Vinyl Resurgence

I've probably never mentioned vinyl records on this blog, except maybe occasionally in passing. It's not that I hate the format ... I've always had at least a handful of LPs in my music collection, and almost always have owned an apparatus on which to play them, and I don't even doubt the people who claim that they hear or feel a certain indescribable "warmth" and fullness to the sound of vinyl records that they say doesn't happen with any other format.

The main reason I don't give much attention to vinyl, and almost never buy it, is purely circumstantial: its convenience, or (arguable) lack thereof. I'm a practical guy, you see, and the ubiquity of CD drives in most every computer, the instantaneous accessibility of any track on the disc with the touch of a button, and the ability to quickly rip a whole disc into a folder of neatly separated MP3 files that I can tote around on my iPod, are all factors that have made CDs my format of choice by a very wide margin. And then there's the relative fragility of records compared to CDs: they can easily get warped by heat, or get scratched and develop a skip ... at least more easily than their digital cousins.

But there is now an outside chance that my neglect of vinyl records could soon change. You see, at a garage sale recently I happened upon a stack of about 30 LPs, all in excellent condition, and most from the early- to mid- '80s. It was a dandy little haul: multiple albums each by The Commodores, Lionel Richie, Eagles and Air Supply ... and even one each by Wham!, Phil Collins, and Peaches & Herb. I have yet to fire up my turntable and delve into them, but I'm somewhat anxious to. This one acquisition has more than doubled my library of vinyl LPs, and the other evening I actually sat down and organized my record collection for the very first time, only because I hadn't needed to before.

These newly-acquired titles now intermingle with the handful that I already had -- some inherited from my parents, but the rest I'd bought myself over the years -- and all are now neatly alphabetized by artist and separated by genre. Will I become as avid a collector of vinyl records as I am of CDs? I don't quite see that happening. For one thing, I'm not nearly the audiophile that the majority of vinyl devotees are, and I'm happy with the sound quality of CDs and of MP3s of a decent bitrate (128Kbps and higher), which give me all the fidelity that my conscious ear discerns or requires. But I rather doubt that these will be the last records I ever buy.

The Sing-Off

I probably wouldn't have bothered watching "The Sing-Off", since I've broken up with "American Idol" and didn't otherwise have the slightest inclination to get into "another singing show" (as my friend put it, with an exasperated "Agghhh!" in front, fearing I'd talk his ear off about this one too). But that all changed once I found out that the University of Oregon's totally awesome male a cappella group, On The Rocks, was slated as one of the ten competing groups. Besides, I've always liked a cappella music (though I can't quite say I'm an ardent fan), partly because it takes a lot more talent and artistry when you don't have any instruments backing you up ... not to mention group cohesion -- if just one singer is off, it can make the whole group sound sour.

I was going to do a beat-by-beat review of the season premiere, like I've done with "Idol" in the past, but then I quickly changed my mind and settled on a more "free-form" approach for a couple of reasons, one of which is that only the judges unilaterally (or, since there are three of them, would that be "trilaterally"?) decide the eliminations all the way up to the final round -- not that my play-by-play of "Idol" was any less pointless, right? Don't get me wrong, I know they're all professional musicians and know their stuff, and the season has to move quickly (with just five episodes, all airing within a month), but what's wrong with at least some audience participation, like multiple-choice "clicker"-type gizmos that the studio audience can use to vote on their favorites?

Speaking of the judges, I like them. I've tried and failed to become a fan of Ben Folds' music, but the guy himself is still likeable (and not just because he produced William Shatner's last album) and has a good sense of humor. Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Men is just as much fun to listen to, can also be pretty darn funny, and like Folds is a fount of musical know-how. Nicole Scherzinger ... well, she's kind-of the Paula Abdul of the group, although I feel guilty for selling her short like that ... she's not nearly as incoherent, for one thing, but she also doesn't get very deep with her critiques. And I love that their commentary is so much looser and wittier than that of the peanut gallery on "Idol". Nick Lachey, however, could take a lesson or two from Ryan Seacrest about relaxing a bit.

The format of the show is a little puzzling, too, in how they seem to randomly divide the ten first-round groups into two halves and eliminate one from each half. It begs the question: What if the two worst groups were in one half, and one of the better ones was forced to be eliminated just because they were in the wrong half? I have to wonder not only why they don't evaluate all ten groups at once and hold both eliminations until the end of the two-hour show, but also what determined which groups were slotted into which half. But, maybe that's picking nits (and maybe it's not).

Another concern I have is how varied the participants are. On one extreme we have a group of high-schoolers (Eleventh Hour, from Kettering, Ohio), and on another we have a group led by a veteran professional singer of 60-plus years (Jerry Lawson and Talk of the Town, led by a founding member of a cappella pioneers The Persuasions). And then there are the relative sizes of the groups, which range anywhere from just five members to well over a dozen, and that must certainly have an impact on the results. But then, maybe that's just the point: having the playing field so uneven makes it a competition for them all, and the smaller groups have to work hard to sound "bigger" just like the larger groups have to work hard to not overpower their sound. Bigger can be better, just as much as less is more, and determining the right song arrangement and approach to the performance is just as big a part of the competition.

One of the biggest reasons I chose not to do a play-by-play commentary is because I can't help but admit that I'm biased as hell in favor of On The Rocks. I knew about and was watching and listening to these guys ten years ago, and they were just as much fun when they started out as they are now. They're talented, energetic, and one can clearly see how much fun they have doing what they do. Then again, that can be said for nearly all the groups we saw on Monday night's show. To be placed in the same class of performers as the venerable Whiffenpoofs is a big damn deal (their rendition of Mika's "Grace Kelly" was positively amazing, by the way!), but it also means that On The Rocks has got some serious competition. The only possible drawback I can see is that they have a potentially unwieldy size of 15 members (which makes me wonder if the show shouldn't set a limit on the size of the group ... say, 10 or maybe 12).

Will they make it all the way to the final round? I of course hope so, but I won't take anything for granted. After all, I thought Pitch Slapped (whose name I totally love!) was one of the better ones, but they somehow were given the boot. Personally, I think that The Backbeats (the collegiate "supergroup" from L.A.) and Groove For Thought (the jazzy Seattle group with the father-daughter duo) should have been the ones to go. But one thing's for sure: nearly every voice we heard on this show was more talented than 90% of the comparatively sorry crop of "American Idol" singers last season, which makes it all but inevitable that I won't be watching it ... unless my 2% doubt convinces me otherwise.

Kendall Payne

KENDALL PAYNE
"JORDAN'S SISTER"
(Capitol, 1999)


Ten years before "Glee", co-creator Ryan Murphy started out in television with "Popular", an hour-long comedy-drama, also set in high-school and with a similarly larger-than-life style, that ran for two years on the WB network. Chosen for the theme song to the series was the track "Supermodels" from Kendall Payne's debut album "Jordan's Sister". It was the perfect choice: a pointed commentary on body image versus self-worth, a struggle that the majority of teenagers go through at some point, and one of the ongoing themes of the entire series. I loved the show and its theme song so much, that I decided it was worth giving the album a try.

For a debut album by a nineteen-year-old, "Jordan's Sister" is a remarkably mature work, and sees Kendall Payne following in the finest singer-songwriter tradition of her contemporaries like Paula Cole, Joan Osborne, and Sheryl Crow. Sure, she's got an assist from veteran, award-winning producer Ron Aniello, but listening to this album, one can easily get the impression that she probably didn't need his help. Just check out the tuneful, upbeat tracks "Hollywood", "Closer To Myself", and "It's Not The Time", or the beautiful, delicate ballads like "Honest", "On My Bones", and "Wonderland".

The album may not be perfect -- her lyrics are often straightforward instead of subtle, and can therefore tend to seem out-of-place alongside such keenly composed melodies -- and her strong religious faith occasionally forces its way into the songs, and I much prefer my music to stay cleanly secular -- but the songs as a whole are catchy and enjoyable enough that I can look past these arguable shortcomings. This was Ms. Payne's only major-label release, but she's kept recording on independent labels since then, her fourth and most recent album appearing in 2009.

