By Phillip Smith
Craig Erickson never ceases
to amaze me. Rare Tracks (Volume Two), the second installment of previously unreleased
nuggets from his secret stash, unleashes fourteen new pieces of ear-candy to be
happily enjoyed. With the exception of one track, all are originals. As well as writing, Erickson takes on the
responsibility of playing all the instruments, and belting out all the vocals
as well. Erickson gives us a full one hundred
percent.
Leading off with a short spacey
track just over a minute long in length, ‘Deep Blue Circles’ seems to be more
of an intro for the song following it, ‘Heavy Stuff’, about the necessity of having
to escape everyday life once in a while.
This track has a nice little funky rhythm slathered with a thick coating
of heavy fuzzy bass.
Few people can cover Jimi
Hendrix, make it their own, and make it sound good to boot. Erickson is one of those few. Not quite a cover, but rather an adaptation,
‘Purple Haze (The Trip)’ is the only track not completely written by Erickson. I love the subtle keyboard accompaniment on
this, and how it sets a soft jazzy stage from which to launch an amazing crescendo
of six-string energy.
The instrumental, ‘Make it Through’
is amazing and beautiful. I love how at ease and full of peace I am when
listening to it. Erickson’s expressiveness
shines through brightly. Erickson gets
funky on ‘Midnight Flight (Reprise)’, a very short track clocking in at just
over a minute and a half. The only thing
wrong with this track is that it is way too short.
