Review- Chris Robinson Brotherhood/ Phosphorescent Harvest

My copy does not have the oval with logo on it. 

Chris Robinson Brotherhood/ Phosphorescent Harvest (Silver Arrow, 2014)

It seems that if Chris Robinson is not touring (either solo or with The Black Crowes) then he is recording new material. I kid you not, this is the CRB's third LP in just under two years...and that is with this band being mothballed for 2013 while The Black Crowes were reactivated.

This album is a different beast than the two-headed monster that was Big Moon Ritual and The Magic Door. Those were two sides of the same coin, whereas this album is slicker and fresher sounding, easily the most produced thing that Chris has been a part of since Lions. Like the other CRB albums, there are plenty of songs that sink into your brain and sort of stick there. Badlands Here We Come is great. Many of these songs have been road tested over the years.

Phosphorescent Harvest is less rocking and more psychedelic than either of their previous albums, with songs like Clear Blue Sky & The Good Doctor shifting between choruses and quieter interludes. These songs sprawl on album and it will be interesting to see how far off the rails they go live. Tornado is a reworked version of The Black Crowes song, which seems to be something of a trend for this band. Jump The Turnstiles erupts into full blown '70s stadium Rock at around the 5 minute mark. They should have cut that song in half and kept that part for another tune.

The album proper ends with Burn Slow, a melancholy tune clocking in at over seven minutes. I enjoyed the layered sound of this album, as it was a stark contrast to the sweaty vibe of the first two albums. I bought this on CD, and it includes the bonus instrumental track Humboldt Windchimes. Vinyl buyers get this song and one additional song not on the CD or digital versions. The vinyl version has been recalled due to a manufacturing error which resulted in extreme surface noise on the first LP. (It is a 2 LP + 7” w/ 2 bonus track set). The CD comes in a LP-style cardboard sleeve complete with a cardboard inner sleeve and a decal.

The most interesting, and maddening, thing about the packaging is that nowhere on the CD, not on the cover, the spine, the disc, or the inner sleeve is the album title provided. When archaeologists in the 23^rd century are digging through the remnants of civilization and they encounter this CD it will be a source of academic debate as to what to call this album. Kidding aside, this is a great album that has made the world seem right, if only for a bit.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Review- Chris Robinson Brotherhood/ The Magic Door

Chris Robinson Brotherhood/ The Magic Door (Silver Arrow, 2012)

It's only been three months since the CRB's debut album was released, and here we already have another long player in our hands. Crazy. I suspect that they were recorded simultaneously since they have been on the road for months. Still, it's like they kept the better songs for the second album. This one seems to lean a bit more, if that makes any sense. The first album was a tad more mellow, but this one just leans, man.

Vibration & Light Suite is the star of the set, with the greatest organ/keyboard solo this side of Jon Lord. For real. Adam MacDougall is the man. The whole band is flippin' great, though. Tasteful playing, good harmonies, good songs. Like Ragu, it's in there. These cats can't be from this dimension. I bet they travel to gigs in flying saucers or through wormholes.

It was interesting to see reworkings of two previously released Chris Robinson tunes. Someday Past The Sunset was released acoustically on the 2007 Brothers of a Feather live album. Here, it is sped up a little bit and performed with the full band. It feels like a totally different song. Appaloosa was released on The Black Crowes' 2009 double album Before the Frost...Until the Freeze. It seems more melancholy here, maybe due to the more relaxed manner that it is played in. It's still cool regardless.

Like any album that Chris Robinson is involved in, be it The Black Crowes, The New Earth Mud, or this band, a new release is like finding some classic album in a record store that you never knew existed. There is artistic progression from album to album, but it is never done for the sake of modernizing or following trends, which is cool because time stopped in the '70s for me.

On the OCD side of things, I'll discuss the packaging. It is a gatefold cardboard digipak with a sleeve on the CD like one would find on a record. I'm not sure why, but this is totally badass to me and I wish that every band did it because I dig the extra pictures. There is no booklet because all of the information is listed on the jacket and sleeve.

I bought it on CD because I am ahead of the curve retro for 2024. In 12 years everyone will be scouring vintage stores and eBay for CDs because they will be retro. Like someone who was into vinyl circa 1990, I will not listen to the naysayers who tell me to switch formats. I'll be here waiting for y'all to come back to the CD. I'll save you a seat, man.

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Reviews- King Tuff/ King Tuff and Chris Robinson Brotherhood/ Big Moon Ritual

King Tuff/ King Tuff (Sub Pop, 2012)

Imagine if Marc Bolan didn't die, but instead went into a cryogenic stasis chamber at the behest of space aliens until the world had need of him again. The people of the 21^st century need T. Rex, even if they don't realize it yet. King Tuff would be the mutant offspring of Marc Bolan spliced with Sky Saxon's DNA by space aliens, answering the call with big, throbbing songs and quieter interludes. Anthem is crazy catchy, and sticks with me as I walk my beat. Drum beats and guitar riffs alone do not stick in my skull, but melody on top of them does.

Stranger is another one that haunts my dreams and waking moments alike. Stupid Superstar is another groovy tune, but it's Evergreen that impresses me more. It sounds like Donovan or something...very cool. This album is carefully balanced between rocking and crooning, all to great effect. This album has so many great moments to it that I could sit here all day and do this...but I won't.

On the packaging side of things: I bought this on CD (yes, I am a square that still buys those), and it comes in a gatefold digipak. There isn't a booklet, but a set of cards, one for each song. Very cool. Another nice touch is that the CD is in a cardboard record sleeve, which is good because you have to slide it into the jacket, which over time would scratch the disc. I know that packaging is useless to the iPod generation...bite me. 

Chris Robinson Brotherhood/ Big Moon Ritual (Silver Arrow, 2012)

One of my pet peeves about The Black Crowes' live gigs were the long, noodling, endless hippie jams. This album is like a live Crowes show caught on tape, because these are some sprawling, noodly, jammy mothers. In a live setting, I want to rock and loathe jams. On album, though, this is some interesting stuff. Like everything that Chris Robinson has ever been involved in, this has great production. Full bodied, vintage sounding stuff.

Chris' vocals are great as usual, and he harmonizes well with his new band. All of these songs are winners, but if I had to pick one as a favorite, it would be Reflections On A Broken Mirror. Chris Robinson does the people of Earth a service by continuing to make his style of music, free from commercial considerations and selling out.

There are only 7 songs on this album, which clocks in around an hour. The shortest song on the album has a running time of 7:07. The CRB are obviously not interested in radio play, not that the corporate behemoth radio stations would touch anything of this quality anyways. But if they did, they wouldn't have anything to work with, time wise.

My only gripe is that my local indie shop (UHF Records in Royal Oak, MI) didn't get their shipment of the 3-track bonus disc in with their shipment. According to the CRB's Facebook posting, you were supposed to get this free with purchase of the album at an indie shop. Worse still, UHF was listed on their (CRB's) website! Shenanigans!

 

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