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USE THIS BLOG TO POST: Music Reviews |
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ARTIST: Merrie Amsterburg SONG/ALBUM: Little Steps GENRE: Pop RATING: 7
Merrie Amsterburg knows how it feels to inspire comparisons. Shawn Colvin, Tori Amos, Aimee Mann and Jane Siberry are just a few of the female artists whose names have been invoked by pop critics in search of either an emotional or stylistic link with Amsterburg’s music. As flattering as these references are, though, they tend to negate the one virtue that sets Amsterburg apart from the pack -- an original voice. Or perhaps “voices” is more like it, since Amsterburg’s writing is every bit as distinctive as her singing. On Little Steps, Amsterburg's small, soulful, dusky soprano makes a big first impression, sometimes radiating an insinuating lyricism even when the lyrics suggest that there’s a lot more on the singer’s mind than simply a romantic excursion along the fringes of folk-pop. For example, she wraps her distinctive style around unforgiving lyrics to create an intriguing contrast in "Design," a song that combines a veritable scolding with a sensuous vocal track and typically multi-layered arrangement. If the melody doesn’t pull you in, the unfolding drama most certainly will.
Similarly, the confessional ballad "Heart Of My Head" has two things going for it: a languid, soft-spun melody, and a thoroughly unsentimental lyric. Or consider "Atmosphere," a song with a melody that could pass for an ancient Irish air and a lyric that candidly explores the emotional dynamics of love gone bad: “I was the one blind to all that was at stake, you had the last word, though it was unspoken.” Like so much of Amsterburg’s thoughtful, tuneful music, there’s a lot more going on here than meets the ear the first or second time around. As on her debut album, the critically acclaimed Season Of Rain, Amsterburg displayed great resourcefulness in the studio. She used an unusual array of instruments -- guitars, mandolin, bouzouki, harmonium, trumpet and banjo, among others -- as well as a washing machine to create a series of imaginatively woven settings that cast three or four minute spells. In the end, that’s one of the reasons why Little Steps also proves to be more than a little haunting. Also recommended: Merrie Amsterburg, Season Of Rain; Shawn Colvin, A Few Small Repairs. Posted October 26, 2006 1:53 PM | | |
ARTIST: Jules Shear SONG/ALBUM: Allow Me GENRE: Pop RATING: 6
Being a cult favorite is not something most recording artists aspire to, since it generally means that beyond a small, devoted circle of critics, fellow artists and fans, your records don’t get much attention. Jules Shear is not like most recording artists, though. After all, Shear once titled an album of inventive and catchy power pop he made with his band the Polar Bears, Bad For Business. “I’m not interested in getting that one big hit and then being able to retire” Shear said matter-of-factly. “I still want to be making records when I’m an old guy. I kind of realize I’m not going to end up on the cover of Rolling Stone, and that I’ve got a deeper reason for doing this.”
Allow Me, one of Shear’s most compelling collections of pop masterpieces, reveals that his real reason for doing what he does is rooted in his unwavering commitment to writing timeless songs. “Even when I’m happy," Shear informs, "I’m still always feeling like the axe is going to fall.” That attitude is what gives songs like "The More That I’m Around You," with its infectious “sha-la-la” background vocals, its magical charm. Shear’s considerable lyrical skills, which played a big role in hits for Cyndi Lauper ("All Through The Night") and the Bangles, ("If She Knew What She Wants") are as sharp as ever on Allow Me. Songs like "The Judge And Margaret Brady" and "Soul Of A Child" contain images any novelist would be proud of having penned. Paired with his gift for a great pop hook, these songs are among his best. Posted October 22, 2006 11:29 AM | | |
ARTIST: Style Council SONG/ALBUM: Singular Adventures of the Style Council GENRE: Pop RATING: 7
"When you're down on the bottom, there's nothing left but to shout to the top," Paul Weller sings with brio on one of The Style Council's best singles, "Shout To The Top." That couplet typifies the celebratory spirit of the 16 tracks on this hits collection, but it also works as a rallying call for Weller, who, when The Style Council formed in 1983, was undoubtedly one of the least popular people in Britain, having just split up the country's most popular band at the time, The Jam. Trading his tough Carnaby Street Mod sound for coffee bar jazz (and his trademark parka for a polo shirt), Weller did a creative about face that left fans and critics wondering if it was some kind of joke.
