By Ann Driscoll
Associate Editor

Air Traffic Controller has been packing clubs around Boston with their post-Beatles, pre-Radiohead brand of good ol’ fashion pop/rock. The brainchild of lead singer/songwriter Dave Munro (who was an actual air traffic controller in the U.S. Navy), the group garnered some significant buzz when MTV nominated them for the 2009 Best Breakout Boston Artist Award. Their late-2009 debut LP The One is loaded with the characteristics that make their live shows so engaging: charmingly direct melodies, rousing shout choruses, earnest lyrics, and the vocals of Munro, whose likable yet cynical timbre and well-controlled intonation may qualify him as one of the best male vocalists in Boston. 

Dave Munro of Air Traffic Controller. Photo by Sergei Pyuro

Produced by power-pop purveyor and Berklee alumnus Bleu (who has worked with Jellyfish and Boys Like Girls), The One is graced with a radio-ready sheen, and Bleu brings in heavy background vocals that amplify the Traveling Wilburys influence already apparent in ATC’s repertoire. “Can’t Let Go” boasts enormous amounts of antiphonal background vocals stacked upon themselves with a propulsive snare drum backbeat, much like the Wilburys’ “The End of the Line.”  The album’s catchy stand-out track “You Think You Know” features whirring U2-like lead guitar and more intensely layered, shout-vocals which build the arrangement in unpredictable ways. “Bad Axe, MI” whose chorus shouts “One more song! One more song!” (you can guess where the band places this one in their set-list) features at least 30 vocalists. Dave’s brother Rich drums with muscular simplicity, giving the songs space for production embellishments.

Munro’s lyrics are nostalgic for one’s youth but accepting of adulthood, lightly focusing on love lost and rarely veering into dark territory. The title track is emblematic of the lyrical content at large: “The one I loved, the one I hated/I guess I should have appreciated/Can you feel me reaching toward ya?/In this song, I wrote it for ya.” With self-deprecating asides, “I may be sounding like an ass/But I’m just behaving like a man” (“Don’t You Tell Me What To Do”) and self-reflexive wit, “It’s plain good rock ‘n’ roll/With Beatles influence” (“Bad Axe, MI”), the emotional tone of the record is unpretentious and good-natured. 

The One nods towards classic rock without reaching. Bleu’s production keeps the arrangements fresh and unpredictable without drawing too much attention to itself. Most importantly, Dave Munro’s crystal-clear vocals sing melodies worthy of his influences: Tom Petty, Fleetwood Mac, and The Wilburys. Though Munro sighs with resignation, “Maybe this Boston music scene is just a myth,” on one tune, Air Traffic Controller is bringing much-needed national attention, talent, and sincerity to local music. The One will likely bring the band fresh licensing opportunities and more national exposure.

By Phillip Lewis
Contributing Writer

The dynamic English pop and R&B singer Leona Lewis is back, better than ever. On November 17, she released her second album Echo under J Records in the U.S. and through Sony Music worldwide. She first rose to fame in 2006 after winning season three of the British television series “The X Factor,” a show similar to “American Idol”. In November of the following year, she released her first album Spirit, which became a huge success.

Similar to her first album, Echo is emotionally moving with “dance floor anthems” and ballads that touch the heart. Lewis’ vocals sound fantastic on this album putting her all into every record. The music is not only great to listen to but gives powerful and positive messages. The first single “Happy” encourages people to not hold back and do the things that make their lives better.

In a recent interview with Variety magazine, Leona said, “I wanted the album to have a bit more of a live feel to it, with more live instrumentation.” Produced by One Republic’s Ryan Tedder, “Happy” does just that. It’s a ballad that begins with piano and heavy yet beautiful strings. Live drums are added in the chorus that complements her voice well. Echo gives the world a clear understanding of who Leona Lewis is and what she believes.

By Zac Taylor
Managing Editor

Nini Fabi sets the mood of the record in the first few moments: “One, two, three.” Childlike. Poignant. Bare-bones simple. More than a hundred folks shouldered into their CD release show last month at the Lily Pad, a small, quaint art gallery in Inman Square. Recorded at world-renowned Avatar studios, which has had recent projects by Norah Jones and Ryan Adams (Fabi sang into the same microphone as Norah. Not the same brand—the same one), The Reasons We Try was produced by Rich Mendelson, (Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Paul Simon); the sonic quality begs to be listened to on hi-fi speakers, i.e. if you open it up with iTunes on your laptop—you’re doing yourself a giant disservice.

