Ryan Montbleau Band: ‘Patience on Friday’

Now a familiar face in the Boston area music scene, Ryan Montbleau has definitively established his voice with his second official full-band release, “Patience on Friday.” The 14-track album is an explosion of musical output, spouting forth with a seemingly inexhaustible fountain of rapid, rhyming lyrics and instrumental zest.

Unlike Montbleau’s earlier solo acoustic albums, “Patience” brings in a formidable cast of hired guns to heighten the instrumental craftsmanship surrounding the songwriter’s original compositions. At the heart of it all is Montbleau’s voice, a fresh confluence of urban and rural heritage, combining Stevie Wonder’s funky and soulful range with Ray LaMontagne’s folky, earthy tone.

The band includes Montbleau on guitar and vocals, James Cohen on drums, Jason Cohen on keys, Matt Giannaros on bass and Laurence Scudder on viola. The disc also features an eclectic entourage of guest musicians on a variety of instruments, including pedal steel guitar, saxophone, accordion, trumpet, violin, cello, trombone, synth and backup vocals. Particularly striking are two guitar solos from Stephane Wrembel, who invokes the old-timey jazz picking of Django Reinhardt on “Eggs” and “Grain of Sand.”

With his lyrics, Montbleau constructs a wistful narrative that illustrates a life in transition. The album finds the singer on “the south side of 23,” clearly in love with life but questioning the decisions he has made thus far, simultaneously nostalgic for the past and hungry for the future, and all the while molding—with some doubt and trepidation—his own philosophy for the present. Weighty songs like “How Many Times” and “Love and Love Lost” are tempered by more playful numbers, resulting in an overall spread of music that utilizes rock, jazz, R&B and folk to punctuate a lyrical marathon.

Montbleau and his crew regularly gig around the Seacoast and will join Assembly of Dust for two New Year’s Eve shows at Colonial Theatre in Keene on Dec. 30 and 31. For more touring info or to purchase the CD, visit www.ryanmontbleauband.com.

Brian Parnham: ‘Mantle’

Have you ever sought to replicate the feeling of spelunking through the alluring slot canyons of Utah—but from the comfort of your own home? Now you can. Sort of. The latest release from local electronic artist Brian Parnham is meant to take listeners on “an auditory spelunking adventure.” In Parnham’s own words, the project provides an audible illustration of “the hypnagogic realm—that blurred, surreal zone somewhere between the conscious and subconscious state.”

Produced by ambient artist Steve Roach, the CD is devoid of identifiable beats or rhythms, but includes a subtle swell of instrumentation that creates a dense but somewhat monotonous soundscape. Parnham used analog synthesizers, guitar, didgeridoo, clay pots and a variety of percussion instruments to construct 74 uninterrupted minutes of ambient noise. Eerie and hypnotic, the disc is bound to put you in a meditative state of mind—if you listen long enough.

But, unless you’re planning to drift into a deep sleep and wander through a dream world of Earth’s cavernous innards, you just might lose interest. Inspired by solitary sojourns into the deserts and canyons of Utah, the album essentially sounds like a prolonged cut of an electronic interlude between Radiohead songs on “Kid A.” While new embellishments occasionally enter the picture, creating sounds that evoke visions of water dripping from stalactites or bats flitting their wings, the overall drone features little variation. You can become mesmerized by the whirring din for minutes at a time, then glance at your CD player to discover that two or three tracks have elapsed. You wonder: When’d the last song end and the next one begin?

Surely, the general monotony is partially deliberate. The 12-track CD is designed, after all, to induce a relaxed, meditative state, and it certainly succeeds. Released on Floating Point Records, “Mantle” is Parnham’s third full-length album. For more information or to purchase the disc, visit www.brianparnham.com.

Paul Dykstra: ‘An Ivory Winter’

Just in time for the cold season comes local classical musician Paul Dykstra’s solo piano album, “An Ivory Winter.” The track list includes versions of titles by Mozart, Chopin, Bach and Beethoven, most with winter themes, such as “The Ice Queen’s Aria,” “A Winter Fantasy” and “Winter Poeme.”

“The listener is invited to think of each particular title as a unique prism through which the music can be heard (viewed),” Dykstra writes in the CD sleeve. Noting that music has a propensity for “penetrating the inner spaces of our minds and hearts,” he describes the CD as “great classical piano music for your inner season.”

Dykstra has extensive schooling in classical piano and has performed concerts throughout western Canada and the eastern United States. Originally from Canada, he was the youngest ever winner of the Richard Eaton prize, which is awarded to the most promising pianist at the University of Alberta. All his training comes across on “An Ivory Winter,” which is filled with lush flourishes of classical piano that at times send the mind spinning with their intensity and complexity.

Classical CDs from local artists are somewhat of a rarity on the Seacoast, but Dykstra reminds us of how one instrument, when played expertly, can create an environment of sound that induces shifting emotional states. Proving that there is a place for classical music in the area, Dykstra closes the CD with two compositions by Portsmouth composer Roger Rudenstein, for whom Dykstra played piano on his 2006 release, “State of the Union.” The 11th and final track on “An Ivory Winter,” a Rudenstein composition called “Glitterfrost” is the most unusual on the disc, ending the album with a turbulent flood of modern classical piano.

The self-produced album is available at www.cdbaby.com/cd/pauldykstra.

D. Gross: ‘Pirate Love Songs’

With 12 rootsy songs consisting solely of guitar, harmonica and words, Dana Gross’ latest album seeks to capture the spirit of music from the hills of Appalachia to the Mississippi Delta. The disc, playfully titled “Pirate Love Songs,” is slated for release on Tuesday, Dec. 18. Of course, if Gross attempted to play any of these songs for real pirates, they would probably pistol whip him and pillage his guitar. But that’s beside the point. Gross seems to operate on a plain where even pirates can fall in love and show their tender side.

Although the singing is a little off-key at times, Gross’ voice has a rustic charm that grows on you with each listen. His acoustic fingerpicking beckons to the core of folk music, and his harmonica drawl echoes generations of tradition. On his MySpace account, Gross likens his sound to “the heartbeat of trees” and points to influences ranging from Bob Dylan to Miles Davis to Jerry Garcia to Slash.

A musician since the age of 12, Gross wrote and performed every song on the independent album, recording them in his hometown of Portland, Maine. He has begun to garner attention in Portland’s folk scene, and his songs have a simple purity that is hard to resist.

Listeners thirsting for something beyond the traditional might yawn at “Pirate,” but there is something to be said for music that upholds tradition. Gross carries the folk-roots torch with confidence, showcasing a style that is heartfelt and accessible. The lyrics are thoughtful and poetic, with gentle rhymes about heartbreak and hardship. And, just to spice things up, Gross exchanges his guitar for a banjo on the strikingly eloquent “Kick the Chunk.”
For more information, visit www.myspace.com/danagross.