Hey folks,

I'd been meaning to mention it here - but you all should go check out
www.chrisbrownmusic.com - After listening to the disc, I directed Chris
to Not Lame and KoolKat and Bruce has a RAVE review of this one up on
new releases for the week. It's definitely going to be a big favorite
for me in 2006 and I think the pure poppers here will similarly dig.
Indeed, since I'm on record as never writing a review I could stand to
look at again, I'll quote Mr. Brodeen's offering...

Holy Cow, out of the blue, arrives Chris Brown who fans of intensely
highly stylized power pop will fall down and worship at the Altar Of
Brown. Co-Produced and Mixed exquisitely by Chris Manning (Jellyfish)
with Chris Bellman(The Who, Neil Young) the Mastering Engineer, "Now
That You`re Fed" blossoms with a fresh aired spirit of deeply engaging
production flourishes which frequently exert a quiet and haunting
allure. Brown laces his songs with vivid imagery, shimmering acoustics
and haunting, rewarding melodies. Brown plies his trade with aplomb and
craft and vocally is an unusual combination of lush, warm Elliot Smith,
Josh Rouse, Duncan Sheik, Kevin Tihista, John Cunningham and, believe it
or not, Freddie Mercury---the Queen influence is strong with the
seductive soft sighs in the vocal arrangements, you will hear them in
more than a handful of places. Brown also brings to mind a more upbeat,
more engaging Kyle Vincent, as well as Andy Pratt(think "Avenging
Annie"). You`ll hear vague, but familiar refrains of Jellyfish, but they
are less prominent than the aforementioned bands/artists. What you will
find out front is the simple fact that these 12 songs mesh and merge
with a suite-like intimacy, rare to find. As his bio says, it`s a shot
of pop oxygen for smoggy musical times. 

"Perfect power pop is oft-attempted but rarely attained. By which I mean
it rises above the standard formula of chiming chords, hook-filled
choruses, and clean guitar strumming. When it`s perfect, the
unpredictable arrangements, the lyrics that make you wanna rewind to
hear them again, the perfectly-timed bridges, and the ridiculously
pretty chord progressions all conspire to make the considerable effort
involved seem effortless, timeless, classic, and just plain great. Chris
Brown`s glorious, sunny debut album is all that and more, a gorgeous
record produced by Chris Manning of fellow power pop geniuses
Jellyfish."-Windy Chien. Evidently Chris Brown is an award winning indie
filmaker but here the musicianship is such that one would guess that
making projects like "Now That You`re Fed" is his day job. Simply a
stunner, for folks with high expectations for their pop and big time
Extremely Highly Recommended!

I can't recommend an album more highly. It's simply breathtaking.

-craig

N.p. Liverpool Express - The Best of (downloaded from eMusic, this is
just amazing, how come I'd never heard of them till I found them on
someone's myspace page!? - this McCartney-esque pop seems like it'd be
the very stuff of this list?  Did I miss the day we mentioned 'em!?)