Dan Bern - Regent Street (Review)

Dan Bern - Regent Street (Review)

I thought maybe when his hand got mangled up, we may have lost Dan Bern – as a creator of new music – forever. (Editor's note: Upon rereading this, I realize that as a dumb thing to think for any amount of time. It's obvious that as a songwriter and musician, Bern is completely unimpeachable and relentless. He'd make it work no matter what befell him.) It was a terrifying proposition to me because there is no other artist who has helped me make sense of the chaos of life more than Bern. Whenever the world seems like it's too much, like all the beauty has been choked out of everyday life, Bern's music has always been there for me, to help ease my mind and, more importantly, my soul. I don't know if you've noticed, but the world has felt a little more upside down and confusing than usual lately, and so when I heard that not only was Bern definitely okay, he had a new album on the way, I was more than anticipating it. And Regent Street does not disappoint. It is a big, beautiful, tremblingly human album – a deeply soothing salve for toxic, dehumanizing times.

Building much of the album around the piano instead of a guitar gives the album a phenomenal elasticity in its emotional reach. Check out the bouncy notes that open and carry the pace of “Dear Tiger Woods.” The songs title will make longtime fans do a double take as Bern turns his eye back to one of his most iconic subjects, the titular titan of golf. Bern takes on Woods and his legacy in a much more direct way than the snarky hit of his past. The song demonstrates Bern's otherworldly ability make witty, precise pop culture references while simultaneously mining the intricacies of human relationships (with parents, with heroes). It's an incredible trick that Bern clearly hasn't lost the knack for.

The spiralling piano notes of “Ridin On A Train” send the listener out into the ether of a dream. On every Dan Bern record there's one song that I can never figure out. A song that gives me something different every time I ingest it, that is seemingly never the same, never invokes the same emotion twice in a row. I think “Ridin On A Train” will prove to be that song on this record. It is delightful and absurd and gorgeous – a potent combination. If that song is a dream, the haunting “American Without the People” is a nightmare. The kind of nightmare that hangs around after you wake up and makes you feel uneasy for the enitre morning. The song is a blunt instrument, chilling in its simple message of isolation and theft. The mix of authority and indifference in Bern's voice as he assumes the position of a dictator gutting and looting his country lingers in the ears. It's real as fuck...and we all know why.

“Deregulation” and “One Song” is an epic one-two punch of truly large songs. Large in their sweeping sounds. Large in their emotional resonance. This review is already getting long, so for the sake of time I'm just going to focus on one of them here. “One Song” is one of the most immediately impactful songs of 2019. There are few, if any, songwriters who consistently write about mortality as much as Bern while still managing to never come across corny or contrived. Perhaps it's because when he's looking at the end, looking at death, he's writing about life and the things that make life worth the confusion and the suffering. Life is Love, and it's something Bern has reminded me of time and time again. This is no different.

The whole thing isn't doom and gloom and life and death. “Negotiation” is a legitimately fun, lilting relationship study with one of the catchiest hooks I've heard in a long time. The album opener and title track, “Regent Street” is, as the kids say, a bop. It's dark and fun and bouncy as hell. The album ends with the straight-forward and desperately needed anthemic plea for gun control in the U.S. “Take The Guns Away.” At first it seems like a strange choice as the song appears after the aforementioned “One Song,” which is probably the greatest closing song of all-time, even while decidedly not closing Regent Street. But it makes sense knowing the song was added at the last minute, because as always, Bern is always paying close attention to the country he clearly loves, and needed to tackle this never-ending crisis urgently and directly. A final example of the deep, capital-L Love that drives Regent Street.

Recommended listening if you need a jolt in the heart, wrapped up in very pleasant melodies and other ear feels. Give it a buy at danbern.com or a stream (and then a buy) on bandcamp.

Pierre Stemmett - Float EP (Review)

Pierre Stemmett – Float EP (Review)

