Fearless Love

The single and album were produced by John Shanks, whose first album production was Etheridge’s 1999 Breakdown. Since that collaboration he has risen to the top ranks of rock and pop producers with credits including Sheryl Crow, Alanis Morissette and Bon Jovi, winning the 2005 Producer of the Year Grammy Award. “Fearless Love” spotlights the album’s solid rock foundation with the core band of Etheridge on acoustic guitar, Shanks providing imaginative lead guitar, color-filled keyboards from Jamie Muhoberac and the dynamic anchor of bassist Sean Hurley and drummer Victor Indrizzo.

Fearless Love, her triumphant tenth album, expands on the multiple strengths that have made Etheridge one of the most beloved figures in modern rock. It follows her revealing 2007 set The Awakening with a rousing tone at once tough and tender, as only Etheridge can be. It’s that force of presence that has earned her, among other accolades, the 2007 Academy Award for best original song (“I Need to Wake Up” from the documentary An Inconvenient Truth) and two Grammy Awards.

Price: $7.99

Chronicle, Vol. 1: The 20 Greatest Hits

Recorded 1968-1970 and includes ‘Susie Q’, ‘I Put a Spell on You’, ‘Proud Mary’, ‘Bad Moon Rising’, ‘Lodi’, ‘Green River’, ‘Commotion’, ‘Down on the Corner’, ‘Fortunate Son’, ‘Travelin’ Band’, ‘Who’ll Stop the Rain’, ‘Up Around the Bend’, ‘Run Through the Jungle’, ‘Lookin’ Out My Back Door’, ‘Long as I Can See the Light’, ‘I Heard It Through the Grapevine’, ‘Have You Ever Seen the Rain?’, ‘Hey Tonight’, ‘Sweet Hitch-Hiker’ & ‘Someday Never Comes’. Fantasy label. 1991.

Price: $4.69

Pulse

Next up for Toni Braxton is the release of her new album, Pulse, on May 4th, 2010. The album will mark Braxton’s first studio album in five years and her Atlantic Records label debut. The album is shaping up to be Toni’s most powerful and personal musical statement to date. Braxton personally chose to collaborate with a veritable who’s-who of red-hot producers and songwriters, including Frank E (Madonna, T.I., Plies, Flo Rida), Steve Mac (Leona Lewis, Il Divo), Lucas Secon (Britney Spears, The Pussycat Dolls), Harvey Mason & Oak (Chris Brown, Joe, Mario), Troy Taylor (Trey Songz, Kevin Lyttle), Dapo Torimiro (John Legend, David Archuletta, Brandy), and David Foster (Whitney Houston, Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion). What’s more, the album features a guest appearance from Toni’s new Atlantic labelmate, R&B/hip-hop sensation Trey Songz, who lends his distinctive vocal stylings to the aforementioned single, “Yesterday.”

Price: $7.99

Women and Country

Women + Country is Jakob Dylan s highly anticipated sophomore album following his critically acclaimed solo debut, Seeing Things. Women + Country is soulful yet striking, ripe with sublime beauty. Paired with Oscar, Grammy, and Golden Globe award winning producer T Bone Burnett (Robert Plant, Alison Krauss, Crazy Heart) and joined with the stirringly rich vocals of Neko Case and Kelly Hogan, Women + Country creates a compelling and powerful experience for the listener.

Price: $6.45

Together

2010 release, the fifth album from Canadian-US collective The New Pornographers, featuring Neko Case and Destroyer’s Dan Bejar, in addition to bandleader and chief songwriter A.C. Newman. Playing to all the New Pornographers strengths, Together combines the freewheeling, glammy spirit of their debut Mass Romantic with the very personal, emotional songwriting of their most recent material. As a result, it’s an album that aims to please, as exciting for the New Pornographers obsessive as for casual new listeners.

