| CD REVIEW (This review has also been published at www.701.com) |
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| I couldn�t quite put my finger on why this CD failed to have any sort of major positive effect on me, but after listening to it several times I realized it was mainly the poor production and mixing involved, which is surprising, considering the great work Bill Bottrell has done with Tom Petty and Sheryl Crow. They are a talented group of musicians, though, with much creativity to offer, especially in a percussive sense. While the songs themselves are fairly interesting and unique, the vocals of Michael Glabicki (a Michael Hutchence lookalike if I�ve ever seen one) were wildly unbalanced and sometimes just plain out of tune, although his particular tone is very sexy in a Jeff �G� Graydon/Mick Jagger kind of way and quite powerful in its range (�Cry�). I found the back-up vocals of Jenn Wertz and/or Liz Berlin to be a bit irritating at times as well as offbeat (quite literally), especially at the very beginning of the otherwise joyfully funky �Union 7� but that could have been a mess-up in the mixing process. There�s some lovely guitar and harmonies in the �Blue Diamonds� ballad, though, and the percussion and vocals (by Jenn Wertz) in the African-flavoured �Artificial Weave� are absolutely astonishing! Individually, most of the tracks (original compositions by Michael Glabicki and/or Jenn Wertz) are lyrically fascinating, but sometimes the complexity of instrumentation from six people just doesn�t gel together, lending too much of a �noise� factor to it. And speaking of fascinating, the CD liner booklet contains some great photographs and artwork by John Buynak (electric guitar, percussion, flute), but it�s definitely a study in �busy�ness. It�s really quite a mish-mash of musical styles, sort of like the all-encompassing setlist of a wedding DJ, but I have to admit the last track, �People of My Village�, which highlights drummer Jim Donovan�s foray into techno wizardry, is one of the few �thump-thump� songs I�ve been able to listen to in its entirety without wanting to run away screaming in a fit of agony. Rusted Root certainly won�t appeal to middle-of-the-road tastes, but considering that their previous CD, When I Woke, also produced by Bottrell, went platinum, I doubt they will have to worry about this writer�s opinion of it. If you like the experimental approach of combining traditional rhythms and melodies with the technically bizarre, I much prefer a multi-collaborative CD called �The Alien, The Rabbit & The Monkey� written by Byron (Edwards) of Ottawa (Sound of One Hand Studios), or the Multivitamins (�Live at Lyon�s Den - 1st Annual Green Cabbage Party Summit�), a Russian rock band, based in Chicago, who recently opened for one of their compatriot bands, Kubzavod, at the Rivoli in Toronto. |
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