BARENAKED LADIES: POWER TO THE PEOPLE

By Tom Semioli

This feature appeared in Amplifier Magazine, August 2006

We record….you decide!

Toronto’s favorite adult alternative-rock sons, the Barenaked Ladies, are set to release their eighth album-  Barenaked Ladies Are Me. Sort of. It’s your job to choose the tracks, running order, physical format, artwork, and method of delivery.

Fear not, Barenaked Ladies fans who have little or no experience on the bandstand, in the studio, record company boardroom, art department, pressing plant, and retail- you have options aplenty: purchase the physical thirteen song compact disc on September 12 in stores; or download the thirteen songs plus two bonus-tracks; or opt to download the twenty-seven song digital package Deluxe Edition; or access all of the above or combinations thereof by way of a USB flash memory stick with two extra tracks. Sound easy?

“The Barenaked Ladies are learning to let go,” reveals guitarist / vocalist Steven Page. “Historically the album was only a construct of what the technology could hold and what labels and publishers were willing to pay for. We are certainly conscious of the fact that so many fans listen to music in shuffle mode, and we’re not offended by that. You can still be an artist with integrity and allow your fans some level of control with regard to how they use your end result.”

The eclectic platinum-selling quintet continues to meld folk and pop with a healthy dose of humor. Comprised of Page, Ed Robertson (guitar/vocals), Tyler Stewart (drums), Jim Creegan (bass) and Kevin Hearn (keyboards), BNL have witnessed births, marriages, deaths, and near death in their two decades running musical sojourn together. Are Me, whichever way you choose to hear it, finds the band refreshed, melodic, and accessible.

Explains Page “we performed all the songs live in the studio, but the guitars and vocals were often replaced. They were redone to get better sounds and, in my case, better performances! The foundations of the tracks have the feeling of a band that has played live together for nearly twenty years—which is the truth.”

Though the band produced Are Me, legendary engineer Bob Clearmountain (Bruce Springsteen, Pretenders, Rolling Stones, Sheryl Crow) shares the credit for recording the Ladies in all their resonate glory. “We have always been a fan of his work, especially Crowded House’s Woodface album, which has been something of a touchstone for our band. He was our catalyst in the studio.”

Are Me essentially began when Page and Robertson met up for a writing session in the spring of ’05. With three songs composed, “Home,” “Rule The World With Love,” and “Wind It Up,” they split for summer vacation. It was back to the grindstone in fall at Robertson’s cottage. Fifteen or so songs jelled in a mere four or five days. Meanwhile Hearn was “writing a dozen songs per day” across town. (Stay tuned for Hearn’s eventual solo album.) When all the Ladies convened in winter, they pared the list “down” to twenty-nine tracks. Eschewing Page and Robertson’s usual method of elaborate demos, all the band members put their personal stamp on the tunes, thereby making Are Me the most accurate representation of the group dynamic on record.

“We were sick of saving things for soundtracks, b-sides and whatever. By releasing it all, we could move forward as artists. A double album can be very pricey at retail, so we chose to divide the physical content into two chunks, which is also easier to digest for the more traditional CD buyer, and the second of which, Barenaked Ladies Are Men, comes out in early 2007.”

The Barenaked Ladies Are Me and Barenaked Ladies Are Me: Deluxe Edition from Desperation Records will be available whichever way you choose it beginning September 12, 2006.

ALLISON MOORER IS GETTING SOMEWHERE

By Tom Semioli  

This feature appeared in Amplifier Magazine, June 2006

"I tend to be short, sweet, and to the point. There's no sense in being long and drawn out about things. If you can say something in two sentences, why use six? Besides, I don't think I'm talented enough to hold someone's attention for much more that that."

The last bit of Allison Moorer's declaration is somewhat debatable. However her sixth and latest release, aptly titled Getting Somewhere (release date 6/13/06 on Sugar Hill Records) harkens back to the golden age of vinyl wherein artists had ten songs and thirty minutes to make their case and step aside. Moorer’s new album clocks in at 31:01. "That's exactly how I designed it," the 33-year old singer -songwriter-guitarist boasts with confidence aplenty. "I trusted my instincts on how I put this record together." Breaking news: for the first time in her career Alison Moorer has written all the songs on an album.

Recorded in just ten days and produced by her new husband, Americana icon Steve Earle, Moorer rocks rougher and harder than she ever has, kicking off her half hour of ragged glory with the down 'n' dirty "Work To Do," which wouldn't sound out of place on side three of Exile On Main Street.  Though Earle renders guitar on two tracks and Moog on another cut, the majority of this effort is primarily Allison and her razor sharp posse. "Steve chose the band. Luckily we got all the players we wanted. Bassist Brad Jones sounds like Paul McCartney on this record and as for drummer Brady Blade; well, you can't get any better than that."