Price: $7.99

Fornever

“People seem to like it a lot.” The shrug is audible even over the phone when Murs, still the people’s champion of Los Angeles hip-hop, is asked about his continuing collaboration with equally legendary North Carolina producer and DJ 9th Wonder. Stuck in a car during a depressingly common logjam of a traffic jam on the notorious 405 Freeway with his new wife, Murs is as blunt and pointedly direct as he is on record.

“I think when I work with anybody, my ability to be flexible is what helps make things work,” he muses. “When it comes to 9th, I pretty much just let him run the whole show. That’s why it works with us. I’m one of the few rappers out here secure enough to relinquish some control in the studio. I mean, I’m still a total control freak. I’m just not as bad as the rest of them.”

Now we’re getting somewhere. Murs wins by surrendering. This is hip-hop on Sun Tzou as opposed to Robert Greene and Joost Elffers. Over the course of “Murs 3:16″ and “Murray’s Revenge,” Murs and 9th Wonder crafted two of the most enduring hip-hop albums of the last decade. Packed with warm, soulful tracks and the inimitable wisdom of Murs, it’s a complex collaboration that’s unusual to say the least. Together again for the third time, on “Fornever,” Murs tries to explain just why it works.

“I let 9th pick the beats. I don’t listen to what he brings me and then choose which ones to rap over. He hands me and beat and a lot of times tells me what the song is about, like `Asian Girl,’ he relates in relation to one of the thornier songs on “Fornever,” a no-holds-barred exaltation of the charms of women from the Far East. “He’s gotten even more insane with it. But he doesn’t stop me from writing about whatever I want to write about. He’s the producer, so I trust his judgment the same way he trusts me with the rhymes. We have to have that trust, because we definitely don’t understand each other,” he adds without a hint of humor or irony. “I’m into beats at all. I don’t care how rare the sample is or how you put the track together. Whatever. Just do your thing and I’ll do mine and we’re all good.”

Then again, Murs always has been hip-hop’s voice of common sense. At the same time, he still stands as one of the most daring and fearless rappers in the game. Like his now-notorious interview on Shade 45 internet radio show “Lip Service” with porn star Roxie Reynolds that informs “Vicki Veil,” the tale of dating an adult actress which Murs calls “my wife’s least favorite song on the record.

“I’m always kind of out of control, so when I got next to porn star in a studio, I went for it. Back in the day, I would watch `Luke’s Peep Show,’” he explains in reference to 2 Live Crew rapper Luther Campbell’s variety show from the `90s. “All these rappers that would talk a big sex game on record would go on there and wimp out next to real porn star. So when I got the opportunity with Roxy, I went for it. She got naked, sat on my face and everything.”

One of the unforeseen side effects of the on-air hook-up is how it’s opened up the Murs fanbase to a whole new contingency. “I’ll get these 45-year-old guys approaching me at the airport just to say hi. It’s hilarious. I’ve dated a couple of porn stars, and they’re just regular girls. The experience wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. But with those girls, you should really know better. Don’t be surprised when you’re fucked over by a porn star. That is their job,” he laughs. “When I heard that beat, it just said `Vicky Vail’ to me. 9th thought I was crazy, but you know. Whatever.”

Murs is just warming up. Talk of porn stars swings back around to the aforementioned “Asian Girl.”

“The idea was to make `3:16′ on steroids,” he stresses over the sound of traffic in the background. We brought him out to L.A. to record for the first time. Maybe that’s what got to him. There’s a little more g-funk in his east coast beats this time.”

In classic Murs style, “Fornever” finds him covering customary territory, like the delicate balance of love relationships (“Let Me Talk”) next to more topical matters, exemplified on the incendiary “Cigarettes and Liquor.”

“I had quit smoking for five years, and just recently started up again,” he admits. “Smoking is one of those things that really bond people across all boundaries. That’s why in the intro I used epithets for a bunch of different races, for the shock value. But really, the idea is that regardless of who you are, you’re going to die just like me. It’s the great equalizer. I also like to put shit in there that I need to hear. This way I have to sing about how I need to quit smoking every night on tour.”