Buy it digitally on iTunes
Buy it on CD from Amazon

Welcome To The 24th Century

Holy crap! Holy crap! Did you know about this? I didn't until yesterday! Holy crap!! If I'd known about this earlier, I wouldn't have bought the last dozen or so CDs I did buy (well, not necessarily the last consecutive dozen, but a dozen) and would have saved up for this instead! But I still bought it anyway, 'cause I just gotta have it. Seriously, I honestly don't know how I would be able to go on living without having this in my possession as soon as humanly possible. Want to know what it is? Maybe you'd better sit down, 'cause I myself had a geek-out on a transphasic level when I found out about this.

It's a limited-edition box set of not four, not six ... no, not even eight ... no, keep going ... would you believe a whopping 14 -- yes -- FOURTEEN CDs jam-packed with never-before-released music from dozens of episodes of "Star Trek: The Next Generation"! Devoted solely to the work of Ron Jones, who traded off scoring duties with Dennis McCarthy through the first four seasons of "TNG", "Star Trek: The Next Generation -- The Ron Jones Project" includes nearly every note written and recorded for 42 of the series' first 94 episodes (the score for "The Best of Both Worlds" two-parter is already available on the GNP Crescendo label, so just some bonus tracks from it are included here) plus numerous outtakes, as well as a disc devoted to his work for a pair of "Trek" video games released later.

The panicked evacuation of the Enterprise in "11001001" ... the tearful farewell of Tasha Yar in "Skin of Evil" ... the appearance of the Romulans in "The Neutral Zone" ... Riker's escape from the Mintakans in "Who Watches The Watchers" ... the terrorist attack on the ship in "The High Ground" ... Lal's tragic demise in "The Offspring" ... the perilous journey across the arid wasteland in "Final Mission" ... they're all cues that I've been waiting 20 years to hear unobscured by dialogue and sound effects, and now's my chance! With this doozy of a package being limited to a production run of just 5,000, I couldn't waste any time in seizing the opportunity to add it to my collection, since the price is certain to only start going up on the aftermarket.

Widely regarded as the best composer that "Star Trek: The Next Generation" ever had, Ron Jones was known for delivering sweeping, attention-grabbing, feature-film-worthy scores for countless episodes. The problem was that "TNG"'s producers didn't want attention-grabbing music; they wanted the episodes' scores to lay quietly in the background. So after almost four full years of flying in the face of the producers' demands, Jones was fired and replaced by Jay Chattaway (quite a dandy composer in his own right, to give credit where it's due). But I always thought the "Trek" producers were not only making their episodes just a bit less memorable by taming down the music, but they were also forsaking a perfectly good merchandising outlet. Fans have been clamoring for Ron Jones' scores to be commercially available for years, and I have to wonder how many CD sales they missed out on by missing that opportunity and never licensing retail releases until all these years later.

If you can't live without it, like I couldn't, this incomparably amazing Trek-a-thon of music will set you back a healthy $150 (plus shipping), but at 14 CDs that ends up coming out to less than $11 per disc, which is a great price, especially for something that's a limited-edition collectible like this. It's available for purchase now at SAE and at Intrada, and further information is available from the Film Score Monthly website (and thanks to them for the links to the audio clips!). A friend of mine has all but challenged me to bundle it up in giftwrap when it arrives and not open it until Christmas morning ... but that's gonna be a really tough test of my will.

A. J. McLean

A. J. McLEAN
"HAVE IT ALL"
(Avex/Japan, 2010)


As far as his image and appearance are concerned, I never cared much for A. J. McLean, but I've always thought he had one of the best voices out of all the Backstreet Boys. So I was understandably pleased when I found out that he had released a solo album while I wasn't looking, and I didn't waste a whole lot of time in getting around to buying myself a copy.

By and large, A. J. McLean's solo debut sticks fairly close to the core Backstreet Boys sound: a mix of sweeping pop balladry ("London", "I Hate It When You're Gone") and energetic electro-tinged blue-eyed R&B ("Teenage Wildlife", "What It Do"), with a bit more of a leaning toward the latter. But at the same time, he does put just enough of his own mark on this set to make it unique. A. J. gets his Prince on with "Gorgeous", puts out a heartwrenching piano ballad on "Sincerely Yours", lays down a first-class Motown groove with "Love Crazy", and gives an entertaining try at a cross between Billy Joel and Gavin deGraw on the cheeky "I Quit".

As if that isn't enough, this album is a fine showcase of A. J.'s songwriting talents, since there isn't a song on it that he didn't have a hand in -- and, interestingly, two were co-written with one-time rival boyband singer-turned-solo-artist (and fellow two-initials-for-a-first-name guy) J. C. Chasez. I am a bit puzzled as to why this album wasn't released in the U.S., since I would have thought the domestic BSB audience is still strong enough to support one more of its members' side projects. But at any rate, with a debut this good, I sure hope this isn't the last we hear from a solo A. J.

Buy it on CD from Amazon

The Track 4 Hypothesis

Allow me to introduce you to "The Track 4 Hypothesis". A friend of mine once told me that, when he browses or shops for music, he pays particular attention to the fourth song of an album when checking out audio clips. It seems to have been a reliable gauge for him; a good track 4 bodes well for the rest of the disc. Ever since he shared this strategy with me, I've been tempted to put it to the test ... and now, some two years later, I've finally remembered to.

As it turns out, it's not an entirely half-baked theory. The other evening I perused my CD collection, surveying quite a few of my favorite albums and several other titles at random, to see just which songs lay in that normally unremarkable position in the track list. Many of the ones I found were more-or-less representative of the albums they're on, but I was pleasantly surprised to see how many favorite songs of mine just happen to reside on track 4. Among the most noteworthy, in no particular order:

• "Everything We Are", on The Shore's self-titled album
• "Boy Meets Girl", from Bleu's album "A Watched Pot"
• "Racing", Erik Faber's duet with Marte Wulff on his album "Passages"
• "Don't Say Sarah", that scrumptiously Hall-&-Oates-y tune on Wave's album "State of Mind"
• "Ghosts In My Machine", from Annie Lennox's album "Songs of Mass Destruction"
• "I Gotta Move", on Ben Kweller's self-titled album
• "Over You", by Matt Wertz on his album "Everything In Between"
• "It's Gotta Be You", that should-have-been-a-single on Backstreet Boys' opus "Millennium"
• "You Make Me", one of my all-time favorite "Weird Al" Yankovic tracks from his "Even Worse" album
• "That Girl", perhaps the best song on McFly's debut "Room On The 3rd Floor"

There are more, but I figure ten examples was more than enough. (I could have listed Ben Lee's "Catch My Disease" off his album "Awake Is The New Sleep", but since nearly every song on that album is great, finding a good one on track 4 was pretty-much a given.)

Of course, every rule has its exceptions, so there were a few albums I came across from which I can remember most of the songs, but in which case track 4 ended up being one of the forgettable ones (but not necessarily one of the worst), such as:

• "Tail of the Sun", on Stroke 9's album "Nasty Little Thoughts"
• "Kettle's On", from The Feeling's debut album "Twelve Stops And Home"
• "Save The Day", on Train's album "My Private Nation"

And then there were the ones that are memorable, but only for how unimpressive they were compared to the brilliance of the rest of the album:

• "Hollywood's Not America", from Ferras' album "Aliens & Rainbows"
• "Curly's Train", one of the less-appealing George Huntley penned songs by The Connells from their album "Still Life"
• "I'll Sue Ya", "Weird Al" Yankovic's bland nu-metal style parody on his album "Straight Outta Lynwood"
• "Just Got Paid", one of the duller gems (and one of two covers) on NSYNC's tour-de-force "No Strings Attached"

... and I've saved for last the most stunning example of all ...

• "Always In My Heart", the least impressive track by far on my favorite album ever, The Moffatts' "Submodalities"

So, the conclusion I've reached is that my friend's theory is pretty sound (no pun intended), as the average or outstanding examples seem to significantly outweigh the bad. I'm not sure if it'll change my shopping habits or not -- I usually take the time to sample as many sound clips of an album as I can before making a decision on whether or not to buy a title -- but I might end up paying a bit more attention to what's on track 4 than I used to.