Opting for first takes in many instances, Moorer plows through her tales of personal struggle and revelation with a decidedly jagged edge. "I was in the booth singing and playing at the same time so that's why you hear the 'good' bleed on the vocals from my guitar." Her phrasing and timbre on the rambling "You'll Never Know," the mournful "Hallelujah" and the plodding "New Year's Day" are all eerily similar to her celebrity sister Shelby Lynne, whom Moore maintains a close relationship with. "My sister and I try to write letters to each other once a week. I love her and think she's fantastic. We can get on the phone and talk about nothing and laugh for hours."  The track "Where Are You" was written for Lynne, and features a regal string arrangement by long-time collaborator / band member Chris Carmichael along with Moorer's sultry double-tracked harmonies.

Moorer and Earle, who split their time between Manhattan's chic West Village and Nashville, thrived in the studio. "Sure there were some rough spots," she laughs, "but we're still married! Moorer elaborates "the way I describe music is foreign to some people. I'll say something like 'make that guitar more red,' and I get a look like I've gone crazy. But that would happen with anybody because creating music is a very hard thing to do. It's tough to get your brain on the same page as another person."

"If It's Just For Today" is Moorer's song to her husband, noting "I aspire to live and love this way every day - as if it's my last one. I suck at it most of the time, but like I said - I aspire." Old (and young) Beatle fans take note of Jim Hoke's multi-layered horns and the band's four-to-the-bar backbeat which sounds like a working demo to "Got To Get You Into My Life."

"I like records that hang together as records" states Moorer regarding the personal themes which underpin Getting Somewhere. "The one thing artists like myself have going for them is that it's still really, really difficult to make a good living in this business.  So it keeps you honest to a certain extent. Yeah, there are worse jobs than going out on the road every night and making music -but it's still tough work." And though the long-player may be on the endangered species list to some, Moorer will hear none of that. "Real artists will not allow it! I like a body of music that takes me somewhere and has a beginning, middle and end - just like a great book. I love short stories, but I want to read the novel sometimes."

JACKSON ANALOGUE: BORN TO BOOGIE

By Tom Semioli  

This feature appeared in Amplifier Magazine, November 2007

“Trust me, the inside of a one-hundred fifty year old Victorian water tower is neither comfy nor distracting” proclaims Jackson Analogue brain-trust Jim Holmes. “It had a sixty ton steel roof with no windows…it was always dark and cold.”

No kidding! The structure Holmes speaks of served as a makeshift recording studio for JA’s gut-bucket blues drenched debut effort, ironically titled And Then, Nothing. The intention was avoid outside interferences, however the ghost of her majesty Queen Victoria prevailed. “We didn’t get a look at the old bird herself, but I have to tell you…we all heard strange things….footsteps up the staircase, knocks on the door. None of us will ever go there alone to this day!”

This Isle-of-Wight quintet, comprised of Holmes, brother Rob on guitar, bassist Matt Winsor, drummer Craig Watson, and a Hammond organist who only answers to the name “Beast” (“If you spend thirty seconds with him, it would make sense. The man is a bearded keyboard smashing monster!”) forge a sound as American as mom’s apple pie and great-grandpa’s musty old ‘78s.

“I grew up listening to the blues” reveals Holmes. “Artists like Robert Johnson, Skip James, Charley Patton and David ‘Honeyboy’ Edwards. But I also loved Creedence  Clearwater and grunge as well… Pearl Jam, Soundgarden…”

The album title stems from the band’s two year battle to free themselves of their Island/Universal recording contract. Though details will remain secret for now, Holmes is noticeably upbeat. “By the time we finished the record we’d felt like we’d been through a fucking war! And Then, Nothing refers to that end point of coming out from the other side of the storm as ‘and then nothing went wrong, everything was fine.’ It’s always taken negatively but we don’t correct people,” Holmes adds with a sly wink “they can assume what they like, that’s half the fun of a good title.”

Co-producer and engineer Head (PJ Harvey, Massive Attack) was a major factor in capturing JA’s maniacal energy for posterity.  Coming into picture towards the end of the sessions for the purpose of recording vocals, Head wound up mixing the entire record. “As soon as that red ‘record’ button lights up, people do the weirdest things,” exclaims Holmes. “Sometimes you can struggle to re-create a vibe, especially if you do it over and over again. Head is a genius and the coolest person we’ve ever met. His confidence rubbed off on us and in a few days we felt invincible.”

As for Jackson Analogue’s immediate future, they’ve already commenced work on their sophomore effort, tentatively titled Snakes and Wolves. Bolstering their self-assuredness, the band recently opened for  The Who on a recent UK trek. “It was every bit as amazing as you could imagine. To hear a stadium cheer is a sound I’ll never forget…better than sex!” Holmes pauses after his last thought. “Well, better than sex with me!”

Jackson Analogue’s And Then, Nothing is out on Groove Attack December 2007