My throat is still raw and my ears are still ringing.

First Scissor Sisters concert (at Stubb's) was definitely a success - they absolutely know how to put on a high-energy show.

A Little Slice

Although I write my reviews in exchange for a chance to check out new music and books, I have a friend who reviews plays and music in exchange for pay. As a result, we each tend to get very different albums. We were discussing our current projects the other night, when I mentioned that I was about to review the new Five For Fighting album Slice.

His response? "I'm so sorry."

We have disparate tastes in music, but I will admit that his comment slightly colored my expectations for the album. I'd never heard anything by Five For Fighting before: would I hate their music?

As it turns out, I needn't have worried. Right from the first track (Slice) I was drawn in by the music. In fact, the eponymous track is my favorite song on the album. Slice blends allusions to some of my favorite older songs with references to current culture, and the music perfectly matches this melding.

There was a time a long, long time ago
Chevys and levees played on the radio
No cell phones, just 20,000 lights
Swaying on a saturday night alright

Can you imagine that slice of time
Rock and roll was young
People stood in line
To hear music that played into their lives
That you could carry till the day you die

Hey man sing me a song
When we were everyone
We were more than just a slice of American Pie

Have you read my blog today
300 million little USA's
Your doorstep is just a click away
We'll get together one of these days

One line I read on the Five For Fighting website kept coming to mind as I enjoyed Slice, and I think it sums up the feeling you get from listening to the album:

If every album provides snapshots of where an artist's mind and heart is at the moment, Slice, the latest offering from John Ondrasik (aka Five for Fighting), is a collection of digital jpegs and faded Polaroids.

This description works so well because, throughout Slice, I appreciated the balance between "new" and "old" sounds - many of the tracks evoke older music that I love, but without sounding like a copy. For example, the track Love Can't Change the Weather pays homage to classic R&B music.

If you're interested in the album, there is a moving video of Five For Fighting's Changes on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. John Ondrasik can also be found on Twitter.

Thanks, One2One Network, for sending me this album to review!

Brandi Carlile

I popped in the new Brandi Carlile album, "Give Up The Ghost", on the way home after our Halloween festivities. Two thoughts sprang immediately to mind:

Thought #1: "Give Up The Ghost" is amazing driving music. This is especially true for tracks such as Looking Out, Dying Day, Dreams, and Caroline. These songs are upbeat and catchy; I wished I'd already known the lyrics, because they really make you want to sing along. Preferably with the windows down and a long stretch of highway ahead. I almost wanted the drive home to be longer, as I would gladly have listened to the album a second and third time right in a row.

Thought #2: Brandi Carlile has a beautiful voice. While I wouldn't use words like "refined" and "polished" to describe her voice, I also don't think that sort of sound would have worked on this album. Instead, Carlile's voice makes me feel that she's a very down-to-earth woman -- and that's she's having a great time singing her songs. It felt like she put part of herself into every track, from the opening Looking Out to the moving Before It Breaks, and through the final song, Oh Dear.

If I may give a piece of advice: you really need to check out Brandi Carlile's music! Amazon has some brief clips from "Give Up The Ghost" that I believe will give you a pretty good feel for her album.

If you'd like to find out more, Brandi Carlile can be found at BrandiCarlile.com and on Facebook.


Thank you, One2One Network! This is my favorite album I've received to review this year.

Joshua Bell - at home with friends

When I woke up this morning, the temperature had dropped overnight - from an unpleasantly humid 82 to a delicious 64 - and I could just hear the sounds of the brass section of the marching band warming up at the high school. It seemed like the perfect time to pop in Joshua Bell's new album and enjoy the weather.

At Home With Friends is, as explained in a personal message included in the liner notes, an extension of a tradition from Bell's childhood. The album pairs Bell, on violin, with a number of other talents like Chris Botti, Sting, Josh Groban, Frankie Moreno, and Regina Spektor. The full track listing is impressive:

I Loves You Porgy featuring Chris Botti, trumpet
Come Again featuring Sting, vocals
Oblivion featuring Carel Kraayenhof, bandoneon
Cinema Paradiso featuring Josh Groban, vocals
Para Tí featuring Tiempo Libre, various
My Funny Valentine featuring Kristin Chenoweth, vocals
Maybe So featuring Edgar Meyer Sam Bush and Mike Marshall, strings
Grieg: Sonata No. 3 featuring Sergei Rachmaninoff (Zenph re-performance)
Eleanor Rigby featuring Frankie Moreno, piano & vocals
O, Cease Thy Maiden Fair featuring Nathan Gunn, baritone
Il Postino featuring Carel Kraayenhof, bandoneon
Left Hand Song featuring Regina Spektor, piano & vocals
Chovendo Na Roseira featuring Dave Grusin, piano
Look Away featuring Edgar Meyer, bass and Chris Thile, mandolin
Variant Moods: Duet for Sitar & Violin featuring Anoushka Shankar, sitar
I'll Take Manhattan featuring Marvin Hamlisch, piano
Left Hand featuring Regina Spektor, vocals

At Home With Friends made for great mood music to leave on today. I may have been influenced by the weather, but I felt that several of the songs invoked the spirit of Fall, particularly Chovendo Na Roseira and Left Hand Song.

