 |
| www.roadbedonline.com |
| Roadbed - Last Dance @ The Shockcenter (Canada Lynx) By: Kev Truong [9/10] The title of this Canadian threepiece's latest sprawling effort is a little misleading. It's not a live album, nor (as far as I can tell) is it a swansong. What it is is an adventurous, quirky, offbeat album full of colourful, at times dazzling jazz-rock fusion that doesn't seem to play by any rules and goes wherever it wants to. There's no doubt that some people will be put off by its apparent randomness and eclectic selection, but there's a thread of continuity buried in here somewhere that you'll find if you stick with it. Opening the disc, the jumpy "Cost Plus 10" isn't really indicative of the rest of the album and it's like it's only on here because Roadbed felt like throwing a touch of ska into their already hefty mix of sounds. The fact that it's the first track shows their daring. "Bent" then seeps its way in, and it's in songs like this that Roadbed show their true talent. A beautiful, well-orchestrated and gorgeously arranged piece of seductive fusion jazz, "Bent" plays like a dream and the revolving guitar lick it's built around becomes pure poetry by the end of it. Then as if for nothing but contrast value alone, "King's Quest" roars to life and is Roadbed in rock mode, laying down a catchy, explosive guitar riff driven by a pulsing forward rhythm. From there Roadbed just go wherever the wind takes them. They drift back into reflective daydreaming in "Everything", "Buckey" and "Hey Rock Took The Bait", while "Six In The Jazz Pack" and "John Hornman" are energetic jazz cuts with a gleam in its eye and a spring in its step. Then there's the furious punk rock stylings of "Bengal Tiger" and "BC Lynx", that strangely enough (and for no identifiable reason either) is a little reminiscent of Venom. To really see Roadbed's musicianship and flair though, there are the instrumentals "Sea Storm" and "Masterpiece Theater", the former bringing a folk edge into the fore with its violin noodling and the latter living up to its name with its near-perfect mix of fiery rock and lilting jazz. There's some really interesting stuff going on in this release. Even with the band's predilection for short song lengths ("Fundamentals" comes in at a barely noticeable 43 seconds) and their unusual sense of album structure, there's a fun and joy here that's infectious and undeniable. Roadbed are a band that really love making music, and their passion carries across. It doesn't so much show through in Super Robertson's dreamy, occasionally distracted vocals, but it does in their instrumentation, songwriting and fearless nature. Wicked stuff Ð let it breathe and you'll see what I mean.
Sunday, June 20, 2004 I went to Roadbed's album release gig at the Railway on Friday. Roger Dean Young and Tin Cup opened up with their laid-back deep woods music and In 3's played last, with a guest violinist and a set of mostly improvised tunes, punctuated with quotes from Radiohead, U2, and a whole Roadbed song. I marked the Roadbed exam. Super gave me instructions to select the most unique scores for consideration. Well, there was only one perfect score (6/6) and one person who got zero (that would be Shockk), and a huge pile of fives and threes. A couple people had doodled all over their exams, so I decided it should be an art contest instead of a Roadbed trivia quiz, and submitted those to Super when it was time to pick a winner. What I love about Roadbed is that they play a lot of unrecorded material, and one of the new songs inevitably becomes a new favourite. In the early days it was "Scarb Jacket," (which ended up on Knockout Hits) and lately it's been "King's Quest" (which I only got to hear a couple times live before it showed up on Last Dance @ the Shockcenter). Now my favourite Roadbed song is the one with this crazy Iron Maiden triplet part that comes out of nowhere. No idea what it's called. They played it about three songs in on Friday night. All in all, a good ploy to keep me coming back for more. .: posted by The Mule 11:03 AM copied and pasted By SR 2:58 pm By steve Newton Publish Date: 10-Jun-2004 Last Dance @ the Shockcenter (Canada Lynx Records) A local band named Roadbed dropped off this CD--and a 12-pack of Molson Export--to the attention of Mike Usinger, high sheriff of the Georgia Straight's rock 'n' roll department. Now, being the model of integrity that he is, the towering music editor wasn't about to have his shiny silver badge tarnished by the suggestion that his opinion could be bought with a dozen brown rockets. At least not the domestic kind. So the bright-red case of beer sat uncracked beside Usinger's desk for several days--the Roadbed disc and bio planted conspicuously on top--until someone willing to sell their journalistic soul for a cheap barley buzz hauled the low-rent payola away. No sooner had my fingertips grasped the "publicity material" than a booming voice called out: "Whaddaya think you're doing?" Turns out that although Mr. Mike had no intention of reviewing the CD himself, he had definite guidelines for anyone who took the bait. "You have to drink the whole thing before you write the review," he commanded, like Moses from the mount. Knowing full well that I can't write anything after 12 beers, I offered to douse half of them instead, and His Highness verily agreed. I pounded back six at home while watching the Flames lose the Cup, then cranked up Last Dance @ the Shockcenter. What I don't get is why a band as obviously talented as Roadbed even bothers to include alcoholic incentives in its "press kits". On the 16 tracks that make up Last Dance @ the Shockcenter, the group proves itself a progressive jazz-rock outfit of the finest sort. Stellar musicianship, mind-bending lyrics, and adventurous arrangements make it clear that Roadbed would be much better off sending well-rolled doobies to prospective reviewers rather than lowly boxes of ale.
