Showing posts with label Vanderwolf. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vanderwolf. Show all posts

Friday, November 8, 2024

Progressive Rock Vinyl Review: Vanderwolf-The Great Bewilderment

Release Date: March 13, 2024

Label: Independent

Website

The band is named Vanderwolf after the musical and multimedia genius Max Vanderwolf. He is an interesting character with many talents that have made his services invaluable worldwide, with artists including the late David Bowie and many others.

I received this special purple vinyl edition of The Great Bewilderment and gave it a spin. It was another COVID project that reached fruition after many years. Having never heard of this man and his music, I did not know what to expect, which made it intriguing, especially after looking at the odd and unique cover art. I thought to myself, this is either going to be very strange or surprisingly good. Well, I loved it from beginning to end.

 

Side A begins with “A'coming Home,” which features a strumming guitar, whirling organ, and catchy rhythms (which populate this release consistently). The rhythms change and slow down, and then it goes back to the previous pace, which is medium speed. The vocals get louder and more emotive, and some good guitar makes it more electrifying (literally). The harmonizing towards the end is excellent, as this fine opener kicks things off.

 

“The 6.09” has a steady acoustic guitar with drums and bass holding the line. Max’s vocals begin to have a familiar ring, and Marc Bolan (T.Rex) comes to mind. The music goes in another direction and level (get used to that) as the vocals are ready for the task. It goes back and forth to emphasize the lyrics. It ends the way it started, with acoustic picking.

 

“Sweep Away The Shards” has sharp but gentle electric guitar lines to set the foundation. It is very purposeful as the vocals arrive. The energy is maintained, and then it reaches an apex as Max sings “This is Goodbye,” which is printed in caps on the accompanying lyric sheet. Excellent six-string bending demonstrates how the words can make their impression more effective.

 

“Gaza” starts with Pink Floyd-like instrumentation, then explodes with meaty guitar chords, very heavy to push the line “I Gotta Run,” repeated four times. Max sounded like Roger Waters on this track, which fits well with the music. His inflection before he raises the pitch and tone is a superb way to close out the side.

 

Here is where I have a problem with all the emphasis on Gaza in many instances and not just music; everyone forgets what happened in Israel. I feel the war is wrong and all the innocents that felt the pain of what happened on both sides, but let us not forget who began this conflict and stop making Israel out to be the bad guy. How about a song about Israel? I never like to mix politics into my reviews, but I just had to speak up this time. The song is very political and one-sided, regardless of how good it is musically.

 

Side B opens with “Love Stay Strong,” an entirely different atmosphere than the previous track, which is par for the course in this eclectic work of progressive rock, a genre known for its complex and experimental nature. This time it sounds more like a pop-rock track stepping outside their comfort zone, but it is good. The track is about that age-old subject of love, with a country blues tone, leaving the pop elements behind for a while. Lap steel gives it that atmosphere quickly, as it always does, as it wines in the background like a lost train. The vocals are excellent. The track impressed me with how the band can create such different music from track to track while, for the most part, except for this one, keeping their prog-rock roots.

 

“The Book of Dread” is segued from the previous track with a spacey guitar and keys, again turning the atmosphere upside down. Then, the bass jumps in as the drums pick up the pace, and the mix becomes more complex. Max is in good voice again. His vocals resonate with you as you absorb his words, tapping your feet to the rhythms and bottom end, which is always so strong and ready to change with the flow so quickly. This is exceptional musicianship on display consistently! Piercing guitar lines permeate the air and the record grooves. The changes are very progressive and impressive.

 

“The Here & Now” is easygoing music, and as expected, it takes another twist and turns before returning to its starting point. As the album continues, you realize the vocals are perfect for this music, whether quirky, slow, fast, or flat-out rocking. Max is always ready to use his voice as another instrument for effects. The elasticity of his voice and range adapt to all the changes, going very high when he sings “in the here and now.”

