- Rolling Ball
- Everyday
- Emily Says
- Good Enough
- No One
- Nothing At All
- Let Down
- The Day Before
- The Ache
- You & Me
- On My Mind
My fifth album, 'Rolling Ball' was released in early September, 2004 on Laughing Outlaw Records in Australia, the UK and Europe, Not Lame Records in the US, and Wizzard In Vinyl in Japan.
I seem to have a habit of starting new albums pretty soon after finishing the preceeding one. That trend continued with this album. Tracking started on this album the day after i finishhed Kingsrdworks, but with that album being delayed in coming out, and this one taking a while to finish.. well, it feels like i've been working on it for years.
This album sees me returning mostly to the 'one man band' approach, with some notable exceptions. Kings Rd drummer Nando Pettinato returns to play drums on about half the album (and co-write album closer 'On My Mind'), and guest backing vocals were provided by Mark Moldre (Hitchcock's Regret), Rob Smith (The Innocents) and Matt Fell and Suzy Connolly (Butterfly 9). Pretty much everything else is by me. In a lot of ways, it had to be that way as the only way i could get this album finished was to do work on it in little spits and spats in between other production sessions. The downside of working this way is that it's often hard to stay focused on the overall 'feel' of the album. On the other hand, and i realise this more now that the album is finished, it's own style and sound develops.
So, this album has some pop, a bit of country, some underdone stuff, some overdone stuff, and some rock. I like the album a lot, and think it's very representative of my life, both musical and real for the last few years. I feel like it's the logical next step on my 'solo career', taking all of the elements of albums gone by and 'growing them up'. I hope you enjoy it.
Reviews
Fufkin.com review by Mike Bennett
Michael Carpenter
Rolling Ball
(Not Lame)
In the liner notes, this affable Aussie pop master opines that this is his best album. With some artists that would be an empty boast. But, as Dizzy Dean used to say, it ain't braggin' if you can do it. However, Carpenter's declaration is debatable. Not because this isn't a good album -- far from it. It's just that Carpenter has yet to make a lackluster album. Any of his albums could arguably be his best album.
What Carpenter has done is what so many artists should do, but so few manage. Somewhat akin to one of his musical heroes, Tom Petty, Carpenter has found a way to expand the scope and style of his music with each new release, while never undertaking a radical makeover. This is a slow-and-steady wins the race approach that is difficult, because: 1) a lot of artists are impatient, and, 2) when you do things in such an incremental fashion, sometimes it's hard to tell when you're moving forward.
These changes can be subtle. "Let Down" is a Beatlesque pop song, which is no stretch for Carpenter. Yet the way he puts together the instruments to make the composition comes to life is a testament to how he keeps progressing. On this song, Carpenter incorporates the Mellotron and flutes to accentuate the emotional depth of a compelling take on how going through bad times is simply unavoidable. The conviction of his singing is complimented by the precisely arranged song that builds beautifully. This song is really comforting. While Carpenter is not a wordsmith, he is a very direct lyricist who is connected to what he writes. This empathy pervades all of his work.
This is true on a tune with a similar tone, "Good Enough", which is one of his best efforts to date. This is a song about a woman who is trying so hard to make a man love her, that she may be giving up her own identity and happiness. The song is in the vein of Squeeze and Crowded House, and he details her problems in the verses and uses the chorus to sum it all up, his voice moving to the top of its range -- it's very soulful. We all know someone (or many someones) like the woman Carpenter is singing about here -- a person who is plagued with Doormat Syndrome: "She never spares a thought for herself/sometimes she feels so low it seems that she can't be helped/but being happy doesn't seem to matter/as long as he seems to still want her, yeah." Again, I must praise him for his empathy -- he manages to detail what is wrong here, yet he clearly understands how someone can get in such a position.
Not that Carpenter thinks that you should take problems lying down. "No One" may be his most intensely rocking number yet. Carpenter notes in his liners that this is about a woman who was struggling immensely with loneliness. Tellingly, he says, "It made me sad and frustrated for her." You see, he put himself in her shoes. And this typifies his work. This is what so many great country artists have done for decades - taking the concerns of the common man and articulating them in a way that everyone can relate. He does a great job of that here, putting the struggle to music, with a free spirited pleading vocal, and blistering guitar work. This is *Damn the Torpedos* level intensity, with an injection of, I dunno, Thin Lizzy? Whatever, this isn't so much a cry for help as a roar for attention.
