Wednesday, June 20, 2007

India - America - Poland - Spain - Colombia

Here's an unusually international post.

Here I am, an American of Indian origin listening to the radio in Poland and finding myself really enjoying a song that turns out to be by a Colombian musician.

So, this song comes on the radio and I ask my hosts in Poland who this is and they say it is a popular song by Fuanes. I assumed it was a Polish artist fusing some Spanish melody with his singing. After failing to communicate with the salesperson at the CD store when I asked for the "popular Polish group Fuanes,", I was finally told that I was looking for the CD by a Spanish singer called Juanes.

I eventually walked out of the CD store with the CD. Then, Wikipedia tells me that Juanes is a very big star from Medellin, Colombia. He's a huge star with a record number of Latin Grammys. Not only that, I was embarrassed to find that the album from which this song was taken (Mi Sangre; 2004) has sold almost a million copies in the US!

Here's great Spanish music, coming to you from Poland (from a man of Indian origin who is an American citizen!)

You can find his complete discography on Amazon here. Mi Sangre is available here. Why he's not a fixture on American radio, I just don't know.

Visit the artist's site at www.juanes.net.

1. Juanes - La camisa negra (MP3 Removed by IFPI)

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Driving to Blue Café

While one of our hosts in Poland were driving us around Olsztyn, she had a CD playing in the car that was pleasant. The tunes were toe tapping and never jarring. Although the lyrics were in english, I could detect a distinct accent at times.

I asked our host about the CD and she said that it was a Polish group called Blue Café. This is from their newest CD Ovosho. The lead singer has an incredible controlled smoky voice not unlike Diana Krall or Norah Jones. She also seems to have quite an incredible range. Most of the songs on this album are in english, with a few Polish songs thrown in. On an interesting note, this band's Love Song served as Poland's entry to the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest.

Frustratingly, this CD seems to be available on Amazon for about the same amount as I paid for it in Poland.

Again, I really did have a hard time picking a couple of songs to feature here. Given a choice, I would highlight about 6-8 songs here which all highlight different aspects of the group's talent. However, I'll stick to the catchiest melodies. The lyrics are not particularly sophisticated or subtle, but then again, let's not forget that groups like Abba took lyrics like "Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight, Take me through the darkness to the break of the day" all the way to platinum status mutliple times over!

Let's see how this is received. If there is enough demand, I may feature a couple more songs from this album later.

1. Blue Café - Barok (2.61 MB; 128kbps MP3)
2. Blue Café - Baby, Baby (3.57 MB; 128kbps MP3)

Monday, June 18, 2007

Poland Trip Finds

Those of you who read my other blog know that I was having all sorts of adventures in Poland last week. I managed to pick up a few CDs there that I will feature on this blog at least during the first part of this week.

A well known rock band in Poland is Lady Pank. According to Wikipedia, this band has been around in various incarnations since the early 80s. There was even a time in 1986 that one of their songs got heavy rotation on MTV in the United States.

When I was in Poland last week, I picked up their latest album that has just been released and immediately fell in love with it. Very straightforward, clean, rock music which just happens to be in an unfamiliar language. I would classify it in the same genre as favorite 70s-80s-90s rock bands like Kansas, Boston, and Supertramp. Very catchy melodies and solid vocals.

Amazingly, I liked all the songs on this album (titled Strach Się Bać), so decided to relatively randomly pick a couple of songs to feature here. The first is the album's title track. The second is a more mellow track called Nie mam nic, prócz Ciebie (lady). I picked it simply because the title was so irrresistable! The big 25 on the cover of this album makes me think this is their 25th album. Quite an achievement for any band!

It seems Amazon lists several of their albums, but at outrageous prices. You can find the Amazon discography of Lady Pank here.

1. Lady Pank - Strach Się Bać (3.7 MB; 128kbps MP3)
2. Lady Pank - Nie mam nic, prócz Ciebie (lady) (3.69 MB; 128kbps MP3)

Saturday, June 9, 2007

Beatles Pot Pourri

We're at the end of Beatles Week and I thought I'd throw in a bonus song as I'm going to be gone for the next week and not updating the blog (unless I can find time in Poland to do this).

