Alice Ripley - Daily Practice, Volume 1

Alice Ripley - Daily Practice, Volume 1
2011, Sh-K-Boom Records

TONY winner Alice Ripley has been acting on and off Broadway for twenty years, as well as recording albums and gigging with her band Ripley and creating works on canvas and in mixed media.  As an artist whose creative energies seem to have no end, Ripley often uses one art form to balance off another.  So it was in 2009, when Ripley played conjoined twin Diana in Next To Normal.  Aside from earning Ripley a TONY for best actress in a musical as well as a Helen Hayes award, Next To Normal left Ripley with another legacy.  Each night Ripley would return to her hotel room and recover from the emotional weight of her performance by singing some of her favorite songs while accompanying herself on acoustic guitar.   These impromptu therapy sessions were memorialized on the album Daily Practice, Volume 1, released earlier this year on Sh-K-Boom Records.

Daily Practice, Volume 1 is raw and unvarnished, featuring Alice Ripley in an almost manic performance state.  The result is unsettling at times, striking at others, and throughout is underscored by the emotional complexities and beauties of the human condition.  Ripley opens with Carole King's "It's Too Late".  This is one of the mellower offerings on the album, but Ripley's vocal performance is impassioned and full of emotion.   "Message In A Bottle" is halting and uncertain at times.  While the original version by the Police seems to focus more on the hope for salvation, Ripley's version seems more focused on the desolation and hopelessness of the narrator's position.  The performance is striking and raw, delivered in the uncomfortable tones of someone who doesn't know what to do next.

"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" is played straight to the letter, but misses the soaring feel of the original in a workman-like performance.  Alanis Morissette's "You Oughta Know" is slowed down a bit, with Alice Ripley all over the place vocally.  Ripley seems to relish the emotional outbursts of the song, articulating representatives of the FCC's seven deadly words with particular fervor.  "Essence" (Lucinda Williams) displays a particular vulnerability; the emotional charge in Ripley's voice is palpable and real. 

Ripley goes all out for Bruce Springsteen's "Thunder Road", capturing the gritty honesty of Springsteen's writing style perfectly.  The sense of hope and joy amidst a dreary world is compelling.  Nanci Griffith's "The Flyer" drips with the loneliness of the road, staying true to the original.  Ripley takes on The Eagles' "Take It Easy" in halting fashion.  It's a solid cover, but doesn't have the carefree feel of the original.  Ripley takes a fair shot at R.E.M.'s "Everybody Hurts", but sounds overwrought.  The whiney, self-involved nature of the song and the heaviness of Ripley's voice just don't make for a great mix.  Ripley closes on sound footing with a solid cover of Carly Simon's "Anticipation".

Cover albums are always fraught with difficulties for fans and critics alike, but Daily Practice, Volume 1 is not your typical cover album.  The ten songs collected here represent a daily process of catharsis that allowed Ripley to maintain her balance during one of the most trying roles of her career.  The unvarnished nature of the album will give some listeners pause.  This is Alice Ripley, warts and all.  Most artists would never have the audacity to release recording in such a raw state.  From a purely aesthetic standpoint, Daily Practice, Volume 1is raw and unsettling.  Put into perspective, it becomes a statement of freedom, and of that particular beauty that grows from human imperfection and perseverance.  Daily Practice, Volume 1 comes straight from the heart.

Rating: 3.5 Stars (Out of 5)

 Alice Ripley's web presence is fleeting and hard to find.  Her blog, aliceripleylinkup.blogspot.com has not been updated in a while, but you can pick up some good information about her there.  The site for her band, Ripley, www.myspace.com/ripleytheband has also not been updated in a while.  Luckily, Daily Practice, Volume 1 is available from Amazon.com as a CD or Download.  The album is also available via iTunes.

Review: Lamar Holley - Confessions Of A College Student

Lamar Holley - Confessions Of A College Student
2009, Remaining Records

Lamar Holley has a unique gift; a love of melody and harmony that transcends music and becomes pure creation. Since playing to sold old shows as a 16 year old in his basement bedroom to today, Holley has continued to create out of love for music. With a distinctive love for classic Pop/Rock and theatrical music, Lamar Holley’s debut album, the Pop/Musical Confessions Of A College Student hits all the right notes.

Confessions Of A College Student opens with the Ben Folds-esque Biology, a philosophical discussion of Biology vs. Cosmetology that any current or former freshman can identify with. Forgotten Friends goes with a 1960's Pop feel that will have you swaying in your seat. It's a sweet reminiscence about the people who were so significant during college who have faded from memory and prominence with the passing of years. Secretly is a musical soliloquy on unrequited love that is sonically reminiscent of Moxy Fruvous. The persona implied by the song has the sort of puppy-dog-turned-unlikely-hero who would make a great lead character. Pretend That She's Ugly has a distinctive Ben Folds feel to it; it's about a guy who tries to assuage his ego over a rejection from a girl by pretending she's something she's not. The song turns from sour grapes to hopeless optimism before it's done.

