Canadian Audiophile’s Mishaps and Misadventures

Some empires fall to pieces while others flourish. In the case of Australia’s The Cat Empire, the funky-ass melodies and jazz/ska/rock/Latin/whatever fusion of their sound has helped the six-piece prosper while many others would have long crumbled under the pressure.

Beginning as a trio in 1999, The Cat Empire didn’t put out their first album until 2003. The self-titled release was made while heavily touring Australia. By the time the debut was released, the group was a full six-person collective and had a track (“Hello”) in heavy rotation on BBC Radio 1.

So Many Nights, which is the band’s third album, was released in Australia in September of 2007. The subsequent Australian tour included a record-breaking eight shows in seven nights at Sydney’s Metro Theatre. So Many Nights hit its American release on April 22, 2008 and has been generating a good deal of buzz for the sextet from Down Under.

Featuring the 2007 line-up of Felix Riebl on lead vocals and percussion, Harry James Agnus on trumpet and lead vocals, Ollie McGill on piano and keyboard, Ryan Monro on bass, Will Hull Brown on drums, and Jamshid “Jumps” Khadiwhala on turntables and tambourine, The Cat Empire cranks out party music with depth and enthusiasm. The collective also features The Empire Horns, a small group of trombone, trumpet, and sax players who are essentially considered full-time members.

With So Many Nights, the songs are pulled from stories and adventures from the band’s travels. This meant that the group needed to step beyond their normal “party thing” and head into more pensive terrain. While the funk and strong melodies are still present, fans of The Cat Empire may find a little more profundity and meticulousness on this record.

The songs still crackle, but some might find a little more introspection than they bargained for.

When the funky introduction of the album’s opener and self-titled track takes over, however, it becomes apparent that The Cat Empire is a tight unit. The addictive catchiness of the chorus and the danceable rhythm is hard to resist. And so it is with So Many Nights, as songs take off like fireworks and splash captivating rhythms and vibrant melodies damn well everywhere.

Some songs slow the party down a little, like the fanciful and delightful “Panama,” the melancholy of “No Longer There,” or the mystifying reggae tone of “Til the Ocean Takes Us All,” but the magic of this grand collective is still very much there.

Other songs play with ska (“Fishies” and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones-esque “Sunny Moon”), while others tinker happily with jazzy strutting (“Lonely Moon”) and Middle Eastern flavor (“The Darkness”). To say that So Many Nights is never boring is an understatement; each track offers something new, fresh, and inviting.

The Cat Empire’s latest is an inspiring musical journey through a slew of different genres. The band never lets up and, although some tunes sound a bit congested and the turntable often seems gratuitous, the group’s exciting ear for melody comes through in the most unlikely of places.

So Many Nights is another worthy entry in the “mythology” of The Cat Empire.

7.5/10

Jorge Reyes has been one of the great innovators of the double-bass in Cuban music, layering his sound with such profound depth that his instrument isn’t confined to the back of the orchestra but rather takes center stage. He plays it like a lead instrument, coaxing melodies out of the lower register and easily moving between roles as a support rhythmic player to a central character in his compositions.

With De Todo Un Poco (A Little bit of Everything), Reyes bounces merrily between both roles. He also serves as bandleader on each track and is the composer of many of the album’s instrumentals. Jorge’s command of his quintet (Reyes on bass, Carlos Averhoff Jr. on tenor sax, Emilio Morales on piano, Giraldo Piloto on drums, and Adel González on percussion) is notable not only in the flexibility of the music but also in the interaction between the band’s instruments. Each song is like a conversation.

That interaction works best when Reyes is experimenting with different tempos and making alterations in the rhythms. The album’s opener, “Do-Do,” bounces bravely as an introduction and quickly changes pace with its enthusiastic percussion.

Reyes employs related Cuban flavours throughout De Todo Un Poco, straying from his roots just long enough to play with other melodies and tempos. On “Contraste,” the use of tap percussion and drums flows logically from the song’s vivacious introduction and Reyes’ bass takes the lead. Percussion explodes on “Descarga 2003,” a rousing number highlighted by claps and a rock-and-roll melody.