I think these tracks exemplify what puts Carpenter a cut above - the ability to really touch the heart and soul. Of course, he still can pen a light hearted tune that is nothing more than a musical smile. The title cut, which came off a bit more like a Buddy Holly song when he did his solo acoustic tour the year before, is still a very classic piece of rock and roll songwriting that fans of Nick Lowe and Walter Clevenger will dig. For shimmering joyful power pop, you can't do much better than "Emily Says" -- rule of thumb: if a Michael Carpenter song has a woman's name in it, there's a 98 percent chance it will be great. "The Day Before" has a melody in the verse that is vaguely psychedelic, and Carpenter winningly moves it into a pop chorus, and throws in a memorable guitar part in the after chorus.
One of biggest complaints with so much of the music coming out today is that it's not really about anything. I don't necessarily need a political dissertation or a Laura Kipnis essay set to music. But when a writer picks up a guitar or sits at the keyboard, I'm hoping that he or she has something to say. Too often, it just sounds like some folks stringing together chords in a song form, without any idea that drives the whole thing, whether it's a mood or a clever notion or just trying to make me dance. This is never a problem with Michael Carpenter. He wants to reach people, he cares about people and this drives his writing. Combined with his innate talent at creating memorable pop songs in the Beatles/Beach Boys/etc. Tradition, it almost always produces terrific songs.
Rolling Ball
Michael Carpenter
Not Lame (2004)
Five years after exploding onto the melodic pop scene with the miraculous
album Baby--creating his own scene, actually--Michael Carpenter has released
the latest in his growing line of spectacularly accomplished recordings.
Rolling Ball is everything its five predecessors were, and then some.
With each successive album, Carpenter finds new ways to both refine and
expand on his unique pop sensibilities. Working principally here with
drummer Nando Pettinato, Carpenter delivers 11 powerfully melodic treatises
on the wide swath of human emotion, set against a distillation of pop
conventions and sounds drawn from decades of what has come before and
synthesized into a wholly wonderful pop melange, delivered with love and
care.
The entire album is a collective highlight, but here are some particulars.
The title track smacks your ears like a blazing train at peak speed, a
pop-infused, rhythmic trip sweetened by wonderful, high harmony and
background vocals from Kate Duncan and Zac Anthony. A heightened pace,
aggressively laid out, takes hold in the exciting "No One," one of only four
tracks on which the multi-talented, multi-instrumentalist Carpenter plays
drums (no offense to Pettinato; he's one hell of a powerhouse himself, but
the image of Carpenter completely consuming the drums at the bar in
Huntington, California that I can never remember the name of, during a
Poptopia show in 1998--well before Baby came out--is indelibly etched in my
mind; Carpenter is one of pop's top drummers). "No One" is bulging with pop
muscle, and is one of Carpenter's best upbeat tracks.
A bit of a departure for the Aussie wonder, the slow, dreamy "Let Down"
bristles with sixties feel, thanks to a lovely Mellotron string part. A
whole lot of emotion is invested in the vocal for "The Ache"; Carpenter
climbs deep inside and sings from the heart. The loving sentiments of "You &
Me" are true and sail toward you on clouds of joy, thanks to the folky
arrangement and Suzy Connolly and Matt Fell's sweet backing vocals.
All hail the unlisted bonus track, a song about hopefulness driven along by
a catchy acoustic guitar/mandolin double strum. And while we're at it, all
hail Rolling Ball. Its performer, now a seasoned veteran, is only getting
better. His talent knows no bounds. This is one of the year's best, and is
recommended without reservation.
Alan Haber
October 26, 2004
Michael Carpenter : Rolling Ball There's a certain chill in the evenings now and the midday sun is not as warm as it was just a few weeks ago; summer is sadly waving slowly goodbye to us for another year but with the release of this, Carpenter's third album on Laughing Outlaw, he's inviting us to share in the Indian summer that is ‘Rolling Ball'.
