Wake Up Living

Look out ... the cute little Canadian with the big beefy voice is back! Kalan Porter's new album comes out August 28th (in Canada), and here's the first single! It's a ballad, but it's been so long since he's released anything that I'm a happy camper! Besides, the video's kind-of cool....



Other upcoming releases I'm waiting eagerly for: Teddy Geiger (September?) ... Ben Lee (September 18) ... Queen Latifah (September 25) ... The 5 Browns (October 2). It's shaping up to be a good season!

But Is It Art?

I have to admit that I'm not all that much of a reader, but I've been trying to change that gradually. There are a few music-related books that seem pretty interesting and I've wanted to buy and read, so maybe soon I'll be able to do a good "books about music" post. But in the meantime, I've got one book in particular that I think everyone would get a big kick out of: Horrifically Bad Album Covers! by Nick DiFonzo. The title is self-explanatory, and the book is totally worth buying. Even for the people who don't like music, the fascination with aesthetically deficient imagery is practically universal.

I've tried to be really selective and only post a few pictures from the book ('cause I don't want the publisher to get pissed at me, even though I'm posting them with the hope that you'll buy the book), but it was tough to narrow it down to six. Trust me, people -- if these pictures intrigue you (and how can they not?), the book's just loaded with 'em. Each picture comes with a brief, entertaining comment by the author, but I won't reproduce those here -- the comments below are my own. Enjoy!


CAPTAIN HOOK AND HIS CHRISTIAN PIRATE CREW: "Shiver My Timbers!"
This is a case of the album's concept being weirder than the cover art ... Christian Pirates?!? I guess now we can safely say the Evangelicals have truly used every kid-friendly scenario to try and lay a little religion on them. (And they accuse the homosexuals of "recruiting" kids?!?) I have to wonder what this thing sounds like ... "Arrrr! Avast, me hearties! I'm gonna run through that scurvy bum with me cutlass! But first, we must open up the good book to Lamentations, verse 4!"


THE RHODES KIDS: "Add a Little Beauty To The World"
Hmmm ... a little beauty, you say? Getting rid of those outfits would be a good place to start. And what's with this "America's No. 1 Musical Family" claim? I may not have encyclopedic knowledge of '60s and '70s music, but I know that being "No. 1" would require that I'd at least heard of them before now. Oh, it's got quotes around it, so that must mean their manager said it one day ... probably preceded by the phrase, "Someday they're gonna be...".


THE MINISTERS QUARTET: "Let Me Touch Him"
This one has got to be my favorite -- it's a joke all by itself. Sure, back in the '50s it seemed perfectly innocent to give this kind of an album title to a gospel group full of middle-aged men, but I seriously doubt they'd get away with it nowadays (the album title, at least).


SHARRON L. LUCKEY: "Carpet Square"
Okay, this one is just plain weird-looking. I'm guessing that "the carpet square" was some sort of exercise fad they roped the kids into doing back then, but even forgiving the impaired fashion sense of the time, it still looks utterly dorky.


DR. GEORGE MILSTEIN: "Music To Grow Plants"
Wow, I can just imagine how much this album rocks. I've heard that fans of the Warped Tour and Ozzfest even stay away from this one. Well ... okay, it's mostly just because they don't know it exists, but still ... better safe than sorry.


TAMMY FAYE: "Run Toward The Roar"
Okay, you know this is a bad album cover when you barely even notice Tammy Faye's thick coat of makeup! I know we're not supposed to speak ill of the dead (not that I would), but does posting bad album covers of them count? Tammy Faye may have started out as a religious conservative whacko (Or was she just married to one? I can't remember.), but she would later come to her senses and embrace what Christianity is really all about: appreciating us all for who we are. Rest in peace, Tammy Faye.

Audio Train Wreck of the Month: Can I Call You My Girl?

"Can I Call You My Girl?"
PC Quest
from the album "PC Quest" (RCA, 1991)

Quick -- What's the sappiest teen-pop love song of all time? If you answered "Please Don't Go Girl" by New Kids On The Block, you're in for a surprise. That one definitely comes close, but I put today's download up against the sickly-sweetest schmaltz anyone has to offer. Seriously ... if you're a diabetic, you may want to make sure you have an emergency insulin injection handy before you try listening to this song.

