CD Review: Frank Migliorelli & The Dirt Nappers “Bass, Drums, Guitars and Organs”

New York-based singer-songwriter Frank Migliorelli is currently enjoying time as a full-fledged musician as he is creating his own songs. But this time in his life came after Migliorelli had done his time as a jingle and song writer for ad agencies, children and others. Having had his share of the more commercial side of music, Frank Migliorelli is now doing his own music. Having already created one album of original music that draws from rock, pop, and other styles that helped to create roots rock, Migliorelli and his band called The Dirt Nappers have returned with a brand new release. The brand new album from Frank Migliorelli & The Dirt Nappers is called Bass, Drums, Guitars and Organs.

Bass, Drums, Guitars and Organs from Frank Migliorelli & The Dirt Nappers begins with the track “When She’s Walking by Your Side”. While the track contains a sound that is largely based on bands that had made up the British Invasion era of Rock and Roll, this version of the style feels more like something that would have been produced by a band like The Raspberries, an American band who ended up being largely influenced by the British Invasion sound. “When She’s Walking by Your Side” would have fit well with music from the sixties but could also have found a place on the airwaves during the early seventies.

With the track of “I’ve Been on My Knees,” Migliorelli and the band create a track that feels strangely familiar as the track’s music seems to drift between early Roots Rock and current Indie Rock. The music created by the band consists of a relatively simple Rock and Roll feel with a little banjo thrown in to the mix. The resulting track would have fit well with artists like Buddy Holly or Bill Hailey but at the same time, would fit just as easily on Americana radio formats today.

The feel of the music changes on the track “It All Falls Down On Me”. The track shows off the true talent of Frank Migliorelli & The Dirt Nappers as the band creates a Country/Rock style that seems very reminiscent to songs that had been written by the band The Eagles. All of the guitar parts contained within the track all blend together to create a musical feel that would have felt right at home on that band’s various albums. “It All Falls Down On Me” could fit in with today’s Alt-Rock/Americana bands but would also fit with the older sounds of bands from the seventies.

With the track of “Rafferty Train,” Frank Migliorelli & The Dirt Nappers create a track with a light Rock and Roll feel. The easy feel of the music produces a musical feel that would have felt right at home on AM radio formats back in the seventies. As the track plays out, so does a storyline of two people on a train. The guitars that help make up the music of the track produce one of the more interesting tracks on the album.

Frank Migliorelli & The Dirt Nappers change the feel of the music once again for the song “Baby Put a Dress One”. While the band stays in the same musical era as “It All Falls Down On Me” as far as the overall influence of the music, the track of “Baby Put a Dress On” contains a slightly retro feel to the music as if the band had added a few psychedelic vibes to the track. Because of that psychedelic vibe, the music to song has a bit of groove to it.

Taking the music back quite a bit on the song “Wound up Woman,” Frank Migliorelli & The Dirt Nappers create a song that brings back the feel of the early Rock and Rollers like Elvis Presley or Bill Haley. “Wound up Woman” features the sound of an electric guitar and a piano as the two instruments combine to forge a sound that feels very authentic, as if the track had actually been recorded back in the mid 1950’s.

The pace of the music changes once again on the song “Someone Else’s Dream”. The band slows things down as the track takes on a folk-rock feel that also seems rather dream-like. The lyrics of the song help add to that dream-like quality as Migliorelli sings of feeling lost in a world that doesn’t seem quite real to him. When listening to this song, the listener may come to realize that there are indeed times when you do, in fact, feel as if you are lost in “Someone Else’s Dream”.

Bass, Drums, Guitars and Organs, the new release Frank Migliorelli & The Dirt Nappers comes to an end with the track “Former Femme Fatales and Romeos”. The track features a light musical approach with a story-like lyrical content that feels very reminiscent of something Tom Waits. The sadness contained in the lyrics is matched up well with the easy feel of the music. That light feel of the music makes for a perfect way to quietly bring the album to a close.

Frank Migliorelli & The Dirt Nappers’ new release of Bass, Drums, Guitars and Organs takes the listener on a musical ride that includes several different styles of Rock and Roll. The different styles on the album combine together to create a release that feels almost timeless.

To hear some of the music from Frank Migliorelli & The Dirt Nappers, check out the song “Rafferty Train“.