David Archuleta

DAVID ARCHULETA
"THE OTHER SIDE OF DOWN"
(Jive, 2010)


"I've always been your token nice guy," sings David Archuleta on the track "Stomping The Roses", from his sophomore studio album "The Other Side of Down". That's not any great revelation to those of us who have followed the terminally adorable kid during and since his rise to runner-up of "American Idol" season 7. So it also shouldn't surprise us that there isn't any bitter heartache or sullen melancholy to drag down the mood of his latest release; instead, as with his debut, it's mostly either lightly wistful tunes about young love or optimistic anthems about the good things in life. But thankfully, none of the tracks are as off-puttingly adolescent as his first post-"Idol" single, "Crush".

He is still just nineteen years old, though, and with his boy-next-door demeanor and the sweetly husky voice we all fell in love with two years ago both still intact, it would seem wrong to expect any bitter heartache or sullen melancholy out of him quite yet. David has, however, jumped with both feet into the songwriting process, having co-written all but two of this album's songs, and just like he wowed us with his vocals, these first writing efforts show just as much potential. Some of my favorite tracks here are the lighter-than-air toe-tapper "Elevator", the soaring ballad "Parachutes And Airplanes", the soul-searching "Who I Am", and the rocking "Stomping The Roses" (co-written by Bryce Avary, better known by his artist name The Rocket Summer). The only thing I don't care for is the overuse of wordless refrains in the choruses of most of the songs on the first half of this album ... a trend whose popularity I trace back to (or, more to the point, blame on) Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber.

Most "Idol" artists follow a pattern in their album progression -- the first album is heavily commercial, professionally written and produced; the second is a comfortable step away, with a good amount of the singer's own input, but still very similar to their debut; and usually by the third album, the artist is able to deliver a sound that is fully of their own choosing, cutting the "Idol" strings once and for all. What do I hope to see David Archuleta do on his third album? By then he should be ready to move away from the white-boy-R&B that this album is peppered with, and more toward a pop or pop-rock style. Seeing as how he plays piano, he could easily take after Daniel Powter or Gavin deGraw.

Buy it digitally on iTunes
Buy it on CD from Amazon

Babies Got Back ... Covers!

I've probably touched before on why I enjoy CDs more than MP3s. Mostly what it comes down to is the tangibility, the "realness", of them. A digital music file isn't something I can hold in my hands and appreciate, or become sentimentally attached to and pull off the shelf to look at fondly several years later, or (not that I necessarily have this in mind when I shop) trade in for a little store credit should I lose interest in it at some point. Even better, my CDs won't vanish into thin air if my computer's hard drive ever crashes or my iPod gets lost or stolen. Not to mention the thrill of the hunt, the rush of the catch, and the pride of owning a hard-to-find title that often come with anything of a collectible nature -- and I do consider my CD library a "collection".

Another reason I like CDs is for their sometimes beautiful, sometimes provocative, sometimes amusing front cover art -- and their often underappreciated or flat-out unappreciated back covers. I just recently was reminded of this while I was consolidating some of my home-burned discs from separate, single-disc jewelcases into the space-saving double-disc cases -- a chore which, more than coincidentally, went hand-in-hand with re-designing said covers, which is just as fun a part of the mix-making process for me as assembling the track lists and burning the discs. I was about to consolidate one particular series of homemade compilations (now numbering eight volumes, so it'd save a fair little chunk of real-estate), but looking at the back covers I joyously toiled over so many moons ago, I couldn't bring myself to get rid of them.

Which brings me to the reason for this post: an ode of sorts to the rear cover art of compact discs. While their main purpose is of course to provide the track listing for the CD, perhaps in an attractive font and with a picture of some sort for a backdrop, the more imaginative designs take it to the next level by giving the track listing an interesting visual twist, or maybe even going so far as to make it a work of art in itself. A few of the more appealing designs I've come across in recent years include:

• NSYNC's "No Strings Attached", which carries over the carnival-like motif from the front cover by displaying each song's name in a variety of whimsically ornate typefaces ...

• Duran Duran's "Wedding Album", which stylized the title of each track to look like labels or clipped-out newspaper headlines ...

• Landon Pigg's debut album, "LP", in which the artist laid out a grid and gave each song title the "Pictionary" treatment ...

• Johnny Mathis' latest release, "Let It Be Me: Mathis In Nashville", featuring a beautifully nostalgic design of textured block letters in various heights, weights, and colors ...

• and (if I may be permitted to toot my own horn) the back cover design of my own that I'm perhaps most proud of, Volume 2 in my "I Love Music" series, made to look like the selection board on an old-fashioned jukebox, complete with a charmingly imperfect manual-typewriter look to the font.
  

Obviously, when I compact two or more discs into one jewelcase, it means twice as many songs to list, so I have to make far more efficient use of space in the layout, usually requiring me to eliminate my unique, "panoramic" designs in favor of the simplified, columnar listings that are my more practical fallback scheme. That's not to say that less artistic designs are any less appealing; sometimes the old saying "less is more" is totally true. Track listings can be laid out in neatly arranged columns or in the more flexible method of paragraphs, and they can be written in a minimalist sans-serif, a formal serif, or a casual script font.

But anything, in my opinion, is better than the cold, unartistic, bland and lifeless "system" font in which the track listings appear for each and every album in each and every user's iTunes library ... all of them exactly the same. Sure, iTunes gives us a JPG image of the album's front cover art (or we have to go hunt for it on the web ourselves), but that's only half the artwork. The back covers are oftentimes just as fun to look at as the front covers, because they're part of the graphic designer's vision ... and they're one of the things I'd miss most in a world without CDs.

Teddy Geiger

TEDDY GEIGER
"UNDERAGE THINKING"
(Columbia, 2006)


As big a Teddy Geiger fan as I am, I didn't bother checking out the 2008 movie he starred in, "The Rocker", until last night. Turns out it's a pretty decent movie, and Teddy a pretty decent actor ... and, of course, that is what prompted me to spotlight his major-label debut album today. I still remember being instantly impressed with this album back when it was released, and hoping that enough people would see beyond his "pretty-boy" exterior and his tender age to recognize the genuine talent he possessed.

From the dynamic debut single "For You I Will" and the earthy ballad "Thinking Underage", through the energetic "Air Dry" and soaring "Seven Days Without You", to the blue-eyed-soul bounce of "Possibilities" and the subdued anthem "Gentlemen", Teddy Geiger's softly raspy voice -- a pleasing blend of John Mayer and Ryan Cabrera -- and his all-American musical style -- which can at times sound as big-city as Billy Joel or as small-town as John Mellencamp -- never cease to charm and endear the listener. The beauty of Teddy Geiger is that he can be sweet without being saccharine, and he can be earnest without being naive ... which is tough for a boy of 17 to pull off.

The initial, March 2006, release of "Underage Thinking" was apparently enough of a success that Columbia issued a deluxe edition, with bonus tracks and an accompanying DVD, in October of the same year. I don't know if it was disappointing sales of the deluxe version (When will they learn that only the most die-hard fans will be willing to buy an album twice?!?) that caused Columbia to drop him from their roster, or if lackluster performance of the "Rocker" soundtrack (I was disappointed in it myself ... though the songs were sung by Teddy, they weren't written by him, and as such they lacked any real charm.) was to blame, but I've been left hanging ever since, hoping to see another album from him. Maybe I will ... eventually.

Buy it digitally on iTunes
Buy it on CD from Amazon

The La's

THE LA'S
"THE LA'S (DELUXE EDITION)"
(Universal, 2008)


I was about to write a review that slathered on the superlatives and waxed snobbish about how anybody who didn't recognize how great this album is just can't truly call themselves a music fan ... but then I realized I'd be a bit of a hypocrite if I did. I'm actually a relative newcomer to The La's, at least as a serious listener. I'd had the cassette of this album back in the day, but didn't listen to it very much, and I might have picked up the CD once since then as an afterthought (so much of an afterthought that I still can't be sure I did) ... but when I found the recently released, 2-disc deluxe edition of the album at Rhino Records a few weeks ago, I finally decided I had to give them my full attention. I could now kick myself repeatedly for taking two whole decades to do so.

