Cerrone Not Too Shabby

Although the music of Norah Jones continues to blend pop, soul, folk, and country with a seasoning of jazz, her third album for Blue Note is the first where she's written (or collaborated on) all the material. Beneath the smooth surface lie darker strains on the album-opening "Wish I Could" (about a boyfriend lost to war), intimations of mortality in "The Sun Doesn't Like You," and the post-election horrors of "My Dear Country." The last seems to channel the inspiration of Brecht/Weill, while the equally bleak "Sinkin' Soon" is set to a jaunty Dixieland rag. Throughout, Jones's vocal intimacy and melodic warmth remain as disarmingly understated as ever. The soulful "Thinking of You," the countryish "Wake Me Up," and the syncopated "Be My Somebody" reflect the captivating style of her previous work. Although too much in the same midtempo mode becomes a dreamy lull, cut by cut, Jones's voice is irresistible.

Not Too Far Away is the nineteenth studio album by British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading, and was released on 18 May 2018. Armatrading produced the album herself, arranged the strings and plays and programmes all instruments.

After he turned 70, French disco innovator Marc Cerrone celebrated half-a-century in the music business with the release of Cerrone by Cerrone, a continuously mixed set of reworked hits from throughout his storied career. He originally made updated versions of these songs for his DJ sets, keeping the essence of the songs intact but updating the production for contemporary dancefloors. This mix presents the retouched songs in action, blended with a few remixes by other producers, including previously released versions by Dimitri from Paris and Joey Negro. The majority of the tracks feature re-recorded vocals by Brendan Reilly, who appeared on Cerrone's 2016 dance-pop effort Red Lips as well as albums by Disclosure, Basement Jaxx, Duffy, and many others. While he's certainly a skilled vocalist, he doesn't particularly add anything new to the songs, and he often pushes them a bit too far into slick, radio-friendly blandness.

As of 2020, disco pioneer Marc Cerrone has been professionally making and performing music for nearly 50 years. His vast discography, spanning dozens of albums, has included Afro-beat-influenced funk, suspenseful soundtracks, adult contemporary pop, and French house. He will always be revered for his influential early solo albums, however, particularly the 1977 classic Supernature, which had an almost progressive rock-style sci-fi concept involving scientist-created mutants rebelling against humankind. While much of his later output is more populist, aiming at the radio or dance clubs, DNA is a more socially conscious, exploratory epic that recalls the space-disco subgenre more than any of Cerrone's past work.

Marc Cerrone is an Italofrench disco drummer, composer, record producer and creator of major concert shows. Cerrone is considered as one of the most influential disco producers of the 70s and 80s in Europe. He has sold over 30 million records worldwide, including over four million copies in France alone and eight million copies of Supernature, which is considered his magnum opus. The single "Love in C Minor" (1976) reached No. 3 and stayed on record charts for over two months, chalking up sales of three million copies. With "Supernature" (1977), Cerrone merged symphonic orchestrations with the rigid sounds of synthesizers.