't think we really were conscious of the fact that we were all Jewish until journalists started pointing it out." And as Diamond concludes, "Let's face it: to find three Jewish kids hanging around New York City is not uncommon."

Because the Beastie Boys have never been limited to a particular style, or even a certain school of thought (other than to just make music that feels good), it's hard not to be curious if the B-Boys have any intention of recording an album of new hardcore material. “There’s always a possibility of a hardcore record, even though we don’t have any plans for it," says Yauch, who just produced the latest release from hardcore legends, Bad Brains. "That’s definitely a fun type of music that we like to play.” When asked how much their punk rock and hip-hop influences overlap each other, Horovitz says that "They are very similar forms of music, in a way. I feel that punk rock and rap have the same headspace. You know, that attitude you have when you make punk records is very similar to when you make rap records." Diamond adds that there is a commonality of energy and attitude within the genres. "It's easy to look at outward trimmings of each, but when we were growing up and going to clubs, all the new wave/punk rock clubs that we would go to would play all the new hip-hop records when they would come out, and it seemed to all fit together in a very natural way."

If the major music industry is, at the very least, experiencing a period of transcendence, the Beastie Boys don't seem to mind. "It seems to me that the tools for doing it yourself are more available than ever before," says Diamond. He continues on by saying, "When we put out Pollywog Stew, we had to actually go and press a 7" - you don't have to do that anymore. Now you can use your MySpace page." When asked if the way things were done back in the day are a testament to longevity, Diamond seems overtly unsure while remaining optimistic. "For me, I'm excited to see what people can do using their home computers or their video cameras. Some of it might be wack, but their will be some that are completely self-reliant, and will attain its own audience." Horovitz adds that, "The whole idea of success and "making it" is changing into a different thing. Do you want to be playing arenas, or do you want people to just watch your YouTube video? So, we just have to see what happens next."

The Beastie Boys will continue to tour in support of The Mix Up through the fall.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Webster Hall, NYC, 8/7/07by Daniel Michael Alleva

Karen O. pranced, pogoed, and howled, while Nick Zinner and Brian Chase provided an explosive backdrop to her antics, as New York City's Yeah Yeah Yeahs crashed through Webster Hall last week, performing in support of their latest release, The Is Is EP. O., dressed in fishnet stockings and little more, draped herself with what appeared to be christmas tree tinsel, and throughout the performance, donned several props, including a bowler hat, and a mask that made her look strikingly similar to one of the "party guests" in Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut.

The Yeahs, consummate performers of bare-bones retro-punk, ran through their catalog with splendid detail. Highlights of the evening were "Cheated Hearts" and "Phenomenon," both from the Yeahs last full-length release, the fantastic Show Your Bones, as well as the gems from their breakthrough release Fever to Tell, such as "Tick" and "Black Tongue." The coy sexuality of O., combined with her penchant for jamming the microphone into her mouth and screaming, crept over Chase's snap-from-the-wrist pounding, and Zinner, now certified as the most innovative guitarist in rock today, held command over the melodies along with touring guitarist, Imaad Wasif.

Tiny Masters of Today, the group consisting of pint-sized siblings Ivan and Ada, along with Jon Spencer Blues Explosion drummer Russell Simins, opened the show, and closed their set with a humorous cover of House of Pain's "Jump Around."

Photo by Rebecca Smeyne, courtesy of The Village Voice

The Color and the Shape (Reissue) - Foo Fightersby Daniel Michael Alleva

When The Color and the Shape was release in the Spring of 1997, Dave Grohl's post-Nirvana vehicle had already received moderate success with their self-titled debut. But on the first record, Grohl played virtually every part. So The Colour and the Shape would be the first Foo Fighters record to be recorded with what was previously only the touring band - Germs/Nirvana guitarist Pat Smear, and Sunny Day Real Estate refugees Nate Mendel and William Goldsmith. Goldsmith would be gone before the record would even see the light of day, with Grohl re-recording the album replacing himself over Goldsmith's parts. And the album itself would document Grohl's divorce from Nirvana photographer, Jennifer Youngblood.

