ANDY ELLIS — SENIOR EDITOR
Exit 16
Loud, soulful, funky, hands-down cosmic steel guitar. As a member of the Lee Boys, Collier came up through the sacred steel tradition, so his lines and riffs are deeply rooted in African-American Pentecostal music. Essentially, he’s testifying with his lap and pedal steels. Instead of the clean, often carefully manicured tones favored by traditional country steelers, on this all-instrumental debut Collier uses searing, overdriven sounds to deliver his blistering, yet rhythmically nuanced phrases. Be forewarned: You can’t sit still listening to Exit 16.
Rock Bottom
Landau continues to have a stellar studio and solo career, but it was his bands Burning Water and Raging Honkies that kicked my butt in the ’90s—just when it needed kicking. On Rock Bottom, Landau reunites with Burning Water’s lead singer, David Frazee, and the results are epic. You can sense Hendrix lurking in the shadows, but Landau is always original in his approach to Strat-o-spherical tone. I’ve spent many nights this year in a large open room blasting Rock Bottom through an old-school Pioneer stereo amp and vintage Klipsch Heresy speakers. Sonic nirvana.
Music IS
If we could translate fractal images into solo guitar, I believe it would sound like Music IS. “Infinitely complex patterns that are self-similar across different scales.” Check. “Crystal growth, fluid turbulence, and galaxy formation.” Check. Armed with simple tools—a few guitars, a few pedals and amps, and a multi-track recorder—Frisell takes us on an intimate journey through the code that underlies jazz, classical, folk, roots, and rock guitar. Blending impressionistic harmony, gospel progressions, dirty thrumming tones, outer-space beeps and howls, tinkling harmonics, sultry blues licks, bubbling robotic sounds, and—above all—masterful counterpoint, the 67-year-old 6-string sensei reveals what’s right at our fingertips, waiting to be discovered.
Most-anticipated 2019 releases: Tedeschi Trucks Band’s Signs, the next album by oud virtuoso Joseph Tawadros, and anything with Ben Harper.
Wish list: Bruce Cockburn, Jeff Beck.
Michael Landau recorded Rock Bottom on analog tape and then finished it with digital software. “I mixed the record on an API console and kept it as big, open, and natural sounding as I could,” he says.
“I’ve been playing mostly instrumental music for the past 10 years, and out of nowhere I woke up one morning with the strong urge to play some hard-edged music with vocals," Landau explains. The song premiering here, “One Tear Away,” is a slow-building tune with a smoky vibe and tasteful, subtle runs. It was written with Landau’s longtime friend and collaborator, David Frazee.
“I was very happy to reunite with my old pal David on this new record,” Landau says. “David was the singer in our band Burning Water back in the ’90s, and is such a strong voice and a very interesting songwriter. David wrote the lyrics and melody on ‘One Tear Away.’ It’s got a very haunting feel.”
In addition to Frazee, the rest of the band who joined Landau in the studio included his brother Teddy Landau on bass, Larry Goldings on organ, and Alan Hertz behind the drum kit.
Besides sharing his gifted prowess on the guitar, Landau sends a message of hope in dark times throughout the record. On "One Tear Away," Frazee propels that sentiment with his vocal and lyrical contribution. “They’re an urging to not give up on living, an encouragement to acknowledge and heal the wounds within and free ourselves from self-judgments about being human,” Frazee says.
Michael Landau currently favors Fender Strats with dual humbuckers. He also has a signature Fender amp that’s a modified version of the Hot Rod DeVille III, and Suhr made him signature single-coil pickups. Photo by Austin Hargrave
“I recommend listening to it with a hot cup of green tea, or perhaps eight Guinness beers, or any other drug of your preference," Landau added. "Or maybe just let the music be the drug?"
In addition to our exclusive premiere of “One Tear Away,” check out Landau’s first single, “We’re Alright,” below. Rock Bottom is set for release on February 23.