Aaron Comess - Beautiful Mistake

Aaron Comess - Beautiful Mistake

2011, Aaron Comess

Aaron Comess is a multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer who has collaborated with the likes of Joan Osborne, David Foster, Phil Ramone, Isaac Hayes, Chris Whitley, Marc Cohn and Natasha Bedingfield (among others).  You might remember Comess as a founding member of The Spin Doctors (drums).  However you may have crossed musical paths with Aaron Comess, there can be no doubt that his talents have aided and abetted some pretty big names in the music business.  On June 14, 2011, Comess releases his second solo instrumental album, Beautiful Mistake. 

Comess surrounds himself with first class musicians on Big Mistake, allowing the ensemble to stand out as a whole, and in individually, while he quietly drives the action with variegated rhythms.  Opening with "Truth", Comess starts listeners off in mellow, thoughtful tones.  Guitar is the lead voice here, imparting a sort of stodgy melodicism that is more fluid and lyric than it first appears.  "Beautiful Mistake" is a deceptive and archaic waltz that occasional breaks into a swing beat.  Bass and percussion create a rhythmic bed that is entrancing, while Comess' guitarist has his way with your ears in a guitar sound that's part Prince and part Eric Johnson.  Comess and ensemble build all of this into a rollicking jam that sweeps you up in its pure joy.  "Past Present & Future" builds on a polyrhythmic feel with quirky guitar sounds, sounding like a compositional study in rhythmic aberrations.  It's entertaining and offbeat, and could be taken as run through with a wicked sense of humor. 

Comess drops into mellow rumination for "Kumpelicious", delving into some vaguely Hendrix-style riffs in a mellow side-trip of sound.  "Castkills Last Waltz" is jaunty and fun, with something a swing sensibility built loosely into the arrangement.  What will really catch your ear here is the phrasing on the guitar, which transcends technical competence to that thing they call "touch" or "feel".  As a counter, Comess pulls a complete left turn into the bowels of garage rock for "Dirt", an angular and distorted bit of fun that serves as a perfect counter to the pure essence it follows.

"Limbo" sounds like a blend of Steve Howe and Greg Kihn; funky and full of a bubbling energy.  The exceptional guitar work here is punctuated by rhythms and sounds that begin by distracting and slowly enmesh themselves into the creation that is the song.  Comess tries his hand at gothic-style film scoring on "Unleash The Beast", a messy-but-fun composition that gets points for style and pure chutzpah.  "Lullabye" serves as a spoiler, a sweet, flowing melody as a moment of piece in the maelstrom of creation imparted on Beautiful Mistake.  The moment of peace is over quickly, however, as Comess and band launches into the muscular-yet-atmospheric "High Five".  What starts out as a straight forward composition builds in intensity and style, adding funk and volume until it's ready to blow out the top. 

"Stinky" is an edgy new-age pop instrumental.  Mild-mannered, but rough enough around the edges to not quite fit into the traditional new age category.  Comess answers back with "Bubble Blues", which is bathed in distortion and reverb.  It doesn't really add a lot to the album, but is an interesting diversion that leads into the spritely sweet closing track, "I Love You".  Everything flows at the end, as Comess has save his purest melodic moment for last.

Beautiful Mistake is a pleasant surprise.  So many pop/rock instrumental albums out there rely on cyclical arrangements and blind creation, often resulting in repetitive or derivative creations that seem anathema to the creative process.  Comess has structured Beautiful Mistake with an ear for musical diversity and progression, forcing himself continually over new ground rather than recapturing the same harmonic and melodic fields again and again.  Not every moment here will work for every listener, but Comess keeps things original and new throughout the album.  Consequently, those will listen complacently will miss a lot.

Rating: 3.5 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about Aaron Comess at www.aaroncomess.com or www.myspace.com/aaroncomess.  Beautiful Mistake drops on CD on June 14, 2011.  The album is already available digitally from Amazon.com or iTunes.

Reflect - For Those Who Wait...

Reflect - For Those Who Wait...

