Barton Carroll -- "Love & War"

I know that this is late and that Barton Carroll has a newer CD out. However, “Love & War” is so close to my heart that I feel most compelled to review.

Carroll is a veteran of the underground music scene via solo and playing with Crooked Fingers and many other bands. But Carroll’s solo works are not directed in the way he plays with the other bands.

Though I love this release, it is also a very sad and gloomy piece of work. That’s not “bad” per se. In fact, I LOVE it! It is magical and touches my heart. The music is a ‘lil alt-country with a ‘lil symphony on “cat on a beach.” But it is also a ‘lil rock-n-roll. Carroll is even beyond Bob Dylan. (yes, I said it!)

Barton Carroll digs deep inside. His lyrics are poetry sung in a beautiful and magnificent way. Carroll proclaims in “dark and of the street” that “time is going to take its toll.” Damn. It sure is.

I’m not sure why Carroll has not gotten more attention, as he is a fantastic singer. He is an incredible musician. And he is an incredible person. Listen to his words and you’ll know how special he is.

I just hope that more people listen, give him a chance. I think chances are part of his story. Chances lost and chances received.

He has a plan and “Love & War” will give you chill bumps. The song “small thing” makes me cry.

Go to Barton Carroll and/or Skybucket Records for more information. To hear an interview with Barton Carroll please go here.

-- Hunter Bell (02/28/09)

It is TIME for Renaissance! Join me! Join us! (More TBA ASAP!)

Michael Evans / LaDonna Smith -- "Deviant Shakti"

Michael Evans / LaDonna Smith

Deviant Shakti

For all of you that know LaDonna Smith, you may --and even must-- know that you will not know what will you will hear and experience. For me, that’s a very good thing. I like to be in the dark. I like to be on the other side. That is, at least I know when LaDonna Smith plays her viola and violin that I will be taken to another side. That being said, the new CD by Michael Evans and LaDonna Smith does not disappoint.

Improvisational music can be difficult for some to digest. Sometimes it takes a little extra “nudge” and effort to comprehend. However, this new recording is more accessible than many so-called “noise” recordings. The duo are pros at what they create. And they are way ahead of current sound experiments.

This recording is hypnotizing. It is a glorification of strings and percussive output that stings deep inside the eardrums connecting to the psyche.

“Tenacious Rebel Autarchy” pulls the Appalachian Hills and Mountains and fills with a sense of careful and subdued chaos. Chaos is not the focus. It may be the outcome. But solitude is in the moment. It is a reflection of a distant relative. . . .a missed opportunity.

“Atomized Ascension” erodes the very best of anyone’s soul. The piece is creepy and hard to hold on to. It’s a song to forget your long lost lovers. Evans’ percussive beats haunt and hinder for the most chilling accompanying to the stings Smith puts forth

Deviant Shakti is a CD for the meek and agonized. But the concept is for the uplifting, caring and hopeful society.

Make this disk a part of your collective experience.

-- Hunter Bell (02/21/09)

Sharrif Simmons -- "American Music"

American Music

Sharrif Simmons

When I was 18 I used to go to a little bar in Jacksonville, Alabama called “Brothers.” It is actually connected to the infamous Nick in Birmingham. There was a band that I loved (and still have the CD) called “Follow For Now.” They were a rock, reggae, roots, spoken word band that few had seen. That was 1990. Sharrif Simmons’ new CD American Music brings back those memories. Those memories are awesome. I feel like I am back into my youth listening to Simmons’ new CD. But somehow, this CD is not just nostalgic. It is fresh and the music and presentation that today’s music lacks. So many have tried to refresh the past and most have fallen short. Simmons does not fall into that crease – that forgotten soundscape.

American Music hits a homerun with a chunky stew of flavorful funk and attitude. Get out of his way. Get out of your expectations. Listen to the verses. Hold on to the music. Sit tight and focus. Witness and forecast the future.

American Music is all over the place. It will rock you. It will make you nod your head. It will make you listen closer and replay. It will seduce you. Sharrif Simmons knows his funk, knows his words sung and spoken. He knows how to make a new revolution possible in many directions. He spins you around and upside down. As he says “You can feel it when it happens.”

So, as I reflect back to “Follow For Now,” I know now that Simmons is not a follower. He is a funked-up leader and taker and an “overwhelmer.” Take it as it is. ‘Coz it is what it is! Follow him for now as he is definitely going somewhere new and exciting.


For more info and on Sharrif Simmons go to: Sharrif Simmons
-- Hunter Bell (02/21/09)

Frank Van Bogaert -- NOMADS

The journey starts as an electronic excursion across unknown lands. Nomads, the seventh CD by Belgian composer and synthesist Frank Van Bogaert is a nomadic journey through textures of sound and ambience.
Bogaert’s music has heavy influence from the electronic symphonic tradition of artists like Vangelis, Jean-Michel Jarre and Tangerine Dream. Bogaert uses synthesizers, augmented with samples and arpeggiated loops along with traditional instruments such as European, African and Asian string instruments and drums to give his music that international symphonic world sound. His use of the CS-80 synthesizer, played in a musical style similar to Vangelis, gives his music texture and orchestral grandeur.
Highlights of Nomads include “Crack the Blue Sky” and “Nomads”, both symphonic masterpiece reminiscent of Vangelis’ Mythodea. Both tracks start with quiet melodies and world sounds and crescendo into orchestral marvels. The latter tracks on the CD move away from the grandiose orchestral sound at the beginning of the CD and mellows out with softer world sounds mixed with light melodic electronica.
Nomads playing time is just under one hour, but it manages to transport the listener to a musical dreamland with its variety and inspiration. In addition to the music, the CD includes a twelve-page booklet full of colorful pictures.
If you have never heard of Frank Van Bogaert, but love the music of Vangelis, you will really enjoy this CD. And you will probably want to hear more music by this talented artist.
Frank Van Bogaert’s previous CD One Out of Five, is a greatest hits collection that brings together tracks from his five previous CDs, Colours (1998), Geographic (1999), Docking (2000), Human (2002) and Closer (2004). Nomads, his seventh CD brings his electronic and world sound mixture a step further in melodic complexity.
Take the nomadic music journey. Listen to Frank Van Bogaert’s Nomads.
You can hear some soundtracks from Nomads at Bogaert’s
myspace webpage


Andy Douglas