On Has Been Shatner teams up with Ben
Folds to create an album that altogether bypasses
the novelty recording you might have been expecting
and goes straight to funky, quirky pop.
The brilliance of Starr's work -- truly a
refreshing experience -- is in its refusal to flip
the light on. Me Beautiful never exposes
more than shapes and shadows strewn about its dimly
lit landscape of sound.
In Jewel's newfound cloak of sex and glitter,
attempts at political observation like the opening
track, "Stand," seem as incongruous as they are
stale, turning in clichés for cash.
While Chapman's work rarely
lacks emotion, her songwriting has never pierced
the heart with a sharper blade. These 12 new songs
achieve a poetry that eclipses even her best
work
Twenty-one years after The Best Of
Blondie, Debbie and the guys return with a
righteous selection of remastered "Hits" spanning
all of their seven records and generation bridging
esteem.
On Sea Change Beck has jettisoned the
idea that songs are simply vessels for as many
interesting sounds as can be crammed in. Nothing
here sounds gratuitous or out of place, and the
result is more focused than anything he has thus
far put to tape.
Silver Lining is a collection of
exceptional singing and songwriting. Raitt
continues performing with the energy and passion of
her youth, without a hint of slowing down.
The real tragedy on C'mon, C'mon is that
while the music suffers from an apparently
desperate attempt at pop-appeal, Crow's songwriting
has rarely been this poignant. This tension between
authenticity and shamelessness characterizes the
entire album.
Pop/Dance/EuroPop Read
My Lipsby
Sophie Ellis Bextor
Read My Lips is sophisticated
dance-pop that meshes synthesized rhythms and 80s
soul, but it's the album's funky disco that allows
Ellis Bextor to outclass her pop counterparts.
As a pop album with a soul, Josh Rouse's
Under Cold Blue Stars confronts the
beaten boundaries of pop music while comfortably
remaining within their confines.
Fossils, the four song EP that is
currently bringing judithstar* to the edge of the
map, is music to love by: to be in, to fall out of,
to orchestrate the act.
Life Is Good is an appropriate sophomore
album for the group that gave us "Summer Girls" on
their self-titled debut album two years ago.
There's less bubblegum on Life Is Good and
more texture and substance.
The May Street Project is a startling
debut. A fully realized and effortless-seeming
blend of Southern soul, hip hop beats, Nashville
strings and a Euro sensibility for the strong pop
hook. It's an irresistible combination.
Barenaked Ladies: Public Stunts, Private
Stories is an in-depth, interesting and
humorous meeting with the group of musicians who
helped define geek chic.
Two summers ago, Lou Bega set the world on fire
with "Mambo # 5." Almost immediately, people
started wondering: he'd done it once, could he
possibly do it again?
Stilelibero cuts the edge without
actually being cutting edge. It's happy pop with a
competent rock foundation and a solid Latin beat.
If you like Latin pop, this is the place to
be: ditch the Ricky, microwave pizza on your
Enrique and run for Ramazzotti.
The Orlando-based boy band factory responsible
for the Backstreet Boys, O-Town, LFO, Take 5,
'NSync and others is trying to apply some of their
winning rules to a girl band. Does it work?
Maybe.
Truly great pop records gain their obsessive
appeal because they are more than simple
replications of a musical event. They are portals
to a sonic world that only exists in the recording,
a one-off fantasy accessible nowhere else. Black
Heart Procession's 3 is a great pop
record.
It's a decision every pop princess has to make.
Some place between adorable, precocious adolescence
and cameo appearances on Love Boat, a move
has to be made that shows the world that there's
more to you than firm flesh and sterling
management.
The idealistic, hazy 1960s might appear to have
little in common with the avaricious, polished
1980s. Yet Duran Duran's new album, Pop
Trash, spans the decades musically and
thematically without striking a jarring note.
Simon fans will rejoice in The Bedroom
Tapes, the performer's first all original album
since Letters Never Sent in 1994. But don't
look for evolution: this album is classic
Carly.
The beautiful Danish foursome have managed to
pack a lot of hit singles into a relatively short
period of time. With Abba-like punctuality, they've
cranked out hit after hit of toe-tapping
tuneage.
The heart of jacksoul is vocalist and songwriter
Haydain Neale. While Neale has a pleasant,
serviceable voice that is used rather well on
Sleepless, it lacks range and --
pardon the pun -- real soul.
LaFace Records' latest entry in the diva wars is
a pretty good one. No adolescent warbling here:
Pink's voice and arrangements are packed with a
maturity that belie both her age and her bright
fuchsia hair.
Not all the songs on Afterglow are
great, but they are all very good. Finn and company
have a flawless ear for writing solid pop songs
with catchy hooks, filled with often sardonic wit
and intimate lyrics that never come off as
trite.
Grammy dark horse Sting has, more often than
not, proven himself to be a serious and intelligent
musician, creating more than just pop tunes for the
masses.
What marks Telling Stories is an
evenness of tone and feeling. While evenness can be
a Good Thing, here it produces a sense of "been
there, done that and didn't we just hear that a
minute ago?"
