I recently went on a second fall music binge (the first was covered at the end of this post back in October), collecting 6 more new CD's the last week or so:
The modern tunes:
V - The Revelation Is Now Televised
The album was recommended by Amazon, and executive produced by DJ Jazzy Jeff, so I took a chance on it. It's one of those neo-soul records where all of the songs are mediocre attempts at poetry with 5-6 minute running times with about 2-3 minutes worth of actual content, filled out with repeating and looping the track and you can't tell when one track ends and the next one begins because it all sounds the same. V is a decent singer, and with better production he could be a good artist, but as it stands he is a poor man's Dwele, and Dwele is a poor man's Musiq.
Anthony David - The Red Clay Chronicles
Anthony David made one of my favorite albums of the decade thus far with "3 Chords and the Truth", so I had high expectations for this one, and he subverted them by working in a slightly different direction. He moved toward a more studio produced sound, opposed to the more acoustic sound of his debut. I was unsure about it upon first listen, but it has since convinced me that those reservations are unmerited. The album is solid, with 3 songs (Words ft. India Arie and On & On, and the title track, which sounds like a bona fide Curtis Mayfield song) being better than just about any on his first disc. The rest of the album meets with varying degrees of success. The only misfire is the song "ATL Sunshine", his ode to summer out on the block in Atlanta, which would probably mean more to me if I were from the area, but even then it would still be tepid. I respect the effort though, giving love to his hometown.
James Hunter - People Gonna Talk
Van Morrison declared him the best kept secret in British music, and he may be right. This guy sounds as you would expect Van Morrison to sound if he had been making music in the 1950's. That Little Richard-era R&B sound. A lot of horns and 2.5 minute songs. 14 Straightforward, simple tales about love/relationships without an ounce of pretense. It's fun music, and one of my favorite albums of the year.
Mindy Smith - Long Island Shores
I read about this album in the paper on Sunday and just happened to see it at Target, on sale for $9, so I decided what the heck, I'll give it a shot. She falls somewhere in between Norah and Sheryl Crow, with a nod to her Nashville roots. It's only got one true country song, the rest is pleasant sounding pop-folk with a slight country flavor. She has a good voice, and is musically competent enough to make it worth the purchase price. The lyrics are so-so, but she sings them so well.
And now, the throwback records:
The Byrds - Sweetheart of the Rodeo
I have in the last 2 years or so become a fan of all this hippie-era music, and while writing this post about country music I was doing a little research and found this album was considered maybe the best country-rock album ever made, and since just about every other album I have from the 66-69 era (Sgt. Pepper, Odyssey and Oracle, Forever Changes, Pet Sounds, Velvet Underground and Nico) are among my favorites, I figured I should give this a shot, and the album didn't disappoint. Classic rock crossed with classic country = classic music. This album is definitely a pre-cursor to The Eagles, (and probably many other bands I don't know who made similar music). The harmonies, compositions, and arrangements all work astonishingly well. Consider it added to that aforementioned litany of my favorite hippie music. As with several of these vintage albums, the alternate versions/previously unreleased songs are just as good as those on the original album.
The Men of the Robert Shaw Chorale - Sea Shanties
This is the showpiece of the new additions to the collection. This is an album of good ol fashioned sailor's tunes, sung by an all-male chamber chorus that treats them as serious pieces of choral composition. It is one of my favorite music purchases ever. I walked into Borders intending to buy Mozart's Requiem (K. 626). I picked it up, and as I was on my way to the register I saw an album sitting out of place in the Bluegrass section that said in bold letters "Sea Shanties." I turned it over to see what qualified as a "sea shanty". I recognized the songs "Blow the Man Down" and "What Do You Do With a Drunken Sailor" and immediately thought to myself "Forget Mozart, I must posses these glorious sea shanties." And, oh, what a marvelous idea it was. No offense, Mozart.
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