 

 

 

 

 

CD Review: Hello, Dollface “Warrior of Light”

When you combine a multi-talented musician that has a very soulful voice of an R&B diva with other musicians who help to bring her musical vision to life, you end up with a band that blends jazz, R&B and even a little Indie Rock together. The result is a musical outfit by the name of Hello, Dollface. The ensemble consists of singer/guitarist/keyboard player and songwriter Ashley Edwards, bassist/keyboard player Jesse Ogle and keyboard player Easton Stuard. Together with drummer James A. Morrow, the band of Hello, Dollface created the 2016 release entitled Warrior of Light.

Warrior of Light from Hello, Dollface begins with “Movin’ Me”. The slow-tempoed track features a blend of Jazz and R&B. Along with the slow tempo, the song comes across as relatively relaxed as the band plays the music of the song with simplicity. The result is a track that allows the vocals from Ashley Edwards to shine. The style and feel of the music takes the listener back to the seventies where a lot of the music back then had a much lighter and more relaxed feel to it. And while there is a slightly dated feel to the music in the song, “Movin’ Me” would easily fit any modern-day Smooth Jazz radio format.

The 2016 release from Hello, Dollface continues with one of the definite standout tracks. The song “Intuition” hits you with a sound that immediately catches your attention. The song’s music combines a very strong R&B feel with a little Indie Rock style thrown in. Along with the vocals from Ashley Edwards, the track has a style that seems to have been influences, if only a little bit, by the Indie Rock band Zero 7. “Intuition” is one song on the release that will stay with you long after the album has come to an end.

Hello, Dollface’s new release continues with the album’s title track. “Warrior of Light’s” Smooth Jazz approach comes courtesy of the guitar, bass and drums from Ashley Edwards, Jesse Ogle and James A. Morrow. Together, the trio creates a track that has a solid classic jazz feel. The inclusion of the organ on the track helps to add some texture, but it is the guitar, bass and drums that truly bring the majority of the song to life. Edwards’ vocals also give “Warrior of Light” a very infectious sound while the vocal arrangement creates one of the most unique moments on the release.

On the song of “Test Crash,” Hello, Dollface takes their sound in a much different direction than any of the songs that had preceded it on the album. On the songs that led off the Warrior of Light album, the band focused on a style that incorporated a lot of Jazz and R&B influence. But with the track “Test Crash,” the ensemble fully embraces the Indie rock side of their personality. And even though “Test Crash” is still rather laidback, the Indie Rock influence incorporated into the song helps to create a totally different vibe than when compared to the previous songs.

Staying in the mindset of creating a track with a different feel to it, Hello, Dollface changes the feel of their release once again on “Face It”. Together, Edwards, Ogle, Stuard and Morrow create a song that brings out the Soul influence in the band’s sound. In fact, “Face It” is easily the most soulful track on the release. The quartet even incorporates some Reggae influence to add even more texture to the song’s music. The whole thing is brought together with the addition of guitarist Tim McLaughlin who adds a very strong solo to the track. “Face It” is another track on the release that stands out.

Just like “Intuition” from earlier in the album, the song “Carry Me” is another song that comes across as being very infectious. The song’s sound once again brings out the band’s Soul influence. But unlike the track “Face It” that contained mostly that Soul influence, “Carry Me” is equal parts Soul and R&B. The track contains a radio-friendly sound that will immediately jump out at the listener and beg to be heard. “Carry Me” is easily one of the best moments on the Warrior of Light release from Hello, Dollface.

The 2016 release of Warrior of Light from Hello, Dollface comes to a close with “In Your Light”. The song begins with keyboards that create a light Jazz feel. The rest of the instruments join in a little later to help fill out the sound of the track. And while the song is mostly Jazz-based, the music does contain a light influence from Indie Rock to give “In Your Light” a unique feel when compared to the rest of the album. The bass part from Jesse Ogle and the piano create a catchy musical phrasing within the piece that gets repeated, adding yet another infectious quality to part of the track. “In Your Light” brings the release to a close on a rather gentle tone, but the song still catches your ear as it fades the release out.

Throughout the ten tracks that make up the 2016 release from Hello, Dollface entitled Warrior of Light, the listener encounters songs that incorporate many different styles of music that help to create the laidback feel of the band’s sound. Warrior of Light is a strong release with plenty of musical moments that will please the type of listener who looks for strong songwriting and musicianship in the type of music that they add to their musical library. Each track on the release comes with its own style, but the ten tracks all combine to create one album of music that has a certain familiarity from beginning to end.

