Reviews roundup – Motorhead vs. Willa vs. Concordea vs. Tom Russell

Reviews roundup – Motorhead vs. Willa vs. Concordea vs. Tom Russell

MOTORHEAD
Under Cover
Silver Lining

What do you do when your leader is gone? After all, there are still bills to pay. Well you can form a new band and hope for the best (Phil Campbell) or you can join an old one (Mikkey Dee and the Scorpions). Oh and you can start bunging out albums of old material in a new guse.

And that’s what “Under Cover” is. Old tunes in a new suit of clothes. With the exception of a terrible demo version of ‘Rockaway Beach’ and a run through the David Bowie tune ‘Heroes’, this album rounds up tunes which originally appeared on tribute albums over the years as well as a few tunes from actual Motorhead albums (‘God Save The Queen’, Cat Scratch Fever’, ‘Sympathy For The Devil’ etc).

I’m not saying it’s bad because it’s not. Especially the older stuff before the Lemmy voice started to go. But bar the two songs Motorhead completists will have the likes of ‘Breaking the Law’ and ‘Shoot ‘Em Down’ already so they’re being asked to pony up full price for very little while part timers will stick to the budget best of.

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WILLA
Better Days
Building Records

Willa Vincitore has been on the blues scene in the New York area for quite some time as the vocalist in the Chris O’Leary band but now she’s decided to step out on her own with an album of all original material.

And it was well worth it as it’s a really enjoyable release. She’s working in that whole Bonnie Raitt / Etta Britt world where blues and soul rub up against each other in close harmony. She’s certainly a fine singer and has put together a fine studio band to help her out in the shape of Lee Falco on drums, Brandon Morrison on bass, Chris Vitarello on guitars, Pete Hop on acoustic guitar, Scott Milici on keys, the aforementioned Chris O’Leary on harp, and a horn section of Jay Collins and Reggie Pittman. They work well together and it makes for a real treat, especially when they go for that sixties Stax / Muscle Shoals sound as they do on the likes of “Hooked On You”.

She can get close and personal but it’s much more fun when she lets her hair down on the likes of “Mama Needs Some Company”. It may be her first solo set but if there is any justice it shouldn’t be her last.

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CONCORDEA
Over Wide Spaces
independent

To Russia for some progressive power metal. To Ekaterinburg, to be precise and to a band formed formed in 2012. They put out an EP a few years back but this is their debut album proper and it’s really rather good.

Which makes it a shame that they don’t seem to be a proper band at present with a guest vocalist and a guest bass player augmenting the duo of Daria Piankova on guitars and Aleksei Turetckov on keyboards. It’s made all the trickier by the fact that their vocalist is based in Italy! Which should make rehearsals interesting. Because they’ve certainly got the music and arrangements down pat.

There are some great keyboards and harmonies on the likes of “Wings’ Motion” and the combination of heavy guitars and lighter keyboards on “Listen to the Snow” is just great. There are a few moments where their ambition outweighs their abilities but that’s actually a good thing. After all, you should be constantly striving for more if you’re a musician. Fingers crossed they can get a line up sorted out because this deserves some wider attention.shed joy they have for their music, because it shines through brightly.

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TOM RUSSELL
Folk Hotel
Proper

Tom Russell, eh. That always confuses me because up here in the frozen wastelands, Tom Russell is someone altogether different. The last time I encountered this one he was in the company of a 32 piece Norwegian Wind Ensemble. Thankfully, they’re not around this time.

But this one is the folky singer / songwriter who has been plying his trade for decades and has had the likes of Johnny Cash recording his songs. And he is a really good songwriter as his songs are full of vivid imagery and imaginings. Of course, he can’t sing for toffee but apparently that doesn’t really matter with this style of music.

So songwise there are some real treats with the likes of “Up In The Old Hotel” and “I’ll Never Leave These Old Horses” full of melancholic majesty. The Bob Dylan cover I can live without but unless you’re Manfred Mann’s Earth Band I say that about every Bob Dylan related. If you can get your head around his idiosyncratic singing style and are looking for something rooted in the late sixties then you’ll want to give this a go.

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http://linda.hamilton.muchloved.com/
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