No 2013 releases below: I'm still mopping up from 2012, and indeed still have a lot more to go -- at least if I had access to the records I've heard about and would like to have heard. I've been scouring year-end lists for prospects, and while I've mostly wound up kissing frogs, one always suspects that there are still gems out there in the hills somewhere, especially among the year's "missing from Rhapsody" list. The following names jump out at me, but they're only a sample:
- Actress: RIP (Honest Jon's)
- Allo Darlin': Europe (Slumberland)
- Khaira Arby: Tchini Tchini (Clermont Music)
- Cooly G: Playin' Me (Hyperdub)
- Don't Talk to the Cops: Let's Quit (Greedhead)
- Brian Eno: Lux (Warp)
- Four Tet: Pink (Text)
- M. Geddes Gengras/Sun Araw/The Congos: FRKWYS, Vol. 9: Icon Give Thank/Icon Eye (RVNG Intl.)
- Mats Gustafsson/Thurston Moore: Play Some Fucking Stooges (Quasi Pop/Dumpster Diving Lab)
- Mary Halvorson Quintet: Bending Bridges (Firehouse 12)
- The Human Hearts: Another (Shrimper)
- Darius Jones Quartet: Book of Mae'bul (Another Kind of Surprise) (AUM Fidelity)
- Peter Karp/Sue Foley: Beyond the Crossroads (Blind Pig)
- LV: Sebenza (Hyperdub)
- Getatchew Merkuria & the Ex & Friends: Y'Anbessaw Tezeta (Terp)
- Moreno and L'Orch First Moja-One: Sister Pili+2 (Sterns)
- Joe Morris/William Parker/Gerald Cleaver: Altitude (AUM Fidelity)
- William Parker Orchestra: Essence of Ellington (AUM Fidelity)
- Public Enemy: The Evil Empire of Everything (Enemy)
- Public Enemy: Most of My Heroes Still Don't Appear on No Stamp (Enemy)
- Rihanna: Unapologetic (Def Jam)
- Royal Band de Thiés: Kadior Demb (Teranga Beat)
- Shackleton: Music for the Quiet Hour/The Drawbar Organ EPs (Woe to the Septic Heart)
- Andy Stott: Luxury Problems (Modern Love)
- Taylor Swift: Red (Big Machine)
- Trio M: The Guest House (Enja/Yellow Bird)
- Voices From the Lake: Voices From the Lake (Prologue)
- David S Ware/Planetary Unknown: Live at Jazzfestival Saalfelden 2011 (AUM Fidelity)
- Wreckless Eric/Amy Rigby: A Working Museum (Southern Domestic)
They mostly come from the finally finished -- or should I say belatedly abandoned? -- metacritic file. I have no idea how many records were released last year -- a few years back 35,000 was a commonly cited number, but as self-releases get ever easier (and cheaper) and downloadables even more so, 50,000 seems not only more likely the case but if anything on the low side. The metacritic file found 6,278 of them on at least one year-end list or prominent review (not counting the 927 reissues/compilationshere).
I suppose one reason why I'm clinging to 2012 is the suspicion that I have no future as a critic. I've been pretty wiped out by the events of the last few weeks, but the writing's long been on the wall. I do still want to collect what I have written and stuff it into a database somewhere. I want to write some software, and I want to write a thing or two about politics. That may not be evident given that every blog post in the last month has been about music, but much of that is on a self-fulfilling schedule -- just enough motivation to keep it happening even when I'm running on empty. One indication may be that there are only 5 new A-list records this month, out of 60 new records, most cherrypicked for their potential, and one of those is effectively a regrade -- the two Burial EPs finally added up to something.
I wanted to revisit a bunch of records I had previously dismissed -- mostly things that Tatum and Christgau endorsed, although my conceptual grudge against Americana was unmovable, and others like Beach House, Death Grips, Azealia Banks, and Skrillex seemed hardly worth the effort. One I replayed and liked even less was Miguel's smash,Kaleidoscope Dream. It wound up 22nd in the metacritic file, but finished 5th in Pazz & Jop. After Obama's re-election may have been the perfect time for a Latino soul man, or at least the idea of one, but like the election it was more form over substance.
