discovery

Greyscale is a Reno, NV based quintet transplanted from Long Island, NY whose 10-track release presents an intriguing mixed bag of musical styles, with hard and heavy ultimately winning out. Despite the decibel level being tested, these guys are deep-rooted in the dub and drum and bass aspect of music, as most of DISCORD FOR THE DEAD KID’s tracks display an undercurrent of the aforementioned styles. Sounding at times like a cross between Dredg, Nonpoint, and Skindred, tracks like “Get At” and “Searching for Substance” reveal a clash between chugging guitars and groove-laden rhythms, while the dub-esque feel of “New Beat” showcases an adventurous side of the group. For a mix of chunk and funk swung with a ten-ton hammer, Greyscale’s latest disc is as solid as it gets.

www.battlebornrecords.com

Don’t be fooled by the sound of breaking glass in the title song, “Shards,” by rock band, Deep Rising. The second CD by these finalists in the 2004 Long Island Music Festival shows that the songwriting styles of Nick Kerzner and Glenn Burgos “have morphed into one.” Their vocal harmonies, guitar and piano arrangements, and overall production on “Shards” will remind you of the ingenuity of the Beatles. But undercurrents of a mellow Alice in Chains mixed in with the sensitivity of Elliot Smith help keep the sound contemporary. The lyrics of both Burgos and Kerzner focus on honesty, trust, love, betrayal, childhood, and growing up. They know that people want change even when others say “stay the same.” Artists thrive on it -- enter Deep Rising. “Would You Even Listen” opens with acoustic guitars strummed easily. The bass line keeps the melody buoyant. Nary is a syllable wasted by Burgos as the lyrics are pruned perfectly to convey his meaning with clarity and impact.

“Should I tell the story or the fairy tale? Do I let the glory or the truth prevail?” Both “Sheep A-Go-Go” and “Unfamiliar” portray people who yearn for freedom but resist because they are afraid to change. In “Unfamiliar,” Burgos relates the tendency to play it safe even if it means being unhappy. “To live in fear of what’s unfamiliar, You close your eyes so you can’t see …what can be.” In “Kitesfly,” Kerzner demonstrates that we do not have to sacrifice the childlike qualities of hope and imagination upon the altar of adulthood. “When I leave the weight behind, I feel the breeze and then I start to rise. And all the dreams they said would die. They form the wind on which I fly.” Kerzner explores the idea in the song “Autumn” that when life or love reach their full ripeness, they are bound to die or fall from the vine. This in-between time, as the poet Emily Dickinson wrote about, has its own unique power imbued with pain and joy. “No one can stop the violent cold. Today’s ashes feed tomorrow. Sometimes the twilight falls. Before you’ve taken in the day … in autumn.” The songs on “Shards” are nicely embellished by Brian Green on bass and Scott Levy and Heath Cohen on drums, and Kristina Burgos, Christine Chiarelli, and Eric Hayden on group vocals. You can check out more about Deep Rising at

www.deep-rising.com.

The Ytuarte Brothers “East West”consists of 12 songs – the first six written and recorded by Manuel, in New York and the second half written and recorded by Larry in New Mexico. Most of the songs revolve around a similar theme – leaving where you are and hoping where you’ll end up is a much better place – Manuel’s songs are about leaving the East for the West and Larry’s the opposite. The first song of the CD is Manuel’s “Ride that Train” which speaks about heading west, towards “Amarillo, maybe San Antone or Santa Fe.” The instrumentation and production conveys the writers’ feelings precisely where he wants to take you. The listener feels as if they are in the middle of watching an old western movie from the 40’s. “Sarah Carey’ and Winter Times 3” features the warm rich alto vocals of local singer/songwriter Martha Trachtenberg. “Louisiana” is another example of Manuel’s talent for setting the scene for his music. Guest vocalist Laura Hill helps create the “drinking-on-a-porch-swing-on-a-humid-afternoon mood, as she sings with lazy, bluesy vocals “Summer days C’est savoir faire, blue-eyed boys with golden hair in my day dream.” Larry Ytuarte continues the yearn to roam feel of the CD with his first contribution, “Bound for Somewhere” as he sings about a train being “bound for somewhere and somewhere is better than where I’ve been.” Most of his songs were produced with a minimalist vibe to it, recalling Great Depression era
songwriters, like Jack Elliot. Larry is also a good storyteller, as evident in “The Four Horseman” a song about ex-cons carrying out their revenge on the Marshall responsible for them being in jail. The last song, “Notes on a Journey through the Desert at Night”, has the singer lamenting about “Time and Love. Someone says nothing cures like Time and Love” wrapping up the CD suggesting that both time and love are the culprits behind this incessant and constant search for all of their musical journeys.

Both Manuel and Larry are exceptional songwriters. Their CD is definitely not Top 40 material – a BIG plus as far as I’m concerned – because the songs have substance and quality and requires the listener have imagination. I hope there are more CD’s to come from the Ytuarte Brothers.

– Astrid Sutcliff

There really is a difference between playing some blues and being a bluesman. The first group is inspired by and occasionally rises to the plateau of the blues. The second appellation is given to a man whose whole life is blues. It's a name, an honorific and even a tradmark keynoted by a soul owned in entirety by Mother Blues. Mother accompanies that person through every waking hour and even in dreams, totally places their life in a framework and completely makes his music larger, stronger, more forceful, emotional and "authentic" than the musician who merely plays the blues. Few get to that level where Mother Blues owns your soul but Sam Taylor right here on LI is a bluesman. His music is instantly recognizable as different. It's deeper, closer to the bone and, in a word, realer. Recorded live at the 2004 Riverhead Blues Festival, Bluzman Back Home is a triumphant glory worthy of a Caesar, where all of Sam's 50 years of experience, 70years of life stories and the energy of an audience of thousands explodes. The mastery of dynamics, the emotional charge, the impeccable instrumental work and the vocal impact are all together in a package that hits your solar plexus like a runaway train. All of Sam's best songs up to that date are presented with an all-star augmented band of Sam's crack outfit of Gary 'Bigboy' Sellers (G), 'White' Gary Grob (B), Cousin Mario Staiano (D) as well as Danny Kean's sublime keys and Big Al's wailing tenor. The band opens full throttle on "My Imagination". They cruise pedal down through high-powered James Brown funk in "Do You Like It." Sam's crying in his beer, uh, er..., no, he's drinking "Straight Tequila" to get over that woman and Mother is peering right over his shoulder. Hey Sam, is there any other way to drink Tequila?? Big Al boogies through the "Big Buddy Shuffle" with deep grooves and high squeaks while we drop down low and blue into the well. The crowd is carried to ecstasy and Vicki must've been smiling 'cause the prodigal son returned and he did Riverhead proud, reveling in the adulation of many who were not even born when he held court at the Bluebird Lounge. Bluzman-you da bomb. Long live Sam T!!