Few things in this world break my heart more than when an artist releases a truly brilliant album that could justifiably and without hyperbole be called a "masterpiece" -- and then abruptly ceases to exist as a recording artist. In the case of British jangle-power-pop band The La's, it was (according to the liner notes in this package by Ian Harrison) the intense perfectionism and arguable eccentricity of frontman Lee Mavers that all but doomed their discography to only one album, which itself was almost never released at all. This deluxe package contains both the original release of the album, produced by Steve Lillywhite; and an earlier, nearly-lost version, produced by Mike Hedges but aborted by Mavers.

Everyone has heard "There She Goes", one of the biggest singles of the early '90s, but that's hardly all this album has going for it. The irresistibly infectious and utterly hummable nature of each and every track make it little wonder that dozens of current bands cite The La's as an influence. There are so many heavenly songs on this damn-near-perfect album that I can't hope to single out any. In any sane world, this album would have been enough to keep this band from being consigned to the one-hit-wonder status that they now seem to forever be entombed in. Sigh ... so much for not slathering on the superlatives ... but once you hear this album, you'll understand.

Buy the deluxe edition digitally on iTunes
Buy the standard edition digitally on iTunes
Buy the deluxe edition on CD from Amazon
Buy the standard edition on CD from Amazon

The Big Reveal...

Hey, look! It's the new judges lineup on "American I..."

















...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

from the bookshelf: Record Store Days

I'll admit that I'm not much of a reader, but I've come across a handful of great books about music lately, so I figured I should chip away a bit at this blog's overwhelming dominance on audio and occasionally mention a book I think y'all might like. Here comes the first one...

"RECORD STORE DAYS: FROM VINYL TO DIGITAL AND BACK AGAIN"
by GARY CALAMAR and PHIL GALLO
(Sterling Publishing, 2010)


I was browsing the neighborhood B&N one day, idling in the aisle and talking on my cellphone -- something I almost never do in a store but maybe twice a year -- when I ended my call, nonchalantly glanced to my left, and saw this book staring me in the face. After thumbing through it for less than a minute, I knew I absolutely had to have it. Hey, a thick, attractive hardcover book about music stores, and for only twenty bucks? How could I not snap it up? It took me a couple months to finish reading it (mostly 'cause I'm not in the habit of regularly picking up a book, so I kept forgetting it was there), but I immensely loved every page of it.

"Record Store Days", by Gary Calamar and Phil Gallo, is an illustrated history of how changes over the years in technology, business, and culture, have shaped the evolution of American recorded music retailers, from their beginnings alongside the birth of the phonographic industry a century ago, through their grassroots groundswell and explosion into the mainstream in the '60s and '70s, up to the recent collapse of the mega-stores and the die-off of independents that brought about the creation of Record Store Day, the annual celebration that has galvanized the tenacity between the remaining retailers and their fiercely loyal customers.

What it might lack in atmospheric and enthralling narrative -- though it's well-structured by chapter and does share plenty of commentary and insight by a multitude of artists, record label insiders, and record retail veterans, it reads kind-of like a history textbook -- it makes up for in its snappy layout, which boasts hundreds of rare, exciting, and revealing black-and-white and full-color photographs, as well as some entertaining sidebars throughout. It features a foreword by R.E.M.'s Peter Buck (who, like many musicians, worked in a record store in his youth), and regularly mentions some of the most beloved and influential stores in the country, past and present ... a few of which I've patronized, which makes it all the more fun.

So, whether you're old enough to remember the glory days of record stores, or young enough to not get what all the fuss over them is about, whatever method you use to shop for and discover music, chances are this book will either re-kindle an appreciation for the past, or make you long to dip your toes into a world you might never have explored before ... a world that, in my opinion, every music lover should.

Hanson

HANSON
"SHOUT IT OUT"
(3CG, 2010)


Hanson really had me worried with this one. Everything I'd read about "Shout It Out" suggested I'd love it, so I hurriedly bought it when it was released a few months back, eagerly popped it in and listened ... and for the first time, I came away from a Hanson album underwhelmed. Did the purely incidental fact that they're married and are starting families (consequently bringing attention to the fact that they're getting older) make the album's sound -- decidedly of a more youthful pop bent than pretty much every album since their debut -- seem forced? Because of my nonplused reaction the album went unheard, sitting on my shelf, for several weeks ... until a few days ago. What a difference a month or so makes!

Apparently it just needed time to sink in ... not just the album's subtle charms, but also the realization that musicians don't always need to act their age. Indeed, with the weighty themes and moody textures they gravitated toward on "This Time Around" and "The Walk", and even to a lesser degree on "Underneath", one could argue that it's about time they let loose again. But then, this is Hanson we're talking about, and with the sophisticated sense of melody and structure they've always had and have only refined over the years, they can only make themselves sound so young anymore. The liberal use of a horn section helps, and what says "fun" more than adding a cowbell to the percussion? As if to illustrate the two extremes of the album, my favorites happen to be the syncopated pseudo-Motown bouncer "Give a Little" on the youthful side, and the sumptuously gospel-ish love song "Kiss Me When You Come Home" on the grown-up end. And "Voice In The Chorus" is one of the best anthems I've heard in quite a little while.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: if you dismissed Hanson as a bubble-gum pop act with their first album and the ubiquitous single "MMMBop" and haven't given them a second thought, you really don't know what you've been missing in the twelve(!) years since. Hanson have yet to fail in delivering a thoroughly listenable album, or in impressing me with their songwriting skills and musicianship, so take it from me: they deserve a listen.

Buy it digitally on iTunes
Buy it on CD from Amazon

Thomas Ian Nicholas

THOMAS IAN NICHOLAS
"WITHOUT WARNING"
(self-released, 2007)


Like most everyone else, I'm always skeptical when I see someone known for his or her acting try their hand at music by releasing an album (emphasis on the word "try"). That's why I hesitated buying this CD when I saw it in the Amoeba racks on my previous visit a couple of years ago, and why I ended up being so pleasantly surprised after listening to it. It turns out that Thomas Ian Nicholas (most notable for his roles in such films as "Rookie of the Year" and the "American Pie" movies) is a pretty darn decent musician and singer, too. Mind you, he doesn't break any new ground or particularly stand out as a musician, but that certainly doesn't mean this album isn't worth listening to.

On his debut "Without Warning", Nicholas delivers a set full of well-written and well-played songs in the tried and true tradition of the pop-rock-oriented "everyman" singer-songwriter. He rocks out like Springsteen on the opener "Wasting My Time", carries a mellower Mellencamp vibe on "Frequency", reminds me a bit of Billy Joel on "How Does It Feel", and gets all John Mayer sensitive on "Cry While Smiling". That's not to say he's entirely unoriginal; one can tell he's giving an honest effort to find his own voice, and even though he doesn't quite accomplish the goal on this album, his obvious potential keeps us interested and assures us that he'll get there in good time.

In my opinion, this album is good enough that it could have been released on a major label. Nicholas is a low-enough-profile actor that he probably would have avoided the "wannabe" stigma that (often justifiably) haunts bigger celebrities with recording-artist aspirations -- but it's probably just as well that he chose the independent route to avoid any questions that he might have used his notoriety to "buy" a major label contract. Apparently I hit something of a stroke of luck, finding this CD on the racks. I've been looking on the web and can only find it in digital form everywhere except on Nicholas' official site ... where, incidentally, his band's latest album is now available (which I actually didn't know until after I had decided to write this post).

Buy it digitally on iTunes
Buy it digitally on Amazon

Out With The Old...

This week I said goodbye to a dear and cherished companion. We had a valued and mutually fulfilling relationship that lasted more than four years. I'll never forget our countless strolls in the sun together, our huddling close under the umbrella in the harsh winter weather, or those cozy times alone when there was nothing else to do because the power went out. She was always there to brighten my days and whisper lovely things in my ear. But your heart need not be heavy, because our breakup isn't a sad one. She's still happy and healthy despite having outlived her usefulness, and was even graciously understanding when she realized I had found a more attractive, intuitive, and versatile model to replace her.

Okay, I hope by now that you realize I'm not talking about a person, but rather about a music player ... specifically, my old Sony NetMD player. When I first looked at MiniDisc players, I was quite fascinated by the concept of being able to carry around five CDs worth of music on a gizmo that was less than half the size of my CD player. Purely digital MP3 players (the MiniDisc used a "magneto-optical" storage system) were a very new thing at that point, and since it was still a year or so before I really dove headfirst into music obsession, an iPod would have been overkill for me -- not to mention the fact that at the time I didn't have a computer that could support iTunes (let alone a bank account that could support buying an iPod).

