myTunes Weekly

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Fri, 31 Aug 2007

Brontosaurus / Da Vinci's Notebook
	An old friend introduced me to Da Vinci's Notebook during my Farscape music video phase, a fortuitous happenstance that changed my life! Okay, not really; all it did was lead me to make my best video, and likely the reason I didn't do any more after that. How after all do you top perfection? You may think I'm overstating the case, but bear with me. Da Vinci's Notebook is/was (they are no longer performing together) a DC-based a cappella group that started by mixing straight covers and comedy material and by this, their third album, had turned their back on serious for good. Anyway, I was listening to Brontosaurus in the car, a dangerous activity as it's hard to concentrate when you're in hysterics. And then that track came on, the one that I knew I had to immortalize in Farscape video clips. And so I did. And it was good. And I got to watch it with a few hundred of my Scaper friends at a convention, and listen to the laughter. And that was very good. Which led to one female Scaper telling me later how much she enjoyed my Enormous Penis. Which, you'll admit, is not the sort of thing one can hear too often.
[ Category: Vocal \| Add a comment \| Link ]

Wed, 29 Aug 2007

Who Killed Rock N' Roll / Rick Springfield
Asked and answered. (Sometimes I'm ashamed of myself. Then I get over it.)
[ Category: Rock \| Add a comment \| Link ]

Mon, 27 Aug 2007

The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter / Josh Ritter
	Historical Conquests starts out sounding like Dylan, except less nasal, but where it goes after that will surprise you. At least it surprised me, as the too-cheerful-for-a-sleepless-Sunday-morning tracks gave way to the almost Cat Stevensesque The Temptation of Adam. The styles here are all over the place, but in the best possible way. Surprises are good, although not necessarily on a sleepless Sunday morning.
[ Category: Rock \| Add a comment \| Link ]

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Fri, 24 Aug 2007

Umbrella / Marié Digby
This is another moment where ignorance is bliss. Judging by the reviews on the iTunes Store, people who knew Rihanna's original version of this song hated Hated HATED this one, where people like me who haven't listened to the radio since the 90s (if not earlier) think it sounds pretty nice. Marié has just the one track on iTunes, but there are a few others on her MySpace page, both covers and what may or may not be original tracks. Oh, and a blog post about the shock of her Rihanna cover becoming so popular. She sounds nice, and level headed about it all.
[ Category: Pop \| Add a comment \| Link ]

Wed, 22 Aug 2007

High School Musical 2 / Original Soundtrack

As I type this, the sequel to Disney's insanely successful High School Musical is still a few hours away from broadcast. That means I'm reviewing without having seen the program or listened to more than a couple of minutes of the music. Still, lack of knowledge doesn't imply lack of opinion. So here we go...

I'm not a big fan of what Disney has done to Broadway. I liked Beauty and the Beast, in a "don't expect much" kind of way. I was totally underwhelmed by The Lion King; I thought the innovative staging was undermined by mediocre music and a superficial story of talking animals. (Somehow talking cutlery didn't seem as ridiculous. Go figure.)

But High School Musical raised Lion King to high art by comparison. This story of incredibly attractive teens who resist being labeled as the best ever at one thing, because they want to be seen as the best ever at everything is, from my aged perspective, a terrible lesson for impressionable kids. (And adults for that matter.) As with every production aimed at kids, the adults are either morons or monomaniacal villains, and generally both. And kids manage to resolve all their differences and see the errors of their ways by the final curtain. If it weren't so relentlessly upbeat (and so completely divorced from any reality I've ever experienced or observed), it would depress the hell out of me.

Still, this isn't about art, and it isn't an Afterschool Special. It's Disney doing what they do best and worst: creating a fantasy world that's brighter and cheerier and far more desirable than reality ever was. And making a couple of tons of money in the process. Oh, and giving us the next generation of Britneys and Christinas. Anybody want to take bets on which Musical star will be the first in rehab?

