Celebrity Rumors

Circus or Freak Show

Having been hand a demo of Britney Spears upcoming album Circus I was loathe to actually listen to it and really didn’t want to review but this was the first bit of prerelease I have had in my possesion for a while .  I was actually surprised I liked the first track Womanizer.  The song synth pop beat took me back to a time in the mid eighties.  The second track Circus has a similar feel and beat to her first big hit, Baby One More Time.  The lyrics and vocals have matured, but it still has that catchy beat.  Kill The Lights is much the same way for me vocally more mature but still with that dance beat that she debuted with.  Shattered glass will be a song popular with fans of Oops I did it again.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="200" caption="Britney Spears Circus - release date 12-2-2008. "][/caption]

Most of the other tracks are a mix of old and new Britney Spears which is either a circus or freak show depending on how you feel about her.  The songs are filled with danceable synth pop and forgetable lyrics.  There are two songs that really stand out for me though.  Out From Under could be an anthem for anyone who wants to make a clean break from their past, something that would be very good for her.  It would be good to see her move wild child to mother and no what her real priorities should be.

The last song that really struck me is My Baby.  My daughter having been born just nine days ago made this somewhat of a special song for me.  When it came on and spoke of tiny hands, my baby, had hers wrapped around my finger and it was just a moment frozen for me.  None of the other lyrics really matter, but the whole tone of the song not only kept me listening but made it a worth iTunes pruchase.

Wynton and Willie: Two Men with the Blues

Willie Nelson has been singing, and recording, the blues since the 1960s, as an integral part of his country sound. Wynton Marsalis, born into a musical family, has been playing and recording blues, jazz, and classical music since 1980. Between Nelson and Marsalis, you can hear dozens of albums’ worth of classic blues and long-loved standards. Finally, Willie and Wynton have come together and recorded “Two Men with the Blues“, released July 8, 2008 by Blue Note Jazz, Marsalis’s label.

Recorded January 12th and 13th, 2007 during a Jazz at Lincoln Center event, “Two Men with the Blues” highlights the best of the show’s performances, when both Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis were at their best. Back-up and other solos come from the Wynton Marsalis Quintet regulars, with Mickey Raphael, a long-time cohort of Nelson, on harmonica and Willie, of course, providing his own guitar solos.

While not every song on “Two Men with the Blues” works as well as Caldonia, every note of this album displays the joy that these two men take in playing classic New Orleans jazz together. Willie Nelson romps through tracks like My Bucket’s Got a Hole in It and Ain’t Nobody’s Business while Wynton Marsalis demonstrates how smooth and sassy combine to make the trumpet the instrument for this style of the blues. When people who share a passion and an deep enjoyment of music get together, you know that the results will be magic. Nelson and Marsalis are just such people, and this album proves the point.

Jack Johnson

Jack Johnson is a plain ordinary name for a very complex voice. Stunning melodies compliments a heart pulling guitar. I stumbled onto Jack’s music through my Pandora feed and instantly was hooked with Traffic in the Sky off of On and On. I was taken with how his native Hawaiian sounds infiltrate his indie folk-rock tunes.

There is not a lot of online places you can hear Jack Johnson, but when you do his rich voice is worth pumping through full range speakers. You can hear a few songs and watch a couple of vids on his MySpace profile. The best place is on his website Jack Johnson Music. To hear Jack and similar artists you add my Pandora Radio for Jack Johnson.

I Fell In Love

When I first heard James Blackshaw’s music several years ago I literally fell in love with his 12 string guitar. There are so few who really play the instrument well, even those that play it in the genres it developed in. James however pulls out the most beautiful music in a thoroughly modern tones and techniques. He may claim that his influences are classical European minimalists composers and other twelve stringers like
Jack Rose, Steffen Basho-Junghans, and Robbie Basho, but I hear the undertones of Clapton, Petty, and Beck through out many riffs. intentional or not, the music is still beautiful and can’t wait to have my copy of the new disc in a few days. Litany of Echoes. For the mean time, I am just enjoying the music on his MySpace page and what I already have.