A defining feature of “Fornever” is the panorama of guest rappers that appear alongside Murs on the tracks. Dogg Pound veteran Kurupt, stone-cold pimpin’ Suga Free and L.A. Latino OG Jacken from Psycho Realm are just some of the names on the list.

“On the song `The Problem Is…’, I had (Snoop Dogg associate) Uncle Chucc come in do the hook, which he knocked out in like ten minutes. 9th Wonder was amazed. I really want to do a whole album with Jack from Psycho Realm. We need to build love between the African-American and Latino communities especially here in L.A. Plus we have Latinos on the west coast that can really rap! I like to show that to the world. There’s so much more to Los Angeles than backpack rap and tired gangstas.”

Ultimately, it’s all about Los Angeles for Murs. Even with one of the leading lights of the east coast rocking the beats, Murs is the definition of a true L.A. homeboy.

“Back in 1997 when I first went to New York, I was just straight serving rappers and nobody wanted to believe I was from Los Angeles,” he laughs. “They were like, `You don’t sound like Warren G!’ That’s why I love having Kurupt on the album. There was a time he was living in New York, just on the street battling the most hardcore motherfuckers you can imagine the kind of dudes that might try to punch you in the face for serving you on the mic.”

“It’s time for me to step up and represent,” he says finally. “We all come from different angles out here. When I took Suga Free to New York for the first time, dudes like El-P and Aesop Rock were dying, like `Why haven’t we ever heard this guy before?’ We got it out here for real. And more than anything, I just want it to count. Not saying it’s a 5-mic classic or anything, but I like to think that this album counts. 9th and I made a real west coast hip-hop album. 9th is the ultimate southern and east coast hip-hop head, so if he’s down with it, it must be cool, you know? If this guy that does not get me at all–he’s definitely not into my shit, like Vampire Weekend or whatever–if he can feel me at all, then hopefully we have something that everyone can love.”

Price: $8.92

Kind of Blue

No Description Available.
Genre: Jazz Music
Media Format: Compact Disk
Rating:
Release Date: 7-SEP-1999

Price: $3.89

Nothing’s Impossible

This magnificent album, destined to be an all-time essential in any library of classic soul, is a bittersweet triumph. On one hand, it marks the 70th birthday year of Solomon Burke, who ranks with the very greatest R&B immortals; on the other, it’s the final full album produced by another soul legend, producer Willie Mitchell, the Memphis architect of the Hi Records sound and the man behind everlasting hits by Al Green, Ann Peebles, and so many others. Willie Mitchell died on January 5, 2010. NOTHING’S IMPOSSIBLE delivers a dozen tracks of timeless soul magic in the purest Memphis style with the deepest Southern roots. Yet there’s not the slightest whiff of nostalgia about the project. Solomon Burke’s voice is full-strength, and Willie Mitchell’s arrangements flourish in the Hi-style: tight, right horns; rock solid kick drums and mellow bass; country guitar fills, and the sweetest, sparest string arrangements to enhance the romance and the heartbreak of these amazing songs. Solomon Burke was an important early soul pioneer despite never having made a major impact upon the pop audience. On his `60s singles for Atlantic, he brought a country influence into R&B with emotional phrasing and deeply powerful melodic ballads and midtempo songs. His combination of gospel, pop, country, and production polish was basic to the recipe of early soul. Solomon, like Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett, was an important influence upon the Rolling Stones, who covered Burke’s “Cry to Me” and “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love” on their early albums. Over the years, Solomon Burke has become one of the most visible living exponents of classic soul music. Burke’s 2002 release, Don’t Give Up on Me was hailed as a major comeback for the legendary soul man. And now, in this sublime collaboration with a master producer, Solomon Burke has written another chapter in this unsurpassed body of work. When it comes to real soul music, Solomon and the late Willie Mitchell have once again proven that NOTHING’S IMPOSSIBLE.

