LOCAL A "Old California Town" - Larry Robinson

Self-released

Anyone who ever wandered into the old Packing House (now J.J. Landers) on Main Street in Fallbrook on most any weekend in the 1990s must have wondered who on earth that singer was with the growling baritone leading his band through as tight a set of rock 'n' roll classics as you ever heard.

Few sitting in a small-town steakhouse listening to Robinson play likely guessed that he grew up with rock royalty in the early 1960s before darn near hitting the big time himself in the late '60s with Things to Come, a combo that featured future rock legend Russ Kunkel on drums and that issued a couple of singles on Warner Bros. before disbanding.

Robinson, a longtime Fallbrook icon, has finally issued his first solo album, more than four decades after beginning his career in music. In a different vein than his old Packing House shows, "Old California Town" is in the same acoustic country-rock-folk vein as Tom Russell or Dave Alvin's more recent releases.

Best of all, the 11 songs on this release are on a par with those of Russell, Alvin and other top-notch composers (Guy Clark, Jimmie Dale Gilmore) in the roots/folk tradition. Robinson's style is relaxed yet upbeat, friendly and conversational. As with the other writers offered above as comparisons, he has a nice knack at writing seductive little melodic themes and then fleshing them out with intriguing arrangements.

"Intoxicated On You" may be the loveliest song Robinson has yet written -- Robinson singing the prettiest melody you ever heard in an utterly relaxed manner, with accompaniment by himself, Jeff Bowen and Tony Dean on acoustic guitars. "Japanese Camera" hearkens back to his rock 'n' roll spirit, while "Steinbeck's Ghost" is hauntingly beautiful.

Given the musical riches to be found on this first solo album, here's hoping it doesn't take another 40 years for Robinson to make the next.

Larry Robinson performs March 16 at Hot Java Cafe in Carmel Mountain Ranch.

-- Jim Trageser

Staff Writer

B+ "Growin' Up"

Johnny Different

Self-released

Deftly blending elements of power pop, punk and various other hardcore and alternative threads, San Diego's Johnny Different's new album is like caffeine for your ear.

There's a buzz about the music, or more accurately, about the energy coursing through it. Johnny Miller's hectic guitar and John Spaid's insistent drumming create a hum that runs behind the lead vocals of Miller and bassist Jay Culbertson. And Culbertson thumps like a man possessed on that bass -- his low-end gymnastics are an absolutely integral part of the band's sound.

It's a fun sound, one that's hard to stop listening to (even when the song's lyrics are as heartachingly sad as on "Down On Your Luck," about a dying father's last message to his son).

All that's lacking on this album is that one great hook-based song, the tune that gets stuck in your head and won't get out.

They find that song, the men of Johnny Different will have that one, last missing ingredient they need to create real magic.

Johnny Different performs March 15 at Cane's in Mission Beach.

-- Jim Trageser

Staff Writer

POP/ROCK

B+ "With All Due Respect: The Irish Sessions"

Young Dubliners

429 Records

Not even the best-known Irish band in Los Angeles (that honor would have to go to Dave King's Flogging Molly), the Young Dubliners nonetheless have carved out a loyal audience over the past 15 years that loves the band's punk- and Pogues-influenced take on Irish music.

Like Flogging Molly, the Young Dubliners (the name apparently a nod of respect to the legendary Irish band The Dubliners) are fronted by an honest-to-God Irishman, Dublin native Keith Roberts.

And also like Flogging Molly and the Pogues, the Young Dubliners are at least as much a rock band as an Irish one. While the material on the band's latest album is actually almost all drawn from the traditional Irish canon, most of it is performed with the band's usual mix of bravado and energy that owe far more to punk than the Gaels.

On the few occasions the band does slow things down to what could at least approximate a traditional pace, as on "Paddy's Green Shamrock Shore," Roberts shows a fine, lithe touch on vocals, and the rest of the band a similar ability to capture the Celtic feel of the piece.

Still, it is on the uptempo rockers that the band is in its element, creating a sort of modern drinking song that seems the perfect music for hoisting a pint with the boyos down at the pub.

The Young Dubliners perform March 17 at the ShamRock event in San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter.