For the next seven years, with his musical partner Mick Talbot, Weller distanced himself from The Jam by exploring R & B, Latin grooves, torch songs, bossa nova, French accordion music and anything else that suited his internationally-flavored fancy. On their first two albums, Cafe Bleu and Our Favourite Shop (released in the U.S. as the Internationalists), The Style Council forged a successful blend of pop idealism and easy listening atmosphere. After that, their experiments often got bogged down in overproduction and heavy-handed political lyrics. The Singular Adventures, by separating the wheat from the chaff, makes a convincing case that Weller wasn't, as some critics have insisted, just on musical holiday all those years.
After kicking off with a potent one-two punch of "You're The Best Thing" and "Have You Ever Had It Blue?" the disc coasts along as pleasurably as a convertible ride through the French countryside on a warm day. Songs such as "Long Hot Summer," "Wanted" and "A Solid Bond In Your Heart" are all drenched in an optimism and love that Weller was never allowed to show in The Jam. And the ebullient "My Ever Changing Moods" may be Weller's career watermark. Here presented in an extended version, it has the sound of a song that will be around a hundred years from now.
If you like The Singular Adventures Of The Style Council, check out: The Style Council - Cafe Bleu; Everything But The Girl - Everything But The Girl; Swing Out Sister - Kaleidoscope World; Sade - Diamond Life; Matt Bianco - Whose Side Are You On? Posted October 22, 2006 11:16 AM | | |
ARTIST: Fountains of Wayne SONG/ALBUM: Fountains of Wayne GENRE: Pop RATING: 8
Thirty-six minutes and twenty seconds. In the small stretch of digitally counted time that is their debut CD, Fountains Of Wayne will restore your faith in the wonders of pop music. Melodies that score direct hits to the pleasure center of your brain, intelligent lyrics about lovers and other strangers, and a backbeat that you can't lose -- it's all here, delivered in songs that clock in under three minutes. The songwriting team responsible for this pop success, Chris Collingwood and Adam Schlesinger, first hooked up in 1986 while they were college students in Massachusetts. A shared obsession with British pop of both the 60s (the Beatles, Hollies, and Zombies) and the 80s (Aztec Camera, Prefab Sprout, and Everything But The Girl), as well as a love of irreverent humor, led them through a gauntlet of what Schlesinger calls "crappy bands" with monikers such as Woolly Mammoth, Are You My Mother? and The Wallflowers (they actually sold the name to Jakob Dylan).
Fountains Of Wayne (named after a kitschy garden statuary store in Wayne, New Jersey) began as a lark. "Chris called me up last year and told me that he had just written three songs in twenty minutes that he really thought were hilarious," says Schlesinger. "He came over, played them for me and they were great. The fact that he'd done that so quickly was really inspiring. Suddenly, after having taken songwriting too seriously for a long time, we just had this license to toss stuff off and see what happened. We didn't think too much about making each song some sort of masterpiece. We took the craft we'd developed and had fun with it." From the exuberant opener "Radiation Vibe" to the noisy rave-ups of "Joe Rey" and "Please Don't Rock Me Tonight" through the hilarious "Leave The Biker" and the dappled, reflective ballad "Everything's Ruined," Fountains Of Wayne offers more hooks than the West wing of the National Gallery. "We don't like to be subtle," laughs Schlesinger. "We're happy just to pound people over the head with a big chorus."
Also recommended: Apollo 18 - They Might Be Giants; Candy-O - The Cars; Apartment Life - Ivy; Nest - The Odds; Parklife - Blur Posted October 22, 2006 10:52 AM | | |
ARTIST: Laura Allen SONG/ALBUM: Hold OnTo Your Dreams GENRE: Pop RATING: 6
Some people are born to make music. Take Laura Allan, for example. This California girl heard her destiny calling in the first grade, when she made her debut on recorder and autoharp. At age seven, she was strumming a folk guitar and singing the songs of Bob Dylan, Leadbelly and Woody Guthrie. By high school, Laura had added piano, flute and dulcimer to her palette. Around that time, she also began writing her first songs, encouraged by her friends Jackson, Joni and David…Browne, Mitchell and Crosby, that is. Her musical mentors recognized a talent in bloom and made sure Laura was heard by the right industry folks. One year out of high school, Allan landed a major record deal and cut an album of her own songs backed by such top West Coast session players as Leland Sklar, Jim Keltner and Jeff Porcaro.