Sonic saccharine reached critical mass in 1991 with this ditty, from co-ed teen pop group PC Quest, featuring Chad Petree (yes, the same Chad Petree who's now part of the genuinely cool synth-rock band Shiny Toy Guns) on lead vocals. I almost hate to upload this song, 'cause he's probably just now lived down this dubious part of his music career ... but then, how can he feel like he's accomplished something without looking back at the embarrassing stuff he's done in the past? See, I'm helping him feel good about himself. Besides, PC Quest must not have been too traumatic for Chad, 'cause he was willing to go with the same three-guys-and-one-girl configuration when assembling Shiny Toy Guns.

This song's not completely horrible; for one thing, you have to admit that, even back in his early teens, Chad had a great singing voice. And the guitar solo (from Drew Nichols, later of The Graham Colton Band) rocks too, in a semi-lame teen-pop sort of way (probably not his fault ... after all, how hard would the producers let him "shred" it on that kind of record?). The other songs on the album are kind-of cool, if you can overlook the very dated early '90s sound, and the same goes for PC Quest's follow-up album, "Directions".

Hmmm ... all of my Audio Train Wrecks so far have come from the early '90s. It's gotta be a coincidence ... I don't hate early '90s music, 'cause plenty of it was good. I'll see if I can tune my crap-o-meter in to other musical eras ... and I think I may do an "early '90s month" theme for my Songs of the Week soon, just to show you that there really was some good stuff to come out of that time period.

CD(s) of the Week: The Rocket Summer and Ben Kweller

THE ROCKET SUMMER
"DO YOU FEEL"
(Island, 2007)

and

BEN KWELLER
"BEN KWELLER"
(ATO, 2006)

I couldn't decide which of these two CDs to review this week, and then it occurred to me: why not do both? I don't think the artists have ever worked together, they record on different labels, and their CDs were released about a year apart (Ben Kweller's in 2006, and The Rocket Summer's just last month), but they complement each other very nicely. Aside from the incidental similarities -- both artists being in their twenties, and each of these titles being its respective artist's third album -- they both craft generally upbeat songs about life and love ... as much as a person in his twenties can know about those subjects without sounding pretentious. Plus, both of these albums signify something of a creative milestone for the artists.

The Rocket Summer is Bryce Avary and nobody else; he not only writes all his own songs, but on his previous two releases for the independent Militia Group label, he played every instrument himself ... this time around, however, he gets a little bit of help on a few songs. Avary's voice is something I imagine most people will either love or hate: it's got a little bit of an adolescent whine in places, but I find it rather endearing, for some strange reason. His brisk melodies and rambunctious arrangements, anchored primarily by a solid piano foundation, keep things fun through most of the album, which I consider his best yet. His previous albums seemed to wander a bit in places; but here he sounds more focused and, as a result, more self-assured. A few of the songs might sound similar to each other, but they're entertaining enough that you won't care.

Ben Kweller's self-titled third album is a bit of a change for him as well. He's always written his own material but, whereas he had a full band of players assisting him on instruments in his previous efforts, this time he took the one-man-band route that Bryce Avary has been used to, choosing to play each and every instrument himself. The result is his most enjoyable album of guitar-centric pop-rock yet; it sure sounds like he enjoyed the idea of being in total creative control (although he did have a producer). Kweller's songs are more subdued on average than Avary's, but no less appealing. He also has an imperfect voice (slightly off-key occasionally), but it's perfect for the kind of songs he sings.

This is going to sound a bit crazy, but I got an image in my head when I first listened to "Ben Kweller" a year ago: the image of Ben walking into my room without saying a word, sitting down in the corner on the floor facing my direction, and just smiling in silence, gently bobbing his head to the rhythm of each song as it played. It was simple: Ben Kweller the person was "Ben Kweller" the album, and the room (silly as this might sound) was my heart. I was reminded of that vision when I heard The Rocket Summer's new album -- in no uncertain terms, both of these albums have waltzed right into my music collection and made themselves comfortable. If you enjoy rough-around-the-edges singer-songwriter pop (less polished than, say, Teddy Geiger or Ryan Cabrera), you might as well buy both of these albums together; if you like one, you'll like the other.

I Love Music (Volume One)

Amongst the several series of "theme" mix CDs that I make for myself and my sister (she got me into the habit) is a series I call "I Love Music". In case you couldn't guess by the title, the subject of that particular series is songs about music. I've managed to gather together four discs' worth of such songs so far, and I thought I'd share some of my favorites with you. (There'll probably be a "part 2" to this post sometime in the near future.)

1) "Sir Duke" by Stevie Wonder -- Stevie's tribute to Duke Ellington is a classic, and simply had to be included. You might not know it by its title, but you will by the chorus ... "You can feel it all o-o-over!"

