5 comments about California.

1. While traveling to Spain, I came across this great album at FCN, which reminded me alot of Brian Ferry's "Avalon", but this is a much better conceived CD, as well as a top notch studio recording. Excellent songs, great lyrics, and great voice. I live in the Caribbean, and sailing at night, this music inspires the traveling through the islands..., the stars, the wind, good wine, some spirits and beautiful female companion. It is really music from the gods... Enjoy!



2. I heard about Perry Blake and this album on NPR. The clips they played inspired me to go online and buy it that very day. It has become one of my favorite CDs of all time. It gets better with each listen. I especially love the trumpet sequence in the title track. It's definitely one you won't regret buying.



3. i was looking for information on Scott Walker (another brilliant artist) and i came to a sight which recommeneded Perry Blake as a modern day Scott Walker singing romantic songs with lush orchestration. That is rather a stretch as the styles are really not similar at all. Nevertheless the music is beautiful. Scott Walker's music was always over the top and sometimes brash, this is subtle with a sense of chill out soft electronic music. Lyrically it is nice to hear songs with the familiar theme of lonliness which pervades almost every Scott Walker song. They differ however in that Scott's visions seemed more theatrical, often telling complete stories from beginning to end. Perry's lyrics come out in a gentle flowing stream that may be hard to grapple on to...but the music is so pleasing that i could not picture it or would want it any other way. I can't really compare it to another album i have in my collection though i feel it is similar musically to something like "Blue 6's "beautiful tommorow" with maybe a little hint of the Divine Comedy, Nick Cave, the Blue Nile and Jeff Buckley. Its really hard to pinpoint and thats the charm.



4. Perry Blake is one of those artists who can make you fall in love at the time you first hear him, just like Jeff Buckley, Nick Drake or Rufus Wainwright! Perry's California album is beauty all over and i'm forward to see i'm live, cause yes...i had the chance of seing Perry Blake live here in Portugal some three years ago, and it was in fact one of those moments you can't forget. Just for people who really understand music. Be well



5. For a CD that screams romance and relaxation at the same time, its about time this guy has come over stateside. Best thing to come out in stores this year.

2 comments about Uncorrected Personality Traits: The Robyn Hitchcock Collection.

1. As other reviewer notes, probably for tempo and pacing purposes 'balloon man' was left out. But that makes sense if you listen to this album with its Nick Drake-esque songs from EYE. I am biased as a fan, but to be honest I don't think I could have come up with a better selection of tunes to prove that RH was one of the best songwriters of his era. Unfortunately his era was dominated by Duran Duran and Culture Club.



2. This album covers Hitchcock's early work w/ the Egyptians, his later work w/ the Egyptians and his brilliant solo acoustic ablum, Eye. Unfortunately it offers nothing from his most upbeat, poppy album, Globe of Frogs, and because of its nature as a compilation, fails to replicate the unity of any of the individual albums. For someone wanting to sample from RH's broad album mix, this is a good start, though not as rewarding as the 2-CD Soft Boys (his early band) compilation, "1976-1981."

3 comments about Wind, Pt. 1.

1. I recently went to a PJ Harvey concert here in Chicago, and with only a knowledge of three Polly albums (Dry, Is This Desire? and SFTC,SFTS) I didn't know the names of all the songs, but one song completely moved me at the end.

   I searched for days trying to find the name of the song by searching dozens of lyrics pages and asking everyone with a PJ knowledge what it was. Finally I arrived with an answer- "Nina in Ecstasy."

   While the song is very short itself, its impact is tremendous. The soft synthesizer noises behind the beautiful voice of Goddess Polly Jean seem to just echo around you. Very unlike anything I have heard from Miss Harvey, and really worth the money for this single.




2. PJ Harvey has such a way with music and she shows it in her song Wind, and if you think this is a good song you should listen to the rest of the music on the album that this comes from, Is This Desire. Fantastic music from a fantastic woman. PJ, you own me. Thanx



3. This song moves me, I love it.

5 comments about Smash.

1. I own all of Cindy's CDs and I must say this is my favorite. I love the lyrics! I especially turn it up loud on Smash! This is a CD I like to play at work because I am bad about hitting the remote to skip songs this is one of the few to include Sarah Brightman's that I will let play in it's entirety. I feel that Cindy is a very talented artist who is not given enough credit.!



2. This album is simply, if I may borrow the title of Track 1, a Masterpiece. Smash is an insightful journey into the heart and mind of a world class musician. Through beautiful vocals, intelligent lyrics, and well crafted melodies. I just cannot get enough of I'm So Sad That You're Happy and Idiot Child. I get the opportunity to hear many artists, and Cindy is certainly one of the best around today.



