It's been a year of Blogarrhea and the words still pour out of me fast. Labels are getting hip: my mailbox has been stuffed to overflowing with music from around the world: Israel, Germany, Austria, Japan, Brazil, Canada, England and the U.S. That's a lot of listening and my vow to hear everything in its entirety has yet to be rescinded. Obviously, one cannot write about it all but here's the best of the rest.
Of The Tree by Toronto's Autobahn (self-released) stands out because-with the help of electric bassist/composer/producer Rich Brown-takes its piano/bass/horn premise and doubles it on both composed pieces and improvisations. Thus, through the magic of overdub, 18 months in the making, the 12 tracks achieve a substantial "trio-times-two" intensity that doubles the pleasure.
Canadian Al Lerman's self-released Slow Burn has the singer/songwriter/guitarist/harmonica player rocking out on 11 originals and one oldtime 1930s blues cover "Kokomo" (no, not the Beach Boys song). From his humorous treatise on aging ("It Takes Me All Night Long") and a story-song about an infamous Ontario bank robbery ("Bad Luck Blues") to his decidedly swamp-rock "Tattoo Like You," Lerman sounds poised and confident on this, his third, yet when he wants to really rock it, he can play as if his hair is on fire.
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