Song of the Month: Beautiful One

"Beautiful One"
Milk & Honey Band
from the soundtrack album "Get Real" (BMG, 1999)

I don't know anything about the Milk & Honey Band, except that they're from the UK and that they've released three albums, two of which aren't easy to come by. And I don't know why I'm not running after their easy-to-find (but kind-of pricey) album, "The Secret Life Of...", because this song, which can be found on the soundtrack album for the British movie "Get Real" and (as far as I know) not on any of their albums, is some of the most phantasmagorically yummy power-pop I've ever heard.

From the opening strums of electric guitar -- which kind-of sound like a key being turned in a car's ignition, especially when the drums kick in a few seconds later and "turn it over" -- the song feels like a drive down a quiet country road in a convertible on a sunny morning. And with good reason, because if you repace the car with a bicycle, that's exactly the scene during which the song plays in the movie.

For awhile now, I've thought that this song would be a perfect fit for (and have secretly hoped it would be covered by) a band like The Click Five, or perhaps McFly. If that were to happen, I'm sure it would be a hit single. True, genuinely "happy" music with hand-claps in the chorus doesn't seem to go over well in the U.S. (and I still wonder why), but this is the kind of love song that would be impossible to hate.

CD of the Week: Emerson Hart

EMERSON HART
"CIGARETTES & GASOLINE"
(Manhattan, 2007)

You might not recognize the name, but you'll recognize the voice. As the frontman for the rock band Tonic, Emerson Hart helped grace radio, as well as a good few movie soundtracks, with hits like "If You Could Only See" and "You Wanted More". Now, he strikes out on his own with his solo debut, "Cigarettes & Gasoline", bringing with him much of the formula that made Tonic the great but underrated band it was.

That's not to say, though, that this is "the lost Tonic album". While some of the songs clearly show that he was the primary creative force behind that band, Hart has gladly added a few atypical touches to some of these tracks, in the form of unique percussion and light dashes of folk and jazz. The stop-and-start drum beat at the beginning of the opening track, "Run To", is almost like a fish hook snagged on the listener's shirt, tugging them into giving the album their undivided attention (it works, at least in my case). The first single, "If You're Gonna Leave", sounds much like a song Tonic would have released (no doubt the reason it was chosen as the lead-off single), but is enjoyable despite its been-there-done-that feel. "When She Loves You" runs the risk of being just another trite love song, but there's an intangible something that makes it engaging -- probably the heartfelt delivery in Hart's vocals. Then there's the exquisitely beautiful ballad, "Flyin'", probably the best track on the disc ... although the deliciously immersive instrumentals in "Friend To a Stranger" gives it major competition. The swaggering, bluesy, soul-searching "Ordinary" is another standout track.

I have a dreadful fear that this album will slip unnoticed into obscurity, as has happened with so many excellent albums lately. I just hope that enough people who really enjoyed Tonic, but are open to something a bit more singer-songwritery, will be aware of Emerson Hart's connection to the band and give it a try. This is an album that, in a perfect and just world, will make Emerson Hart a star.

Oh, Canada...

A lot of people like to make fun of Canada, and some people actually go so far as to in fact not have any respect for our neighbor to the north. I'm not in either of those categories; I like Canada, and I like Canadians. I really want to visit the country someday, but haven't as yet ... my only fear about doing so is that I'll love the place so much that I won't want to leave. I think my love affair with Canada started with the music -- yeah, big surprise there, right? So much of the entertainment we enjoy here in the United States is, whether we realize it or not, imported from Canada: William Shatner, Michael J. Fox, Jim Carrey, Alex Trebek, and many other television and film personalities were born there, and the mainstream music consciousness in the U.S. has no shortage of Canuck countrymen (and -women): Alanis Morissette, Barenaked Ladies, The Guess Who, Nelly Furtado, Bryan Adams, K.D. Lang, and the list goes on.

But I won't talk about the obvious and well-known ones here ... this is a briefing on some of my favorite Canadian artists who aren't particularly well-known outside of their borders. This, ladies and gentlemen, I present as evidence to counter the argument made by the less-enlightened amongst us Americans, who say that Canadians lack sophistication and vision. I look forward to one day browsing the aisles of a Canadian CD store, to see what other treasures I might be missing. But for now, these recording artists from the Great White North have somehow managed to tide me over....