Many, many years ago, I was in Melbourne for a conference (this was probably 1995) and at the "gala event" in a museum, there was a local group that performed for the conference delegates. Being a sucker for harmonies (as I have mentioned in this blog before), I was entranced by their beautiful harmonies and I didn't hesitate to buy the debut CD (titled Rhythm of Life) of this group called Pot Pourri. The group consisted of Tania de Jong (soprano), Antoinette Halloran (soprano), Craig Macdonald (tenor) and Jonathan Morton (baritone). According to the CD insert, the group has performed throughout Australia and overseas. They have appeared at the Melbourne Concert Hall and at many major festivals including the Melbourne International Festival, Castlemaine State Festival, and Next Wave Festival. A quick Google search suggests that they're still performing, although Antoinette is no longer a part of the group.

One of the songs on this CD was The Beatles' Fool on the Hill and that's the one I'm going to thrill you with today.

1. Pot Pourri - The Fool on the Hill (2.43 MB; 128kbps MP3)

Friday, June 8, 2007

The Jazzy Beatles

Probably one of the most consistently excellent Beatles tribute albums I have ever heard is from the swinging jazz vocalist John Pizzarelli. John is a very well known jazz guitarist and singer-songwriter. He has established such a solid career himself that you can almost get by without mentioning that he is the son of the legendary jazz guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli.

John has an ultra-smooth voice and is obviously a skilled arranger, judging from the job he did on this album. His interpretations of these songs are clever and original without being weird. The jazzy, swingin', big-band arrangements are always pleasant without seeming cheesy.

If you collect Beatles cover albums, you almost certainly have this one in your collection already. If you don't, you are definitely missing out on one of the best. You can buy this album on Amazon here. You will hopefully be intrigued enough to check out John's complete discography here. And of course, no review of an artist or album is complete without a visit to his own web site.

So, to end Beatles week, here's John Pizzarelli - Enjoy!

1. John Pizzarelli - Can't Buy Me Love (3.31 MB; 128kbps MP3)
2. John Pizzarelli - I've Just Seen A Face (2.57 MB; 128kbps MP3)

P.S.: I have so many more albums with hundreds of Beatles cover songs that I may just have to do this again if there's enough demand!

Thursday, June 7, 2007

The Acting Beatles


Is it true that people who go into the "creative arts" tend to be creative all round? I'm amazed at the number of actors who are musicians (and vice versa). When people rise to the top of their craft, it is often hard to imagine that they could be good (really good) at something else.

Some years ago, George Martin decided to produce his last album on his own terms. Realizing that he can never escape his Beatles legacy, he decided to do an album of Beatles covers done by people he has admired and associated with over the years. The result was an absolutely stunning album that everyone who considers themselves a Beatles fan should have in their collection.
The songs featured here are both from actors who tend to bring their personalities to their singing. Goldie Hawn brings a beautifully smoky lounge-singer voice to an interesting version of Hard Day's Night. Jim Carrey brings a zany and crazy enthusiasm to the crazy I Am The Walrus. Great songs, great singing, great album.
2. Jim Carrey - I Am The Walrus (4.14 MB; 128kbps MP3)

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Got My Mojo Working

Last year, when I was in Australia, I stopped at a magazine shop and picked up a special Beatles edition of MOJO magazine that came with a free CD that covered the entire Revolver album.

Would you consider Revolver to be a meditative experience? Well, on this CD the artists took the songs from the album and turned them into surrealistic, contemplative experiences. I really like the album and it's unusual spin on Beatles' classics.

What does it sound like? Here are a couple of excellent examples. To me, if you can take Yellow Submarine and turn it into a deeply thoughtful exercise in brooding melancholy, you have achieved a pretty high level of creative genius. Kudos to Chris Eckman (of The Walkabouts) for this unusual cover. This will remind you a great deal of The Door's The End. You can check out Chris's work on the web site of his group The Walkabouts.

The other selection here is Neal Casal's I am Only Sleeping. Again, I can imagine early Pink Floyd jamming with Jim Morrison on this song. Fascinating. You can visit Neal Casal's web site to learn more of his music. You can find this album cheap on eBay.

Buy Chris Eckman's solo album on Amazon here.

Or, The Walkabouts on Amazon here.

Buy Neal Casal on Amazon here.