Of course, that is in so many ways what music in 2012 added up to. The top two critical acclaims were good records but not that good, and were largely pre-sold on the tails of the previous year's free downloads -- if Time wants a "man of the year," maybe they should seek out Chris Anderson. Go down the list and you'll find much more -- too late for me to try to spell it out, but down c. 40 are two prime examples of form propping up no content whatsoever: Swedish folkie outfit First Aid Kit, the lamest overrated band of the year, and Pogues-never-will-be the Walkmen, easily the worst bar band of the decade. Makes me sad that anyone bothers to listen to them -- one more measure, no doubt, of my failure as a critic.
On the other hand, could it be possible that I'm running out of newly discovered gems because I've alreadyfound them all? At some point I'll dig up what I wrote about each and fill in the blanks, but for now let me note that I've been playing Morrison and Knight a lot lately, and finding a lot more pleasure there than in anything here. This one's for the insatiable.
These are short notes/reviews based on streaming records from Rhapsody. They are snap judgments based on one or two plays, accumulated since my last post along these lines, back on December 28. Past reviews and more information are availablehere (3105 records).
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Oren Ambarchi: Sagittarian Domain (2012, Editions Mego): One cut, 33:35, built on a 4-note guitar-drums figure repeated ad infinitum, with some amplifier noise zooming in and out; could have gone on longer, but with a few minutes left dissolved into some synth ambiance, nice too, especially after the volume peaked.B+(***)
Oren Ambarchi/Robin Fox: Connected (2012, Kranky): Another of at least eight 2012 albums for the Australian guitarist. Fox is another Australian, playing keybs (or electronics), fleshing out the drones and whirls that envelop the guitar and here overwhelm anything that might pass for a beat.B+(*)
Bobby Bare: Darker Than Light (2012, E1/Plowboy): Country singer, past 75 now, had some minor hits after "Detroit City" in 1963 through "Marie Laveau" in 1974 and was pretty much done by 1983, not that he hasn't floated a few comebacks. Covers here, some as trad as "Banks of the Ohio" and "Shenandoah," some as rehacked as Dennis Linde and Alejandro Escovedo, but finds a calling with"Dark as a Dungeon" and pledges allegiance to Woody Guthrie.B+(*)
Han Bennink Trio: Bennink & Co. (2012, ILK): Legendary Dutch percussionist, age 70, credited with drums here but has been known to hit almost anything, here with Simon Toldam on piano and Joachim Badenhorst on various saxes and clarinet. Free jazz which somehow manages to swing and evoke a carnival air, an effect that the clarinet especially brings out.A-
Black Prairie: A Tear in the Eye Is a Wound in the Heart (2012, Sugar Hill): Portland folkie group, started when Decemberists wanted to play dobro and accordion, with Jenny Conlee singing. Pretty lush for folk, especially when they go off on gypsy-ish instrumental larks, although Conlee's voice is always welcome.B+(**)
Burial: Street Halo/Kindred (2011-12 [2012], Hyperdub): Two EPs, previously noted. I tend to give EPs short shrift, so maybe they just ended before I could take them in, or maybe I needed extra plays. The music is sometimes underwater, sometimes just submerged, lots of scratchy noise, the vocals fragmented samples but for once I find them piecing together to form something coherent. Combined they add up to 51:32, substantial enough to settle in with.A-
John Butcher: Bell Trove Spools (2010-11 [2012], Northern Spy): British avant saxophonist, prolific but obscure since 1984, goes solo, with five tracks on tenor and five on soprano.B
Carter Tutti Void: Transverse (2012, Mute): Joint venture by Chris Carter (Throbbing Gristle, Cosey Fanni Tutti) and Nik Void (Factory Flood), 10-minute groove pieces with industrial klang. Rhapsody only has three (of four or five, sources vary), so a hedge is in order, but this is my idea of ear candy.B+(***)
Converge: All We Love We Leave Behind (2012, Epitaph): Boston metalcore group, eighth studio album since 1994, metacritic file shows it edging out Baroness as the top-rated metal album of the year -- although for all such genre items that could just mean that it's the most palatable to the unfaithful. Still, this feels like it's earned its cult status: reckless fast, rarely enough time to build a riff much less a melody, vocals menacingly growled but garbled. Title cut, unusually long at 4:07, almost convinced me, but in the end this, like virtually everything in its universe, is something I never want to hear again.B