The moniker of the band as a duo is mildly misleading: it is indeed the ensemble dynamic that gives the sound a face. In addition to penning the tunes together, Ben Gebert supports the leading lady with care through sparse acoustic guitar picking, a warm tenor voice, and elegant piano. Add to the mix Jake Cohen’s precise drumming, Johnny Duke’s absurdly tasty guitar playing, Derek McWilliams’ spot-on grooves and vocal harmonies, and Tommy Bohlen’s buttery pedal steel—you have all the vital ingredients for a soulful Americana pie.

Themes of death and wandering hearts echo through the songs’ narratives. The songwriting is charming in a clunky way, and always honest, never showy. “I feel your breath wrapped around my spine. Why can I be yours, I’ve never been mine,” she sings in “I Won’t Look Back.” Next up is crowd favorite “Go and Fill Your Cup,” which is as close as the duo gets to an actual duet. Gebert’s breathy cooing supports the female lead, both of them longing, desperate. Duke’s tasteful Dobro licks support the earnest vocals, which has a hint of Bonnie Raitt when Fabi pushes the pedal down a little further.

They re-recorded a couple tunes from their debut EP Rise and Shine: “Down to the Road” (The lead track on Heavy Rotations Vol. 6) and “Easier.” While the arrangements are pretty much the same, the fresh renditions illustrate the band’s growth over the last couple years. They’ve been touring their butts off around New England, and have perhaps been caught in a position that many young bands find themselves in: playing too many gigs. But Nini+Ben are one of those young bands that makes you think: “Wow, I’m glad I’m seeing them now before it costs $45 on Ticketmaster.”

By Zac Taylor
Managing Editor

Last month at the Lily Pad, recent Berklee alumnus Nathan Reich released his first full-length LP entitled Arms Around a Ghost. The initial undeniable impression: this is some serious songwriting. While some tunes are sung over solo acoustic guitar, others feature Alexandra Spalding’s graceful cello and vocal harmonies, and a handful have rolling tom drums, electric guitar murmurs, and textures you can’t quite place your finger one—this record is leaps and bounds more mature and complete sounding than his previous EP Paper Planes. Produced by Adrian Olsen, this record’s secret weapon is indeed in its simplicity.

“From a seed into a shrub, then a weed that grew too much, and now I’m so tall, how will I ever fit inside?” he sings in the second track, introducing a theme about growing up and finding his place in the world that laces throughout the narrative of the whole record. A chilling tune about sleeping in a parking lot with “a fortress of shopping carts, and a trash bag bed” is as haunting as anything from Sufjan Steven’s darker side.

The single, and by far the most accessible tune, “Somewhere in Colorado” has still been stuck in every Bostonian’s head since he performed it as a trio with Spalding and the fascinating Thomas Bohlen on pedal steel at a sold out Berklee Performance Center this past February. The charming yet biting song “Joelle,” is a dismissal to an old lover who has “lost her common sense…climbing the neighbor’s fence.” The harmonic arrangements and aggressive fingerstyle guitar playing, while impressive and at times quite advanced, serve the songs for the sake of serving the songs, which is an admirable trait not often found in musicians of the same caliber.

Reich’s vocals have a melancholy restraint that echoes Elliott Smith and even Iron & Wine’s Sam Beam. The lyricism follows suit: literary but straightforward, playful but honest. Themes of alcoholism, loneliness, and the daunting ambition of exploring the world, without and within, pump the majority of the blood through Arms Around a Ghost.

By Zac Taylor
Managing Editor

Does Battle Studies sound like you thought it was going to? Of course it’s well-constructed, impeccably produced, and relatively inoffensive, in spite of saying the s-word in the first track and smoking dope in the fourth.

“Heartbreak Warfare” is indeed one of the tracks that is worth the $1.29 per-song iTunes price, but is so catchy it will more than likely feel overplayed by Christmas, so enjoy it while it lasts. Mayer flexes his lyric-writing muscles in “Half of My Heart,” the so-called ‘duet’ with young country-pop mogul Taylor Swift (she sings “Can’t stop loving you” a few times in the outro; nice, but a pretty transparent marketing ploy.)

The first single, “Who Says,” luscious and acoustic, sounds like a tune from Tom Petty’s Wildflowers record, while music video (currently pushing 2 million hits on YouTube) shows our hero carousing around Manhattan like a modern day James Dean. “Perfectly Lonely” is a nice enough song, with a Motowny groove, while “Assassin” is Mayer’s take on Sting’s “Stolen Car”—sexy, intriguing storyline supported by world music textures with pretty off-kilter song form for a major pop record.

And naturally, as any bona fide bluesman would do, he covers Robert Johnson/Eric Clapton’s “Crossroads.” This rendition is cool approach to a classic rock staple, which shows Mayer’s been listening to the same stuff as Derek Trucks. While some of the guitar licks are delightfully filthy, on this track and others, do they sound out of place on such a polished record?