 

“The Gratitude Suite” ends your listening journey and is a good finale. I liked the way the guitar started more subdued, then began cranking it up as the music shifted. The bass leads, then goes to the Lap Steel for more effect, and then the guitar comes back, wailing away with some sound effects and strong lines, as the vocals are as superb as they ever were with heavy lyrics. The changes are many in one track, and Max is one of many consistent factors for these solid tracks.

 

The Great Bewilderment leaves me with one question: why has Vanderwolf not released more music? His love for recording is evident; even his website states this is an incomplete collection. For his sake and music lovers everywhere, I hope to see more of his music released, entertaining us all with his unique sound and exceptional musicianship.

Keith “MuzikMan” Hannaleck-NAMR Reviews Founder

November 8, 2024

Tracks:

Side A:

1. A'coming Home

2. The 6.09

3. Sweep Away The Shards

4. Gaza

Side B:

1. Love Stay Strong

2. The Book of Dread

3. The Here & Now

4. The Gratitude Suite


Tuesday, June 28, 2022

Vanderwolf Releases “12 Little Killers” LP As Follow Up To His “Extinction” EP

Following the recent release of his EP “Extinction” which featured musical legends Robert Wyatt and Daevid Allen, Vanderwolf has put forth an album of 12 original tracks available on vinyl and digital download - his first LP under his own name.

Vanderwolf re-emerges with “12 Little Killers” an eclectic collection that includes the deliciously oozing slice of psychedelia of the single “Glisten,” which is heavily-slanted toward melting analogue synthesizers (Sam Sallon) and rich layers of acoustic guitars (Chris Cordoba) and an exquisite vocal by Max Vanderwolf.

Recorded by producer Chris Wyles at his south London studio, the 12 songs were selected, mixed and compiled by keyboardist and co-producer Sam Sallon. It’s available in a limited pressing of 500.

Says Max, “These 12-tracks, present human fallibility in its many forms - greed, anxiety, lust, self-debasement, our seemingly limitless capacity to hurt others – it’s all there. It was important to have a visual identity that carries these themes.”

Vanderwolf’s music spans a wide-range of genres from global beats to hard blues to fragile balladry to prog-rock monstrosities and beyond. With a vast back catalogue of songs to release, Vanderwolf is set to get his wild and restless music out to the world.

Born in NYC, working in London and as of 2020 residing in Los Angeles, Max Vanderwolf has recorded several albums and countless songs. Most of them remain unreleased. Notably, he was vocalist and creative-force behind the semi-legendary London band, Last Man Standing, whose sole album in 2008 received plaudits from many including Mojo and Uncut.

Concurrent to his life in music, Vanderwolf has worked under an assumed name as a music programmer and concert producer in some of the worlds’ most celebrated clubs and venues. He went from overseeing the legendary underground downtown NYC’s Knitting Factory to overseeing London’s Royal Festival Hall, where for 9 years he produced the Meltdown Festival where he worked closely with David Bowie, Patti Smith, Jarvis Cocker, Massive Attack and others. He has produced concerts in Brooklyn, Rome and Paris working closely with John Cale, Sparks and the Residents.

With more music from these London sessions being mixed and an album’s worth of new material being recorded in Los Angeles, Max Vanderwolf is diving headlong into the future.

Vanderwolf “12 Little Killers” will be released on July 20, 2022.

Vanderwolf:
Max Vanderwolf - Vocals
Sam Sallon - Keyboards
Chris Wyles  - Drums
Kevin Petillo - Drums
Chris Cordoba - Guitar
Oli Hannifan - Guitar
Will Muldrew - Bass
Malin-My Nilsson and Amy Langely: strings
Victy Silva - backing vocals

To purchase the new single “Glisten”: https://lnk.to/VanderwolfGlisten

To purchase “12 Little Killers”: https://vanderwolf.lnk.to/12LittleKillers

For more information:
Official website: www.vanderwolfmusic.com
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5VCMMZZYJ0QKriJy07ZJCg
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vanderwolfmusic
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vanderwolfmusic/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Vanderwolfband
Promotional materials: https://www.vanderwolfpromo.com/
Soundcloud link to album, “12 Little Killers”: https://soundcloud.com/vanderwolf-official/sets/12-little-killers

