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Various Artists: The Hotel Cafe Presents Winter Songs

December 5, 2008 /

Like a VH-1 dream lineup, The Hotel Café in Los Angeles is presenting Winter Songs, a collection of both original and classic holiday tunes by today’s hottest female artists. The Epic Records release is a benefit for the Susan G. Komen For the Cure, and it also benefits anyone who has the chance to hear it. Among some of the best original holiday songs in years are the unofficial title track, “Winter Song,” by Sara Bareilles & Ingrid Michaelson, and Colbie Caillat’s stunning “Mistletoe.” Some of the classics are predictable and a bit pedestrian, such as KT Tunstall’s take on “Sleigh Ride” or Priscialla Ahn’s wispy take on “Silent Night.” But Fiona Apple’s “Frosty The Snowman” and Katy Perry’s “White Christmas” are throwback versions to a bygone era, and show something you may not have known – that they both can sing very well. Taken as a whole, this is one of the more unique and semi-awesome holiday albums to be released in quite some time, and the cause should give you that much more of a reason to pick it up. (Epic)

Hotel Cafe website

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Pop, Rock Babes

The British Columbians: The British Columbians

December 5, 2008 /

Forget any notions of lofty peaks and clear Canadian skies. These British Columbians mostly troll a darker underbelly that’s more akin to the swampy environs of the Mississippi Delta or points likely well within the devil’s tawdry reach. So while they come by their namesake through actual residency, their musical references couldn’t be any more disparate. Taking their cue from the stir-fried boogie and low, lonesome ruminations of the bayou country, they reference innumerable forebears, from the swagger and wail of Kings of Leon (Gasoline Handshake”) and Led Zeppelin (“Hail to the Rising Sun”), to the impassioned blues moan of John Lee Hooker and other down-home denizens (“Ain’t No Direction”). Happily for those alienated by plodding, monolithic stomps and other dervish-like frenzy, relief arrives via the album’s final two entries, “By and By” and “Going Out On You, rustic rambles that find more in common with the mellower Faces under the stewardship of Ronnies Wood and Lane. A promising and imposing debut, this eponymous effort reflects a band seemingly in search of a permanent musical habitat. (Rural Records)

British Columbians MySpace page

Americana, Blues, CD QuickTakes, Rock

RJ Cowdery: One More Door

December 5, 2008 /

Decent folk pop artist straddling the gaps between Americana, country, and straight up folk. Cowdery has a pleasant voice that doesn’t try to do anything it can’t. Her songs like “These Ties That Bind” and “Saving for Love” have a unifying theme of peace, humility, and hope. She’s best when doing softer tunes like “One More Door” than when she treads into too-familiar territory on a song like “I Believe.” “Down to the Water” is gentle and pretty, but “Shine on Me Again” drags a little, conveying RJ’s tales of personal strife in the same tones and melodies. Yet this is a pretty solid affair overall, and will certainly please those who like their music on the softer side with lyrics that can mean something from time to time. One More Door is certainly safe sounding, but then again it’s hard to imagine this artist getting too boisterous in her songwriting. (self-released)

RJ Cowdery MySpace page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Folk

Aaron Beaumont: Nothing’s Forever (Not Even Goodbye)

December 5, 2008 /

Maybe, as Aaron Beaumont suggests in the title of his recently reissued debut album, nothing is forever – no, not even goodbye – but some things do come awfully close, and on that list, tastefully ragtime-drenched piano playing and the smooth croon of a natural pop vocalist must rank awfully high. That’s good news for Beaumont, whose Nothing’s Forever (Not Even Goodbye) is filled with impeccably crafted, pleasantly retro songs that rescue piano pop from the arch snarkiness of late-period practitioners like Ben Folds – while avoiding the occasionally nauseating heights of seriousness attained by, say, Jack’s Mannequin. While Nothing’s Forever isn’t as consistent as it could be – obvious singles like the instantly charming “Julia” are offset by a handful of tracks that fade quickly into the background – it’s simply too smart and well-written to dislike, and since Beaumont had the extreme good sense to limit the track listing to 10 songs and just under 45 minutes, it’s too breezy to wear out its welcome. Matter of fact, this is that rarest of 21st-century beasts: an album that warms to the ear with repeated listens, rather than breeding contempt. In lesser hands, Beaumont’s extremely retro vibe would be nothing but a flimsy gimmick, but he’s clearly a songwriter who understands the difference between the strongly nostalgic and the simply timeless. Here’s hoping he gets the opportunity to grow into his aspirations. (Milan 2008)

Aaron Beaumont MySpace page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Pop

Seen Your Video: Dethklok, “Mermaider”

December 4, 2008 /

Most fans of Adult Swim’s “Home Movies” series are probably still angry and bitter over creator Brendon Small’s decision to make his next project about a death metal band, but while the animated adventures of young Brendon, Jason, and Melissa regularly skewered the world of Hollywood, so does “Metalocalypse” poke fun at the music industry. The series focuses on Dethklok, a death metal band so popular that, indeed, by the second season of the series (:::coughing::: now out on DVD :::coughing:::), they rank as the seventh largest economy on the planet Earth; as a result, they answer to no authority but their own, lest the world’s financial solidity fall apart. If you can get past the music and the rampant violence, it’s actually an extremely funny and clever series.

Here’s the test: if you can get through the video for Dethklok’s song, “Mermaider,” and not feel repulsed in any way, then you should give “Metalocalypse” a chance…possibly starting with the Season 1 DVD set.

Be forewarned, however, that it’s very much for mature audiences only.

Artists, External Music, Seen Your Video, Songs, Videos

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