ANTHONY LAMARR – Intermission: The Learning Never Stops

(2011   Self-Release)

Musicians don’t often relish in repeating themselves or even carrying on a common theme from project to project. Then again why fix it if it’s not broken?

Aside from being a bit overly ambitious (in length), Anthony Lamarr’s 2010 debut, Opening Night: A Symphony from Sorrow, was very impressive indeed. For part two the template has remained virtually the same right down to the layout, the font, the liner notes and the flow of the album. This one, however clocks in at a more digestible forty minutes.

It is the calling of most artists to take personal experiences and visions and universalize them. Lamarr is no different and, in fact these two albums play like a documentary in musical form; musical as in stage musical. Especially central to Lamarr’s journey are family and faith with a capital F.

Scott Lamps returns as the primary instrumentalist, arranger, engineer and co-producer. Though Pete Ross returns on sax, the horn section that provided much of the funk on Opening Night are notably absent. The drums are programmed this time out and that makes for some stiffness but it’s the vocal performances that take center stage despite being a bit further down in the mix.

Things get started off in a hymnal way with “Vernal Equinox,” the date of Lamarr’s birth. Beth Kille provides a sweet lead vocal that sings the Lord’s praises, complete with massive layers of keys and chimes. “Order & Chaos” follows, a soulful tune that puts Lamarr’s magnificent tenor in the spotlight with Kari Arnett and Shawndell Marks providing graceful backups. This is easily the best track on the album.

Also returning are Rob Dz and J’Dante who appear on the linked tracks “Interlude – Deep Intermission / Intermission,” Dz providing the spoken word into and J’Dante contributing rhymes. Dz reappears later on “City of Change” along with E-Sweez.

“Keep Me Down” plays like a good old gospel stomp with singer/songwriter Corey Hart guesting on vocals.

Things take a turn for the strange on “Folk Song” the music suddenly veering away from the dense rhythms and urban feel to outright bluegrass. Even stranger is the use of 105.5 Triple M’s Jonathan Suttin to provide an introduction as if this were airing on radio in real time (maybe it was). The track features Anna Vogelzang on vocals and Julia McConahay on violin. Banjo (presumably played by Lamps) completes the Appalachian palette. Perhaps even stranger is the closer “Auf Wiedersehen” with Tom Klein playing accordion. Though it’s a nice showcase for Lamarr’s vocals, the spoken German stanzas simply go over the top. Stranger still was the choice to place “City of Change” between the two.

Intermission lacks some of the spark that ignited Opening Night. The mix is dense, even muddy in spots, and the programmed drums and rhythm tracks have a lot to do with that. These elements also seem to limit the expressiveness of the music. It feels like there’s less room for the songs to breathe with layers of keyboards and electronics. The result is a bit of monotony in the arrangements.

Lamarr appears prepared to carry on the theme to a third album, “announcer” Sarah Hoover clueing us in at the tail end that Act Two is on its way. It might be more prudent to scratch the weighty theme and template of the first two albums and just free Lamarr up to explore and express himself without these confines.

ANTHONY LAMARR – Opening Night: A Symphony from Sorrow

(2010 Self-Release)

The debut release from Anthony Lamarr was easily one of the more ambitious releases of 2010. At twenty-one songs and seventy-seven minutes, it’s an opus, especially for a debut. Lamarr’s background and education is in theater and here he presents these works in three “acts”. The album opens with a simulation of being in a theater with polite applause and a voice-over welcome urging the “audience” to sit back, relax and enjoy the show. It closes in similar fashion although it’s a long show – it’s just intermission; foresight into Lamarr’s 2011 release, Intermission: The Learning Never Stops, which carries on the theme.

Opening Night is biographical in nature; a playlist from Lamarr’s personal experiences. The arc of the story is not entirely clear but overall it begins with a sorrow that is overriding and ends with the optimism that he can indeed overcome. Lamarr attempts to expand his experiences from personal to universal and on this note he largely succeeds. The album sways from soul-searching reflections to outright worship songs, especially in the third “act”. The album probably could have done without some of the latter tracks, condensing it down to a more digestible length.

The ambition of the project is reflected in the sheer number of people involved: a core band that features Scott Lamps (bass, guitars, vocals, keyboards, arrangement, engineering and production), Ida Jo (violin, vocals), Austin Douse (drums), Michael “Mouse” Adams, Jr. (harmonica) and a horn section including Peter Ross on sax, Charley Wagner on trumpet and Sean Dray on tuba. There are copious special guests with songs tailor-made for them, choirs and even preachers.

“On and On” establishes the main groove of the record; a funky track that seeps Motown influences with ample use of horns. The guitars are notable here, a staccato pattern underlies the verses while crunching power chords drive the choruses. “Deep Afterthought” and “Afterthought” dial up the soul music, the former featuring a poem spoken by Rob Dz. Lamarr’s vocals soar bringing Luther Vandross to mind. A jazzy turnaround after the choruses is very effective as is the the song’s final refrain. Lamarr performed this pair at the 2011 Madison Area Music Awards, bringing in a troupe of dancers and choreographing the entire performance with impressive theatrical flair.

