The La's Review / Bebel Gilberto Preview (Album 24)

(La's preview here) The La's (still no word on if it's the 'las' or the 'el-ays') was straight up 90s. I recognized the song "There She Goes" almost right away. Which is neither bad nor good. I guess if you are writing music then that's a good thing, definitely. It was so interesting reading about that band - which I did a tad of - and hearing how the main singer is a total perfectionist and how they never did anything after that. I didn't look up him specifically, but my gut tells me that he probably didn't go too far after that one album. I also watched the music video for "There She Goes" which isn't something that I do often, but the members are in their 20s, 30s at the very latest. Which strikes me as odd that they would get out of the game so fast. Or perhaps they didn't. Anyways. This is an album where that song will definitely get some playback, but that's the problem with a one hit wonder band. They had some other very good songs, and they remind me of Blind Melon, another 90s band who we may yet hear of.

Favorite Songs:
     Timeless Melody
     There She Goes
     Doledrum
     Failure

Album: Tanto Tempo

Artist: Bebel Gilberto

Release Year: 2000

"But it is Babel's voice - a chewy, purring, Marlboro-burnished voice that sings English in a pleasingly goofy Brazilian accent - that makes Tanto Tempo so compelling. Tanto Tempo went on to become the biggest-selling Brazilian album outside of Brazil. And although Suba's [the producer] innovations would be elaborated and superseded and outflanked by assorted sources - by Sao Paulo's drum 'n' bass jocks, by the experimental electronica boffins on Trauma Records, and by the "favela chic" of Rio's "baile funk" oddballs - Tanto Tempo remains a landmark in electronic music." - John Lewis

01 - Samba da Bencao

02 - August Day Song

03 - Tanto Tempo

04 - Sem Contencao

05 - Mais Feliz

06 - Albuem

07 - So Nice (Summer Samba)

08 - Lonely

09 - Bananeira

10 - Samba e Amor

11 - Close Your Eyes

Streaming: Radio3.net

iTunes: Tanto Tempo

Spotify: Bebel Gilberto

Hmm...Brazilian music you say? With Drum 'n' Bass and electronic roots? I'm enticed, to say the least. 

~mfm

The Cramps Review / The La's Preview (Album 23)

(Cramps preview here) So. The Cramps...is exactly what my ears had after listening to this. No, not really. I don't think that your ears can cramp. That's a little harsh too, but seriously. I was not terribly impressed with it. That's the thing, I'm not terribly impressed with many of the albums in this book. Which makes me sad. Only a couple of albums have really stuck out to me or are things I would listen to again. This was kinda weird, it reminded me of noise rock. Just sounds, and mediocre sounds. It's ok. I probably won't ever listen to it again. I did like on of the remakes that they did. But nothing really stuck out. You need the kind of songs that people will want to do remakes of. But then again, this was supposed to be a pretty experimental album. So... experiment a success? They were active up until about 2009 (according to Wikipedia), which I find interesting because I have never heard of them. They also changed members over 20 times. So I'll let that speak for itself. Maybe we will see them again.

Favorite Songs:
     Fever (Cover)
     TV Set
     I Was A Teenage Werewolf

Album: The La's

Artist: The La's

Release Year: 1990

"So with a mass of critical acclaim and strong sales in their favor, why did The La's release only one album and then fade away? Well, by most accounts, lead singer and songwriter Lee Mavers always was a surly perfectionist, and maybe a touch unstable with it. The band took four years to make The La's and burned through at least as many producers before the label finally lost patience and insisted they release the version piloted by Steve Lillywhite. Soon after, when Lee Mavers was asked to describe the album to NME he replied, "I hate it, it's the worst. A pile of shit. There is not one good thing I can find to say about it." Definitely the minority opinion, there, Lee." - Rob Morton

01 - Son Of A Gun

02 - I Can't Sleep

03 - Timeless Melody

04 - Liberty Ship

05 - There She Goes

06 - Doledrum

07 - Feelin'

08 - Way Out

09 - IOU

10 - Freedom Song

11 - Failure

12 - Looking Glass

Streaming: Radio3.net

iTunes: The La's

Spotify: The La's

My god there are a lot of albums in this book.

