Music Blogs

Most overused and abused record reviewer words: "bittersweet," "mélange," "seminal," "proto" and "tumescent." Well, that last one is arguable, but you get my drift. Rock criticism falls in a few camps these days, and most of them verbose. You've got your amateurish Pitchfork types spilling 1000 words when 100 will do, too cool for school scenesters at those glossy mags that favor images over content, and then the crumb-slurping rear guard at directionless publications like Harp. Call me conventional, but for pure journalism, give me David Fricke at Rolling Stone or anyone at The New Yorker any day.

Why the big bitch on fellow publications just looking to share the love and spread the music? Let's face it: with the rise of the blogosphere, it seems that the demise of print is in full swing. Bad/pompous/bloated writing and the internet hasten the deadly action. You're reading this, aren't you? Well, aren't you?

The most difficult thing for any artist to achieve is clarity within the smallest amount of words or notes possible. If art is to last, it has to be direct, clear and immediately gut-felt. Richard Strauss's "Also Sprach Zarathustra, op. 30"? You know its thunderous timpani bombs in seconds. Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean"? The glowing groove automatically gives it away. Robert Johnson's haunting "Hell Hound On My Trail"? The shivers running down your spine are evidence of the blues giant's genius. Vibraphonist/composer Mike Mainieri has been writing memorable music for 30 plus years, and he continues his run on Northern Lights, his first solo release in over 10 years.

First as a vibraphonist for hire with Buddy Rich and Wes Montgomery, than as leader of his own jazz supergroup, Steps Ahead (including the late great Michael Brecker), Mike Mainieri pioneered synth-vibes and continues to write glowing, groove heavy jazz. Mainieri's compositions are instantly recognizable for their bittersweet (ouch!) melodies, flowing rhythms and often exotic settings. His 1981 album Wanderlust, which is still painfully out of print and non-reissued on CD, swirled multiple influences and themes, from the brilliant "Bullet Train" to the slo-mo watercolors of "Bamboo." Mainieri has recorded 10 albums as a leader, and Northern Lights, performed by a brilliant European ensemble, ranks among his best.

Recorded in Oslo, Norway, Northern Lights features five new Mainieri compositions; renditions of jazz standards "Naima," "Flamenco Sketches" and "Nature Boy," and a killer arrangement of Bjork's "I've Seen It All' (from the film Dancer In The Dark).

Always a good judge of talent, Mainieri's Norwegian band includes such stars as Nils-Petter Molvaer (trumpet), Bendik Hofseth (saxophones), Bugge Wesseltoft (keyboards), Eivind Aarseth (guitars), Lars Danielsson (acoustic bass), Anders Engen (drums), Jan Bang (sampling), Paolo Vinaccia (percussion) and DJ Strangefruit (turntables).

The band's cover of Miles Davis's "Nature Boy" recalls the old master circa Decoy, muted trumpet and volcanic rumblings creating a dystopian sonic world. "Poochie Pie" lightens the mood, but only subliminally, rat-like rhythms and circling melodies flying like angry wasps. Mainieri's "Vertigo" is coiling and sinewy, a slo mo dreamscape as only he can envisage. "Dance Of Ran" is even more spooky and heraldic, its fog-like pulse seemingly setting the stage for something unknowable.  "Bang" adds much needed funk-isms to the stew, Mainieri's vibes chattering as saxophone and guitar paint romantic missives.

OK, I'm outta here. I'm starting to smell of overwriting and bloated word counts. Be afraid--be very afraid!

"Nature Boy"

"Vertigo"