There is a new record from Joss Stone out today, "LP1." I have no interest. That first record of hers, recorded with help from some Miami soul legends like Timmy Thomas and Little Beaver, as well as Betty Wright, was more than a curiousity. As she got older and more popular though, she became your average melismaniac. The Amazon download IS only $3.99, though. So...your call.
http://www.amazon.com/LP1-Joss-Stone/dp/B0052FPPUI/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1311679700&sr=1-2
Jimmie Vaughan releases more songs from the "blues, ballads, and favorites" sessions. Part One was a killer. Today's release, "Plays More..." has the same vibe, but the tunestack is not as strong. Still hard to go wrong with Jimmie and Lou Ann Barton together. I heartily recommend the first entry. Get that below.
http://www.amazon.com/Jimmie-Vaughan-Plays-Blues-Ballads-Favorites/dp/B003JVJ1HU/ref=pd_sim_m_2
The band is back with "Back Pages," a collection of covers by the likes of Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Brian Wilson and The Zombies, among others. My problem here is that the songs covered, "America," "Caroline, No." "Time Of The Season" and "My Back Pages,"for starters, are what my friend, bassist Sal Maida would call coffin songs. "Coffin songs?" "Yeah, songs so good, they're coming with me when I go." Personally, I don't want to hear my "coffin songs" turned into a dozen "Muskrat Loves." Nothing here, NOTHING, is better, or even remotely interesting enough to check out, unless you happen to love lifeless, cringe-making cover versions.
It's here.
The debut from Sweden's Little Dragon, 'Machine Dreams, was a pretty hot collection of songs that sounded more than a little like "Dirty Mind"-era Prince. Haven't heard "Ritual Union," their new release yet, but I plan on it.
Also out today are records by the Bodeans, a reissue of a lost classic by Ray Wylie Hubbard, and the original motion picture score of "The Smurfs."
11 comments:
You have described America's entire career (IMO) in a single sentence! Brilliant. Lifeless. They could take the joy out of anything. They do lay claim to the most obvious lyric of all time... "The heat was hot"
I'm sorry, "Ventura Highway" and "Sister Golden Hair" are stone classics. coffin songs, if you will.
They get a pass from me for these two songs if nothing else.
@Shriner
I'm with you, and I'll throw in "Today's The Day." But...
and of course beckley's solo album of this year is surprisingly pretty damned great. fan of america or not.
Sal, agreed on Joss Stone. There's not a single tune that she won't oversing. For many a modern artist, the lessons of the music they try to replicate but always fail to is "space." Why must bands today feel that every microsecond of recorded time be filled with something? Stop singing, Joss. I mean...
I agree about "Ventura Highway", I was always a bit shy about mentioning how much I love that song. :) RE Joss, I thought she could be capable of good things, but yes she has fallen into the over-singing, "look I'm a vocal Olympian!" trap. And I just want to say I can never get enough Jimmie V.
"Horse with No Name" has, hands down, the worst lyrics ever committed to vinyl. Unforgivable. No amount of "Ventura Highway" can expunge the horror from my brain.
just saw a news item that dan peek, the third member of the group, has died.
I'm with you on Joss Stone. I thought her first album showed promise and that she would be part of the British R&B revival but everything she's done since has left me cold. She's got the voice but she's not using it. Maybe Mark Ronson could take a trip over with the Dap Kings and straighten her out.
Too bad about Dan Peek. R.I.P. Only 60, and he found God and everything.
Oh well, they come in 3's. I wonder who'll be the next.
Everyone play Don't Cross The River.
Here in the UK, America are one of those second division rock bands that no one talks or has ever really talked about.
Everyone knows Horse With No Name and that's it.
On a personal level, they signify everything that was wrong with what was coming out of the States of that ilk at that time.
Bland soulless rubbish.
The thought of them doing a covers album is just too dreadful to imagine.
Joss Stone could have been a contender after that first album, instead she adopted a cod american accent and pretended she was 50.
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