Burt Bacharach Socks It To Dubya, and Kicks It With Dr. Dre: At This Time
Written: Oct 25 '05 (Updated Nov 05 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Lots of great, smooth grooves, and a couple of nifty guest appearances.
Cons: Bacharach is no lyricist.
The Bottom Line: In which the author gets a revisionist vision of a John Kerry rally in Madison.
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| plorentz's Full Review: At This Time by Burt Bacharach |
I can see an October day, just before the election, a sense of purpose and indignation riding on the crisp winds; every leaf rustling in the gutter seeming to carry a hidden message, a bumper sticker slogan. The long straight corridor of West Washington Avenue lined on each side by old houses now converted to student housing, the decks and patios covered with campaign signs, American flags, POW-MIA flags, rainbow flags - the street itself cordoned off at either end - no through traffic. The empty street fills up with the opposition candidate's supporters. And detractors. But, for now at least, the harsh words are relegated to block letters on big white cardboard rectangles. People carry them around and almost forget they're carrying an incendiary message with them; their signs incite action, rebellion even - but their mouths are exchanging bits of gossip, or drinking coffee to stave off the chill of the sunny autumn day. In a few short hours, speeches will be made, and the headlining act will take the stage, rally the troops with his new political anthems. The crowd will roar to life like a single monstrous organism.
Now, imagine that headlining act is not say, Bruce Springsteen or Green Day, but rather none other than 77-year old Burt Bacharach, the author of a zillion love songs, principal architect of Dionne Warwick's early career, the guy who wrote the theme from Arthur, and "That's What Friends Are For", looking stunning, by the way, as he breezes through a mellow, however message-laden set of smooth jazz tunes.
How does that music change the picture? And perhaps more important: how does that picture change the music, if at all?
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The idea of smooth jazz as protest music is likely to raise a few hackles - though it's certainly not without precedent. Certainly social comment played a major role in a lot of bop and fusion; and Sting, though not a purist's jazz musician, combined adult-friendly sophistication, thoughtful musicianship, and jazzy improvisations with provocative images of war on his recent Sacred Love tour. Nevertheless, what Burt Bacharach does has always struck me as a journeyman-type trade - something utterly separate from mere politics. You don't expect plumbers and electricians to try to convey some deep political message with their work. What Bacharach is most famous for - writing sweet, complex, jazzy, urbane tunes about love - well, there's a simple nobility to that which transcends current events and generational gaps. Politics is irrelevant here. You don't expect phrases like "righteous indignation" to describe his music.
Then again, you don't expect Burt Bacharach to collaborate with Dr. Dre either, but on his latest album, At this Time his first proper solo studio record in almost 30 years (he was most recently spotted working with Elvis Costello on the fabulous 1998 album Painted From Memory), he is righteously indignant about what's he seeing and hearing on the news, and yes, he does score a handful of surprisingly apt drum n' bass loops off of the resident mogul of Death Row Records.
But fear not, peeps, B-Dawg keeps his flow real on At This Time. Meaning, you're not gonna find a guest rap by Dre's latest protege in between Chris Botti's muted trumpet solos. But you are going to find Bacharach's first credits as a lyricist (along with Tonio K. on the nine tracks that actually have lyrics), and reliably easy-on-the-ears guest vocals by the likes of Elvis Costello (on the album's jaggedest pill "Who Are These People?") and Rufus Wainwright ("Go Ask Shakespeare"), not to mention the backing of a 35-piece orchestra.
And righteous indignation has rarely sounded as lovely, or as bank lobby appropriate. Most of these songs - the opening "Please Explain", the instrumental "Danger", the epic centerpiece "Is Love Enough?" - get along on sheer, easy urban groove alone. Let's face it: Bacharach, distinguished composer he may be, is no lyricist - but it's okay. What he's trying to say here really is as simple as a bumper-sticker slogan: What the fuck is going on? What have we done? What kind of a mess are we bequeathing to our children, etc., etc., etc.
On "Where Did It Go?", he actually sings his lyrics himself (generally not advisable - he's not much of a singer either), but as he recounts riding the New York subways as a 12-year-old and feeling safe, wondering where that world went (if, in fact, it went anywhere), it's his injured, croaking croon that really conveys the song's emotional meaning: Maybe 12-year-olds will always feel safe riding the subways. Maybe all this fear about the state of the world just comes with age. Or not.
At This Time is at its best when it simply lets the moody strings, the street-strolling beats, the sinewy, supple, and yes, often hip-hoppy bass-lines tell its stories. The best of the vocal tracks - "Who Are These People?", "Go Ask Shakespeare", and most importantly, the closing "Always Taking Aim" - all start off with extended musical preludes leading into what are, in essence, single, isolated verses. These long instrumental passages (often accented by seductively generic female back-up singers) give the disc a warm expansiveness, and add a subtle sense of poetry to Bacharach's (and Tonio K.'s) words when they do come. So that what comes out (with the notable exception of "Who Are These People?") isn't so much righteous indignation, but a feeling of sweet fellowship in confusion. It's a sound both spiritual and commercial. It's music to read to, and ride elevators with, and have dinner conversations over, and answer e-mails and voice-mails and type up meeting minutes to. But it's good just to listen sometimes too.
Still: Not recommended for rallies.
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BECAUSE YOU NEED TO KNOW:
"At This Time" by Burt Bacharach
Columbia Records
Released 10/25/05
Produced by Burt Bacharach
53 min.
SONGS: Please Explain - Where Did It Go? - In Our Time - Who Are These People? - Is Love Enough? - Can't Give It Up - Go Ask Shakespeare - Dreams - Danger - Fade Away - Always Taking Aim
Recommended:
Yes
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plorentz
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Member: Paul Lorentz
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