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CD Reviews

XOCH: The One
RIPPER MOJO MUSIC, 2002

Hopewell Junction native Xoch (pronounced Zoach) is a rising star. Her debut release, The One, with 12 co-written songs and a hidden track, is an assertive mix of pop, rock, and truth-telling girl power. Xoch delivers sweet vocals and a cool style, somewhere between a young Annie Lenox and colorful bad girl Pink.

The One is consistent, with predominantly poppy numbers to hum well after they’re over. Though most of the songs have standard contemporary arrangements, some may surprise with their funky wah-wah guitar riffs and structured harmonies. “Let Me In” is a smooth ballad, with a beginning not unlike a Lionel Richie song. Judging by the name, “Rage & Confusion” sounds like a heavy metal number, but Xoch keeps the mood optimistic and the message upbeat. By the third chorus I was singing along.

Mixed locally, Xoch recorded with a team of musicians, including partner/guitarist Vince Ripper, Eddie Kramer, and GaluminumFoil’s Chris Cubeta (profiled in these pages last month). Not just for the teen scene, Xoch’s tunes are catchy, daring, and fun. With a name that’s unforgettable and a sound perfect for MTV, Xoch is sure to continue down the path of success.

—Carla Rozman

LARRY PACKER: eye of the sun
WOODSTOCK RECORDS, 2003

If fiddler Larry Packer were compiling a resume, he’d certainly need a second page. From playing onstage with The Band in Martin Scorsese’s The Last Waltz, to country boogie, jazz, and ethnic music, Packer plays it all. His day job is with Hair of the Dog, a popular Celtic band, but he recently jammed with Peter Rowan (New Riders of the Purple Sage) at the 2003 Woodstock Film Festival, and he appears regularly on Albany’s WAMC-FM.

Packer’s debut CD, Eye of the Sun, joyfully includes all genres without irony. Packer and co-producer Aaron “Professor Louie” Hurwitz embrace traditionals, jazz standards, and originals into a flowing portrait of Packer’s skills. Many of the Crowmatix appear here, as do area avatars like Steve Burgh, Eddie Diehl, Garth Hudson, and Scott Petito. Their pared-down vocal of “Danny Boy” with Mike DeAngelis stirs up a tear-welling blend of Irish yearning and jazz distinction.

Packer’s traditionals are soaring and beautifully recorded, and his nods to jazz roots are bright and sophisticated, especially the haunting melody of Django Reinhardt’s “Nuages.” The full band lays it down on Packer barn-burners “Red Eagle” and “Hold On” with vocalist Miss Marie Spinosa. Eye of the Sun spots the many talents of this stellar musician and bandleader. www.woodstockrecords.com.

—DJ Wavy Davy

LUCKEY MISSION: The Briefing
LUCKY MISSION, 2003

This aptly–named CD consists of three “preview” tracks (briefings) followed by three full-length elaborations on the same themes. Andrew Franck and Stephen Johnson use synthesizers and stringed instruments (“three-string guitars, etc. etc.”) to produce ambient sound washes and simple chordal progressions, above which hover their semi-audible sung and spoken vocals. The result is a curious aural seascape that is by turns lulling and adventurous, though rarely rising to the provocative.

Song titles like “Alles ist so Gemut,” “Surfacing” and “Philip Glass Enters Into Purgatory” should tip the prospective listener that this disc falls securely within the bounds of experimentalism, if not jazz. It’s a blend of electronica and acoustica, to coin a phrase, that exploits the strengths of both without becoming heavy-handed in either direction. If anything, the briefing suffers from a surfeit of restraint and good taste. One wishes at times that Johnson and Franck would stop being so damned polite and tell us what they really think.

If you like your listening experiences oceanic, here’s a salty—though brief—immersion. For information on performances or to get the CD, call (845) 340-9934, or email luckymission@excite.com.

—Todd Paul