3. So it's been 4 years since Cindy's last album and it was well worth the wait. This album offers something for every mood. Including deep and heartfelt ballads like Only Love and Tour Song. It has rocking tracks like Smash and Carnival Junkie. As well as generally impressive and insightful tracks like, Idiot Child and Heaven Knows. This is a great album you will want to listen to over and over from the first song to the last.



4. Cindy Alexander is absolutely the best emerging artist in LA. Both albums (See Red and Smash) grow on you after a couple of listenings and shortly thereafter the songs are stuck in your head. I've seen a zillion concerts over the last 3 decades and thinks she is on the edge of becoming really big. Her CD's back it up, she's great and a hell of an insightful writer and talented songstress. She has a style all her own. If you like artists like Stevie Nicks, Sara McLachlan, Karla Bonoff and Sheryl Crow you'll love Cindy.



5. It is rare for an independent recording artist to produce a debut album that enchants both fans and critics alike. It is rarer still for that same artist to produce a sophomore album that tops its predecessor by leaps and bounds. Such feats are rare indeed ... but not impossible, as Cindy Alexander proves on SMASH, her stellar sophomore CD. On SMASH, Alexander sideswipes the dreaded "sophomore slump" with a clever, impossibly catchy disc filled with soon-to-be pop/rock classics.
   
   Each song proves that Alexander (equal parts Dorothy Parker and Chrissy Hynde) has got everything it takes to rocket into the stratosphere: Charisma, supreme vocal chops, catchy, clever lyrics, and flawless musicianship. There are no duds on SMASH. Cindy's killer combination of witty lyricism and smashing vocals drives up-tempo numbers like "Masterpiece," the album's title track, "Carnival Junkie," and "Right On" straight into listeners' brains. Yet Cindy shines on slower ballads like "Only Love," "Tour Song," and "Heaven Knows." Pick a favorite tune? Impossible.
   
   The kicker? Cindy is an intelligent, witty, considerate, and GRACIOUS recording artist who actually answers e-mail from her legions of adoring fans (I speak from experience). Bottom line: Buy SMASH. Buy several copies of SMASH and send them to friends who appreciate good pop/rock music. It'll be the best $10 you've ever spent.

5 comments about Ordinary Time.

1. Bill Ricchini sounds like a less tortured version of Elliott Smith -- he does mellow indie-folk, with a smooth sound and poignant lyrics about snow angels, plastic trees and loneliness. It sounds rather ordinary at first listen, but slowly grows in its quiet intensity and folky beauty.
   
   "Hello my friend," Ricchini murmurs softly, joined by his guitar. "Can you hear me calling?/Can you see me falling down?/Tell me my friend/Are you even listening?/Is the signal underground?" A subtle set of strings and piano underpin the guitar, sweeping it up into a smooth pop tune.
   
   From there, he tries out various kinds of indie-folk: gentle artificial-beach songs, stolid guitar tunes, jazz-edged pop, rainy echoing little folk tunes, bittersweet balladry, shimmering synth-piano-guitar melodies, ringing chamberpop, and even some delightfully sunny psychpop in "Julie Christie."
   
   These songs are loosely tied together by two things: Ricchini's soft acoustic guitar, and a dreamy atmosphere. Both are used to brilliant effect in this album, which manages to straddle different styles without the slightest sign of strain. Exquisite lyrics, not to mention.
   
   That acoustic guitar forms the backbone of the languid, soft tunes, with some accompaniment from trumpet, piano, and a touch of tambourine. In a few songs, you can hear a soft violin if you listen carefully in the liquid "Falling Asleep." All these weave together into songs that are edged with jazz, chamberpop, classical, and even sixties psychpop.
   
   Nor does it hurt that Ricchini has a soft, boyish voice that smooths through the songs like a ghost, whether he's echoing in the background or murmuring folky lines. His lyrics are full of sadness and loneliness, with angels born without wings and Christmas trees covered in grenades. "You know that it's getting late/Spring can't wait/These arms can't reach you," he sings mournfully.
   
   "Ordinary Time" is anything but ordinary, and Bill Ricchini's beautiful debut is a sweet collection of sleepy indie-folk/chamberpop. Alluringly sleepy.



2. Whether it may be derivative is really beside the point. Ordinary Time is not something that should be judged on its originality, merely its quality. This is a songwriter who has created a comprehensive album that is so fluid and consistent it lulls you into a zen state. There are achingly beautiful sections, such as Like Falling Asleep and Slow Introduction. Sometimes it's very sweet, such as in the last track, and sometimes it's a lot of fun. An evocative mix of acoustic and light electric, sixties mod drums, light-handed cello, and sometimes horns. I have never played this album for anyone who did not love it immediately, and it's perfect for a cold night a couple candles. Just get it.