For more on the band, check out Hello, Dollface’s video to the track “Intuition“. 

For more information, check out the band’s PR firm, XO Publicity. 

CD Review: Katherine Rondeau “New Hope Chateau”

Singer-songwriter Katherine Rondeau grew up being a lifelong music enthusiast as well as a performer. And while she has spent over a decade working in academia, the love of music has always stuck with her. That is why she recently made the decision to return to music.

The style of music that has influenced Katherine Rondeau’s life more than any other is Folk. She lists people such as Bob Dylan, Lucinda Williams and others from the style as influences. With people like that as influences, it is easy to see why Katherine Rondeau would be drawn to Folk music.

Just recently, Katherine Rondeau made her decision to return to music even more permanent as she created her first full-length album of originals and covers. The new release from Katherine Rondeau is called New Hope Chateau.

With Katherine Rondeau choosing Folk as her music of choice, she is able to draw from many different influences to help her create her sound. Rondeau’s album of New Hope Chateau begins with the track “Raise Your Hand,” a song that contains a strong Blues influence. In fact, the style of the song brings to mind something that would have come from Bonnie Raitt. With that Bonnie Raitt vibe, the bluesy feel to the music gives Rondeau the perfect opportunity to show off her “warm-toned vocals”. In fact, her alto voice is perfect for the style of the Blues. And with the obvious political overtones that exist in the song’s lyrics, she proves that she would have fit in well with the artists back in the sixties when Folk was at its peak.

Katherine Rondeau changes the feel of the music on the next track of “Broken Bird”. With the first track containing the feel of the Blues, this track combines some Blues influence with a much stronger Folk influence. The gentler musical approach to the song makes the track feel like it’s a lot closer to classic Folk music than the previous track.

While the majority of the New Hope Chateau release from Katherine Rondeau contains original compositions, she did include several cover tunes from some well-known artists that were part of the folk music movement back in the sixties. Tracks include “Turtle Blues from Janis Joplin, “Long Ago, Far Away” from Bob Dylan, and even “Hit or Miss” from Odetta. For those looking for the more standard songs from known Folk artists, these songs are a great addition to the release.

With the inclusion of songs from some of the most famous names from the sixties’ Folk scene, perhaps the track that stands out the most on the release comes from singer-songwriter Melanie. For her new album, Katherine Rondeau decided to include Melanie’s song “Leftover Wine”. The song features the sound of the guitar, dobro, mandolin and organ. But the instruments are effortlessly pushed into the background to allow her voice to stand out. “Leftover Wine” is a strong track and it helps to give a lot of beauty to New Hope Chateau.

Possibly the most standout song on New Hope Chateau comes very late in the tracking of the album. Katherine Rondeau’s song “When I’m With You” finds the singer and the musicians creating a track that is equal parts Jazz and Folk. That musical blend along with Rondeau’s soulful vocal delivery helps to create a song that seems to set itself apart from the rest of the release. “When I’m With you” could easily be the song that stays with you long after the album comes to an end.

Having slowed the pace of release down with the song “When I’m With You,” Katherine Rondeau picks up the pace back up for one final track. “Off the Rails” is a song that features a strong country sound; not a modern-day Country/Rock crossover feel found in most of today’s Country music, but an honest Country sound that was found in songs from Loretta Lynn or Dolly Parton. “Off the Rails” is as strong as “When I’m With You” before it and could easily be a single.

Katherine Rondeau’s debut release of New Hope Chateau makes good use of her folk roots. And with the singer-songwriter using many different elements that are found in Folk music, her new album is very well-rounded and would be the perfect release for that person who enjoys all styles of Folk.

Click HERE to check out the song “When I’m With You” off of Katherine Rondeau’s new release of New Hope Chateau. 

For more information, check out Katherine Rondeau’s PR firm, Michael J. Media. 

 

CD Review: Songs By Rachel Harvey Hill Vol. 1

Rachel Harvey Hill is a singer-songwriter from Kentucky. It was during her time as a military wife that Hill picked up the guitar and start writing music. Some of the material written by Hill has to do with being apart from the husband as he serves his country in the military. Other points of influence happen to be life and everything that happens within it.