[ Category: Soundtrack | Add a comment | Link ]

Mon, 20 Aug 2007

Emerald City / John Vanderslice
Emerald City is sort of political, in a covert rather than an overt way. I'm told the title refers to the Green Zone in Iraq. And as in Iraq, the tracks begin with tension mixed with hope and pass through increasing stages of desperation, resignation and grief. Which sounds more dire than it is, especially if you prefer to ignore the subtleties at play and just listen and enjoy at a superficial level. That's certainly my plan; superficial has gotten me through more than one great political issue of the day.
[ Category: Rock \| Add a comment \| Link ]

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Fri, 20 Jul 2007

Translated From Love / Kelly Willis
	From faux country to the real thing. It takes about three seconds to typecast Kelly Willis as country. But what surprised me is that I listened to a lot more than those three seconds. There's something more going on here. Maybe you can figure out what it is. Me, I'm just surprised to be listening to country and not hating it. Maybe even liking it a little. Okay, a lot. But don't tell anybody; I have a reputation to uphold.
[ Category: Country \| Add a comment \| Link ]

Wed, 18 Jul 2007

At My Age / Nick Lowe
There's always been something quietly subversive about Nick Lowe, going back at least to 1979's Cruel To Be Kind, whose title song I enjoyed without noticing for a moment the discordancy between its catchy pop melody and the rather more antisocial tone of the lyrics. I was oblivious back then, albeit somewhat less so now. Now he's giving country music the business, with an album so syrupy and rich it'll give you flashbacks to Freddy Fender and Ray Price. Occasionally the perfect American accent slips to reveal the Brit beneath, but mostly the mask stays on. Which, as it always does since I first realized I'd been had, makes me wonder just what he's hiding back there.
[ Category: Rock \| Add a comment \| Link ]

Mon, 16 Jul 2007

Life in Cartoon Motion / Mika

When I was a kid, I remember reading a story about a record that you couldn't stop playing; no matter how hard you tried, it just compelled you to hear it again. Today we have a name for this phenomenon, the song that you can't get out of your head: we call it an earworm. Think It's a Small World. G'wan, I dare ya.

I mention this because I think I have another candidate. It was the end of the second week of my trip to Australia and New Zealand (what, is he on about that again?), and I turned on a television for the first time that trip. Flipping the channels, I came upon an MTVish show. And after a few minutes I was assaulted with Mika's song, Love Today. Before it had reached the chorus I was in pain; by the time it ended I realized that life as I knew it was over. I hated that song, and I couldn't wait to hear it again. And again. And again.

I suffer for his art. Now it's your turn.

[ Category: Pop | Add a comment | Link ]

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Fri, 13 Jul 2007

Thinking Room / Anika Moa
As with my last post, all the credit for this one goes to my host on Waiheke Island. He has this determination to make every detail of his guests' experience perfect, down to the music at dinner and in our rooms. Anika Moa's second CD, Stolen Hill was my second selection from the room's discs. Sadly, it's not available in iTunes yet, so we'll have to make do with her debut. Tough, I know.
[ Category: Rock \| Add a comment \| Link ]

Wed, 11 Jul 2007

Passenger / Carly Binding

I bet you didn't notice, but I had this blog on autopilot for a big chunk of June. It's true; while you Northern Hemispherers were enjoying the warming of late spring and early summer, I was suffering an antipodean chill in Sydney and Auckland. Pity me, won't you?

I don't mention this to make you jealous, although I quite understand if you are. (Unless you're an Aussie or Kiwi, in which case you're wondering what the big deal is.) No, I'm just trying to explain my next few musical selections, for which I must thank my host on Waiheke Island.

Strange thing, that; for some reason my travel agent thinks I have both money and taste. At least that's the conclusion I drew when I arrived at the most amazing little B&B on the island, a half hour's ferry from downtown Auckland. Among the delights of the place was an impressive collection of CDs in my room, which I enjoyed over the next few days. This was the first disc I put on, and the one that left the most lasting impression. It reminds me of Waiheke: lush and rich and full of subtleties, but also warm and inviting and relaxed. Which is making me wish I was back there, if it weren't for the fact that I have you here, waiting for more blog posts. Oh, and that thing about having to make money so I can take more trips. There's that, I suppose.