The NetMD MiniDisc players were the next best thing to the iPod. Users had a choice of two software programs which came along with the player. One was kind-of like iTunes in that you could rip your CDs to your hard drive and then "check" them into or out of a MiniDisc (this odd system was designed to limit copying of any given MP3 file), but I opted for the simpler approach of just putting my CDs in and ripping them one by one directly to the MiniDisc. It was a lot slower than iTunes, and not nearly as elegant a method ... plus, if you only had a limited number of MiniDiscs at your disposal, you had to get out the CD and load it all over again if you had erased the MiniDisc it was on previously.

For its time, it was quite handy and versatile, even though the technology's shortcomings are evident now. MiniDiscs were like CDs in that you could customize their contents and instantly cue up whatever track you wanted; they were like CD-RWs in that you could record, erase, and re-record thousands of times; and they were like 3.5" floppy discs in how they looked and functioned -- the disc was encased in a rugged plastic housing with a sliding aluminum shutter through which the player read the media. Don't get me wrong ... I totally love my iPod and can't imagine getting along without one, but there was something about that clunky old system that I look back on fondly and will even miss in a way. I hope it's happy with its new owner, 'cause for as well as it served me over the years, it deserves to be.
















Oh, by the way ... how do you like my new header graphic? Spiffy, eh?

Steve Appleton

STEVE APPLETON
"WHEN THE SUN COMES UP"
(Sony UK, 2009)


Okay, so I'm flipping through the used CD racks in Amoeba and I come across this Steve Appleton guy. I've never heard of him before, but the cover's got the whole Ryan Cabrera "Take It All Away" thing going on, it's a Japanese import with 17 tracks on it, and it's only $4.99, so I decide to take a chance and stick it in my basket. I shudder to think that I almost got rid of it along with the three or four other items I yanked in my last-minute pre-checkout basket thinning, because I can now confidently call this the biggest and best coup I scored on my whole vacation ... not just because it's become one of my favorite purchases of the year, but also because of how spendy the Japanese version of this CD can get online, unless one finds a sleeper lot on eBay.

Have you ever wondered what a cross between Jason Mraz and Daniel Bedingfield might sound like? Wonder no more. Steve Appleton is a pop singer-songwriter who's got the gift for a killer hook and the agile lyrical delivery of Jason Mraz (if not necessarily his gift for wordplay), and a bit of a vocal resemblance to Daniel Bedingfield. Not only that, but Appleton's song stylings strike a fun and interesting balance between the easy-going semi-folksy pop of Mraz and the drum-and-bass dance beats of Bedingfield. I honestly can't begin to name my favorite songs here, because they keep changing. But at the moment I'm particularly keen on "Seeing Stars", "Funky Joe's" (can't pass up a good saxophone!) and the endlessly hooky title track. Most of the album is upbeat, but Steve shows his softer side toward the end of the album with the jazzy "London, Tokyo, Paris" and the Paul Simon-ish "Seems a Little". And topping it all off is how Steve's adorable British accent comes through regularly in the lyrics.

These are the kinds of things I totally live for -- when an album I pick up on a whim, never even having heard of the artist, ends up becoming one of my favorites ... how can I not love the serendipity of it all? By the way, don't let the forementioned cover resemblance to Ryan Cabrera scare you away; lest you think this is some hack producer's effort to slick-up a cute young blond troubadour for teeny-bopper radio popularity, it should be noted that Steve Appleton wrote, performed, and produced the entire album himself. The UK version of the album is pretty easy to come by, so even though the two Japan-only bonus tracks are worth having, the rest of the album definitely shouldn't be passed up. A lot of people would enjoy this ... and I can think of one person in particular!

Buy the CD on Amazon UK

The Puppini Sisters

THE PUPPINI SISTERS
"THE RISE & FALL OF RUBY WOO"
(Verve, 2007)


I've always had a passing interest in "close-harmony" vocal groups of the '40s like The Andrews Sisters, so when I saw the debut album by The Puppini Sisters as I was passing by the racks in a local store a few months ago, I made a mental note to check them out online when I got home. I was intrigued right away, but my want list was long enough that I put off buying either of their albums until I was on vacation last month ... and I came home with both their debut, "Betcha Bottom Dollar", and this, their sophomore release.

Their first album was made up entirely of cover tunes, some of them faithfully remade period classics by their progenitors like The Chordettes, The Ink Spots, and of course The Andrews Sisters, and some of them retro takes on more contemporary tunes such as Blondie's "Heart of Glass", Kate Bush's "Wuthering Heights", and Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive". But this time around they've thrown five self-penned songs into the mix, while at the same time taking more interesting liberties with the classic tracks. The Duke Ellington chestnut "It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing" starts out with its traditional arrangement, but halfway through it slows down into a slinky, seductive sway that draws the listener's interest right in. The country-bluesy "Jilted", the samba-like shuffler "Soho Nights" (with gorgeous vocal scattery), and the hauntingly beautiful waltz "And She Sang" show off the ladies' songwriting and arranging skills wonderfully, not to mention fitting in completely naturally with all the cover songs. Beyoncé's "Crazy In Love" and Barry Manilow's "Could It Be Magic" get the Puppini treatment so well that anyone who isn't the wiser would almost assume they were '40s tunes.

The only tune that (in my opinion) doesn't really work here is "Walk Like An Egyptian" -- perhaps the "oh-eh-oh" vocals being kept so close to their original arrangement are what break the deal for me; rearranging them into the close-harmony style like the rest of the vocals would have made the song more interesting. But that's a small complaint since the rest of this album, as well as their first one, are so darn enjoyable. Word has it that the trio of Marcella Puppini, Kate Mullins, and Stephanie O'Brien will be filling their next album with all-original tunes, and I for one am already eagerly looking forward to it.

Buy it digitally from iTunes
Buy it on CD from Amazon

a Blast(er) From The Past

This might entertain you. While visiting with my sister and brother-in-law during vacation, she invited me to borrow a boombox from their office so I could listen to some of the CDs I had just bought. Well, imagine my surprise when the boombox in question struck me as looking strangely familiar ... it turned out to be one I used to own! If I remember correctly, it was actually the first device I had ever bought that was capable of playing CDs ... at least the date of manufacture stamped on its backside (November 1989) seems to confirm that presumption.















It was dusty, scuffed, and tired-looking, but to my surprise that old JVC beast sprang to life as nimbly as I remember it doing back in the day, and played CD after CD without the slightest glitch. Sure, the sound was a bit tinny, as those players couldn't help but be, but there wasn't any of the hum or crackling or distortion in either of the speakers that the machine's condition made me expect to hear. After twenty years, a good 16 of them under what I suspect was decidedly less TLC than I give my electronics, it still runs perfectly. I'd like to see the consumer electronics they manufacture nowadays stand the test of time so well.

Oh, and on a totally unrelated note, I thought you might want to know that I spent a recent evening updating all the links that had gotten broken when I changed my blog's URL a year and a half ago. I know, I know, it's about time, right? Well, it was just one of those things I'd never gotten around to. All the MP3 links, most of the YouTube videos, and many of the pictures I posted back in the day are dead or gone, but at least you can navigate to other articles in my blog.

JJ72

JJ72
"I TO SKY"
(Lakota, 2002)


Before I go any further, let me say in no uncertain terms that JJ72 are not for everyone. Indeed, with their often cryptic lyrics and the at-first startlingly androgynous voice of lead singer Mark Greaney, this Irish rock band is definitely an acquired taste. You see, several years ago, shortly after their self-titled debut came out, I picked it up on a whim and listened to it several times before eventually trading it in; it had grown on me some, but apparently not quite enough. But while in one of the half-dozen or so music stores I visited on vacation a few weeks back, I picked it up (again on a whim), and something about its familiarity struck a chord with me, prompting me to seek out their 2002 follow-up album as well.