The tender vocals of Evelyn Garcia Marquez are featured on three songs, adding depth to the record. “Realidad y Fantasia” from Cesar Partillo de La Luz has a jazz standard feel, while the nature of “Obsesión” focuses on the heart-rending dialogue between Marquez’s beautiful lamentations and Reyes accompanying bass.

Reyes ends things with the bass and percussion interchange of “Con-Tumba y Con-Trabajo” and leads it into Billy Strayhorn’s standard “Take the A Train,” giving the latter a pile of amped-up Cuban tang and an flood of percussion to fill in the gaps. Reyes’ take on Strayhorn’s inimitable standard is energetic and high-spirited.

Jorge Reyes’ dazzling De Todo Un Poco really does supply a little bit of everything. His knack for using rhythms of folk, blues, jazz, Cuban and world music, and even a little bit of rock and roll shows his zeal for music and his need to expose the world to the endless possibilities of music.

8/10

Kylie Minogue’s first commercial album release since being diagnosed with breast cancer in May of 2005 is a spunky dance record that shows that the Australian popster hasn’t missed a beat and hasn’t gotten all serious on us either. Ever the party girl, Minogue’s X (named such to mark her tenth album) is a sexy and steamy romp destined for loads of club rotation.

Kylie has always been diminutive, both in stature (at just five feet tall) and in voice. In terms of pop personas, though, she’s colossal. Not quite as big a deal as Madonna, Minogue’s always been more of a Janet Jackson-type. Her vocals are more whispered and inconspicuous. Her sex appeal seems more grounded in ecstasy and less in pretension (not that she can’t be flashy). After recovering from breast cancer, Minogue dropped a TV special, a children’s book, a perfume, and a glitzy New Year’s Eve concert at Wembley. In November of last year, she dropped an album.

X was recorded in Stockholm, London, and Ibiza. It’s a characteristic Kylie Minogue album, filled with lots of energy and double entendres. The lead-off single, “2 Hearts,” is a breathy ditty with a solid beat and captivating melody. Other tunes capture the same zeal, including “Speakerphone” and “Heart Beat Rock.”

Of course, Minogue’s vocals go through the ringer of mechanized maneuvering. At 39, she sounds more emotionally detached than ever. Somehow the tracks still sizzle, though, thanks in large part to the incalculable sexual innuendos and demure enticements. If Britney’s Blackout was sexy, Kylie’s latest is simply sex.

“Sensitized” is probably the tightest track on the album, as the production is incredible and the sway of the chorus is ordained for the top of the charts. The sample of Serge Gainsbourg’s Bonnie and Clyde works wonders, too.

“Wow” takes us back to the 80s in style, showing us that nobody can mimic Kylie Minogue quite like Kylie Minogue. The song’s got a bit of “Locomotion” to it and runs pleasurably with her suppressed vocals. The chorus and production is so conventional it’s nonsensically amusing. Then there’s “Nu-Di-Ty,” a tacky sexed-up goofball with just enough camp to get by. “Pop that zipper down and work that thing out,” she intones. Oh, Kylie!

Lots of X sounds silly, lots of it sounds sexy, and most of it is solid danceable pop. This is a record that will eternally rotate in clubs and on dance floors around the world. The beats are tantalizing and the melodies are rock-solid. Minogue’s vocals fade either into the backdrop or right through the vocal apparatus, rendering her incredibly reticent throughout the album’s 13 tracks, but the courage of the comeback is reason enough to love the fiery Aussie.

7/10

Britney Spears released Blackout, somehow, in October of 2007. Despite all of the hullabaloo and rubbish embedded in her personal life, this is the best album Britney’s ever made. It is deeply produced, often chaotic, and often obnoxiously breathy. Nevertheless, Blackout is also amazingly captivating, precariously danceable, and damned exciting.

