Making a good tribute is not an easy thing to do. You can have the best musicians the best songs but rarely do things fall together so nicely. On Map To The Treasure things came together perfectly and I think several things contributed to that.
First, you can find jazz, country and rock musicians and singers all collaborating together which could potentially be a bit chaotic, but one important thing to have in mind – this is a tribute to Laura Nyro – you have to be chaotic.
Second, obviously everyone involved, especially the boss of this project Billy Childs, is deeply in love with the music of Laura Nyro.
Third, the whole record is a very curious combination of emotional and rational. The songs and Laura’s musical approach wasn’t just presented as a replay, but her style and arrangements are closely studied and built upon.
And forth, the record is a strange combination of different musical taste. The musicians behind this record walk a thin line of delicious madness and saccharine which make the repeated listening an excellent pleasure. Just hear Rickie Lee Jones belting out some really out of the left field vocals on Been on a Train, and compare it to a more conventional approach taken by Dianne Reeves and Alison Krauss on this record, and you will know what I’m talking about.
Every musical outlet out there has a year-end list. Little Lighthouse is not an exception, although the order should be understood conditionally. It does not rely on objective measurements, it simply compiles feeling towards albums that preoccupied my attention through 2014. Number one is Sweet Apple. Yours truly marginally participated in making of that record, and perhaps there’s a strong bias towards it for me. You would be right about that. But this particular record is a fun collection of songs without much pretension. What more can you ask from an LP? OBN IIIs and Liquor Store are great new bands which made ambitiously sounding records that rock. They even bring out a long forgotten idiom of hard rock, back into the modern rock’n’roll dictionary and it made me realize how much that sound is missed in the music world today. Together with some important reissues, these two albums mark the revival of that lost musical genre. Those two records are so rich with sounds and ideas that live performances of these two bands must be stripped down to a skeleton. Outragous Cherry has an astonishing return, with one of their best records ever. First Base and Strungs go back to the basic three chords and short songs – a formula that oh so often works great. Lydia Lunch calls out the ghost of Jeffrey Lee Pierce like no other artist before. Doug Gillard attempted to make a good easy listening record and ended up with a timeless masterpiece which will be remembered well in his opus. Billy Childs makes a loving tribute to Laura Nyro which borders madness and saccharine. Who’d have thought those two “lands” share a border? Kelley Mickwee and Haden Triplets show interesting ways to keep bluegrass alive and it trips my mind how most folks out there think negatively of this wonderful Haden Triplets record. Bonnie Prince Billy takes some old songs and brings in a new life to them with an incredibly focused interpretation… and so on. All the best in 2015, actually 2014 wasn’t that bad musically as it may appear on the surface.
Today we have John Schooley – a one-man-band with the new LP. Lars Cleveman is a singer-songwriter from Sweden who we introduce today with the Zeppelin standard The Gallow’s Pole. We also introduce Becca Stevenson, who appeared on the great new Billy Childs tribute to Laura Nyro. For those who are into quality reissues – there are two interesting compilation from the Numero group. Cavern Sound is a bit more on the psychedelic side and chronicles a Missouri rock scene from the late sixties. Warfaring Strangers chronicles the American underground hard rock scene. Live in Cleveland segments brings Shawn Colvin with her cover of Gnarls Barkley’s Crazy.
It’s a heavy show today. We start off with OBN III’s from Austin TX, lead by Orville Bateman Neeley III. Their new album Third Time To Harm, which is loud add diverse love letter to rock’n’roll. Speaking about rocking, one of the strongest bands in Yugoslavia was The Spoons from Pula. Their singer Bruno Subiotto continued his career as a singer in numerous bands, and also as an actor. His new band is called Roger N. Out which we feature in today’s show. San Pedro Slim is also a new name in our show. He comes from San Pedro, sings the blues and plays a mean harmonica. Chuck Prophet’s new single is also featured today. It’s a heavy show today, but we finish with an incredible, soft new arrangement of Laura Nyro’s Been On A Train. This features Rickie Lee Jones on vocals and will be out on the upcoming Billy Child’s record Reimagining Laura Nyro.