How Does Steve Martin and Edie Brickell's Second Album Compare to the First?

— -- intro: This week Steve Martin and Edie Brickell team up for a second album together, G. Love & Special Sauce release a guest-filled disc, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings spread funky holiday cheer, Brian Adams teams up with producer Jeff Lynne, the late J Dilla releases yet another posthumous collection of hip-hop instrumentals, “Saturday Night Live” writer Mike O’Brien drops his debut comedy album and Elbow’s Guy Garvey also steps out on his own. From bluegrass, to hip-hop, to blues, there’s something for just about everyone this week.

quicklist: 1title: Steve Martin & Edie Brickell’s “So Familiar” ****text: On their second set together, Steve Martin and Edie Brickell sound increasingly comfortable working together. Martin, of course, besides his legendary comedic career is also a celebrated banjo player of significant skill and he’s found a fitting partner in Edie Brickell who here delivers one of her best sets since her 1988 breakthrough “Shooting Rubberbands At The Stars.” Somehow Martin and Brickell have found a nice balance between traditional bluegrass sounds and a mellow, modern pop aesthetic.

Will this album set radio alight and give Brickell a hit akin to “What I Am?” Certainly not. The radio landscape in 2015 is painfully narrow landscape, but this album feels delicate and painstakingly crafted. When Brickell and Martin sing in unison on “I Have You,” it is a wonderfully sweet moment, complementing the move seconds later when they tear it up with the lively bluegrass workout, “Another Round.”

In the seventies, Martin’s banjo-playing was essentially an impressive side-show in his comedy act. All these years later, it is impressive that he has really reinvented himself within the worlds of country and bluegrass. It's fitting that he has found such a match in Brickell. Keep in mind, Brickell was the musical guest on “Saturday Night Live” on the classic episode when Martin and Brickell’s then-future-husband Paul Simon welcomed host Tom Hanks into the “Five-Timer’s Club.” If you love bluegrass and love both Martin and Brickell, this album is highly recommended. It is every bit as good as their 2013 offering “Love Has Come For You,” although it is a touch less twangy and more streamlined in its tone. In any case, this album proves that that first collaboration’s success was not a fluke. Here’s to Martin and Brickell’s continued musical partnership.

Focus Tracks:

“So Familiar” This opening title-track sets the mood of the set quite well. It is a warm song, but there’s an underlying ominousness to the track’s bluegrass stomp. That being said, during Martin’s banjo solo, it goes head-first into welcoming, major-key territory.

“Won’t Go Back” With its baritone sax part and its pop-driven, catchy chorus, this is one of the least bluegrass-driven songs on the record, but it wins on sheer appeal. Producer Peter Asher also helps them capture the right tone.

“I Have You” Again, as mentioned above, this is one of the few songs where you can hear Martin singing along with Brickell. This, too finds them removed from their typical bluegrass framework, although Martin does deliver a tender banjo solo.

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quicklist: 2title: G. Love & Special Sauce’s “Love Saves The Day” **1/2text: Believe it or not, “Love Saves The Day” is G. Love’s 11th studio album, delivered 21 years after G. Love & Special Sauce’s debut. That record, with its standouts “Cold Beverage,” “Blues Music” and “Baby’s Got Sauce” is still their best offering to date although G. Love’s 2004 solo effort, “The Hustle” had some surprising momentum.

This record tries really hard, mostly by packing in high-profile guests. G. Love finds a like-minded soul with Citizen Cope, who appears on “Muse.” He aims for credibility by getting Los Lobos’ David Hidalgo on the title track and Lucinda Williams on the brief blues, Lead Belly rave-up, “New York City.” This record is OK in spots, but mostly this feels like tired, formulaic blues retreads. And one wonders still if G. Love (real name Garrett Dutton) is still an appropriate voice to carry on the old-school blues tradition. Some may accuse him of cultural misappropriation. It has always been a concern with his music.

The worst part is G. Love’s vocal delivery which still sounds like an old blues caricature. Keep in mind, that accent that G. Love sings in is a completely put-on pose. When you see him interviewed, it is a shock that he doesn’t speak that way. He’s just a laid-back guy who dropped out of Skidmore.

Aside from his vocal delivery, there are some good, funky turns on this record. Drummer Jeffery Clemens has some nice interplay with guest DJ Logic at the beginning of “Baby, Why You Do Me Like That,” but again, it is brought down once G. Love’s vocals come in. The thing is, the band is really tight. Even G. Love’s guitar-playing is at times thunderous, even if the title-track does sound a little like a third-rate Jack White imitation.