[ Category: Pop | Add a comment | Link ]

Mon, 09 Jul 2007

Reduced Shakespeare Company Podcast / Reduced Shakespeare Company
I first encountered the Reduced Shakespeare Company before they were the Reduced Shakespeare Company, back when I was first living in California, never mind how many years ago. I was in Anaheim back then, which I thought of then and still think of today as Ratland. (Knott's Berry Farm used to have billboards that said, "Come visit us; the other place has mice.") And I'd go to the Renaissance Faire, where these three guys from Northern Cal would do these outrageous versions of Shakespeare's plays, including faster and faster versions of Hamlet, the last one in reverse. Years later I saw their descendents in London, doing The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged) and The Complete History of America (Abridged). Not quite as pleasant as being under the trees at a Renaissance Faire, but not bad at all. Since then the troupe has grown and prospered. And now they're doing a podcast. It isn't their shows; it's more meta than that. But hearing stories from the road, and the method to their madness, and meeting the players is a whole lot of fun too. And they do include bits from their various shows, two of which I was pleased to note will be playing later this year in San Francisco. Okay, so they're not the originals. Then again, considering what all the intervening years have done for me, is that a bad thing?
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Fri, 06 Jul 2007

Sky Blue Sky / Wilco
	In my last post I invented a new musical genre called Uneasy Listening. (If anybody else has used that line, I'd rather not know about it. I've even avoided Googling it, which will show you how serious I am about preserving my ignorance.) And now we have, well, calling Sky Blue Sky Easy Listening would be to demean it. But what do you call it when a band gives up some of its edge and becomes downright pleasant? Maybe this is the real Uneasy Listening. I suspect Wilco's fans are experiencing exactly that. Me, I like taking it easy now and again.
[ Category: Rock \| Add a comment \| Link ]

Wed, 04 Jul 2007

Fort Nightly / White Rabbits
There's something both appealing and disconcerting going on here, a combination of styles that ought not to work, maybe takes some getting used to, but that seems likely to reward the effort. Quoting MusicRemedy quoting AllMusic.com (talk about lazy; I can't even steal from somebody firsthand!), "If Liberace joined a swing band, and enlisted a guitarist addicted to eclecticism (Western, surf flecked, and C&W included), it might sound a bit like this." Another reviewer hears ska in the mix, although without the rough amateurish quality we associate with ska. (If it isn't rough and amateurish -- and I mean that in a good way -- is it ska?) Maybe we need another genre. How about Uneasy Listening? Think anybody's go for that?
[ Category: Rock \| Add a comment \| Link ]

Mon, 02 Jul 2007

Anthology / The Rubinoos
	What we have here is a classic case of serendipity, as like the Princes of Serendip I went looking for one thing and found quite another. I've been doing this MySpace marketing thing for a friend, looking for fans of thrillers who might be persuaded to check out his most excellent contributions to the genre, when what should my MySpace Googling find? Only Jon Rubin, who started his Power Pop band back in junior high, had a minor hit with a cover of Tommy James' I Think We're Alone Now and is still touring and rocking (or whatever the pop equivalent is) more than three decades later. For someone who gets bored doing the same job for more than a couple of years, I have to admire their sticktoitiveness. And also their music, which is both nostalgia-inducing and catchy as all get out.
[ Category: Rock \| Add a comment \| Link ]

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Catching up; the one problem with going on vacation is being in a place with ridiculously expensive wireless access...

