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SHORTCUT
FOR FANS OF COUNTING CROWS, LIVE, ATHENAEUM
Modern rock that takes a trip to the Midwestern part of the US is what we?re dealing with here, and the soup is delivered by Ed Kowalczyk from Live?s little brother Adam and his band (known before as Adam and the Weight).
Adam did an album 3 years ago that was good without getting exceptional and with this album it?s the same. It?s not bad, but neither that good. I have kept the other album with him because it?s more than OK, but how often have I listened to it since then? Zip, nada, zero? that says something? That without saying that it?s bad cause he has a raspy and soulful kinda voice? I prefer his older brothers voice and band a lot more though. |
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Ally Kerr is quite popular in Japan and in the Philippines where his latest album "Off the radar" has been released.
Ally is from Glasgow and sounds like a modern version of Simon and Garfunkel, his songs are leans more towards indie pop where he in certain moments also reminds of The Boo Radleys.
You might care for this album if you´re a huge fan of these artists but I think this was a rather sleep affair I´m sad to say.
If you ever need a cover singer to do only Simon and Garfunkel songs, this is the guy to call - I bet he could pull it off really well.
But his own songs just don´t hold for a long play, I can settle with an EP. |
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A good song should always sound good on just an acoustic guitar and one voice,that?s the case with 20 year old Amy Kuney?s 6 track debut EP.
These are songs written between 2002 and 2005 so Amy was only 16 when she wrote the beautiful "How the wind must feel",with that in mind it?s real easy to figure out that she?s a natural talent.
Amy has a lovely vibrato when she sings and also a nice depth in her voice that makes these songs grow,I come to think of Tanita Tikaram when listening to "Sore loser" which is my fave.
The music is mainly folk influenced singer/songwriter rock but add a touch of country into it and we?re close to Kuney?s compositions.
The songs are performed by the best of musicians and the production is crystal clear and classy,Amy handles both piano and guitar as a well experienced instrumentalist so do yourself a favor and check her out if you adore artists like Norah Jones and Tracy Chapman.
The live recorded piano based ballad "Breaking bad habits" ends this fine EP in the best possible way. |
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Here you have a new girl to check out if you like girls like Nicole Nordeman, Charlotte Martin, Rebecka St James and Alanis Morrisette. Arden is a pleasant discovery and the album is a really professional done album with tons of hooks, melodies and a spicy production signed Rudy Haeuermann (Lisa Marie Presley, Kimberly Locke) and mixed by Rob Jacobs (Shakira, Alanis Morrisette, Bon Jovi and more).
Second out "On The Edge" is a great tune and could easily have ended up on the majordebut-album of Charlotte Martin, the beautiful "As Long As You Love Me" another really good one and "What If" a third one well worth mentioning.
This is an album you must check out if you like the names I mentioned earlier in the review because this lady plays in the same direction and I?m 100% sure we will hear much more from her in the future. |
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| One good thing with having a site about music on the net is the thing that you get music in the mail that you probably never would have found if you didn´t have it. A few weeks ago this minialbum came in the post and that due to reason of the site. So what can I tell you about it then? Musically it´s a cool hybrid between the typical female singersongwriter school with girls like Lisa Loeb etc mixed with a more modern sound of Alanis Morisette and these type of girls. And she´s really fine with this. The second out "How Long" sounds like a hit in my ears and so does fourth out "SpanishTown" with a little softer style that I like. You also get 3 of the songs in solo acoustic versions as well, which shows her lovely voice. There are two songs out of the sixth that are not that interesting (Shotgun Mama and the last one Soulin) but apart of that this is a fine minialbum that you have to check out, so I suggest you´ll take a surf to her homepage and take a listen. |
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| Heres a guy with probably the most ugly sleeve of 2002. Musically its much better though. Its like a cool mixture between Beck, Wilco, Beatles, Eels and Ben Folds. First I thought it was just another good cd in the genre without any own ideas- but the album grows on you. Fifth out "In Other Words" its a very beautiful ballad in a Beatles-esque costume that Crowded House or Wilco would have been proud, which shows us another side of Bens qualities. And "Make It Up" with a guitardriven verse and a sweet powerpop-refrain is another cool song that could have been on Ryan Adams album. |
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| This album is actually a little of a surprise and that in a good way. I have not been a HUGE fan of Ben. I think he´s been more a cool clone of Beck and Ben Folds than an artist I´ll listen to. I must say - with this album I will. It´s a beautiful package of songs somewhere between Jayhawks, The Thrills and Ben Folds in style and I could easily mention 7-8 tracks out of the 11 as favorites and this is a very positive surprise you gotta check out if you like soft powerpop with a touch of the sunny california. Just listen to the warm "Sundress" and the naked ""Thirteen" with just Ben and his piano, all spiced with a beautiful harmonicasolo...Lovely stuff. |
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Its bad when you have advance and promo-copies with no info... Its even more worse when a reviewer like myself writes about an album I thought was another... ehum... I added this album by Billy Klippert yesterday, but the review was for an artist called Freddy (that I added today). Sorry for all misunderstandings...
Anyway - here is a proper review of Billy Klippert. And I was kinda surprised when I listened to the "Klippert" album a few days ago (it was not the right album at that time) because it didnt sound anything like Harry Hess, who produced it. But now when I have the right CD in the player you cant miss that Mr Hess from Harem Scarem has been the producer on some of the tracks because these songs sounds exactly like a young and horny Harem Scarem album. So if you are a freak of Canadian AOR a la Harem Scarem you have a must album here to buy. The other tracks are also good,with the Elton John cover "Levon" as one track. Sure, nothing new under the sun, and not that much substanse, but it is very melodic and its not everyday you have a new "Harem Scarem" album to buy (or at least a couple of songs on the album). So this review is more fair to the guy who was the 2nd runner up for Canadian Idol this year...
