Reviews
 Keep It Simple
Van Morrison
Roger McGuinn @ the Huntington IMAC, Long Island, NY - April 4, 2008
Emily Saxe @ the Allen Room/Jazz at Lincoln Center - April 5, 2008
Another Country
Tift Merritt
Be Your Own Pet
Get Awkward
Paul McCartney – The McCartney Years (DVD)
Juno – Music from the Motion Picture
Various Artists
Yes - Their Definitive Story
Day and Night Driving
Seven Mary Three
InterMedia Arts Center 2/2/08
Huntington, NY
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Robert Plant/Strange Sensation
For those of you who have never quite gotten over the fact that Led Zeppelin decided to call it quits after John Bonham’s death, I have some very good news for you. Robert Plant’s new band, Strange Sensation, comes very close to capturing not just the sound, but also the spirit of Plant’s latter-day Zeppelin work, imbued with a 21st century perspective. Granted, there is nothing here to suggest the highwire buzzsaw of Jimmy Page’s electric guitar work, but there is plenty here to replace it. Plant himself seems to willfully avoid the falsetto squeal that he (over)used back then, but the power and familiar timbre of his voice is still there, as is the power of his presence.
“Mighty Re Arranger” is an album full of textures – not necessarily ‘world’ music, but rather worldly, with songs deeply rooted in North African/Moroccan rhythms and American blues structures. Robert Plant and Strange Sensation whip up an intoxicating brew that rewards multiple listens in much the same way as the classic stuff from Led Zeppelin’s heyday, but the most beautiful thing here is how the album serves notice that Plant has not grown obsolete with age. Quite naturally, his perspective has matured since those heady days. Now, it is laced with a touch of world-weary ennui, so it is fascinating to here him come to terms with the contemporary world on his own terms.
One significant highlight is a track entitled “Tin Pan Valley” where Plant seems to be sizing up his contemporaries in today’s marketplace with a raised eyebrow or two. Just as he conveys the grateful realization that he doesn’t fit in, the band explodes with a burst of energy that serves as proof that he is above it all anyway. “Freedom Fries” provides more food for thought, as a wildly syncopated indictment of contemporary ignorance, particularly in regard to how a powerful culture can infiltrate, or willfully attempt to eradicate, a weaker one. A similar sentiment is presented on “Another Tribe,” wherein Plant suggests that mankind will bring warfare into heaven, as we all “race to justify (our) chosen one.” There is a clever, observant mind at work here, making it quite evident that Plant is not particularly interested in veiling his message in oblique, flowery imagery any longer. Don’t get the impression that the entire album is full of complex high-falutin concepts, though. “All the King’s Horses” is a love song that is as gorgeous as it is simple, with an acoustic guitar accompaniment that cannot avoid suggesting some of Jimmy Page’s best work on “Led Zeppelin III”, while “Mighty Re Arranger” conveys the pointlessness of obsessing on the future while propelling itself along on the back of a loping blues groove.
This is no band of Led-Zep wanna-bes. Instrumentally, Strange Sensation is consistently excellent with an identity all their own. With great skill, they combine versatility and eclecticism with familiarity and startling dynamics. Still though, it would be a mistake to burn bridges, and that is why there are numerous musical references to some of Led Zeppelin’s strongest assets. Clive Deamer’s drumming does suggest what might have evolved had John Bonham survived, especially on the powerhouse rhythms of “Takamba”, while the twelve-string strum of “Dancing in Heaven” emulates the textures of that band’s late work. All in all, “Mighty ReArranger” is brilliantly constructed and consistently interesting on many levels. Twenty-five years removed from Led Zeppelin, Robert Plant and Strange Sensation are finding new ways to deal with those timeless themes, and it is a wonder to behold.
Grade: 
 
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