The Moffatts -- You've heard me rave about them before, but there's a reason I can't say enough good things about them, and that reason's name is "Submodalities", their last album as a band. These four siblings were talented far beyond their teen (at that time) years, and cooked up this exquisitely eclectic alt-pop jukebox. If you like rock and/or pop music, you must buy this album now ... period. Their previous album, "Chapter I: A New Beginning" (which is available in the States), wasn't too bad either, by the way.

One 2 One -- This pop duo was comprised of vocalist Louise Reny and instrumentalist Leslie Howe. There was nothing earth-shatteringly different about their material, but for some reason, it caught my ear and never let go. (Okay, maybe the fact that they thanked the cast of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" in their liner notes had a little something to do with it, too.) I bought their U.S. release "Imagine It" (a modest hit in its day) when it came out in 1992, and to this day it's one of my favorite albums from that time period. It still sounds a bit dated, but all things considered, it's held up pretty well for being fifteen years old. It did compel me to track down their hard-to-find Canadian-only 1988 release, "1-2-1", although that one shows its age more.

Wave -- I'd almost say this duo was Canada's answer to Savage Garden, except Wave preferred more "natural" instrumentation (guitars, drums) and far less electronics. I think they're broken up now, but Paul Gigliotti and Dave Thomson put out two excellent albums of deliciously tuneful, radio-friendly pop: "Nothing As It Seems" in 2001, and "State Of Mind" in 2002. Again, nothing terribly unique or profound here, but it doesn't have to be different in order to be good, and these guys proved it.

Tal Bachman -- The son of Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive member Randy Bachman is probably the most familiar name on this list. Tal Bachman scored a sizable U.S. hit in 1999 with the single "She's So High". I don't know why this album wasn't a bigger success than it was -- and I don't think it was much of a success at all, seeing as how he never released another album in the U.S. -- because it was packed with one excellent rock-pop song after another, and produced by the renowned Bob Rock (who himself is Canadian, and also produced The Moffatts' "Submodalities"). Fortunately, he finally released a follow-up album in Canada several years later that I could sink my teeth into.

CD of the Week: Ben Jelen

BEN JELEN
"EX-SENSITIVE"
(Custard, 2007)

Back in 2004, Ben Jelen (pronounced yellin', in case you might not have known) burst onto the pop music scene with a generously promoted (in part because of his pin-up handsomeness) debut album, "Give It All Away", on Maverick Records. Produced mostly by The Berman Brothers and The Matrix, but written mostly by Jelen himself, the album was a good showcase of a budding talent, despite its high-gloss production sheen. Unfortunately, the album was not a commercial success, and Jelen was eventually dropped by his label. Now, three years later, he has returned with his sophomore album -- and it was worth every moment of the wait.

It sounds like Jelen has used the past three years wisely. He has grown remarkably as a songwriter and a singer, although his voice still occasionally gets a little breathy and wanders just a tiny bit off-note (but then, that's part of his charm, if you ask me). This album is an engaging mix of jaunty Beatle-esque poppers ("Ex-Sensitive"), moving ballads ("Vulnerable"), uplifting anthems ("Just a Little"), and even a beautifully hypnotic waltz-like number ("Short Of The World"). Producer Linda Perry can certainly take a good portion of the credit, but I have to wonder if the fact that he was no longer tethered to a major label might have given Jelen the freedom and inspiration to spread his musical wings.

It's a terrible shame that the big music conglomerates apparently can't be bothered anymore with allowing young artists time to grow. This "one-strike-and-you're-out" mentality is one of the many reasons they're going broke; to them, music is now a perishable product instead of a long-term investment. If they had invested their time in Ben Jelen (not to mention the countless other artists who were dumped by the major labels for not making money quickly enough), I think they would have had a commercial success on their hands here. But then, I'm happy for Jelen, 'cause he'll make more money per disc on an independent label anyway. More power to ya, Ben.

