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/anuaiy' hehruaty. 1979
Ampersand
# J # Vt ♦ • f M I ’ •
ndisc
Joan Armatradino
Jo I hr Limit (A&M)
Armatrading's past four albums have gar
nered considerable critical ac«laim and laid
thr foundation for her growing cull of admit-
rrs. hut none carried the punch and .irmsi-
hi lit \ of 7» the l.imit.
Producer Cilyn Johns provides Limit with
a lean, unimposing tenor, leaving Armat-
rading free to play her music without excess
hat king or distractions. What develops is a
potpourri blending the best of Arni.itrad-
ing’s widespread musings—from ballads to
sial to straight-ahead rock.
()ne of the major blocks in this Knglish
nee West Indian) musician's career has
been her unusual vocal and rhythmic
stylisms. On Limit, it appears that Armat-
rading’s presentation has solidified; the
result is music so infectious that it ha\ to
sound natural.
Like her last two albums. In the Limit will
probably show up on many of the “best ol
the year" charts in major music publica
tions. Before then, it should make a well-
deserved appearance in your record collec -
lion.
Glenn Abel
IIKeltik Ht.KI.lo/
Koval Hunt and Storm from l.r\ 7rayen*
and Suite from Romm el Juliette. Second
Part: Orchestre de Paris, Daniel Harm-
hoitn, conductor t(.olumbia)
Berlioz is a diflicult composer to conduc t.
11 is music is the very quintessence of
romanticism, lush to the point of being
overripe, full of snares for the self-indulgent
conductoi or orchestra. Linger too long on
one passage and Berlioz becomes bathetic;
play him a shade too loud and he liecomcs
bombastic. But perform his music with
restraint, eschewing excess, and it can he
vastly rewarding.
Sometime pianist Daniel Barenboim con
tinues his exploration of the orchestra
repertoire with just enough reserve, holding
hack when others rush forward Hr cim-
ducts in a sty le reminiscent of that most
controlled of Englishmen. Sir Thomas
Beec ham. whose Berlioz a generation ago
was the* model lor everyone. Highly com
mended.
Ed Cray
Cindy Bt i.lkss
Desire Wire (I hi ted Artists)
f inely Bullens has sung backup Ihr Elton
John, done studio work with Boh C’.rewe,
and may have l>een on the Rolling I bunder
tour with Dylan. Sinc e I didn't know this. I
viewed yet another album with a mean-
looking female with an electric guitar in her
hands as more exploitation, hut decided to
listen to it anyway. And. underneath a
brutal sludge of overproduction. I heard a
pretty talented singer/songwriter.
Working in a fairly standaid rock mode,
('indy Bullens writes good, clean, hard-
rocking songs with catchy hooks and okay
lyrics Occasionally, as in ‘High School
History," the 1 lyrics even stand out. hut
more often, as on “Survivor." it’s the
melody that works best. Cnfortunately.
decoding this information from the layers ol
overduhhing limy Bongiovi and Lance
(.hiinu have (toured on her basic tracks isn't
easy, and I'd recommend seeing her in
person over Inlying the record, on the-
hunc h that she's probably got an cc|iially
me an rock and roll band, and on the cer
tainty that no stage I’ve ever seen can hold
as many people as plav chi lie tire Hire.
Ed Ward
Johnny Cash
(ione (tirl K.olumhial
(>ckI bless John Cash. In his own quirky
way. he's keeping country music honest,
(iiven a c hoice between several trends, as
any country performer always is. he seems
to pick the one that hews closest to tradi
tion. He rarely puts out albums of stone
genius f although he sometimes does), hut
he almost always puls out good ones, and
(•one (iirl is one of the better good ones.
The trend he's chosen this time is the one*
exemplified by “Cowboy” Jack Clement, an
old pard from the Sun label days, who just
put out an exceptionally quiet and peaceful
album on Klektra that is characterized by a
loping, insistent heat, kind songs, and
minimal production, that gives us such
goodies he re- as the- title. ‘It’ll Be Her" and
"A Song for the- Life." a Rodney Crowell
tune that shows up yet another thing I love
altout (‘.ash. his ear lor young writers. I'he
rr*^y side we hear on an anq>ed-op version
of “No Expectations" that works against all
odds. And, of course, there’s the clunker
side, with “ I lie- Diplomat.'' yet another
overly-sentimental song about old men and
trains.
I'd even go so far as to say that you don't
have to be a country fan any more to like
John Cash — he’s got most of the singer/
songwriters heat in terms of material and
delivery, and lie's got enough roots that you
feel it when he sings it.
