Storytelling poetry in song

Dust Bowl
Howe Gelb
8-out-of-10

I think the purpose of music is often lost with us. Hooks and beats often overpower a meaningful message. Unfortunately for most, their song and their words just won't reach the audience they deserve. So, I'm going to shine a light on Howe Gelb, an honest, hardworking folk singer you should know about.

His decades' long career has produced dozens of records under a handful of projects. Gelb is as prolific and talented as they come, merging styles and coming away with something original, yet familiar, that works in all the right ways.

Dust Bowl is a collection of poignant, gritty, and truthful Americana songs recorded in Gelb's home in Tucson, Arizona. Ripe with rich storytelling, and a tasteful disregard for perfect production, this album speaks to the poet in all of us. Switching between loose guitar riffs, plucked banjo, and a lazy piano, Gelb plays with a calm and cool demeanor. Lyrically, the album is a mix between easy singing and near talking. Gelb's rough and deep voice quietly speaks of politics, life's storms, and real life troubles. He also throws in a few tongue-in-cheek tunes such as "John Deere", about a neighbour's stolen tractor.

Dust Bowl is a beautiful record that's rough around the edges and strong where it counts. Gelb's honest and simple song writing style meshes perfectly with the laid back music of the record, and creates an easy to digest collection of tracks.

-SEAN CRAIB-PETKAU

Illumination Ritual
The Appleseed Cast
7-out-of-10

Experimental, post-rockers, The Appleseed Cast, bring melodic rock to the foreground of their sound. Their latest release Illumination Ritual is a blurry ride through some haunted grounds. The album is thick and juicy, there's a lot to digest here. The complex and climbing guitar riffs surround busy drums and droning keys.

Illumination Ritual is largely about the instrumentals. These parts are so interesting that I just can't get enough. The band keeps the pace up, taking punk influence and mixing in a lot of shoe-gaze flavour. They also manage to jam a lot of elements into songs of reasonable length. This kept me from getting bored and skipping songs, which is a huge plus. The technical drumming style and great guitar melodics really sell the album.

There isn't much here, though, that sets them apart from similar acts. I found the album to be a great listen, albeit nothing extraordinary. The faster tempos and energy are a nice change from the norm, though.

-SEAN CRAIB-PETKAU