Fri, 29 Jun 2007

Happening / Brenda Earle
I may have mentioned my enthusiasm for musical theatre a time or two before. Happening doesn't belong to that genre, although my first reaction was that it well could. There's something theatrical about these songs, both in their composition and their arrangement; they tell a story or set a mood in exactly the way some of my Broadway favorites do. Most of the songs here are original, which makes me wonder if their specialness comes more from their creation or their performance, or if the two are inseparable. One not-original track is a memorable version of Every Little Thing (He) Does Is Magic. And if she can't quite equal Shawn Colvin's breathtaking cover, well, second place isn't too shabby either.
[ Category: Jazz \| Add a comment \| Link ]

Wed, 27 Jun 2007

Bubbly / Colbie Caillat
	I guess this is the iTunes Store version of dipping your toes in the water, this one stinkin' track from MySpace phenomenon Colbie Caillat. And a phenomenon she is, with over a hundred thousand MySpace friends, (you can hear the "air quotes", can't you?), which is even more than I have! Not that she doesn't deserve all that attention and more; just looking at her concert schedule I'm exhausted. Fortunately, her songs are the perfect antidote to that exhaustion: light and bouncy and smooth and soothing. I predict great things, assuming there's anything to this word of mouth marketing thing we're both involved in.
[ Category: Pop \| Add a comment \| Link ]

Mon, 25 Jun 2007

The Else / They Might Be Giants
I've always thought of They Might Be Giants as something of an acquired taste, rather like beer or many of the foods of my childhood, the kind of things that would be suspect or even mildly revolting to someone who didn't grow up Jewish in New York in the late 50s and early 60s. I first heard Giants on Tiny Toon Adventures, as I recounted around the beginning of this blog in a post about The Roches. And it took a while after that to appreciate their particular blend of tuneful and weird. So what does it mean that I don't get that sense of weird listening to The Else? Have they mellowed? Or have my musical taste buds been so corrupted, at least where they're concerned, that I can't be disturbed any more? Truly a puzzlement. Now I'm just left enjoying the music, which is hardly a complaint. Still, I miss being disturbed. (No, not like that!)
[ Category: Alternative \| Add a comment \| Link ]

Fri, 22 Jun 2007

Call Me Irresponsible / Michael Bublé
	I first encountered Michael Bublé a while back when I was looking for covers of Route 66 for a road trip I was planning to, well, Route 66. Or what's left of it anyway; I've been to Gallup, Flagstaff, Winona, Kingman, Barstow and San Bernardino, and Amarillo is next. (Yes, I'm obsessed. Why do you ask?) Anyway, I discovered Bublé through his cover, sadly not available on the iTunes Store. Nice voice, but Irresponsible? Try geographically illiterate. Sorry, Michael, but Reno isn't and never was on Route 66. It's only a detour of 500 miles or so off the Mother Road, thank you very much.
[ Category: Vocal \| Add a comment \| Link ]

Wed, 20 Jun 2007

Estimated Charges / The Flying Other Brothers

Anybody else hear early Dire Straits on Kick It Open?

Just me?

Okay, then.

[ Category: Rock | Add a comment | Link ]

Mon, 18 Jun 2007

Find Your Own Way Home / REO Speedwagon
	With so many of the bands I grew up with either long gone or on the life support of PBS Pledge Drive concerts, it's reassuring to know that some of us are still alive and kicking butt three decades on. REO Speedwagon's latest album sounds great. It doesn't sound old, and it doesn't sound tired, and it isn't just a retread of older and more glorious times. Guess we don't all have to go gentle into that good night.
[ Category: Rock \| Add a comment \| Link ]

Fri, 15 Jun 2007

The Boy with No Name / Travis
Maybe you're old enough to remember when movie theaters weren't so strict about selling tickets for a particular performance, when you'd arrive when you arrived, walk in the middle of one showing and then stick around for the part you missed. Or was that just me? Anyway, that's kind of the feeling I get when I read comments for Travis's new album. They of course compare The Boy with No Name to the band's earlier works, finding it wanting in various ways or just not the breakthrough comeback album they were hoping for. Me, I just like what I hear. It's accessible by the uninitiated, which may upset their long term fans but suits me (and maybe you) just fine.
[ Category: Rock \| Add a comment \| Link ]