3. To say that the songs are at times derivative is a very generous comment, and to hint that Ricchini *may* in the future develop his own voice too kindly downplays the reality of this album. When listening to this album myself, I didn't hear much in the way of orginial style or individuality anywhere on this album. Liberal borrowing from other artists and styles dominants this album to a searing fault, which makes it simply boring, if not annoying, to me. To someone less knowledgeable of the sources from which Ricchini shamelessly and repeatedly magpies, perhaps this a passable offense, but seriously, who's he trying to fool?
   
   Much of this album's material is pretty, delicate and sweet in an unoffensive and fuzzy way, and at times listenable when it's not coming across as grossly contrived. But even then, it gets numbing and underwhelming before long. When it is obviously contrived - especially his faux emotive vocal phrasings, carefully placed slurred words and his half-hearted guitar strumming that all beg you to believe that *really* he's a very fragile, sensitive soul - it's pretentious, and cheekily done in a psuedo wide-eyed innocent mode which seems to serve the deliberate purpose of making you feel guilty about thinking any harsh thoughts regarding someone so supposedly vulnerable and fragile. I particularly resent that - it's nothing more than passive-aggressive mindplay to distract you from forming your own opinion. It also demonstrates the degree of Ricchini's lack of genuineness, a hallmark quality of artists like Elliott Smith and Nick Drake, neither of who deserve being compared to this drivel.
   
   The production is more or less worthy of the material. Most of the arrangements wallow in conventionality and at times excess, but there's an occasion moment of something interesting. So it's not as bad as it could be. For that I'll give it two stars, and laugh mockingly at anyone who's fooled by this nonsense.



4. If you're a fan of Elliot Smith or Badly Drawn Bow( Magic in the Air type songs), You'll love this CD. He has similar vocals(IMHO) Every song starts off nice and mellow, then finishes strong.
   
   I love the mixture of acoustic and horns in his songs. I just bought this CD last week...and it makes me wonder how much good music I'm actually missing.
   
   Scott
   
   Peace



5. I found this CD thanks to Amazon.com's surprisingly accurate "If you like this CD, you'll LOVE..." feature. Since I purchased this CD almost six months ago it has been in daily, almost hourly rotation. I never get sick of it. Neither will you. I fall asleep to it. So will you. The songs are achingly sweet and airy, delicious. They create a sense of calm in me like a conversation with an old friend from back home. Elliott is gone, but Bill is still creating music, and he's also got double letters in his name. Some kind of a sign? You decide.

4 comments about Trouble Tree.

1. I'm a casual Freedy fan, I came across this jem when I was working at a used music store in college. I was hooked after my first listen. It's a very clean sounding record, not over produced. Freedy is a first class songwriter and it shows. I highly recommend this record to anyone considering it.



2. Sure the voice is raw and unrefined and the production is lacking--hell, you should have seen the first cover, it was a joke! But almost song for song this record contains material as good (Gina, Fun Ride, Nature Boy, Tucumcari, Trouble Tree...) as any of his other more mature and professionaly rendered albums.

   Listen to 'Gina' and tell me you're not witnessing a lonely drunk at some seedy bar rambling on, almost inchoherently, about his lost love. Listen to 'Fun ride' or 'Tucumcari' and tell me you don't see a frustrated working class guy struggling to make it all work despite the odds--despite himself. Johnston's genius is not in just making great tunes but also his ability to bring to life flesh-and-blood characters-- all in a three minute pop song no less!

   The truth is, if we continue on this 'American Idol' trend of only wanting to listen to voices trained for musical theatre, we are doomed to never hearing anyone as good as guys like Freedy (who, by the way, has been dumped by his label!). Remember all good voices ultimetly sound the same--it's the "bad" ones that are most capable of being unique. This album along with the rest of Freedy's oeuvre will live on long after all the 'American Idol' albums are relagated to the bargain bins of history.

   Here's hoping Freedy finds a label with vision-- not just dollar signs--in their eyes!




3. This CD is a lot different than Freedy's mellower, more introspective current work, but it's well worth a look. It's raw - his voice isn't as polished, and the feeling is generally more "rockin'" than anything other than a few tunes on "Can You Fly." But it gets under your skin - great songs like "Trouble Tree," "Nature Boy," "Gina," and "Fun Ride" are all great tunes by one of music's best songwriters. He sounds young and hungry and it's great to hear him "cut loose." If you've never checked out Freedy Johnston, "Can You Fly" or "This Perfect World" would be better introductions, but if you're already a fan you don't want to miss this formative early work!



4. My favorite cd ever. Funny nonsense lyrics and he can't sing but it is wondeful!! If you listen closer the lyrics do have a meaning.. it must be poetry then

1 comments about Under the Unminding Skies.

1. An amazing collection with some familiar sound! Patrick Park does not let you down!

4 comments about The Closer I Get.

1. someone above me said "The first time I heard this was at a party." I just want to say that must have been the worst party EVER. otherwise, if you're like me and spend your time alone, so alone, then this is the best cd to have a party with yourself to. a death party that is, suicide punch + weird phone calls to your close friends at 3:30am.



