Ray of Sunshine, by Average Joe
Like its name suggests, Ray of Sunshine is an upbeat and warm collection of songs. The opening/title track — an instrumental duet of Wurlitzer and crackling percussion — sets a kind of blue-eyed soul groove that is not really felt again on the 3-song play list. But that lead-off isn’t exactly out of step with album, either. Sunshine pays homage to a number of vintage sounds and styles from ragtime to old time. Composer and vocalist Joe Dinwiddie, the band’s namesake, plays banjo on most tracks and his style seems more informed by depression and jazz-era influences than by mountain music. “Ain’t She Sweet,” with a charmingly vintage-sounding vocal by Sally Gordon, has a perfect Prohibition-time swing. Not that Dinwiddie can’t pick a tune: Traditionals “Cluck Ol’ Hen” and “Cumberland Gap” are both nimble banjo solos. Dinwiddie proves himself an able hand at arrangements, too, adding new words to “Brew Down the Barley” (one of the only minor-key moments on the album) and gives Dylan’s “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” a lanky, speakeasy makeover. Interspersed throughout the track list are Dinwiddie’s original compositions, like the rollicking, Professor Longhair-reminiscent piano song “Havana Nice Day” and the thumping, resonant, Asheville-appropriate “Biodynamic Woman.” From start to finish the album is polished and light-hearted, clever and brimming with retro charm.
Natural Selections, Vol. 1, various artists
“On November 13, the boutique record label issued its first CD release, Natural Selections: Sounds of Asheville’s Indie Underground, a compilation of local/regional punk and alternative bands,” writes newly-formed label Umbrella Tree Records. The 15-track collection includes songs by Pallas Cats, Grammer School, Forty Furies, Solito, The Machiavillains, Balloon Wars, The Spandrels and Muckrakers. Set up kind of like a showcase, each band plays two songs (except Muckrackers who just play one) back-to-back. Consider it a sampler. Styles range from the melodic drive of Pallas Cats’ “LeBaron” and the orchestrated (and surprisingly jazzy!) discordance of Machiavillains’ “Tirades Injustice” to the darkly pretty “Fire in the Sky” by Balloon Wars and the inventive, minimalist, three-part spoken-word-meets-song of The Spandrels’ “Toms and Queens.” All worth a listen.
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