It's important to note that the Spring of '97 was the first time that America seemed somewhat recovered from the hangover of Grunge. People had died. Bands had broke up. Teenagers were no longer teens. Still, nothing really changed, other than it felt really good to be free of all of it. So when "Monkey Wrench" hit the airwaves as the first single from the record, with it's catchy hook and blow-out finale, everything Grohl had experienced, everything he held dear which had not gone for the best, from the day they found Kurt Cobain dead to the day he signed divorce papers, was put to bed for the last time.

Nirvana's loud-soft-loud dynamic was rock and roll at its most recognizable, it just came with a lot of feedback, from a place that America somewhat forgot existed, and Grohl was as much a part of that whole equation as Cobain was. So, as on songs like "My Poor Brain" and "New Way Home," there's a turn of tides that The Color and the Shape undergoes that reflects the change in attitude. It felt better, perhaps, to think more about "My Hero" instead of my "Heart-Shaped Box," even if it was at the expense of Grohl's own heartbreak.

The acoustic Howard Stern Show performance of "Everlong" would eventually become a staple on the radio, but the original album version is a track for the ages. And again, there's Grohl, wondering the same things anyone would wonder being in his position: could everything be this real forever? Will anything be this good again? The questions hit so goddamn deep, it's hard to even imagine the answers.

This tenth-anniversary edition, featuring the original release along with newly-written liner notes by Nate Mendel, comes with six bonus tracks, including the covers of "Baker Street" and Gary Numan's "Down in the Park." While 1997 saw some stiff competition as far as Album of the Year was concerned, The Color and The Shape was the first out of the gate, and it remains in front of the pack ten years later.

Rating - A+

Click here for more Foo Fighters!

Finding Forever - Commonby Daniel Michael Alleva

Finding Forever is the seventh album from Chicago rapper Common. Over well-crafted tracks from the likes of Kanye West and the late J Dilla, Common elevates his flow to ear-pleasing levels by serving it with his signature balance of socially conscious and deeply personal lyrics. In addition to mic contributions from West, Finding Forever also features guest spots from Lilly Allen, and most notably, D'Angelo. The album is the first release from the Midwest legend to reach the top of The Billboard 200.

The Nightwatchman by Daniel Michael Alleva

Check out Tom Morello's new project, The Nightwatchman.

Morello, known mostly for his power riffing in groups like Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, trades in his electric for an acoustic, and the result is an uplifting collection of folk mastery that is somewhere between Springsteen and Strummer. The album is out now on Epic Records, but you can visit The Nightwatchman's website now to preview some of the tracks.

National Public Radio’s World Cafe will be broadcasting a Nightwatchman session on Tuesday, August, 14th, 2007. The World Cafe with host David Dye can be heard on nearly 200 stations nationwide.

Watch Tom Morello, along with Serj Tankian, on The Henry Rollins Show

Sonic Youth, McCarren Park Pool, Williamsburg BK, 7/28/07 by Daniel Michael Alleva

Aside from the performers, a true champion of Sonic Youth’s show at McCarren Park Pool was the young boy who couldn’t have been more than 8-years-old, ten feet from center stage upon the shoulders of his father, as the band performed in its entirety their landmark 1988 album Daydream Nation. Coming off of the success of their latest release - the critically acclaimed Rather Ripped - one of the greatest bands of my lifetime celebrated what I feel, as do many others, is one of the most important albums of all time. This hometown tribute for the dedicated that have followed Sonic Youth was a dignified toast.


Daydream Nation on record opens up like an invitation, with building anticipation in each turn and fold. And in a live setting, the reaction is the same - only tenfold. Kim Gordon’s breathy introductions to “Teenage Riot,” – coquettish phrases matched with ideological thoughts, possibly; “Face me, don’t displace me” and such – arouse so much tension that by time the song reaches a breakdown, you’re ready to explode. Thurston Moore and Lee Renaldo’s guitar work is still the finest in the land, and drummer Steve Shelley remains the anchor for the quartet.