While their debut was largely made up of subdued semi-balladry not unlike early Coldplay, the trio boldened and broadened their sound for their sophomore release, with their fuzzier guitars, thicker bass and heavier drums regularly approaching U2's more arena-like moments. The energetic songs "Always And Forever", "Formulae", and "7th Wave" should appeal to anyone with a taste for early- to mid-'80s Brit-rock like Big Country and the forementioned U2, or even their new-millennium aural descendants like Blur and Travis. Greaney's falsetto might seem odd in the rockier numbers, but it's right at home on the ballads such as "Brother Sleep" and the compellingly atmospheric tracks like "Sinking".

One of the problems with JJ72's first album was that a few of their songs tended to sound the same -- not just similar, but actually borrowing from each other's melodies at points -- and those unfamiliar with the band might come away from this album having the same feeling, but trust me that it's not nearly as much of a problem here. (The track "City" is worth hearing ... it's kind-of like a Radiohead/Keane mash-up.) Neither of JJ72's albums are perfect, but I've come to appreciate them and the band despite their idiosyncrasies. Just remember that, if you do decide to give them a try, you'll need to also give them some time to sink in.

Buy their first album digitally on iTunes
Buy "I To Sky" on CD from Amazon

Top Of The Shops

I'm back from vacation ... and boy howdy, did I have some fun!! In fact, as far as my credit card goes, I probably had a little too much fun ... but I'd been behaving myself over the last several months, so you could say I was entitled. I'll probably be sharing some of my favorite new acquisitions with you in the coming weeks (gonna try and get back to at least a semi-regular posting schedule ... but, as usual, I can't make any promises), but for now I thought I'd share with you some of the amazing stores I visited on my travels. Now, some people like stores based on the ambience or the friendliness and forthcomingness of the staff (with regard to exposing their customers to artists they might not have known about before), but what I look for when I go into a store is the selection. I usually have oddball stuff and imports on my want list, so the more stock a store has, the more likely I am to find what I'm looking for (or, all too often, a lot of stuff I wasn't looking for). Here are some of my new favorite stores in California:

Rasputin Music (6623 Pacific Ave., Stockton) -- Rasputin is a chain of nine (and counting) stores stretching from Vallejo to Fresno, but they're still independent of the corporate machine. I'd never been in one before, but I had to check out the Stockton location, which is housed in what used to be a Tower Records, and that gives you an idea of how much square footage they have. The selection really impressed me ... they have two big racks of 50-cent CDs on the wall, a whole aisle of budget CDs ($5 and less), and a massive main section, divided up into nearly every genre imaginable. I only had a little over an hour to spend in the store, and I could have spent twice that long and still not seen everything. I've been thinking about taking a weekend trip down to Berkeley to visit their Amoeba and Rasputin locations, and now I'm all the more eager to do so. If you live in Northern California or are planning to visit or even just pass through, pencil this one in.

Rhino Records (235 Yale Ave., Claremont) and Mad Platter (1223 University Ave. #160, Riverside) -- Long before the Rhino label was bought out by Warner Bros. Records in the '90s, they also ran this store, which has led to the erroneous impression that it's corporate-owned; in fact, Rhino sold this store way back in 1981, and it's been independent ever since. The owners opened a sister store, the Mad Platter, later on in the '80s. I'd been into Rhino a couple of times before, but hadn't visited Mad Platter until this trip. They're not the biggest stores, and they don't even have the biggest selection, but the racks are packed plenty full and you'll always find some obscure item that you forgot you were looking for or didn't even know existed, and sometimes at a really good price, so that makes both of these stores a whole lot of fun to go into.

Record City (3757 6th Ave., San Diego) -- Another store I hadn't seen or even known about until this visit, Record City is almost deceptively small-looking from the outside, and is hidden on a side street in the Hillcrest area of San Diego. But inside is an impressive selection of CDs, with just as much vinyl occupying the other half of the store. Again, not the best selection in the world, but I found a few things not on my list that I just couldn't resist picking up -- especially since half my purchases came from the dollar section! It's a good enough shop that it's now on my list of regular stops in San Diego.

Amoeba Music (6400 Sunset Blvd. [at Cahuenga Blvd.], Hollywood) -- This is the granddaddy of them all ... nearly a whole city block of CDs and records of every imaginable genre and subgenre, and an upstairs crammed with DVDs (and even VHS tapes!). I must have had my expectations a bit high, because I didn't find as much on my list here this time as I hoped to, but I still came away with a whole bag full of stuff that came to nearly $150 (after $30 credit for the bag of CDs I took in for trade). It'd be easy to spend half a day in this store, and it's an absolute must stop for any music fan, no doubt about it. They also have locations in San Francisco and Berkeley, so you don't have to be in the L.A. area to get The Amoeba Experience.

Best of all: every one of these stores is independently owned and operated, so you can be assured that by patronizing these fine businesses you're helping to keep "the little guys" in business.

Matt Morris

MATT MORRIS
"WHEN EVERYTHING BREAKS OPEN"
(Tenman/Interscope, 2010)


Just when I was starting to give up hope of finding anything unique and remarkable in music this year (one of a few reasons why this blog has been so inactive lately), along comes singer-songwriter Matt Morris and his debut album, "When Everything Breaks Open". Since it's produced by Justin Timberlake and Charlie Sexton, it stands to reason that the album would sound like a blend of the contemporary R&B stylings of the former and the semi-bluesy folk-rock of the latter ... which it more-or-less does, but such a simple comparison would sell this album short.

I love artists like Matt Morris, who seem to effortlessly weave from one style of music into another from track to track, but still manage to make their albums sound like a cohesive whole. One moment, he's laying down a funky, layered, R&B-ish jam on "Don't You Dare", then he gets his Jason Mraz on with "Money". A bit later, he wraps a political statement in wry humor on "The Un-American", then breaks for the tender acoustic ballad "Let It Go", only to kick it into high gear once again with the foot-tapping "You Do It For Me". And just wait until you hear the sumptuously soulful closer, "Eternity".

This album was released independently back in January, but somehow I missed it until it was picked up for wider release by Interscope earlier this month. I'm just glad I finally caught wind of it and let it work its charms on me. This album is on its way to being my favorite of the year, and at this rate Matt Morris just might become one of my new favorite artists.

Buy it digitally from iTunes
Buy it on CD from Amazon

Come On Kid

Hey! Guess what!?! While browsing Google for news on "American Idol"'s hunt for a possible successor to Simon Cowell, I stumbled upon news that I'd been waiting so long for that I'd almost given up on ... almost. But lo and behold ... JOSIAH LEMING'S NEW ALBUM COMES OUT ON SEPTEMBER 14TH!!!!

A Long Time Ago, In a CD Box Set Far, Far Away...

Well, here I go again ... nothing reeks of laziness more than writing one post that will update two blogs at the same time. Well, maybe waiting a freakin' month to make said post is just as lazy. But I warned you not too long ago that this blog was probably going to get quiet. I honestly haven't been in a blogging mood much lately. But with any luck that'll turn around after my vacation at the end of this month (during which, yes, it'll be really quiet ... but not like that's a big change, right?). Anyway, I hope you enjoy my latest topic, as it's close to my heart....

Before Greedo shot first ... before Han stepped on Jabba's tail ... before the digitally-botoxed "Special Editions" turned them into Episodes IV, V, and VI -- in other words, before George Lucas got all full of himself -- they were just "Star Wars", "The Empire Strikes Back", and "Return of the Jedi". As relatively recently as those days were, it's already getting hard for me to remember them. It's also hard to believe that, until the 1993 box-set release of "The Star Wars Trilogy: The Original Soundtrack Anthology", most of the music from this phenomenally successful movie saga had never been available on CD before.

The original CD issue of the "Star Wars" soundtrack was a generous, two-disc, track-for-track replication of the vinyl release, but the "Empire" double-LP's run time was chopped nearly in half when squeezed onto a single CD, and "Jedi" only ever saw a skimpy one-disc release on any format. And those were the only compact disc releases that these awesome scores saw for nearly ten years, until this lush cornucopia of audio bliss came along. Sure, there had been a few other albums featuring music from all three films, but those were re-recordings by other orchestras ... and as any film music buff or "Star Wars" fan -- both categories in which I freely admit that I belong (albeit to different degrees now than I did back then) -- could tell you, they just don't hold a candle to the actual soundtrack recordings.

