Hello Reader,
Welcome back. I hope you’re well.
Avram “Avi” Brown is an East Coast native; NYC born, raised in NYC and Rochester. His love of music began at the young age of 5 when he was listened to his mother’s vinyl record of The Beatles Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and further influenced after seeing sitar master Ravi Shankar and tabla player Zakir Hussain in concert when Brown was 15. It was that concert that spurred an exploration into experimental music specifically guitar playing in his later teenage years. While in those experimental and improvisational music genres, Brown’s musical journey took him to The Grateful Dead, and Herbie Hancock specifically the album Sextant (1973). After high school, Brown went to the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston and while there, found a love in producing music after exposure to different recording gear and the technology of multi-track recording. The production skillset he had developed took Brown on a cross country journey that has seen him set roots in Portland, Oregon. While growing better and better at his craft of professionally producing music for others at B-Side Studios, Brown also was a session guitarist, never fully losing a desire to make his own music.
“I decided to finally park myself at a studio and make a record and actually pull a band together. I’m finally throwing my hat in the ring as an artist myself, basically. What happened with this record is that I finally brought those three colors into one palette. I’ve been able to integrate lyricism and poetry with my folk influences, but there’s still this production thing, and there’s some psychedelic improvised guitar work.”
Brown is using the moniker The Wheel for his solo project. The self-titled album, The Wheel took multiple years to complete. The lengthy process of writing the music and lyrics, editing, recording, and trying to get the album put out with label support. On October 6th the ten-song album, The Wheel was released for our listening pleasure via Lakeshore Records.
But multi-instrumentalist, Avram Brown wasn’t in it alone. The Wheel includes a talented cast of guitarist Eric Earley (best known for Blitzen Trapper), violist and arranger Kyleen King (perhaps best known for working alongside Brandi Carlile), and the late great baritone saxophonist and bass clarinetist Ralph Carney (long-time collaborator with Tom Waits among others) who passed after recording his tracks in 2017.
In addition, Kaydence Carter played vibraphone, percussion. Jessie Dettwiler played cello, Michael Elson was on piano, organ, electric bass guitar and synth. Scott Macdonald played piano, organ, and electric piano. Ji Tanzer played drums, percussion and Adam Thompson played electric and upright bass.
Raymond Richards engineered, co-produced and played a handful of instruments on the album, and the very well-regarded recording engineer Larry Crane. He’s recorded and worked with an impressive roster of artists and musicians but as of late, Crane is perhaps best known for being the archivist for Elliott Smith.
Full disclosure: We were not compensated for our thoughts; all thoughts are entirely my own.
Some album hype, here’s the lovely, “Coyote Mask”:
(All credits and rights to The Wheel)
A pleasing vocal pairing amongst a beautiful melody, “River Is Up (feat. Haley Johnsen)”:
(All credits and rights to The Orchard Enterprises and The Wheel)
The gorgeous, “Northern Lights”:
(All credits and rights to The Orchard Enterprises and The Wheel)
Overall on The Wheel, Brown’s voice and vocal delivery is mellow but confident within his tone. He is secure within himself and doesn’t stray to territory that wouldn’t work for him. Brown’s delivery pairs well with the melodies and you can distinctly hear both. The songs are anchored by Brown’s lyrics and similar core melodies. The at times shimmery and explorative guitars create lush sounding songs. I loved the collaborators and what instrumentation and ideas they brought to the process, stand out contributions from Haley Johnsen, Eric Earley and Kyleen King on vocals, guitars and strings and string arrangements. You can tell Brown took his time to get the album right. I’d say there’s an earworm or three within the album. And the album is of fantastic sonic quality.
The opening track of The Wheel, “Wintered Wanderlust,” fills the room with musical instrumentation creating a discordant noise. It abruptly and succinctly ends transitioning to “Clearing Ground,” for a fitting changing of seasons. Shimmering guitars and piano, before Brown delivers his first lyrics of the album that embrace a positivity perspective.
“Crashing Down,” opens with a noise reset then a produced melody is established before it changes again to a more positive one, as Brown delivers his down-to-earth lyrics. The next song. “Coyote Mask,” shows some gorgeous steel guitar and a piano that Elliott Smith owned over sweetly delivered and layered vocals that complement.
“Love & Truth,” features beautiful guitars throughout the song but also some lovely guitar solos. Lyrics about exploring mortality, existence, reality.
“River Is Up (feat. Haley Johnsen),” hangs on a familiar face lyrically. Johnsen’s vocals are perfectly contrasted with Brown’s. They first trade verses then pair their vocals over the top of steel guitar. All combined, they create a pleasant vibe.
“Speak Like Droning,” opens with a driving guitar from Eric Earley. The multi-layered, paired vocals really accentuate the lyrics that are often about frustration of past relationship.
The next song, “Can’t Find You,” features lyrics about searching. The hazy instrumentation and viola create some tension, ultimately complementing the lyrics and melody.
“Almuerzo con Carney,” is beautiful, discordant jazz. No lyrics in this one, just some woodwind instrumentation from the late, great Ralph Carney and some backing percussion and drums. Almuerzo translates to Lunch. Lunch with Carney.
“Northern Lights,” is piano driven and finds Brown’s vocal delivery at his most impassioned on the album. About halfway through song, violin from and drumbeat change the mood.
The Wheel gets 4 of 5 Scum Drops from me. Avram Brown’s taken years of experience and skillset to craft a well above average album. In fact, it is a very good album. Not the best of the year, but a great place to start with your debut. Brown has paired with a great supporting cast of creatives to fully figure out his sound. To me, there are impressive contributions from Haley Johnsen, Eric Earley and Kyleen King. The album is of fantastic quality so it would sound great on any format. Add it to your collection.
The Wheel Tracklist [song time]
- Wintered Wanderlust [1:15]
- Clearing Ground [5:09]
- Crashing Down [3:53]
- Coyote Mask [3:56]
- Love & Truth [5:53]
- River Is Up (feat. Haley Johnsen) [4:52]
- Speak Like Droning [4:37]
- Can’t Find You [5:09]
- Almuerzo con Carney [1:59]
- Northern Lights [4:05]
total run time: 46:17
The best place to start for streaming is this link: https://www.thewheelmusic.com/pages/digital-music
The home website of The Wheel. The site that will have everything you need to find socials, merch, tour info: The Wheel (thewheelmusic.com)
Thanks for reading and supporting good music.
Until next review,
Alex
Scummy Water Tower Productions co-founder, reviewer, business manager, and editor. Thank you for visiting this site: scummywatertower.com, and YouTube for Water Tower Sessions!
Contact me: alex@scummywatertower.com