~mfm

Spirit Review / The Cramps Preview (Album 22)

(Spirit preview here) So I was kinda impressed with Spirit, in a general sense. They weren't overly impressive, but it was kinda cool to hear about this band that did pretty well during the 70's that I had never heard of before. Maybe that's why it was special. It was rocky, with a sort of 70's calmness to it. Maybe there were drugs involved. I wouldn't doubt that at all, but that doesn't change anything. I doubt that this will hear any play on my iPod, but I do really like the cover art, if it was a bit bigger. Throwback to basic photo manipulation.

Favorite Songs:
     Animal Zoo
     Street Worm

Album: Songs The Lord Taught Us

Artist: The Cramps

Release Year: 1980

"Songs The Lord Taught Us celebrates the trashiest elements of twentieth-century Americana. The Cramps' debut chewed up rockabilly riffs, punk rebellion, and B-movie imagery, andspat it out a gloriously primeval gob of rock'n'roll noise... Songs The Lord Taught Us should have been a smash. Critics raved, but problems in the band nixed any chance of success. During a 1980 tour in the United States, guitarist Bryan Gregory drove off with a van full of their equipment - sold to fund his growing drug addiction - and was never seen by the band again." Theunis Bates

01 - T.V. Set

02 - Rock On The Moon

03 - Garbageman

04 - I Was A Teenage Werewolf

05 - Sunglasses After Dark

06 - The Mad Daddy

07 - Mystery Plane

08 - Zombie Dance

09 - What's Behind The Mask?

10 - Strychnine

11 - I'm Cramped

12 - Tear It Up

13 - Fever

Streaming: Radio3.net

iTunes: Songs The Lord Taught Us

Spotify: The Cramps

Sounds very strange. Sounds very 80s. Hopefully it's awesome.

~mfm

The Everly Brothers Review / Spirit Preview (Album 21)

(Everly Brothers preview here) So The Everly Brothers was probably what I was expecting. Sounds like early Beach Boys and  Simon & Garfunkel  and other vocalists like that. After a brief look around the internet, I don't think that their other stuff sounds like this. This album comes from before they turned into a "country-influenced rock and roll" performance. But that's alright. Maybe we will see some more of them in the future. I doubt that any of this will be staying on my iPod. Maybe I'll make my grandpa sit down and listen to it and see if he knows it. That would be cool.

Favorite Songs:
     Made To Love
     Baby What Do You Want Me To Do

Album: Twelve Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus

Artist: Spirit

Release Year: 1970

"Feelins could not have been worse when Spirit recorded Twelve Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus. Luckily, David Briggs [producer], who worked with Neol Young, managed to harness all the animosity into Spirit's masterwork. The album was enriched with meaty horn arrangements ("Morning Will Come"), imaginative vocal harmonies ("Nothin' To Hide") and a structured approach to psychedelic studio trickery such as stereo panning and tapes run backwards...Oh, and "Dr. Sardonicus?" It is the nickname Spirit coined for the mixing desk at the studio." - Jamie Gonzalo

 01 - Prelude - Nothin' To Hide

02 - Nature's Way

03 - Animal Zoo

04 - Love Has Found A Way

05 - Why Can't I Be Free

06 - Mr. Skin

07 - Space Child

08 - When I Touch You

09 - Street Worm

10 - Life Has Just Begun

11 - Morning Will Come

12 - Soldier

Streaming: Radio3.net

iTunes: Spirit

Spotify: Twelve Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus

This sounds pretty cool. I've never heard of them before, but here's to hoping.

~mfm

Louis Prima Review / The Everly Brothers Preview (Album 20)

(Louis Prima preview here) Jazz jazz jazz jazz jazz...It's so silly. I like jazz, but I don't think that I will ever be able to rap my head around it. Especially if there doesn't seem to be a cohesive sound or melody or tempo. It's all very confusing. Anyways, that's mostly what I feel about Louis Prima. Skills: yes. My understanding of his creative venture: no. A couple of his songs reminded me of The Jungle Book, and when Baloo seems to go all be-bop.

