The Bird And The Bee

As a label, Blue Note has been changing its focus, drifting closer and closer to mainstream pop material – not that there's anything wrong with this, but it is a bit of a shock that the name label in jazz since 1939 is looking for hits with Elisabeth Withers and a third Norah Jones offering. That said, the Metro Blue imprint of the label is as adventurous as ever, and the self-titled offering from the Bird and the Bee is about as eclectic as it gets. The Bird and the Bee are vocalist and songwriter Inara George (for music historians, she is the daughter of the late Little Feat singer, guitarist, and songwriter Lowell George) and multi-instrumentalist/producer Greg Kurstin.

The fifth full-length from singer Inara George and multi-instrumentalist Greg Kurstin, Interpreting the Masters, Volume 2: A Tribute to Van Halen both sheds new light on the glory of classic VH and further proves the playful brilliance of the bird and the bee. The album follows Interpreting the Masters, Volume 1: A Tribute to Daryl Hall and John Oates, a 2010 release hailed as “wink-free pop bliss” by Entertainment Weekly. This time around, George and Kurstin find common ground with their source material in a shared affinity for fantastically intricate rhythms, unforgettable melodies, and—most essentially—a certain ecstatic spirit imbued into every song.

Teaming with Greg Kurstin – a producer best-known for helming Adele's Grammy-winning 25, but also a musician in his own right, collaborating with Inara George in the savvy retro duo the Bird and the Bee – is a signal from Paul McCartney that he intends Egypt Station, his 18th solo album, to be a thoroughly modern affair. It is, but not in the way that the glitzy 2013 album New, with its fair share of Mark Ronson productions, was. Kurstin doesn't specialize in gaudiness, he coaxes his collaborators to act like a bright, colorful version of their best selves, which is what he achieves with McCartney here. Apart from "Fuh You" – a vulgar throwaway novelty recorded with Ryan Tedder – Egypt Station is a handsome and clever collection where McCartney hits many familiar marks but the difference is, he gets there in a different fashion than before.

Teaming with Greg Kurstin – a producer best-known for helming Adele's Grammy-winning 25, but also a musician in his own right, collaborating with Inara George in the savvy retro duo the Bird and the Bee – is a signal from Paul McCartney that he intends Egypt Station, his 18th solo album, to be a thoroughly modern affair. It is, but not in the way that the glitzy 2013 album New, with its fair share of Mark Ronson productions, was. Kurstin doesn't specialize in gaudiness, he coaxes his collaborators to act like a bright, colorful version of their best selves, which is what he achieves with McCartney here. Apart from "Fuh You" – a vulgar throwaway novelty recorded with Ryan Tedder – Egypt Station is a handsome and clever collection where McCartney hits many familiar marks but the difference is, he gets there in a different fashion than before…

Teaming with Greg Kurstin – a producer best-known for helming Adele's Grammy-winning 25, but also a musician in his own right, collaborating with Inara George in the savvy retro duo the Bird and the Bee – is a signal from Paul McCartney that he intends Egypt Station, his 18th solo album, to be a thoroughly modern affair. It is, but not in the way that the glitzy 2013 album New, with its fair share of Mark Ronson productions, was…

The Bee Gees were a music group formed in 1958, featuring brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were especially successful as a popular music act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers of the disco music era in the mid-to-late 1970s. The group sang recognisable three-part tight harmonies; Robin's clear vibrato lead vocals were a hallmark of their earlier hits, while Barry's R&B falsetto became their signature sound during the mid-to-late 1970s and 1980s. The Bee Gees wrote all of their own hits, as well as writing and producing several major hits for other artists.