Ed Ward
SIEVE EORBKKT
Alive on Arrival (Semper or)
Steve Korliert looks real young on his allium
cover, like a kid from the slicks on his first
meeting with a big city. Which, apparently
front his lyrics, he is, hut he sings like an old
bum from loin Waits country, only ami Hither,
smooth as hell, and his lyrics In-tray maturity
and wisdom way beyond his naive appear
ance With the expected (iibson acoustic and
harmonica in hand (he plays ImhIi very well),
this 2:i-year-old from Meridian, Mississippi,
has written some killer songs on this lolky
debut.
Like the debut allium from Aztec Two
Step. Korliert combines sardonic wit with
concise vision in songs like “Thinkin' " and
“Big City Cat." while, like Bruce Springsteen,
he combines a keen street awareness and rich
lyricism in “Steve Korbert’s Midsummer
NightVlbasi.” “(Join' Down to Laurel” and
“(tiaud Central Station, Marc h IK. 1977."
The outstanding centerpiece lor the album is
the ballad “|| Isn't Coing lo Be That Way."
where he dumps all his wisdom out in a per
fectly believable “I know what it’s like, kid
. ." tone. Maybe he has seen it all, hut the
difference between him and someone like
him Waits is that Waits is world weary and
dwells on the seamy American underside,
while Forhert has seen it all and has come-
away undisillusioned, the Billy Hudclofrock.
lie is an irresistible hero, and I found myself
wanting him to he okay at the end of the
album And in the end he is okav. too, so I
breathe cl a sigh of relief that he's made it in
the big city. I hen I thought of the future and
hoped he doesn't end up in John Prine’s
society of ic-al good writers who c an't quite-
make themselves noticed by the public. For-
liert. like- Prior, deserves In-tter.
Gilbert Asakawa
(iRvrmi. Dead
Shakedown Street tArnta)
It's too bad. Last year's Terrapin .Station, a
flawed but generally satisfying effort,
seemed to point a new direction for Ameri
ca’s oldest dinosaur band. Pr«*ducrd by
Keith Olsen, the group’s first outside pr»>-
ducer in over a dozen albums, that LP at
least attempted to correct some of the flaws
that have been plaguing the Dead since
their first Acid lest: ragged vocals, endless
guitar doodling and catc h-as-catc h-c an
arrangements. Olsen, whose work on
Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours made him an
exemplary choice to bring the hand to a
wider audience, managed in the main to
keep songs under eight minutes' duration
and off-key struggles to a minimum.
That was last year. Shakedou n .Street, a truly
abysmal album, demonstrates several new
and seemingly insurmountable problems to
replace the old ones. Little Feat’s Lowell
(fcorge. listed as ptoclurci. appears to have
Ih-cii asleep lot much ol the prcM'Ccdings. The
somnambulent quality of Shakedou n Street
seems to suggest that the Dead may have
finally run out of steam. Aside- from a hor
rendous selection ol completely lorgettable
tlines, this album siitlns overmuch from Hob
Weir's (fod's-gift-to-womeii venal style-and a
desperate reliance on the group’s once
famous detuble drummer sound But what
hurts more than the- mangling of the- Rase als
classic “(iood Lovin’." which opens this
De ad on Arrival collci iiem. is that the- re
working of Ne w. New Minglwood Blues" is
cut to rihlions by the- original version from
their first album. The (iratc-ful Dead, with
Shakedou n Stint, are- man liing ImiIcIIv into a
past they can no lotigc-i even find.
Davin Seay
Pah. Hindemith
Concerto for Trumpet. Bassoon, and
String Orchestra Mario (iuarneri. trum
pet; David Breidenthal. bassoon; Los
Angeles Croup for Contemporary Music.
William Kraft, conduc tor il.riutal)
The passage of 20 or 30 years has trans
formed the oner impossibly avant-garde
Hindemith into a composer Inith witty and
accessible, one not all that way out, after all.
Or may lie it is the playing of people such .is
(iuarneri. Breidenthal and their Los Angeles
Philharmonic colleagues, who make it all
seem so—there are a lot of Hindemith re
cords which still sound like knotted
perplexities not worth the effort.
The performances here, and especially
Breidenthal. hi Paul Chihara’s evocative
"The Beauty of the- Rose Is in Its Passing*' on
the flip side-, are engaging examples of small
ensemble playing. This record has all the-
ear marks of a much-loved, much-rehearsed
project.
Ed Cray
Joe "Kim;" and Ft. Moi.ino
(Lis*
What do /«» hepnit\ de lef0\ listen to over a
Iota ol lleua and a IhiIiIc- of rrrtviei? Willie »
Waylon? .Iv. taramhu. no'. That stufl was over
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