Favorite Songs:
     Melody: Basin Street Blues - When It's Sleepy Time Down South

Album: A Date With The Everly Brothers

Artist: The Everly Brothers

Release Year: 1960

"It would have been reasonable to expect the cupboard to be bare, and the first tracks recorded, "Lucille" and "Baby What Do You Want Me To Do," suggest that material was in short supply. But the radical reinterpretations showed the Everly harmonies could refresh the most familiar songs." - David Hucheon

01 - Made To Love

02 - That's Just Too Much

03 - Stick With Me Baby

04 - Baby What Do You Want Me To Do

05 - Sigh, Cry, Almost Die

06 - Always It's You

07 - Love Hurts

08 - Lucille

09 - So How Come (No One Loves Me)

10 - Donna, Donna

11 - A Change Of Heart

12 - Cathy's Clown

Streaming: Radio3.net

iTunes: A Date With The Everly Brothers

Spotify: The Everly Brothers

This looks like a 60s version of a boy band. Also it's weird, in the book they usually have strange pictures (at least not what seems to be the most common picture) for an album. Weird Britts.

~mfm

Ryan Adams Review / Louis Prima Preview (Album 19)

(Ryan Adams preview here) So yes, this was a heartbreak album. This album caught me off guard with how good it actually was. I'm not really sure what I was expecting, I guess more broody angst country music. But it wasn't that. It was actually mostly rock with acoustic...goodness. I like it, I'm not in the breakup mood though usually. Listening to people's songs who sing about breakups is usually pretty interpersonal. This album stays true with that belief.

Favorite Songs:
     To Be Young (Is To Be Sad, Is To Be High)
     Amy
     Bartering Lines

Album: The Wildest!

Artist: Louis Prima

Release Year: 1956

"A popular nightclub singer / trumpeter in the 1930s and '40s, initially in his native New Orleans and then in New York, Prima found work had dried up by 1954...[Later] success came immediately, this sparkling half-hour, cut live in the studio in April 1956, iced the cake. Jazz hounds often dismiss Prima as just an Italianate Louis Armstong impersonator...But that is to miss the point: this is simply irrepressible music that more than matches its glorious cover show." - Will Filford-Jones

01 - Medley: Just A Gigolo - I Ain't Got Nobody

02 - (Nothing's Too Good) For My Baby

03 - The Lip

04 - Body and Soul

05 - Oh Marie

06 - Medley: Basin Street Blues - When it's Sleepy Time Down South

07 - Jump, Jive, An' Wail

08 - Buona Sera

09 - Night Train

10 - (I'll Be Glad When You're Dead) You Rascal You

Streaming: Radio3.net

iTunes: Louis Prima

Spotify: The Wildest!

Jazz jazz jazz jazz jazz...

~mfm

Deee-Lite Review / Ryan Adams Preview (Album 18)

(Lite preview here) So...That album was exactly as I thought it would be. It was this strange combination between electronic beats and this strange singing / chanting. All jokes aside though, the album actually would be a pretty sweet album if you could take out the singing from the lady; not that I didn't like it, it just would have been better in my opinion. The electronic beats were actually pretty sweet to listen too. I liked the beats, but like I said...the entirety of it was less than to be desired. Actually, I didn't even notice that the band name is pronounced "delight" until a couple of days ago.

Favorite Songs:
     Deee-Lite Theme
     What Is Love
     Groove Is In The Heart

The double-oh's.

Album: Heartbreaker

Artist: Ryan Adams

Release Year: 2000

"Heartbreak and hard drink have inspired many great albums, but rarely one as tender as this, Ryan Adams' solo debut. Adams recorded Heartbreaker - a brutally honest chronical of the highs and lows of love - in the wake of two scarring breakups ... Heartbreak transforms Adams into the critics' darling - he was called a "visionary rock troubadour" by NME - but failed to win over a mass audience." - Theunis Bates

01 - Argument with David Rawlings Concerning Morrissey

02 - To Be Young (Is To Be Sad, Is To Be High)

03 - My Winding Wheel

04 - AMY

05 - Oh My Sweet Carolina

06 - Bartering Lines

07 - Call Me On Your Way Back Home

08 - Damn, Sam (I Love A Woman That Rains)

09 - Come Pick Me Up

10 - To Be The One

11 - Why Do They Leave?

12 - Shakedown On 9th Street

13 - Don't Ask For The Water

14 - In My Time Of Need

15 - Sweet Lil Gal

Streaming: Radio3.net

iTunes: Ryan Adams

Spotify: Heartbreaker

I hope that it's not country music. More heartbreak...

~mfm