Tokyo Rosenthal: Ghosts

There's a suitably spooky cover photo for this recent album by 'Tokyo' Rosenthal; his head covered by a boxer's hood, the picture has been given a mottled treatment that makes him look like a statue in a graveyard about to come to life - or possibly a living person in the process of being turned to stone. Ghostly, indeed. Toke's songs are ghosts, too. Clearly notes to himself about people, relationships, moods and events in his life, they deal with recognisably 'real' things but resist being pinned down to specifics and shimmer away from you just at the moment you think you've grasped them. Not a bad thing, of course, because it gives the listener scope to insert his or her own experiences into the song.

Musically, this is a pretty diverse collection; in a way it reminded me of Clive Gregson's approach. Both men are songwriters first and foremost and are prepared to return to rock and roll or embrace a 'folk' sound or whatever seems appropriate as the mood takes them. On Ghosts, three or four different instruments are employed to provide the key sound in different arrangements. There's Lisa Lacheau's flute on two songs that introduces echoes of some woodland arcadia; there's Bobby Britt's spirited fiddle playing, pitched somewhere between central European folk style and Scarlet Rivera in Dylan's Desire period. Quite fantastic, really and providing the urgency that absolutely makes this album's stand-out song, Mister, Tell Me 'Bout The Great Depression. There's a sombre, reflective cello counterbalanced by delicate playing on banjo and mandolin on 'House on the River' and then, finally, there's the excellent Al Perkins playing pedal steel on three songs to give a definitively 'country' tone. And Then You Sang is one of these and here Toke really does go for the full country sound with that big resonating guitar sound in the middle eight and a pleasingly mellow laid-back arrangement.

Mister, Tell Me 'Bout The Great Depression is a very good song indeed; wrapping up this whole decade of bad wars and bad economics in one short song, he pretty much nails the whole shebang as seen from the level of the ordinary Joe, and does it in the style of one of those songs that seem to be the voice of a whole layer of society, not just one man. It's a song of these times for all time and big thanks to him for writing it.
That's a very immediate song, but there's lots of slowly discovered pleasures to be had from Ghosts; he's a thoughtful songwriter with an interseting way of going about things.

John Davy

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'The ****'s Daughter' will be two years old by the time Janette Geri visits Britain again this spring but, along with a companion album of traditional and modern folk song covers ('Telling Tales'), this is the most recent recorded work available. Well, she's clearly quite a remarkable performer; self-produced and largely self-played, this is the work of someone who is really serious about her music, serious in the same way that Emmylou is serious: that is, absolutely determined to make her music as beautiful as possible.

Emmylou is not her template, however. Instead it is 70's era Joni Mitchell and John Martyn that seem to be source material for Janette's approach. This is jazz-tinged singer-songwriter territory and very beautifully done, too. She has a way with her acoustic guitar of weaving a web of sound - very much in John Martyn style - and when her opening line to the song High Country paraphrases John Martyn's opening lines to Over The Hill you appreciate that she's proud to acknowledge her heroes. This ability to create a soundscape from very sparse playing is a highlight of the final track, Oh Love, which is dedicated to her mother. This is music to close your eyes for; wistful, contemplative and dreamy, it's a six minute meditation that will carry you out of yourself and leave you feeling very calmed.

High Country has more attack about it, driven along by some punchy accordion playing whilst Rag and Bone Dream surprises by dissolving into a very William Orbit/Beth Orton drum and piano rhythm. Whether this sounds inadvisedly old hat I couldn't tell you, but I do like it and it certainly fits the song - life reduced to breathing in,out - in,out until the spirit revives and real life can begin again. The nine songs here are mature work, written in the wake of a retreat to the hills to find physical and emotional space; they absolutely couldn't be written by a twenty year old but should find some resonance with mid-lifers who recognise that need to step back, pause and take stock from time to time.

It's a pretty classy record, this '****'s Daughter', music that's been put together with care and that deserves attentive listening. John Davy






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www.nocomebacks.co.uk
I fully expected to hate this: two ageing Brits in cowboy hats, one ageing Texan whose star has long faded, a bunch of singing cowboy songs and a drum machine. What can go right?
I mean, I've been to one of those country shows where people turn up in their rhinestone jackets and cowboy hats and I vowed to run a mile if I ever felt myself slipping in that direction. I like my cheese on toast, not on the stage. So I guess this is one of those things that you know instantly is a guilty pleasure because I confess I listen to this with as much a grin as a grimace. After all, we all know all these songs and when they're performed with as much gusto and enthusiasm as they are here then you can't help but bend before the wind they make. Some of these songs are real favourites of mine: Tumbling Tumbleweeds (which Mike Nesmith sold me when I was but a lad), Wayward Wind (good enough for Neil Yong, good enough for me), Don't Fence Me In and Ghost Riders in the Sky are all songs I'd give a listen to anytime and they're all delivered here with a great dollop of cheesy sincerity. Tina Dean helps out on the singing which sweetens the aroma of all these ageing cowboys but really all I can say is that next time you've got some long list of household chores, chuck this on the stereo, turn it up loud and lose yourself in some ludicrously Technicolor fantasy world.
John Davy

FSR Interview Here





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http://www.myspace.com/johnsieger
John Sieger, from Milwaukee, has been through several incarnations as musician and band leader and along the way has produced several albums under his own name. His previous offering, 'The Shaming of the True', was the first time I'd come across him and didn't really set my world on fire, to be honest - too mannered in his songwriting style for my taste, really. 'Live at Bob's', though, is altogether more listenable. Lovingly recorded at a house concert, it has all the intimate atmosphere of music being made in the moment that such a recording should have.

This was actually the second attempt at a live recording so full marks for dedication to the cause of quality control. I still have problems with his songwriting sometimes: he's too fond of rather strained puns for my liking. He can be direct, though and When My Angel Smiles, for example, is a rather beautiful song and a fair indication of why several of his songs have been picked up by high profile artists over the years.

The thing that gives this album something special though is the easy going musicality of the players; John's brother Mike - with whom he's played for ever and a day - is on bass and the very fine Bill Dwyer contributes electric guitar. It's a pretty low-key sound that they're making but there's room for some very fine breaks, slightly jazzy in tone at times and the sound of three guitarists working so effortlessly together is pretty fine. It reminds me of the records a guitarist friend of mine sends my way by the likes of Peter Rowan and Norman Blake - not exactly high on hit making possibilities but very high on amiability and musicality. Live at Bob's is just such a gentle pleasure.
John Davy

Here is John in an earlier oncarnation with Ther Subcontinentals





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