Upon first listen, some of the lyrical content seems boring (and some of it is), but there is depth to the seemingly banal content that may be worthy of Great American Songbook. For instance, in the coda of “Friends, Lovers, or Nothing” he exclaims, “Anything other than yes is no, anything other than stay is go, anything less than I love you is lying,” with some gospel-like oohs and ahs that really fill up the final moments nicely.

Has Johnny grown since Continuum? Was he supposed to? Did you want him to reinvent pop, blues, and rock into some original amalgam to further solidify himself as the next Sting or Paul Simon or whomever? If there’s one thing he’s good at, it’s prompting these questions, which is telling in itself.

Check out this Groove Exclusive Interview with John Mayer during his weeklong visit to Berklee in October 2008:

By Zac Taylor
Managing Editor

myspace.com/thekin

Aussie pop-rockers Isaac and Thorry Koren are a long way from home. Having been on the road much more often than off of it, the development of the brothers’ songwriting and musicianship is more than apparent on their new disc, THE UPSide. They have been hitting the Boston market a few times a year since 2006: starting as buskers on Newbury Street, graduating to places like TT The Bear’s and the Paradise, and now on to places like the Red Room at Café 939 and the House of Blues, opening for some heavy hitters like Rusted Root and Rod Stewart and larger venues. They even have teenage girls lining the stage who wear homemade t-shirts with the names of their favorite Kin tunes written in glitter paint on them–which is perhaps their greatest accolade to date.

Although the band is NYC-based, the Kin recorded their new record in California. “We wanted a brighter and more melodic sound and we thought the West Coast would bring something we couldn’t find in NYC,” says Isaac.

The first track, “Waterbreaks,” is as epically catchy as anything U2 did on the Joshua Tree, with the appropriate shift in accent. The brothers alternate singing lyrical lines, and then harmonize on the choruses, which creates a signature, soulful dynamic that was all over their previous release, Rise & Fall. Are they singing to one another? Against each other? The tension and release throughout these tunes is enigmatic to say the least.

There is an honesty in the songwriting that may be slightly obscured by the chic, pop production. But the simple Australian sentiments and soulful delivery of the tunes on the UPSide are the endearing ingredients that truly shine in the live show.

Their hard work and extensive touring has had a resounding effect on both their fan-base and captivating performance. Catch the Kin at the House of Blues this Sunday, Nov 22 alongside Josh Radin and the Watson Twins.

By Garrett Frierson
Contributing Writer

 Rarely does one come across an album that truly takes you on a emotional and imaginative journey through sea, space, and time – much less an instrumental album. Yet STAPS is exactly that, able to find the perfect mix of heavy, fun, and cool within its 11-track frame. Album opener “Dynamation” and “DK Ray” will inspire the simultaneous urges to do the twist and conspire in dangerous espionage before jumping out of an airplane with an umbrella while the three part “Submarine” opus is deep sea journey of discovery that lets the band’s more progressive influences shine through. The I. Rays forgo the traditional rock singer that would take the focus off of the music and replace him with spoken words samples which may have come from a 50’s B-movie, old time radio, or perhaps a speech by a recently retired president. Which are you hearing now? That’s part of the intrigue. Named after a 1936 sci-fi film, the The I. Rays make music that plays out as a deep yet kitchy speculation on the future and could easily be used to score a modern sci-fi or spy film. Indeed, the band’s self-released music videos are mostly composed of re-edited clips from the movies they sample. Using these past predictions, silly as they are, show us that our own expectations are likely to be looked on much the same way when the time comes. So don’t worry about it too much, just enjoy the ride.

 
Produced by The Invisible Rays
Engineered and mixed by Rafi Sofer at Q Division Studios in Cambridge, MA.
Mastered by Jeff Lipton at Peerless Mastering in Boston, MA.

By Zac Taylor
Managing Editor

Strong vocals, radio-friendly harmonies and jangly pop guitars make the Changing Clocks self-titled EP a smooth listen through all five tunes. Lead singer/guitarist/songwriter Matt Rod shows off an educated, eclectic style of composing, which shines on the brooding second track “Anne.” The South African-born frontman manages to pull of some tasty blues fusion licks without getting in the way of the song; not to say there aren’t some nasty solos that would maybe make Scofield raise a brow. The alluring interaction between Rod and female vocalist Erika Cole, especially on the tunes “Rescue Me” and “Blooming,” weaves through the tracks nicely. The dynamics that drummer Seth Botos lends to the orchestration, coupled with some spooky textures from backing vocal effects round out the band’s overall dark and soulful sound. An exceptional first effort from a gang of musicians who still attend Berklee.