1. Chris Eckman - Yellow Submarine (4.33 MB; 128kbps MP3)
2. Neal Casal - I Am Only Sleeping (2.62 MB; 128kbps MP3)

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

All Beatles, All Reggae

As most people have experienced, there's something inherently catchy and toe-tapping in the reggae beat. Of course, you also know that the Beatles were master's at rafting the perfect pop melody. So, if you put these together, how can you go wrong?

I love cover songs that don't try to recreate the original, but instead put a unique spin on them. The Trojan Beatles Tribute Box Set certainly fits that mold. This is easily the best collections of reggae Beatles. The Trojan record label is legendary in reggae circles. So, it's fitting that they used their vast repertoire of reggae stars to build this 3-CD box set of Beatles songs done in the reggae style. I really don't understand how a relatively repetitive and monotonous reggae beat can be so consistently entertaining. But you'll have a hard time not enjoying this collection. There are numerous repeats (the same song interpreted by different artists) as well as several instrumental numbers (which I didn't care that much for). But, it's a pretty comprehensive collection. The first two discs are labeled simply as "The Black, Gold & Green Album," The third disc is called "The Black, Gold & Green Album... UK Stylee" and I have no idea what that means.

The first selection here is from Disc 1 while the second is from the third disc. The second, by the way, is from reggae legend, Desmond Dekker who just died last year. Remember the big hit "Israelites"? That was Dekker. Finally, I decided to throw in another song from a reggae legend on Disc 2 - John Holt. Here is John Holt's I Will.

This is a worthwhile purchase for a relatively inexpensive price. You can find this 3-CD box set for less that $25 on Amazon here.

1. Ernie Smith - You Won't See Me (3.69 MB; 128kbps MP3)
2. Desmond Dekker - Blackbird (3.01 MB; 128kbps MP3)
3. John Holt - I Will (3.39 MB; 128 kbps MP3)

Monday, June 4, 2007

Welcome to Beatles Week!

In honor of McCartney's new album and the 40th Anniversary of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, I'm going to be celebrating this entire week with a Beatles theme on my blog.

Underheard music will primarily focus on covers of Beatles songs. Actually, I'm going to start the week with a selection of "not-really-Beatles" songs. I recently found a CD called "Lost Songs of Lennon & McCartney." This a CD done by Kate Pierson (B-52's), Graham Parker (of Graham Parker) and Bill Janovitz (of Buffalo Tom). Actually, of these three names, the only one I had never heard of was Bill Janovitz. Interestingly, on this CD, I think the highlights are the Bill Janovitz songs. I'm only including one here, but I think the best songs on the CD are the ones sung by Bill Janovitz. I'm including one song by each of the artists, but believe me, the Bill Janovitz ones are the highlights.

The theme of this CD is to includes songs written by Lennon & McCartney, but never released by them (of course you'll recognize some of these songs that have been recently released in demo form on the Anthology series.

Clicking on the names will take you to the Wikipedia pages of these artists, so I won't go long here. You can find the album on Amazon here. Don't ask me why it's so expensive.

1. Bill Janovitz - Woman (2.72 MB; 128kbps MP3)
2. Kate Pierson - Nobody I Know (2.99 MB; 128kbps MP3)
3. Graham Parker - One And One Is Two (1.99 MB; 128kbps MP3)

P.S.: Okay, I'll be honest. I'm going to be out of the country next week and thought I'd leave you with so much fun stuff this week that you won't notice my absence the following week! :-)

Friday, June 1, 2007

Around the World and Back Again

The source of my selections today is as roundabout as the artiste's travels.

My niece in Trieste, Italy sent me a couple of MP3s of an artist she likes called Lhasa de Sela and thought I may like it enough for my blog. I listened to the songs first and was intrigued enough by the beautiful smoky voice to want to find out more about the artist. While the music is interesting, but not exactly what I would regularly listen to, the story of Lhasa is fascinating.

According to the brief Wikipedia entry, Lhasa is " of Mexican and Jewish -Lebanese-American descent. born in NY, grew up in US and Mexico, started singing at a Greek restaurant, moved to Montreal, released an album, then moved to France. Phew! Of course, she sings in English, French, and Spanish.

You can find Lhasa's discography on Amazon here. Both these songs are from her debut album La Llorona which is available on Amazon here. Make sure you check out her web site too.

1. Lhasa de Sela - De Cara A La Pared (4 MB; 128 kbps MP3)
2. Lhasa de Sela - El Desierto (3.66 MB; 128kbps MP3)