The spirituality of a record like Daydream Nation cannot be ignored, so invigorating is every note. And to be under a Brooklyn moon for its grand unveiling is to be of note. With some certainty, I can say that you won't be able to see "Trilogy" performed in its entirety again for some time. But with great confidence, I know that Sonic Youth will be at either Webster Hall or Irving Plaza within 18 months of now, as they always are, doing what they do so splendidly. To this point, I return to the young man on his father’s shoulders.


While I was slightly too big to rest on anyone’s shoulders the first time I saw the band, I myself was a much younger man then. Through the years, Sonic Youth have remained the truest of all the acts I’ve seen. They never grow tired. They never stop smiling. They never stop rocking. They are personified by the rawest chord available to be played. And so when the circle remains unbroken, and we’ve preserved what is distinctly ours to share, there is no better way to celebrate than with a party for a Library of Congress selected album for the National Recording Registry. Daydream Nation is not so much an album as it is the essence of our expressive existence, available to anyone and everyone.

Siren Festival, 7/21/2007, Coney Island, BK by Daniel Michael Alleva

Despite technical difficulties, the Village Voice-sponsored Siren Festival was a hit yesterday, with fourteen bands spread out over two stages, along side the Cyclone roller coaster at Coney Island's Astroland Park.

As far as set-up is concerned, the Siren Festival is everything a festival should be: laid-back and open without the daunting presence of "The Man" over your shoulder; I couldn't help but be reminded of the Lollapalooza festivals of the mid-nineties at Randall's Island, and the ecclectic line-up featured reinforced my nostalgia.

The Philadelphia-based Dr. Dog played one of the more inspiring sets of the festival on the main stage, which was located on West 10th Street. It is always good to see a band from Philly or Boston come to New York and play a good set, but it's even better when the crowd is fully receptive, as they were for Dr. Dog's crispy-fried, bounce-fest.


Later on, The Detroit Cobras tore up the Stillwell Avenue stage with their rock 'n' roll-infused, R & B wallop. Led by vocalist Rachel Nagy and rhythm guitarist Mary Ramierez, the Cobras ran through a 40 minute set full of ass-shaking thunder, and Nagy joked about the early time slot by asking, "What's that huge glowing thing in the sky? I've never seen that before."







Keeping it weird was Atlanta's The Black Lips, who turned in an interesting - if not completely confounding - set that included mock-vaudeville, chickens, and country bop that was reminiscent of The B-52's early work.



But the day belonged to Maya Arulpragasam, a.k.a, M.I.A. The Sri Lankan-born MC ran through a set of her signature electro-dancehall hip-hop, featuring tracks from her upcoming release, Kala, as well as her remarkable debut, Arular. Between songs, M.I.A. hipped the crowd to her recent legal struggles. After being refused a visa to enter the country by the United States government, M.I.A. was forced to cancel several performances, and in the weeks leading up to the Siren Festival, her performance there was still up in the air.



Also featured throughout the day were The New York Dolls, We Are Scientists, Cursive, The Noisettes, and Glasgow's The Twilight Sad. Many local acts were featured on the Stillwell Stage, like Brooklyn's own The White Rabbits and Matt and Kim.

Everything Sucks . . . . Well, almost everything. by Daniel Michael Alleva

Everything Sucks is not your typical Long Island indie act. So far from it, actually, they should really consider relocation. For what now seems like an eternity, Long Island has become a wasteland for bad emo bands (as if there were ever any good emo bands). But what makes Everything Sucks a giant step in a new direction is their respect for the roots of the oft-misinterpreted genre of punk rock.

Embracing the virtues of some of the greatest peaks that punk rock has ever witnessed, Everything Sucks - without a shadow of a doubt - would have fit like a glove in the early days of Dischord Records had this young quartet not been born too late. Everything about the band screams, literally, vintage D.C. - from their socially conscious lyrics to their intimate stage performances. Their latest E.P. was actually, physically recorded in frontman Matt Brennan's garage. And just in case you're not sold on their earnest roots, they've been known to cover Springsteen and The Replacements in their live show. If Everything Sucks keeps it up, they'll be forced to change their name to Everything Sucks But Us.

