Music Disc Reviews
Categories in section: Music Disc Reviews
| Audio CD (1118) | DTS 5.1 CD (26) | DualDisc (38) |
| DVD-Audio (88) | SACD (37) |
Thursday, 01 March 2007 |
Written by
Scott Yanow
|
format: 16-bit CD
performance: 6
sound: 7
release year: 2007
label: Prestige/Concord
reviewed by: Scott Yanow
1957 was one of the most important years in the musical career of John Coltrane. Born in 1926, Coltrane was originally a journeyman alto-saxophonist based in Philadelphia who was influenced by Charlie Parker. It took him a relatively long period of time to find his own sound. He switched to tenor-sax during his unrecorded stint with altoist Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson’s band and seemed to get his big break in 1949 when he joined the Dizzy Gillespie Orchestra. But although Coltrane continued with Gillespie when the trumpeter cut back to a sextet the following year, that association ultimately went nowhere, as did a stint with Johnny Hodges’ combo.
It was not until Miles Davis took a chance in 1955 and hired Coltrane for his quintet that the 29-year old tenor-saxophonist began to ...
Thursday, 01 March 2007 |
Written by
John Sutton-Smith
|
format: 16-bit CD
performance: 8
sound: 7
release year: 2007
label: Putumayo World Music
reviewed by: John Sutton-Smith
To commemorate International Women’s Day on March 8, a national holiday in many countries and commemorated by the United Nations, the eclectic and popular Putumayo World Music releases Women of the World: Acoustic, an album that celebrates female struggle and achievement with an exploration of acoustic music by some of the world's leading female artists.
It is a perfect combination. While the women of the world are often divided by ethnic, cultural, economic and political differences, International Women’s Day allows for every woman everywhere to celebrate their struggle for equality and justice. Putumayo World Music grew out of the eco-conscious clothing company of the same name, becoming a prime source for compilations of international music, and some of Putumayo's proceeds go to the Global Fund for Women in ...
Thursday, 01 March 2007 |
Written by
Matt Fink
|
format: 16-bit CD
performance: 7
sound: 6
release year: 2006
label: Sub Pop
reviewed by: Matt Fink
Though he has rightly caught some flak for saying it, Jack White has a legitimate point when he says that politics has no place in rock music. Even though art and music have often stirred the pot of social change, anyone who has heard ham-fisted agenda pieces like Toby Keith’s “Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue (The Angry American)” or Bright Eyes’ juvenile “When the President Talks to God” should realize that it takes a special songwriter to be able to write with the right balance of insightfulness and tact to make music that comes off as anything more than sloganeering. Add in the fact that most political songwriting takes in the tone of ridicule and ad hominem attacks, neither of which addresses actual issues nor moves forward ...
Thursday, 01 March 2007 |
Written by
Matt Fink
|
format: 16-bit CD
performance: 7
sound: 7
release year: 2007
label: Sub Pop
reviewed by: Matt Fink
As much fun as it has been to watch OK Go’s rise to fame on the strength of their meticulously choreographed videos and giddy pop hooks, it’s worth noting that there are literally hundreds of similarly talented and comparatively tuneful bands that will never win a Grammy. That’s not to say that the upstart quartet doesn’t have genuine talent, but they’re ultimately the kind of band that without a gimmick or exceptional good luck will almost always be left to languish as their hometown’s best local band. Though the Shins are certainly a notch better than your average local power poppers, it would be hard to argue that before their appearance as Natalie Portman’s favorite musical crush in “Garden State,” they had little chance of becoming your little sister’s ...
Thursday, 01 March 2007 |
Written by
Matt Fink
|
format: 16-bit CD
performance: 7
sound: 6
release year: 2006
label: Concord
reviewed by: Matt Fink
Though the practice of reanimating old recordings for the purposes of tying up loose ends left by a deceased artist once seemed a reasonable excuse for messing with underdeveloped texts, the unfortunate examples of the Beatles dumping sonic goop over a creaky 15-year-old John Lennon demo suggests that even the greatest artists shouldn’t be trying to raise ghosts. Obviously, it was an admirable attempt by the world’s most famous rock band to offer their legion of fans something new, but “Free as a Bird” never transcended its context. No matter what, it sounded like what it was, three musicians trying to recapture the feeling encoded on a sketchy piece of tape, and, finding they couldn’t, simply filling in the empty spaces with Beatles clichés. Turns out recorded ghosts don’t like ...
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