The January edition of the Local Spins album round-up also features a peek at CDs by Chuck Whiting & The Tip Rail Ramblers, Heavier Than Air Flying Machines and Steven Dobias.
“Curves Ahead” by Grand Rapids’ darlenYa hasn’t officially been released, but has already been nominated for Jammie Awards.
Muddy Waters once sang that it’s so cold the birds can hardly fly. And to think he didn’t even feel the bitter chill of West Michigan’s winter of 2013-14.
Support our coverage of
West Michigan's music scene
Well, nothing warms the soul better than compelling music, so Local Spins presents 2014’s first batch of album reviews.
Lindsay Lou & Joshua Rilko
Time & Luck
Intimacy, tenderness and some jaunty fun. There’s simple joy and a sonically spare aura powering this duo project featuring the front-folks of popular Michigan bluegrass outfit Lindsay Lou & The Flatbellys. While The Flatbellys drench listeners with all-encompassing, rich and peppy full-band romps, the “Time & Luck” duo draws its power from individual instruments and voices that unfold charming musical tales – original and traditional – as if one was sitting in a living room soaking them in, from retro-flavored ditties to gorgeously melancholy ballads. Lindsay Lou’s singularly entrancing voice remains at the forefront in pleasingly restrained fashion on the 12-track album recorded by Jim Roll at Ann Arbor’s Backseat Studios and financed through a Kickstarter project. For fans of the Flatbellys, it’s like listening to a refreshing B-side of the band’s musical personality.
Websites: lindsayloumusic.com, earthworkmusic.com
Upcoming shows: Lindsay Lou & The Flatbellys (currently on a national tour), 8 p.m. March 22, Seven Steps Up in Spring Lake; Time & Luck, 7 p.m. May 23, Lakehouse Concerts in Haslett; Lindsay Lou & The Flatbellys, 8 p.m. June 5, Rockford Brewing Co. in Rockford
John Sanger
John Sanger
If anything confirms John Sanger’s knack for songwriting sparked by personal experiences and dynamic vocals, it’s the tracks “Stop on a Dime” and “Drawing Ever Closer.” Clearly, the Grand Rapids singer-songwriter’s latest self-titled studio album reaps the benefits of years of playing cover songs in bars and restaurants across the region. Sanger has honed his talent for entertaining diverse audiences so skillfully that his original songs seamlessly integrate elements of rock, country, pop, blues, soul, funk … and humor. It’s what fans have come to expect from the rootsy Sanger, and this album – recorded at Joel Ferguson’s Planet Sunday Studios and featuring instrumental backing from Ferguson, Mike Sanger, Bob Tedlock, Nelson Wood, Jeff Moehle, Mike Davis and Marcus Malone – marks his signature effort.
Website: facebook.com/john-sanger
Upcoming show: 2 p.m. Sunday, Last Chance Tavern & Grill, 1132 Burton St. SE, Grand Rapids (CD-release show)
darlenYa
Curves Ahead
After spending time from the Gulf of Mexico to northern Ontario “with side journeys to places like Ireland and Morocco,” and taking a seven-year hiatus from the music business, this nonpareiled singer-songwriter is back with an all-encompassing musical project that will turn some heads. As darlenYa notes, she’s been on the road for half of her life “absorbing.” That makes this album “an arriving for me to where I’ve wanted to be musically for a long time. A new beginning.” If so, it’s quite the engaging start, even if it’s really just the latest of many albums for the singular artist (albeit her first in many years). Now making her home in Grand Rapids, darlenYa knows no bounds in blending a delicious stew of genres into her music: rock, jazz, calypso, samba, folk, you name it. Currently only in limited release (though WYCE-FM has nominated it for Jammie Awards), the 13-track Earthwork Music album boasts no fewer than 25 backing musicians and singers, adding to its eclectic vibe. If as darlenYa suggests in the liner notes of the album recorded at Kalamazoo’s La Luna Recording and Sound that “music is food for the soul,” then this is a real feast.
Websites: facebook.com/pages/DarlenYa, earthworkmusic.com
Chuck Whiting & The Tip Rail Ramblers
Love, Lust, Liquor & Lies
Talk about being “In & Out of Trouble,” as Kalamazoo’s Chuck Whiting croons with his bandmates Nick Lancaster on guitar and Andrew Whiting on bass. The self-proclaimed “weird” honky-tonkin’, country swingin’ Whiting – with special guests Mark Lavengood and Mitch Myers – seems to be in trouble much of the time (mostly with women) and relishes it, judging by songs such as “Girls With Fake Sounding Names,” “Gone for Good Again” and the amusingly risqué “Honeypot.” This 10-ditty project is a rambunctious affair to be sure. As Whiting puts it, “It’s Wrong, But I Don’t Care.” When it comes to lyrical themes, that could be The Tip Rail Ramblers’ motto.
Website: chuckwhiting.bandcamp.com
Upcoming show: 8:30 p.m. Feb. 7 at Webster’s Prime in Kalamazoo
Steven Dobias
Brand New Day
With strong family connections in Grand Rapids, Steven Dobias’ Midwestern roots permeate this album produced and engineered by The Outer Vibe’s Andrew Dornoff (with some mixing help from TOV’s Nick Hosford). From the peppy rock of the opening title track to the lilting balladry of “Harbor Away,” Dobias’ classic rock-driven music shows influences of not only Billy Joel, U2 and Styx, but Simon & Garfunkel, The Carpenters and Jason Mraz. More important, the Knoxville, Tenn., multi-instrumentalist sings about life – and love – in a way that speaks to everyday people.
Website: stevendobias.com
Heavier Than Air Flying Machines
Novikov
Who wouldn’t love these song titles: “Impending Catastrophe Averted,” “Ominous Albatross,” “Soliloquy from the Dyson Sphere,” “Genetically Modified Offspring,” “A Stoic Australopithecine”? Those alone are worth reading again and again … while you’re playing this album by Grand Rapids’ Heavier Than Air Flying Machines with the volume knob at 11. With short bursts of fury, distortion, full-throttled vocals and falsetto charm, these songs are discharged with intense abandon — incredibly compact songs that pack more wallop into two minutes than most bands can manage in a year. It will likely leave some listeners panting for more when it comes to this album recorded at Cold War Studios and released through Friction Records. HTAFM – aka Jeremy Pyne, Jaymes Pyne and Trevor Goldner – has become a West Michigan noise-rock phenomenon with music that hints at the innovativeness of The Pixies and Modest Mouse, but louder. Much louder.
Website: facebook.com/htafm
Email John Sinkevics at jsinkevics@gmail.com.
Copyright 2014, Spins on Music
