Marshall Crenshaw – What’s In the Bag? (Razor & Tie) It’s nice to see that over twenty years on from the self-titled debut album which had Marshall Crenshaw anointed the next big thing, Crenshaw is still releasing vital, passionate music. He never became as huge as the pundits said he would in 1982 when he had … Continue reading
A MIGHTY WIND (2003) Starring Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Catherine O’Hara, Harry Shearer, Eugene Levy, Fred Willard, Parker Posey, Jane Lynch, John Michael Higgins, Jim Piddock, Paul Dooley, Bob Balaban, Paul Benedict, Ed Begley Jr., Larry Miller, Jennifer Coolidge, Diane Baker, Jim Moret, Stuart Luce and Mary Gross. Screenplay by Christopher Guest & Eugene Levy. … Continue reading
Michael McDonald – Motown (Motown) Michael McDonald does have one of the finest white soul voices in the world. With the Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan and over twenty years of solo work his instantly identifiable baritone became a part of the pop music lexicon. So, it makes a certain amount of sense that on his … Continue reading
Tom Verica American Dad by Ronald Sklar Tom Verica stars as family patriarch Jack Pryor on the NBC sleeper hit American Dreams. The role calls for the strong silent type: a challenge which is not always as appreciated as it should be in a medium that often displays the dad as the house fool. Here, Verica … Continue reading
Switchfoot Never Let Us Down by Sheila Lussier Pulling up to the legendary Roxy in Hollywood, I found a line wrapped around the block and down the sidewalk. It was made up of Switchfoot fans that had waited more than twohours in line for their favorite band to go on. The band’s tour manager brought me … Continue reading
Rosanne Cash The Rules of Returning by Jay S. Jacobs It’s sometimes funny the changes life puts you through. In 1990, Rosanne Cash was on top of the world. Her album, Interiors, was a crowning achievement in a career that had been on the fast track for over a decade. Cash had to overcome the blessing … Continue reading
Olivia Newton-John-2 (Festival/Mushroom) Lately in Europe, there have been several slightly-past-their-prime artists who have done all-duets projects to show that they still have some hipster cred. Probably the best of these was Tom Jones’ Reload, in which he proved he could get the kids like Barenaked Ladies, Robbie Williams, Natalie Imbruglia and the Pretenders on board, and … Continue reading
Elton John – Greatest Hits 1970-2002 (Mercury) From 1970 to 1977 Elton John had an almost unprecedented run of musical brilliance, during that time his work with lyricist Bernie Taupin rivaled the work of Lennon and McCartney and Brian Wilson. In this short bridge of time, John recorded about two very good albums a year … Continue reading
Vanessa Paradis – Au Zenith (Barclay/Universal-France) In the United States, Vanessa Paradis is probably best known as Johnny Depp’s live-in girlfriend. Other people may know her as the Chanel model or an actress. But in her native France, she is an institution. Paradis first made waves when she was only 14, with her 1987 international hit … Continue reading
Shania Twain – Up! (Mercury) Never in my life have I seen so many exclamation points as there are in the song listing for Shania Twain’s latest. There are nineteen song titles on Up! and ten exclamation points. It’s almost like a teenaged girl’s diary. Now Shania has a long history of unwieldy titles anyway, and this album’s … Continue reading
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