Marilyn Crispell/Gerry Hemingway: Affinities (2009-10 [2011], Intakt): Piano-drums duets, half of Anthony Braxton's legendary 1980s quartet, spent a decade together there and never moved far apart. Intense piano runs, then a more delicate stretch with Hemingway on vibes.B+(***)
The dB's: Falling Off the Sky (2012, Bar/None): New wave group from the 1980s, cut two good albums (1981's Stands for Decibels and 1984's Like This and a couple not-so-good ones; now back after twenty years off, sounding off -- not so much that they can't write catchy pap any more as that they can't convince you it matters.B+(*)
Lana Del Rey: Paradise (2012, Interscope): Eight songs, 33:03, one cover (a creepy "Blue Velvet"), somewhere in the gap between EPs and LPs these days, what they called a "mini-album"; never got her shtick, assuming she had one, but there's not a shred of eccentricity in the layered electronica, even though "Body Electric" is more listenable than Weather Report.B
Mac DeMarco: 2 (2012, Captured Tracks): Singer-songwriter from Canada, 22, debuted with two albums this year following a 2009-11 group, Makeout Videotape. Plays a cheap guitar with effects pedals "no serious musician would ever use" -- gives him a guitar sound no serious musician has. Cover pics went glam/goth on his first, folkie here -- I've read that he's more "mature" here, but that's just another of his jokes.B+(*)
Die Enttäuschung: Vier Halbe (2012, Intakt): German pianoless quartet, fronted by Rudi Mahall (bass clarinet, baritone sax) and Axel Dörner (trumpet), backed by Jan Roder (bass) and Uli Jennessen (drums), cut their first album together in 1996 but their most notable one came in 2005 when they picked up pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach and recorded everything Monk ever wrote, spread out on the 3-CD Monk's Casino. No Monk tunes here, but the spirit is very much present, with slippery moves and accents popping up in the oddest places.B+(***)
DIIV: Oshin (2012, Captured Tracks): Brooklyn band, formerly known and still pronounced as Dive, related to Beach Fossils with a drummer from Smith Westerns; guitar rings nicely, undulating for a bit of surf feel.B+(**)
Flying Lotus: Until the Quiet Comes (2012, 4AD): Steven Ellison, laptop producer from Los Angeles, has a hip-hop reputation I can't confirm in this dreamy series of blips and voices, mostly pleasant enough but a couple trigger my classical gag reflex.B+(**) [cd]
Alexander Hawkins Ensemble: All There, Ever Out (2012, Babel): English pianist, plays some organ, group includes cello, marimba, guitar, bass, drums. Disjointed in various interesting ways, especially when it's just piano, but less clear where it's going when the group joins in.B+(**) [bc]
Angel Haze: Reservation (2012, self-released): Raykeea Wilson, from Detroit, barely 21 with four EPs including this alleged one -- at 14 cuts, 55:59, this is substantial enough for meB+(***) [dl]
Holly Herndon: Movement (2012, RVNG Intl.): Discogs calls her a "sound artist currently based in San Francisco." Record has an experimental air, slowing down, stretching out, shrouding the beats with voices.B
Caroline Herring: Camilla (2012, Signature Sounds): Singer-songwriter, girl-with-guitar folkie division, from Mississippi, based in Atlanta, plain-spoken, wryly observant, works lines from "This Land Is Your Land" and "Auld Lang Syne" into songs.B+(*)
Holy Other: Held (2012, Tri Angle): Manchester, UK, DJ, builds a thick atmosphere with slow beats and gloomy backdrops, using choral voices for uplift that doesn't really work.B
How to Dress Well: Total Loss (2012, Acéphale): Second album for Tom Krell under his alias. The synths get this classified as electropop, and his vocals have a bit of soul appeal, but it's all pretty dense and murky -- a Pitchfork reviewer called it "a work of poignant and devastating art," as if that's praise.B
Ben Howard: Every Kingdom (2012, Universal Republic): Brit singer-songwriter, folkie division so he sings and strums, low key in every way, although he develops this luminescent aura around his music -- one analog is under water, like the cover pic shows. Says he learned his craft in the Mecca of English surfer culture.B