Videos:
“Glisten” from “12 Little Killers”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LE1x25aXIkA
“The Existential Terrier” from “12 Little Killers”:
https://youtu.be/1BhnWCSKoJs (available to watch on the release date)

Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 1-828-350-8158 (US), glassonyonpr@gmail.com

Wednesday, April 13, 2022

Vanderwolf Releases New Single With Contributions from Robert Wyatt, Daevid Allen & Terry Edwards

Vanderwolf has released his new single, leading with the A side “When The Fire Grows Cold”, a piano-led cinematic nightmare-lullaby co-sung by the legendary musician-activist, Robert Wyatt. The B side is “Extinction!”, a 7-minute Balkan-brass psychedelic fantasy featuring the late, great Daevid Allen’s glissando guitar solo and the wonderful Terry Edwards (PJ Harvey, Lydia Lunch, Tindersticks) on saxophone. These two epic tracks capture the polarities of Vanderwolf’s vision: one song precise and quietly disturbing and one sprawling and transcendent.

As well as being a musician with a long and storied history (most notably as vocalist with semi-legendary London band Last Man Standing, whose sole album in 2007 received plaudits from Mojo and Uncut), Max Vanderwolf has a hugely successful career as a music programmer and concert producer, working for some of the worlds’ most celebrated clubs and concert venues. These include New York’s legendary Knitting Factory and London’s internationally-renowned Royal Festival Hall, where for 9 years he produced the Meltdown Festival working closely with David Bowie, Patti Smith, Jarvis Cocker, Massive Attack and Ornette Coleman. It was while working on Meltdown that Vanderwolf forged his friendship with Robert Wyatt.

Explains Vanderwolf: “I had produced a tribute to Wyatt in NYC many years ago. Fred Frith, Peter Blegvad, Hugh Hopper and many others appeared. Robert gave it his official nod of support. When I moved to London to produce my first Meltdown Festival, Robert seemed the obvious choice to curate it, and from that, a lovely friendship evolved. Of course it was daunting asking him to sing something I’d written. I know he gets a lot of proposals of which he turns down nearly all. But happily, he said yes. He said he thought he could sing this set of lyrics— and commented about the possibility of singing about his father. It was a huge relief to me.”

“When The Fire Grows Cold”, which features co-producer Sam Sallon on piano, is lifted by what Wyatt referred to as a “peasant-chorus”. Award-winning video director Alden Volney also depicted the “peasant chorus” in the accompanying video for the song.

Watch the video for “When the Fire Grows Cold” featuring Robert Wyatt: https://youtu.be/d6PCQlhZdTA

Alden Volney is a French Video Maker, Director, Animator and Composer from Normandy. He has directed many music videos - both animated & live-action for artists such as Nicolas Godin, Villagers, Bobby Womack, Lisa Hannigan, Temples, Iggy Pop, Jamie XX to cite a few. In 2017 The Cubitt art gallery in London hosted his first video installation, “Broadcaste” funded by Fluxus. He’s currently making the jump to storytelling, working on a feature length animated film.

The single’s B-side “Extinction!” is a dark ritualistic journey drawing on Balkan brass, African drumming, electronic analogue Trance elements, crunching metallic guitars and with guest appearances from the late legendary guitarist Daevid Allen of Soft Machine and Gong and saxophonist Terry Edwards (Tindersticks, PJ Harvey, Lydia Lunch).

The idea of these tracks being paired is partially due to the thematic link of the lyrics: the folly of human progress that has brought us to the very brink of our own mass extinction. But it is also a linkage between Wyatt and Allen who met as kids in Canterbury England when Daevid Allen became a border in the Wyatt household at the age of 16. He had been shipped off by his family to England because he was too effeminate and too artistically-inclined for the rugged testosterone-driven culture of Australia in the early 1960s. “Allen showed up with Charlie Parker albums under his arm and from their mutual love of bebop a creative partnership was formed. We tried to reflect that love for jazz in the album artwork and the music itself.”

