Lloyd Spiegel - Tangeled Brew
Buy Tangeled Brew $24.95
In 500 words or so, I'm gonna review the new Lloyd Spiegel album, "Tangled Brew". Trouble is, I've already thought of 506 superlatives I may be tempted to use in praise of this work by one of Australia's finest Blues musicians. So, consider all superlatives said and let's justify why this is such a great record.
The spacey, djembe-driven opener, Murder for Breakfast, sets up well, heralding Lloyd as a masterful songwriter, singer, an emotive electric, as well as acoustic guitar-player.
The title-track is perhaps more familiar, acoustic, Spiegel-territory and shows why he is Australian guitar-manufacturer, Cole Clark's leading demonstrator. On this beautifully-written song, spitting guitar licks punctuate groove-picking, all the way to the ritenuto of the pay-off line.
Filtering percussion lays a compelling groove to Rock and a Hard Place. Simple, understated production values are consistent throughout this release, working effectively in support of songs that deliver lines like, '...a fully-loaded woman pointed right at your face...' Delicious!
The pounding groove figures of Won't Turn Back and Medicine, following, display another great Spiegel-attribute, a voice that bounces and snarls through rhythmic lyric-syllables, each word measured for aerodynamic singability, a lyric-writing ethic observed by great writers of songs, from Ira Gershwin and Cole Porter through Lennon/McCartney to the best of today. Make no mistake, Lloyd Spiegel is a songwriter of the highest order and The Man That I Was, is proof of that! Here with delicate and dynamic string section, it's a song that, if performed by Page & Plant, would be a global AOR smash hit! '...the man that I was killed the man that I wanted to be', absolutely stunning! This CD carries us through a vista of mood. On Blade, strings are again employed in emotion of a lyrical irony, the quality of which rivals Dylan's, 'Just Like a Woman' or Billy Joel's, 'Always a Woman to Me'.
Ten Miles From Your Door and For the Kill bring a further mood-change as Spiegel shows, via angry slide-guitar chops, that he well and truly has earned his funk-licence. Another mood change to the rippling, melodic, finger-style of Letter From Tokyo and the thoughtful, Yesterday's Sins, songs that wouldn't be out of place on FM contemporary radio. The Dirt Road to Paradise, closer is intimate but broad in its dealings with issues of futility, hope, war and the battleground that is the human spirit.
Tangled Brew topped the Australian Blues and Roots chart before the launch-tour came home. The spacious clarity of the recording reveals that Lloyd Spiegel has come of age, a fully-developed artist who has truly earned his place among the best the world has to offer.
Alex Legg