Not only did this release give us the second Cantina Band song in its entirety for the first time, as well as the haunting male chorus during Luke's final furious duel with Vader under the catwalk in the Emperor's throne room, but it's noteworthy for other reasons too. It was the last release of the original soundtrack recordings before the "Special Edition" revamping of the movies in 1997, which means that the Jabba jam "Lapti Nek" and the original tribal-drum vocal version of the Ewok Celebration got their final album appearances here before being usurped by the silly "Jedi Rocks!" and the tepid instrumental "Victory Celebration" (sorry, John Williams, I love your stuff, but the original source music was better).

But there's a more subtle aspect to this release that makes it a bittersweet one. Since 1997, the "Star Wars" soundtrack releases seem to have been preoccupied with delivering the music in an "as heard in the film" fashion, which to my ear makes the compositions flow much less gracefully. I don't know if it's the obsessive film music snobs out there who are to blame or if it's Lucas, but I find so much more beauty in the thematic structure of the pieces on these earlier discs. Who cares if they're arranged more for a concert hall performance than for accompaniment of the visuals in the movies? That's kind-of what I buy soundtracks for in the first place: to hear the music in a way I didn't hear it in the film ... after all, it'll still remind me of the fun I had watching the movies, which is the real point in a soundtrack release.

For a while, I did own the two-disc releases of the "Star Wars Trilogy: Special Edition" soundtracks, but I found them far inferior to the music on this collection and I ended up trading them in. For those of you who don't have the "Star Wars Trilogy: The Original Soundtrack Anthology" box set, believe me that you'd be doing yourselves a favor picking it up ... it's out of print, but still reasonably available from third-party sellers on Amazon and eBay. After all, nobody doesn't like "Star Wars", and anybody who doesn't like the music of "Star Wars" -- well, they just shouldn't be taken seriously about anything, now should they?

Mostly Live

I don't watch very many movies, but when I come across one like this it makes me wonder why I don't, and how many more jewels are out there that I haven't discovered yet. This one is an unassuming little documentary, originally produced for British TV and receiving only a limited U.S. theatrical run before its DVD release in the fall of 2008. Titled "Young@Heart", it follows a chorus of the same name, formed in 1982 in Northampton, Massachusetts.

What's different about Young@Heart is that its 20-odd singers range between 73 and 93 years of age (at the time of the film). But that's not the only twist -- instead of singing the kind of stuff they grew up with, like Sinatra, Bing Crosby, or Perry Como, their director Bob Cilmi has assembled a repertoire that includes contemporary and classic rock and pop tunes made famous by artists ranging from The Rolling Stones, Jefferson Airplane, and James Brown, to Coldplay, Outkast, and Sinead O'Connor.

It would have been tempting to make this a warm and fuzzy "feel-good" movie from beginning to end, but the film's director Stephen Walker instead chose a much more substantial approach, giving equal time to the happy moments -- the triumph of a fine performance, the sharing of a good age-related joke -- and the not-so-happy -- the frustration of trying to learn a difficult song, the tragic reminders of how precarious the health of the elderly can be.

Movies almost never make me cry, but this one did, more than once. I cried tears of joy at the outpouring of appreciation, complete with handshakes and hugs, that the chorus received from an audience of inmates after a performance at an area prison, having heard just minutes before showtime about the sudden death of their fellow singer, Bob Salvini. And I cried tears of sadness when Fred Knittle (the irrepressibly witty and charming bass of the group) took the stage during a concert highlighted at the film's finale to sing a solo rendition of Coldplay's "Fix You", which was to have been a duet with Salvini but was instead dedicated to him.

The Young@Heart chorus members might not always sing on key, or even in time with the music, so you'd think that the movie's soundtrack album wouldn't be enjoyable. But the exuberant joy, the playful fun, and the tender poignancy they seem to effortlessly bring to every song make any of the shortcomings they may have in rhythm and melody totally beside the point. I can't help but smile when I hear Dora and Stan belt out their best James Brown cries in "I Feel Good", and I feel along with them the payoff of their aggravating rehearsals when they finally nail the lyrics to The Pointer Sisters' "Yes We Can Can" ... but on the other hand, I don't think I'll ever be able to listen to Coldplay's "Fix You" again without feeling a lump in my throat.

One of the greatest things about the end of the movie, and the live in-concert tracks on the soundtrack album, is the age range of the audience in attendance ... there were people ranging in age from 6 to 90, and they all had fun. I had a lot of fun, too, especially listening to the younger members of the audience erupting in approval and recognition when Young@Heart started in on their adventurous rendition of "Hey Ya". All in all, the more you like music, the more you need to see this movie ... and the more likely you'll end up buying the soundtrack, too. (I myself had to spring for the 2-disc deluxe import edition, which was well worth it!)

The Next Best Thing

I was wondering what to write about next in this blog (what with "American Idol" being over), when there it was, sitting in the used rack in the little independent music store I frequent, as if it were waiting for me to find it ... a particular type of digital disc that's rarely seen and virtually unknown in the U.S. and Europe: the Video CD, or VCD. What exactly is a Video CD, you ask? The easiest way to describe it is as a simplified DVD, except that it's written on conventional CD media (as its name implies).

Popular mostly in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Island countries for over a decade (although I imagine by now that DVD has begun to push them aside in popularity), Video CDs have some advantages, and some disadvantages, compared to DVDs. One nice thing about them is that they're not subject to region encoding, which means they can be viewed with any VCD-capable player anywhere in the world -- including most (but not all) American-marketed DVD players ... and with the right software, your computer, even if the only optical drive you have is a CD. Also -- though I definitely don't endorse illegal copying of discs -- they almost never have the copy-protection defenses that DVDs have.

However, as you can imagine, there's a downside to putting movies on the less-capacitous media of CDs. The picture clarity isn't a whole lot better than VHS (a high-quality VHS that would never degrade, but VHS nonetheless), and there's no 5.1 surround sound -- two-channel stereo is as good as you'll get. And you might as well forget about alternate language or commentary tracks, or optional subtitles; if you get a VCD that has subtitles, they're on the screen whether you want them or not, in whatever language they were written in. And then there's the matter of run time: a Video CD can hold about 80 minutes of content at best, so basically any theatrical film will be split over two or more discs.

But when we're talking the the shorter-length content, like concert films or music video collections, where none of those extra bells and whistles really matter, Video CDs fit the bill nicely. Indeed, if you like import pop like I do, VCD may prove to be your only option in certain cases -- a DVD may be unwatchable due to foreign region encoding, and with a little luck, the artist is popular enough in the right country that they've warranted a VCD release. Oh, and if you're techno-savvy enough, you can even copy out any of the disc's "chapters" and use them with other applications, since each chapter is in its own individual file on the disc, essentially in MPEG-1 format ... none of that shady DVD stripping-and-ripping software needed! (Again, I don't endorse the practice ... I'm just sayin'.)

I've accumulated a few Video CDs over the years: a companion volume to Five's "Greatest Hits" (even with a matching cover) that includes all their music videos ... a concert film by The Moffatts during their "Chapter I" days ... an A1 disc featuring interviews with the boyband as well as a handful of their videos ... and my newest addition, a 1998 assemblage of Duran Duran's music videos, released in conjunction with their "Greatest" hits compilation. Oh, and I can't forget the disc of videos that piggy-backs Gil's "Best of" audio CD ... and there are probably one or two that accompany various-artist compilations I have, too.

Sure, Video CDs aren't as pretty to watch or as graceful to navigate as DVDs (heck, some of them don't even have a menu to speak of), but their novelty makes them fun to experience, and their scarcity can make them enjoyable to collect. Not to mention, since they're housed in ordinary CD jewel cases, they fit nicely in amongst your CD collection. Go ahead, search eBay for "vcd" (or visit retail sites VCDCD.com and VCDGallery.com, though please note I haven't shopped at either of these sites so I can't personally vouch for their service -- caveat emptor) and see what you might find ... but check the compatibility of your DVD player or computer first to make sure you'll be able to watch what you buy!

Was He "DeWyze" Choice?