Teenage Dreams and Divine Wonders

I was first introduced to Wipers this morning from Carrie Brownstein’s Top 5 Driving Song list featured on NPR. As I listed to their featured song, Taking Too Long, off the Youth of America album I was captivated immediately. This was music that took me back to my original musical awakening the early eighties. I thought this is what the Go-Go’s would have sounded like if they were guys. Just when I thought I had found a new band with raspy but youthful vocals producing new music, i was heartbroken. Wipers released Youth of America in 1981. I was pleased that my ear said this sounds like early eighties new wave punk. Yet I am still a little sad to be on a quest for new bands with that sound.

You can hear Taking Too Long and the rest of the fine list at NPR and more from Carrie on her blog.

Stereolab

NPR.org, July 16, 2008 - No matter how hard they might try to deviate, some bands just invariably sound like themselves. It might be a fundamental consistency of sound and vision, but it can also have the effect of ironing out the highest peaks and the lowest lows, making the music easier to dismiss as songs and albums blend together.

Until this morning I had never heard of Steeolab. I was pretty sure my life wasn’t missing anything right up until that point. I can’t do more tha n say you need to give them a listen for yourself. For those who knew about Stereolab and failed to inform me, I am very disappointed in you. Read more

New Artist Choices You Probably Haven’t Heard Of

I need to shout out to Claudia. This morning she sent me a list of new artists, at least new to me, and I just needed to share a few of them.

First up is Marie Digby who I apparently missed somehow a while back on Weekend Edition. If you liked Brooke White on Idol I think you will like Marie Digby. The first song I want you to here is called Fool. It is the story of a good girl picking the bad boy and it basically going wrong. This is the story I always would tell college girls as an excuse of why they should leave the party with me rather than tall, dark, and braindead. Read more

Songs of The Week 4/21 - 4/25

While there is no Death Cab for Cutie, Portishead or any of their members in this week’s songs of the week there are a number of really great songs. Here we go!

Sia starts off the list with a bouncing pop diddy in “Buttons” off her latest CD Some People Have Real Problems. This is a real departure from the Sia we know from “Breathe Me” which was the go to song for the final scene of Six Feet Under and the Malaria bit on Idol Gives back.

Kate Walsh with “Your Song” according to Stephen Thompson is likely to get confused with others of Similar name and style like Kate Walsh of Grey’s anatomy, Kate Nash and Kate Maki. Her voice is soft and lovely mixed with a great melody. If I were ever to have a man-crush this would be the song I would play for them.

Van Morrison shows his age through the polished patina of his music. School of Hard Knocks is no Brown Eyed Girl, but you can hear Van’s voice coming through as strong as ever. The rifts are strong, and the message is even stronger. In can’t wait to hear the rest of this album.

“Get Your Head Around It” by the Headlights. Mellow electric guitar builds until we finally hear Tristan Wraight start to sing

“I read a book about a man
who made mistakes all of the time
He didn’t give up,
though, he’d make things right”

This sets the tone for the whole son and when I heard it really got me through a tough day as well.

“Lost Verses” by Mark Kozelek has a definite old school James Taylor feel to the melody. Marks voice is deeper than James so I would love to hear what he could do with a cover, but this is about this “Lost Verses” not being lost in contemplation. However listening to the lyrics lost in contemplation is exactly what happened to me.

These and all songs of the week past, present and future can be heard at NPR’s Song of the Day.

Portishead’s Third

I am pleased to bring you another great pre-release review today that almost never happened. My friend Scott after seeing the exposure I got for Death Cab for Cutie, a band he doesn’t think is as good as Portishead, revealed he had an advance copy of Third from Portishead. After revealing my ignorance of the band the friendship was nearly ended, but some humble groveling and realizing I recognized Beth Gibbons from her solo album, he relented. I hope some of you appreciate what I have done for you.

