Music 2023: A Glance Backwards

by

Music Features

In November, I sent the late Lou Reed an email wondering what he thought about the current state of music. So far he hasn’t replied. Did he read it? You tell me. Until Lou chimes in, here’s a bit of what we heard and saw in 2023.

Imagine being handed the key to the vault of an incredible American music library and coming up with a collection of overlooked gems. That is just what Cheryl Pawelwski (sonicrendezvous/cheryl-pawelski) and her label Craft Recordings gave to the world. Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos is seven CDs of demos and cover versions. These crumbs Stax left on the floor would leave most record labels to shame. “It’s Up To You,” a simple vocal and piano demo by Carla Thomas, is soulful simplicity, followed by “Let’s Be Sure.” Had the songs been released as a single, certainly this could have been Exhibit #1 as Stax being the Brill Building of the South.

Years ago, the late Memphis producer Jim Dickinson spoke in hushed tones about a clutch of demos recorded by Sir Mack Rice. Well, here is the rara avis. Judging from this collection Rice and fellow artist Eddie Floyd each deserve their own project. The recordings are often anchored by a drumbeat that could be a rolled-up newspaper smacking a cardboard box yet the songs transcend any lack of production. Rice’s gut-bucket demo of “Respect Yourself” begins and ends with the click of a tape recorder. Homer Banks’ “Grandpa’s Will” straddles the hypnotic sound of north Mississippi hill country blues and foreshadows blaxploitation soundtracks. 

“What Would I Do” by Leon Moore, a rough demo that sounds like gospel territory, opens with the singer vocalizing other musician’s parts. Does the restrained passion suggest another subtext below the surface? With an open mind this song might even connect Chris Bell’s emblematic “There Was a Light” as easily as it could have fit into Alex Chilton’s late-era solo irony free sets. To no one’s surprise Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos has been nominated for a pair of Grammy Awards.

Three discs of uncut songs are the prize in the crackerjacks. Artists effortlessly navigate between relaxed run-throughs—to simply get the song across—to performances that easily could have reached up the charts had they been given airplay. 

Down-home and Outstanding

On the cover of Glass Pastures by Dusk five sixths of the band sport winter caps. Don’t let this common sense, downhome lack of pretension fool you, the album may be the best local release of 2023. Built around piano, pedal steel, ringing guitars and multiple songwriters, Dusk’s sound recalls The Byrds and Canada’s Blue Rodeo. Among the standouts, “Be Nice To Me All Day Long” (youtube.com/watch?v=UQZQPduyCDQ) sounds timeless. 

Deano & Jo (erstwhile Milwaukee musician Dean Schlabowske and Jo Walston), crafted an album of Schlabowske originals and choice covers that recall the days when AM country radio was a melting pot straddling tradition while leaning cautiously into the future, and lousy with duet acts like George & Tammy, Loretta & Faron, Porter & Dolly and Glen and Bobbie. Brimming with honky-tonk shuffles, snappy instrumentation and heartfelt ballads, their duets are a natural blend. “Murline” suggests a Gram and Emmylou outtake (deano-jo).

Chinese Telephones' EP Outta My Hands (chinesetelephones.bandcamp.com/album/outta-my-hands) is a four firecracker shock that hints at record collections boasting The Only Ones, Ramones and The Replacements. High energy music with earworm hooks like “Radianna,” the capper is a cover of the great lost Dictators tune “Loyola.” Bryan Cherry’s EP Focus (focus-by-bryan-cherry) is four slow-burn old school soul-influenced tunes. The smoldering grooves combine with emotional lyrics; “Shake It All Night” is a high point. A multi-tasker, Cherry also released the poetry chapbook death moan. Slim but intense; blood, stars and bees get referenced in the pages as well as his daughter and the late Elliott Smith. 