Well, that was quite the star-studded, two-hour, ho-holds-barred, tour-de-force, music celebration of a finale, wasn't it? Imagine ... Alice Cooper, the Bee Gees, and Michael McDonald in just the first half-hour! Was last year's finale this jam-packed with music legends? If so, I'm sorry I missed it. Between them, Hall & Oates, Chicago, and Joe Cocker, last night's array of talent was not only fantastic to watch, but I can only hope that it exposed "Idol"'s young audience to some of the genuine classics of rock and pop music ... and that the kids in the audience liked what they heard and might explore it more.

My favorite performance was probably Siobhan and Aaron teaming up with the brothers Gibb ... oh, the way those two "Idol" Top-Twelvers started it off with that delicious harmony was likely the single most blissful "Idol" moment I experienced all season! Somebody needs to sign both Siobhan and Aaron to record contracts, like, NOW. And I also dearly loved the big farewell to Simon, in which a whole darn stageful of "Idol" alumni sang lovingly to him! All the "Idol" winners (except David Cook, who had a charity event going on that night), and over a dozen runners-up and other finalists ... so much fun to see them all again! (And gosh, has Ruben been shedding the pounds or what ... lookin' good, Rube!!)

There was no shortage of surprises during the show, with a parade of the most outrageous auditioners in the show's history -- some of which, like Renaldo ("We're Brothers Forever") Lapuz, we were fine with seeing again ... and others, like the beyond-obnoxious Ian Benardo, who resoundingly proved, as the producers hurriedly cut to commercial, why he never should have been invited. And what would a celebration like this be without General Larry ("Pants On The Ground") Platt? I have to say, he's still got the moves for a guy his age! And, of course, they couldn't very well have left out William Hung, now could they? And of course, the highlight that beats them all was the too-sweet appearance of former judge Paula Abdul.

Now, as for the results ... I'm not in the least bit surprised that Lee won the title, but I am a little disappointed. (Of course, I might have said I was disappointed even if Crystal had won, but I suspect not.) The main reason is that we've now got three "Idol" winners in a row who are prone to blurring together in the eyes of everyone except the show's devotees: they're all generic-looking, white rock-pop boys with indistinct, good-but-not-great voices. Adding Crystal to the list of winners would at least have shaken the mix up a bit. But I'm not worried, and I know she'll do quite well regardless ... and she must know, too, 'cause she wasn't fazed a bit by hearing Ryan crow out Lee's name after opening the envelope.

As I said previously, Crystal is unique enough that she's already got a following, just like Adam last year. And if the track record of many previous "Idol" runners-up and finalists is any indication -- not only have Adam Lambert and Clay Aiken enjoyed more success than the guys who snatched the title out of their grasps, but just look at Chris Daughtry, Jennifer Hudson, and Kellie Pickler -- Crystal has very little to worry about, aside from the implicit obligation of rewarding her fan camp with a great debut album later this year ... something else that I'm not very worried about her pulling off. Of course, it can be a double-edged sword: plenty of "Idol" winners have had clunky careers at best: Kris Allen and Taylor Hicks saw just mediocre sales of their debut albums ... and what's Justin Guarini been up to lately...?

All in all, it was a bumpy ride of a season that came to an adequately satisfying if bittersweet end. It was a bit of a struggle for me to stay tuned in -- and for many others too, I suspect, from what I've heard about the decline not just in viewers but also in votes ... notice how Edward Boddington (or, as I like to think of him, "Mr. Personality") didn't mention how many votes were tallied in the final round? I also found it curious how they avoided "final thoughts" from the judges ... although I'm sure the main reason they skipped that was 'cause they were running short on time, I can't help but think it was also because the judges would have had trouble heaping praise on this lackluster season.

I tell ya, though, Simon Fuller and company will have to find an unbelievably tremendous successor to Simon Cowell if they hope to get the viewers (myself included) even thinking about tuning in next season. Of course I'll keep an eye on the happenings on that front, but I'm not holding out a whole lot of hope. Godspeed, Simon ... we're all going to miss you terribly.

Random thought: for some reason, all morning I've had this vision in my head of Lee doing "Big Yellow Taxi" on solo acoustic guitar ... wouldn't that have been a completely awesome performance?!? Oh well, a missed opportunity.

American Idol 2010 - The Final Conflict!

This is it, blah blah blah ... the final showdown, yadda yadda ... not that I'm not at least a little excited. Although, frankly, I really don't care who wins this season, 'cause I've come to like them both quite a lot. I'm sure it could go either way, really, probably more so than last year, though maybe not quite as much as Season 7. One thing's for sure, though: I'm imposing a moratorium on my web browsing tomorrow night, 'cause as you might recall I inadvertently found out the winner last year a couple of hours before he was announced ... though I was kind-of asking for it, having gone to Wikipedia's Idol Series Winners page. (You'd think that Wikipedia would block updates on time-sensitive stuff like this until after all U.S. time zones have viewed the program ... but, whatever.) Anyway, in a USA Today article I read this afternoon, the writer said that although who'd win it is very much up in the air, who'd stand to have more to gain from a win was without question: Lee, because Crystal's already got that "built-in" audience who will buy her albums regardless, kind of like Adam was good to go no matter whether he won or not. So anyway, now that the first commercial break is done with and we're finally getting on with the show, here we go.

Lee ("The Boxer" by Simon & Garfunkel) -- A repeat performance, and far as I can recall it was better than the last time he sang it. I wonder, are the contestants encouraged or even required to do repeat performances in the finale? If not, I'm puzzled as to why they do so. Why not give them something new to sing? But anyway, I agree with the judges ... good, but he needs to bring more passion than that in the finale.

Crystal ("Me and Bobby McGee" by Roger Miller) -- Yay! This is why Crystal is in the final round! I've said before that I probably wasn't going to buy her album, but I've been reconsidering lately ... and if she keeps bringing the performances tonight like this here, then I'm sold for sure. It looks like round one goes to Crystal!

Lee ("Everybody Hurts" by R.E.M.) -- Definitely better than round one, and I wonder why he hasn't done that song before ... seems right up his alley in my opinion. I'm not sure about the choir (one or two backing singers is one thing, but I always balk a bit at the presence of a whole chorus), but I liked his performance ... not perfect, but more than good enough for me. But will it be good enough for the voters...?

Crystal ("Black Velvet" by Alannah Myles) -- Hmmm ... I don't know about y'all, but it felt to me like she got a little carried away in places, and sort-of got lost in the arrangement. She gave it her all, but there's something to be said for holding back a bit. On the other hand, she does seem to be showing a lot more passion in her performances than Lee.... Compare her passion to Lee's artistry, and I'd have to call this round a draw.

Lee ("Beautiful Day" by U2) -- Interesting that the artists' prospective singles aren't original songs ... maybe it has to do with the bad reviews they got of last year's winner's song. Anyway ... hmmm ... a good performance -- and I like the song, both the original and Norwegian/World Idol Kurt Nilsen's cover of it, but for some reason Lee just doesn't seem to be giving his performances nearly the energy that Crystal is. Still, though, a good performance for what it is, and he deserves to be here in the finale tonight.

Crystal ("Up To The Mountain" by Patty Griffin) -- Wow ... just, wow! Far as I'm concerned, we're looking at the American Idol right here. Strictly in terms of stage presence and quality of performance (I guess that kind-of takes care of most aspects, doesn't it?), Crystal absolutely takes the competition tonight. But then, I thought Adam did last year, so who knows what's gonna happen, right?

HEY! It's Will Young!! Right there on stage, on American TV!! Yes, I knew it was his song we were hearing each week as contestants left, but I didn't think we'd see him on the show! And he's got an album coming out here in America! It's about damn time, 'cause he's had four freakin' albums in the UK, which are all really good! ...What the heck? It's just eight tracks? Can't they be bothered to put more songs on the damn disc, especially since it's essentially a "greatest hits"? Sheesh, that's the American record companies for you ... stingy bastards. But I digress....

Who do I think is gonna win it? As I said, it really could go either way, and I'm definitely staying offline tomorrow night (look for my reaction post sometime Wednesday). Who should win it is definitely Crystal, but I have a feeling the votes for Lee will be overpowering. I really would like to see a woman win it for the first time in three years, though. But then, Lee would benefit more from the notoriety of the title. Yeah, I think it'll go to Lee.