“Need to Change” is another standout, featuring Lucas Cates and blazing harmonica from Adams. It’s a more typical of a rock song with a familiar descending chord progression. The coda is a freakout and one of the more brilliant production moments on the album. “Why Go” is another with Ida Jo and Aaron Williams who turns in an outstanding and emotional guitar solo. “Doo Wah” lets Lamps take over the vocals and the textured, layered backups are a nice touch.

Other appearances include Lyndsay Evans (Sexy Ester and the Pretty Mama Sisters) who adds soulful vocals to “Choices,” J’Dante who brings a hip-hop section to “Better Than Me,” Mike Droho (Compass Rose) who sings on “The Place to Be” and Danielle Brittany who sings on a sultry lounge-jazz track appropriately titled “Jazzy Song.”

Lamarr’s alias The Soundshaker makes a brief appearance, showcasing his astounding ability to use his voice to reproduce complex beats, a technique known as beat-boxing.

The fact that a project like this flew so low on the radar while another of Lamarr’s outings – a video for the Wisconsin Badgers’ Rose Bowl appearance in January 2011 entitled “We’re Smelling Roses” practically went viral – is typical of the uphill battle musical artists face in this city. It’s often said that in Madison football, bratwurst or terrible illnesses will draw attention. Works of art…? Not so much.

MAMAs Announce Elimination of Registration Fees;

Registration Now Open

The Madison Area Music Association is kicked of its eigth season with an event to mark the opening of registration for the next awards show.  The Registration Kickoff Event took place on the Promenade Terrace at the Overture Center on October 15th from 5-9PM.  Artists  stopped by to renew their annual membership and  also dropped off recorded materials. These recorded materials will be uploaded to artists’ profiles for them, allowing them added simplicity when entering their materials into the desired award categories.

There are several key changes being made with the MAMAs this year. The most notable, and the one that should please artists the most, is the elimination of the $10-per-entry fee that artists paid to enter their music. The MAMAs charged this fee to keep the organization solvent during its start-up years and to cover the lack of corporate sponsorships due to the economic downturn over the past several years. Now the award categories will be sponsored by area businesses. This allows the MAMAs to replace the lost revenue with smaller, more affordable sponsorships.

The membership donation of $5 remains for the time being. This money is the chief means by which the MAMAs does its charitable giving (The MAMAs is a 501 (c)(3) exempt organization whose mission is to provide musical instruments for Madison-area youth and to further their music education. To date the MAMAs have given nearly $35,000 in funds and instruments). The $5 membership is a donation that goes to a separate bank account and is not mingled with other operating funds. The $5 membership also provides a disincentive for those who would attempt to manipulate the online voting system.

Other key changes include:

• Changing the “Urban/R&B” genre classification to “Hip-Hop”
• Changing the “Pop” genre classification to “Pop/R&B”
• Adding an “Interpretive Song of the Year” award for cover songs released during 2010
• Related to the “Interpretive Song” is the fact that all “Song of the Year” entries must be original works.
• Moving the DJ Performer of the Year and the Cover Band Performer of the Year awards to the People’s Choice Awards (write-ins).

The Registration Kickoff  also featured performers. Multi-MAMA winner Jessi Lynn, John Masino, last year’s Guitarist of the Year and Joe Bainbridge performed. There was also a special performance by Bonnie Greene’s Musik Makers,  a string section made up of youngsters. The MAMAs is a proud supporter of Music Makers.

subvocal to Release New Live CD; New Studio Album Due This Fall

subvocal will release their 2nd CD, “subvocal LIVE,” on July 30, 2010. This five-song EP includes four live tracks recorded at the Brink Lounge during an appearance on the  Mad Toast Live! show hosted by Chris Wagoner and Mary Gaines  in June of 2009.
The show was recorded by Andrew LaValley of Bear Sound . Also included is a  bonus track, a studio recording of ”Esoterica.”

This CD is a precursor to the long overdue second full length studio release coming this fall.

subvocal’s first release, Nikkis Room,  won Unique CD of the Year at the 2005 Madison Area Music Awards.

subvocal LIVE will be available online at most digital retailers including CD Baby and Amazon.

The MAMAs Kick Off a New Year With Lots of Changes

MAMA, Inc. has announced that registration is open for the 7th Annual Madison Area Music Awards. You can link to the registration site at their homepage: www.themamas.org.

Musicians have until January 15th, 2010 to submit their eligible songs, videos and albums. Categories are also available for the Performer of the Year awards which do not require music to be released during 2009. In addition, a 2009 release is not required to enter the Vocalist and  Instrumentalist categories which were expanded last year to cover guitarist, bassist, keyboardist, drummers, etc. There are three categories for youth musicians: Youth Ensemble, Youth Vocalist and Youth Instrumentalist. An overall Artist of the Year category is again being sponsored by Smart Studios and the recipient receives a day of recording at Smart along with other winnings. Write-in categories are available for other music-related areas such as Live Music Venue, Local Music CD and Record Outlet, Local Music Radio Station and several more.

