Van the Man is back

My latest review is posted on the Weekly's web site -- scroll down through the other fine examples of musical criticism to read my thoughts on Van Morrison's 33rd (thirty-third!) studio album, Keep it Simple.

I haven't been truly enthralled with a Van album since probably The Healing Game, although I also liked Back on Top two years later. Since then, the Man has been focusing on what I consider kinda gimmicky efforts -- teaming with Jerry Lee Lewis' sister or John Lee Hooker or recording an album of country standards -- and not really letting his own poetic vision shine through.

Keep it Simple gets back to some basic Van -- bluesy pop, a little bit of white-man's soul, and some gauzy arrangements that will put you in a chill frame of mind no matter how bad your day is going. I'm afraid the days of the brassy bard cranking out toe-tapping, finger-snapping ditties like "Wild Night" or even "Rough God Goes Riding" are long since over, but for the time being, at least, Van is the Man again.