The Thnairg Music Hall Of Fame

This was originally going to be two separate lists: my Top 5 all-time favorite artists, and my Top 3 recent favorite artists. I had chosen the year 2002 as the boundary between the two lists; I figured five years ago was as good a demarcation as any. The trouble is, though, I'm such a music fan that I had a lot of difficulty limiting myself to eight favorite artists, so I decided to combine both lists into one, and bump it up to an even Top Ten by throwing in another two favorites. (Seven to three turned out to be a natural ratio between all-timers and recent favorites.)

I've tried to keep a sensible balance of emotion and logic when ranking the artists on this list -- while the magnitude of my adoration of an artist certainly plays a part, so does the length of time I've been listening to them. It seems kind-of cruel that the newer the artist is (in my "sphere of awareness", at least), the lower they would rank in the list -- but it also makes a certain amount of sense. I'm a bit surprised myself at how the list came out, seeing as how some artists I've told people were in "my Top 5" have turned out not to be, and vice versa ... at least as far as this list is concerned. But then, one usually doesn't consider their entire music-listening history when raving about a relatively new artist.

So anyway, I hope you appreciate all the hard work and thought that went into this list, and I hope you're enlightened and entertained by it as well. And now, without further ado, I present ... My Top Ten Favorite Artists of All-Time!!!

Honorable Mention: John Williams -- Between the "Star Wars", "Jaws", "Superman", and "Indiana Jones" themes, the compositions of John Williams are probably the most recognizable of any in modern history ... perhaps even more so than the songs of The Beatles. He's the best film score composer of all time, period. Considering how long I've been buying his music, he probably should be in my Top Ten, but I'm not as big a fan of movie music as I once was ... plus, it's been awhile since he was at what I feel was the top of his game. As fate would have it, ten other artists managed to just barely edge him out.

#10 --> Erik Faber/Espen Lind (tie) -- Yes, a "tie" has been used far too often just to squeeze one more item into a favorites list, but this one is justified. Though they've never recorded together (that I'm aware of), they're both Norwegian pop singer/songwriters of a vaguely similar style. I discovered Erik Faber less than a year ago, not too long after Espen Lind's latest album, with which I was a bit disappointed. I've warmed up to Erik's music more quickly and enthusiastically than just about any artist I've ever encountered, but I can't quite bring myself to knock Espen (of whom I've been a big fan for over six years) out of the slot just yet ... so, all things considered, they're both entitled to share the #10 berth.

#9 ---> Five -- While the rest of America was divided between Backstreet Boys and NSYNC, I was rockin' out to UK boyband Five. I can't describe how or why, but I feel an energy in their songs that goes beyond the music and the lyrics -- a kind of energy that I just don't feel from NSYNC or BSB. And you wanna know the really ironic thing? I hate rap, yet Five have managed to win me over despte the presence of rap in a fair portion of their songs. Any group that makes a heretofore intolerable genre of music listenable to me definitely makes it onto the list.

#8 ----> The Moffatts -- Damn, I miss these guys. This Canadian brotherly quartet of pop-rockers only recorded two albums plus about a dozen-and-a-half B-sides, but their final album was a doozy: the utter masterpiece that is "Submodalities" still stands firmly as my absolute favorite album of all time -- and remember, I own over a thousand. That feat alone (plus the appeal of Bob & Clint's subsequent incarnations in the groups Hidell and Same Same) lands them firmly in my Top Ten.

#7 -----> McFly -- The only reason these guys aren't in my Top 5 is because they've only been recording for a few years. They've put out three albums, each a little bit better than the last, and all of them packed full of incredibly appealing pop-rock music, in the best tradition of groups ranging from The Beatles to Huey Lewis & The News to Green Day. They write their own songs, play their own instruments, and are adorable to boot. What more can one ask?!?

#6 ------> The Rippingtons -- Contemporary jazz doesn't get any better than Russ Freeman and company. I'm sorry to say that the last album of theirs that I really liked was seven years ago, and most all of the members from my favorite era of the group have gone on to other things, but they're just about the only group from my jazz/new-age phase that I still regularly listen to. Best of luck to another twenty years of success, Ripps.