It was back in 2014 that Rachel Harvey Hill contributed to a recording project known as Operation Encore, a project that features military personnel, ex-military personnel and spouses of those currently enlisted. For the 2014 release of Operation Encore: A Veteran Music Project, Hill contributed the song “Another Trip Around the Sun,” a track about living with someone who is involved with the military. The track is one of the strongest tracks to be featured on the release. While Rachel is currently working on a new CD featuring her own music, a singer-songwriter album featuring Hill’s songs recorded by other artists is currently available. The album is simply titled Songs by Rachel Harvey Hill Vol. 1.

Songs by Rachel Harvey Hill Vol. 1 features three talented musicians who helped bring the music on the album to life. The featured musicians are: Josh Coffee on fiddle, mandolin and banjo; Eddie Dunlap on steel guitar and Kyle Howard on piano. Together with Rachel Harvey Hill and her guitar, these three musicians are responsible for giving each track its unique personality. While the musicians shape the music of the tracks, several singers helped to complete the tracks on the album. The featured singers for the project are: Tim Harvey (Rachel’s brother), April Jewell, Josh Mills, Trevor Turner and Lane Davis, along with Rachel Harvey Hill herself who sings on three tracks of the album.

The album of Songs by Rachel Harvey Hill Vol. 1 begins with the track “Blue Kentucky Moon”. The country-based track features a very commercial feel to the music. The duet by Tim Harvey and April Jewell creates a very happy track to start off the release. The resulting track would feel right at home on any modern-day Country radio format. April Jewell takes a solo turn on the next track of “Loved Like That”.

While the previous track features a rather happy approach to the lyrics, Rachel Harvey Hill changes the mood on “Loved Like That,” a track about a child going through several stages of her life longing for the fairytale ending. Jewell takes the lyrics of the song and handles them with grace while the piano from Kyle Howard adds just the right amount of emotion to the music. At the same time, the orchestration on the track is as professional as any major label release. The resulting track would be perfect for an artist like Amy Grant who is known for singing songs that contain the type of message contained within this song. Like “Blue Kentucky Moon” before it, “Loved Like That” is another track that should be a single, though it would best fit on a Christian music radio format.

Another song that stands out on the album of Songs by Rachel Harvey Hill Vol. 1 is “Wrong Side of the Street”. Unlike “Loved Like That” that features a completely orchestrated feel to the music, “Wrong Side of the Street” features a more simplistic approach with only an acoustic guitar, a piano and an organ creating the music. That simplistic musical feel is the perfect background for the duet created by Trevor Turner and Lane Davis. The resulting track feels like a pop song that might feature the likes of someone like John Mayer and Gwen Stefani. The track is easily as strong as anything on the radio today. While the album features other people doing songs written by Rachel Harvey Hill, Hill herself does appear on the album. In fact, she performs three songs on the release. One track that needs to be heard is the song “I’m Here, You’re There”. With a minimalistic musical makeup of just one guitar, a piano and a bass viol, the track features a slow, easy tempo with a simplistic quality to the music. That gentle music lends itself well to the lyrics about missing someone.

Rachel Harvey Hill’s current release comes to an end with the one track that will definitely find its way onto another release. “I’m Going Home” is the track that Hill has written to be included on the next Operation Encore album, Operation Encore: A Veteran Music Project Vol. 2. Written on the day that Hill learned she would be heading back to the United States after spending time over in Korea, “I’m Going Home” is an upbeat track that makes the listener happy for her and her family as well as others who go through the same thing every day.

Songs by Rachel Harvey Hill Vol. 1, the songwriter album from Rachel Harvey Hill, isn’t so much about the performing talents from the songwriter as it is about her songwriting itself. And since many of the moments contained within the nearly 40 minutes of music could easily be used as singles on radio station formats throughout the country, the album as a whole does an excellent job of showcasing that songwriting talent. While there is a true album of music in the works from Rachel Harvey Hill, this release is an excellent place to familiarize yourself with her before she hits the big time.

To hear just a little of the music from Rachel Harvey Hill, check out the video to the song “Loved Like That“. 

Check out the Operation Encore organization by clicking on this link.

Single Review: Canary “Let Down Your Guard”

Boston, Massachusetts is the home to the rock band Canary. The band has created their own sound by taking elements from Classic Rock bands. Having already released an EP by the title of Handsome Stranger, Canary has just put out a single entitled “Let down Your Guard”.

