Sexy Notes For Him

How does an artist who rose to prominence “yesterday” stay relevant “today” or for that matter “tomorrow”? It’s been said that creativity keeps long-term relationships fresh, interesting and exciting. Recording artist Will Downing obviously believes in applying that same principle to the relationship he’s enjoyed over the years with his many loyal fans. Ever evolving and unafraid to push the sonic envelope closer to the edge, Downing follows up his 2010 release Lust, Love and Lies “audio novel” concept with an innovative “musical trilogy” entitled Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.

Sounds of the Seventies was a 38-volume series issued by Time-Life during the late 1980s and early-to-mid 1990s, spotlighting pop music of the 1970s. Much like Time-Life's other series chronicling popular music, volumes in the "Sounds of the Seventies" series covered a specific time period, including individual years in some volumes, and different parts of the decade (for instance, the early 1970s) in others; in addition, some volumes covered specific trends, such as music popular on album-oriented rock stations on the FM band. Each volume was issued on either compact disc, cassette or (with volumes issued prior to 1991) vinyl record.

As soul music moved into the early '70s, it became dominated by smoother sounds and polished productions, picking up its cues from Motown, Chicago soul, and uptown soul. By the beginning of the decade, soul was fracturing in a manner similar to pop/rock, as pop-soul, funk, vocal groups, string-laden Philly soul, and sexy Memphis soul became just a few of the many different subgenres to surface. Often, the productions on these records were much more polished than '60s productions, boasting sound effects, synthesizers, electric keyboards, echoes, horn sections, acoustic guitars, and strings.

RCO - Anthology of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Vol 1, 1935-1950 (2002) {13CD Box Set Q Disc 97017, Limited Edition}
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© 1935-50, 2002 Radio Netherlands Music / Q Disc | 97017
Classical / Orchestral / Symphony / Romantic / Early 20th Century

Böhm was reported to have told the Wiener Philharmoniker towards the end of his life "I loved you as one can only love a woman". Listening to this boxset, capturing the Concertgebouworkest at the peak of its powers (between 1935 and June 1941), still at a commendable level (between July 1941 and 1944) before having to rebuild from the ashes of war (1945 to 1947) to finally come back to the highest level (1949-1950), the careful auditor has history in the making unfolding with its drama, its joys, but essentially its incommensurable beauty.

Survivor was an album of agendas. Destiny's Child were always going to release a third album following the success of The Writing's on the Wall, no matter what the line-up was. There had to be something put out to show that the group could continue in spite of two line-up changes within the space of weeks. But Survivor was also a vehicle for Beyoncé, as you could argue Destiny's Child always was. Survivor was a statement that the group could continue because of her. But it was also Mathew starting to build Beyoncé's portfolio. On The Writing's on the Wall, writing credits were split pretty evenly between the members of Destiny's Child. But on Survivor, Beyoncé is listed as a songwriter on all but one song, with Kelly and Michelle only being listed as songwriters for the album outro, where the girls literally just recite the Thank You's which are printed in the inlay.

Ronnie Hawkins & The Hawks - The Roulette Years (1958-63) [2CD] {1994 Sequel Records}
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© 1994 Sequel Records | NED CD 266
Rock / Rockabilly / Jazz

This 57-track double-CD set seems like a no-brainer – get almost all of Ronnie Hawkins' rock & roll recordings in one place. The packaging here is good, thoughtful, and legitimate, but could also be a little misleading to those who are buying this expecting to hear a lot of early work by the musicians who later became the Band – Levon Helm was aboard on drums from the Hawks' first official recordings, but the remainder didn't begin arriving on the scene until almost two years later; they're only on hand more than one or two at a time for less than half of what's here.

For a few years, I got to travel with these bands—they included me—a dream come true. I’ve tried to take you on a trip with me and Art and the bands while reliving all of it a little—in writing it, in pictures I took, scenes and conversations I recall. And in the music Art asked me to record. About which I feel absolutely safe in saying it: That’s it. That’s jazz.

Ike & Tina Turner - The Archive Series Volumes 1 - 6 (2009) {6CD Set Yellow Label-SPV Digitally remastered}
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© 2009 Yellow Label / SPV GmbH
R&B / Funk / Soul / Rock'n Roll

SPV launched their series of archival Ike & Tina Turner collections with this double-disc set, which curiously enough is the least interesting installment in the program so far. The Archive Series, Vols. 1 & 2: Hits and Classics is devoted to songs already familiar to casual listeners, but the only real-deal Ike & Tina hits included on this set are "It's Gonna Work Out Fine," "Nutbush City Limits," "Proud Mary," and "River Deep, Mountain High" (the latter two each appearing twice), while nearly everything else is a cover of a tune associated with another artist.