Pierre Stemmett manages to hit a shocking number of musical spots on the aptly titled Float – a four-song collection of deeply contemplative and emotional tracks that gently winds and seeps its way into your ears. Undoubtedly headphone/empty (Or at least single-occupied) room music, mired in youthful heartbreak but brimming with introspection that belies Stemmett's youth, Float does flash moments that would fit perfectly in a downtempo DJ set or a smaller house party. It's the difference between the aching lilting chords of “Sleep Walking” and the deep, droning bass of “Blur” with its gently plucked strings and hard-driving bars courtesy of fellow South African Kearne Dragon. Both songs are dripping with the aforementioned heartbreak and longing – the dominating feelings permeating the EP front to back. Stemmett's delicate, emotive voice cries “I know you hate me, but I love you/I wish I could do this without you” in between surprisingly disarming (and appropriately emotional) rapid-fire raps on the seriously big “Head Space” – it's a moment that proves how starkly naked Stemmett can be about his feelings, a trait that continues to set his music apart from stuff that may be sonically similar. The title track “Float” sets the space with its atmospheric, almost anti-gravitational feeling, untethered to almost anything beyond Stemmett's attention-demanding voice. Like any good EP, Float is a cohesive musical idea, completely filler-free and leaving the listener craving more of the sonic vision. Highly recommended listening. (Independent)

Chali 2na & The House of Vibe, The Gaff - 09.02.19 - Capital Ballroom, Victoria, BC

Chali 2na & The House of Vibe, The Gaff – 09.02.19 – Capital Ballroom, Victoria, BC

Yo, Canada, can we just give Chali 2na honorary citizenship already? The hip-hop legend (Both with a spray can and on the mic) is basically family now here on the Canadian West Coast and Saturday night at Capital Ballroom in Victoria, Chali 2na and his incredible band, The House of Vibe, showed yet again why he's a mainstay in people listening diets...and judging from the reception he and the band received for 2+ hours, a mainstay in peoples' hearts.

The band, one of the tightest (But somehow ephemerally loose at the same time) bands around, The House of Vibe held things down with ease as they helped 2na run through a career-spanning set that touched on two-plus decades of Chali's world class hip-hop. Loose and relaxed, the band was smiling as much as the man himself (Which is A LOT) during the set as they flexed their considerably funky muscles from beginning to end. Every time I see these cats play (I've seen them more than a dozen times now), I always think at least once in the night, “Man, Anthony (Brewster) is fucking sick. I know he gets some spotlight every set, but I really wanna see him do an opening set or something one of these times.” And then, this past Saturday, as I'm thinking that very thought, the band launches into an extended medley with Anthony front and centre rocking “Get Up, Stand Up” and “Smoke Two Joints.” Note to the House of Vibe for next time: Loved that, more of that please. As great of a band as the House of Vibe is, Chali 2na is the guy that makes the motor move.

Just know Chali from Jurassic 5? Well, he's gonna play a few songs to cover you. Know him from his more recent work with The Funk Hunters and Westwood Recordings (Like his recently released beast of an EP Instrumentality)? He's got you covered. Know Chali from his (I'm calling it here) timeless hip-hop masterpiece, Fish Outta Water? He's got you covered there as well. In fact, no matter how many times I've seen the songs from F.O.W. I'm still amazed at how big they hit in the live setting. Whether it's the hard-hitting “Guns Up” or the tender, contemplative “Righteous Way,” or the downright grimy “So Crazy,” the songs on that landmark album are captivating. They are a part of my musical make-up now. I could honestly watch Chali and the House of Vibe just play that album once a year for the rest of my life and I'd be a happy human. Thankfully though, Chali is straight-up relentless in his output and is always creating new music and new art. The thoughtful and sublime “Blue Marble” from Instrumentality was a track that I originally glossed over, but in a live setting, whooooa boy, that struck deep. As 2na continues to add music to his repertoire, his sets just get longer, adding new stuff into the mix while not taking old staples out. It's a good choice because honestly, is there such a thing as too much Chali 2na? After more than two hours of grooving and smiling, I think a packed Capital Ballroom would answer that with a resounding “No. No, there is never too much 2na.” Another west-coast success for the immortal 2na fish.

Alright, I'd be remiss in writing this little review without mentioning the groovy stylings of one of the smoothers operators in the DJ game, The Gaff. Getting things started on a rare snowy night in Victoria is never an easy thing and I was one of only a handful of people there when Gaff took his place behind the decks, but he did the thing and gave zero fucks how many people were there, going in straight away with the goods. At one point my brother asked me, “So, Gaff is a scratch guy right?” A moment later Gaff was scratching up a storm, as he does, and my brother was in. That's a win on a dude notoriously iffy on the whole DJ thing. And apparently, his main turntable (The left, because he's a lefty) stopped reading Serato 10 minutes into his set so he had to dig into his apparently vast improvisation skills to make that shit go- The mark of a true master. By the time he finished his set the room was packed and sweaty, all lubed up and ready for Chali & The House of Vibe to do their thing. Good snap.