Surprisingly, and in contrast with other albums I've reviewed, At Home With Friends doesn't have a single track I actively dislike. That being said, I do feel that the true strength of the album rests with the musical rather than the vocal arrangements. Left Hand Song and Come Again are both good songs, but the tracks that I enjoyed - and that grabbed my attention - most were those which focused on the instruments.

Joshua Bell plays extremely well, and his versatility comes through over the course of the album. Duet for Sitar & Violin, for example, is an intriguing piece (and my personal favorite on the album), as are Look Away and Oblivion. Even better, over the course of the album I was introduced to a number of songs and instruments I'd never heard before.

Overall, I think At Home With Friends was a great idea on Joshua Bell's part.



A very hearty thank you to the One2One Network for giving me the chance to review At Home With Friends!

My Songs, You Say?

Ahhh, how I love that new album smell! Considering that most of my music comes from itunes and other web-based stores these days, it was fun to tear the plastic off Your Songs, the new Harry Connick, Jr. CD.

Your Songs is a compilation of famous classic songs, performed by Connick with the assistance of a string orchestra and full jazz band. As you can see, the album is loaded with covers of iconic songs:

All The Way (orig. Frank Sinatra)
Just The Way You Are (orig. Billy Joel)
Can't Help Falling In Love With You (orig. Elvis Presley)
And I Love Her (orig. The Beatles)
(They Long To Be) Close To You (orig. The Carpenters)
Besame Mucho
The Way You Look Tonight
First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (orig. Roberta Flack)
Your Song (orig. Elton John)
Some Enchanted Evening
And I Love You So (orig. Don McLean)
Who Can I Turn To? (orig. Tony Bennett)
Smile (orig. Charlie Chaplin)
Mona Lisa (orig. Nat King Cole)

As these songs are all covers, I of course found myself comparing each of Harry Connick, Jr.'s versions to the originals. One or two unfortunately didn't measure up - as far as I'm concerned, no one can top Billy Joel's Just The Way You Are. And, thanks to my grandmother's taste in music, I have strong opinions on how Besame Mucho should sound.

However, there are a number of tracks I enjoy. Connick's rendition of Your Song is pleasantly upbeat, and my absolute favorite track is Can't Help Falling In Love With You (sorry, Elvis). Can't Help Falling In Love With You is just a great song, and Connick's version has a good trumpet part (I'm a sucker for trumpets). Other notable tracks are All The Way, Some Enchanted Evening, And I Love You So, and Smile.

I'm keeping Your Songs on repeat in the background as I work today. The songs are relaxing, but by no means boring. Harry Connick, Jr. has a great voice, and it matches beautifully with the music. Personally, this entire album makes me want to dress up and go out dancing :-)

Oh, and in case you haven't been clicking all the links I included ... well, shame on you, and you should at least check out the behind-the-scenes video. It offers a good feel for the album and includes some of the music.




As ever, thank you to the One2One Network for the chance to enjoy new music!

Diane Birch: Fire Escape

I was excited to receive my copy of Diane Birch's debut album Bible Belt from the lovely women over at the One2One Network earlier this week. I hadn't heard much about her myself, but the free single I found online got me interested. As did this snippet from her biography:

For singer-songwriter Diane Birch, music was a refuge. Although Diane was born in Michigan, her childhood was spent on the move as the daughter of a preacher, living between Zimbabwe, South Africa and Australia, before her parents finally settled in Portland, Oregon. When she was in her early teens, Diane absorbed a unique and cosmopolitan perspective on life that shines through her music and makes a simple categorization of it impossible.

Unfortunately, my dad had read a lot of buzz about Diane Birch, and he had heard the free mp3 of Fire Escape himself. So, he snagged the CD out of my hands the moment it arrived to give it a listen or two (or five) himself.

When I finally got Bible Belt to myself, I was quite surprised with the tracks. I must have listened to it a half-dozen times before I sat down to write this review -- while working, while playing Zuma, while checking my email. It works just as well to actively listen (did I mention that I love her lyrics?) as to put on for some interesting background music.

There's a nice mix of upbeat and slower tunes, and Birch's voice is beautiful throughout. The music isn't dated, by any means, but there's something about Birch's voice that reminded me of singers from decades past. In fact, I think Vanity Fair hit the nail on the head when they wrote, "she pays tribute to the classics too -- Motown, Delta Blues, old-fashioned pop -- without sounding musty."

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed all thirteen songs on Bible Belt, although my stand-out favorites were Fools, Rise Up, and Mirror Mirror.

Interested? If you are, you can check out Bible Belt and support a great cause, at the same time. As you can see from the widget below, your purchase could benefit Autism Speaks. Or, if you go to the Discover & Donate page, you can get a button to benefit another charity, including Susan G. Komen for the Cure or the March of Dimes.