Reviews roundup – Deep Purple vs. Janiva Magness vs. Break The Senses vs. Left With Pictures vs Derian Cross
DEEP PURPLE
Long Beach 1976
earMusic
“On The Wings Of A Russian Foxbat”, “King Biscuit Flower Hour”, the butchered “Extended Versions”, 2009’s “Live At Long Beach 1976”. And now “Long Beach 1976”. How shall I name thee. Which means I’ve got a lot of copies of this concert from Deep Purple Mark IV.
If you’re counting this is exactly the same as the 2009 set, complete with the Springfield bonus tracks. So unless you want a new cover, which thematically matches the other recent reissues, there isn’t much point. Now, I loved “Come Taste The Band”, so crave anything from their brief lifetime, but no matter how many times you clean up the tapes, you can’t disguise the fact that Coverdale was sodes up on Lemsip and Jakemans lozenges the night this was recorded. So I actually prefer the bonus tracks, even though they sound muddier, just because he was in better voice.
On the plus side, Bolin isn’t nursing a dodgy arm as he was on “Last Concert In Japan”, so anyone who doubts his ability should listen in amazement. However, even a diehard Coverdale / Hughes fan like me struggles with what they did to the Mark II material. Musically they make up for it on the CTTB songs, and ‘Lady Luck’, ‘Love Child’ and ‘This Time Around’ show what could have been. We won’t mention ‘Gettin’ Tighter’, a great song stretched here well beyond itself natural lifespan.
Vocals aside, this is worth listening, but not if you have all the titles listed above.
JANIVA MAGNESS
Love Wins Again
Blue Elan
The ongoing collaboration between Janiva Magness and producer Dave Darling (Brian Setzer, Meredith Brooks, Dan Hicks, John Waite) continues in fine form with her latest “Love Wins Again” offering.
It’s the same mixture of blues, soul, folk and country, all blended together into a fine rootsy stew, that serves to show off her ever powerful vocals, and some really strong songwriting from Mr Darling and his partners. Some of the songs (and usually the best ones) have an earthy, old time R&B feel to them. Ms Magness can handle any tempo thrown at her, and the musicians involved are all at the top of their game.
It’s enjoybale from top to bottom, with the title track, ‘Doorway’ and ‘Your House Is Burnin’ currently top of my pops. The latter, especially, just rips it up with some honkin’ horns and a great delivery. It’s all new material bar a run through of ‘Long As I Can See The Light’ from the Creedence Clearwater Revival songbook, and wherever you land, you’re in for a treat.
BREAK THE SENSES
Perfect Nature
Rock CD Records
Off to Spain now, for some indie post grunge, courtesy of Break The Senses.
As regular visitors will know, I have litle truck for the wailings of the Foo Fighters and they many (many) bands they’ve spawned. But I do know some good musicians when I hear them, so if eighties indie amped up through grunge sounds like your sort of thing, then you should pay some attention to this lot.
They’ve won a good few Spanish music competitions on their way to this, and there are some strong vocals to accompany the indie goings on. They come from Ana Rocio Garcia, who along with his female compatriots Priscilla Rey and Marcelino de la Torre can certainly raise a ruckus.
There is one moment of hope for me here, which comes with the lengthy ‘Glorious’, which sees them exploring some interesting new places. More like that, please.
LEFT WITH PICTURES
Afterlife
Organ Grinder Records
Time to calm down a bit now with some orchestral pop from Left With Pictures. That’s what they call themselves, and I’m not really going to argue with it.
Turns out they’ve bene on the go since 2005, bunged out a couple of albums back in the day, but they’ve been off the scene since “In Time” in 2011. Tom Walker, Toby Knowles and Stuart Barter (for it is they) mix up some gentle pop tunes with a few prog-lite swooshes in an interesting blend of electronica and acoustic sounds.
Granted, some of it goes right over my poor white trash head, but tunes like ‘Terra Firma’ have a way of inveigling themselves in your head. It’s all very laid back and late night, but if you like to be challenged, without being shouted at, give them a whirl.
http://leftwithpictures.com/afterlife/
DERIAN CROSS
One
Rock CD Records
Finally for today, we’re off to the American colonies to listen to some guitar instrumentals, courtesy of Derian Cross.
And he can certainly play the guitar as he lays down his marker in a world inhabited by the likes of Steve Vai and Joe Satriani. Now, don’t get too excited because he’s not there yet, but there is some compositional skills in there, to go along with his ability to widdle on demand.
I know what I like, so it’s when he riffs it up a bit that I get somewhat perky, so ‘Big Boogie Nights’ and ‘On the Road’ appealed to me. However, if you’ve a more sensitive soul, then music like ‘Seven Words’ will float your boat. A wee bit more cash to splash on the production would help, but he’s certainly a guitarist worth hearing.
The Rocker - The Artist Formerly Known As Zeitgeist. TAFKAZ 
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