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Mon, 02 Apr 2007 |
| Ghost Stories / Chantal Kreviazuk | |
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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? |
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| [ Category: Pop | Add a comment | Link ] | |
Fri, 30 Mar 2007 |
| Kosher for Passover / Rocky the Rabbi | |
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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 | 1 comment | Link ] | |
Wed, 28 Mar 2007 |
| Rollover / Manishevitz | |
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"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. |
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| [ Category: Rock | Add a comment | Link ] | |
Mon, 26 Mar 2007 |
| Catch the Moon / Elizabeth Mitchell &Lisa Loeb | |
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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 ] | |
Fri, 23 Mar 2007 |
| Costello Music / The Fratellis | |
| It was Costello Music's cover art that first caught my eye. (Yes, I'm shallow. Nice of you to notice.) But their music's kind of compelling as well, in an early 60s British Invasion sort of way. Kind of an early Beatles sound, unless my ears deceive me. Which, truth to tell, they often do. Lying weasels, ears. |
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| [ Category: Alternative | 1 comment | Link ] | |
Wed, 21 Mar 2007 |
| The ScapeCast / The ScapeCast Crew | |
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This post is a first, for a few reasons. For one thing, although I've
mentioned podcasts in a few previous posts, this is the first one I've
devoted to a podcast. And for another, it's the first time in
this blog I've hawked something with which I'm associated. I do it
all the time in my other blog, but not
here. Until now, that is.
Disclaimers aside, I'd want to tell you about The ScapeCast even if I weren't part of the voice "talent". (Keep those quotes in mind; you'll need 'em.) It's a great show, both because of its subject (I've been addicted to Farscape since episode four or so; the addiction remains, long after the last episode reached the air) and because it's awfully entertaining in the way it tries to figure out just what it is about the show, its characters, its plotlines and its visuals (okay, not so much about the visuals; it's kind of hard to do on an audio only production) that makes so many otherwise rational individuals such fanboys and fangirls. (And let me go on the record as pointing out that there are easily as many of the latter as the former, which is pretty unusual for something in the Sci Fi realm.) If you've ever seen Farscape, you'll find a lot to enjoy in The ScapeCast. And if you haven't, well, we may not convince you, but we'll certainly make you wonder. What, I won't say. Oh, and my contribution to the show? I read, which I've been doing since I was four or so and at which I've developed some facility after so many decades. I even do funny voices. Funnier than my natural voice, anyway. |
| [ Category: Podcast | Add a comment | Link ] | |
Mon, 19 Mar 2007 |
| Where Beauty Moves and Wit Delights / The New World Renaissance Band | |
| The New World Renaissance Band is the creation of one Owain Phyfe, and how great is that? I mean really; if a name is destiny, how could someone with a name like that end up as something modern? You don't meet too many tech support guys named Owain, now do you? No, it's better that he roam the country's Renaissance Faires, with his voice and his chitarra batente, whatever the heck that might be. As for the music (you were wondering if I'd ever get to that), it's as authentic as you'd want. Which is to say, not entirely. And that's goodness, 'cause as far removed as we are from whatever time it is the Ren Faire is supposed to represent, we wouldn't enjoy the real thing nearly as much as something adjusted for our more modern sensibilities. At least that's what Owain says. And if you can't trust a guy like Owain, what hope is there for the world? |
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| [ Category: Classical | Add a comment | Link ] | |
Fri, 16 Mar 2007 |
| Thirteen Tales of Love and Revenge / The Pierces | |
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One of their "tales" is entitled Boring. It isn't. Not even a little. |
| [ Category: Rock | Add a comment | Link ] | |
Wed, 14 Mar 2007 |
| Myth Takes / !!! (Chk Chk Chk) | |
| The first thing you notice about Myth Takes are the rhythms. (Okay, if we're being grammatically correct, those would be the first things. But that's not important.) This is clearly dance music; even I, coordinationally challenged individual that I am, can recognize that. But there's more going on here, I think. !!! (and thanks for the pronunciation guide, guys) isn't just a combination of their disco and funk influences; they've created something new and, to me anyway, compelling. Almost makes me want to find a dance floor. Well, it would, if I weren't so concerned about breaking a hip. |
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| [ Category: Alternative | Add a comment | Link ] | |
Mon, 12 Mar 2007 |
| Back Numbers / Dean & Britta | |
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Not exactly an example of opposites attracting, but you do have two very different voices that fit together very well. Britta Phillips is as smooth and light as a soap bubble; Dean Wareham is more like a two day growth of beard. And their easy listening/sophisticated pop style blends those voices in ways I associate with Britpop of an earlier time. I was especially taken with their cover of White Horses, the theme to a UK kid's programme from the late 60s. I discovered the original on a TV theme album I bought on a trip to London and haven't been able to get it out of my head, in part because I can't imagine the show that would fit such a syrupy song. I'd say "but I digress" at this point, but when have I not? |
| [ Category: Pop | Add a comment | Link ] | |
Fri, 09 Mar 2007 |
| Kelly Sweet / Kelly Sweet | |
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I hope you appreciate all the work that goes into a blog like this,
the searching and sampling to find just three new performances a
week. And performers as well; I bet you haven't noticed that I've yet
to repeat a recording artist in over four hundred posts. It's a
serious effort, I can tell you.