#5 -------> The Connells -- As I mentioned in a previous post, I stumbled upon North Carolinians The Connells basically by accident, having selected a song of theirs to fill up space on a made-to-order cassette. Before I knew it, I was buying each and every album of their REM-ish melodic jangle-rock, and remained a faithful fan right up to the bitter end of their recording career.

#4 --------> Duran Duran -- They were an absolute sensation, and they deserved to be. Their fashion-model good looks made them perfect for the emerging MTV generation, plus their music was ahead of its time for years and years. They've enjoyed two comebacks (in 1993 with "The Wedding Album", and in 2004 with the reformation of their original lineup on the album "Astronaut") and, except for the peculiar covers album "Thank You", I've enjoyed them consistently.

#3 ---------> Barenaked Ladies -- I discovered the Ladies upon the original release of their first album, "Gordon", and never looked back ... even through the anti-BNL backlash that came with the (perhaps more-than-deserved) success of their single "One Week". They've never failed to deliver album after album of enjoyable melodies and lyrics, ranging from humorous to melancholy to scathingly critical ... I just plain love 'em and will never stop.

#2 ----------> Men At Work/Colin Hay -- Technically, these are two different acts, but Colin Hay was the primary creative force behind (and, of course, the vocalist and frontman for) Men At Work, so I consider it just the "first phase" of his recording career. Men At Work were pretty-much my favorite band of the '80s and, with the exception of a few years of unawareness, I've been devotedly following Hay's ongoing solo folk-rock career ever since. It'd be nice to see him receive one more burst of major chart success, but I know he's perfectly content with the far-longer career and closer-knit fan base that his independent-label status provides.

#1 ----------->> "Weird Al" Yankovic -- I feel a little odd declaring him my favorite artist of all time, thinking it will prevent people from taking my taste in music seriously. But, after taking everything under consideration, he's clearly the winner. To this day, I vividly remember the moment I first ever laid eyes on his debut album in the record store, 26 years ago. I've bought each and every one of his albums, without hesitation and with the same giddy anticipation, as soon as they've come out, and have never been disappointed in any of them. Al never goes out of style, because he constantly changes with it. And, most importantly, his music has always cheered me up whenever I've felt bummed out. And when you think about it, isn't touching someone's heart what music is all about? That's why "Weird Al" Yankovic is Number One to me.

CD of the Week: Shiny Toy Guns

SHINY TOY GUNS
"WE ARE PILOTS"
(Universal Motown, 2006)

Back in the early '90s, when he was a kid, Chad Petree was part of a bubblegum-pop group called PC Quest, which made two albums. Silly as they were, those albums have become sentimental favorites of mine, and I've always tried to keep up, if only for curiosity's sake, with what the former members have gone on to do later. I decided to give Shiny Toy Guns a try as soon as I found out that Chad was part of the group, even though I knew full well not to expect any trace of PC Quest pop, and despite the fact that the recent resurgence of '80s-style synth-rock has for the most part left me cold. As it turns out, Shiny Toy Guns surprised me in all the right ways.

STG combines all that was good about new-wave music in the '80s -- part Duran Duran (catchy-as-heck songs), part Human League (the switch-off between male and female vocals), and a dash of everything else. "Le Disko" is the quintessential dance-rocker, "Waiting" a hypnotic ballad, "Rainy Monday" another great upbeat number, and the title track brings the album to a nice, understated, mid-tempo close. And, as strange as this sounds, just as pleasing to me as the music is the fact that Chad Petree (as well as his brother, Stephen, who was also a member of PC Quest) co-wrote most of the songs on the album.

It's ironic, really ... I'm an Eighties kid, and still love a lot of the music from when I grew up, but for some reason I just haven't found much to love in this '80s-inspired new-wave revival that's been going on for the last few years. Aside from STG, Under The Influence Of Giants is the only group in that sub-genre that I've really taken a liking to. But now I'm starting to get the itch to go back and give The Killers one more try...!