Jam City: Classical Curves (2012, Night Slugs): Jack Latham, British producer, likes hard beats with a lot of splash, or at least splatter, more mock horror comix than dance. Similar to Skrillex, which amused me at first, then proved too irritating.B+(**)
Kin: Songs by Mary Karr & Rodney Crowell (2012, Vanguard): Karr has published four volumes of poetry and three memoirs -- the first, at least, a huge bestseller, so presumably she does the words and Crowell the strumming. Crowell also sings four of ten (one feat. Kristofferson), with Vince Gill and the ladies (Norah Jones, Lucinda Williams, Lee Ann Womack, Rosanne Cash, Emmylou Harris) picking up the rest.B+(**)
Lindstrøm: Six Cups of Rebel (2012, Smalltown Supersound): Norwegian techno producer Hans-Peter Lindstrøm, has collaborated with Prins Thomas and more recently with singer Christabelle, here goes on his own, lots of upbeat synths with cartoon voices and other annoyances. B-
Lindstrøm: Smalhans (2012, Smalltown Supersound): This is more like it, chirpy synth dance beats and not much else, a little shift here and there, some bass beats, like that.B+(**)
Lowe Country: The Songs of Nick Lowe (2012, Fiesta Red): Started off in the British country-rock band Brinsley Schwarz, cut a couple extraordinarily amusing albums under his own name, married into the Carter Family with at least one of his songs picked up by paterfamilias Johnny Cash, got divorced, eventually became a dull caricature of himself; Lowe has plenty of songs, but maybe not enough for a country tribute, and in any case these aren't necessarily them, nor are the artists ideal -- exception proving the rule is Hayes Carll, who does hook one ("Living Again If It Kills Me"), while Griffin House rises to the song ("Cracking Up").B
Lupe Fiasco: Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album, Pt. 1 (2012, Atlantic): Fourth album, the title looking back to his initial success, more tacit evidence that not even the artist thought much of the two intervening albums -- which, by the way, I thought were just fine. I don't have a problem here either, just hedging because everyone else has -- and because the singing is a bit over the top.B+(**)
Mika: The Origin of Love (2012, Casablanca): Second greatest pop music icon to discard the given name of Penniman on his way to stardom, not that he's recognized as such in the US -- only major market his three albums have topped the charts in is France, and even there this hasn't gone platinum like Life in Cartoon Motion and The Boy Who Knew Too Much -- the latter soared onto my top ten list. This won't: his occasional hints of maturity inhibit him from reaching for the falsetto (exception: "Stardust"), but despite some philosophizing he still claims, "all I wanna do is make you happy" -- and he succeeds more often than not.A-
Buddy Miller/Jim Lauderdale: Buddy and Jim (2012, New West): I saw Lauderdale open unaccompanied for Lucinda Williams once and the notion that he is hopelessly minor league has stuck. Miller is capable of much more, even (at least in one case) without his better half steering him right, but he is out of ideas here -- a rockabilly song, sure, but "Vampire Girl"?B-
Father John Misty: Fear Fun (2012, Sub Pop): Josh Tillman, drummer in Fleet Foxes, makes his solo move, at least a more oblique one than anything released under J. Tillman. Not much here, the Beach Boys as much a feint as anything else.B
Hudson Mohawke x Lunice: Tnght (2012, Warp, EP): AMG, Discogs, etc., attribute this 5-cut EP to "TNGHT" even though the principals (or at least their usual aliases) are the only other words on the front cover. Even more mysterious is why both (all?) sources transcribe the title "TNGHT" even though the fourth letter is a reversed but unmistakable "N" -- something graphic designers are tempted to do, especially with a palindrome title.B+(*)
Maria Muldaur, et al.: . . . First Came Memphis Minnie (2012, Stony Plain): Originally announced as her 40th album, this got refiled as "various artists" when Bonnie Raitt, Rory Block, and Ruthie Foster butted in, and they picked up tracks from Koko Taylor and Phoebe Snow (hard to say no to "In My Girlish Days"), and besides, Muldaur had already done an album of Memphis Minnie songs -- Richland Woman Blues, her best ever, so why not spread the opportunity around? Still, Muldaur leads off most of these songs, even if she has to share some. But she owns them all.B+(***)