“Let down Your Guard” starts with a drumbeat before the rest of the band contributes to the Blues/Rock feel of the track that brings to mind the Peter Green days of Fleetwood Mac. The song is sung with a soulful approach to the lyrics. The bluesy feel of the music coupled with the soulful vocals create a song that feels as if it should have been created right around the beginning of the first British Invasion by the English bands that were just then discovering the music of the Blues players like B.B. King or John Lee Hooker.

The track has a definite quality that belongs to that particular time in music but also seems to carry with it a certain timeless feel to it so it doesn’t seem so dated. On “Let down Your Guard,” Boston’s Canary creates a strong track that gives their fans a slightly different take on the band’s more contemporary feel to their music. With this track, the band proves that there are still people out there who care about the music that influenced them. No matter whether you are a fan of the more modern rock music or a fan of Classic Rock, “Let down Your Guard” from Canary is a strong track that satisfies either musical mindset.

 
Artist: Canary
Single Review: “Let down Your Guard”
Review by Matheson Kamin

Rating: 5 stars (out of 5)

Click HERE for the live video of “Let down Your Guard” from Canary.

CD Review: Jody Quine “Seven”

Having spent time with the bands Balligomingo and Sleepthief, Canadian singer-songwriter Jody Quine is stepping out on her own to start to create a voice all her own. While both of the bands she has spent time with have a certain style to their music, Quine is taking some of their sounds and incorporating other styles to create a style that is both electric and acoustic at the same time. The inclusion of these and other styles of music help to give Quine’s music certain uniqueness to it. Quine has taken her combination of acoustic and electric and created a new CD. The CD is called Seven.

Seven from Jody Quine begins with the song “You Are”. The first track from the CD has a simple acoustic feel. The guitar-based song includes both folk and “pop” influences to it that help create a very easy feel to the music. The inclusion of bongos instead of a drumset helps to enforce the folk feel to the song. The light musical approach creates a sound that would easily fit on any Adult Contemporary radio format where Quine would fit alongside musicians like Jewel, Melissa Etheridge, and even fellow Canadian Alanis Morissette.

With the next track of “Tonight,” the style of the music takes a much more produced sound as Rhys Fulber takes the feel of the track and takes it back in time to the eighties to give the track a sound that may remind you of something that may have been created by either Dépêche Mode, The Motels or even Duran Duran. While it does have a certain sound reminiscent of the New Wave bands from the eighties with its electro-pop sound, “Tonight” is still one of the most commercial-sounding tracks on Seven and could easily find an audience on today’s radio airwaves.

“To Be Frank” is one of the most interesting songs on Seven from Jody Quine. The song begins with a very light keyboard sound that plays behind Quine as she sings about her deepest desires. Quine’s vocals on the track are both beautiful and powerful, depending on the part of the song. The beginning of the song reminds you of something from female “pop” songs from the late seventies/early eighties from the likes of The Carpenters or the more laidback songs from Donna Summers. The song slowly builds as it becomes a track that sounds more like Dépêche Mode than The Carpenters. The song ultimately brings to mind Quine’s time with Balligomingo and Sleepthief because of the inclusion of an electro-pop feel to the song that gives the song a nice contrast between the later part of the song and the more laidback feel of the beginning of the track.

While “To Be Frank” has a complex feel to it, the track “I Love You” brings some of the simplicity in Quine’s style back to the release as the song features a much more folk-like sound to it. The acoustic guitar plays a large part in the music and the percussion also takes on a much lighter feel to it. Like the release’s first track of “You Are,” “I Love You” has a relaxed and easy approach to it.

The new release from Jody Quine comes to an end with the track “Come Back Home”. While the song has a definite beauty to it, the lyrics to the track feature a very heartbreaking feel to them as the singer pleads to her lover to return. The song features an acoustic approach as it is piano-based and it is that piano that makes up the majority of the music to the track. The slow pace and emotional feel to the lyrics brings the release to a close on a slightly low-key note.

Seven from Canadian singer-songwriter Jody Quine is a very enjoyable release as the music of the seven-song EP has a lot of variety in it. The changing of the pace in the music on the EP will definitely keep you intrigued. The release also allows Jody Quine to show off her talents as a singer as those seven tracks have Quine stretching from an emotional approach to the lyrics to a more powerful approach. Seven from Jody Quine is a release that definitely fits into any commercial music-lover’s library.

