Four local summer releases

-- Bob Longmore

With a long hot summer winding to an end and another school year starting, I thought I would catch up on some local releases. As a fan of local music, I know it is impossible to keep up on everything the rich music scene of the Twin Cities produces, but here are some albums that caught my attention.

Tim O’Reagan – Self Titled

How does an artist that has played only a handful of barely-advertised shows get the opportunity to release his debut album on the nationally respected alt-country label, Lost Highway, and command praise from critics and fans alike from coast to coast? Well it helps if you happen to be a member of the seminal alt-country band, The Jayhawks.

Pedigree aside, O’Reagan’s music is good enough to stand on its own. Some giant melodies and straightforward riffs help define the sound of his self-titled album. Musically somewhere between the pop of the Beatles and the twang of his former band, O’Reagan doesn’t break any new ground on the album, but does dance happily on the well-worn alt-country landscape in which he treads.

I hope that he will give us local fans a chance to see him perform live.

The Mad Ripple – Sink and/or Swim

I am not saying that every music writer in this town is in love with Jim Walsh, but most of the ones I know are. This former Pioneer Press music writer and current City Pages columnist picked up his guitar again after a twenty-year hiatus and released a record under the name, The Mad Ripple.

What draws people to Walsh’s writing (or drives them away) is his willingness to write from a different place than most. Instead of the detachment that many music writers seem to have, Walsh is never afraid to put his heart on his sleeve and write about the emotional impact that music has on his or other people’s lives.

This same emotional recklessness found in Walsh’s printed words is found in his songs. Walsh got plenty of help from local musicians, including the Jayhawks’ Marc Perlman, The Gleam, Walsh’s brothers—even his own kids. The songs range from quietly strummed indie-folk songs like "Now It’s June" to the semi-electronica "Post-War." Sink and/or Swim is a schizophrenic listen from beginning-to-end, but it is an enjoyable listen. The only real misstep is the six-minute “Fixthebroke,” which is a repetitive electronic beat that never manages to convey any emotion but only to drive the listener a bit batty.

Duplomacy – All These Long Drives

The production on All These Long Drives is just as important as the songs are to the album. Singer Andy Flynn’s intimate three-minute confessions contain a universe of emotion, which are amplified by perfectly beautiful shimmering guitars.

These power-pop songs are intense. The band packs layers of instrumentation into each song, but is amazingly able to keep the music sounding fresh and free flowing. Flynn spends most of the album walking the line between a smoker’s falsetto and whispering squeals, often layering the vocals, creating ghostly echoes of the sometimes cryptic lyrics.

Mason Jennings – Boneclouds

It’s hard not to root for Mason Jennings. The local singer/songwriter has built his own national following the old-fashioned way: Touring constantly. After releasing five albums through his own label, Boneclouds is the first major label release for Jennings.

Having signed with Epic Records, Jennings was afforded the resources to take his time in the studio and it shows. Songs like "Gentlest Hammer" and "Where the Sun Had Been" sound like manufactured studio creations, which betrays Jennings’ intimate style and somehow sound forced. When Jennings strips the effects down and returns to his relaxed style, like on "Moon Sailing on the Water," he displays the understated guitar and his unique voice for which he has become known.

With this major label release came major label expectations. Jennings fails to capture his talent truly on the record though. I have been waiting for Jennings to fulfill the promise of his early albums, but somehow he just keeps missing it.