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ivan@stellysee.de
| From | Dave Seaman <seamand@upmc.edu> |
| Subject | Misc ramblings |
| Date | Fri, 01 Oct 2004 09:54:30 -0400 |
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Am digging on the new releases by Cloud Eleven and Michael Carpenter. I can
only get about 7 or 8 songs into the CE disc, the first batch of tracks are
so darn good. Some day I'll venture further! And Michael's new one is very
solid all the way through, but I especially like Rolling Ball, Emily Says,
Nothing At All, You and Me, and track #11 (forgot the title!).
I've also been on a kick of replacing my favorite 60s and 70s vinyl with
CDs, and am enjoying listening to stuff that I haven't heard in 15 or 20
years. I forgot how excellent Elton John was in the Goodbye Yellowbrick
Road era. I'm also filling in the holes in my collection with CDs of his
that I never ever had, such as Don't Shoot Me and Captain Fantastic -- wow,
really top notch stuff! Beyond the extraordinarily high songwriting level,
Elton had the most amazing sound and a fantastic band. Am also picking up
great classics by Bowie, Costello, Springsteen, Morrison, Wonder, etc.. Man,
the 70s Bowie releases are just superb - Alladin Sane, anyone? Must also
give kudos to such guilty pleasures as BOC, early Kansas (Masque is really
good!), Led Zep and Deep Purple. (Well, I can only take so much Purple at a
time - Greatest Hits is good, but that's as far as I'll go.)
Going from one end of the spectrum to the other: I never had any Simon and
Garfunkel beyond their greatest hits - but I picked up the Bridge Over
Troubled Waters CD and each track is either very good or great - are all
their albums that wonderful, high quality end to end? Classic stuff! Now,
there's an act that I'd like to see get the power pop tribute treatment,
with their fabulous melodies, harmonies and lyrics - I could imagine
hearing them played with some crunch and modern sensibilities. Some
tributes are IMO pointless as they merely ape the originals, without any
verve or character on par with the original artist - nothing new or better
is brought to the table. And in some cases that is because the original act
is already power pop to an extent, so how can improve upon it or do
something fresh? Taking the S&G folk pop sound and translating it might
prove quite interesting, though... Just a thought. Another good candidate
would be Hall and Oates - there's some really great songs under that 80s
gloss, trust me.
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