2) "Until The Record Breaks" by Wave -- This is one of my favorite songs by Canadian pop duo, Wave ... and it was one of the very first songs I thought of when my sister presented me with the idea of a CD of songs about music. I love it!

3) "Rock & Roll Is King" by Electric Light Orchestra -- How can anyone dislike not only this authentic-sounding slice of '50s rock-and-roll, but also the fact that it came out of the middle of the disco era?

4) "Pop" by NSYNC -- This just might be my favorite NSYNC song ... even more surprising considering I don't like electronica, which this song borrows heavily from. If only the rest of the album it came from lived up to the incredible freshness of this song ... but, that's a subject for another time.

5) "Everyone Deserves Music" by Michael Franti & Spearhead -- Another unlikely inclusion of mine, since it's kind-of heavy on the hip-hop, another genre that I don't care for. But this song has a special place in my heart, 'cause it was the song I heard the last time I stepped into a local CD store I visited every day -- it closed that weekend. The irony of hearing that song at that time still makes me stop and think.

6) "Oh No The Radio" by Owsley -- One of the most underrated power-pop artists of all time put out a killer album in 1999, and it turned out to be his only major-label effort. This was track one, and the entire album kept the momentum, offering one hooky, hum-along song after another.

7) "Old Time Rock & Roll" by Bob Seger -- Yes, the song that Tom Cruise lip-synched to in his underwear in "Risky Business". Could I seriously do an "I Love Music" CD without this song? Puh-leeze...!

8) "Make Your Own Kind Of Music" by Cass Elliot -- She was one of the most amazing female vocalists of all time, and she lived a terribly short life in the spotlight. If you don't own any of her stuff, you owe it to yourself to change that.

9) "Who Stole My Radio?" by Shemekia Copeland -- I happened upon this one on a CD sampler from "Paste" magazine, and I loved it. A great, old-school soul song about the state of modern radio -- and why I don't listen to it anymore.

10) "The Heart of Rock & Roll" by Huey Lewis & The News -- Another classic, from one of the great bands who've never forgotten what good old fashioned rock & roll is all about.

11) "Who Put The Bomp (In The Bomp, Bomp, Bomp)" by Barry Mann -- An irresistibly catchy chorus makes this song one of the best songs about music -- not to mention one of the best songs, period -- to come out of the '50s!

12) "Just Push Play" by Aerosmith -- Another kick-ass rock band that I've only recently come to really appreciate. I'm still not sure if this song is about music or not, but it's a whole helluva lot of fun!

13) "Can't Stop The Pop" by A-Teens -- Pure ear candy, but also purely irresistible. The Swedish pop troupe nearly out-Jackson-Fives the Jackson Five on this one!

14) "I Love Rock & Roll" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts -- This is another one of those songs that simply can't not be included on a compilation like "I Love Music" ... everyone knows it, and for good reason.

15) "Sing" by The Carpenters -- Sure, it's schmaltzy, but it's also timeless ... and if the "la la la" of the children's choir doesn't at least put a little bit of a smile on your face, you need to check for a pulse.

16) "Achy Breaky Song" by "Weird Al" Yankovic -- I almost can't make a mix CD without putting a little "Weird Al" in it ... okay, maybe that's a slight exaggeration. But this one was a must-have ... not only does it name-check every cheesy musician in the book, but it also parodies a song that got way too much attention!

17) "The Motown Song" by Rod Stewart -- I don't think I've ever heard a nicer tribute to Motown than this, in both lyrics and melody ... "Bring over some of your old Motown records..."!

18) "Listen To The Music" by The Doobie Brothers -- This one is such a classic that I almost shouldn't be allowed to call myself a music fan for having forgotten to include it until Volume 4!

19) "Box Set" by Barenaked Ladies -- This tongue-in-cheek satire of self-indulgent musicians who put out multi-disc box sets is one of the Ladies' forgotten masterpieces ... I love it!

20) "Pop From Hell" by Espen Lind -- Not only is this song about music (though perhaps not as drectly as most songs here), but it's incredibly interesting to listen to, with its Andrew Lloyd Weber meets Freddie Mercury style ... definitely like nothing else out there.

