Reviews of new releases from Dead Moon, Rob Blakeslee Quartet, and the Minders.   The Minders Cul-de-Sacs & Dead Ends (spinART/Elephant 6) Of related interest: Apples in Stereo, Dressy Bessy, Revolver The Minders may be a Portland band these days, but one look at the cover of Cul-de-Sacs & Dead Ends, the new compilation uniting their singles catalog, tells you where singer, guitarist and songwriter Martyn Leaper hails from. Red-coated palace guards, bicycling Victorian ladies, earnest working lads and smoking steamships jumble together on the front, while the genteel chaos of a 19th-century London street plays out on the back. Before the first track rolls, it's clear that years in the States haven't stripped Leaper of his native British sensibilities. Fortunately for those listeners who aren't Anglophiles, Leaper's spectacularly detailed songwriting bounces with enough American AM-radio spunk to balance his downbeat lyrical British Invasion. The words dwell on everyday emotional torture, but sustained depression may well be a biochemical impossibility in the grip of this sparkling music. In this cross-section of recording sessions, these Elephant 6 Collective members display delicacy and facility with a ton of instruments--facets barely hinted at by the power-trio configuration of their current live show. If the Beatles had been content to perfect the crisp, wrenching sound they discovered shortly after they started taking drugs and just before they wandered off into Sgt. Pepper's fruitloop-land, the result might have been a bit like this. Zach Dundas     Rob Blakeslee Quartet Waterloo Ice House (Louie Records) Of related interest: Anthony Braxton, Change of the Century-era Ornette Coleman, Rich Halley Rob Blakeslee, a fiery trumpeter and subtle composer, helped found Portland's Creative Music Guild. His new disc showcases a refreshingly spacious, piano-less quartet and features longtime collaborator Rich Halley's adventurous saxophone work. The two horns work well together, and Blakeslee seems to have written many of the pieces with Halley in mind. The saxophonist shows his appreciation with some of his best playing ever captured on CD. The funereal "Give Up the Chair" shows off their telepathy, Halley's solo building in an arc before handing off its final statement to Blakeslee, who follows with a subtle, poignant solo leading back to the theme's perfect joint statement. Bassist Clyde Reed and drummer Dave Storrs tag-team with formidable skill; Reed's high-string pattering builds tension while Storrs' cymbals continually relieves it. The two offer the horns plenty of room to roam. On "Just What's Written" they stumble in and out of Blakeslee's solo as if they were dancing the tango in a dark room while fumbling for the light switch. It's disjointed, but it works. Bill Smith     Dead Moon Destination X (Empty Records) Of related interest: Whiskey, tattoos, Hardwired in Ljublana Blindfold the horses and give 'em the spurs. For years now, Dead Moon, Portland's never-give-an-inch rock 'n' roll pride, has epitomized a unique, degenerative pioneer ideal, a refusal to recognize that the frontier stomping grounds of its lean, frayed-at-the-edges music may have long since closed. No matter that time may have passed over the value system shared by legendary guitarist and vocalist Fred Cole, his wife, bassist and vocalist Toody (both of whom still play it rough-hewn and heartfelt past the age of 50), and their essential drummer, Andrew Loomis, a relative sprout somewhere in his late 30s. Nearly every foam-speckled song Dead Moon has ever led out of the corral glows with a brand signifying that it's the ride that matters, not where you put up at night. Never has the band said it better than on its most recent release, Destination X. Defined by a sense of hard-won, decrepit elegance, DX is equal parts rocker, anthem and ballad. It's a prairie-lost herd of songs that stampedes past points of no return and grazes on fields of self-destruction. Confusion and despair rule the night, but throughout DX, ultimate success is measured by true love's ability to hang on for the ride, all the way out. Always a band of romance, Dead Moon kicks it up a notch on Destination X. May its members never part ways. Sam Soule - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Willamette Week | originally published July 28, 1999