Okay, it isn't really. And sometimes it's no effort at all. Like today for example. I can't claim to have discovered Ms. Sweet. She, or rather her PR people, found me. And sent me her latest CD, so new that it hasn't shown up on the iTunes Store yet. So when it does, be sure to give a listen. Kelly Sweet has a sweet and pure and perfect voice, a little like a Charlotte Church, only without the highfalutin repertoire. That new CD is the best money I never had to spend. Not that I wouldn't have spent it if I'd needed to, you understand. Oh, I almost forgot. That album that isn't on the iTunes Store yet? It's called We Are One. One what, she doesn't say. Update 03/09: Ah, the perils of trying to get a little bit ahead on my posts. You know that not yet on iTunes album I just mentioned? Well, turns out it's there now. So rather than listening to Kelly's EP and imagining how good a whole album would be, you can skip that whole imagining thing and hear what I heard
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| [ Category: Pop | Add a comment | Link ] | |
Wed, 07 Mar 2007 |
| Brand New By Tomorrow / Money Mark | |
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If my last selection appeals to my happy, upbeat side, this one belongs to the mopey, melancholy aspects of my personality. But in a good way; I've long held that a good fresh melancholic can do far more for the world than any happy, well adjusted soul. Assuming you can find one, of course. |
| [ Category: Rock | Add a comment | Link ] | |
Mon, 05 Mar 2007 |
| Twelve Stops and Home / The Feeling | |
| The Feeling is a throwback to a musically simpler and more straightforward time. Being something of a throwback myself, I feel right at home with their oh so cheerful tone. You may feel the same way. And who knows? They may just give Soft Rock back its good name, assuming of course it ever had one. |
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| [ Category: Rock | Add a comment | Link ] | |
Fri, 02 Mar 2007 |
| The Song He Was Listening To When He Died / Michael Hall | |
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I draw a line in the sand. This is a song about America. Not the country, but the rock and roll band." |
| [ Category: Rock | Add a comment | Link ] | |
Wed, 28 Feb 2007 |
| ...And I Mean It / Genya Ravan | |
| How is it that I never encountered Genya Ravan before? ...And I Mean It dates back to 1979, a time when I actually thought of myself as knowing a little bit about the current music scene. Okay, I was undoubtedly deluding myself about that. But still; how did a singer as powerful and versatile as this not make a bigger impression on the world? Versatile is the word; in each track Ms. Ravan takes on a different genre and shows how it ought to be done. And seldom is. |
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| [ Category: Pop | Add a comment | Link ] | |
Mon, 26 Feb 2007 |
| All Night Wrong / Allan Holdsworth | |
|
Round about
250 posts ago I
mentioned how a friend and I used to
attend the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas, back when you had to be
in the industry to get in. (I wasn't, and neither was he. But he
used to be, which was good enough.) Anyway, one of the benefits of
CES back then was that the CD was brand new, and something that was
mostly appreciated by audiophiles. A few small music labels would
exhibit at the show, or to be more precise, they'd set up shops to
sell their discs at much more popular prices than you'd find in record
stores, both then and now. Needless to say, we'd buy most anything we
could lay our hands on, which is how I got the bulk of my early
orchestral and jazz collection. It didn't much matter what the music
was, you see, as long as we felt we were getting a deal.
Listening to a little of All Night Wrong I was taken back to that time, and to my accidental and not quite yet appreciated exposure to the world of jazz. Eventually I'd learn to appreciate it, even to seek it out on occasion. Not for a while, though. Although I do think I'd have enjoyed this one even before my taste developed. Besides, I never could resist a play on words. |
| [ Category: Jazz | Add a comment | Link ] | |
Fri, 23 Feb 2007 |
| American Guitar / Pat Donohue | |
| The iTunes Store describes Pat Donohue's style as jaw-dropping. That sums it up pretty well. All I have to add is that Donohue's range of material is every bit as impressive as his technique. I wonder; if I'd heard him when I was attempting the guitar back in my preteen years, would I have been inspired to keep at it, no matter how my hands bled? Or would I have realized in an instant that I'd never have a fraction of his ability and given it up on the spot? He's just that good. (And, truth be told, I wasn't.) |
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| [ Category: Folk | Add a comment | Link ] | |
Wed, 21 Feb 2007 |
| Harry and the Potters and the Power of Love / Harry and the Potters | |
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Here's something good/bad. Or maybe that should be bad/good; I could argue either way. I mean, the performances aren't good, which in this case isn't bad. 'Cuz what would you expect of a bunch of amateurs (at least I hope they're amateurs) singing songs about Rowling's superstar wizard in training? This thing's practically review-proof, since if you like this sort of thing, this is exactly the sort of thing you're going to like. And if you don't, well, you surely won't. But I warn you: it's bad. Not as bad as those cringe-inducing Portsmouth Sinfonia albums I used to force on friends back in college. But not good. Not that that's bad. Necessarily. |
| [ Category: Rock | Add a comment | Link ] | |
Mon, 19 Feb 2007 |
| Sunshine and Tears / Audrey Cupples | |
|
I have certain preconceived notions that kick in when I encounter
classical music, as perhaps do you. This isn't that kind of
classical; Audrey Cupples plays the sax with a joy and a bounce that
reminds me of my first exposure to the classics: Warner cartoons. I'd
call it saxy, but I've promised myself I'd avoid obvious sax
and violins puns. They're beneath me. (Mostly.)
But I also have to make mention of Ms. Cupples' website, which is charmingly primitive, as much a throwback to a simpler (and happier?) time as is her music. |
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| [ Category: Classical | Add a comment | Link ] | |
Fri, 16 Feb 2007 |
| Notice Me / Amanda Mason | |
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Notice Me? You're kidding, right?
(Another reminder, as if I needed it, of the inherent unfairness of the universe.) |
| [ Category: Pop | 1 comment | Link ] | |
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