Monday 02.04.08: KCRW presents RICKIE LEE JONES @ Echoplex

Rickie Lee Jones || Listen

With Peter Atanasoff slashing guitar behind her like a vintage Lenny Kaye, Jones often sounds as fervid as Patti Smith. When exuding low-key menace, she could be a distaff Jim White. “Nobody Knows My Name” is a wholly improvised rant that, along with “It Hurts”, suggests her faith is often a struggle. With its scratchy guitar coda, “Where I Like It Best” alludes to the Lord’s Prayer, whilst “Elvis Cadillac” imagines Presley coasting the heavens while Janis Joplin works the corner bar. The extra bursts of accompaniment are sharp – heraldic-sounding trumpets, the odd cannon-fire drumshot. But for all its weird dissonance, Sermon…’s musical crudeness gives it a powerful immediacy. Strangely accessible and highly addictive, it’s her best work in three decades. – Uncut

@ Echoplex
1154 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026