Carpenter, a true workaholic, who when he is not sitting in the producer's chair for an ever increasing roster of bands is lending his considerable talent as a musician to an endless list of artists, has somehow found the time to release another superb collection of melodic pop music in his own name. That he has another 3 albums planned over the next 18 months also says something about his work rate.
We've come to expect any record bearing Carpenter's name to be something special whether it's as producer or musician and the previous albums issued under his own name have never disappointed. The last such album Carpenter released was ‘Kings Rd Works', which was not actually a solo album in the truest sense as Carpenter was backed by his touring band Kings Rd. Now having disbanded that group he is back on his own for ‘Rolling Ball' albeit with help from a few well chosen friends from Australia's independent music scene.
Over his last couple of albums Carpenter has, while always wearing his influences proudly on his sleeve, injected more and more of his own identity and sound into his songs. There's been a steady progression of this "Michael Carpenter sound" and it's been increasingly hard to compare his sound to those who always used to be rolled out when discussing Carpenter's music; The Beatles, the Byrds, Elvis Costello. There are still shades of these artists in his music but one has to dig deeper and deeper to find them. Take the most unusual track on the album for example, ‘The Day Before'; ahead of the usual catchy as hell Carpenter chorus, our musical genius presents us with his first psychedelic song, and the verses are the darkest, most disconcerting thing Carpenter has ever put to tape and released. Any of the usual comparisons are redundant here. Try to imagine a cross between a Troggs B-side and a track from the Deep's ‘Psychedelic Moods Of…' and you'll almost be there. But it's the classic, melodic Carpenter sound which prevails on the majority of tracks here, chiming, bright guitars, perfect harmonies and those melodies which stay with you from the second you first hear them.
The album opens with the title track, one of the more up beat power pop songs which Carpenter seems to write so effortlessly, full of those trademark harmonies but with a rockier edge than a lot of his past work. Then Carpenter hits us with not one but three of his best compositions with the songs which follow. With Carpenter's always excellent back catalogue that might seem hard to believe, but, believe it, these songs really are Carpenter's best work.
‘Everyday', the first of the three, has a country feel to it. If it was on an album by any well known Americana band it would be hailed as the classic it so obviously is. Carpenter's longing, aching vocals are among the best he has ever laid down on this ballad and the unexpected almost psychedelic guitar break is simply beautiful. One is tempted on first listen to label the song as Carpenter's best ever but then ‘Emily Says' turns up. It harks back to the more innocent sounds of the 60's, both lyrically and musically. Carpenter almost races through this tale of young lovers but, and here's where the difference between this collection and Carpenter's previous work hits home, for all it's 60's feel the song is pure Michael Carpenter. The structure of the song may be rooted in the 60's, but there is no doubt this is Carpenter's sound through and through. It's absolutely stunning, and one is feeling that even Carpenter can't possibly keep this high level of song writing, playing and singing up when ‘Good Enough' starts. Slowing things down again this tale, taken from the female point of view, of feeling inadequate in a relationship again features some of Carpenter's best vocals to date. Forget the keyboards, the chiming guitars or the breathtaking harmonies, it's Carpenter's vocals which steal the limelight on this song. Again, forget the comparisons, the sound of those vocals is pure Carpenter and another indication that with this album Carpenter has finally defined his sound.
Each of the 11 songs listed on the cover is worth a special mention, unfortunately space prevents this, but take one listen to ‘Nothing At All' and see if you're not humming it for the rest of the day, feel the pain in ‘The Ache', which sees Carpenter lyrically updating ‘The First Cut Is The Deepest', while turning out some of his most inspired guitar playing, or simply shake your head in wonder that after all this Carpenter can tuck away a song as perfect as ‘You And Me' at the end of an album. With less instrumentation than the other songs, this love song is really touching and is blessed with another catchy Carpenter chorus that's going to take a trip to the local hospital to be surgically removed as it won't leave your head any other way.
Leave the CD in the player after the closing song, ‘On My Mind' (all perfect harmonies, stunning guitar work and another melody to die for) for an unlisted song, showing a more rootsy, acoustic side to Carpenter than the rest of the album. What the song is called and why it's unlisted is a mystery; just one question, is there more where that came from and can we hear them please?