Mungolian Jet Set: Mungodelics (2012, Smalltown Supersound): Norwegian house group led by Pål Nyhus, with roots going back to jazztronica and acid jazz sources like Bugge Wesseltoft; classic-sounding synths on big beats, a delight except when they try to slip in a singer; on the other hand, "The Dark Incal" makes me wonder if I'm selling them short.B+(***)
Meshell Ndegéocello: Pour Une Âme Souveraine: A Dedication to Nina Simone (2012, Naïve): Simone's daughter, so perhaps this tribute was inevitable. The familiar songs mostly show that she doesn't have her mother's pipes, but comparison is beside the point. Just not sure what the point is. B+(*)
Niyaz: Sumud (2012, Six Degrees): Iranian-exile group, led by Montreal-based singer Azam Ali with trad-oriented Loga Ramin Torkian and Carmen Rizzo slipping in the fashionable electronics. Grooveful up front, relaxed by the end.B+(*)
Ondatrópica: Ondatrópica (2012, Soundway): Colombian supergroup, "conceived" by Mario Galeano of Frente Cumbiero, pulls together cumbia traditionalists and modernists and salsaists and reggaetoners and hip-hoppers pulling every which way but never settling for something merely mundane. Also available in a 2CD Deluxe Edition, although I think the single lets you download the surplus.A-
Lindi Ortega: Cigarettes & Truckstops (2012, Last Gang): Canadian singer-songwriter, aims for a country slice of life, hits it sometimes; oddly enough, rockabilly doesn't help.B+(*)
Charlie Peacock: No Man's Land (2012, Twenty Ten): Singer-songwriter from northern California, Charles Ashworth adopted the last name of a jazz bassist, one of many genres he's skirted without falling into. Sweet voice, easy-going soft rock, a little too much aura, but that's his producer's ear, and no less winning.B+(*)
John Pizzarelli: Double Exposure (2012, Telarc): Guitarist-crooner, a bit surprised to see AMG lists 26 albums under his name, the first titled I'm Hip -- Please Don't Tell My Father (1983, his father the still-active swing guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli). His idea of hip never advanced much beyond Cole and Sinatra, even though the songbook here draws mostly from the 1970s -- Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Dicky Betts, Billy Joel, Steely Dan, Doobie Brothers, Seals & Crofts, Elvis Costello, although he also slips in the Beatles, Leiber-Stoller, and "Lush Life." Large enough band with a few twists -- a bit of Brazil, some vocalese, a duet with Jessica Molaskey.B
Plan B: Ill Manors (2012, Atlantic): British MC, grime beats, third album, second movie -- The Defamation of Strickland Banks was the first -- which means plot matters, which means you have to pay attention as opposed to just letting the beats/rhymes do their work, and means you occasionally have to suffer through bits that presumably make more sense in the video context. Still, the music delivers often enough to offset, if not overwhelm, my usual soundtrack disinterest.B+(*)
P.O.S: We Don't Even Live Here (2012, Rhymesayers Entertainment): Minnesota rapper, Stefon Alexander, Doomtree founder, favors drums over sampled beats, giving this a bit of metal and a bit more punk to go with the anarchist rant.B+(*)
Tom Rainey Trio: Camino Cielo Echo (2011 [2012], Intakt): Drummer, best known for his work with Tim Berne, here leading a trio with, as the cover points out, Mary Halvorson (guitar) and Ingrid Laubrock (saxes), their second together.B+(***)
Redd Kross: Researching the Blues (2012, Merge): Another 1980s band, their big albums 1987-90, regroup for their first since 1997. Somewhere between post-punk and pop-metal, the uninteresting metallic crunch occasionally giving way to sickly sweet pop hooks.C+
Rodrigo y Gabriela & C.U.B.A.: Area 52 (2012, ATO): Nuevo flamenco guitar duo, Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero, from Mexico City, have a handful of albums which I imagine are easier going; here they hook up with a 13-piece Cuban big band and run flat out, layering their guitars on montunos and descargas and blasting them with horns, even a bit of Palestinian oud.B+(***)
Roller Trio: Roller Trio (2012, F-ire): English"jazz-rock" group -- James Mainwaring (sax, electronics), Luke Wynter (guitar), Luke Reddin-Williams (drums) -- or so they say. First album, nominated for a Mercury Prize, appeals to the noise interest in rock while keeping the rhythm tight, a combination that could be the hard bop of our time, recognizably jazz but with a populist appeal.B+(***)