Review by Matheson Kamin
Rating: 5 stars (out of 5)

Check out Jody Quine’s Bandpage account to hear some of her music.

Click HERE for the video to “Come Back Home” from Jody Quine.

CD Review: Tim Morrow “As Long As It’s Not Me”

Singer-songwriter Tim Morrow was born and raised in Michigan by a father who had a music collection that sounds like the format of any oldies radio station. Having grown up listening to Stevie Wonder, The Beatles, The Four Tops, The Supremes, The Who and many other artists who now grace The Rock And Roll Hall of Fame, it is easy to see how Morrow’s writing style seems more like Classic Rock than Alternative.

Having already recorded and released several albums with several bands and on his own, TimMorrow had recently just released his newest album. The 2013 release from Tim Morrow is entitled As Long As it’s Not Me.

As Long As it’s Not Mebegins with the track “Sunny Day in Santa Monica”. The track has a strong groove while still processing a light feel to it. The song seems to bounce along as Morrow sings about just enjoying the day as it comes. The track features a very strong guitar solo from guitarist Dinos Lambropoulos that adds a lot of energy to the song.

While“Sunny Day in Santa Monica” has a fun, light feel to it, the track “That’s the Way Love Is” helps to add a very commercial feel to the album. The song features a chorus that has a strong hook to it that will almost definitely take hold of the listener and keep them from turning away.

With the next track of the album, the feel of the music changes: On the title track of the album, Tim Morrow gives “As Long As it’s Not Me” an acoustic feel as the track contains only vocals and acoustic guitars. The lyrics about allowing sadness to happen as long as it happens to someone else have a lot more an effect with the simple, light feeling of the track.

If there was one track off As Long As it’s Not Me that can be described as a straight-out rocker, that song would be “Deep in Her Heart”. On the track, Tim Morrow, guitarist Jerry Juden and drummer Perry Lopez create a track that has a traditional “rock song” feeling. While other songs on the album have stronger grooves or feel more radio-friendly, “Deep in Her Heart” is one track that allows Morrow, Juden and Lopez to feel like an actual rock band. The track also seems to give Tim Morrow the best chance to show off as not only a guitarist, but also a bass player as well, since he does provide the “bottom” to each song on his 2013 release.

Tim morrow brings a certain amount of “Classic Rock” feel to the track “I’ll Go Away”. The slow rocker has the same type of feel as music from bands from the late 60s, early 70s such as Led Zepplin, The Moody Blues and others who took the time to slow things down once-in-a-while. “I’ll Go Away” from Tim Morrow is a track for those listeners who like a lighter feel in their rock music.

The pace of the music picks up for the track “In 30 Years”. The track once again brings a strong rock sound to the album as Tim Morrow sings about wanting to know what the perfect woman will look like in later life. The track is once again strengthened by the guitar playing by guitarist Dinos Lambropoulos as he adds another guitar solo to Morrow’s music to give texture to the As Long As it’s Not Me from Tim Morrow.

The newest release from Tim Morrow comes to an end with the track “2 Day Holiday”.The track would fit well with the easy sounds of The Carpenters, Jim Croce or other 70s artists that fell into that “easy listening” era of music.

The ten tracks that make up As Long As it’s Not Me from Tim Morrow give the listener plenty of variety while still staying within the “Classic Rock” genre. And aside from just a few missed notes, the album is a solid release.

Review by Matheson Kamin
Rating: 5 stars (out of 5)

CD Review: Gift of Tongues “Songs of My People”

David E Johnston is an artist who works between performance, motion graphics, and original music who creates electro-percussive music under the moniker of Gift of Tongues. To help bring his music to life, Johnston called upon several musicians who added their talents to the project. The rest of the group consists of Steve Elliot, Brian Wolfe, Craig Levy, Emiliano Valerio, Mike Shobe and Tom Swafford. With each member of the band having a different background, the resulting band of Gift of Tongues contains many different styles coming together to add depth to the music of David E Johnston. The new album from Gift of Tongues is entitled Songs of My People.

Songs of My People from Gift of Tongues begins with the “Preamble”. While “Preamble” is mostly vocals, the sound and feel of the piece brings to mind the track “If I Had a Rock Launcher” from Bruce Cockburn; the helicopter sound effects on the track matched with the angry vocal quality of the narrator while the words on the track themselves have a slightly humorous feel to them.