With this album Carpenter has really produced his best work to date. It's puzzling as to exactly why the vocals stand out so much this time, but maybe we've finally realised what was there all along; Carpenter really does stand alone and produces a sound all of his own. His songs in the past have been so good we've been trying to work out where he must have lifted this bit from, what inspired that tune, but with this release we'll have to face up to the truth; Carpenter is a major talent and one of a kind.
For the time being this album will keep the sun shining and the spirits up through the long winter months ahead; come next summer it'll be windows rolled down and this blasting from car stereos.One listen to the closing, unaccompanied harmonies of the last few seconds of ‘Emily Says' will convince you of that.
Malcolm Carter
Amplifier Magazine #44, Sept.-Oct. 2004
Michael Carpenter -
Rolling Ball (Not Lame)
As hard as it may be to believe, Michael Carpenter is no longer the new kid
on the block-he's now a bona fide music industry veteran. Rolling Ball
marks Carpenter's fifth official solo release, not counting two
limited-release EPs, numerous contributions to tribute projects, and a
best-of collection. If one tracks the progression of Carpenter's solo
output, from Baby through Hopefulness to KingsRdWorks, it's apparent that it
becomes less and less easy to play "guess the influence": like a butterfly
from a cocoon, Carpenter's own voice and unique sound emerges bit by bit
from CD to CD. Finally, with Rolling Ball, Michael Carpenter has recorded
an entire album that sounds like nobody but Michael Carpenter. And, to
paraphrase soon-to-be-incarcerated domestic diva Martha Stewart, that's a
very good thing, indeed. Save for the giddy, rollicking title track, there's less jangle than usual on Rolling Ball; in its place is more of a solid,
meaty rock sound. Don't get me wrong: there's plenty of melody here, to be
sure-it's just that Carpenter has upped the power quotient in this latest
batch of songs. Highlights include "Emily Says," a driving story song with
a minor key bridge; the anthemic roots rock of "You and Me"; and the
neo-psychedelic "The Day Before," which manages to tip its cap to both the
Zombies and the Dukes of Stratosphear. Rolling Ball is a worthy addition to
Michael Carpenter's recorded oeuvre-he deserves kudos for refusing to remain
confined to his pigeonhole, no matter how comfortable it may have become.
--Rick Schadelbauer
Americana/UK review by Mark Whitfield (rating 8/10)
Australian musical entrepreneur flogs himself to death – “no worries” with the results, mate!
Sydney based Michael Carpenter's musical career is interesting if nothing else – if he's not producing, he's writing, if he's not writing, he's playing, and if he's not doing any of those things you'll probably find him in the studio prolifically recording. “Rolling Ball” is the follow up to last year's “KingsRdWorks” album which was accomplished although not quite as immediate as its predecessor (in Europe at least, the amalgamation) “Up Close.” The same could be said to a certain extent for Carpenter's new album “Rolling Ball.” It's an ambitious project in the sense that he covers more musical styles than he's come close to before, and not always successfully – “No One” feels like the kind of 70s glam rock that's been long forgotten by all but the most curiously diehard Darkness fans, and for good reason – thankfully, the musical aberrations are an exception, and by and large Carpenter has come up with an album of strong pop-rock, occasionally edging into country, which should satiate the appetite of anyone who enjoyed either of his last two records. There are echoes in the production of Boston or Tom Petty, and indeed his obsession and indeed talent for production is clear enough to make you often think of Jeff Lynne. Like Lynne, he's got an ear for songs that resound with good harmonies – “The Ache” and “Emily Says” are particularly strong – and melodies that you know would work just as well in an acoustic setting (take note Reto!) It's towards the end of the record that Carpenter's sound and songs really come together, the production feeling like it's being embodied with a slightly lighter touch that lets the tracks breathe a little easier, but the record as a whole balances in favour of Carpenter's exemplary writing and is proof once more that powerpop is alive and healthy in the 21st century.
