Tina Turner - Good Hearted Woman – The Definitive Edition

In 1974, as her successful career as half of Ike and Tina Turner was winding down, Tina went into the studio to record her debut solo album.  Jack Millman came on board as the investor on the album and had the idea for her to record a country album with songs that could be performed on variety shows.  Once the album was finished it was sent to label executives and while United Artists was interested in signing her, they were not interested in the finished album.  Instead of that, they wanted country songs with a slower tempo that would be picked by their A&R staff, and they also wanted a different producer.  Millman reached an agreement with the label that he would keep the rights to the album and Tina could sign with them.  As a result of this, she ended up recording Tina Turns The Country On, which ended up being nominated for a Grammy.  In 1979 Millman released the original album on his Wagner Records label and over the years it has been re-released on CD numerous times under several different titles, but the sound quality on these has tended to be poor.  This newly released “definitive edition” uses a transfer of the master tapes and has been released on both CD and vinyl.  While I haven’t heard any of the earlier releases, so I can’t compare them, this new version sounds great.  As for the music, the album opens strongly with a powerful vocal performance and gorgeous string arrangement on “Lay It Down,” followed by a pure, classic country performance of Kris Kristofferson’s “Lovin’ Him Was Easier.”  Next up is a rollicking, good time take on the title track, which was actually written by Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson after Jennings saw a newspaper ad that called Tina a “good hearted woman loving two-timing men.”  Originally a hit for Brenda Lee, “If This Is Our Last Time” is a slower track with a softer vocal performance (except for chorus) and the nice addition of horns.  While her take on “Stand By Your Man” sticks pretty close to the classic arrangement, she makes it her own with her powerhouse, soulful vocals.  Written by Will Hoover and originally recorded by Waylon Jennings, the lesser known “Freedom To Stay” is an absolutely gorgeous tune with a great arrangement and a strong, deeply emotional vocal.  Those gritty, emotional vocals continue on the next track, “We Had It All” and are the perfect complement to the string arrangement.  Her cover of “Soul Deep,” best known from the version from The Box Tops, is a fun take on the tune that walks the line between soul and country.  On “If It’s Alright With You” she adds a a bit of a rock edge, as she also does on the closing track, her take on another classic, Loretta Lynn’s “You Ain’t Woman Enough To Take My Man” where she gives a spirited performance with a bit of an attitude and a touch of funk.  In addition to songs being remastered, the album cover now features the photograph that Tina personally selected back in 1974, and the booklet has some great insight into the story behind the release.   It should also be noted that this release has now rightfully been added to the discography page of her official website and has support on her social media platforms.  

(Explore Rights Management)

ARK Identity - Deluxe Nightmare

On his latest EP, Deluxe Nightmare, Toronto’s Ark Identity (Noah Mroueh) lays out six lush dream-pop soundscapes, but with elements of everything from alt rock and psychedelia to the grungy rock of the title track (strangely reminiscent of Nirvana if they were more of a dream-pop band).  Although there isn't a bad track here, some of the high points include the hypnotic “Still In Love,” which has a bit of a Squeeze feel, the delicate at times “I’m Still the Same,” with its gentle piano accompaniment, and “Can’t Stop Loving You.”

(ARK Identity - Facebook)

Mozart Estate - Tower Block In A Jam Jar

Following ten years as the leader of Felt, Lawrence (last name Hayward, but going by only his first name) went on to form Denim, which was then followed by Go-Kart Mozart, whose second album Tearing Up The Album Chart, was released in 2005.  Many years after its release, Lawrence said that the album was really just a collection of demos from a rough period in his life dealing with drug addiction and mental health issues, and said he wanted to remix and re-record them, which brings us to Tower Block In A Jam Jar from the now renamed band Mozart Estate.  With the exception of “At The DDU,” which now has new lyrics and is titled “A Lorra Laughs With Cilla,” and “England & Wales,” which was dropped and replaced with a new version of “Selfish, Lazy & Greedy,” a track that was originally on Go Kart Mozart’s debut Instant Wigwam and Igloo Mixture, the album is a complete revamping of that earlier release.  Following the success of last year's book about him, Street Level Superstar: A Year With Lawrence, he found himself with a whole new set of fans and said “This is an album for people who have never heard Mozart Estate or Go-Kart Mozart before – it’s for people who picked up the book and got into me that way. If you’re one of those then this record will knock your socks off!!”  The album kicks off with “Summer Is Here,” which opens with harmonies that are semi-Beach Boys like, although a bit quirkier, then turns into a super chipper summery pop tune full of chirpy keys and “la la la’s.”  In a perfect world it would be a summertime hit.  “Selfish & Lazy & Greedy” is another super catchy song that sounds like it would’ve fit in with the early eighties pop scene (I can imagine a video for this song blasting all day long on MTV).  With lyrics that are primarilly Lawrence running through strange band names from the sixties and seventies, “Fuzzy Duck” has a bit of a pychedelic country sound completed by the noise of a duck quack running through the whole song, and “Electric Roll” is an upbeat pop track with a chorus that strangely reminds me of Elton John.  “A Lorra Laughs With Cilla” starts off like a lost T Rex gem, exploding with glam guitars and handclaps before adding some chirpy keys about halfway through and then slowing to a close.  The gorgeous “Glorious Chorus” is midtempo pop with an emotional vocal performance and choral backing vocals with some Supertramp-like piano, and “Donna and the Dope Fiends” is more bouncy pop but juxtaposed with lyrics about scoring drugs.  The upbeat, synth driven rock of “Delta Echo Echo Beta Alpha Neon Kettle” changes things up with a sound that is a bit reminiscent of The Cars, but with a touch of Lou Reed, as does “Transgressions” a short blast of manic electropop.  The extremely quirky “On A Building Site” is apparently considered by many to be too much of a novelty track, but to me sounds more like it would be the perfect singalong from an off-the-wall children’s show (I can imagine them popping up performing this on Yo Gabba Gabba if it was still in production).  Although initially coming across as straight-ahead seventies melodic punk they add some strings and keys towards the end of “Listening to Marmalade” to give it a little more texture, and “City Centre” closes things out perfectly with some non-stop, raucous seventies pop glam with a modern-day rock edge.  Tower Block In A Jam Jar is nothing but wall to wall earworms, any one of which you might find stuck in your head after a listen or two.   