-- Jim Trageser

Staff Writer

B "Beckon the Dagger God"

Goes Cube

Self-released

Brooklyn-based Goes Cube isn't punk or metal, although it has elements of both in its music. It's not screamo or hardcore, either, although they're also present.

Instead, it's a modern, sometimes accessible melding of various hard rock styles into an atmospheric, pulsating wall of noise.

And while the band is virtually unknown, and has produced and released its debut CD on its own with no label backing it, there's something here that hints at more than your typical garage band.

David Obuchowski's vocals are often delivered in screamo style -- only he's not screaming. And his guitar playing is in the frenzied, post-modern thrash style that seems so prevalent -- except that there's a structure in there on nearly every song.

Likewise, the drumming and bass of Kenneth Appell and Matthew Frey, respectively, has all the energy and delerium of any underground band you can name, but is overtly building dramatic tension.

The end result isn't an edgy band that comes across as selling out, but more a band capable of taking the frenetic energy of youth-oriented fringe muscal styles and crafting something focused and, well, a touch grown-up.

Goes Cube performs March 21 at the Beauty Bar in San Diego.

-- Jim Trageser

Staff Writer

R&B

A "Stax 50th Anniversary Celebration"

Various artists

Stax / Concord

Challenging Motown for R&B supremacy throughout much of the 1960s and early '70s, the Stax label was exponentially more influential than Motown ever was. The Memphis-based studio and label only lasted for 18 years, from 1957 to '75, but as a new two-CD 50th anniversary box set illustrates, that's about as good a run as any small indie outfit ever had. From Booker T. And the MGs to Otis Redding, Sam & Dave to Isaac Hayes, Rufus Thomas to the Staple Singers, Stax helped redefine popular black music while also grabbing the white kids' ears.

Previous Stax box sets have been more complete, but the 50 songs here are a more than ample (and much more affordable) selection of highlights and greatest hits. "(Sittin' On) The Dock of The Bay," "Green Onions," "I'll Take You There," "Knock on Wood," "Theme From Shaft," "Mr. Big Stuff," "Hold On I'm Comin'" -- it's a dance party disc as much as an informative, historic collectible.

The liner notes (taken from the previous 4-CD "The Stax Story") are comprehensive, with tons of photos, the whole printed up on a nice, heavy stock paper.

Those who don't want to lay out big coin for the the three comprehensive collections of Stax singles, nor even the above-mentioned four-disc history, but want all the biggest hits will find this set to be just the right size.

-- Jim Trageser

Staff Writer

Jazz

B- "From the Plantation to the Penitentiary"

Wynton Marsalis

Blue Note

Wynton Marsalis pulls no punches on his first CD since Hurricane Katrina devastated his hometown, offering seven new compositions with a sharp-edged commentary on the state of American society and culture.

The opening track, "From the Plantation to the Penitentiary," contains some of the jazz trumpeter's most powerful lyrics, lamenting how black Americans have gone from one form of slavery to another -- "From the stock in slaves/To the booming prison trade" -- marked by broken families and long drug-related sentences. Drummer Ali Jackson Jr. evokes images of lashing whips and rattling chains and Marsalis plays a fiery, impassioned solo, but 21-year-old vocalist Jennifer Sanon lacks the rawer emotional edge to fully pull the song off.

Sanon, who has a bright future, is better suited to the romantic ballad, "Love and Broken Hearts," in which Marsalis strikingly juxtaposes her sweet voice with his edgy lyrics criticizing misogynistic gangsta rap -- "Oh safari seekers and thug life coons/ You modern day minstrels and your songless tunes" -- while longing for "the return of romance."

Marsalis' new quintet -- with the underrated saxophonist Walter Blanding and newcomers Dan Nimmer (piano) and Carlos Henriquez (bass) -- adeptly handles the leader's challenging compositions, such as the instrumental "Doin' (Y)our Thing" with its shifting grooves.

Marsalis' lyrics are less effective on such tunes as "Supercapitalism," a critique of rampant American consumerism. The message seems a bit disingenuous coming from a messenger who's pitched luxury goods and received large corporate donations to create his Jazz at Lincoln Center venue in that capitalist mecca, the Time Warner Center.

