A Handful of Reviews By Yours Truly



Damien Rice “9" release date - Nov. 14

This much anticipated follow up to Rice’s very successful debut album, O, is equally as brilliant and defining as its predecessor. 9‘s first single, 9 Crimes, starts the album off with one of the staples of Rice’s music, the softly captivating voice of his longtime vocal partner Lisa Hannigan. The rest of 9 is drenched in the same raw emotion and haunting beauty that has made Rice unique and respected as a singer-songwriter. On a whole the album is heavier than O with the Irishman putting more emphases on electric guitar work and skillful drumming, but still exhibits a passionate and euphonic quality, which is exactly what has always made his songs so beautiful. -Graham Lee Brewer



Eric Clapton and J.J. Cale “The Road to Escondido” release date - Nov. 7

One is a Tulsa blues man, the other is a British guitar legend, and both have admired each other’s music for decades. Clapton has been covering Cale songs for years (such as “After Midnight” and “Cocaine”), sighting him as his biggest influence, and the two have finally paired up for a record. The collaboration is exactly what you would expect from two guitar virtuosos, bluesy and poetic ballads tied together with some of the most incredible and unique guitar riffs. The album is coated in Cale’s viscous rhythm and soulful guitar and is complemented beautifully by Clapton’s presence. This is a great album not just for blues fans, but anyone who appreciates amazing guitar and song writing. -Graham Lee Brewer


Owen “At Home with Owen” release date - Nov. 7

Owen is the humble and stripped down music of Chicago native Mike Kinsella, who is best known for his work in the bands American Football and Joan of Arc. The most impressive aspect of his solo work is that he writes, plays every instrument, records, and mixes all by his lonesome. At Home with Owen is similar to his previous endeavors in that it relies on soft acoustic strums, gentle piano, and somber vocals. While Kinsella is a gifted song writer and this album is beautiful and calming it grows old quickly and lacks originality. Owen is worth checking out if you like the softer side of the indie scene, but this is definitely not Kinsella’s best work. -Graham Lee Brewer

Elliot Smith Lives on



Years after his tragic death, beloved musician and troubadour of melancholic honesty, Elliott Smith reaches out from the great beyond. Much like fellow tortured artist with an equally questionable suicide end, Kurt Cobain, Smith’s legacy is being kept under wraps by his remaining family, but little by little the music makes it’s way into the light. Four previously unheard songs (believed to be from of as many as 50 unreleased tracks that were part of the “From the Basement On The Hill” sessions) have been leaked on the internet and surfaced on a fan website, elliottsmithbsides.com. The songs no doubt would have appeared on the double-disc album that Smith had planned before his death.
Elliottsmithbsides.com offers just about anything that an Elliott Smith fan could ever want to know or hear, including a bio, out of print songs and art, and unreleased demo versions of several songs. But it is the newly added songs that are the gem of the site. The four unheard songs (“True Love,” “Talking to Mary,” “Let’s Turn the Record Over,” and “From a Poison Well”) showcase some beautiful vocals and some of Smith’s best guitar work, as well as his heavy song matter.
Its hard to say why Smith’s family kept these songs from his fans (or how they chose which songs to put on his final album), but an easy assumption is the lyrical content. Like a lot of Smith’s previous work the four unreleased tracks are comprised of painfully honest lyricism. In the song “True Love” Smith sings, "I feel cold, useless and old / Wish I was no one" and later, "Take me out of this place / Take me out, do it today." The song was supposedly produced by musical mastermind Jon Brion, who has worked with, among others, Fiona Apple and Rufus Wainright, and scored several films, including Magnolia, I Heart Huckabees, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
Following his death in 2003 several tribute albums and re-releases of Smith’s music have popped up but the emergence of these four songs is easily the best news regarding Smith in a long time. The loss of such a talented song writer on the up slope of his career was tough news, and we can only hope that more songs will soon follow.

...Trail of Dead














My home-boy Dylan is tour managing for And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead and he hooked me up with Jason Reece (vocals, guitar, drums) and Clay Morris, who is from Norman and playing keys for the tour. The article ran in NONzine.





With the release of their third major label record, Austin, TX avant-rockers, And You Will Know us by the Trail of Dead weren’t trying to make nice with their critics. Instead the Texans did it their way and gave in to the inevitable evolution of their song writing, throwing expectation to the wind. So Divided is a pastiche of several genres and a radical unpredictability. The Sonic Youth references are sure to rain down on Trail of Dead due to the album’s “melting pot” quality. “I really didn’t want every song to sound the same. I had to make a conscious effort to experiment with different ideas and genres,” said vocalist, guitarist, and drummer Jason Reece. “A lot of it came from trying to see whatever crazy shit we could come up with.” So Divided starts off like Trail of Dead albums often do, with an intro track. This one, aptly named “Intro: A Song of Fire and Wine,” consists of the scattered atmosphere of a crowd awaiting a show and leads you into the energetic beginnings of “Stand in Silence.” “The song “Stand In Silence” is that kind of go-for-it rock craziness with some nice orchestral movements,” said Reece, “That one has the best of both worlds.” The album is built on the band’s invigorating courage to approach so many different styles and influences in their song writing. “It’s like we will listen to certain things and they’ll kind of seep their way into what we are doing,” said Reece. Extended bridges and tempo flipping, often powerful transitions bend their way through several songs. Songs like “Life” and “Naked Sun” show off the sultry and bluesy qualities of the rockers music and others like “Eight Day Hell’ are Beatle-esque ballads that force your head to bob. Trail of Dead even throw in a Guided By Voices cover, “Gold Heart Mountain Top Queen Directory.” So Divided is yet another example of how tearing down the norms and conventions of rock can prove to be the formula for making progressive and unique music. The structured chaos of the album is a welcomed separation from what most other rock bands are producing, and even though it’s receiving mixed reviews, is easily one of the band’s most ambitious and defining outputs. The band is currently touring the States with the help of Norman, OK native Clay Morris on keyboards. Fellow Normanite and Trail of Dead tour manager, Dylan Mackey, contacted Clay two weeks before the tour and asked him if he’d would be interested in filling in. “It’s almost unreal sometimes playing in a band like trail of Dead,” said Morris, “I first started listening to Trai of Dead about five years ago. It’s pretty cool to meet some guys whose music I used to own and start playing with them.” After eleven days of crashing at guitarist Kevin Allen’s house and practicing with the band Clay hit the road. “We practiced for about three to five hours a day and then we were off. I’ve gotten to play some amazing places and see cities I’ve never been to,” Morris explained. “We just got done playing the House of Blues in Chicago, and our first show in New York was a sold out crowd of about 1500 people. The most I’ve ever played for is maybe 30 or 40.”

Wanted: Contributors!



The first issue of the independent publication Dylan Mackey and I have been working on, Race Traitor, is slated to be released the first week in February. We are still accepting applications for any type of writing, whether it be fiction, non-fiction, music or art related, poetry, etc. We are also looking for comic strip artists and for artwork for both the cover and inside the magazine. Being indepndent allows us to print whatever we want, don't hold anything back Send em my way! Grahamleebrewer@gmail.com