Listen Up
August 2007

Bryan Ferry's Expected Unexpected Turn

As much a purveyor of cool as Tom Jones is an ambassador of machismo, Bryan Ferry is an English icon and a true artist. More subtle than Bowie and not as merchandised as Simon Le Bon (who admits to ripping off Ferry at every chance, and who can blame him), Bryan Ferry first propelled Roxy Music to success in the `70's and `80's, intermittently striking out on his own to create recordings that were soulful, seductive and...well...just cool.

On the new disc, Dylanesque, Ferry puts his own spin on eleven Bob Dylan classics beginning with "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" and ending with a Hendrix-y "All Along the Watchtower." A standout track would have to be "Simple Twist of Fate," which becomes a beat-heavy, soulful number contrasted with Dylan's somber original. While "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" has been covered ad nauseam, Ferry's version feels like one of the best ever cut, with his understated tenor leading the way through the gospel-tinged treatment.

This isn't the first time Ferry has paied recorded homage to Dylan over 34 years, but it all feels fresh and inspired, which is really the hallmark of much of Bryan Ferry's wry, visionary work over the decades.

Rush: Dark & Light

Since 1997's tragic events, where Rush drummer/lyricst Neil Peart's daughter and wife passed tragically within less than a year, Rush has become a more raw, straight-to-the-point unit than anyone could have foreseen. With Snakes & Arrows, the Canadian trio mines every dark contemporary headline -- from religious fanaticism to natural disaster -- for any light it might contain.

Songs like "We Hold On" and "Workin' Them Angels" press to find the positive within superstition, fear and pain, while "Bravest Face" and "Good News First" simply keep us in the dark, for better or worse. Actually, the brightest spot on this honest-but-edgy disc is the fact that it contains multiple instrumentals, the best of which is easily "The Main Monkey Business" with its mercurial melody and expansive arrangement remind us of Rush of old.

To say that this is a dark album is to minimize Rush's galactically cool sound on this album, finding its way back to Alex Lifeson's clean-to-scream guitars and Peart's hyperkinetic grooves. If you're looking for a more experimental sound with world-weary, acerbic lyrics, this Rush album must take its place in your CD player, stat.

Michael Pickett divides his time between music and graphic arts. Check out the single, "Beautiful One," from Michael's new album at www.soundclick.com/michaelpickett.

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The North Columbia Monthly provides news, views, humor and a calendar of events for an area that stretches from Nelson in British Columbia south to Spokane in Washington State and covers all points in between. A free (and free-thinking, progressive) magazine, The Monthly is available at several hundred spots throughout the region and now is also available on-line at www.ncmonthly.com. Published once a month since 1994, The Monthly is an independent magazine that often challenges contemporary wisdom by encouraging critical thinking about issues and attitudes in the region and beyond.

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