While the album didn’t make a big splash in the U.S., it did very well in Japan and China, beginning a long and successful association between Laura and the Far East. In the years since, she has toured the Orient (collaborating on songs with Jacky Cheung, one of China’s biggest pop stars), served as an opening act for David Crosby, and penned songs for artists as diverse as Kenny Rogers and Lynn Anderson. On Hold On To Your Dreams, Allan follows the next step in her pop kismet, sailing through fourteen new originals that explore inspiring themes, from love with a capitol L ("Every Beat Of My Heart", "Our Love," "Enchante") to spiritual renewal ("Storm Song") to the importance of dreams ("Be Strong," "Hold Onto Your Dreams"). The supporting cast of players, including respected L.A. session musicians Mark Gould, Scott Gordon, and Trance Thompson, builds a sensitive set of arrangements around Allan’s hammered dulcimer work and satin n’ sandpaper voice. But what really shines through is Allan’s unbridled joy. You can picture her smiling, closing her eyes, bobbing her head and getting lost in these songs. This is the sound of an artist who’s been in love with making music since the first grade. Posted October 22, 2006 10:45 AM | | |
ARTIST: Sasha Dobson SONG/ALBUM: Modern Romance GENRE: Pop RATING: 8
This 27-year old Santa Cruz native comes from a family of jazz musicians. Her mother’s a singer. Her brother’s a drummer, and her late father was one of the Bay Area’s most respected pianists. Though Sasha embraced the family tradition, singing standards for years in piano bars, she didn’t find her true voice until she fell in with a pair of acoustic singer-songwriters from Brooklyn. Jesse Harris and Richard Julian, both artists themselves, are also the tunesmiths behind much of Norah Jones’s success. Impressed by Dobson, the pair co-wrote with her and produced this winning album of boho folk-jazz. Dobson’s voice is like cool water - light, clear, refreshingly direct. While the comparison to Norah Jones is inevitable, especially on mentholated songs like “Without You,” “Follow Through” and the lovely “End Of Autumn,” Dobson branches out beyond the Greenwich Village jazz sound. “Cold To Colder” coasts on a Tejano bounce while “Spring Is Just Around The Corner” and “Four Leaf Clover” are laced with the kind of laconic country feel that brings to mind Lyle Lovett. Dobson casts her net even further by covering Duke Ellington (“Mood Indigo”) and the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s (“Modern Romance”). A low-key charmer, this is the kind of album that feels like it could be the beginning of a long, distinguished career. Posted October 20, 2006 9:23 AM | | |
ARTIST: Take 6 SONG/ALBUM: Brothers GENRE: Pop RATING: 8
Six perfectly tuned voices filled with faith, hope and optimism -- that formula made Take 6 one of the most acclaimed vocal groups of their era. Something remarkable happens every time these gifted singers raise their voices in song. The groundbreaking vocal group has won seven Grammy awards for its urban contemporary gospel music. And every one of their records has gone platinum or gold. Most listeners probably know Take 6 for its soaring a cappela music. That’s because its members -- Claude McKnight, Mark Kibble, Joel Kibble, Alvin Chea, Cedric Dent, and David Thomas -- possess an astonishing ability to create fully orchestrated sounds with nothing but their unaccompanied voices. On Brothers, however, Take 6 continues its exploration of a much more fully developed sound. Those beautifully matched voices are still the centerpiece on all ten of these tracks, but some sterling jazz and R&B instrumental touches have also been added here in a notably updated format.
