George Taylor – Rain or Shine | Album Review

After experiencing wave after wave of mushy pop music that came out of the same mold, it is refreshing to hear a complete album of Americana that is full of great stories and distinct music. That is exactly what George Taylor delivers with his sophomore disc, Rain or Shine.

George is a Virginian blues musician that took a three year trip to Austin Texas and a tour through the Mississippi River Delta to discover his own blues sound, and it turns out that there is a lot of country music in him that is looking for a way to get out. The ten original tracks (all written by Taylor) are definitely blues based, but his rock, roots and country influences give these songs a vibe that is all his own.

Taylor recorded this album at Shine Music in Austin, and he took on the vocals, harmonica, and much of the guitar work. He was joined by Blake Lange on drums, Cody Ground behind the keyboards, and Jerry Reynolds on fiddle. Justin Douglas co-produced this project with George, and handled the engineering, mixing and mastering chores, as well as playing the bass, lap steel and dobro, and laying down the backing vocals. He is a busy guy!

Rain or Shine kicks off with “Goodnight” and the fiddle and harmonica combine with his tenor twang and spoken word interludes to give it a fun acoustic country feel. This song sets the listeners’ expectations high as the lyrics are very well crafted, and Taylor keeps up this standard for the next nine tracks with some excellent songs of love, loss and hitting the road.

”What am I Gonna Say” is George’s take on a murder ballad, this time with the theme of a weekend fling in Mexico gone horribly wrong -- hopefully this is not a true story. This is the most raw track on the album, with just Taylor, his acoustic guitar and gritty lyrics galore.

There are plenty of genres to be found here, including the jaunty electric piece, “Breakin’ in Boots,” which has a catchy chorus and almost enough fuzzy guitar to make any rocker happy. But the standout track from this set is “Only Blue” which has a unique Deltq/country/zydeco feel with just the right amount sweet pedal steel and raunchy harmonica lines.

All too soon, the album draws to a close with “Seat with Your Name,” a subtle ballad with sweet harmonica and tastefully restrained guitar picking. Cody Ground’s lovely piano work completes the picture as Taylor shares a bit of his personal faith: “I know a place we all need to go,
where there’s pearly gates and roads paved with gold,
and getting there’s easy and it frees you of shame.”

George Taylor’s Rain or Shine is a solid album of original American music with ten tracks that all deliver the goods. It is worth your time to give it a listen on his website at www.georgetaylormusic.com , and then do a quick search on Amazon, iTunes or CDbaby if you are interested in picking up a copy (vinyl available!) for yourself.

Thank you!

George Taylor – Rain or Shine

Self Release

www.georgetaylormusic.com

10 tracks / 41:16

The Deftones: Diamond Eyes | Album Review

Hello!

The Deftones Saturday Night Wrist album from 2006 introduced a new sound for the band, and was their best album to date. In May, the band released their sixth album, Diamond Eyes, which is an even better album.

The Deftones, based out of Sacramento, have been cranking out hard-edged alternative music since 1988. There was a pretty long gap between Saturday Night Wrist and Diamond Eyes, due to serious injuries to their bassist, Chi Cheng. He is still recovering from an automobile accident and did not participate in making their latest album (or supporting tour).

Diamond Eyes was released on May 4, 2010, which was two weeks earlier than planned, probably because the entire album had already been leaked out onto the internet. The band’s line-up was the same, except that Sergio Vega (formerly of Quicksand) played bass.

As I said, this is a fantastic album. Listeners will do themselves a disservice if they go to iTunes and cherry-pick a few songs. This is not the product of today’s typical one-hit wonder band. Diamond Eyes is very well-crafted and the unification/integration of the songs is something that is hard to find from any artist.

The Deftones’ music is still as heavy, perverted and violent as it has always been, but their most current albums have been increasingly melodic and (dare I say) hopeful. Perhaps the best way I can put it is that their sound has matured since the angrier White Pony years. The first track on the album (also titled Diamond Eyes) is the one that most obviously combines these two diverse themes: both heaviness and new-found sensitivity. The remainder of the songs waver back and forth between these two extremes. Pulling this off would be impossible without the genius of producer Nick Raskulinecz (Rush, Coheed and Cambria, Foo Fighters, Danzig, Marilyn Manson, Velvet Revolver). Of course, the musicians had to pull their weight too.

Frank Delgado’s synthesizer work sets the mood for the whole album. The synths are not overdone, and sometimes are quite simple, almost like special effects in a movie. They really help to combine the tracks into a unified theme.

The rhythms of Sergio Vega and drummer Abe Cunningham are about as good as it gets. On the first listen they seem very loose, but if you listen closer, they are super tight with each other. Their pinnacle on Diamond Eyes is "You've Seen the Butcher", which is some of smoothest metal you will find.

Stephen Carpenter’s guitar riffs are probably the most diverse stylistic elements of the album. He is a metal god, and can groove like a madman. He also has the ability to pull off some amazingly melodic lines, like you will find in "Sextape".

Chino Moreno’s vocals are not as brilliant as they were on the manic White Pony album, but he still has a lot of chops. His efforts on Diamond Eyes range from the subdued "Beauty School" to falsetto on “976-EVIL” to outright howling on "You've Seen the Butcher". None of the tracks would have been special without his input. Imagine Tool without Maynard, if you will.

Anyway, these guys pulled it off again. It is hard to outdo yourself, and the Deftones have done it twice in a row. Head on over to iTunes and download Diamond Eyes. You will not regret it. <>Thank you!

Rex and The Reviews

Hello!

There has been a slight change in my blogging situation, as there are CDs to be reviewed that are stacking around my studio like cordwood, and I am going to have to take a different path to get the word out about all of the great new music out there.

I publish 12 blog posts per month on Rex and the Bass and limit the content to two album reviews per month, so it will take me a lifetime to work these in. The most logical thing to do is to launch another blog: Rex and the Reviews. This site will join my music blog and my instructional design blog, so nothing will be going away – there will just be a little more of me out there.

The music that I will be reviewing comes from bands and promoters, and I will give a brief and honest assessment of each so that my readers will have an idea of what they will be getting if they decide to make a purchase. I am a reviewer, not a critic, meaning that I am not a judge.

I hope you will support this new blog, and appreciate it for what it is meant to be. I will leave the comments section open, so feel free to start conversations about what I have said or about your experiences with the music I am listening to. Comments will be moderated, so please be polite.

If you are a musician or promoter, feel free to contact me and we will see about getting you added into the mix. Music is about fun and entertainment, and I am glad to share the good news of whatever you are recording.

Thanks for checking in, and best wishes to you all.

Rex