Fans can register to vote now as well, and may do so right up until the last day of voting in the final round.

Registration as a musician or fan requires a $5 membership donation that goes directly into the MAMAs’ charitable fund. The MAMAs is a non-profit organization that works to put musical instruments in kids’ hands and to fund youth music programs. The MAMAs website contains a complete history of charitable giving the organization has accomplished.

What’s New For 2010

The big news right now is that the MAMAs have moved to the Capitol Theater in the Overture Center, bringing the awards show back to Madison’s downtown. Through the Overture Center’s Community Partnership Program, a new application-driven outreach effort, the MAMAs qualified to use the space and equipment at little to no charge.  MAMA, Inc. sees this as a major step toward getting the city more involved with their efforts.

The other big news is that the MAMAs have adopted a new approach to sponsorships, seeking out sponsors at a manageable level to sponsor award categories. Broadjam, Inc., the company that also contributes their online voting systems for the MAMAs use, will be sponsoring the album categories.  Each eligible album will receive one sponsored entry, which means it won’t be subject to the $10 registration fee. For instance, an album could be entered into the rock genre and Broadjam’s sponsorship will be $10. If the artist wishes to submit the album into another genre, blues for instance, then the $10 registration fee once again applies. Likewise, Good-n-Loud Music, a long-time supporter of the MAMAs and youth music programs, will sponsor the instrumentalist and youth categories.  Local Sounds (www.localsounds.org) will be sponsoring the write-in categories, also known as the People’s Choice Awards, picking up the costs of the trophies.

Although the Song and Performance categories don’t have sponsors this year, MAMA, Inc. feels that next year each category may have a sponsor, drastically shifting the costs to sponsors and away from musicians. Though everyone in the MAMAs organization wishes the event were fully funded sooner, the revenue from registrations is what has allowed the MAMAs to stay in the black and survive, even through financially troubled times. Shrewd cost-cutting measures employed in 2009 also helped to see the organization through an economically questionable period.

There are only a few changes to the award categories. This year the MAMAs is bringing back the Hard Rock/Punk category, which was eliminated a few years ago due to lack of participation.  A new write-in category, Studio Sound Engineer was also added after confusion arose last year over a new Live Sound Engineer award (many people wrote in studio engineers).

What’s to Come

There are many more announcements forthcoming from the MAMAs and several future press releases are planned. For now, here is the calendar of significant dates:

October 5, 2009 – Open registration

January 15, 2010 – Registration ends

February 1, 2010 – First voting round begins

March 18, 2010 – First voting round ends

March 27, 2010 – Nominee Announcement Party at the Brink Lounge

March 28, 2010 – Final round of voting starts

April 28, 2010 – Final voting ends

May 8, 2010 – 7^th Annual Madison Area Music Awards – Overture Center, Capitol Theater 

Red Carpet at 6PM, Awards Show 7-10 PM

MAMAs on the Terrace

We had a great time at the second annual MAMAs on the Terrace on Saturday night.  The raindrops were effectively dodged and the turnout was spectaular. Local Sounds TV was also on hand so look for an edit of the event there soon.

VO5 really lit up the night with their funky Kool & the Gang-syle of disco covers.  You’ve got to hand it to these guys even if you hate disco – which I do. They can sing! I believe there were six vocalists in all, although it was a little difficult to see over the bouncing pink bunnines. No shit, there were bouncing pink bunny people. I knew leaving my Orange Sunshine at home was a mistake. My favorite dude has to be bassist Drew Szabo who stood about seven feet tall including his platforms.  The group is led by former members of The Merkins Catherine Capellaro (vocals, trumpet) and Andrew Rohn (vocals, keyboard), authors of “Walmartopia.” Rohn appears to be the maestro and the group covers several tough numbers including “Thriller,” a song I have never heard a band cover.

Sunspot also turned in an inspired set. These guys never cease to amaze me. I’ve seen them numerous times and I can’t think of a band that works harder, is more prolific and has more fun. They played several songs from their new release, Singularity, a full-length album that includes a DVD with videos for each song. Now that’s ambition! Bassist/vocalist Mike Huberty caught me on video doing a disco dance complete with self-inflicted reacharounds so hopefully that won’t surface online somewhere.

 Danielle Brittany, winner of the Female Vocalist of the Year award, put on an energetic set that drew a good response from the audience. She was so excited because Brittany, now 23, had a goal of playing the Terrace someday. Her popalicious sounds went well with the setting sun and the lake breeze. Brittany has a band assembled for the occasion that included Matt Nelson, guitarist for the Dorothy Heralds.

Gladstone got things rolling with their brand of pop/rock; a good start to the festivities. They go down easy and the highlight of the band is their ability to sing multiple harmonies. Gladstone won the New Artist of the Year award and the Pop Album of the Year award for Paper Sky. Their set featured these selections mingled with a few covers by U2 and Coldplay.