“While the songs on Brothers are meant to be very singable,” said first tenor Mark Kibble, “the message we sing about is this: We are still speaking of the God we serve and the fact that we love Him so much, as He loves us so much. This record speaks the sentiments of our hearts.” Adds bass vocalist Alvin Chea: “Maybe they’ll first listen to the harmonies, but then they’ll tune into the lyrics and the message, which is what we want to share. We wanted to bring our message to as many people as possible -- a positive in a world of negativity.” Posted October 20, 2006 9:08 AM | | |
ARTIST: Elvis Costello SONG/ALBUM: Painted From Memory GENRE: Pop RATING: 7
At first, it seems like a forced pairing. Here is Burt Bacharach, the tuxedo-wearing pinnacle of cool, poised next to the ever-geeky Elvis Costello. But in case we need a reminder that appearances don't matter, that message comes through loud and clear on Painted From Memory: The New Songs of Bacharach and Costello. But set aside their superficial differences and it's obvious how much sense this musical partnership makes. Among contemporary artists, only Costello's soaring melodicism could come close to matching Bacharach's best work from the '60s and '70s, when his inventively sophisticated tunes ruled the charts. Here, their newly co-written songs evoke all the restrained passion of that earlier era. "I Still Have That Other Girl" bears an uncanny resemblance to classic Bacharach / Hal David material, while "This House Is Empty" could be a lyrical descendent of "A House Is Not A Home." But it's the final track, "God Give Me Strength," that supplies the most breathtaking moment¾a tour de force of brilliant pop songwriting and gut-wrenching singing. If this song doesn't make your heart pound, you might not have a pulse. Posted October 20, 2006 8:30 AM | | |
ARTIST: Frank Sinatra SONG/ALBUM: In The Wee Small Hours GENRE: Pop RATING: 9
It’s 3 am. You lie awake, staring at the ceiling, watching replays of a familiar movie. It’s the one where you lose the girl. Not just the girl, but the love of your life. And now there’s nothing to do but to regret and wish for a second chance.
Frank Sinatra understands. In 1955, he was watching the same movie, having broken off with the love of his life, Ava Gardner. Translating his personal pain into an album of torch ballads, Sinatra created one of the most perfect soundtracks ever for that late, late show on your ceiling.
The titles read like chapters in a heavy-hearted tale: “Mood Indigo,” “I Get Along Without You Very Well,” “I See Your Face Before Me,” “When Your Lover Has Gone,” “Last Night When We Were Young,” “I’ll Never Be The Same.” Inhabiting Nelson Riddle’s melancholy arrangements, Sinatra brings an understated ache to the lyrics, investing them with drama and complete believability.
This album marked one of the first when his voice had deepened and darkened from his days as a bandstand crooner with Tommy Dorsey. Along with that maturity came a vulnerability and frailty. Instead of effortlessly sailing through a song, Sinatra had to rely on his method-acting- like ability as an interpreter. What he does here is more than singing. It’s storytelling.
When you’re in a late night mood, thinking of the one that got away, there is no better musical companion than Sinatra’s In The Wee Small Hours. Posted October 10, 2006 10:05 AM | | |
ARTIST: Madeleine Peyroux SONG/ALBUM: Half The Perfect World GENRE: Pop RATING: 8
A Madeleine Peyroux record is like a time machine. Step inside and it whisks you back to a time before American Idol, Wi-Fi and Paris Hilton. A time before auto-tuned vocals and attitude. It’s coolly anachronistic, fashion unconscious and completely enchanting.
Enlisting the dream team of her previous album Careless Love - from producer Larry Klein to songwriter Jesse Harris to session monsters like Dean Parks, Greg Leisz and Jay Bellerose - Peyroux resumes her languid tour through the ‘30s & ‘40s smoky nightclub style with well-chosen covers and a handful of originals.
Though there’s a warm nostalgia in her sound, it’s much more. Imaginative interpreter that she is, Peyroux gently twists familiar classics from five different decades into something contemporary. On the Nilsson hit “Everybody’s Talkin’,” she locates a new heart at the song’s center, one that’s more amorous than vagabond. Tom Waits’s “(Looking For) The Heart Of Saturday Night” is invested with a kind of sunny hope, while Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile” manages to sound like the saddest song ever written. She transports Serge Gainsbourg’s “La Javanaise” into a delicate music box waltz and Joni Mitchell’s “River” (a duet with k.d. lang) into the front pew of the church. Most startlingly of all, her take on Sinatra’s classic “Summer Wind” strips away the Chairman’s bravado to reveal the dreamy love letter that the song really is.