Sorry for the confusion. |
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The first album from Canadian Idol runner up Billy Klippert felt more like a puzzle of pieces taken from varied directions but it still was a real good modern hardrock album.
Billy co-wrote 6 songs on his debut with Harry Hess of Harem Scarem producing it, the album also featured 4 covers of Elton John?s "Levon", Harem Scarem?s "Waited", Harry Hess solo album track "Just another day" and Pete Lesperance solo track "Scars".
On his new album "Naked and the simple truth", the Harem Scarem vibes are still all over it but this time the album feels more like a complete effort instead of songs taken from all kinds of places.
Producer Matt DeMatteo (Danko Jones, Big Wreck, Mobile) knows that Billy is a rocker at heart and won?t let his songs get vanished in a labyrinth of mainstream pop.
There?s a good variety of midtempo radio ready songs, ballads and upbeat hardrocking tracks on this album - it never feels boring to listen to and the new single "Going under" is just excellent where my thoughts go to Robbie Williams "Advertising space" but with a heavier approach ofcourse.
Straight ahead rockers like "Involved" and "Hold on" sure could be featured on the upcoming Harem Scarem album, and I can?t recall any song as hardhitting as "Wretched thing" on his debut.
Klippert is going in the right direction for sure! |
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This is album could have the easiest and shortest review of an album that I ever would have done. Do you like Stevie Ray Vaughan? Well – what are you waiting for… Buy Brian Bahaneks albums as well.
But there is more on the album. It’s just unfair to compare him to the maestro. But the first song on the album is more or less a tribute to the man in the hat.
After that song Brian take another direction. He takes his car and drives it to the midwestern part of the US instead and delivers a nice album. His guitarplaying is excellent and his vocalperformance is also nice. The album is a little shattered here and there though. The songwriting suffers a bit and Brian leans to the groove more that to the melodies. And that is a pity. It is still a good album and if you enjoy real damn good guitarplaying – check him out at once.
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| Chantals second album is a little softer than her debut. Something thats suites her really well. This is a fine moment in girlie-pop I must say. Beautiful with a right portion of melodies and a nice production. Like a lighter Alanis Morrisette on her way to a softer Dalbello - get it? All in a poppier production. Nope - cool album to check up for you all. |
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Chantal from Winnipeg,Canada is a real charming lady with a beatiful voice like Alanis Morissette and her talent as a gifted classical trained pianist just like
Vanessa Carlton can only mean that the music she writes ends up in a package of sheer joy.
"What if it all..." is her third album and it has already been released in Canada but will be out in the U.S and Europe April 22nd 2003, there are no strong hitsongs as obvious as the huge "God made me" from 97 that sold over 100.000 copies but I can find a couple of possible chart climbers here like the more uptempo "Weight of the world" and the title track "What if it all means something",it sure gets stuck in the head.
Raine Maida from Our Lady Peace has cowritten 5 of the songs and Michelle Branch has helped out with some background vocals,so you see there are some things about the album that it?s worth checkin up if you like laid pack piano based pop.
"In this life" is a step into Alanis land and folks here in Scandinavia that is weak for Morissette?s music could easily fall for that song.
I myself like Vanessa Carlton?s album last year and when songs like "Time" and "Julia" echoes out in the speaker system,I get warm inside and sit back to
relax to this summer blooming Vanessa Pop.
Mmmmmmmmm,Chantal means something... |
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Its been 4 years since Chantals previous album "What if it all means something" but she has been busy giving birth to 2 children and written half of the album "Under my skin" with Avril Lavigne in 2004.
This time her husband Raine Maida handles the production and the album is also recorded at Chantal and Raines house, I think its too much of a pro-tools recording coz the drums doesnt sound that natural in my ears.
The album is more slow and mellow compared to the previous albums, it opens with 2 fine pop pearls in the Beatles-esque "Ghosts of you" and the hit smelling "All I can do".
But there are too many ballads and I dont think the Kate Bush vibes on "You blame yourself" doesnt suit her at all, its also quite odd to hear Chantal do a gospel influenced chorus in "So cold".
I expected more from this album. |
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| It´s always a joy to hear a new album from Chantal Kreviazuk even though her previous "Ghost stories" from 2006 didn´t exactly light my fire. However, the new album "Plain Jane" feels more entertaining where Chantal is showing another side to her songwriting with a classical and R&B influenced style. I love the new single "Invincible" and I admit that the chorus bring thoughts to Martika´s 80´s hit "Toy soldier", another song with hit potential is the upbeat "The way", great song indeed. The midtempo "Say the word" is a fave for sure and the jazzy title track "Plain Jane" is quite cool. "Half of me" is a bit too much R&B-like but the piano pop of "Today" is hauntingly beautiful. Lovely! |
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| Listen up now all you midwestern lovers. When you finished to read this review go directly to one of the online CD stores and order this CD, right now! Cause what we have here is one of the best Midwest rock album in a very long time! Well it?s not pure Midwest rock. It?s some country flirts and some rootsy edges and it?s just frustrating good. 12 songs - all good. Simple acousticdriven midwest with good lyrics and a singer who have both soul and rock in his voice. The album is produced by Greg Droman who I know worked with Jude Cole?s ?View From A Third Street? CD. The CD is a mixture of guys like Steve Earle and John Hiatt on their way to a cup of coffee at Jude Cole?s house where also Troy Newman is invited. As you can understand of this review -if you have one CD of the artists I just mentioned you?re silly if you don?t get this CD right freekin? now. For all of you other guys, this is a good start to learn to love Midwest Rock. Chris is not a knight, he?s a king. |
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