Sunday, August 20, 2006
Sunday, August 20, 2006 'THE PHILADELPHIA YEARS' Daryl Hall & John Oates (Varese Sarabande) Grade: C- Before mining blue-eyed soul gold with "Sara Smile," and long before their blow-dried good looks were all over MTV, Daryl Hall and John Oates were just another upstart Philly act searching for an identity. This collection of early demos circa 1968-71 (most cut at Sigma Sound) shows there were bumps on the road to "She's Gone" and "Maneater." The inclusion of awkward folk ballads such as Hall's tale of a woodsman, "I Ain't Afraid of the Cold," might explain why the disc lacks the duo's endorsement. Growing pains notwithstanding, there's enough here to pique the interest of hardcore fans. In particular, there is the handful of tracks that ended up on their debut, "Whole Oates," highlighted by a sparse "Fall in Philadelphia," stripped down to Hall's developing tenor, Oates' signature high harmony vocal, and electric piano. — Patrick Berkery, Philadelphia Inquirer 'ANOTHER FINE DAY' Golden Smog (Lost Highway) Grade: C- When last heard from eight years ago, Golden Smog was an alt-country supergroup, a diversion from the band members' main gigs in the Jayhawks, Soul Asylum and Wilco. "Another Fine Day" is a different animal: Aside from a few acoustic tracks featuring Jeff Tweedy, it's a psychedelic/power pop album that relies more on colorful feedback and dense electric guitars than on alt-country strum and twang. Gary Louris is the only constant among the 15 tracks, although fellow Jayhawks Kraig Johnson and Marc Perlman and Soul Asylum's Dan Murphy also contribute songs; Tweedy is relegated to cameos and a pair of co-writes. Louris and company are at their best when they're at their loosest, on tracks like the zippy "Hurricane" or the sunny "5-22-02." "Fine Day" recalls the Jayhawks' "Sound of Lies" or Wilco's "Summerteeth," but it's less focused and less ambitious. — Steve Klinge, Philadelphia Inquirer 'PORT OF MIAMI' Rick Ross (Def Jam) Grade: C It took time for mainstream ears to catch up to the crunchy hip-hop innovations and saucy rap solicitations of the South. But the floodgates opened, and from Houston to Savannah, deliciously dark screeds and bumpy, bassy grooves rained down like manna, courtesy of its most surefire vets. No one's more vet than Rick Ross. After holding back the vividly described tears (think Jay Z, but mumbled) and the coke-trade tremors for 12 years, this third of Florida's Slip-N-Slide crew stirred his brand of summer anthem with the noir storytelling and grind-house orchestration of "Hustlin'." Ross' look-see at cooked-rock night crawlers and haute couture ballers doesn't stop at that song. Like something by a more luxurious Young Jeezy, tweaked druggy doom gets dressed up more dramatically than "Miami Vice" on the Jazzy Phae-produced honker "For Da Low" and the uneasily humorous "White House." But Ross, like any forlorn baddie through the bluesiest lament, looks to God and goodly destiny ("Prayer") for the hope beyond the evil. Solidly told and solidly sold, this. — A.D. Amorosi, Philadelphia Inquirer 'THE DEVIL YOU KNOW' Todd Snider (New Door/Ume) Grade: B- On "Thin Wild Mercury," Todd Snider relates a 1965 incident in which Bob Dylan supposedly threw Phil Ochs out of his car for criticizing a new Dylan song and then delivered this put-down: "Phil, you're not a writer, you're a journalist." A throwback in the best sense, this Nashville-based troubadour would have fit right in with those guys back in those heady days — it's no wonder he used to record for John Prine's label, or has written with honky-tonk savant Billy Joe Shaver. Snider does his share of satirical topical material — like this new album's "You Got Away With It (A Tale of Two Fraternity Brothers)," a tweaking of the commander in chief — but there's still no doubt he's more writer than journalist. His characters are often down on their luck but always indelible, and, like the laborer who turns the tables on his boss in "Looking for a Job," possessed of a rebel spirit and native intelligence. As he ranges from talking blues to rave-up rockers, Snider mixes singular wit and heart with the shaggy charm of someone who's a real character himself. — Nick Cristiano, Philadelphia Inquirer 'TURNED TO BLUE' Nancy Wilson (MCG Jazz/Telarc) Grade: C Singer Nancy Wilson is still suave after all these years. The diva, who early in her career became a heavyweight jazz chanteuse with George Shearing and Cannonball Adderley before branching out into R&B and pop, hits the sweet spot of her repertoire on this sumptuous, quasi-big band recording. The idea is to pair her with a big soloist on each tune, much as she did on 2004's "R.S.V.P. (Rare Songs, Very Personal)." The format finds her singing a svelte "Taking a Chance on Love" with tenor saxophonist James Moody that still packs some ardency. The singing sounds pretty amazing for a singer closing in on 70. Sometimes singers get cleaned up in the digital studio. There's no evidence that's happening here, and maybe Wilson has been living right. Her take of the pop-sounding "Just Once" with bassist John Clayton and vibraphonist Dave Samuels conveys plenty of breathy longing, while "I'll Be Seeing You" is a virtuoso treatment of how to mix it up with strings and accordionist Vito DiSalvo. Tenor saxophonist and Cheltenham homeboy Andy Snitzer gives a restrained and yet impassioned solo on "Old Folks." Other luminaries to share Wilson's aura are flutist Hubert Laws, pianist Billy Taylor, tenor saxophonist Bob Mintzer, and tenor saxophonist and fab Philadelphian Jimmy Heath. While the set is a bit florid at times, everyone exudes that high-end, supper-club glow that makes you think Philly's famed and defunct Showboat is back in lights. — Karl Stark, Philadelphia Inquirer