Songs and sonics aside, what this record is really about is Peyroux’s singing. Fragile, balanced between a smile and a tear, with echoes of Billie Holiday and Peggy Lee, hers is a voice that belongs and doesn’t belong to any decade. Simply put, it’s timeless. Posted October 10, 2006 10:03 AM | | |
ARTIST: Caedmon's Call SONG/ALBUM: 40 Acres GENRE: Pop RATING: 6
There are several love songs on 40 Acres, the fourth album by Caedmon's Call, but "Table For Two" is not about a romantic dinner. When guitarist Derek Webb sings that "You know the plans that You have for me," he's talking to God. Caedmon was a 7th-century English religious poet, but the Texas septet's approach to its faith is not esoteric. Neither is its approach to music. Such crisply melodic songs as "There You Go" and "Petrified Heart" have a purely musical appeal that should grab the ears of listeners who don't even hear the message.
40 Acres has been called the band's breakthrough album, and Webb gives much of the credit to producer Glenn Rosenstein, who's worked with such diverse performers as U2 and Ziggy Marley. "I feel we've finally settled into the sound that is us," says Webb. "The album sounds like our live shows because of the way it was recorded." Like a lot of bands that have crafted a broad-based style, Caedmon's Call has more than one songwriter. Webb wrote five of the new album's 11 songs, and Aaron Tate, who is considered a full-fledged member of the Caedmon’s Call family even though he doesn’t perform with the group, penned another five. The remaining tune, "Climb On (A Back That's Strong)," was written by Shawn Colvin and John Leventhal, and fits seamlessly with the others. While Webb sings his own songs, lead vocals on Tate's contributions go either to the band's other guitarist, Cliff Young, or his wife Danielle.
The diversity of voices is one of the many elements that make the group's sound exceptionally rich. "Shifting Sand," a showcase for Danielle, suggests Joni Mitchell, while the band's two percussionists give songs like "Thankful" a jazzy exuberance. Drummer Todd Bragg thumps trash cans on the latter tune, but to him -- as to his bandmates -- the music of Caedmon's Call is not simply a joyful noise. "We want to give a genuine, real-life picture of what it means to be a Christian, on and off stage," he says. "We have never just wanted to be entertainers." Posted September 22, 2006 3:12 PM | | |
ARTIST: Elton John SONG/ALBUM: Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player GENRE: Pop RATING: 8
Elton’s sixth studio album, released in January 1973, is the one where everything came together for the British piano man.
It has the first appearance of the classic line-up of his band - Dee Murray, Nigel Olsson and Davey Johnstone. It has cinematic strings and punchy horns, arranged by Paul Buckmaster. It has what became a trademark blend of boogaloo rockers (“Elderberry Wine”), sweeping ballads (“Blues For My Baby And Me”) and bluesy honky tonk (“I’m Gonna Be A Teenage Idol”). And it has the two monster smashes that lifted Elton to superstar status. Though they may be overfamiliar to us now, “Daniel” and “Crocodile Rock” are still four-minute miracles of pop tunesmithery. One of the first hits to ever feature a Mellotron (that flute-y sound), “Daniel” was Elton and writing partner Bernie Taupin’s moving anti-Vietnam ode, sung from the viewpoint a young man watching his older brother go off to war. The fizzy “Crocodile Rock” makes affectionate nods to ‘50s hits “Runaway” and “Speedy Gonzales” while making you feel nostalgic for the ‘50s, even if you didn’t grow up in that decade.
This reissue comes with four bonus tracks, the highlight of which is a gorgeous solo piano version of “Skyline Pigeon.” “Dreaming of the open / Waiting for the day / He can spread his wings” goes the chorus. Elton could be singing about himself upon the release of this career-changing album. Posted September 21, 2006 3:36 PM | | |
ARTIST: Paul Simon SONG/ALBUM: Surprise GENRE: Pop RATING: 7
Picasso was still painting at ninety-one. Graham Greene wrote novels well into his eighties. There are many examples of artists in other disciplines creating vital works at an advanced age. But when it comes to rock, the jury is still out. As many of the greats - McCartney, the Stones - get into their sixties, there’s been an evident slide in the quality of their work.
