Angel Corpus Christi – Louie Louie (GULCH 601)

Accordionist, pop singer, Andrea Ross, wife of Rich Stim, pays her tribute to Lou Reed complete with faux “Transformer” cover. This has all of the cliched and most banal aspects of the velveeta coke sniffin’ Studio 54 danceteria sights and sounds, décor and so much more, yet done in a way that says, “yeah, we all get the joke, now lets daaaaance.” The tongue is held firmly in cheek but in the chest beats a rock ‘n’ roll heart.

All but three of the bakers dozen are Lou Reed compositions, albeit some very odd ones. Richard Berry’s title track, Serge Gainsbourg’s “Je T’aime” and Ross and Stim’s own, “Lou Reed’s Hair” are the exceptions. “Lou Reed’s Hair” is the prime cut here. It evokes and revels in the best of the Velvet Underground’s quieter times, yet has a wicked barbed wit that would draw blood, then kiss it and make it all better.

Guest artists include ex Galaxie 500 and Luna guitarist Dean Wareham, Britta Phillips, Sonic Boom, George Earth, Matt Price, Don Ciccone, Rich Stim and Luther Blue.

In this retro schmaltz format Ross uses the accordion in a way that does not draw attention to the instrument itself but to what is being played, what she can do with it. Good, intelligent, funny, well executed and true to it’s dance floor roots.