Falling somewhere between the pop sensibilities of Ten Summoner's Tales and the searching ambition of The Soul Cages, Mercury Falling is one of Sting's tighter records, even if it fails to compel as much as his previous solo albums. Though he doesn't flaunt his jazz aspirations as he did in the mid-'80s, Mercury Falling feels more serious than The Dream of the Blue Turtles, primarily because of its reserved, high-class production and execution. Building from surprisingly simple, memorable melodies, Sting creates multi-layered, vaguely soul-influenced arrangements that carry all of the hallmarks of someone who has studied music, not lived it. Of course, there are many pleasures in the record – for all of his pretensions, Sting remains an engaging melodicist, as well as a clever lyricist. There just happens to be a distinct lack of energy, stemming from the suffocating layers of synthesizers. Mercury Falling is a record of modest pleasures; it's just not an infectious, compulsive listen.
On its one and only major-label release, Year of the Rat, NY Loose delivers powerful performances of a punk-pop musical blend that have nothing whatsoever to do with other '90s platinum purveyors of radio punk. Instead of simply being snide or just plain goofy rock stars like Green Day or the Offspring, NY Loose emits a refreshingly punk attitude of contrariness, if not actual rebellion, on this 1996 release. Founding members Brijitte West (guitars and vocals) and Danny Nordahl (bass) are joined on Year of the Rat by drummer Pete Lloyd and guitarist Marc Diamond. Each member seems versed well enough in the standard instrumental punk vocabulary, but West's saucy delivery and upfront lyrics make NY Loose special.
The Kinks are recognised as one of the most important and influential British groups of all time, with millions of record sales and countless awards and accolades to their name. From their explosive beginnings as part of the British Beat movement to forays into concept albums, stadium rock and acoustic balladeering, The Kinks have left an unimpeachable legacy of classic songs, many of which form the building blocks of popular music as we know it today.
Republica essentially sound like they're stuck in 1990, when house and rave were just beginning to make their presence felt in dance-pop – which, to more critical ears, will mean they sound dated for the mid-'90s, when jungle, drum'n'bass, ambient, and all other forms of techno were finally edging their way into the mainstream. And that argument would be relevant if Republica were attempting to work in that genre, but as their eponymous debut indicated, they had no interest in hardcore techno – they just wanted to dance. Working with strong, accessible Hi-NRG beats and catchy choruses, the trio has a bright, energetic sound that is quite infectious when tied with the right melodies, such as on the hit singles "Ready to Go" and "Drop Dead Gorgeous." If they had more than one sound, however, Republica would be even more entertaining, but as it stands, the record is a stretch of pleasantly numbing dance-pop punctuated by two terrific singles.
Portraits (So Long Ago, So Clear) is a set of 15 pieces covering approximately 20 years of Vangelis' career. He is, undoubtedly, the most commercial electronic musician ever. He has recorded dozens of major motion picture soundtracks and dozens of delightful albums. This CD is an accurate cross section of those efforts. Contains two unreleased tracks.
Dizzy Gillespie albums are sometimes criticized for being silly, never for lacking stamina. Pleyel Jazz Concert 1953 is no exception to this rule, though it would certainly be understandable if it were. The live recording, issued and repackaged at least three times since the late '90s, dates from a period when Gillespie was in Paris and as busy as God, as musicians like to say in reference to the deity, not the European noise music band. If datebooks kept by people nicknamed Dizzy are to be trusted, the bebop kingpin had during a previous 48-hour period cut albums for two different competing firms, one involving a string orchestra. About ten collections have been published involving this material. Meanwhile, his rhythm section cut an album on the same day of the Pleyel Concert Hall event, also reissued at least three times and representing the sole effort by pianist Wade Legge as a leader…
Performing accompaniment for the great tap dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson in 1930 may seem historic enough for most music enthusiasts, but Putney Dandridge had already been in the music business for more than a decade when he got this gig. He was part of a revue known as the Drake and Walker Show beginning in 1918 and subsequently became known as one of the most active players on the Buffalo music stampede. After several years with Robinson, the pianist and vocalist skimmed his way around the Great Lakes in order to establish a new residency in Cleveland, complete with his own band. This activity lasted through 1934…
A concept album, Jon Anderson's (Yes) "Toltec" is made up of 13 cuts divided into three parts. It tells the tale of the Toltec, a Native American concept of a group of people who have been all over the Earth, existing within different cultures throughout the centuries. They are described in the liner as "Creators of the circles of power, color, perfume, and music healing domes." Musically, this one is arguably Anderson's most ambitious solo effort. It is set in a style that is definitely progressive rock, but focuses less on the rock and more on other elements. Among those elements are new age (no surprise as the CD was released on the Windham Hill label), world music, electronic, and even jazz. Anderson not only provided the expected vocals, but also wrote, arranged, and produced the disc…