2010, Reflect

Toronto hip-hop/rapper Reflect is on the rise.  His 2008 debut album, Hope Wuz Here found Reflect gaining airplay on both sides of the Atlantic as well as in Australia, and sparked featured performances in Toronto and New York City.  Reflect is a different style of rapper than what you hear on the radio, foregoing the glam and glitz for a much more measured approach.  The chutzpah and self-serving lyrical approach are still here; just dialed down to more subtle levels.  This is apparent on Reflect’s latest album, For Those Who Wait….  Reflect’s influences include 2PAC, Talib Kweli, Common and Rakim, and elements of each can be heard on the album.

For Those Who Wait… opens with “Intro – For Those Who Wait”, sounding like an admonition of absentee fathers.  Reflect establishes a solid rhythm here, but the meaning may border on opaque for some.   “Another Shot” asks for another opportunity, vacillating between a relationship and chasing his dreams and finding it difficult to fully pursue one without giving short shrift to the other.  Here her works out the dynamics of doing both in rhyme.  “Fly Away (Gotta Get Out)” is a down tempo, nearly melancholy rhyme detailing a hard life caught between poverty and drugs, expressing the eternal ideal of escape.  The song gives voice to the voiceless with a deft lyrical touch without sounding sentimental.  “Gonna Get ‘Em” is a song about reaching out for your dreams the right way; rising up through the ranks with hard work and determination.  Reflect refers to having “A couple of dollars and a dream”, and talks about working harder at making music than he’s worked at anything in his life.  The song may be seen by some as self-serving, but it reflects a work ethic that’s a necessary component of success.

“Million Bucks” delves into the ups and downs of having big money, starting from a desire to have it to the perspective of one who had it and lost it all.  Reflect has a tendency at times to tell a story from multiple perspectives in the same song, like in “Million Bucks”; this tendency arises again in “Lost And Found”.  “Lost And Found” parallels the giddy love of finding the right woman with the utter despair of losing her.  “What Do I Do” is perhaps the most difficult listen on “For Those Who Wait…” Reflect discusses the evil that some men (pimps, abusers) commit against women in a well thought out diatribe.  Unfortunately his vocals on the chorus are almost painfully atonal.  Reflect heads for cliché on “Superman”, singing to his own Lois Lane in a self-serving love song that finds Reflect putting himself on a pedestal rather than the one he’s singing to.

“Worked Over By A Lady” finds Reflect lamenting a friend whose heart was broken, laying it entirely at the feet of the woman who walked away.  The song is well-written yet overly one-sided in perspective and might be taken for being mildly misogynistic.  “Lovin’ Me Lately” is a slow jam for the twenty-first century with a solid groove.  Reflect doesn’t leave much to the imagination, eschewing the suggestive innuendo Isaac Hayes for fully descriptive lyrics that might classify as erotica.  For Those Who Wait…  closes with “Moonwalker”, a tribute to Michael Jackson from the perspective of a kid who used to try to copy the moonwalk who is now an artist himself because of the influence.  The lyrics border on trite, and Reflect puts Jackson amidst an interesting pantheon of artists that includes Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding, Biggie, 2Pac, Aaliyah, Isaac Hayes, James Brown and John Lennon.  Nevertheless it’s a touching tribute fitting of the self-styled King of Pop.

Reflect’s delivery is a bit bland at times, but his lyrical style shows the influence of artists such as Common and Rakim.  Reflect is a cognitive rapper, spinning generally well thought-out lyrics that give voice to emotions, moments and people who might not find their own voice, and does so without relying on destructive or offensive language.  For Those Who Wait… probably doesn’t slot well with popular urban radio, but will appeal to those who remember a time when rappers got by on their wits more so than on reputations or street cred.  For Those Who Wait… is the real deal, and what Reflect may lack in flash he more than makes up for in his rhymes.

 Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about Reflect at http://www.reflect-music.com/.  For Those Who Wait is available from Amazon.com as a CD or Download.  Digital copies are also available from iTunes.