This band is capable. That is why they’ve survived this long. They understand the merits of a good groove. But that put-on vocal affectation is no longer appropriate. It’d be great to hear G. Love actually sing in his own voice and not cling to tired blues stereotypes. This is a borderline record with potential from a band and guests who should know better.

As much as G. Love wants to combine blues, classic rock and a hip-hop swagger, they still after all these years feel like awkward poses. A reinvention is long overdue and considering this band has significant chops. It really can be done.

Focus Tracks:

“Dis Song” This kiss-off almost possesses a classic “Blues Brothers”-esque momentum as it tears into your eardrums. G. Love & Special Sauce are so close to where they want to be, but again, it is based on their musical skill with their instruments. But still there is an element missing.

“R U Kidding Me?” This is a nice, funky workout delivered with a post-Red Hot Chili Peppers, post-Beastie Boys sense of authority.

“Peanut Butter Lips” Again, Clemens’ backbeat serves as this track’s backbone, even if G. Love’s lyrics sometimes let this track down.

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quicklist: 3title: Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings’ “It’s A Holiday Soul Party” ***1/2text: Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings follow-up last year’s excellent, “Give The People What They Want” with “It’s A Holiday Soul Party.” It seems incredibly appropriate for them to be making a holiday record. After all, classic soul music with a vintage flare has always gone well with the spirit of the holiday season. Just ask Darlene Love. And like Love, Jones has a one-of-a-kind voice that is filled with enough charisma to really bring forth the cheer. And the band is as tight as ever.

Truth be told, however, some of these songs work better with funked-up arrangements than others. “Funky Drummer Boy,” (a groovy reading of “The Little Drummer Boy”) is an unquestionable slam-dunk while the “Proud Mary”-esque revisionism of “White Christmas” is a tad awkward. “Silent Night” actually works as a sleigh bell-assisted late-night blues number, while the reading of “Silver Bells” is a little over-the-top until it brings in a Stax-esque strut. Then there’s “God Rest Ye Merry Gents” which really effectively brings out the funk in “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.”

This is an interesting album, and the handful of originals that the band offers add to the mix. The fact that Jones calls a song, “Ain’t No Chimneys In The Projects” brings a dose of reality to the set.

In the end, though, this album is meant to be a playful and fun side-step for the group and it succeeds in that intention. Does this album resonate as well as the band’s collections of originals? No. But at the same time, this is not a formulaic Christmas collection, either. It is packed with surprise left turns and funky detours. Would the band be better served by another straight-forward, proper record? Possibly. But I’m glad this record exists.

Focus Tracks:

“8 Days (Of Hanukkah)” Yep. This set begins with a funk-driven ode to Hanukkah where Jones sings about spinning the dreidel and says, “We’re cooking up the brisket / the Kosher butcher sold my Uncle Saul.” Considering most holiday collections miss Hanukkah, this is a pretty cool inclusion.

“Funk Drummer Boy” Who would have thought this song would have worked so well with such an arrangement. This is an eye-opening reinvention of a timeless classic.

“God Rest Ye Merry Gents” This instrumental jam shows the Dap-Kings as a truly impressively tight unit.

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quicklist: 4title: Bryan Adams’ “Get Up” ***1/2text: Canadian superstar, Bryan Adams, known for hits like “Summer Of ’69,” “Run To You” and “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You” has returned teaming nicely with producer and E.L.O. mastermind Jeff Lynne. Lynne and Adams make an intriguing pair, but in truth it is Lynne’s production that serves as this album’s real star, partly because it brings back memories of his previous work, not only with E.LO. but on albums like Tom Petty’s “Full Moon Fever” and “Into The Great Wide Open.” Lynne’s undeniable signature sound pairs well with Adams as he works the rockabilly strut of “You Belong To Me” or waxes nostalgic on “We Did It All.” Perhaps not surprisingly, some of these songs sound like lost Traveling Wilburys gems.

The big weakness of this record though is Adams’ lyrics. “Go Down Rockin’” and “That’s Rock And Roll” are strictly formulaic workouts, although these kinds of bland anthems have long been Adams’ Achilles heel. (Remember “Kids Wanna Rock” from the otherwise pretty decent “Reckless?”) Case in point, if you have to do a song that lyrically mentions “rock” or “rocking,” odds are you have run out of ideas. Adams is better than that at his best, but even when he stumbles, Lynne is there to help him back up.

Interestingly, this album probably hits its best moments with the acoustic readings tacked onto the end of the set, which again emphasize the set’s built-in E.L.O. influence. It’s actually cool to hear Adams working with such spare arrangements considering that throughout most of the eighties and nineties his records were on the glossy side.

