Music Review: The Spin Doctors-Pocket Full of Kryptonite: 20th Anniversary Edition

Article first published as Music Review: The Spin Doctors-Pocket Full of Kryptonite [20th Anniversary Edition] on Blogcritics.

The Pocket Full of Kryptonite: 20^th Anniversary Edition, set for an August 30^th release to commemorate the band's classic debut album, is a two CD set featuring a re-mastered version of the platinum selling album on Disc 1 and a set of previously unreleased demo tapes and live performances on Disc 2. A CD set to get the mouth of any real fan of this funky 90's jam band watering, this anniversary edition, especially the previously unreleased tracks—over 75 minutes of rarely heard music, has got what it takes to satisfy even the casual listener.

Disc 2 opens with six songs from a 1989 "Can't Say No" demo. It includes earlier versions of "Jimmy Olsen's Blues," "Forty or Fifty" and "Hard to Exist," all of which were to turn up on the Kryptonite album. "Big Fat Funky Booty" and "At This Hour" showed up on later albums. Of the eight tracks from the band's last cassette, the 1990 "Piece of Glass" demo four are songs that made it onto Kryptonite: "What Time is It?," "How Could You Want Him (When You Know You Could Have Me)," "Refrigerator Car," and probably their biggest hit, "Two Princes." "Hungry Hamed's" and "Rosetta Stone" appeared on the 1994 Turn it Upside Down. "House," which the liner notes calls "a signature live show rabble rouser," adds some improvised lyrics from singer/songwriter Chris Barron, something he used to do at live gigs. The two live tracks are a 1993 performance of "Turn It Upside Down" from the Kingswood Music Theater in Toronto and "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong" from the Continental Divide in New York in 1990.

Fans who have never had the opportunity to hear these demo tapes are in for a treat. There is a quirky joy the band takes in what they are doing that comes through loud and clear as they revel in developing their signature funky rock style. Guitarist Eric Schenkman says: "Our sound just kind of revealed itself to us. Like some kind of crazy sandwich that's exponential, where strange things happen and two plus two equals five." This is clearly a band ready to make their move.

Although it may have taken the album a year or so to hit its stride, it did go gold in 1992, and eventually five times platinum. The re-mastered Kryptonite album holds up well after 20 years. Drummer Aaron Comess, fresh from his recent Beautiful Mistake CD, reflects in Cree McCree's liner notes: We recorded the album about a year before it came out. . . .By the time it came out I was over it. I felt like we're better now, that was a year ago, and you should hear us now. Now I hear the record 20 years later and I'm like, this is a great record!" And you know what? He's right.

Music Review: The Headhunters, Platinum

Article first published as Music Review: The Headhunters, Platinum on Blogcritics.

It takes a lot of confidence, some might call it "chutzpah," to call your new album Platinum, but the latest from the Headhunters may well justify the title. After all, back in the '70's as the liner notes point out the "band became the first jazz/fusion group to go platinum," and even a cursory hearing of their latest shows them at the top of their game. Led by original Headhunters percussionist Bill Summers and drummer Mike Clark, the band lays down an eclectic set of percussion fore-fronted tracks that moves from hip hop to salsa to traditional African rhythms stopping to sample a cornucopia of other genres along the way. In an on-line interview with Nick De Riso at Something Else!, Summers describes the vibe: "My personal description for the music we are playing now is New Urban. It’s a specific new genre, something that represents all of the metropolis. It’s European, it’s Asian, it’s African. There is lots of jazz, funk, elements of rap. It’s being fair to all of the music. When people hear it, hopefully they feel part of the family."

Members of the family helping out on some of the tracks are guest artists Snoop Dogg, George Clinton, Killah Priest, Jaecyn Bayne, and Private Pile. Then there's trumpet stalwart Derrick Gardner, horn player Azar Lawrence, and Jerry Stucker on the guitar. Patrice Rushen shares the keyboard honors with Kyle Roussel, and Headhunter original member, Bennie Maupin, comes back for some work on the soprano sax. Then of course there is the core of the band: bassist Richie Goods, horn players Donald Harrison and Rob Dixon, and Gary Mielke on keyboards. On any given track, you can shake them up and mix and match as needed.

Highlighting the disc are some fine instrumentals. "Tracie," written by Summers in memory of his late wife, features some sweet trumpet lines by Gardner played over pulsating Latin rhythms after the horn section sets the tone. "M Trane," Clark's tribute to John Coltrane written along with Jeff Pittson, begins with a kind of duet between Rushen on the piano and the horns and runs through nearly nine minutes of happy improvisation. "Salamander" lays down a funky groove which according to the liner notes gets picked up again later on in the album in "Skizness" with a Private Pile rap replacing "Salamander's" dynamic horn solos. Richie Goods' "Soul Glow" is a throwback that gives the band an opportunity to showcase its straight ahead chops.

Snoop Dogg is featured on "Funk With Us" where he is joined by Clinton, Priest and Bayne. Bayne opens the album with "Mission Statement," which is presumably a manifesto describing the band's new direction. Summers joins Bayne's rap with a softer vocal on "Apple Tree." "Congo Place" begins with some throbbing percusion leading to a Donald Harrison vocal punctuated by a chanting chorus that seems to look back to African roots by way of New Orleans. "Head Hunting" is a tour de force for Clark and Summers with a haunting melody that gives the whole band a shot to shine.
Platinum is an album that melds elements of different musical traditions to create a whole that may well be greater than the sum of its parts. In an interview with Dominic Fragman of JazzTimes.com, Mike Clark calls the album: " A cross generational effort, we mixed up a lot of genres--jazz, funk, African, latin, and even hip hop on several pieces--that was fun!" It may have been fun for him and the band, but for the listener, it's a blast.