Audio Train Wreck of the Month: Star Rock

"Star Rock"
Nichelle Nichols
from the album "Out Of This World" (GNP Crescendo, 1991)

This is a painful post for me to write, because I adore Nichelle Nichols -- though I've never met her, she just strikes me as being a very pleasant and delightful person to be around. But, with utmost respect to Ms. Nichols, this song (and the album it rode in on, for that matter) is crappy ... but in an Audio Train Wreck kind of way that Mr. Spock himself would probably call, with that trademark tweak of his eyebrow, "fascinating". Prepare to boldly go where your auditory senses have never gone before.

While it's true that the late '80s and early '90s were mostly a taste-impaired era for popular music anyway, somehow I expected more from Ms. Nichols ... she's blessed with a beautiful voice and has an extensive resume of music credits to her name, so I'm baffled as to why she took part in this travesty. Instead of an album of tastefully ordinary pop or easy-listening tunes, our ears are phaser-stunned with a twisted blend of real-world Nichelle and fantasy-world Uhura belting out one sci-fi cliché after another. Have you ever wondered what the aural equivalent of a guy in a cheesy lizard-monster costume throwing around papier-maché rocks in front of a cardboard backdrop might sound like? Well, wonder no more.

If this album was meant not to be taken seriously, à la William Shatner, then there should have been at least some humorous lyrics thrown in as clues. I get the distinct impression that the guy who wrote and produced this pile of ... uh, songs ... was little more than a Trekkie who had the money and desire to make an album featuring one of the objects of his adoration ... which would be fine, if he demonstrated any gift at all for songwriting or producing -- or, alternatively, the instincts to hire someone who did. Live long and prosper ... and remember, everybody needs a little Agrinaut.

100% Pure Beef

*sigh* ... Can't you just feel the love in this blog? I know I can. So, what better time than now to break the monotony with some good-old-fashioned bitching and complaining? Yes, folks, it's time for my list of pet peeves!! These are the things that, as a faithful buyer of CDs for many years, have been getting on my nerves for awhile now. There are probably some things I'm forgetting, and some things I won't bother touching on here (such as CD copy-protection, which appears to have been put on hold recently anyway, thanks to
bad publicity), so by no means should you consider this a "complete" list ... but I'm sure you'll agree that it's a more-than-decent start....

• paperback packaging -- Sure, jewelboxes can break, but they can easily be replaced by buying empties, which are widely and inexpensively available. Digipaks, on the other hand, you're basically stuck with: the covers sustain wear and tear unless they're handled extremely carefully, and you're pretty-much screwed if you end up buying one whose glued-in plastic tray has a damaged hub that can't securely hold the disc. And the ones without a tray are even worse: I consider CDs an investment, so I'm much less likely to buy one that's got a shorter life-expectancy by being prone to scratching from dust particles every time I have to slip it in and out of some little pocket (to say nothing of having to put my fingerprints on the playing surface, which I never like to do). I usually tolerate digipaks, but the record companies have lost my business more than once due to CDs marketed in "pocket"-style packaging -- the recent John Mellencamp hits collection, and the John Mayer Trio's live album, just to name two.

• DualDisc-only releases -- The DualDisc is a great concept: an audio CD on one side, and DVD content (music videos, interviews, live footage, etc.) on the other. But, while most titles available on DualDisc are also available as a conventional audio-only CD, I've occasionally been forced to buy the DualDisc ... which is distressing because the format still has yet to fully win me over. I have to be extra-careful when handling them since both sides must remain free of scratches, smudges and dust; and while I've had no problems with readability in CD players (for which a disclaimer is always printed on the back, and which has steadily been a complaint of some consumers), the discs' slightly thicker nature makes them mechanically incompatible with one of my devices. I was happy to buy the latest "Weird Al" Yankovic and The 5 Browns albums on DualDisc, since those artists are really worthy of the format ... but, until the technology's shortcomings are fully eliminated, how about giving us consumers a choice?

• short albums -- I'm not talking EP's here, because with an EP you know you're only getting a half-dozen or so tracks. I'm a bit tired of paying good money for so-called "full-length" CDs with ten or eleven songs and/or a running time of less than 40 minutes. Sure, the songs on the disc are usually pretty good (I'm a bit easier to please than most listeners), but the album is over way too quickly. And why is it that U.S. music consumers are sold the shortest CDs? I buy a lot of imports, and I can tell you from experience that every other country in the world (especially Japan and Australia) gets more music on their CDs than we Americans do. Come on, record executives out there ... please give us at least twelve songs on an album, would you?