Price: $12.27

Leave Your Sleep (2CD)

‘This album captures so many magical moments, the best times I’ve ever had as a musician,’ declares singer-songwriter Natalie Merchant of ‘Leave Your Sleep,’ her ambitious, two-disc Nonesuch debut. Merchant, celebrated solo artist and one-time voice of 10,000 Maniacs, took on what could have been a daunting task: she’s adapted 19th and 20th century British and American poetry – well-known and obscure works, anonymous rhymes, children’s lullabies, all of it timeless
material full of direct emotion – and fashioned new songs from these words. Among the poets she chose were Robert Graves, Charles Manley Hopkins, Edward Lear, Ogden Nash, and Robert Louis Stevenson. The project, five years in the making, has clearly had a liberating effect on Merchant. Never has she sounded so free-spirited, so full of musical
adventure, whether backed by small jazzy combos or elegant chamber ensembles. The tracks she’s created range from exotic (‘The King of China’s Daughter’) to earthy (‘Peppery Man’), soothing (‘I Saw A Ship A-Sailing’) to swinging (‘The Janitor’s Boy’), mischievous (‘It Makes A Change’) to moving (‘Spring and Fall’). The string arrangements are particularly
stirring, recalling Joshua Rifkin’s now-classic work on Judy Collins’ ‘Wildflowers.’
There’s plenty of child-like wonder, counterbalanced with grown-up sophistication. Says Merchant, ‘It was an exciting, new approach for me to work with rhythm and rhyme schemes created by other writers. The poems inspired vastly different musical settings with their themes that ranged from humorous and absurd to tragic, romantic, and deeply spiritual. Over the course of three years I wrote 40 of these poem-songs and 30 were eventually recorded.’
Merchant co-produced ‘Leave Your Sleep’ with Venezuelan musician-composer Andres Levin, a frequent collaborator of David Byrne and Arto Lindsay, and one of the creators of the eclectic Red Hot charity series. Over the course of a year’s worth of exhilarating, musically shape-shifting sessions, they drew upon no less than 125 musicians from the varied worlds
of, among other things, Cajun, country, jazz, chamber music, R&B, Celtic, and reggae. The revitalized Merchant explains, ‘I called on old friends and approached many new musicians I only knew through admiring their work… The sessions were recorded in live ensemble workshop settings that captured pure and authentic sounds played with incredibly fresh and
spontaneous energy.’
‘Leave Your Sleep’ is an inspired return for Merchant, her first studio album in six years – an effort long awaited by her considerable fan base. It also marks her 25th year as a uniquely successful major-label artist, one whose work has consistently enjoyed equal measures of commercial and critical success. Though she has regularly lent her talents over the last few years to the many nonprofit causes she supports, Merchant has actively returned to the concert stage in recent months, previewing material from ‘Leave Your Sleep,’ on a series of dates in England and continental Europe. A full U.S. tour is being planned for summer 2010.

Price: $13.68

VOCAbuLarieS

Ten-time Grammy Award winner/vocal innovator Bobby McFerrin surprises us yet again with VOCAbuLarieS, his first new release in eight years. Like his #1 worldwide hit song Don’t Worry Be Happy and his multi-platinum duo album Hush with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, VOCAbuLarieS is based on Bobby’s experiments with multi-track recording and his ceaseless exploration of the potential of the human voice. VOCAbuLarieS is Bobby McFerrin music for the 21st century. A collaboration with the composer/arranger/producer Roger Treece, VOCAbuLarieS features over fifty of the world’s finest singers, recorded one at a time and in small groups to create a virtual choir made up of over 1,400 vocal tracks. Constructed as meticulously as a Mozart symphony or a Steely Dan album, intricately synthesized from countless stylistic elements, VOCAbuLarieS may be unlike any album anyone has ever recorded. Yet the music is always accessible, joyous, and inviting. VOCAbuLarieS celebrates Bobby’s love of all musical genres, from classical to world music, R&B to gospel and beyond, building upon McFerrin’s past explorations and journeying into bold new territory. If the song Don’t Worry Be Happy is all you know about Bobby McFerrin, sit back and prepare to be amazed.

Price: $10.60

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