GoodSound! "Music" Archives

GoodSound! "Music" Archives

Published September 1, 2001

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Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros: Global A-Go Go
Hellcat Records 80440-2

Musical Performance
Recording Quality
Overall Enjoyment

Joe Strummer may be nearing 50, but the former The Clash frontman and punk-rock icon certainly isn’t ready to start using his vocal cords to yell "bingo" in the old-rockers' home. In fact, Global A-Go Go is so good that it may signal a new career start and bring him a new legion of fans (and won’t young Green Day fans be shocked when they find out their favorite band is simply ripping off a 25-year-old sound!). The opening track "Johnny Appleseed" will appease diehard Clash fans with a delivery that would fit right into any of the band’s first three albums. But this isn’t a middle-aged man sitting on his Twin Reverb trying to make money from his past accomplishments. Strummer and his band deliver an 11-song CD that’s a diverse blend of musical styles including rock, pop, reggae, and even a touch of western. Recording quality is precise and detailed. Sprawling, ambitious, and surprisingly fresh. Who says you can’t teach old dogs?

Sarah Slean: Sarah Slean
Wea/Atlantic 2 83502

Musical Performance
Recording Quality
Overall Enjoyment

On her self-titled big-label release, the Canadian-born, classically trained pianist Sarah Slean delivers a tight, refreshing seven-song pop/rock CD that signals the emergence of a bright new talent. She’s already had some underground success, and four of the tracks here are from her previous independent CD releases, Universe and Blue Parade. The three others are new. Given her piano-out-front style and unique vocals, some listeners have compared her to Tori Amos. If anything, the expansive pop arrangements on four of the tracks -- "Eliot," "Book Smart, Street Stupid," "Sweet Ones," and "Me & Jerome" -- remind me of Aimee Mann’s work on the Magnolia soundtrack. Nevertheless, this isn’t a me-too artist -- her songs possess a distinct sound all her own. Recording quality varies, and there's a large amount of tape hiss, but overall, it's still quite good. This is a must-have release for those, like me, who love eccentric piano-playing female vocalists.

Chopin – Sonata No.3, Op.58 in B Minor; Liszt – Piano Sonata in B Minor
Mapleshade 07382

Musical Performance
Recording Quality
Overall Enjoyment

Mapleshade's first classical recording is special. It features a prize-winning performer, Alan Gampel (Naumburg International Piano Competition, 1991; Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition Chopin Prize, 1995), playing music by two of the world's greatest romantic piano composers on a unique Fazioli Model 278 concert grand. By eschewing overdubs, compression limiters and multi-miking, Mapleshade has created an uncompromised musical experience. Add interpretations that prompted Max Wilcox, Arthur Rubinstein's producer (and a man who should know) to call Gampel's Liszt one of the three or four best performances on record -- and you have a must-own for everyone's solo piano collection.

Vassilis Saleas: Orama – Vassilis Saleas plays Vangelis
FM 390

Musical Performance
Recording Quality
Overall Enjoyment

Vassilis Saleas is one of contemporary Greece's most famous clarinetists. Vangelis Papathanassiou is the celebrated composer of many film soundtracks -- including Blade Runner, Antarctica, Opera Sauvage and The Bounty -- and a major, although reclusive, star of the New Age/Adult Contemporary scene. On Orama, Saleas revisits some of Vangelis' most popular melodies in new arrangements which replace synthesizers with acoustic instruments. Saleas' majestic melodic explorations, not to mention his breathy, heavily vibrato'ed timbre, inject new depth, passion and mystery into these pieces. Some collaborations work, others don't -- this one succeeds precisely because the performer's idiomatic style melds perfectly with the brooding East/West flavors that imbue Vangelis' work.

Shafqat Ali Khan: Shafqat Ali Khan
WorldClass 11310-2

Musical Performance
Recording Quality
Overall Enjoyment

This young singer's musical heritage traces back to the Mogul courts of 16^th century India. His father and uncle, Salamat and Nazakat Ali Kahn, were two of the most famous classical Indian singers of this century. On his self-titled US debut, Shafqat combines elements of electronica and trance with the sinuous and serpentine melodies of his Punjabi homeland. Stylistically very different from Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's high-energy scatting and call-and-response ensemble trading, this music is more meditative and contemporary in character. It exploits far-Eastern melodic progressions in a westernized context of chordal arrangements -- which are utterly alien to traditional Indian music, which is focused on melody and rhythm to the exclusion of harmonies. In its spirit of experimentation, the album mirrors Ali Akbar Khan's crossover efforts. It's accomplished and beautifully crafted -- a stunning first album by a very promising new artist.

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