Roadbed CD: Autopilot Just when you think you know what the next Roadbed CD, or even song for that matter, will bring to your ears, Roadbed tosses out a definitive Screw You and launches into a musical tirade you never saw coming! Hence is the experience of listening to Roadbed's 2003 release Autopilot. You think you know what's coming? Haha, you're wrong. From the opening drum count and very punkish "Nice Bucket", to the third track, some kind of cross breed ska/nu-metal "19 Fresh Bananas", to the all-out rocking final track and self-tribute song "Roadbed", this British Columbia based band seem to enjoy throwing curves at the listener to ensure you are paying attention. A staunch refusal to be pigeonholed into a single musical genre may prove to either be their downfall or their liberation. To get a feeling of where this band is mentally, read the very brief band bio on their site. It tells you nothing about the band, but perhaps everything of what they feel. I won't bother repeating it all hear, other than the final line: RoadbedÉ..are disappointed by humanity. An eclectic statement to be sure, but perhaps one that more people than you know feel but refuse to admit. Therein seems to be the entire sum of Roadbed and their music. They play what they need to play. Not because they need to play it to become popular, but because it is what they NEED to play. Musically these guys stand out with as some real talents. There is nothing on Autopilot that sags or seems out of place. Likewise the production of every track is top notch. This isnÕt a case of some guys trying to be artsy because they lack the skill to do otherwise. Roadbed can obviously hold their own musically along side any band. These are the guys I would like to sit down with a couple of beer and a smoke and have a long chat with! If a discussion followed the same route as their musical tastes it would be a very interesting evening indeed!!
Roadbed was a band I'd never even heard of, but wow! they were just revolutionary. They played a strange cross between straight jazz and Flin Flon-esque minimalism, and dressed like The Super Friendz - ridiculously large pink glasses, toques with earflaps, big nasty sideburns. The music was incredible and most of us sat in awe through their whole set.
Roadbed...I Like My local music installment of a couple weeks ago had a serious omission. I forgot to mention my friends Roadbed, and their official site by gforceCreative. Roadbed are a kind of jazz-pop-indie-rock trio who never fail to put on a top-notch show. Like all great bands, each member has a distinct personality. If you replaced any one of them, it would be a totally different band. On drums, you've got Two-Sticks: one suave MF with a feather-light touch that drives the ladies wild. On guitar, there's Shockk-the embodiment of all things caffeinated and rocking, able to switch from Metheny to Slayer and back again in a click of a stomp-box. Finally, on bass and vocals, we have Super Robertson-man-mountain and mountain-man, poet, diarist, facial-hair experimenter and They Might Be Giants fan. They're friends, we've collaborated in the past, and I've seen more of their gigs than I've had hot dinners (guess that makes me-gulp-a "Roadhead"). Go see 'em at a fine venue near you. .: posted by Rob Hughes |
|
|
| "...Roadbed headlined, and it is a testimonial to their usual great performance that they kept people partying down into the wee hours. As always their set was varied, their fashion remarkable, and their jazz/rock guru status was further solidified as they goaded the audience into verbal battles over whether they should next play a rock tune or a jazz tune, with one fan even comparing them to the legendary Uzeb!" -member of STOKE: Anza Club, Aug. 4th 2001 |
| home • band bio • photo gallery • merchandise • discography • reviews • news • contact • site map |
| contact Roadbed at info@roadbedonline.com |
| © Roadbed Music 2001-2003 |
No comments:
Post a Comment