Once the “Preamble” is over, the real album of Songs of My People from Gift of Tongues begins. The second track, “The Universe,” features a techno feel to the music while also incorporating the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem The Song of Hiawatha into the track. The combination of the two ideas creates a very unique (and unusual) track. The music of the track takes on a stronger dance feel a little later in the track while the lyrics of the song seem to say that you need to speak up if you have something to say.

David E Johnston and the rest of the group prove they have plenty of talent to go around as the album continues. The track “Home” takes on a country/jazz feel while also containing some of the techno approach from “The Universe”. The dobro-meets-techno feel of the track creates another very unique sound on the Songs of My People release. The resulting song has many different aspects to it and stays interesting throughout the three-and-a-half minute play time.

While the music of the tracks is the first thing that catches your attention when listening to the new album from Gift of Tongues, it is hard to ignore the lyrical quality of the songs, as well. The track “Big Bad Wolf” is the perfect example of the quality of the lyrics on the album: The track seems to take a fairytale approach to the words and makes them appeal more to the adult section of the listening audience; it’s like listening to the original text to the Brothers Grimm stories- dark and unforgiving. The music of the track brings to mind the dark quality of a band like Nine Inch Nails. The combination of the dark quality to the lyrics and the music creates a track that will appeal to fans of Goth-like music and those bands that make that style of music.

The off-kilter sense of humor that permeates through nearly every track on Songs of My People from Gift of Tongues adds a lot of substance to the album. One of the tracks that are helped from the sense of humor is the song “I Am a Large Man”. While the words of the song may contain a little darkness to them, the humor seems to decrease the sting a bit. Ultimately, “I Am a Large Man” is a track that is very reminiscent of the style of the music that was created by Michael Nealy and Jock Blaney who were known as a band called 2nu back in the nineties. As “I Am a Large Man” brings to mind visions of songs like “This is Ponderous” from that band “I Am a Large Man” from Gift of Tongues would have fit with 2nu’s music very easily.

Every so often, there comes a band that feels the need to create something just a little different. If you are the type who likes something unique from time to time, Songs of My People from David E Johnston and the rest of Gift of Tongues is just the album for you.

Check out some of the music from Gift of Tongues at their Reverbnation profile.

CD Review: Beto Hale “Rebirth”

Beto Hale is a Mexican-born musician who has since move to the United States and finds himself creating music that contains many different aspects to the music. Those styles of music make Beto Hale’s music unique and different. That different approach to each song makes sure each track Beto Hale creates has its own sound and feel. And after having already created a catalog of his own music, Hale is celebrating the release of his newest release, Rebirth.

For the music on the new release, Beto Hale took his time creating and shaping the songs and making sure that they felt just right. He also brought in Tony Levin to add his touch on bass and Marc Mann helps to add guitar from one track to another.

Beto Hale’s album Rebirth begins with “Explosiones”. As Beto Hale is Mexican-born, it should come as no surprise that the lead off track for his new album is a track in Spanish. The track finds Hale exploring a very progressive sound on the track. For the music on the track, Beto Hale took his time creating and shaping the songs and making sure that they felt just right. The rock/jazz mix in the music gives the track a slightly unique feel as rock and jazz both find their own place in the track as the guitar and keyboard alternate as the lead instrument throughout the length of the track.

With the next track, Beto Hale changes the feel of the album. The track of “Falling Down” takes on a feeling that seems like a mix of The Police and The Eagles. The track features some of the best bass lines I’ve heard in a while as Tony Levin lays down the groove for the song. The alternating of styles in the track gives the listener a taste of Classic Rock while still containing a little of the jazzy feel that was found on the previous track of “Explosiones”. And while“Explosiones” features Spanish lyrics, “Falling Down” features Hale singing in English.

Rebirth from Beto Hale continues with the track “Sube Al Carrusel”. This track is yet another track that explores the different sides to Beto Hale. As the first two tracks show Hale’s rock side off, “Sube Al Carrusel” shows off his jazzy side. The Spanish vocals on the track also add a touch of jazz to the track. With the different aspects to the track, “Sube Al Carrusel” turns out to be one of the most unusual and entertaining tracks on the album.

Taking the opportunity to change the feel of the album once again, “Fire Away” is the type of track that feels like a rock song with strings. The strings and rock music create a track that feels as if it should be back in the seventies with more of the orchestral rock that was being produced back then. While there is a definite beauty to the music of the track, the one critique I have to make about the track is that this is without a doubt the track with the simplest lyrics on the album. The repetitive nature of the oversimplified lyrics is a bit of a letdown from the rest of the album where the lyrics are a lot stronger.