Wed, 13 Jun 2007

Inner Shape / Roman Ott
	This post is about an album called Inner Shape. But Inner Shape isn't just the name of the album; it's the name of the band. Roman Ott isn't the name of the band; that's just the name of one of the band members. Clear? Sorry; I was just channeling Arlo Guthrie. But back to the band. Inner Shape is a quartet of young German jazz musicians. Who do a credible job of sounding both more mature and not particularly Teutonic. Although they do leave me wondering just what's so funny about Leo.
[ Category: Jazz \| Add a comment \| Link ]

Mon, 11 Jun 2007

Nothing But the Water / Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
Huh. Here I thought the South was a place. But thanks to Ms. Potter I come to discover it's all a state of mind. How else to explain how a band from Vermont can create such a dead-on Southern bluesy sound. Are they at least from southern Vermont?
[ Category: Rock \| 1 comment \| Link ]

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Fri, 08 Jun 2007

Hiromi's Sonic Bloom: Time Control / Hiromi Uehara
	Time Control is a little bit New Age, a little bit jazz. Or maybe it's a lot of both; I can't quite decide. But however you categorize her, Hiromi's keyboard technique has to be heard to be believed. A definite Wow. Maybe even two.
[ Category: Jazz \| Add a comment \| Link ]

Wed, 06 Jun 2007

Cassadaga / Bright Eyes
Who does Conor Oberst want to be when he grows up? Okay, that's unfair; he's clearly creating something original, at least a lot of the time. But I can't help flashing, as others have, on Dylan, or Springsteen, or, at least on Soul Singer In a Session Band, Billy Joel back when we cared about him. Which as I say isn't fair; as much as the influences are there, so is the originality. And there are worse things to be than this generation's Dylan, assuming he himself doesn't qualify for the honor.
[ Category: Alternative \| Add a comment \| Link ]

Mon, 04 Jun 2007

Revenge! / Robbie Fulks
	I'm torn. On the one hand, we're talkin' country, and we all know how I feel about country. But on the other, we're talkin' smartass. I mean, how can you not love a guy who'll do a cover of Cher? And that's hardly the end of his transgressions against music. Okay, maybe I'm not as torn as all that.
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Fri, 25 May 2007

Until June / Until June
	From one extreme to the other. If I still listened to the radio, this is just the sort of thing I'd hope to hear: good vocals, nice backing and each track over in under four minutes. Although truth in blogging (how's that for an oxymoron?) compels me to point out that The Saddest Song isn't. Not even close.
[ Category: Rock \| Add a comment \| Link ]

Wed, 23 May 2007

Fear of a Blank Planet / Porcupine Tree
I write this as we prepare to mourn the death of Internet radio, music podcasts and every other form of music distribution not sanctioned by the few major record labels. There's panic in the land as CD sales sink without a trace and three old men at the Copyright Office plunge their long knives into the goose that might have delivered golden eggs. Okay, enough with the metaphors and the rants; either May 15th saw the death of a thousand fees or it didn't. If it did, groups like Porcupine Tree and albums like this one were the hardest hit. There are no three minute tracks here; the shortest is nearly twice that, while the appropriately named Anesthetize clocks in at a radio-hostile 17:43. So where exactly does a proper album get a hearing if not via the Web? Proper in the sense of a self-contained and coherent work, rather than a mere collection of unrelated tracks of an appropriate length to put on a CD? Unless something changed between my writing and your reading, we may still be wondering.
[ Category: Alternative \| Add a comment \| Link ]

Mon, 21 May 2007

Mr. Deity / Mr. Deity
	It's podcast time again at the ole myTunes blog. And not just a podcast: a video podcast. I don't much go in for video podcasts; most of my listening is in the car, where they really, really don't recommend trying to watch video. (Damn traditionalists.) So it has to be something special to get me to break my routine. And so it is with Mr. Deity. But not the kind of special that attracted to me to Geek Brief.TV or French Maid TV or Tiki Bar TV. (Sorry, Dr. Tiki, but you know I just watch for Lala.) No, what's special about Mr. Deity is how it (or should that be he?) puts this whole "Hairy Thunderer or Cosmic Muffin" thing into context. Now this is a Supreme Being I can get behind.
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Fri, 13 Apr 2007

The Scarlet Pimpernel / Original Broadway Cast

I love The Scarlet Pimpernel, both for its importance as the first of the "hero with a secret identity" stories that inspired comic books and much else I hold dear (it predates Zorro by more than a decade) and for the troubled romance that is at its heart. So when I learned it was being staged as a musical on Broadway, I couldn't wait. And I wasn't disappointed; it's full of action, danger, laughs and that romance stuff.

