Kat: In the summer of 1994, I saw Elvis Costello on his BRUTAL YOUTH tour. I loved the tour -- one of his all time great performances. I love the album and it remains my second most favorite Costello album (THIS YEAR'S MODEL is my favorite). I loved the performance of the opening act, The Spin Doctors.
FACE FULL OF CAKE.
Huh?
That's the latest Spin Doctors' album, released in April. Didn't even know. Sadly, that's the case far too often. NPR needs to expand its music coverage and expand the people covering music because there are thousands of albums coming out that I learn of way after the fact.
Take LONGING.
It's Dusty Springfield's new album and it came out last month. It's one that really makes --
What's that?
Dusty passed away in 1999? That's correct.
She recorded this album in 1974. It was never released until last month.
The reason? Producer and engineer Brooks Arthur always insisted it was half-assed and she didn't sound good on the tracks. That excuse held for years -- but then a few tracks got released and the lie should have been exposed.
"Make The Man Love Me" is a song I've loved since I heard Cher's version of the Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann minor classic on Cher's 1974 album DARK LADY. (Minor classic? Weil and Mann's songwriting credits included "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'," "He's So Shy," "Make Your Own Kind Of Music," "Walking In The Rain," "Here You Come Again," "On Broadway," "Don't Know Much" . . . So, yes, "Make The Man Love Me," a solid song, is one of their minor classics.)
LONGING is a great album. Ten solid tracks.
It should have been released in real time.
Here's her performance of PIPPIN's "A Corner of the Sky."
Are you getting how good the album is?
If not, grasp this, that's not a true recording. Those are just portions Dusty had sang while rehearsing in the studio. She never did a full take. Other songs on the album are practice tracks. And she nails it. Even without her polished vocals that she worked so hard to perfect. There's no problem with her singing on these tracks.
If it had been released during her lifetime, it wouldn't have outshined DUSTY IN MEMPHIS. That will forever be her classic album and one of the great pop albums of all time; however, LONGING would be strong contender for her second best album.
I FORGIVE YOU is pretty amazing as well and it also came out last month. This is Cynthia Erivo's second studio album. It's a true songbird album in that it flies and soars.
The best track is "Worst Of Me."
4 a.m. and it's dark in the house
And I cry and I cry, and I screamed about a hundred times
I want you out of my mind
'Cause it's been so long since I knew what it was
To be held in the arms of a human that was warm and kind
You were so unkind
I wish I was honest for a moment
Bruises only heal when you apply some love and tenderness
You could cut me deeper than the ocean
But I refuse to drown, I'm coming up, I wanna breathe again
I gave you my all, but you took the worst of me
Lightning and scars is all I got left of me
I came here for love but now I don't want it anymore
I gave you my all, but you took the worst of me
You took the worst of me
You took the worst of me
Or maybe it's "Push and Pull"?
Or maybe it's "Best For Me."
Or, reality, it's every track on the album. It's a cohesive statement. Cynthia's an album artist like Sade or the Beatles. She creates a mood as her vocals sail.
Next . . .
Oh, Adam, the angel voice of alternative rock.
Do people know Adam Duritz these days?
Back in 1994, I might not have talked to you if I found out you didn't have Counting Crows' AUGUST AND EVERYTHING AFTER in your CD collection.
In May, they released the nine-track BUTTER MIRACLE, THE COMPLETE SWEETS! and it's everything I ever want from a Counting Crows album.
I was trying to swim through an ocean of rain
I was hoping to see California again
All these memories run through me like blood in my veins
In the quiet that covers the night like a blanket I dream
I have to say it again, I'm lost without Tower. I lived at Tower Records. I grew up shopping there. As late as 2005, I still lived there. If it was close to midnight on a Monday night, it was drop everything and get to Tower. Get in before midnight and wait. Because after midnight it was Tuesday and Tower would sell you the new releases that they weren't able to stock until Tuesday. I went several times a week. I'd stake out my favorite music and just flip through all the CDs making sure I hadn't missed anything. I'd go to the listening stations and check out basically every album -- not in full but I'd listen to one song and if it spoke to me either decide to purchase the album right then or go to another song to make sure it was an album for me. I'd talk to the staff -- and, yes, I knew everyone's name even with my bad memory and even with a constantly changing staff -- and ask them what they'd heard about new releases.
I don't do that now. We don't have Tower.
If you're lucky, your city might have a record store. In my city, I like Originals Vinyl but generally go to Haight Street because there are several music stores there.
But it's so hard to keep up without a Tower.
Maybe, like me, you loved Husker Du? The band's guitarist (and one of its singers) Bob Mould has released a great solo album HERE WE GO CRAZY. Here's the title track.
I recommend it. I recommend all four albums I'm discussing in this review.
B-b-b-b-ut Kat, Spin Doctors!!!
I haven't had time to listen. I love The Manic Street Preachers and only found out -- at the same time as I found out about the other albums mentioned -- that they have a new album too, CRITICAL THINKING, which came out back in February. Give me time and maybe I can pull off another musical round-up in the next week or so.