• fake albums -- No, not bootlegs or other black-market discs, but rather the knock-offs that are sold legally here in the U.S., to people who either don't know or don't care that they're not getting the original recordings. Shameless "tribute" albums to a single artist, those silly sanitized-for-overprotective-parents "Kidz Bop" CDs, and current-Top-40 "performed by The Sound-Alikes [or some other equally stupid pretend-band name]" compilations are bad enough, but what really steams me are those oldies compilations on budget labels which, if you look carefully, bear the dreaded notation: "new stereo recordings performed by the original artist or one or more members of the original group". I fell for one of those rip-offs years ago, and to this day am still holding a grudge because of it. I want the original recordings, dammit! This isn't "music snobbery" here, it's plain and simple good taste.

• upstart live albums -- I don't know about you, but I get a bit annoyed when I see a live album from an artist who's only thusfar put out one studio album ... Jesse McCartney, Maroon 5, and the list goes on. It's not necessarily a lack of talent that bugs me -- indeed, most of the artists concerned have plenty of it. Rather, it's a question of content; aside from the one or two non-album tracks that are thrown into the set list, wouldn't a live album be more interesting if the artist in question had more than a single album's worth of material to draw on? But then, the ugly truth about the record industry today is that artistic integrity has taken a back seat to profit -- the labels are trying to make as much of it as they can off of the artist's popularity before it starts to wane. That's my big problem with these early live albums: they have a distinct air of exploitation about them.

• greatest hits ... more-or-less -- Best-of collections have always been plagued with flaws, not the least of which is that they rarely take advantage of the 80-minute capacity of the compact disc. At best, they invariably and inexplicably omit one or two of the artist's more significant hits, usually in favor of more obscure songs -- or, even more annoyingly, brand new tracks (which I believe have no place on an album described as a "greatest hits" collection). At worst, we have fine artists like Melissa Etheridge, who crank out something like eight albums before a greatest-hits collection is finally released ... and instead of rewarding our patience with a comprehensive two-disc set, the label tosses us a sorry single-disc excuse for a best-of compilation. It was my understanding that the major labels are broke ... so why do they pour all sorts of money into pressing the discs and printing the packaging if they're not producing the best collection they can? But now, thanks to slowly increasing collaboration between the different record companies, we're starting to see more and more comprehensive, career-spanning compilations ... let's keep our fingers crossed that the trend will continue.

CD of the Week: Scott Grimes

SCOTT GRIMES
"LIVIN' ON THE RUN"
(Velocity, 2005)

In what may very well be one of the lengthiest hiatuses ever taken by a recording artist (part-time or not), actor Scott Grimes let no less than sixteen years pass between his 1989 debut and his 2005 sophomore album. Given such a huge span of time -- and the fact that he'd grown from a young teenager into an adult -- it's not surprising that there's almost no similarity at all between the two recordings. He's gone from light, synth-driven pop to full-bodied, semi-southern rock ... and even his voice changed shortly after his self-titled disc, although not by as much as one might expect: his singing voice has settled into a tenor, but it's obviously quite comfortable there, nicely relaxed and by no means grating or distracting.

Backed by a full band, Scott delivers a perfectly entertaining mix of upbeat rockers and tender ballads, the kind of universally-appealing fare that would sound right at home in some cozy, out-of-the-way bar on a Saturday night. Indeed, the jeans, T-shirt and cap that Scott wears on the front and back covers of the CD convey the mood of the album perfectly: casual, working-class rock-and-soul. Some of my favorite tracks include the laid-back "Sunset Blvd.", the toe-tapping rocker "Summerthing", the breezy "You Come Around", and the bittersweet "Carrie". There's even a cool instrumental number which closes the album quite nicely.