Chris and Rich Robinson - Brothers of a Feather by Daniel Michael Alleva

Brothers of a Feather is the latest installment in several archival releases put forth by The Black Crowes brain-trust Chris and Rich Robinson. Late last year the brothers Robinson released The Lost Crowes, a double-set of material comprised of two Black Crowes records available previously only as bootlegs. This latest collection is from the critically-acclaimed, semi-acoustic tour Chris and Rich set out on in the spring of 2006.



The record consists of Crowes favorites like "Horsehead" and "Cursed Diamond." B-side gems like "Darling of the Underground Press" and Lost Crowes standouts like "My Heart's Killing Me" round out the compilation. An impressive selection of covers like "Roll Um Easy" and "Over the Hill" show how much depth Chris and Rich share as musicians. The album also features the first new Chris and Rich Robinson compositions in nearly six years, to mixed results. "Magic Rooster Blues" is too clichéd for honest consideration, but "Cold Boy Smile" has a nice fireside touch.

Ironically, the two highlights of Brothers of a Feather are the tracks composed by Chris and Rich for each of their respective solo projects, "Someday Past the Sunset" and "Leave It Alone."

Rating - B

Photos by Joe Russo.

Interpol - Our Love to Admire by Daniel Michael Alleva

Our Love to Admire is the third album from NYC's Interpol, and the first since leaving indie-label Matador Records and signing with Capitol Records. Unlike previous records - 2002's Turn on the Bright Lights and 2004's Antics - Our Love to Admire is a stripped down effort that builds momentum with each spin. The record captures the full essence of Interpol's influences - some obvious, and some not

The album's low-key start is thwarting at first. "Pioneer to the Falls" is a song for the midnight ages. "No I In Threesome" is a great "leaving town" track, full of flair. The centerpiece, where the momentum begins to kick in, is "The Heinrich Maneuver" into "Mammoth," some of Interpol's finest moments - pulsating, edgy, and funny.

Rhythm-section Carlos D. and Sam Fogarino, respectively, have all the grooves you need to have a good time with Our Love to Admire. Banks' lyrics border on kitsch, but tracks like "Who Do You Think?" are too irresistible to play elitist.

Rating - A

Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger by Daniel Michael Alleva

The first time I heard Ryan Adams, I was coming up Ocean Parkway from Gilgo Beach while a friend played Love Is Hell. It wasn’t anything I hadn’t heard before, but the material was rich in both style and substance, and I was instantly hooked. That was in 2005, the same year that Adams, along with his incredible band The Cardinals, would release three albums of new material: the double-album rocker Cold Roses, the hootenanny that is Jacksonville City Nights, and the bare- boned 29. Coming off the two years of touring that followed is Easy Tiger, the ninth album in total from America’s most captivating and transcending songwriter.

Opening with the rollicking good time of “Goodnight, Rose,” Easy Tiger commences in bloom. “Two,” the first single from the album, features a backing vocal from Sheryl Crow. It’s hard not to smile at the mental image of the two of them singing to each other in some candlelit studio, deep into the night. Easy Tiger packs enough casual, flirtatious attraction that you can pick it up at any point and still be a needle to the groove. To clap your hands to the bridge of “Tears Of Gold” is to wrap your head around the echoes of “Off Broadway.” All the tracks featured here take you right to the front door of the places you need to be, free of overindulgences. Adams is a rare talent that can say more in 38 minutes than others can say in a whole hour. As the audience, we digest Easy Tiger without having to think about what is beyond the context, because with Adams, the attraction is in already knowing and feeling. “Drop me a line, I wanna know how it all works out / I had a feeling we were fading out / I didn’t know that people faded out so fast.” Yep, I know how that goes, and “The Sun Also Sets” is only one of the places in time that Easy Tiger can bring you back to.