Unfortunately, the critics didn't agree with me; they were savage in their lack of appreciation. And what they say goes, at least in this case. The play got rejiggered, which didn't help, and closed before long. I saw the not-really-improved version in a touring company version, and can't say I was impressed by the changes in the book, the music or the cast.

But I still love the Pimpernel. Especially the music, which ranges from stately (my ring tone, by the way) to heroic to obsessive to wistfully and desperately sad to the kind of dopey that screams of aristocratic inbreeding. Great stuff, no matter what the critics may have thought.

[ Category: Soundtrack | Add a comment | Link ]

Wed, 11 Apr 2007

Tour de Charme / Patricia Kaas
I discovered Patricia Kaas quite by accident. It was on a vacation trip to New Zealand, a experience I recommend heartily by the way. Anyway, I caught an ad on television for an album called Piano Bar, noted that it included a cover of If You Go Away, a song I've always liked, and set out to find a copy. Which I did, on a stop in Rotorua. And then I heard it again in a Thai restaurant in Christchurch; apparently I wasn't the only one influenced by those ads. Anyway, on returning home I was excited to tell a jazz buff friend about my discovery, only to learn that he already knew about Ms. Kaas and had her other albums. So we made a little trade, to the enrichment of all concerned. And now it's your turn. Sadly, this is the only one of her recordings available here. But it's a start.
[ Category: Pop \| Add a comment \| Link ]

Mon, 09 Apr 2007

Decoder Ring Theatre

It's been almost three weeks since my last podcast review, which was also my first podcast review, and since no one seems to have objected, I thought I'd do it again. Actually, no one remarked on it at all. Did it actually go out? Is this thing on? Hello?

Okay, existential episode over. Anyway, since this is all about me sharing my discoveries and my alleged taste with you, my discerning reader, I want to talk about my very favorite podcast of all, that I'm not involved with. Oh, who'm I kidding? It's my absolute favorite; just don't tell the gang at The ScapeCast.

The gang at Decoder Ring Theatre have reinvented radio drama for our more ironic age. Every two weeks they deliver another episode of either Black Jack Justice, noir detective with a heart to match his square jaw, or the Red Panda, Canada's Greatest Superhero. Justice is serious with a side order of whimsy, while the Panda reverses the formula. The arrival of a new episode is a reason to celebrate the combination of clever storytelling and energetic voice performances. The folks at Decoder Ring clearly love what they do. And so, I think, will you, if you're anything like me. And if you are, well, I'm just sorrier than I can say.

[ Category: Podcast | Add a comment | Link ]

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Fri, 06 Apr 2007

Chasing Yesterday / Cheri Magill
There's something nice and throwbacky about Cheri Magill's songs, a jazziness that brings to mind the Squirrel Nut Zippers. It isn't often I'm smitten midway through a thirty second sample. But Bulletproof Dress pulled it off. (In a nice way.) And her cover of Time After Time is the best I've heard since Eva Cassidy, still sadly underrepresented on iTunes. Definitely someone to watch. Or listen to. Or both.
[ Category: Rock \| Add a comment \| Link ]

Wed, 04 Apr 2007

Better / Amy Loftus
	According to the liner notes on her website, Better was recorded live. Well, of course it was. I mean, what's the alternative? But no, it doesn't simply mean she and the musicians were there, and breathing, at the time the recording was made. It's a promise that what we're hearing is just what they recorded. Kind of like those "filmed in front of a studio audience" sitcoms, but with less of a safety net. And no laugh track to tell us how we're supposed to feel. Which gives the performances on Better a little more immediacy, a lack of filtration. Could've been a disaster. Heck, we only have her word that it wasn't, that what we're getting really is the original, unadulterated performance. I'm just cynical to acknowledge the possibility I'm being flimflammed, even as I don't believe it for a second. Besides, with country-tinged pop this sweet, does it really matter? (Only to the degree it lets me use a word like "flimflammed". That was worth the whole digression.)
[ Category: Pop \| Add a comment \| Link ]