Another thing that's changed from his last album is that Scott Grimes wrote or co-wrote every song. He may not be an especially profound songwriter, but he'd run the risk of seeming pretentious if he tried to be more clever with the lyrics than he is here. Besides, wordsmithing isn't what this type of music is about ... it's just about having a good time, and "Livin' On The Run" gives us a whopping 70 minutes of it!

Sad Songs Say So Much

I mostly like upbeat music, but as the old saying goes, everyone needs a good cry now and again. And for those tortured souls and/or gluttons for punishment who get off on actively seeking out sonic heartbreak, here's my list of my Top 5 favorite tear-jerker songs. Whether you find them on iTunes or at your local CD store, they're worth a listen ... but don't forget to have a box of tissues handy.

#5 -- "Grounded" by Stir -- There are plenty of reasons to go pick up the album "Holy Dogs" by alt-rock group Stir, but this is the biggest one: a heartbreaking lament of a boy who's been grounded. Even if you haven't been a teenager for decades, or even if you've never been grounded yourself, you'll still feel a tug at the heartstrings when you hear this one, thanks in part to Andrew Schmidt's aching vocal.

#4 -- "Bubblewrap" by McFly -- Anyone who doubts McFly as a band to be reckoned with in the coming years needs to listen to this song (from their third album "Motion In The Ocean"), not to mention most of their second album "Wonderland". A tender piano melody starts out the song and soon builds to a mostly subdued full-band number, but Tom Fletcher's and Danny Jones' stirring vocals are what will put tears in your eyes.

#3 -- "Patience" by Take That -- This is a love song, but for me it unexpectedly took on a second, and deeper, meaning. A couple days after the Virginia Tech tragedy (which hit me with an emotional impact I never saw coming), Take That's "Beautiful World" album was playing on my iPod. When the chorus of this song came around, I heard the lyrics in a context I hadn't thought about until that moment ... and I nearly cried right there on a public sidewalk.

#2 -- "Where The Lost Ones Go" by Espen Lind and Sissel -- Being a big Espen Lind fan, I was highly anticipating his second album, "This Is Pop Music". Never having been a particular fan of male/female duets (but not necessarily having any aversion to them either), I didn't suspect that this gorgeous breakup song would sneak up on my heart the way it did ... until its soaring chorus gave me a case of goosebumps that comes back every time I hear it.

#1 -- "Break Your Heart" by Barenaked Ladies -- From the moment I heard this song, I knew it was going to be one of my favorites ... and I was right. And I'm not alone: while it was never a single and thus never a charting hit, it's a cult favorite of theirs at concerts. If you haven't heard this song (from their 1996 album "Born On a Pirate Ship"), you must. But be prepared: you'll get a serious lump in your throat during the bridge, which Steven Page delivers with as much heartbreak as a human voice can convey.

CD of the Week: Sara Bareilles

SARA BAREILLES
"LITTLE VOICE"
(Epic, 2007)

I don't often care for female musicians. It's not a sexist thing at all, but just the simple fact that I more enjoy (and find a bit more variety amongst) male singing voices. But Sara Bareilles caught my attention immediately, thanks to the infectious single "Love Song" that I recently found on iTunes. On the strength of that song, I put her album on my wish list. It's an unfortunate fact that the lead-off single usually tends to be the only good song on the album, but having listened to "Little Voice" in its entirety, I can now safely say that that's definitely not the case this time.

"Little Voice" is one of those album titles that, intentionally or not, is ironic. While Sara Bareilles' beautiful voice sometimes conveys the lyrics in an appropriately delicate whisper, she demonstrates throughout this album that she's capable of as much of a variety in her voice as in the styles of the songs she sings, be it a soaring ballad ("Between The Lines"), a brassy rocker ("Love Song"), a bluesy soul number ("Love On The Rocks"), or anything in between. Add to that the fact that she wrote every song on the album (sharing co-writing credits on only one), and that makes this an all-the-more impressive debut effort.

I'm not big on making direct comparisons (cross-gender or otherwise), because they can often be misleading, but I think I'm pretty accurate with this one: Sara Bareilles is basically the female Gavin deGraw. Anyone who likes him will most likely enjoy her ... and even if you don't, give her a try. If you enjoy her single, "Love Song", you'll definitely love the album.

