Patti Smith
Twelve
Columbia
April 24, 2007
Patti Smith's latest album, Twelve, is (cleverly) a set of twelve covers pulled from classic rock's most stable classics. The princess of punk surely exhibits some of her own tone and proves her ability to put emotion into vocals. As expected from Smith, there is even some of her own poetry inserted into the mix. However, she generally fails to add anything new to songs we all already loved.
In her rendition of The Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter," for example, I was reminded of how much I enjoyed the original. I was also forced to realize how much I wished I was listening to Mick Jagger and not Patti Smith. While Smith's version was mostly true to the song's tone and emotion, it lacked the energy that so defined the original.
Likewise in "Smells Like Teen Spirit," Smith plays a mellowed-out version of the Nirvana classic. While a softer version of such a grungy song sounds novel, it's nothing that hasn't been done before. Paul Anka's swing version was almost superior in innovation, even if it was not nearly as serious as Smith's. The bland cover was topped off by a moment of attempted creativity, where Smith inserted some of her famed spoken poetry. However, it seemed out of place.
A few other tracks - Tears For Fears' "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" and The Allman Brothers' "Midnight Rider," for example - seemed to be nothing more than acoustic covers of the original, perhaps something you would hear at a concert if the band forgot to bring along an electric guitar - and their lead singer.
This album is perhaps worth listening to once, purely to see what Smith is up to. Just on the heels of a Hall of Fame induction, perhaps Smith wishes to make a statement, or maybe even capitalize on her surge of fame. However, the resultant effort is not worth a second go-around.
- John Kernan
Misc. Artists
A Tribute to Joni Mitchell
Nonesuch
April 26, 2007
Like tulips, tribute albums tend to rear their heads in the spring, unearthing a new look every season but ultimately the same flower. Unlike other tribute albums which tend to be posthumous, A Tribute to Joni Mitchell, the patron songwriter of Laurel Canyon is still very much alive. The woman herself has released a series of low-profile thematic albums in the last three years, preferring to concentrate her legendarily prolific energies - which produced an album nearly every year as her career skyrocketed in the early '70s - on her paintings, which she never sells and rarely displays, and on vowing to never enter the mainstream music business again, which she calls a "cesspool."
To make up for the noticeable absence of her trademark jazz-infused vocals, record company executives seem to have determined that the best course of action is to re-record her greatest hits with a group of artists who are, on the whole, more willing to step into a studio. To their credit, the album producers have assembled a generally talented cast to revisit Mitchell's canon. Standouts include Caetano Veloso's samba-inspired makeover of "Dreamland", whose accented English sounds every bit as exotic singing Mitchell's lyrical poetry as it first did in his innovative "Tropicália" years, and the album opener, "Free Man In Paris," with a show-stopping Wurlitzer performance by Sufjan Stevens that overpowers his lilting vocals. Though there are some miscasts here - Prince attempts a pseudo-R&B cover of "A Case Of You" that flirts with falsetto greatness, and Bjork minces her way through "The Boho Dance," the performances here are mainly solid, but hardly Mitchell at her best - a reminder that, despite what Nonesuch Records might like you to think, there is no true replacement for the artist herself.
- Matt Hansen
Bill Callahan
Woke on a Whaleheart
Drag City
April 24, 2007
From Bill Callahan of Smog fame comes Woke on a Whaleheart, a pensive, rolling album which builds off of the fractured, lo-fi energy of his previous albums, creating a nice, moody variation on classic rock song structure. While Callahan at times definitely produces pieces that could have come from musicians like Johnny Cash, Tom Petty and Neil Young, he still makes a concrete sound which he can claim as his own.
The album opens with the track, "From the Rivers to the Oceans", a solid piece revolving around themes of confidence, finding it within you and granting it to others. The song is pushed along with a strong piano arrangement, subtly supported by the rambling force of Callahan's guitar. The track is a successful opener, setting the right tone and pace for the rest of the album to follow.
The third song on the album is "Diamond Dancer", a pounding alt-rocker which weaves intricate guitar work in and out of a relentless bass riff, captivating the listener all the while with Callahan's soft yet firm vocals. Callahan establishes something a bit more distinct to himself in this song in the manner that he carries the song forward, pulling out a simple yet demanding drumbeat and cello to assist him.
Callahan then transitions into a much more rhythmic piece, "Sycamore", showcasing one of Callahan's strengths on the album. All of the of the tracks seemingly belong to a similar mold of music, yet he manages to extract elements and croon vocals that allow each song to deliver its own punch. The transitions are in many ways flawless, and he to solidify an identity appropriate to his sound.
Woke on a Whaleheart never strives for anything far from the ordinary, and this is a good thing. There are several points in the album which are better heard than described where everything just clicks for Callahan, which any fan of music could appreciate.
- William Parschalk