Before Brit mystified the world with baldness, babies, and bad behaviour, she was actually a pop star. Way back in 1999, she implored us to hit her one more time. Since then, life’s been interesting for the pop princess as she’s bounced boyfriends around and been reliable rumour fodder for the glitz-and-sham media. Her life has likely put many a paparazzo’s kid through college, if they have those…

But I digress because it really is about the music with Blackout. Sure, she gives the odd nod to her charmed life as the target of stalkers and dreadful decisions. For the most part, though, this is straightforward blazingly hot pop. The familiar strains of “Gimme More” start out the album with a likeable pop standard and we’re swiftly treated to stimulating music after that.

The earworm known as “Radar” seems fit for radio release and a smashing video. Other tracks are hot and sticky in classic Spears fashion, like the aptly-named “Get Naked (I Got a Plan)” on which she coos “I’m not ashamed of my beauty.” She totally strips away any remnants from the Mickey Mouse Club, ditches her tween fans, and gets naked all over Blackout.

Sure, Brit’s often distorted to the point of sounding like a robot, but this is lethal pop. This is the dirty pop *NSYNC tried to deliver. This is greasy, grimy, grubby music from Spears. “Ooh Ooh Lover” is a bouncy tune, perfectly fitting with the album’s sex-obsessed nature. In fact, pretty much every song is about sex. “Freakshow” proclaims that Brit wants people to “clap while we perform.” Yes, that type of performance.

Spears even manages a sour F-you to K-Fed on the album’s last track, the Pharrell Williams-written and Neptunes-produced “Why Should I Be Sad.” It’s the closest thing Blackout has to a ballad and the lyrics on it are barbed and akin to a rap beef track.

Britney Spears is certainly deconstructing as a person, but her music is getting better and better (perhaps because of her turmoil?). With Blackout, she delivers one of the most fascinating, sexy, steamy, and appealing pop albums in a long time and certainly the best in her career. I truly hope this is a sign of things to come for Miss Spears.

7/10

The sun rose this morning and poked through the mist in the backyard. Emily Saxe’s Keeping You in Mind found itself in heavy rotation again and worked a little like breakfast for the soul. The album’s sweetness and down-home feel gives it a tender quality, making it ideal for watching the day unfold.

Saxe issued her three previous albums while living in Thailand, but she’s returned home to America to release her fourth recording. She has seen two of her albums make the jazz Top 10 in Hong Kong, Bangkok, and Thailand. She performed at the Sydney Opera House. For some reason, though, Emily Saxe seems a lot more suited to my breakfast table.

Listening to Saxe sing these songs is like talking to an old friend over coffee. Her conversational style brings new life to old favourites, making the songs her very own. Saxe proves her range with efficiency, too. She’s able to belt out an old-style spiritual that was sung by Judy Garland (“Get Happy”) and move seamlessly into a Bacharach tune (“Walk On By”) without losing the flow of the conversation.

Emily hooked up with bassist-producer David Piltch for Keeping You in Mind. The connection led to a new sound for the new album, as Piltch had Saxe throw out the piano and rely on a more guitar-driven sound. Emily grew up playing the piano, her mother played the piano, and her grandfather played the piano, so it was a little like getting rid of an old friend. Nevertheless, the guitar-based arrangements work wonders and the album sounds reflective and intimate.

As I’m pouring another cup of coffee (seems like I’m always doing that), Saxe embarks on the Rodgers and Hart tune “He Was Too Good To Me.” The arrangement is sparse, but her easy style helps bring the sad song home to roost. As in one of the best songs on the album, “Last Day of Summer,” it’s Saxe’s command over the vocals that make the album what it is. The musical arrangements are nice, sure, but without Emily Saxe at the wheel, this would be just another folksy Americana record.

Keeping You in Mind is a gentle album, perfect for introspection or light conversation. The musical arrangements mesh well with Saxe’s voice to make an understated and calming record. As I drain the last cup (before the next one), I wave goodbye to Emily Saxe and feel like I’ve made a new friend.

7/10