Together those two kids would, along with Kevin Ayers and Mike Ratledge, form the Soft Machine who became the soundtrack for the swinging psychedelic 60s. Regulars at the UFO club and the Roundhouse playing on bills with their contemporaries, Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd.

A new album from Vanderwolf will be released this summer.

Tracklist:
A: When The Fire Grows Cold Feat. Robert Wyatt
B: Extinction!

Vanderwolf - Biography
Max Vanderwolf has recorded more than 11 albums under his own name and as part of various bands. Many more went unreleased. Some evanesced from the catalogues of fledgling independent labels. Under his name, or various pseudonyms, he has also appeared on festival bills performing with various other musicians’ projects, his own bands and small orchestras.

While this isn’t unusual for a busy musician, what is unique is that concurrent to this activity, Vanderwolf lived under an assumed name, spending most of his daytime hours working as ‘Glenn Max’ as a music programmer and concert producer, including overseeing London’s legendary Royal Festival Hall. There, for 9 years he produced the Meltdown Festival working closely with David Bowie, Patti Smith, Jarvis Cocker, Massive Attack and Ornette Coleman.

Vanderwolf then shifted over to East London’s underground music scene finding a home at the notorious Village Underground where he established a stronghold for his unique curatorial visions while producing concerts in Brooklyn, Rome and Paris for such notable artists as John Cale, Sparks and the Residents.

The demands of his work-life were not without their rewards, but they came as a detriment to his life as a musician and bandleader. He had to turn down offers of tours, and support slots due to his heavy work-schedule. Entire finished albums would get regularly shelved or went unmixed and unreleased. Bands would disintegrate after periods of inactivity.

Amongst his bands, Last Man Standing made the biggest impact. Emerging from the infamous Soho drinking den, The Colony Room and fueled by alcohol, the YBA movement and the notorious Lost Vagueness parties in south London, the band were soon playing the full array of UK festivals with their incendiary live show. Their sole album, “False Starts and Broken Promises”, earned 4 and 5-star reviews from Mojo, Uncut and others with favorable comparisons to Bowie, Alex Harvey, Tom Waits, Steely Dan and Lou Reed.

Despite encouragement from friends and fellow musicians, Vanderwolf always shrugged off releasing a follow-up album. Yet he continued to record. So what changed?

“It’s been full-on…I’ve been writing and recording steadily but releasing music hasn't been a priority. My work was full-on and I’d not been able to achieve the things I did if I went on tour to promote an album. But with the global pandemic, I had all this space and a burst in productivity. And I also felt a bit retrospective so now it’s time for this music to show itself to the world.”

A new period of studio activity, writing, recordings and remixing tracks was overseen by Sam Sallon and David Watson and produced a wealth of new tracks all of which will be seeing the light of day in Vanderwolf’s new album, due this summer.

Vanderwolf & the Last Man Standing Ensemble:
Max Vanderwolf - Vocals
Sam Sallon - Keyboards
Chris Wyles  - Drums
Chris Cordoba - Guitar
Will Muldrew - Bass
with
Daevid Allan - Glissando Guitar
Terry Edwards - Sax
Ed Rieband - Trombone
Nick Etwell - Trumpet
Afla Sackey - Percussion
Spoken vocals - Pablo Farba & a Serbian Uber Driver

To purchase “Extinction” - 2 song single: https://lnk.to/Extinction

For more information:
Official website: www.vanderwolfmusic.com
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5VCMMZZYJ0QKriJy07ZJCg
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vanderwolfmusic
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vanderwolfmusic/
Promotional materials: https://www.vanderwolfpromo.com/
Soundcloud link to album, “12 Little Killers”:
https://soundcloud.com/last-man-standing-london/sets/12-little-killers?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 1-828-350-8158 (US), glassonyonpr@gmail.com