posted by david on Tue 30 Jul 2002 @ 09:11 PM

My vote for best album cover of the year goes to Lisa Miller's new disc of cover versions, "Car Tape" (image at left). Produced by Shane O'Mara (hi Shane!) the album tends towards the mellow and classy and features an odd bunch of songs, including tunes by Lyle Lovett and Steve Miller. English folk chanteuse Beth Orton releases her third album "Daybreaker" this week. It was a big step from her debut to her second album so it'll be interesting to hear what she does this time around. Aimee Mann (warning: flash-heavy website) has a new album out August 27, titled "Lost In Space". She's one of those singer/songwriters who have watched their career blossom the further she's moved away from the big record labels. The elusive Peter Gabriel also has a new album on the way, ten years after his last release "Us". This one will be called "Up". I think he should title his next album "Eh?" Oh, and the new Springsteen album "The Rising" is now in stores and it's... um... wow...

Reviews:
Beth Orton: Billboard
Lisa Miller: Sydney Morning Herald - Undercover
Springsteen: Billboard - Timeoff - Rolling Stone - CNN - Post-Gazette - Nando Times - National Review Online - Boston Globe - San Francisco Chronicle - New York Metro - Newsday - Contra Costa Times - Washington Post - Journal Sentinel (Wisconsin) - Chicago Sun-Times - PopMatters

posted by david on Wed 24 Jul 2002 @ 09:34 PM | read or post comments (2)

According to Billboard, English producer/engineer Gus Dudgeon has been killed in a car accident. He was 59. His main claim to fame was his working relationship with Elton John through the '70's but he can also boast working at Decca, where he worked on albums such as John Mayall's "Bluesbreakers" album that featured Eric Clapton. He also engineered the Zombies' "She's Not There" and produced David Bowie's "Space Oddity". In looking for more info about him, I stumbled across this interesting article where he talks about his approach to his work. This article has some interesting info about his contributions to some of the classic Elton John albums.

posted by david on Tue 23 Jul 2002 @ 09:10 PM

The last time I saw Elvis Costello live was at the magnificent Royal Albert Hall in London doing his two-man show with keyboardist Steve Nieve. I came away from it thinking that bits were good but I'd rather see what he was like with a band. Seeing him with a band at one of his recent Melbourne shows, I found myself thinking the same thing: bits were good. His new album isn't doing a lot for me, perhaps because it feels like he's going through the motions and not really challenging himself. Hearing many of the new songs live didn't change my opinion of them much, as songs like "Alibi" still rely more on repetition than any genuinely worthwhile hook to be memorable. Having said that, he did give some of his back catalogue a thorough workout (eg. "Alison", "Watching The Detectives", a powerful "I Want You"), his new "soul" song did sound great and he played for a very healthy two and half hours. This was my first show at the Melbourne Concert Hall and while I had what seemed to be a good seat (5th row back from the stage) I was a little horrified by the sound mix, which seemed to reverberate around the hall so that I could hear every nuance of Steve Nieve's annoyingly persistent organ playing but I sometimes had trouble making out the riffing of Elvis' guitar, even when he was soloing.

Review: The Age

see the rest...

posted by david on Thu 18 Jul 2002 @ 09:31 PM

I predicted a certain amount of goopiness and instead we got a healthy helping of cheese. But that's okay, because Art Garfunkel has that voice. This show was a little theatrical in approach, whether it be his grand entrances through the curtain at the rear or his young son walking out in glossy suit to sing "Feelin' Groovy". We got a perfectly judged line in self-deprecation ("you didn't expect this much hair did you?") and we got both a lengthy drum solo <shudder> and some flashy banjo playing. The slightly cheesy feel of the presentation was carried through to the musical arrangements, which suffered a little because of the over-reliance on keyboards (featuring both piano and synthesiser) but only one guitar and no bass. The song selection featured material by Jimmy Webb and even Garfunkel himself but it was the Paul Simon songs that assumed the starring roles. The delicate melodies of songs like "American Tune" and "Scarborough Fair" were captivating but the undoubted highlight was the still-extraordinary "Bridge Over Troubled Water", dramatically rising to its familiar crescendo where his voice soared with both grace and power. Uplifting, breathtaking stuff.

Review: The Age

posted by david on Wed 17 Jul 2002 @ 10:05 AM

A few months ago I picked up a cheap, decent vinyl turntable on ebay and then proceeded to re-discover the charm of vinyl releases as I played various items I'd collected over the past few years, some of which I'd never had the opportunity to listen to before. Sure, it's an inconvenient format (the discs are large and you've get to get up and turn over the disc after a few songs) but there's just something about lowering a needle onto a piece of plastic and having your stereo burst into life. The Age has an article which discusses the current state of vinyl in Australia. It seems that it's healthier than you might expect.

posted by david on Thu 4 Jul 2002 @ 01:04 PM

One of the more interesting handheld mp3 players was one that looked like a standard audiocassette so that it could be inserted into a standard cassette deck for playback. The latest variation on this idea has the same concept extended so that it can also record directly from the tape deck, in addition to having mp3 files fed down a cable from a computer. The folks over at the Minidisc Community Portal pointed out a review of the product.