2. This album is so awesome. The first time I heard it I was at a friend's party. The next day I thought to myself I need to hear Hayden. I asked my friend if I could borrow his CD for a while. Needless to say I didn't return it for approximately two months. I must say that I enjoyed sitting on my porch sipping a cold drink and hearing his ear pleasing tunes echoing throughout the house. His lyrics come from the heart and let us see the gentleness that is behind the mask this curly-haired man wears. Hayden is even more moving in concert. Everyone should purchase this disk!



3. Hayden writes and sings sweet, sad, insightful songs about simple everyday things or events that really make the listener think about them in a different, more meaningful way. He also uses a variety of instruments on this album such as the steel guitar and a beautiful piano/cello combination on "Nights Like These" to make his music more flavorful. Hayden is my favorite male singer, and I highly recommend both of his albums.



4. When I first went into the music store I couldn't remember what the Hayden cd's title I wanted was. I saw two cd's there. One titled " Everything I long for" and the other " The Closer I get". I ended up buying " The closer I get". When I got it home and listened to it I found that the song that I liked was not on the cd. I thought about taking it back and exchanging for the one I wanted. But after I heard the cd, I found that I wanted to keep that one and buy all the Hayden cd's.

No comments about Central Reservation.

5 comments about Diamonds on the Inside.

1. Don't listen to the negative reviews of this cd it is one of the best and liveliest albums i've ever heard save for one or two songs. People just don't enjoy it because they're probably just the original fans of his early more simple music. The quality of Diamonds sounds like a pop album and it's great. The album just Hits its so diverse and has everything from Reggae to Jam Rock to Funk,Heavy Blues, an Italian love song with an accordion, to Spiritual songs inspired by World Music. I love all his stuff especially his newest cd Lifeline but this is one of my favorites.



2. if you enjoy high quality music, Diamonds is a great place to start, period. This album was my intoduction to Ben Harper



3. Ben Harper was only a name to me as he is to most people until faily recently. I saw him live and on the Henry Rollins show both this year and and picked-up his new double album and am now scampering to get ALL his material and soak it up. Bottom Line: Ben is out of era...in the Motown years he would have had a home but today no one (including his label) really knows how to market him. He is far too mature musically for the modern day R&B radio and out of the mold for alternative music so he fits into that void that many have had GREAT success in such as Jack Johnson, Tracy Chapman and others but he is his own (as are the aforementioned). He is old school R&B and his openess to experiementation and variation not too mention his talent and sound sometimes make me think he is the incarnate of the late, great Marvin Gaye, funny since I do not believe in reincarnation.
   I can ealisy reccommend ANYTHING by Ben if you love Marvin and Motown. He also has hints of Marleyesque struggle in his musical lyrics as well as a heavy gospel influence at times. What an amazing talent! This album is one of his best overall and a good showcase of his music. A good place to start but you can't go wrong with anything he has done.
   
   *side note regarding review below that is overall positive (not trying to dis the reviewer, but if you want to play critic get it right). IN the second paragraph this person claims that in "Picture of Jesus" Ben rips-offs Paul Simon's "Diamonds on the Sole of her Shoes" (Graceland is a favorite of mine by the way) so I had to take a listen myself to see if there is any truth to this. The only reason I address this is b/c he or she accusses Ben of being 'classless' for not giving Paul credit! While the review was pretty good compared to most this was one of the funniest things I have ever read from a layman's review...first of all the only similarity between the two songs is that they both use a South African (Soweto) group to harmonize in the song, that is it! Ben's melody and musical song structure is completely different and rather Paul had any influence on Ben is highly questionable (and even if he/she is right does it matter, music is all about influence). Soweto has been around forever, long before the great Paul Simon brought it into the mainstream not to mention Grammy fame...so to say that it is classless to not thank Paul Simon (a WHITE amerikan songwriter) for Ben's (a Black amerikan) use of Soweto harmony in one of his songs is both hilarious and completely irrelevant.



4. This is great album, I like how pretty much every song is different, and not just songwise, but it spans many different genres. Ben Harper is always good. There's a lot of good reviews for this album, so I won't go much further than that.
   
   Two quick points:
   
   1) I had no trouble playing the music on my computer and converting it into MP3 form. Don't know if it's just some CDs that have the protection or what.
   
   2) Ladysmith Black Mambazo has been around forever and have sounded the same before and after Paul Simon's Graceland album. I don't think it's fair to say that Ben Harper copied anything. They're a beautiful sounding group and they always have that sound. I'm sure everyone remembers the Lifesavers commercials...



5. Tried listening to this album, failed. Ben Harper apparently has an awful voice, and the song writing is difficult to listen to. The lyrics are so lame. So so lame.
   
   One star.