Chelle Rose: Ghost of Browder Holler (2012, Lil' Damsel): First album after moving to Nashville in 1996 where she sought out and lost Townes Van Zandt, aims for deep country, dark shadows even where the Lord's light is alleged to reign supreme.B+(**)
Matthew Ryan: In the Dusk of Everything (2012, self-released): Singer-songwriter, has a dozen albums since 1997; first I've heard, but I assume he rocked harder when he was young. This limps along, mostly just guitar with some harmonica between the verses, haunting enough he may be onto something.B+(**)
Irène Schweizer: To Whom It May Concern: Piano Solo Tonhalle Zürich (2011 [2012], Intakt): Swiss pianist, has rivalled Cecil Taylor for brazen explosiveness since the mid-1970s, tones it down a bit here in what would be dense and intense for anyone else.B+(**)
Shovels & Rope: O' Be Joyful (2012, Dualtone): Married singer-songwriter duo from South Carolina, Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst. Just when I'm thinking too much keyb for folk, they pull out the banjos and do a blues as a hoedown, full of twang and sass.B+(*)
Gwilym Simcock/Tim Garland/Asaf Sirkis: Lighthouse (2012, ACT): Just last names on cover, the first two -- piano and saxes, respectively, plus a drummer -- much better known in the UK than over here. I've been impressed, technically at least, by all three in the past, but there's a point where speed turns to clutter, and they pass it too often.B
Chris Smither: Hundred Dollar Valentine (2012, Signature Sounds): Folkie singer-songwriter, has a long list of pretty good albums, fine workmanship, none really compelling, and this is another. One exceptional song, "Make Room for Me," which starts out about global warming and grows from there.B+(*)
Sotho Sounds: Junk Funk (2012, Riverboat): From Lesotho, a mountainous enclave completely surrounded by the Republic of South Africa, very poor, overwhelmingly populated by Sotho, speaking Sesotho. The band crafts their instruments from spare junk, their melodies and chants from old towship jive, the rough edges part of their charm.B+(**)
The Soul Rebels: Unlock Your Mind (2012, Rounder): New Orleans band, heavy on the brass, happy to jump a blues or a pop cover, even one out of their league, like "Living for the City" or"Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)." The rappers are fresher than the singers, and the brass is all section, no stars.B
Todd Terje: It's the Arps (2012, Smalltown Supersound, EP): Norwegian DJ, Terje Olsen, has a couple mix albums and a bunch of EPs and singles, this one 4 cuts, 20:57 (although Rhapsody repeats the last two cuts as one more); with no info, I assume the secret to the sound is old ARP synths -- bright, clean, bubbly, some bass too, good chance even I could dance to it.A-
This One's for Him: A Tribute to Guy Clark (2011, Icehouse, 2CD): With 30 songs/contributors, they didn't turn many away from the door nor did they leave many gems uncovered, but everyone has country-folk-Americana bona fides, and none are out to show up the songwriter, so easy-going professionalism is the rule.B+(***)
Scott Walker: Bish Bosch (2012, 4AD): Originally from Ohio, b. 1943, became some sort of legend in England in the late-1960s, hooking up with John Maus in the Walker Brothers -- his original name was Noel Scott Engel, but as the singer he kept the brand. Mounted a comeback from 1995 on with infrequent, bizarrely praised albums (1999, 2006, and now in 2012). Creepy operatic vocals over drums and synths. People like to quote the line about reeking gonads and shrunken faces, but he lost me at Persia and Thrace. Rare you hear a record and wonder how anyone could stand it. Makes you wonder what horrors the human psyche contains.C-
Matthew E. White: Big Inner (2012, Hometapes): Solo album from Virginia jazz band Fight the Big Bull leader -- not often you find a pop artist touting collaborations with Ken Vandermark and Steven Bernstein ahead of Megafaun and Sharon Van Etten. Still, this shows scant evidence of jazz: maybe a tendency to overarrange behind a voice that always feels underdressed.B
Dwight Yoakam: 3 Pears (2012, Warner Brothers): Country singer-songwriter out of the Bakersfield orbit, after a break of sorts moves on to a rock label and tunes up the drums accordingly, presumably for his arena breakthrough.B+(*)