Marsalis takes a rare vocal turn on the closing "Where Y'all At?" shouting out rapid-fire couplets over a funky New Orleans beat as he takes to task rappers, '60s liberal activists and political leaders for not matching their rhetoric with action to fix America's problems.

Jazz mixed with a political message is nothing new, exemplified by the 1960 album "We Insist! Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite." But that album, featuring Abbey Lincoln's vocals and lyrics by Oscar Brown Jr., only underscores the uneven quality of Marsalis' latest effort. Marsalis' abilities as a lyricist do not match his prowess as a composer, but this is still a thought-provoking CD meriting attention.

-- Associated Press

R&B

B "Street Love"

Lloyd

Universal Motown

Lloyd -- best known for his 2004 duet with Ashanti, "Southside" -- returns with his sophomore CD, "Street Love," and it proves the up-and-coming balladeer can do more than just sing hooks.

His debut single "You" featuring Lil Wayne capitalizes on the radio-friendly R&B-guy-plus-rapper equation, but "Street Love" reveals the 21-year-old can go it alone.

On the acoustic guitar-backed "Valentine," Lloyd reveals the vocal style and sound of a young Michael Jackson. A similar air blows through "Incredible," only this time, think "Butterflies" from Jackson's 2001 album "Invincible."

Lloyd also croons about an intoxicating love affair on "Hazel": "Just to prove it to you girl, you know I love you so much, I hit the corner store for you and scrape the guts outta Dutch," he sings, reminding listeners that the comparisons to the King of Pop stop at the vocal style and long hair.

The uptempo "Get It Shawty" and smoothed-out "Certified" give the album its groove-worthiness. And the eerie sounding title-track "Street Love," with its echoing instrumentals and computerized vocals, give the album a sweet old-school flavor.

The album's title, "Street Love," serves as a testament to Lloyd's versatility. The boy can sing like the breeze and still sound like the block.

-- Associated Press

Rap / Hip-Hop

C "Rich Boy"

Rich Boy

Zone 4/ Interscope

On his website, Rich Boy claims his moniker is just a neighborhood nickname and not an upper tax bracket signifier. Yet "Throw Some D's," the ubiquitous first single off the Alabama rapper's self-titled debut CD, oozes with nouveau riche arrogance. He boasts about outfitting a big-money purchase (a Cadillac) with the proper accessory (Dayton rims), declaring: "New money … / Don't you see the big knot?/ Don't you see the big chain?/ Don't you see the big rims?"

Though nothing else on this otherwise solid disc reaches the anthemic heights of that radio hit, it's not for lack of effort. Rich Boy sinks his twangy, staccato boasts in an impressive array of beats produced largely by Polow Da Don and Brian Kidd. "Get to Poppin"' is a Timbaland-esque thumper with a sinuous Spanish-language vocal sample. The Lil Jon-produced "What It Do" is strip-club fodder, rumbling along to double-time congas. And "Lost Girls," sways to a reggae lilt while Rich Boy offers unexpected cautionary tales about women corrupted by lust and materialism.

That latter song, along with the urban angst of "Ghetto Rich" featuring John Legend, is proof that Rich Boy's got more on his mind than just the spoils of new-found wealth.

-- Associated Press

World

"Techari"

Ojos de Brujo

Diquela Records/Six Degrees Records

Cross-cultural musical hybrids are more popular than ever in a world where everything is but a click away. Yet, for all the mixed in bass-lines and international influences, "Techari," the latest release by Ojos de Brujo (Eyes of the Wizard), remains essentially flamenco: passionate and frenzied.

According to the group, "Techari" means "free, without borders" in a gypsy dialect, and this Barcelona ensemble takes the pure, simple message to heart. The album is a wild, vibrant mix of hip-hop, reggae, jazz and more, with Spanish folk music firmly forming its foundation.

Think rhythmic clapping complementing beat-boxing. Think rapid-fire guitar strumming giving way to Cuban rumba. Think Spanish lyrics delivered in from-the-gut howls over Indian instrumentation. Now add a little DJ scratching.

There are also songs that are lighter, where the voice of lead singer Marina Abad turns airy and just plain lovely.

"Techari" is a surprising delight. This ensemble of musicians somehow manages to meld Gypsy allure and contemporary sounds in a way that is, at the same time, entwined and free.

-- Associated Press