Daniel Zelonky’s projects from National Recorders never waver in quality or mystery. Unreliable narration at its best or deft homage? With vocals by Gervis Myles, a vinyl 7” on S’plat Records features Suite Crude Revue’s “Cowpoke Detox” referred to as “Spaghetti Jazz Noir theme from the MGM motion picture Dead Man's Hand. Flip side “Blue Ramen #1” is “Back-alley Mancini, Hollywood Samba-theme from the Shochiku motion picture Blue Ramen.” More than pastiche, the cuts are Midwestern cousins to the mighty Daptone Records. Dave Bayles Trio Live at the Uptowner: if you were lucky enough to be in the know, on Tuesdays last winter some great jazz was filling The Uptowner. Drummer Dave Bayles is joined by trumpeter Russ Johnson and bassist Clay Schaub on this document. Composed mostly of original tunes by Johnson and Schaub, the imagination and skill level serves as a reminder that you never know where great music might pop up (davebaylesmusic.bandcamp.com/album/live-at-the-uptowner-2).

Eric Blowtorch released a vinyl 7” in tribute to his late percussive collaborators Rob McCuen and Cecilio Negrón Jr. that includes performances from those key Milwaukee musicians. “Been So Down” nearly jumps from the speakers; the high energy romp features vocals by Blowtorch and Char, propelled by David Wake’s organ and McCuen’s driving drumming. The flipside, Minnie Riperton’s “Seeing You This Way,” is snapshot of optimism with Negrón’s conga groove breakdown and Dan Flynn’s guitar providing energy (been-so-down-bw-seeing-you-this-way-by-char-eric). Dub production, soul touches and lo-fi grooves abound on E.B. Albeit's Wrong Side. The seven song album open.spotify.com/album/7rlvJrf6YZrcJRtyBDkbDh collects Albeit’s eclectic, shifting songwriting with the charm of old-school four track cassette projects. 

Taking the City by Storm

It was a busy 2023 for Clancy Carroll. He was part of the team that made the Milwaukee music documentary Taking the City By Storm (sonicrendezvous/doug-lavalliere-judy-simonds-and-clancy-carroll).  He switched hats to detonate Combustor. Along with drummer Marc Graves and bassist Bobby Mitchell, guitarist-vocalist Carroll was reinvigorated to record a collection of high energy songs that veered from The Ramones to hard rock with a splash of funk (combustors-combustible-rock).

Verdango by Mood Vertigo offered the playful sound of friends offhandedly creating minor masterpieces. With lyrics that may or may not be meant to be taken seriously, the group of Milwaukee music veterans deliver a collection of songs seasoned with arty rock and skewed pop moments (verdango-by-mood-vertigo). Elephonic’s debut combined rock with orchestral sounds. In June songwriter Mike Jarvis sat down for a free range conversation about where he’s been and where he’s headed (sonicrendezvous/mike-jarvis).

Venues

After over two decades of serving up live music and DJs each weekend, Riverwest’s Circle A Café closed up shop. Warwick Seay and Jennifer Mueller offered Alive at Eight shows to newcomers as well as seasoned artists looking for a low-key gig. The rotation of DJs that followed the bands shone a spotlight on some of the finest and weirdest record collections Milwaukee has to offer. Ahead of a final weekend celebration that hosted 48 hours honoring The Velvet Underground, Seay and Mueller spoke about the club’s history (sonicrendezvous/warwick-seay-and-jennifer-mueller-circle-a).

Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” played on the house sound system at the conclusion of the Bitchin Bajas concert at Colectivo’s Back Room. In December The Pabst Theater Group closed the venue and the final concert was a special one (bitchin-bajas-close-out-back-room-at-colectivo). In November The Pabst Theater Group had announced the early 2024 opening of Vivarium, an all-ages club at 1818 N. Farwell Ave. (vivarium-to-open-early-2024). The venue’s calendar lists shows beginning in early February including legendary indie band Luna and several shows co-presented with Cactus Club.

Live Shows

Tilting at windmills seemingly of their own creation, Califone came to Shank Hall on a Monday evening in September to play a set of fractured blues and folk songs that often balanced precariously on a fulcrum of slow-motion collapse or sonic explosion (deconstruction-by-degrees-califone-at-shank-hall). Again on a Monday, this time in March, Os Mutantes, the legendary Brazilian psychedelic-Tropicalia band that began in the late ‘60s, took over Cactus Club (night-of-the-mutants).