If you track the progression of his career, Easy Tiger is the best example of Ryan Adams as an artist in control, and the purest example of The Cardinals as a recognizable force. The tasty interplay on guitar between Adams and Neal Casal is accented by Jon Graboff’s pedal-steel work, while Brad Pemberton and Chris Feinstein hold down the bottom end with authority. If it comes to be that this is Ryan Adams’ peak, then Easy Tiger will forever look out over Mt. Everest. But for the time being, let’s just be easy about things, and embrace the now.

The White Stripes - Icky Thump by Daniel Michael Alleva

Since the release of Elephant, The White Stipes have crafted records that foster the sensation of contemporary style, and at the same time pull back the curtains on the music of Old America. Their latest release Icky Thump is, if nothing else, a disjointed collage of old-school Stripes swaggar and exploratory expression.

The album opens with the raucous, shape-shifting title track (which is also the first single), but then settles into some familiar ground with the pop stylings of "You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You're Told)," which sounds like it could have been a B-side from the two previous albums, the aforementioned Elephant and Get Behind Me, Satan. The Dyaln-esque prose of "300 M.P.H. Torrential Outpour Blues" strolls along sleekly with it's loud/soft/loud dynamic approach. Then there is the highly ambitous power-flamenco of "Conquest", where Jack White bellows like a sardonic matador about a woman who turns the tables on a heartless Don Juan.

The rest of Icky Thump, however, is hit or miss. While the familiarity of "Rag and Bone" - perhaps Icky Thump's best track - provides a funny kiss-off to societal excess, other tracks like "Bone Broke" just sound generic and languid amoung the more adventerous tracks. But the Catch-22 there is that going out on a limb doesn't always pay off on Icky Thump. "Prickly Thorn, Sweetly Worn" would have fit in perfectly on Led Zeppelin III, but the track quickly segues into "St. Andrew (This Battle Is In The Air)," which, to follow the analogy, is the "Hats Off To Roy (Harper)" of Icky Thump - and it's not even the last track on the album.

Despite the fact that the album as a whole isn't very astounding, Icky Thump is worth the purchase for the six or seven solid tracks that it features; new fans will want to look elsewhere in the catalog. However, Meg White still has the heaviest right foot in rock and roll, and sonically, the Stripes are always impressive. Icky Thump is admirable for what it tries to achieve, but falls flat somewhat in the process.

Rating: B

Mark Olson's Salvation by Daniel Michael Alleva

After the last of four performances by Mark Olson at Mo Pitkin’s House of Satisfaction, the talented singer/songwriter shares a table in the back of the Lower East Side haunt with Michele Gazich, an Italian pianist and violinist who plays in Olson’s band, and another gentleman who was once an aide to John Kerry during his 2004 presidential campaign. “You know why I like him?” proclaims Olson, speaking about a potential candidate in the 2008 election. “He seems like a guy you could call up on an afternoon and do nothing with.” The comment sounds strange coming from a man who professes to like keeping busy. “And he tells the truth.” That sounds more like Olson.

As fast as the two weeks he has been in New York seem to have passed by, so do the topics of conversation. “I’m going to tell you something right now that you would never know: the Italians love Desire.” Gazich’s eyes light up at the mere mention of the 1976 Dylan release. “There’s something real macho about that album that the Italians really love.” Holding court, Olson goes on. “You know…they really study our music. To us it’s just a dirty old record, but to them, it’s something much more. There are music fans everywhere, but I was taken aback at just the depth of the knowledge they had.” Olson’s connection to the European community has been long standing. His latest release, The Salvation Blues (Hacktone Records), was written throughout parts of Poland, Norway, and Wales. But throughout the early nineties, Olson found great success in Europe - and to a lesser extent, America - as co-founder with Gary Louris in the roots rock outfit, The Jayhawks.