I gave an honest listen to the album, then did it again and thought I liked it. Then I took a listen to some older Portishead I was able to find around the web and decided I still liked it, but I didn’t love it. Beth’s vocals still call out the emotion in me, and I thought I would give a listen to her solo album, Out of Season, then I decided I didn’t care for Third at all.

Third opens with a song called Silence, which I wish it had been for the first half of the song. It starts out with someone speaking Portuguese, which I pat myself on the back for recognizing. A search for the translation brought me to a comment on Matt Rutherford’s review.

“Be alert to the rules of 3.
What you give, will return to you.
That lesson, you have to learn.
You only earn what you deserve.”

Well after that little bit of pomposity it is a good thing they had it in a language few of their fans speak. Because what they gave was very little, and I fear if they earn what they deserve they will have to give back to the studio everything and then some. This album doesn’t live up to the nearly mythic reputation Portishead seems to have that I didn’t know about until yesterday. Thankfully Bristol, England has other bands soon to be releasing albums that might make up for this bit of tarnish.

In short, Beth is the highlight of the entire album. Beyond that I can’t say much positive about the experience, other than I now appreciate Dummy and Portishead their first two albums. Third is sulkingly moody and it will probably be a long time before I consider listening to it again. I hope it won’t be another ten years though, and they will learn from this mistake and go back to their roots.

Portishead - Official Site

Portishead - MySpace Site

Songs of The Week

Death Cab For Cutie’s Chris Walla, lets his melodic voice provides the perfect accompaniment to rhythmic guitars and drums in this in “Sing Again” As a long time Death Cab fan I am excited about hearing the rest of Chris’s debut solo Album, Field Manual, in the near future. Hear Sing Again on NPR’s Song of the day for 4-14-08.

“KEXP, April 15, 2008 - Back in January, The Helio Sequence released what will surely be one of 2008’s best albums… ” Having hear the whole album even though I am not familiar with Helio Sequence, I would have to agree with that sentiment. It was a great album and has been added to my iPod. “Keep Your Eyes Ahead” is about maintaining focus, which sometimes require you to step back and examine everything for a few days which is what has left me putting out the song of the week post for a few days. I needed a weekend off, even if the weekend didn’t start until Sunday. Keep Your Eyes Ahead was the NPR Song of the day on 4-15-08.

Mistakes by Devistation takes me back to the late punk era just as it was starting to become more refined. But fear not the bass line has a Peter Gun feel if it was played by Derek Smalls. However the feel of the song is not small at all. just as you get into the rhythm of the bass a screeching guitar sounds pulling you back from hypnosis and focuses you again on the lyrics. Mistakes was the NPR Song of The Day on 4-16-08.

Marcia Ball drops the rock that crushes the indie rock movement that had dominated the week thus far with a fiery piano heavy jazz number in “Right Back in It“. Marc Silver says this of the song, “Ball’s awesome mélange of keyboard styles sets the tone: Call it the Zydeco
boogie-woogie blues. Horns chug faster and faster throughout, and a
guitar drops by for a rock ‘n’ roll interlude.” If “keep Your Eyes Ahead” was about focus “Right Back in It” is how I feel now that I have had a couple of days off. This is truly one of the most impressive songs that has been inspired by Hurricane Katrina and for once isn’t some sad or sappy song. This has the feel of everything I remember about my time in the Big Easy. Just thinking about the New Orleans connection makes me hungry and the album title Peace, Love, & BBQ leaves me wanting for lunch and some more music from Marcia Ball. “Right back in It” was the NPR Song of the Day on 4-17-08.

Emery Byrd a band I am not familiar with at first reminds me a little of the Goo Goo Dolls. “A Great Silence,” was what i was glad for when I first heard the song . I got to listen to the lyrics and separated them from the music and really got to appreciate them on the first listen. Caroline Evans says “…Emery Byrd’s first full-length album — “Good Mrs. Young” sounds like a lost Kinks song…” I am not sure I would go that far, but the few songs I have heard so far have been really good. You can enjoy “A Great Silence” on the NPR Song of the Day site for 4-18-08.

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