West Midlands Records

  

The Needmores - Side X Side

Led by Lenny Grassa, formerly of The Leonards and Popular Creeps, Detroit’s The Needmores have recently released their debut EP Side X Side.  The title track kicks things off with a raucous, garage rock punch, power pop hooks and is just a little on the rootsier side of things. “Let It Ride” is up next and is a little mellower with a nice easygoing groove, followed by the classic power pop sounds of “Lookin’” with its hook-heavy beat.  The EP closes with “Echoes,” a high energy track with a bit of that raw Detroit garage rock edge once again. 

(The Needmores - Facebook)

 

Bangles - Watching The Sky

Along with bands like The Dream Syndicate, Green On Red, Rain Parade and The Three O’Clock, the Bangles were initially part of LA’s Paisley Underground scene, bringing together influences from jangly guitar-driven psychedelia, power pop and garage rock.  From 1984 to 1988 they released three albums that eventually found them shifting towards a more radio-friendly pop sound that while losing some of what made them special, did give them seven top thirty songs in the US (including two that reached number one and two more that topped at number two).  Watching The Sky, the new four CD box set, collects these three albums along with twenty-two bonus cuts consisting of B-sides, single versions, remixes and extended versions.

The band was initially formed by Susanna Hoffs (guitar and vocals) and sisters Vicki (guitar and vocals) and Debbi Peterson, who then added Annette Zilinskas.  Originally the Colours and then the Bangs before becoming The Bangles, they released their eponymous debut EP in 1982 (included here amongst the bonus tracks on disc four).  While the promise of what was to come could be heard here, they really found their sound on 1984’s All Over The Place, their full-length debut, which featured new bassist and former Runaway Michael Steele replacing the departed Zilinskas.  Hoffs and the Peterson’s trade off on vocals from song to song and the album is absolutely brimming with great vocal harmonies, the aforementioned Byrds-like jangly guitars, pop hooks galore and a bit of a loose, ragged rock edge and punk energy (“Silent Treatment”) that sadly seemed to fade away a bit over the next two albums.  While there really isn’t a bad track here, some of the highlights are the infectious pop gems “Hero Takes A Fall” and “James,” the very Byrds-y “Dover Beach,” their outstanding covers of The Merry-Go-Round’s “Live” and Katrina and the Waves’ “Going Down To Liverpool" (an excellent showcase for their great vocal harmonies), and closing track “More Than Meets The Eye,” a complete shift from the rest of the album with its haunting string arrangement.  Disc one also contains three bonus tracks, and while the first two are the single version of "Going Down To Liverpool" and a remix of "Hero Takes A Fall," the definite can't miss is their outstanding cover of The Grass Roots’ “Where Were You When I Needed You," which was originally released as a b-side.  

Although their sophomore album Different Light traded in a lot of that ragged edge of the debut in favor of a more polished, poppier sound, it also resulted in the most successful and best-selling release of their career.  It not only hit number two on the album charts, but also contained four top thirty singles, including the number one “Walk Like An Egyptian,” which anyone not living under a rock knows.  Ironically, the song was written by Liam Sternberg and was brought to the band by producer David Kahne.  Rumors are the band was less than thrilled with including the song on the album, and while it was their biggest hit it really is totally different than anything else they recorded.  It was also one of several tracks that used a drum machine, something else that moved them away from the charm of the debut.  Having said that, there is plenty to like here.  First off are the remaining singles - “Manic Monday,” a keyboard-driven piece of sunshine pop penned by Prince (as Christopher), a somewhat psychedelic cover of Jules Shears’ “If She Knew What She Wants,” which has more great vocal harmonies, and the bouncing pop tune “Walking Down Your Street.”  Some of the other highlights are the faster-paced, high energy “In A Different Light,” the slower, minimalist “Return Post” with its harmonies and subtle funk groove, “Angels Fall In Love,” which reminds me of earlier Tom Petty, a great cover of Big Star’s “September Gurls” and the hauntingly, dark acoustic guitar driven “Following.”  Four more bonus tracks close out disc two, with remixes and edits of three album tracks plus a fun live medley of “Walking Down Your Street” and “James.”