This album shows a nice new side of Bryan Adams and it also shows that he and Lynne should continue their partnership, since Lynne has obviously brought out some new colors in Adams’ work. Considering Lynne is about to drop a new E.L.O. record in a couple weeks, this is a really interesting development. Perhaps those two records will make for interesting companion pieces.

Focus Tracks:

“We Did It All” This is a near-perfect marriage of the two musician’s styles on both the plugged-in and acoustic readings. This song is a really sweeping, sad meditation on the past.

“You Belong To Me” Rockabilly doesn’t seem like it would be Adams’ bag, but her nails this song. Again, this is a quick song, akin to something off of the second side of Tom Petty’s “Full Moon Fever.” I half expect Adams to break into “Yer So Bad.”

“Don’t Even Try” This is another nostalgic lullaby which actually sounds more like Lynne’s work with George Harrison. Again, Adams fits well in this framework and he obviously had these influences in the back of his mind, as well.

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quicklist: 5title: J Dilla’s “Dillatronic” ***1/2text: James Yancey was one of hip-hop’s great geniuses. As the DJ for Slum Village and one third of the production team the Ummah (along with A Tribe Called Quest’s Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammad) he was a major force in the genre. His work on his own rivals the work of great jazz masters had those great jazz masters worked with samplers. He understood the groove better than just about everyone else. So when he died in 2006, it was a big loss and it is a loss still felt every bit as much, nine years later.

J Dilla, as Yancey was called (after dropping his original Jay Dee moniker) left behind a great deal of unreleased work. In fact he’s released many more records since his passing than he did while he was alive. He’d probably be thrilled to know that his legacy has been treated with such respect.

“Dillatronic” contains 41 tracks, each labeled by numbers instead of names. This set was curated and compiled by his mother, “Ma Dukes” Yancey and while it may be his most subtle, chilled work to date, that wallows in a semi-ambient glow, it shows that he still had a great deal to offer. (“Ma Dukes” may have a lot more in the vaults.) Like his friend Madlib, Dilla helped redefine instrumental hip-hop and while this set goes off occasionally on semi-exotic tangents, it never forgets Dilla’s signature clap.

This album is not as bombastic as his 2006 classic, “Donuts,” even if it does contain some of the same sonic elements. This collection has a hushed, almost somber quality. These grooves aren’t meant to be background music. They are meant for intense study and yet at the same time, it seems obvious considering his previous releases why these tracks were presented together. Some of these grooves have an almost meditative focus, but occasionally raw, analog scratchiness sneaks into the mix as grooves fade in and out of each other.

Sadly, there will never be another J Dilla and these grooves, which predominantly maintain an electro-sheen prove that he was somewhat of a fearless sonic explorer. Hip-hop today is often lacking that kind of outside-of-the-box ethos. Dilla was an artist who knew what he was doing was going to ruffle some feathers, but he definitely followed his own muse.

If you are interested in this album and are previously unfamiliar with Dilla’s work, I suggest you check out “Donuts” and “The Shining” before diving head-first into this set. After his death, Dilla’s music still packs quite a punch.

Focus Tracks:

“Dillatronic 10” This sleek electronic groove has a dark under-belly and yet it sounds like a potential party jam. Dilla always worked well with skeletal grooves.

“Dillatronic 11” This groove, again anchored by Dilla’s signature clap has a scale-workout that feels effortlessly airy. If you listen closely to the mix, there are other elements seeping in as well. These tracks deserve close attention because Dilla often put subtle details just below the surface.

“Dillatronic 5” This eastern groove feels like Dilla’s response to Madlib’s “Beat Konducta In India.” That mood is also captured on a handful of other tracks and it makes one wonder whether the recording timelines coincide with each other.

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quicklist: 6title: Mike O’Brien’s “Tasty Radio” **1/2text: Mike O’Brien is a long-time writer for “Saturday Night Live.” He was a featured player a couple years back for one season before returning to the writers’ room. His debut comedy album has lofty goals. “Tasty Radio” is over seventy-five minutes of fake radio bits and skits spread across 29 tracks. It wants to recall the greatness of the comedy records from the seventies. The original "SNL" comedy record which featured audio from skits by the original “Not Ready For Primetime Players” comes to mind as does the classic album from the “National Lampoon Radio Hour.” These are obvious sources of inspiration for O’Brien. The sad part is, this record is just really short on actual laughs.