Ever since Graceland, Paul Simon has been defying this law of diminishing returns. He’s embraced styles outside of rock music. He’s pushed himself to experiment with songwriting form. For that alone, he deserves kudos.
On Surprise, Simon continues to deconstruct the pop song. Lyrics are half-spoken, half-sung. Multiple syllables are jammed into small metric spaces. Tenses are blurred, as are first to third person narratives. When it works, as it does on memorable pieces like “Another Galaxy” and “Outrageous,” it makes for a bracing listen. You get the sense that you’re hearing something daring and new.
Helping Simon plot the sonic terrain on Surprise is ambient master Brian Eno. As he’s done for David Bowie and U2, Eno creates textures here that sound organic and electronic. For example, “That’s Me” processes the combo of guitar-bass-drums into something like tinkling music trapped inside a blue bottle. “Wartime Prayers” is distant, muted grandeur, as if applied with a soft paintbrush. “Beautiful” sounds like an acoustic guitar swallowed by two Powerbooks.
Though he indulged in full-on nostalgia with the recent reunion tour with Art Garfunkel, Paul Simon seems set on moving into the future as an artist. Here’s hoping he lives to ninety-one. Posted September 18, 2006 9:05 AM | | |
ARTIST: David Mead SONG/ALBUM: Tangerine GENRE: Pop RATING: 9
When is the last time you heard an overture on a pop record? How about dueling ukuleles? Or a song done entirely a capella?
Tangerine has all that plus a lot more. From the opening title track, which riffles through tantalizing snapshots of the songs to come, David Mead makes it clear that he’s out to create something more inventive and ambitious than merely a collection of catchy three-minute songs.
The gauntlet thrown down, the ride begins with a spindizzy calliope twirl on "Hard To Remember" and the jaunty '70s stomp of "Chatterbox," continues through the confidential tale of “The Trouble With Henry” and the moody and moving centerpiece, "Hunting Season," then winds down with the Cinemascopic "Suddenly, A Summer Night" and the affecting Randy Newman-ish ballad, "Choosing Teams."
To help him squeeze the sweetest nectar possible from the tracks, Mead enlists producer / multi-instrumentalist Brad Jones (Jill Sobule, Butterfly Boucher). Together, the pair wrap the tunes in sensitive arrangements, with an anything-goes palette of instruments and textures - from vibraphones to modern classical strings to Brian May-style guitars.
But what really gives the album its emotional center is Mead’s voice. Always a thrillingly acrobatic singer with a romantic tilt, he strikes a more conversational tone here. On songs such as "The Trouble With Henry" and "Sugar On The Knees," it's as if he's leaning across the table at a coffee shop, telling you a confidential story.
Like the fruit it shares a name with, Tangerine is full of complex, tangy flavors - ones that you won’t tire of tasting. Posted September 11, 2006 10:11 AM | | |
ARTIST: Carole King SONG/ALBUM: Music GENRE: Pop RATING: 8
How do you follow one of the biggest albums of all-time? For Carole King, the answer was: quickly. In 1971, after releasing the earth-moving Tapestry in March, she encored nine months later with another album, Music. Though it sold four million copies at the time and boasted a top ten single, it is almost completely forgotten today. It deserves better.
On the surface, Music could be Tapestry Part 2. It has the inviting organic sound, the warm vocals, the top-flight songs. Sticking with a winning formula, King enlists the same producer, Lou Adler, and the same musicians, including Danny Kortchmar, Ralph Shuckett and Charles Larkey. James Taylor even stops by again to harmonize on a song.
But King was also moving forward, taking chances. The socially conscious opener, “Brother Brother” makes an appreciative nod to Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On album (released almost the same time as Tapestry) while “Carry Your Load” touches on themes of war and peace. After her split with husband-lyricist Gerry Goffin, King began collaborating with a new partner, Toni Stern. Of their three songs on Music, two are stone classics. The single “Sweet Seasons” is a deliciously catchy ode to a simple life in the country, while the yearning “It’s Going To Take Some Time” became a huge hit for the Carpenters (King’s version is leaner, but no less lovely).
If you’re looking to add another thread to your copy of Tapestry, try some Music. Posted September 11, 2006 10:06 AM | | |
ARTIST: Harry Nilsson SONG/ALBUM: The Point / Skidoo GENRE: Pop RATING: 9
Harry Nilsson could write a song for any occasion.