Mon, 02 Apr 2007

Ghost Stories / Chantal Kreviazuk
Chantal Kreviazuk may be the best and least known vocalist on the Internet. Best, because there are a ridiculous number of MP3s of the cover she did of Leaving on a Jet Plane floating around the file sharing sites. At least that's what I've heard. Not that I'd know anything about that, or know anybody who does. But how can she be so known and unknown at the same time? That's because (again, so I've heard) most of those MP3s attribute the song to somebody else. Anybody else, as long as they're female and a singer. So I can only imagine how many people love her voice but have no idea it's her voice they love. And she's even good when she isn't channeling John Denver. Or being misidentified as Sheryl Crow. Or Jewel. Or half a dozen other age appropriate performers who aren't her. Or should that be she?
[ Category: Pop \| Add a comment \| Link ]

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Fri, 30 Mar 2007

Kosher for Passover / Rocky the Rabbi

Oy.

What? You need more? Okay, it's like this. I really used to like Dayenu; it was a small part of my favorite holiday. But not like this; it's like somebody heard Popcorn, and decided to suck all the air out of it.

But all is not lost. Maybe if I listen to a surf version I'll feel better. Swing might be nice. Reggae; that kinda works. Heck, I can even accept hip-hop. See, that's how you do it.

[ Category: Electronic | Add a comment | Link ]

Wed, 28 Mar 2007

Rollover / Manishevitz

"What's in a name?", Shakespeare asked rhetorically. And so do I, as I consider the resonance of the name Manishevitz. Not the musician, of course, whom I've only just encountered, but the products of my childhood, and, on rare occasion, my adulthood. First the wine, sweet enough to send you into sugar shock, but still capable of a good buzz if you're young, curious and determined. And then all the other kosher foods, which I buy now and then as comfort food or for their nostalgia value. (Betcha didn't know the winemaker and the food people are two different companies! No, I didn't either. It's a licensing thing.)

Anyway, this is yet another Manishevitz. With a V, which I didn't actually notice until this very moment. Which says something about how observant I am. And I don't mean as regards kashruth, although I'm not observant about that either.

Damn; there I go again. Focus, please! Right, the music. It's a sort of blend of R&B and folk, much in the style of Leonard Cohen. If you're familiar with Cohen's own performances, as opposed to other people's more demonstrative cover versions, you'll have a pretty good idea of what to expect. Detached. Serious. Maybe a little bit haunting. And no danger of a sugar rush.

[ Category: Rock | Add a comment | Link ]

Mon, 26 Mar 2007

Catch the Moon / Elizabeth Mitchell &Lisa Loeb
	Not sure I'm qualified to review an album of children's music, not that a lack of qualification has slowed me down much in the past. But there's a real question here: do I try to put myself in the place of an impressionable and unsophisticated child, which I once was and, if you leave out the "child" part may still be; or do I listen with the more experienced ear of an adult and consider what Ms. Mitchell, Ms. Loeb and their collaborators have done with a mix of children's classics, foreign folk songs and a few originals? Luckily for me, the answer appears to be the same in both cases. There's a cleverness, a subtlety and, yes, a little bit of sexiness that will appeal to the grownup, all, I suspect, without getting in the way of a kid's pleasure in simply listening to the words and the tune. On the other hand, this one might be a score for the world of hard goods; the CD version includes a book, where on the iTunes Store you don't even get a lousy PDF. Not that I think an online book is any substitute for holding one in your hands. Especially when you're first learning to appreciate the written word. I say go for the hardcopy; there'll be plenty of time to ruin your eyes on computer screens.
[ Category: Children's Music \| Add a comment \| Link ]