Beto Hale creates one of the strongest and most fascinating tracks with the song “April”. The folk-rock feel to the track works well with the emotional lyrics of the song. The music of the track with the lyrics that have a greater depth than most lyrics of today’s current songs make the song feel as if it had been written back in the late sixties by Roger McGuinn of The Byrds. The harmony in the vocals on the track brings to mind those of McGuinn and the members of The Byrds. The beauty in both the music and the lyrics of the track makes “April” easily one of the best tracks on Rebirth.

On the track “I Will Always Be There,” Beto Hale takes his music and adds some influence from bands like Rush. When listening to the track, you can all but hear Geddy Lee and the rest of the band of Rush as Beto creates a track that has a very heavy Progressive Rock feel to it. Once again, the music and lyrics seem to transport the listener back to a time when songwriters used to give thought to the meaning of their lyrics. On “I Will Always Be There,” Beto Hale would seem right at home in the company of those writers.

Rebirth from Beto Hale is the type of album you hope for when looking for something new and different. The album provides the listener with many wonderful minutes of different sounds and styles of music from a musician and songwriter who has proven himself as someone who can create songs that will leave you wanting more.

To hear more from Beto Hale, check him out on his SoundCloud account.

CD Review: Dan Hazlett “The Corner of My Eye”

Dan Hazlett is a singer-songwriter, guitar player from the state of Michigan. With his style of writing, Hazlett’s easy listening music would fit alongside people like Christopher Cross, Jim Croce and James Taylor. Hazlett is a seasoned musician who has several releases in his discography. The newest one, The Corner of My Eye, was released in 2012.
The Corner of My Eye from Dan Hazlett begins with the track “Alchemy of Fish”. The folk-rock song has a simple feel to the music and sort of brings back the feeling of the writing of John Denver. The lyrics to the song about living off the earth also have the same John Denver-like quality.

The next track on the album is “Empty Room”. With this track, you can tell that Dan Hazlett is the type of writer that can tell a good tale in the lyrics of his songs. “Empty Room” is a song about two people on different paths who end up needing each other. The lyrics of the song are written using free verse, making the listener pay attention more to the story than to the music of the track.

On the song “Alien,” the listener gets to experience the true talent of Dan Hazlett as a guitarist. The first third of the song features the guitar as Hazlett plays some very beautiful and moving instrumental jazz. When Hazlett’s voice does appear on the track, the song takes on a different kind of feeling than the first part of the track. The lyrics of the song have a bit of pain in them as Hazlett sings a very touching song about a boy who is dealing with cancer and the kids he calls friends who decide to stand by the boy as he goes through Chemotherapy. The song is sung from the perspective of the kids on the baseball team who are standing by the boy with cancer. The moving song once again shows Hazlett to be a very good storyteller. The music, lyrics and guitar playing from Hazlett on this track make “Alien” one of the strongest tracks on the release.
The song “Postcard from Paris” is yet another example of Hazlett’s ability to create a story in song. The track features music that is part folk and part jazz. The jazz part of the melody goes well with the visuals of the subject in the song reading the postcard he received from someone he knows who went to France.

With the song “The Other Side of Dawn,” Dan Hazlett creates one of the fullest sounding tracks on the release The Corner of My Eye. The addition of background vocals by a choir of voices and the inclusion of the trumpet and piano on the track really add body to the track. The song contains a lot of emotion in the lyrics to the song as the lyrics tell of two people who are going their separate ways.

The Corner of My Eye from Dan Hazlett comes to an end with the track “Where the Blue Meets the Blue”. The song features a folk-like approach to the music and features a fiddle that adds to the beauty of the music. Like the songs that came before it, the lyrics to “Where the Blue Meets the Blue” have a very strong affect on mind as you can almost see the pictures that Hazlett describes in the song.

The album The Corner of My Eye from Dan Hazlett feels very much like a collection of short stories as Hazlett writes very straightforward lyrics that tell it like it is. The music on the album is performed with style and lends itself well to the lyrics written by Hazlett. You only come across an artist like Hazlett once in a while and his album The Corner of My Eye is a joy to listen to.

Click HERE for the video to the song “Alien” from Dan Hazlett.