SOUND OPTIONS
Most songwriters peak. Few fans think Bob Dylan improved after “Blood on the Tracks.” Nobody champions Bruce Springsteen's “Wrecking Ball” over “Born to Run.” But subtract the nostalgia you feel for Buffalo Tom's “Let Me Come Over” and you'll likely find the new album “Quiet and Peace” as great as anything the band has done — don't doubt my claim until you have listened to the quintessential Buffalo Tom track “Lonely Fast and Deep.”
The Boston trio of singerguitarist Bill Janovitz, singer-bassist Chris Colbourn and drummer Tom Maginnis have nothing to prove. The guys will never make the band a full-time gig again — their ninth album comes after a seven-year break. Maybe it's this freedom that allows them to write clear-eyed, adult rock 'n' roll. (Note: This is not meant as a pejorative.)
They fill “Quiet and Peace” with tight rock about complex relationships. “Roman Cars” captures something between mature and playful, an aesthetic between the Kinks and R.E.M. “In the Ice” features a melody and melancholy that echoes Janovitz's deeply underrated solo album “Walt Whitman Mall.” Flirting with folk, punk and rock drones, the band sounds endlessly comfortable with its art. Buffalo Tom returns to the Paradise on April 20.
Sun Ra would be proud. And so would Jimi Hendrix, Marvin Gaye and all four Ramones. Barrence Whitfield and the Savages' new album, “Soul Flowers of Titan,” takes its name from outsider jazz icon Sun Ra. It takes its sound from wildman blues, over-driven Motown, '50s rock 'n' roll, '60s garage and '70s punk. That mix might prove too much for some bands. Boston's Whitfield and his players eat it up.
For a cocktail of slow-burn soul and rough rock, try “Tingling.” If you need some furious blues, complete with blistering guitar solo (thanks Peter Greenberg, who also produced), spin “I'll Be Home Someday.” To hear everything at once, “Let's Go Mars” features Whitfield's ragged roots and sloppy rock, plus a gonzo horn section.
Barrence Whitfield and the Savages celebrate the release of “Soul Flowers of Titan” at the Middle East in Cambridge on March 23.
Sometimes it's hard to hear how Duke Ellington's symphonic jazz evolved into George Clinton's cosmic weirdness. Other times, Craft Records reissues Isaac Hayes' “Hot Buttered Soul,” “Shaft” and “Black Moses,” and it's obvious.
So many giants dominate the soul/funk/R&B landscape, Hayes can almost be forgotten — a sin, but it's what you get when you compete against Clinton, James Brown, Stevie Wonder and Prince. But this trio of re-releases brings Hayes' contributions to the genre into sharp focus. His range was astounding: Jump from the sweet strings of “One Woman” to the groovy horns of “Shaft's Cab Ride.”
No album takes its time like 1969's “Hot Buttered Soul” — four tracks over 46 minutes. Working with the Bar-Kays as his backing band, Hayes takes a lazy shuffle through passion and heartbreak. The album opens with 12 minutes of strings and deep funk on “Walk on By” and closes with 18 minutes of spoken word, urgent singing and lounge horns on “By the Time I Get to Phoenix.”
“Black Moses” became the flip side to “Hot Buttered Soul's” endless cuts. The 1971 LP tightened the tunes, aiming for a more radiofriendly sound. It found just that. Over a few originals and killer covers, Hayes invented Barry White slow jams before Barry White. Flush with love songs, tender horns and cooing backing vocals, “Black Moses” anticipated quiet storm R&B and disco.
The main theme from “Shaft” represented a revelation: It is both symphony piece and deep funk jam, complex and locked in the groove. The rest of the soundtrack explores new artistic spaces, such as Latin jazz (“Cafe Regio's”), Top 40 hooks (“Be Yourself”) and the Stax sound (“Soulsville”). It's hard to imagine a better overview of everything that made '70s soul/funk/R&B so spellbinding.