The liberating thing about music is that it doesn’t really have any definition. From things as genteel as a woman cooing into a microphone, backed by gently strummed acoustic guitar, to blood running down the aisles as a disheveled guitarist tries to disembowel everything he sees, it’s all music.
By someone’s definition.
But rock ‘n’ roll is a whole ‘nother thang, something that, as Justice Potter Stewart said of pornography, “I’ll know it when I see it.”
Is it the sound of freedom — from rules and constraints of any kind? Is it the sound of fun? Here’s a batch of pure-as-it-comes rock. These are all albums, but this music is out there in the download world for folks who shun bricks ‘n’ mortar establishments.
* Coliseum, “Coliseum” (Level Plane)
Some might think that rock ‘n’ roll is big, dumb and snotty, like that kid who plays pranks on people, then snickers at the resultant pratfalls. Sure. Why not? This delirious bout of three-chord monte dances on the knife edge of dissonance, up-tempo beats being kicked at by a vocalist whose cords have been ruined and now can only offer a guttural, angry howl. It’s loud and fast, but it isn’t punk. Not quite. But it is a lot of fun.
* Shanna Kiel, “Orphan” (Thick)
So what if, instead of Nirvana-esque gravel, Courtney Love’s Hole had a punk/pop edge, sort of like the Go-Gos from that alley on the wrong side of the tracks? We’d call Shanna Kiel a knockoff artist. But Hole is what it is, so let’s call Kiel a goddess. Yes, she sounds like Hole sometimes — snotty voice, gritty snarl. But you never got the sense that Love felt it. Kiel does, or she’s the greatest faker in rock history. The acoustic intro to this disc’s opener, “Prayer to Persephone,” has an impatience that makes its status as Arty Interlude clear.
* MoHa!, “Raus Aus Stavanger” (Rune Gramofon)
Norwegian duo Anders Hana (guitar) and Morten Olsen (percussion), pound out improvised rock chock-full of grace, dexterity and power. It’s instrumental, so lyrics devotees should proceed with caution. Imagine a guitarist turned up all the way, playing his hands off through a world of genres from jazz to metal, as a drummer goes crazy behind him. It’s a Jimi Hendrix/Art Blakey jam session, with no overdubs.
* Defunkt, “Thermonuclear Sweat” (Hannibal)
Avoid the funk/But the funk’s gonna get ‘cha, anyway. Defunkt was the brainchild of trombonist Joe Bowie (brother of AACM’s Lester), and an ensemble that lays down piping-hot, danceable, forward-looking jazz/funk. Defunkt’s warp-speed cover of “Money” by the O’Jays is brilliant, and the funk bust-up “Ooh, Baby” is both song title and lyric. Oh, and Living Colour icon Vernon Reid is on guitar.
* Converge, “You Fail Me” (Epitaph)
Fans of Deadguy, that great, caustic mid-’90s East Coast rock combo, will love Converge, who believe that barbed wire makes a great substitute for a cotton swab. High-minded lyrics and a drummer who doesn’t as much play as he grenades his kit. Vocalist Nate Newton sings: I need you to be as fearless as new mothers and new fathers/I need you to be the hope of hearts who lost their true love. Inspired yet? Good. Turn it up.
* Lucinda Williams, “Car Wheels On a Gravel Road” (Mercury/Lost Highway)
Yeah, she has a new record out. It’s no match for this one, in deluxe, two-disc, new-and-improved form. All the strengths of the 1998 original are there, plus a bonus: a live recording from a 1998 singer-songwriter festival. Don’t know who followed her on that bill, but they probably just went home. Folk? If you say so. But don’t let the acoustic guitar fool you — this is rock ‘n’ roll at its most majestic, courtesy of a voice that shimmers, growls and trembles, singing power-packed songs.
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kmwilliams@tribune.com