In 1988 they released Everything, their third and final album of this era (after disbanding a year later they reunited in 1998 and have released two more albums).  Although not as successful as its predecessor, the album did contain two more hit singles, including the biggest seller of their career, “Eternal Flame,” which ironically like most of their hits was pretty far removed from their original sound.  Having said that, for what it’s worth, it’s a good, emotional ballad.  A couple of other notable facts about the album were a new producer, Davitt Sigerson, who got their attention for his work on the Boomtown record from David + David, and a major change in the songwriting process.  Unlike the previous releases, the album contained no covers, but there was more emphasis on co-writers like Vinnie Vincent, Rachel Sweet and the songwriting teams of Billy Steinbert and Tom Kelly and Dan Navarro and Eric Lowen, with only two songs written without a co-writer.   Sigerson’s production was again more pop and polished but also brought back more of the garage rock and folky psychedelia.  Opening track “In Your Room” is a great example of this, mixing the shinier production with catchy psychedelic pop full of mellotron, organ, sitar and more.  The folk-tinged pop of “I’ll Set You Free” and The Byrds meet The Beatles sounds of “Waiting For You” both bring back the jangly, chiming guitars of their earlier days.  The Vinnie Vincent co-write with Vicki, “Make A Play For Her Now” is a beautifully arranged rock track with some rootsy undertones and a driving beat with some great twelve string guitar from Vincent that actually sounds a lot like The Church.  “Some Dreams Come True” and “Crash And Burn” are a couple of fun upbeat rockers, the former having a dance beat with touches of psychedelia and blues and the latter more of a garage rock vibe.  Several tracks find the band exploring new directions.  “Bell Jar,” is an interesting psych pop tune that’s a little dark and faster paced with equally dark lyrics and noises and sound effects.  The gorgeous “Something To Believe In” is moody and atmospheric, bringing to mind artists like Kate Bush, and elements of Zeppelin, most notably in the guitars and stomping drums, are in big, loud rocker “Watching The Sky."   In a salute to her stint with The Runaways, Steele’s “Glitter Years” is a more straight-forward rock track with hints of Bowie-esque glam.

The final disc here contains twenty bonus tracks starting at the very beginning with their debut single (released as The Bangs and recorded by Hoffs and the Peterson sisters) featuring the infectious Sixties garage rock of “Getting Out Of Hand” and the bouncy “Call On Me,” sounding a bit like something The Monkees would have recorded.  Their debut EP is up next and features the addition of Annette Zilinskas on bass.  While their feet are firmly planted in the psychedelia of LA’s Paisley Underground on every song, they also still manage to show plenty of diversity over the five cuts.  There’s the garage rock of “The Real World” and their cover of New Zealand garage rockers The La De Da’s “How Is the Air Up There?,” an insanely fun ragged and raw track made even better with some harmonica, the strong Beatles influence on “I’m In Line,” the punk drive of “Want You” and the power pop of “Mary Street” that’s a strong precursor to where they went on the next album.  The remaining tracks include numerous single mixes, b-sides and extended mixes, including four different versions of their powerhouse cover of Simon and Garfunkel’s “Hazy Shade Of Winter” that was produced by Rick Rubin and was part of the soundtrack for the move Less Than Zero (don’t miss the Shady Haze version, which is the song played backward). Rounded out with a CD booklet that details the band's history, Watching the Sky shows that there was really alot more to the Bangles than you might think if you just knew them from the hits.  

(Cherry Pop)

Libby Ember - I Kill Spiders EP

I Kill Spiders, the debut EP from Montreal's Libby Ember is an outstanding collection of four songs that walk the line between atmospheric dream pop and folk-tinged indie pop.  They are full of captivating melodies and are highlighted by her warm, expressive vocals.  Her lyrics are smart, and often introspective and personal, tackling things like the little decisions we make that make up who we are (“I Kill Spiders”), dealing with a failed secret relationship (“Alibi”) and the self-doubts and mind games of young love (“Fortune Cookies”).  Lines like “Could it be true that all of this is happening cause I kill spiders in my room” and "Just tell me that I’m annoying just so I’d know for sure that I can stop looking for signs in the fortune cookies I buy at the store” really show the creativity of her lyrics.  I've had this EP on repeat quite frequently and really look forward to hearing more.  

(Libby Ember)