This Is True travels down the Dixieland jazz path as the lead character puts himself on the line to the girl he adores. It's a declaration of love in spite of the reality of any apparent chance to get the girl he wants, and the sort of song that will infect your brain for days. Around Me is a sweet song about the inner life of someone in unrequited love. I kept envisioning Muppets singing this song, for some reason. The more I hear the album I picture being staged with puppets ala Avenue Q. Lovesick continues the primary theme of the album with the lead character continuing to yearn for not only his chosen one but also anyone else attractive who crosses his path. Flower slows down both the tempo and emotional rancor and reflects a newfound seedling of emotional maturity. The character speaks of his love in allegorical terms that reflect understanding of both her and himself, even if in rudimentary form. The album closes out with the brief Graduate With Honor, a doo-wop track that might be worth expanding upon and including in a production of this show. The brief 39 second snippet included here reflects just the comedic and stylistic sidebar a show of this nature needs.

Lamar Holley has crafted a musical with real potential in Confessions Of A College Student. There's a real heart to the musical, although it probably lacks the cynicism or world-weary self-knowledge to interest Broadway crowds. Confessions Of A College Student carries with it the light and airy feel of 1950's and early 1960's shows and is a legitimate foray into the musical world. If Holley continues to develop the book of this show and expands the song selection and story line he may just have something big here.

Rating: 4 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Lamar Holley at http://www.lamarholley.com/ or www.myspace.com/lamarholley. You can purchase a copy of Confessions Of A College Student from CDBaby.com.

Review: Felicia Finley - Great Mood For A Tuesday

Felicia Finley – Great Mood For A Tuesday
2009, Bentley Productions

Broadway fans have been familiar with Felicia Finley for some time now. Starring roles in The Wedding Singer (Linda) and Elton John’s Aida (Amneris) gained her significant attention and respect in the Broadway community. You may have also seen Finley in the Spike Lee films 25th Hour, Summer Of Sam and He Got Game. Anyone who’s heard Finley’s voice on stage had no question about her ability to sing, but it’s always curious to hear how Broadway performers cross over into the pop/rock world. On Valentine’s Day of 2009, Finley releases Great Mood For A Tuesday in select markets, with digital releases hitting on March 14, 2009. One thing is for certain: Felicia Finley can rock.

Finley serves notice write from the opening notes of Satin Soldiers; a dynamic, Classic/Prog Rock tune with some very impressive guitar work. Finley makes use of a powerful and wide-ranging voice here to establish that she’s not just a Broadway diva trying to fake a rock image. The backing vocals here remind me of something you might hear on a classic Styx album, but Finley will make you forget anyone else is singing. Finley switches gears a bit on Stories. This is a Big Rock Ballad, complete with big guitar solos and some great harmonic acoustic guitar work as well.

My House Tonight will catch your ears. It’s a classic “bad girl” song; incredibly catchy. My House Tonight is built on a classic Rhythm N Rock base with dynamic vocals like only Finley can deliver. You won’t be able to get this out of your head. If this song gets released in advance of summer, with the right push it could be everywhere. I think this is the type of rock song music fans are hungry for and it could be huge. Great Mood For A Tuesday, the title track, was the song on the album I enjoyed the least. It’s a decent song and well sung, but it just seemed out of place among the other songs offered here.

Closin’ Time is a catchy, furtive tune. It reminded me, musically, of something you might hear on a Shaw/Blades album. Closin’ Time has a very mellow center to it, in spite of the big chorus. It’s crying to be a country tune. Tired Of Losing Sleep caught my attention on the first listen through; it’s a bit of the beaten track, musically. The song allows Finley to display some of the softer, darker tones in her voice. Perhaps it brings out the Broadway side of her just a bit – it’s a very theatric song without sounding like it came from a show. Blanket was a fun listen, although a bit generic. There’s some great harmonica work in this one. The album closes out with Fire Escape, a heavy Rock N Blues tune built on some blistering guitar work. This song is a Wow, all the way around; an exclamation point to end the album the way it started, rocking hard.

The vocal discipline required for performing on Broadway is often quite different than the training one might take to sing Rock N Roll. While the line has blurred some over the years with the advent of rock musicals, it is still unusual for a Broadway performer to cross over to Rock or Pop without difficulty. Folks like Adam Pascal and Idina Menzel have done it with varying degrees of success, but Felicia Finley may have turned in the most dynamic and amazing Rock performance of any Broadway baby in the past decade. Listening to her voice, it would actually be quite electric if she and Pascal were to sing together at some point. I digress. Great Mood For A Tuesday is a classic album. The energy is great, the musicianship strong and the vocals are downright amazing. Get it. Listen to it. You’ll love it.

Rating: 4.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Felicia Finley at http://www.feliciafinley.net/ or www.myspace.com/feliciafinley. You’ll be able to order copies of Great Mood For A Tuesday on her website starting February 14, 2009. As an aside, I highly recommend you check out the material Finely has streaming on her MySpace page. If these are any indication then her live shows must be absolutely amazing. You can also hear Finley on soundtracks for The Bubbly Black Girl, Happy Days - A New Musical and Forbidden Broadway 2001: A Spoof Odyssey.