Each September, Beaner's Central puts together a vibrant week of "live" music that amounts to their own little action-packed "Beanerpalooza." Four or five months later, kind of like magic, out pops a compilation with some of the highlights from that period.
This is the seventh edition and it follows a trend with this series. There aren't any big names, not really even any moderately well-known names, but lots of local and regional -- no, actually, make that all local and regional acts with the exception of one group, Megafaun from South Carolina. The result is that the producers do a lot with a little (little meaning few high-visibility artists, not little talent).
Here's a quick list of highlights:
* The Brushstrokes' "Stop Me Now" morphs from a piano dream ballad into an ELO/Queen kind of art rock dramatic/theatrical mind-bending ride.
* Taconite's "Always Falling": Sounds like an old drunken Neil Young track from his "Tonight's the Night" period, about a girl with no sense of gravity who's always falling in love.
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* Yeltzi's "Cold": Seems only too appropriate. Starkly punctuated acoustic guitar chords and plucked violin strings sound like frigid bursts of northerly winds and crunching snow underfoot. The mournful fiddle line adds some
percussion.
* Tim Mahoney's "She's Just A Girl": The closest thing to a name artist (he of Blue Meenies fame) is, hands down, the highlight of the project. Mahoney has a sublime sense of melody over some deftly arranged harmonic changes in a story about a heartbreaker who moves through different peoples' lives. This one makes you want to lean forward and turn up the volume.
* Megafaun's "Where We Belong": This has that old Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young lilt and multipart harmony that they shaped ballads with. Apart from a nasty mic chord buzz, it's an arresting performance.
* Too Many Banjos' "You're A Dreamboat": Sounds like a Leon Redbone parlor guitar tune played at 78 rpm.
* Jim Hall's "Put It on Your Lips": This tune has changed and evolved over time like a Dylan classic that he now accents in different places, giving it a new melody and new meaning.
* Scott Cook's, "The Ramblin' Kind": He sounds like a young Cormac McCarthy, and that's a good thing. Don't know Cormac McCarthy? Try www.
cormacmccarthy.com
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* Old Knifey & the Cutthroats' "When You're Not Around": It's a sing-songy little ditty about the ex that is reminiscent of Long John Baldry.
* John Ward & Lori Hatten's "Two Blades": This duo has been a solid part of the local music scene for 30-plus years. Astute lyrics, keen changes, tranquil harmonies.
It may be a little heavy on the strummy acoustic guitar, but overall it's a fun package of 20 tracks from September. The folks at Beaner's should be pleased with another edition, and we'll hope there are a few more volumes down the line.
