Shawn Colvin “A Few Small Repairs”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#956 in the Series) is Shawn Colvin, A Few Small Repairs A Few Small Repairs is one of those albums that takes love gone wrong and turns what could be a litany of heartbreak and “woe-is-me” into an autobiographical purging, and the listener goes along for the ride with some soaring beautiful melodies punctuated with hard-knock lessons. Colvin didn’t come to the making of this album without a lot of hard work, learning guitar in her childhood in South Dakota and performing in The King and I as a teen, then like most of us had some twists and turns which led to this release, her fourth, in 1996. The album opens...
Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach “Painted From Memory”
Today’s Cool album of the Day (#948 in the Series) is Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach, Painted From Memory Reviewers hated this album. I call it the “Album to Never Listen to When Going Through a Breakup” simply because it’s heartfelt and full of emotion. Someone said to me, I’m hurting, and I said be sure to not listen to this then. I grew up with Burt Bacharach, and as a semi-adult I became smitten with all that Elvis Costello did. This “marriage” was a dream coming true. I love this album so much. Add Steve Nieve (keyboards) to it and it makes it close to perfect. Elvis is a crooner at heart, despite his “punk rock”...
XTC ‘Apple Venus (Volume 1)
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#934 in the series) is XTC, Apple Venus (Volume 1) The sun was streaming in through my living room window the other day, making me feel all happy and upbeat and summery , even though it was still pretty cold outside. Upon deciding that i needed some music to enhance this lovely mood the first album which sprung to mind was this little beauty , Apple Venus (Volume One) by XTC , a late period classic from one of my favourite bands. There’s eleven songs on here, each a perfect little gem in it’s own right. As it played i had cause to reflect : this album came out very near to the...
Nanci Griffith ‘Other Voices, Other Rooms’
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#922 in the sSeries) is Nanci Griffith, Other Voices, Other Rooms Nanci Griffith, much like John Prine, is one of those artists that flies just under our musical radar much of the time. Even though she sounds very much like her, she does not have the name recognition of Emmylou Harris. She can stand quill for quill on the songwriting medal stand with Joni Mitchell yet you probably can’t name a song she has written, and she even has a bit of that sultry,girl next door vibe going on that we saw with Linda Ronstadt back in the day. Appearing on the scene in 1978 with her debut album There’s a Light...
Matraca Berg “Lying To The Moon”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#905 in the Series) is Matraca Berg, Lying to the Moon (RCA) So many perks, so many cool events, so many goodies and “what-nots.” When I look back on my days in music distribution, you never knew from which angle the next cool thing was going to hit you. One of the things I liked best was when one of the labels would bring in someone to perform at our conventions. That was the way that this lovely songbird’s music would be introduced to me. Yes, it now has been over 20 years. How much did I love this record? Well, like I said, it’s 20 years later and I’m still playing it,...
Eva Cassidy ‘Songbird’
Today’s Cool Album of the Day is Eva Cassidy’s, Songbird. I’m not sure how many of you have heard of this young lady. I’m asking you to please read her story and listen to her music. Eva Cassidy has, quite possibly, the best voice I’ve ever heard on a woman pop singer. A few years back I was unaware of her. Then on a slow news night, ABC’s Nightline, did a feature on this young lady named Eva Cassidy. She was a singer songwriter from Washington D.C. She had released a couple of albums on a tiny local label that never really did much. (Note: I’ve posted the NightLine episode below. It’s really a great watch) In 1996 she passed...
The Sundays ‘Reading, Writing and Arithmetic’
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#900 in the Series) is The Sundays, Reading Writing and Arithmetic I have never been that big a fan of the MP3 revolution. For one, it put the buying power of music more into “tweens” and teens who for the most part do not have very good taste in music. As a result, the themes in popular music became much less sophisticated. Artists were no longer developed, they were produced because it was no longer albums that mattered but singles. Not to mention, soon shows such as American Idol came along offering to make anyone a “star” as opposed to these people working their way up in the traditional way where you hone and perfect...
The Bottle Rockets ‘The Bottle Rockets’ and ‘The Brooklyn Side’
Today’s Cool Albums of the Day (#s 891 and 892 in the Series) are The Bottle Rockets – The Bottle Rockets, The Brooklyn Side When it comes to game changing bands that first began surfing the banzai pipeline of the Americana tidal wave that began in the early 1990’s and gained momentum in the new millennium, The Bottle Rockets, along with The Blasters, Uncle Tupelo, Whiskeytown, and The Old 97’s, were among the first explorers to plant the Roots-Rock flag on American soil, and now, courtesy of Bloodshot records, we are treated to a re-mastered, deluxe edition treatment of the band’s first two albums, The Bottle Rockets, and The Brooklyn Side. Formed in 1992, from the not so musical...
Smashing Pumpkins ‘Siamese Dream’
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#880 in the Series) is Smashing Pumpkins, Siamese Dream In my favorite film, Almost Famous, Lester Bangs, as played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, warns his young protégé, William Miller, about the trappings of writing “sanctimonious stories about the genius of rock stars.” Going on to say “they will ruin rock ‘n’ roll, and strangle everything we love about it.” Well, at the risk of sounding sanctimonious this is a piece about the genius of rock stars and one rock star in particular, Billy Corgan, and The Smashing Pumpkins 1993 masterpiece Siamese Dream. 1993 was a magical year in music and more specifically, to what many people would refer to as “college,” or “alternative”...
Aztec Camera ‘Frestonia’
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#879 in the Series) is Aztec Camera, Frestonia This is not only a cool album, but a very cool “must listen to album.” Roddy Frame was the genius behind the project called Aztec Camera he started at age 17. They released six records as a band, with interchangeable parts and he was central in songwriting, playing and producing. I have all six and only discovered this early this year, even though it was released in late 1995, and is the last Aztec Camera record, but in my humble opinion, their best. If you have a short attention span, take tracks one, eight and ten for a spin and you will be hooked enough...