Reign of the Mega-Snore...

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. On each of my previous visits to the Virgin Megastore, I came away with a fistful of import CDs that I looked forward to unleashing on my eager ears. Some I found in the clearance bin and some I found at regular (perhaps inflated) retail prices, but I knew each time that I was going to spend an obscene amount of money, despite practicing some degree of restraint. But, little did I suspect the disappointment that was awaiting me upon this visit.

My first stop: the clearance bin. Last time the CDs had a bin all to themselves ... a multitude of singles and a plethora of albums, from nearly every genre, marked down anywhere from 25% to 75% off, all mixed together, with any hope of organization (alphabetical or otherwise) delightfully abandoned. But this time? It was sad indeed: CDs occupied barely half of the bin, and even then there was nary a trace of the variety there once was. (In fact, there were probably 20 copies of one particular title that I can't recall at the moment ... suffice it to say it was nothing that held my interest.) Jumbled loosely in the rest of the cabinet were the usual odds and ends that you'd find in just about any bargain bin: a hat or two, CD/DVD wallets, laser lens cleaners and disc cleaning wipes, and an assortment of accessories for the most recently discontinued model of the iPod family. Although everything in the rack seemed relatively orderly (as orderly as one can hope to find a clearance bin), the items nevertheless seemed sadly neglected and abandoned.

So, feeling a bit crestfallen but not quite defeated, I pulled out my shopping list and proceeded through the rest of the store. I would soon find out, however, that the clearance bin wasn't the only part of the store that had thinned out considerably. My list was mostly filled with import titles -- the kind of stuff that one would never find in the average "big-box" store, but that wasn't rare by any means. I worked under the assumption that, if it was readily available from Amazon.com, it wouldn't be out-of-the-question for a huge music retailer like Tower (oh, how I miss Tower already) or Virgin Megastore to have it in stock. Apparently, such an assumption has now become obsolete. After the fifth or sixth "strike-out" on my list, I just aimlessly browsed the racks in disappointment. Instead of the wide selection that I had come to count on from the Megastore, I kept finding gaps -- sometimes huge gaps -- in most artists' discographies. I soon realized that I was shopping in what had essentially become, to put it bluntly, a glorified Sam Goody.

My first thought was, "Well, no wonder they're closing stores left and right." But when I think about it, CD retailers, especially the big ones like Virgin, probably find themselves in a bit of a pickle. Fewer and fewer people are buying CDs, but the stores would still like to cater to the dwindling number of people who do. It makes little sense to load up on stock only to return it later when it doesn't sell, and imports are an even dicier commodity because (correct me if I'm wrong, music retailers out there) they can't be returned to the distributor for reimbursement, which is why they eventually end up in the clearance bins. Still, I would think that Virgin Megastore would want to take full advantage of their new position as the only remaining coast-to-coast, large-scale, brick-and-mortar music retailer in America. Maybe not all the Megastores have cut their stock back so drastically -- indeed, I've only ever visited two of their locations -- but the one in question here is located in "the #1 Mills mall in the U.S.", so I would think that such a location would warrant a broader-than-usual stock. Unless I get the opportunity to visit the Times Square Megastore in New York City (which I would dearly love to do), then I get the dreadful feeling that I've had my last positive shopping experience at a deeply-stocked CD store in the U.S. with a sizable import selection: specifically, Tower Records. Yes, there's the internet, but as any buyer of tangible music media will tell you, there's nothing like the experience of walking into a shop and surrounding yourself with racks and racks of CDs, not to mention helpful and courteous salespeople.

What did I come away with, you ask? Well, in terms of imports, nothing more than a Mika CD-single (gotta have those non-album B-sides, right?) and George Michael's "Twenty-Five" greatest-hits compilation ... and even that, I think, is available domestically, though I'm mentioning it here because the one I bought appears to come from Australia, according to the copyright spiel on the back cover. The two albums I most wanted, but couldn't find on the racks, I ordered from Amazon -- I decided I was entitled to such a splurge, since I only came out of Virgin having spent $60 ... a far cry from the "glory days" of $125+ receipts!