Musical Musings

• Last weekend, we went to hear Rebecca Berlin at a local Starbucks which was not much larger than I am (and not nearly as good-looking, of course). She rotated sets with her sister, and played a few songs together as well. Overall, it was a strong performance, despite the fact that Starbucks never turned off their piped-in background music. I bought a copy of her demo CD, which you might enjoy if you're into coffeehousey singy music -- her voice isn't perfectly polished, but it's pretty damn good for a young'n.
Rebecca Berlin - California (1:20 MP3)
Rebecca Berlin - Monochrome (1:10 MP3)



• New on my playlist this month:

• Charlatans UK - Title Fight (1:19 MP3)
• Chat a Nuga - Dance a Little (1:14 MP3)
• The Feeling - Never Be Lonely
• J Geils Band - Freeze Frame
• Magnet and Gemma Hayes - Lay Lady Lady (1:06 MP3)
• The Ordinary Boys - I Luv You
• The Rasmus - In the Shadows
• Scissor Sisters - Land of A Thousand Words
• The Vines - Ride


• I really like the timbre of Gemma Hayes' voice.


• Kathy also loaned me a copy of her latest addiction, Life in Cartoon Motion by Mika. It's a very solid album which takes the basic conventions of pop and distorts them through a fun-house mirror -- kind of The Darkness meets the Scissor Sisters. Mika is at his weakest when he tries to do straight pop tunes, but there are only a couple of them on the CD.
Mika - Grace Kelly (0:42 MP3)
Mika - Love Today (0:50 MP3)



• I haven't heard any good music on American stations recently -- just more of the same garbage. I do have enough crappy bands tallied up now for an Annual Musical Suck Competition, where bands like The Fray, Three Doors Down, StainD, and Nickelback, can compete for a Horrible Music trophy which I will award. The trophy will be a rotten head of lettuce -- not because it's symbolic, but because I have one in my fridge and I don't plan on actually spending any money on this competition.


• Another recent CD which I bought to use in my daily game of Solo Musical Chairs is Simpatico by the Charlatans UK. The group has evolved away from harder rock, and this album is a more mellow, reggae/ska-inspired collection which works quite well as background music. The only reason I wouldn't recommend it is because it's one of those idiotic Enhanced CDs that won't play in a computer.
Charlatans UK - Blackened Blue Eyes (1:20 MP3)



• The most disturbing song on the radio right now is, without a doubt, I Wanna Have Your Babies by Natasha Bedingfield (0:32 MP3). I don't particularly want to see babies "springing up like daisies".


• The last CD in my quarterly CD binge is Tired of Hanging Around by the Zutons which is solid all the way through. The group plays simple rock-oriented songs with driving beats and catchy hooks. The lead singer isn't great, but male rock singers are better when they have a memorable voice rather than a pretty one (see also, Steven Tyler vs. Morrissey). This CD was definitely worth the price.
Zutons - Tired of Hanging Around (1:14 MP3)
Zutons - Oh Stacey (0:47 MP3)



• I occasionally hear the unique voice of Ellie Lawson on the radio, but I can never find her CD. She doesn't seem to exist in any secret MP3 repositories online either.


• Museday Tuesday has been effective at getting my hand back in the composing game. I never planned on doing it every Tuesday, but I'll probably rotate a Museday in whenever the news is too boring for Newsday. I'm currently working on a Spanish tune, tentatively titled "The Chootanaga Cha Cha".


• What do you think of this week's music? Do you want to have my babies? Do you want to go to the discotheque? Share your thoughts in the Comments section!