I really want to like “Tasty Radio.” As an "SNL"-obsessive who watches the show religiously and knows the in-and-outs of the show’s complete history, this is actually somewhat of a frustrating listen. This is in part due to the fact that O’Brien has brought with him the majority of the cast and the writers to help with the skits. A few bits work. Scarlett Johansson reading “Sexy Bible” verses is pretty funny as is O’Brien and Fred Armisen talking about historical inaccuracies in films. But on the flip-side, you have the painfully awkward ad for a store called “Rick’s Panties” or Armisen and John Mulaney giving O’Brien (as “The Elephant Man,” John Merrick) dating advice. Aside from the fact that this latter bit is obviously taking cues from David Lynch’s film and not the real man whose name was Joseph Merrick, it’s just a really painful bit. I’d expect better from Mulaney. First of all, with Bill Hader, he created Stefan. Secondly, his last album, “New In Town” is a modern stand-up classic. But with O’Brien, he is brought down.

This album isn’t completely awful. It just isn’t the laugh riot it should be considering the talent involved. When you have greats like Jason Sudeikis, Bill Hader and Nasim Pedrad involved, it’s really disappointing that this record captures more of an uneasiness than something truly poignant. Especially when it lampoons such ripe targets as radio shock-jocks and beer commercials. But truth be told, these targets while fitting for satire have been done to death in better and more effective ways.

In general, Mike “O’Brien’s “Tasty Radio” is a frustrating and occasionally upsetting listen. For as much time as it takes to work through its cycle, it is hit and miss with mostly misses. There are even moments that summon the kind of tediousness one would associate with unwelcome and repetitive characters like “Garth and Kat” or “Gilly. O’Brien himself often revels in strange, off-beat humor. Occasionally he hits his mark firmly, but most of the time you are left thinking, “Why am I listening to this album?”

Focus Tracks:

“Sexy Bible”/ “Sexy Bible 2” (Featuring Scarlett Johansson) Yes, this is Scarlett Johansson reading from Deuteronomy like you’ve never heard before. That’s all I’ll say.

“Middle Ages”/ “Egypt” (Featuring Fred Armisen and Nasim Pedrad) Both these skits feature O’Brien and Armisen as people from the past sent to the future to discuss how movies have wrongly depicted their periods in history. The conversations take humorous, funny turns, especially when they suddenly mention that Bridget Fonda isn’t in enough movies. A quick check of IMDB shows that she hasn’t been in a movie since 2002. They are absolutely right! She should be in more movies.

“Mike’s Morning Goof” (Featuring Seth Meyers and Constance O’Brien) This album opener finds O’Brien cast as an ill-informed morning shock jock making prank phone calls. It even features a cameo from O’Brien’s mother.

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quicklist: 7title: Guy Garvey’s “Courting The Squall” ****text: As the lead singer of the British band Elbow, Guy Garvey has long been a force in well-crafted, well-thought, mature rock. Elbow’s “The Take Off And Landing Of Everything” was one of the best albums of last year and with his solo debut, Garvey continues to explore and experiment the way he does when he is with his band. A few of these songs, namely “Harder Edges,” “Angela’s Eyes” and “Belly Of The Whale” possess a funky backbeat. Garvey still sounds very much like a softer-voiced version of Peter Gabriel, but when the “funky drummer” breaks really kick in, it is as if Garvey is trying to merge his obvious Gabriel influence with a touch of James Brown. What is striking is even during these musically upbeat moments, he maintains a smooth vocal hush for the most part.

Then there are the softer, even subtler moments like “Unwind” and “Juggernaut.” As is the case with his work with Elbow, it is clear that Garvey is keen on having his music slowly envelop his audience. This is heavily literate, often jazzy work. It may not sink in right away. It deserves repeat listens to that all its textural elements can be effectively savored. And like most of Elbow’s albums, “Courting The Squall” feels like it was recorded in a giant room. Every bit of echo and every instrumental clang feels authentic.

This album may be a momentary step away from his regular band, but it feels very much like it is cut from the same cloth. If you are unfamiliar with Garvey or his work with Elbow, your work is cut out for you and odds are, you won’t be disappointed. “Courting The Squall” fits with the rest of Garvey’s work quite nicely. At least in the States, he deserves much more attention than he receives.

Focus Tracks:

“Courting The Squall” This title-track is a sweeping, harp-assisted groove, cemented by a firm but casual drum-beat. Garvey really has an almost classical sense of melody that really grasps his listeners.

“Juggernaut” This track takes a while to build and set itself off, but when those piano chords come in with the guitar accents, it sells itself quite well. This is even true before Garvey starts to sing. As his words wrap around a subtly jazz-driven groove, it is clear that this track is meant for repeat listens at full-blast in a big room. Garvey’s vocal harmonies also serve as an asset.

“Yesterday” This ominous track mixes a vintage, haunted house kind of clattering with a touch of Tin Pan Alley song-craft. Again, this is another supremely sweeping number. The stately piano playing also adds a sense of elegance.

Next Week: New albums from Ellie Goulding, Seal and more.

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