This 2-fer release, which includes soundtracks for a movie and a TV special, is a wondrous display of his versatility. Given the assignment by director Otto Preminger to “sing the movie’s closing credits” on Skidoo, Nilsson did just that, constructing a Broadway-style romp whose lyrics take in everyone from stars Jackie Gleason and Carol Channing to the gaffer and the best boy. “Garbage Can Ballet” finds Harry playfully imagining romance among the compost pile (“An old piece of ham is in love with some lamb”) while instrumentals “Tony’s Trip” and “Escape: Possible” suggest he could’ve easily had a career as a John Barry-esque film composer.
The Skidoo tunes are only the appetizer for the main course here. The Point, an original animated musical about a misfit boy named Oblio, is Nilsson at his most charmingly whimsical. While “Me And My Arrow” and “Everybody’s Got ‘Em” explore friendship and self-reliance, “Think About Your Troubles” starts with a man staring into a cup of breakfast tea, then in ten circular lines, evolves into a meditation on death and reincarnation. What’s remarkable is how these songs work on different levels, appealing to kids and adults, without shortchanging either.
Rounding out this generous 30-song disc are four previously unreleased tracks, including the bouncy “Girlfriend,” a song that was reworked into “Best Friend,” the theme for the TV series The Courtship Of Eddie’s Father.
If you’re only familiar with Nilsson from his hits “Without You” and “Everybody’s Talkin’,” here’s a chance to get to know him better. Posted September 8, 2006 1:03 PM | | |
ARTIST: KT Tunstall SONG/ALBUM: Eye to the Telescope GENRE: Pop RATING: 8
This pint-sized Scottish dynamo’s debut album crackles with the sort of energy and originality that heralds the coming of a new star. Tunstall is already a big name in the U.K., where Eye to the Telescope was first released in late 2004. She’s making steady headway stateside, courtesy of two sparkling, irresistible singles – “Black Horse & Cherry Tree” and “Suddenly I See,” both of which showcase her earthy mix of smart, ethereal pop, blues-rock, folk, jazz and dance music. If you haven’t heard those two tunes on the radio, you’ve probably caught bits of them on television: Both have been used repeatedly as scene setters and background music on top-rated shows ranging from “Grey’s Anatomy” to “So You Think You Can Dance.” Tunstall has a big, soulful voice reminiscent of earthy, blues-rock belters such as Linda Perry, Joan Osbourne and Joss Stone. But she channels it through a classic pop-rock blender that is part Rickie Lee Jones, part Carole King, part Kylie Minogue. She is the complete package as an artist, too – a multi-instrumentalist who plays guitar, piano and flute and a talented songwriter who creates sing-along pop songs with a bristling, captivating edge. You can hear hearts breaking in the gorgeous, dreamlike folk-pop of “Other Side of the World,” taste the indignation and anger in the roiling blues-rock of “Another Place to Fall, hear the pain and lament in the swaying, gospel prayer of “Through the Dark.” Most of today’s pop stars have a difficult time putting out an album with two or three great songs. With Eye to the Telescope, Tunstall has created 45 minutes of pop glory that’s engaging from beginning to end. \ Posted August 11, 2006 6:00 PM | | |
ARTIST: Stevie Wonder SONG/ALBUM: Innervisions GENRE: R&B RATING: 9
The third album in the 1970s’ creative eruption of Stevie Wonder is a dazzler, revealing the many facets of his genius. There is MOR Stevie, crooning ballads “All In Love Is Fair” and “Golden Lady.” Jazz-fusion Stevie sailing through complex changes and riffs on “Too High. Latin Pop Stevie playing a fast-talking Romeo on “Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A Thing.” And for the first time ever, an overtly political Stevie, crying out on the hard-driving “Higher Ground” and “Living For The City.” Lines such as “To find a job is like a haystack needle / ‘Cause where he lives they don’t use colored people” were miles from the genteel sounds Stevie was making just three years previous.
Not only was he pulling brilliant songs out of thin air like a musical Merlin, he was also producing, arranging and playing nearly every instrument on this record, including drums.
