New album: The Big Dream
Artist: David Lynch
Label: Sunday Best
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
David Lynch is known to most as the film director responsible for “Eraserhead,” “Blue Velvet” and “Twin Peaks,” among others. While his visual style is without question, his attention to the audio component of his film work is legendary as well.
From his collaborations with composer Angelo Badalamenti to the recordings of backward footsteps played in reverse in “The Black Lodge,” Lynch has always looked for ways to tickle the ear.
“The Big Dream” is Lynch’s second solo album — the first being “Crazy Clown Time” from late 2011. Whereas “Crazy Clown Time” was a collection of pop songs of the crazy-as-an-outhouse-rat variety, “The Big Dream” sounds like the type of blues album Stephen Hawking would come up with.
Aside from the occasional programmed drum beats, the songs on “The Big Dream” stomp and clang like, well, the soundtrack to David Lynch films such as “Eraserhead” and “Inland Empire.” For potential listeners who’ve yet to have their third eye Windexed by a David Lynch film, “The Big Dream” is a sonic cousin to latter-day Tom Waits or Captain Beefheart at his most peculiar. Instead of unleashing a Waits or Beefheart-like roar, Lynch sings in the same halted, nerdy timbre that he’s famous for speaking in.
Aside from his lone collaborator Dean Hurley, Lynch is providing most of the noise on “The Big Dream.” “Starr Dream Girl” sounds like Chris Isaak’s “Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing” — that is if he let the guy who sweeps up take the vocals. Lynch’s lack of a true singing voice gives this and every song on the album a detached vibe that borders on charming.
Lynch’s take on Bob Dylan’s “The Ballad of Hollis Brown” is mildly genius. Whereas Dylan channeled Woody Guthrie for his stark original version, Lynch’s creepy roadhouse version gives the song a new life. Listening to Lynch “sing” about Hollis Brown living on the outside of town over death march drums and tremolo-affected guitars is invitingly sinister.
Like his film and his own brand of coffee, “The Big Dream” is an acquired taste. If Lynch weren’t known as a filmmaker, little if any attention would be paid to his late-in-life career swerve into music.
That being said, the results are never boring and more often than not interesting. The public should be exposed to albums this strangely beautiful more often, even if the majority of the listeners need counseling afterwards.
Classic album: 50th Anniversary–The Singles 1962/1972
Artist: Martha Reeves & The Vandellas
Label: Motown
Rating: 5 stars out of 5
If you’re looking for a quickie-compilation with the hand full of Martha Reeves & The Vandellas tracks that are still played on the oldies channel, then this three-disc behemoth is probably a bit much for you.
The pop/rock album didn’t really become an art form until the middle to late 1960s. Singles were still king in 1962 when Martha Reeves and her Vandellas hit it big with “Heat Wave” in 1963.
Since they were on Motown Records, Berry Gordy kept the hit-song assembly line rolling with “Dancing in the Street,” “Nowhere to Run” and “Jimmy Mack.” All of these timeless tracks are glorious, 2 1/2-minute teenage symphonies that are still heard on radio, TV, film and commercials to this day.
Everyone who’s not a total hat rack knows about the big hits, but the real treasures of “The Singles 1962/1972” are the rare B-sides and unreleased tracks. Unless you inherited a box of scratchy 45s, you’ve probably never heard “My Baby Won’t Come Back,” "A Tear for the Girl” or “You’re the Loser Now.” These flip sides aren’t as instantly catchy as their A-side counterparts, but they’re still enjoyable examples of the classic Motown sound sung by one of the era’s top voices.
The third disc in this collection is made up exclusively of previously unreleased material. It’s a bit surreal to hear Martha Reeves & The Vandellas’ version of The Doors’ “Light My Fire,” but it’s fun nonetheless. An unreleased recording of Ashford & Simpson’s “Hooked Real Good on a Bad Thing” is a highlight, along with versions of “I Remember You,” “Memories Are Made of This” and “I Can’t Dance to that Music You’re Playin’.”
Aficionados of Motown who thought they’d heard it all haven’t. Many other Motown acts of note are receiving the singles anthology treatment, and every collection is recommended.
Jon Dawson’s album reviews appear every Thursday in The Free Press. Contact Jon at 252-559-1092 or jon.dawson@kinston.com. Purchase ‘Making Gravy in Public’ at jondawson.com.