Rock Sound Magazine (Spain - translated: rating 7/10)
Just after King Rd., the supporting band in his last album, was disbanded
and while the inspiration was coming back, the Australian Michael Carpenter
decided to focus on his career as a producer. It was between one project and
the next one when Carpenter was working on his own compositions but he was
not totally enthused about them. The same was happening until one day while
he was in Perth, suddenly he made a review of some of his last demos and he
saw the light. There was an album there. There were a collection of songs
that perfectly represented this particular moment in his life. He begun to
polish the songs quickly with the help of some different friends and"Rolling Ball" was born. Keeping a bit aside the American touch you could
see in King Rd., although there's a track like "everyday" with some of it,
Michael Carpenter has focused this time on his classic-multicoloured pop
side. It's a pleasure to face on with an album where every track is a goal
and some of them like "Emily says", "Good Enough" or "Nothing at all" are
the kind of songs a crack(1) would die for. If someday Tom Petty, Matthew
Sweet or Michael Penn were out of inspiration they should have Michael's
phone number very close. It will very helpful for them.
Michael Carpenter
'Rolling Ball'
Laughing Outlaw Records
Another meticulous pop creation from Sydney pop-meister Carpenter- currently working with (amongst many others, I hasten to add) Kim Mackenzie - more about her soon.
Although 'Rolling Ball' follows the general format of his previous releases (and indeed many of the collaborative recordings he has been involved with), this collections of pop doodles ventures into the heady heights of 70's guitar rock ( 'No One' ) and even country influences on 'Everyday' - perhaps some of his label mates influences have rubbed off on him?
Whilst the reason for MC's slight change of direction is unclear, the stream of musical friends contributing to the album is a possible contributing factor and documented in the sleeve notes - Matt fell & Suzie Connolly (Butterfly 9) and Mark Moldre (Hitchcock's Regret, also currently working with Carpenter on a duo album) to name but 3.
I bet Carpenter doesn't even have time to put the kettle on between his various projects.....
File Under Magazine (Netherlands - translated)
I chose a real bad moment to load Michael Carpenter 's Rolling Ball into my Discman for the first time. It was one of the few days that I didn't arrive at the station soaking wet. And that was the lucky part. Had it rained, then I would probably have cursed Rolling Ball, broken the CD in half and, halfway home (good fella that I am) thrown it in the bin. Namely, I can't stand jolly music at 6 am in the rain. And the opening track ON Rolling Ball is jolly/uplifting . Perhaps this is why the heaven's were unclouded when I closed the door behind me. No idea. What I do know is that Mrs Storm let all hell loose later in the day. But I suppose this has nothing to dowith Powerpop . T o put Carpenter under the Powerpop tag alone is simply not enough – from Crowded House to jellyfish. T hin Lizzy-esque guitar riffs on ‘No One' and just as easily one thinks of T om Petty and T he Byrds . And that is all captured in a top quality production by the man himself. Certainly not a bad thing for who, just past his 32 nd birthday (in 1999), released his first album and now in 2004 delivers his fifth.
Torpedo Pop/Popism Review (Sweden)
Between countless sessions, finding him mostly behind the mixing desk, or even as an essential sideman, Michael Carpenter finally manages to release his third solo record, after a long but more than worthy wait.
Throughout the years, whenever his name is mentioned in the album credits, he made us expect a LOT, and naturally enough, we expect the most when it's his own thing that he's about.
The only problem that I have with this record, is to decide whether I love more the good old, super catchy power-pop vibes, hitting you right in the head from the very beginning with the title tune, or the songs carrying the torch of widening the sound-scape, which they easily do.
If you're up for the ones that will grab you by their hook the second you hear them, try also Emily Says , with it's Hollie-melody and West-Coast-ish harmonizing, causing the same “pain inside” as the Cosmic Rough Riders, powered up with a bit of Costello, or the one that would surely sound Good enough on “The best of …” release by either Elvis Costello (again) or Jellyfish, as well as the irresistibly infectious chorus of You And Me .
Everyday and The Ache make a countrified Americana pair by way of Van-the-Man, while Nothing At All makes a perfect cross between the American and Brit influences.
The Day Before will take you to an unexpectedly dark, psychedelic corner, lasting only while Michael manages to push back the melodical outburst, which he does but not longer than until the first chorus and at the end of album, there's also an acoustic, unlisted surprise tune, that wouldn't sound out of place on Weller's Wildwood .
Too bad that its official release date is just September the 6th, otherwise, this could've been the perfect summer soundtrack but then again, there are more summers to come and this album WILL last!
GORAN OBRADOVIC
/POPISM