Innervisions also marked Stevie’s full-on embrace of electronic instruments. Tutored by synth masters Malcolm Cecil and Bob Margouleff, Stevie quickly seduced the wire-sprouting Moogs, ARPs and Clavinets into doing his soulful bidding. Check out the futuristic “Visions” to hear how even transistors and circuitboards can have hearts.
Along with Talking Book, Fulfillingness First Finale and Songs In The Key Of Life, this record is a milestone in R & B music, as vital today as it was thirty years ago. Posted December 11, 2006 10:04 AM | | |
USER: jules USER TYPE: Reviewer ARTIST: Simply Red SONG/ALBUM: Greatest Hits GENRE: R&B RATING: 7
If you were anywhere near a radio in the 1980s, you're bound to recall Simply Red's breakthrough hit soaring across the airwaves. "Holding Back The Years," which dominated the pop charts in 1986, was a riveting ballad that introduced American listeners to the British band and its captivating lead singer, Mick Hucknall. With his shock of flaming red hair and irresistible vocal style, Hucknall became the overnight heir-apparent of "blue-eyed soul” -- a singer, like Joe Cocker and Rod Stewart before him, whose affinity for rhythm and blues seemed out of keeping with his English heritage.
Decades after that auspicious debut, Simply Red's Greatest Hits proves that initial claim to fame was just a hint of what was to come, and the beginning of a remarkable career that saw the band's sales top the 30 million mark. Formed in Manchester, England, Simply Red released its first album, Picture Book, in 1985. That debut not only included "Holding Back the Years," which Hucknall had written and recorded with his previous band, but another major hit, their no-nonsense cover of the Valentine Brothers’ "Money's Too Tight To Mention." With each successive album, Hucknall and company proceeded to top themselves, adding deeper levels of sophistication and soulfulness to every new recording. Five albums, twelve years of recordings, and a legacy of impassioned vocal performances are all documented in this Greatest Hits package, a snapshot that vividly captures Simply Red's finest moments. As a bonus, Hucknall also included here a new version of the Aretha Franklin hit, "Angel." Never one to be locked in the past, Hucknall also invited Wyclef Jean and Pras Michel from the The Fugees to join on him the track. It's that kind of freshness that first propelled Simply Red to the top of the charts, and the kind of creative vitality that is likely to keep them on iPods for many years to come.
Posted November 9, 2006 3:13 PM | | |
USER: jules USER TYPE: Reviewer ARTIST: W.C. Clark SONG/ALBUM: Texas Soul GENRE: R&B RATING: 7
If anyone was destined to play the blues, it’s W.C. Clark. As a boy growing up in Austin, TX, Wesley Curly Clark used to sit on a church pew for hours on end and soak up every note of music he could. “There were guitar players who played the blues and sang the gospel all the time,” he recalls. “I just loved the music, loved the sound. All I had to do, really, was get me an instrument and start practicing. I had most of that stuff embedded in my head and soul anyway.” After teaching himself to play the guitar as a teenager, Clark served a lengthy stint as lead guitarist for ‘60s soul legend Joe Tex. Later, he found himself in the enviable position of being begged by Stevie Ray Vaughn to come join his band. He not only co-wrote Vaughn’s hit song, "Cold Shot," but shared the stage with B.B. King, James Brown, Bobby “Blue” Bland and Albert King. Every bit of that experience shines through on Texas Soul, perhaps the most accomplished release by this veteran guitarist and singer who’s been called “the godfather of Austin blues.”
Irresistible soul music, smooth R&B classics, swinging 12-bar shuffles -- Clark makes it clear that a lifetime of musical knowledge is right there at his fingertips. From the down-and-out "Why Do These Things Happen To Me?" to a finger-snapping version of Sam Cook’s "That’s Where It’s At," every track on this CD reveals a bone-deep understanding of Texas blues, Memphis soul and gospel-inflected rhythms. “This recording highlights my guitar work and vocals,” Clark says. “We were shooting to showcase my singing more, but with the rich guitar tones here, I feel we got both.” With its swaggering horns, funk-rooted bass lines and snappy drums, Texas Soul is an album overflowing with no-nonsense attitude. W.C. Clark may be a master of the blues, but it’s his positive energy that wins out here. Posted November 9, 2006 12:47 PM | | |
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