Together, Olson and Louris were the Lewis & Clark of alt-country, the starting point for contemporary roots rock in America. The bands that would emerge after them can trace their success back to the path that The Jayhawks blazed once forming in 1985. Olson, then interested in folk music like Woody Guthrie, met Marc Perlman in a rehearsal studio in Minneapolis. He would then go on to meet Louris, who he had seen singing and playing around town. The trio found a common bond in the desire to electrify folk music, and soon began rehearsing regularly with a local drummer. “We played really loud. It certainly didn’t sound like folk music.” Minneapolis provided enough inspiration in the sense that there was already a scene, but as Olson recalls, “we certainly weren’t the most popular band in Minneapolis. I think that because we weren’t so popular, we were able to just keep writing. We had other interests, anyway.” The Jayhawks played blues and rock clubs for two years, while Olson and Louris began crafting the signature harmonies that Olson now refers to as “The Univoice”. Very few singers in rock music can kill a harmony. No doubt Crosby and Nash come to mind. Olson and Louris are those types of singers. The caliber to which their voices blend is remarkable.

The Jayhawks were already several national tours deep, with a pair of indie releases to their name, by the time Blue Earth reached the ears of George Drakoulias, then doing A&R for Def American. The band was quickly signed, and the result was the eloquent Hollywood Town Hall album. On the legs of MTV’s rotation of the “Waiting for the Sun” video, The Jayhawks quickly found a wider fan-base, and support gigs in America opening for the likes of The Black Crowes and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers soon followed. But by 1995, Olson started to feel differently about his responsibility to The Jayhawks. “I had just gotten married and bought a house, and I can’t really explain it, but suddenly there was just this switch in me.” He would soon come to find that the system in which major-label rock bands operated would not lend itself to his concepts about playing music. “In The Jayhawks, I would be responsible to write about 5 songs every three years. Then I would show up to play acoustic guitar in a rock band. I needed more of a challenge, I guess.” By Halloween of that year, Mark Olson would quit The Jayhawks.

Being married to Victoria Williams would prove to be all the inspiration Olson would need, as the pair began to record and perform in the loose organization known as The Creekdippers. Free to create at his own pace, Olson developed a do-it-yourself approach to the music. He took on the responsibility of engineer during Creekdipper recording sessions. He acted as tour manager, and until the demand became too much for one person to handle, he fulfilled mail-orders for Creekdipper records. Over time, however, Olson’s relationship with Williams would deteriorate. “I basically came home one day from touring Europe, and my life had totally fallen apart.” While he’s not specific on the details, Olson takes responsibility for the breakdown, and in 2005, he and Williams divorced. “At the time,” Olson admits, “music really wasn’t on my mind at all.” But an invite from a couple in Wales would soon turn Olson around.

Olson first met Charlotte Grieg, a writer and musician, and John Willams, a writer, while on tour in Europe. “They would get up at six o’clock in the morning and they would just write all day. They were putting me to shame, and they basically inspired me to get up and do something.” The subsequent writing sessions would produce The Salvation Blues - a poignant collection of introspective narratives that provokes strong vision through song. “My songs usually have some moral situation within them, and then I’m either going to resolve it or not. I used to read a lot of the Irish writer Frank O’Connor, and I learned a lot about how to write short stories through him. I focus a lot on spirituality, and the turning of corners in life, because I do believe there is some overall plan, it’s not all just rage and madness.”

Mark Olson’s travels have taken him to far and away places, and after twenty years of creating, the idea of mentioning to him how much he has inspired current trends in music seems futile. “One of the things I love about the music industry is that there’s a process, and it has a flow to it.” Once recording wrapped up on The Salvation Blues, Olson’s consistent motions found him back in the studio once again, this time with Louris, as the pair recorded an album together with Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes serving as producer. Set for release sometime in 2008, Olson says that the album is “very folksy. It focuses a lot on our voices, and half the record is just me and Gary, while the other half is with a full band.” As far as his past is concerned, there is no time wasted by moving in reverse. “I feel that my relationships with Gary and Victoria are still very good, I just don’t have to rely on them all the time to make music. It took me twenty years to figure that out, but it’s either go at it once again, or do something different. I’m going at it again.”

Originally featured in the June 13th issue of The Aquarian Weekly.

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