Song of the Month Week!: What About Us

Well, I must say I'm proud of how long I held out posting only two songs per month ... but I don't think I can hold myself back any longer. Mind you, I won't be going hog wild and posting a song every day (mainly 'cause I still stand behind most of what I said here), but I think that one MP3 per week is a healthy dose, and one I shouldn't have any trouble holding myself to. You'll never know what each week's download is gonna be -- usually one of my current/recent favorites, but I'll continue bringing you an Audio Train Wreck every once in awhile, and maybe even a miscellaneous gem, like an oldie or a novelty recording. But rest assured, if your pal Thnairg bothers to upload it, it's worth listening to at least once.


"What About Us"
Point Break
from the album "Apocadelic" (Warner/UK, 2000)

Point Break were a three-member boyband from the UK who, unfortunately, only ever released one album. True, there were dozens of boybands flooding the market at that time, but while all the other boybands were concentrating on the two ends of the boy-pop spectrum -- high-energy dance tracks and slow, sweet love songs -- Point Break picked up on the virtually untouched sub-genre in the middle: the power ballad.

Sure, they had their share of dance numbers too, but they obviously realized they were good at power ballads, 'cause there are several on the album. This is my favorite of them ... it starts out quietly, like any unassuming soft ballad, but when the chorus thunders in, with that percussion track that was made to sound like a stadium full of people stomping and clapping in unison, it makes the hairs stand up on the back of your neck.

I'm not sure if any of the Point Break boys went on to bigger and better things in the music industry (heck, I don't even know their full names), but it's a shame they never put out a second album, because I've almost invariably found boybands' sophomore albums -- where they really began to develop their own sound -- superior to their debuts. And since they had already stood a bit apart from the pack on their first record, I can only imagine the great album that never was.

CD of the Week: Zack Hexum

ZACK HEXUM
"THE STORY SO FAR"
(Trauma, 2004)

Don't you just love it when an album that you buy almost as an afterthought turns out to be one of your favorite music purchases from that whole year? I do ... and what's more, the year is barely half over and I can tell you without a doubt that this album will still be very near the top of that list on December 31.

Zack Hexum's brother, Nick, may be co-founder of the alternative band 311, but don't expect to find any trace of that group's punk/rap/metal mixture here. In some ways, this is the opposite: laid-back but lively pop-rock, full of hum-along hooks and toe-tapping melodies, all wrapped together around Zack's snappy and appealing voice. "How Many Times" is the song that brought him to my attention (when it was a free download on iTunes), a breezy tune that's pretty-much representative of the album; "Spicy Streak" is one of the rockier songs on the disc,but begins with a cool, jazzy intro; "Outside Opinion" sprinkles in a bit of blues and a bit of country; but my favorite has to be the closing track, "One Spin", a spry, funky anthem that would make Jason Mraz proud (and also shows off Zack's saxophone chops).

My only regret about this album is that I wish I'd discovered it as soon as it came out three years ago, when I could have told everyone I know about it, so they would have rushed out and bought it and given it that critical new-release support ... not that a dozen or so sales would have rocketed it into the Billboard Top Ten. But hey, it's still in print, so go out and buy it now! You'll thank me later.

Syncsta Fever!

If you haven't heard of Syncsta yet, it probably won't be long until you do ... and you're in for a real treat. Syncsta are Jake Walmsley and Chris Green, a pair of British lads who, not too long ago, started making videos of themselves lip-synching and dancing to pop songs and posting them on YouTube on a whim. Before they knew it, their videos had been viewed thousands of times, and they were even starting to get recognized on the street. Now, former Take That manager Nigel Martin-Smith has staked claim to guiding the duo's potential showbiz future.

This is my favorite Syncsta clip -- and most everyone else's, from what I've heard. If, after watching this video, you still don't understand why I love these guys so much, then there's no hope of explaining it to you in words. You'll find links to some of their other YouTube videos in the right-hand column of this blog, and here's a link straight to their YouTube channel. Far more than just the simple ability to lip-sync to a song, they have an undeniable charm and impishness in front of the camera, as well as a playful affection for the music, if not a deep love for it.


The song is called "Dragostea Din Tei", and it's sung in Romanian. It was a fairly successful chart hit all over the world, but I hadn't heard of it until Syncsta brought it to my attention. (You can read about the song, including what its title might or might not translate to, here; and you can read an English translation of the lyrics here.) Suffice it to say that I liked the song so much, I was compelled to track down a compilation CD that has the song on it. And now, every time I listen to the song, a smile comes across my face as I remember the fun these guys must have had filming this video. Any performance that evokes that kind of reaction in someone, especially a performance those guys do just for fun, is something else, wouldn't you say?

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.