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Eric Sorensen:
May, 2001
Once
again, I find myself thanking fellow jingle-jangle music enthusiast Alan
Sack for pointing me in the direction of the following page on the MP3
Internet site: http://stations.mp3s.com/stations/144/that_rickenbacker_sound.html.
I ordered 27 new discs as a result of my first visit to this site! Every
song that is catalogued features a Rickenbacker guitar and the page author
provides the reader/listener not only with a description of the music
… but also with a description of the Rickenbacker model, associated amps
and accompanying guitars. Thank you, Alan, for discovering yet another
motherlode of jangly material!
Indie pop musician and Bucketfull Of Brains feature writer Dennis Dalcin
(member of Florida’s great psuedo-60s band, the Lears) also deserves credit
for encouraging me (and other magazine readers) to purchase several recent
releases from Gear Fab Records. The three discs that have a wonderful
assortment of mid-60s garage tunes (including some fine Byrds-inspired
folk/rock tunes) are: Psychedelic Crown Jewels Volume 3 and Psychedelic
States: Florida: Volumes 1 and 2. Another indie pop musician and pop
journalist, Rich Arithmetic, first turned me on the Gear Fab compilation
discs in an issue of Rich’s insightful pop newsletter Pallid Pilgrim.
Thank you, Dennis and Rich.
Now on to what has been capturing my ear of late:
The covers-only release, entitled Songs Of Other People, by Michael
Carpenter. It seems like everything this talented multi-track artist touches
turns to gold. The album features some of my favorite MC cover songs –
"Chimes Of Freedom," "You’re So Good To Me" and "You Just May Be The One"
– and a gorgeous Beach Boy acapella chorale as a bonus track. Michael
promises his fans that a Songs Of Other People Volume 2 CD will
be released down the road. I have already suggested that he cover "She
Don’t Care About Time" and who could tire from hearing Michael perform
nothing but Beach Boys songs on a future release? As usual, Michael’s
12-string guitar jangles and chimes throughout the disc, and his vocal
harmonies are quite impressive.
Steve Wynn’s latest work, a double disc that will be released soon, has
a gorgeous hook-drenched and jangly psych pop tune, "Shades Of Blue."
The rest of the 18 songs represent an upbeat and fresh evolution on Steve’s
Paisley Underground heritage. Few indie pop veterans are capable of this
type of talent surge.
One of the strongest debut discs to spend time on my CD player is Bill
Reveles’ Unamerican Dream. This singer/songwriter’s power pop tunes
draw immediate comparisons to Bill Lloyd, Michael Oliver and Jeff Larson.
Bill’s more poignant ballads also merit a comparison with one of his songwriting
icons, Bruce Springsteen. Every song is excellent, but "Noelle" stands
out as a very Byrdsian track.
The Ohio duo of Barry Hensley and J. Sturgis, appropriately named HensleySturgis,
has released Open Lanes – an album full of wonderful strummy, jangly
folk/rock that reminds me a great deal of the late 80s collaboration between
Boo Hewerdine and Darden Smith.
Ray Mason and pals have released another excellent Ray Mason Band album
– this one is titled When The Clown’s Work Is Over. I dig this
album not for its jangly riffs, but for the tight, melodic songs that
Ray Mason seems to be able to write and record so effortlessly. The closing
track, "Personal Last Call," rivals John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band
for that great bar band sound.
Canadian band Virgil must have been listening to a lot of Swedish pop,
because their CD EP Wondertown has that orchestral and jangly sound
that bands like the Merrymakers and the Bloomingdays have been featuring
for the past decade. If you like female lead vocals, you’ll love the way
that Shelley Preston shines on tunes like "Genevieve," "Wondertown" and
"Picassos."
Spike
Priggen’s solo release, The Very Thing That You Treasure, has some
bright jangly tunes on a well-crafted album that merits repeat play.
In
the "country crossover" category is the excellent self-titled country/pop
album released by Lisa Angelle. The production, instrumental and vocal
efforts of pop virtuoso Andrew Gold are evident throughout this superb
album. This disc sounds a lot like a vintage Linda Ronstadt pop album,
but the success of female "country crossover" artists in the past decade
also leads to well-deserved comparisons to Shania Twain, Martina McBride,
Patty Loveless, Pam Tillis and Kim Richey. Lisa is a gifted songwriter,
and her material has been covered by several of Nashville’s leading ladies.
As Andrew Gold points out, Lisa’s videos (owing to her good looks) are
getting wider circulation than her songs. That’s a pity, because this
is one country/pop voice that deserves to be heard.
That’s
enough for this month. I’m getting packed to head west and visit my sons,
who are both pursuing serious academic and career interests in music.
Tim, the guitar player, received a Rickenbacker 12-string guitar for his
14th birthday. It’s time to check on how well he is mastering the Byrds
repertoire of songs. Until next month, jangle on!
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Eric
Sorensen: April, 2001 March,
2001, February, 2001, January,
2001, December,
2000
Eric
Sorensen Reviews: February, 2001
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