#3: The Bad Plus>Prog>Not so full of sound and fury

Artist : The Bad Plus
Album : Prog (4th Domestic LP)
Release : 05.08.07
Year Founded: 2003
Label Name : Heads Up International
Catalog # : 3125
Packaging Type : Single-Disc Jewel Case
Members : Reid Anderson, Ethan Iverson, David King
Runtime : 1:04:46
Area Tour Dates : None at time of publication
Sound Season : Winter
iTunes Worthy Tracks : Tom Sawyer, 1980 World Champion
Sounds Like : Medeski Martin & Wood Friday Afternoon in the Universe
Rating : B-




I'm not at all sure what The Bad Plus were going for when they decided to call their new album Prog. "Prog" has a lot of connotation and means many things to many people, but the closest the band comes to that genre of music is their cover of Rush's "Tom Sawyer." The most accurate name they could have given the album is "Tame."

Known for their raucous original compositions and deconstructionist renditions of well-known tunes that other jazz trios would never touch like Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" or Black Sabbath's "Iron Man," Prog is really missing the impact that the band usually is able to infuse into a genre typically rife with soft, unchallenging elevator-ready schlock.

The really great thing about this band has always been that they were heavy. Their dynamic range was giant — that is to say, they would go from really soft passages to absolute eruptions of discordancy, rhythm, and power. But what the listener ends up with this time around is a very "normal" jazz record that contains elements that would be familiar to those acquainted with past records, such as Give, but little of the furor.

The band-penned songs are either slow to develop or spend too long on a particular phrasing. "Physical Cities," for instance, contains a minute and a half passage of syncopated stabbing in unison, which is as obnoxious as it is impressive (I can imagine this song being incredible live, but it stumbles as an album track).

The remaining covers on the album (Tears for Fears' "Everybody Wants to Rule the World," David Bowie's "Life on Mars," and Burt Bacharach's "This Guy's in Love with You") don't even come near to toeing the prog line in their original form and The Bad Plus' interpretations of the songs end up being very nearly straight-ahead covers, with some meandering solos or protracted introductions thrown in to shake things up slightly.

The Bad Plus are without doubt one of the best contemporary jazz outfits playing today, but Prog just didn't excite me the way I hoped it would.

#2: Paul Duncan>Above the Trees>Gorgeousity isn't a word, right?

Artist : Paul Duncan
Album : Above the Trees (3rd Domestic LP)
Release : 05.01.07
Year Founded: 2001
Label Name : Hometapes
Catalog # : 017
Packaging Type : Single-Disc Digipak
Members : Chris Bear. Josh Berman, Ken Champion, Tim Daisy, David Daniell, Adam Heathcott, Fred Lonberg-Holm, NathanLepine, Doug McCombs, Joe Stickney, Jess Stover, Nate Swanson, Adam Wills
Runtime :41:30
Area Tour Dates : None
Sound Season : Summer
iTunes Worthy Tracks : Red Eagle, The Fire, The Lake Pt. 2, Country Witch, High In the Morning
Sounds Like : Andrew Bird Weather Systems
Rating : A

As the album art for this record indicates, there is a bucolic serenity to Above the Trees that immediaely captures and captivates. Which would make Paul Duncan a breath of fresh air so to speak.

His plaintive vocals are equally familiar and mysterious right at the outset. The pedal steel yawns. Snare drums flit across the landscape of the song like a butterfly through the tall grasses. Duncan's voice is a campfire smoldering in the morning light. And the lyrics, well — consider this from "The Lake Pt. 2:"

Down by the lake--the thunder booms and clouds cascade
Grass overflows--the water rises through your toes
You fit this place--the way you breathe--your hair--your face
You are a ghost--standing still in opaque clothes

Like all great art, the record and all of its elements are kept in a delicate balance between darkness and light. Spoiler warning: light wins out on this one. There's just too much love and warmth pulsing through Above the Trees' beautiful veins for it not to.

I have no idea who Paul Duncan is. I've never heard his other albums, I've never seen his name in anyone's liner notes. And yet, some may recognize the album's major players from other distinguished acts such as Jim O'Rourke (Champion, Lonberg-Holm) and Tortoise (McCombs). Frankly, with friends like these, who needs notoriety?

Although, if Paul Duncan isn't a next big thing in indie-folk, I'll eat a Devandra Banhart record (it'd be better than listening to one).

Again drawing conclusions from the album art, one gets the sense that in listening to Above the Trees he is witnessing something stunning and memorable because of (or in spite of) its fleeting nature. Like even a quick glimpse into the world which we have by our own accord distanced ourselves from is something to be cherished — and truly a bittersweet moment worthy of chasing again and again.

#1: The Sea and Cake>Everybody>An upturn on the downslope?

Artist : The Sea and Cake
Album : Everybody (7th Domestic LP)
Release : 05.08.07
Year Founded: 1994
Label Name : Thrill Jockey
Catalog # : 186
Packaging Type : Single-Disc Digipak
Members : Eric Claridge, John McEntire, Sam Prekop, Archer Prewitt
Runtime : 36:32
Area Tour Dates : 06.05.07 @ Paradise, Boston
Sound Season : Summer
iTunes Worthy Tracks : Crossing Line, Exact to Me, Left On
Sounds Like : Sam Prekop Who's Your New Professor
Rating : B



If ever The Sea and Cake put out an "it'll-grow-on-you" album, this is it.

As much as I hate to admit it, I don’t know that I ever won’t be disappointed by their future albums. My expectations are too high and they've grown too mature and sophisticated (but not too sophisticated). They have developed a knack for smooth and balmy indie soft rock, which — in its own right (if there is such a thing) — is enjoyable and well presented and crafted with all capability.

But, honestly, with every new release, I'm always hoping for a return to form à la Nassau, when everything was brash and raw and really propelled. For instance, I remember listening to Nassau for the first time and being like, "Geez, what the hell is this guy doing yelling like this," and now it has just become a signature style of the band — another part of their sound palette that just kind of gets placed into the song instead of casually tossed in when the energy of the song dictates. Additionally, except for a few choice moments, John McEntire's drumming on this record is really toned down despite not being behind the boards as he usually has been. Eric Claridge's bass isn't so heavily depended upon as it once was either, which is a real let down when you consider the genius of his performances on The Fawn.

Let's just say that albums pre The Fawn made me want to get up early, take a brisk walk and maybe not come back. Albums post The Fawn make me want to lay back in a hammock and watch the birds. You get the point.

All I really want is the true rock record that I know this band can deliver.

Don't get me wrong, there's some really great moments on this record, but they're easy to miss and quick to fade. Regardless, Everybody is the strongest of their last three albums, but only marginally more rocking than Oui and One Bedroom, contrary to what Thrill Jockey would have you think. And, yes, "Exact to Me" and "Crossing Line" are two of the coolest and groove-laden songs they’ve written over that same span, but they aren’t the triumphant return that I’ve been crossing my fingers for.

The Sea and Cake is a band that relies on nuance and subtlety and I wouldn't ever expect them to do anything too heavy-handed. And I'm completely aware it is unfair to fault a band for making a good record just because I long for a version of the band that I fell in love with more than 10 years ago. But until the time that they abandon some of their grown-up restraint, they're being too easy on themselves and their audience.