Chuck Prophet, John Doe and Peter Case all played stellar concerts at Shank Hall. Prophet’s performance had been rescheduled due to the pandemic and a lymphoma diagnosis—temporary roadblocks as it turned out. With a scorching take on Alex Chilton’s “Bangkok,” Chuck Prophet triumphantly signaled his return (if-at-first-you-dont-chuck-prophet-finally-returns-to-shank). The John Doe Folk Trio wrapped up their tour at Shank Hall with an arresting opening set from Liv Mueller (john-doe-folk-trio-at-shank-hall).

Peter Case offered a master class in how to hold an audience in the palm of your hand. With a catalog of songs that goes back to The Nerves (circa 1974), Case played barrelhouse piano and 12 string acoustic guitar, pitching songs from his new album Doctor Moan (peter-case-goes-west-and-stays-there).

In July, the Harley Homecoming took over Veteran’s Park to host a weekend of big production concerts by The Cult, Joan Jett and Green Day (green-day-lights-up-veterans-park). By the time Foo Fighters took the stage for Saturday’s finale crowd had reached critical mass (foo-fighters-relentlessly-deliver-at-harley-homecoming).

A pair of concerts at the PAC brought world class musicians to Milwaukee. The 11-piece Afro-Cuban All Stars turned the theater into a Havana dance floor(afro-cuban-all-stars-animated-evening). Oud virtuoso Naseer Shamma fronted the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis for a program titled “Middle East Meditations” (middle-east-meets-west-by-way-of-jazz). With Marsalis and Shamma offering brief introductions to Shamma’s tunes, as arranged by various band members, subject matter veered from the Hanging Gardens of Babylon to the vision of a better tomorrow for today’s children to a simple love song.

Yo La Tengo returned to Milwaukee touring the new album This Stupid World. The trio delivered a generous helping of that record over two sets that satisfied fans of the group’s acoustic side as well plenty of noisy, damaged rock and roll (yo-la-tengos-not-so-stupid-concert). With nearly four decades of Yo La Tengo there was no shortage of deep cuts and nods to influences.

On a sweltering August evening The Mekons and The Sadies joined forces at X-Ray Arcade. Backing up Mekons Jon Langford and Sally Timms for the first set, the Sadies returned for another set. With an image of his late brother and bandmate Dallas watching over the band, Travis Good said, “We’re going to dedicate this song and every song to my brother” (the-mekons-and-the-sadies-join-forces-at-x-ray-arcade).

With a three weekend schedule in June and July, Summerfest offered something for everyone. From the sonic barrage of Dinosaur Jr. (dinosaur-jr-briggs-stratton-big-backyard) to the bluegrass evolution of Greensky Bluegrass (greensky-bluegrass-briggs-stratton-big-backyard), from the elevation of Cypress Hill (cypress-hill-stay-elevated-at-bmo-pavilion) to the offhand brilliance of James Hunter (james-hunter-six-miller-lite-oasis-stage), Elvis Costello (elvis-costello-doesnt-miss-the-beat-at-bmo-pavilion), Lyle Lovett (lyle-lovett-and-his-large-band-uline-warehouse-stage and Nick Lowe with Los Straitjackets (nick-lowe-with-los-straitjackets-bmo-pavilion).

Bob Dylan and Nick Cave both played the Riverside Theater. Dylan returned to venue having opened his “Rough and Rowdy Ways Tour” there in early November 2021 (bob-dylan-still-painting-his-masterpiece). Seated at a grand piano and abetted by Radiohead bassist Colin Greenwood, Cave wasn’t the intense and confrontational frontman of The Birthday Party and The Bad Seeds. This was the charming entertainer displaying piano skills and engaging with the audience (nick-cave-at-riverside-theater). Temporarily grounded in a wheelchair, Voot Warnings returned to The Uptowner and resumed his never-ending series of concerts that fall on or near holidays. Backed by drummer Victor Demichei and bassist Jacob Muchin, Warnings’ catalog of characters from his own mother to arrogant former presidents to the Milwaukee Zoo’s famous gorilla Samson.

Keep the Shepherd Free

Support Milwaukee's locally owned free weekly magazine.

LEARN MORE