Review: Barenaked Ladies - You Run Away (single)

Barenaked Ladies - You Run Away
2010, Raisin Records

It's hard to believe it's been 12 years since Barenaked Ladies dominated both US and Canadian radio with One Week, much less that it's been 17 years since I first saw them in an over-crowded and likely illegally packed former truck garage in Buffalo, NY. I've heard Barenaked Ladies go from a jazzy acoustic-Pop sound to brooding new wave to Poppy dementia to mellowing Pop maestros who Paul McCartney himself calls one of the most interesting bands in Pop music today. Co-founder/vocalist/songwriter Steven Page departed the band last year, wanting a larger share/stage for his songwriting, leaving Barenaked Ladies as a quartet for the first time in nearly two decades. The band chose to continue in this fashion rather than trying to replace Page's iconic voice.

Barenaked Ladies will release their 11th studio album, All In Good Time, on March 23, 2010 in Canada with a US release due on March 30th. It will be the first new material as a quartet and has been a source of both agita and excitement for longtime fans. On January 8th, the Ladies released the first single, You Run Away, on their website. It would be hard to call You Run Away a departure for the band, as BNL have ever been moving toward a more developed and nuanced sound, but for years Ed Robertson and Steve Page were yang and yin, respectively, for the band. They served to balance one another, as Page's darker side brought out the lighter aspects of Robertson's musical character. Over the past few albums, Barenaked Ladies have become more and more egalitarian in their songwriting, changing the balance of songwriting duties and influences.

This change in structure started to bring out a fuller texture in the band in general, and Robertson's songwriting in particular. If You Run Away is any indication, the change that has been fomenting for the past decade comes into full bloom in 2010. You Run Away is a mid-tempo, sorrowful ballad. It could be a song about a failed relationship (and I am sure some fans will speculate about the lyrics and Page's departure), but it's not an angry song. The melody is among the finest Barenaked Ladies have crafted in their 20+ years together, and it might be just the tune needed to return Barenaked Ladies to the Pop charts.

Robertson is in amazing voice, and arrangement is serene and melancholy, full of an almost tragic beauty. If You Run Away is representative of the album, All In Good Time could be their finest album yet. On a purely subjective level, as a fan, You Run Away brings me back to a time and place when I used to listen to the band incessantly. Not because it sounds like they used to, but because it sounds like Barenaked Ladies are once again creating like they used to.

Rating: 5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Barenaked Ladies at http://www.barenakedladies.com/. Barenaked Ladies will release All In Good Time (read review here) on their own label, Raisin Records, but recently signed a distribution agreement with EMI Music. The song will be released on iTunes in the near future. For now you can stream You Run Away on their website. You Run Away and All In Good Time were produced by Michael Philip Wojewoda, who previously produced the band's groundbreaking 1993 debut album, Gordon, and their 2008 Children's album Snacktime, as well as albums for Spirit Of The West, Great Big Sea, Ashley MacIsaac and The Rheostatics.

Review: Hotel St. George - City Boy Lemon

Hotel St. George - City Boy Lemon
2009, This Is Tightrope

Hotel St. George was born out of an unfortunate accident at a 2007 Thanksgiving party involving a Wurlitzer piano and a glass of red wine. The piano survived, and Hotel St. George has positively thrived. In two short years the band has been nominated for two San Diego Music Awards, won a SPIN Magazine song contest, had a song placed in the videogame MLB 2K10 and been tapped to have their music featured in the upcoming season of MTV's The City. Not a bad result from the accidental introduction of tannins to ivory neither is Hotel St. George's third album, City Boy Lemon, released digitally and on an extremely limited vinyl run (500) in 2009.

City Boy Lemon opens with Simple Man, which sounds like the children of The Kinks and The Beatles got together and formed a band. The song starts slow but shifts quickly into an upbeat Pop/Rock arrangement that's irresistible. This energy and sound carries over to Welcome To The Sun, although a definite Lo-Fi element creeps in to the sound. All Those Dancing Stars explores an unhealthy fascination with mortality against the backdrop of an occasionally uncomfortable relationship that expresses the narrator's ambivalence in dissonance. Good In The Bad comes as a straight forward Pop/Rock tune but deals with some darker subject matter about human nature. The combination of the Lo-Fi sound and Pop-oriented arrangement is a bit jarring; it's a pleasant song to listen to if you can get by the incidental dissonance and tension in the arrangement.

Jealous Boys finds Hotel St. George turning more fully to their Pop proclivities on a post-punk gem with real potential for radio. Jealous Boys is the best pure listen on the disc, and the energy here is a bit infectious. Hotel St. George nearly loses it in Trouble, coming close to flying right off the rails but holding on for deer life. This should be a definite concert favorite. Hotel St. George strips down to bare acoustics for City Boy Lemon, a brief and puzzling entry before cranking up the amps on All The Rich Folks. All The Rich Folks puts hypocrisy center stage, exploring the divergence at times between beliefs and actions while attacking excess. The song is mildly catchy and is likely to strike some chords in the current economic environment.

Hotel St. George is an interesting find. They're not going to be everyone's cup of tea, playing in the less-trodden paths of bands like The Rheostatics and The Residents. City Boy Lemon isn't one of those albums most people will immediately take to, but if you wrestle with it you'll find definite rewards. To call Hotel St. George a Lo-Fi Band, a Pop band, a Rock band or even a British-Invasion disciple; any of these monikers carries an element of truth, but none are correct on their own. Hotel St. George is all-of-the-above, and the mix, if not unique, is certainly not a common one. Check out Hotel St. George, and given them a chance. There's treasure to be found if you dig.

Rating: 3.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Hotel St. George at www.myspace.com/hotelstgeorge. Hotel St. George’s My Space page indicates City Boy Lemon is now available, although I could find no online outlets for the album. Keep checking Hotel St. George's MySpace page for more info.

Review: Hawksley Workman - For Him And The Girls

Hawksley Workman - For Him And The Girls
2000/2009, Isadora Records

Ryan Corrigan, AKA Hawksley Workman, has been known to Canadian artists for a decade now as a Juno-award winning singer, songwriter and producer. A multi-instrumentalist with a sound that's drawn comparisons to Tom Waits and The Rheostatics, Workman mixes and melds quirky folk with Pop, Cabaret and even Glam Rock elements to create some of the most distinctive and original pop music anywhere. For Him And The Girls, his debut album, was originally released in 2000 in Canada, but recently had its debut in the United States. It is an eclectic collection of songs meant to help American audiences develop a taste for Workman's music in advance of the release of Milk & Meat in 2010. Aside from his own projects, Workman has produced albums/songs for Great Big Sea, The Cash Brothers, Sarah Slean, Skydiggers and Tegan and Sara, among others.

Workman opens For Him And The Girls with Maniacs, an ambitious and off-center rock tune that runs an almost Latin rhythm beneath a lyrically disjointed alt-rock tune that perseverates on "maniacs", "fatsos" and "slaves". Welcome to the world of Hawksley Workman, where social conscience and madness occasionally run hand in hand. Sissies is a deliciously upbeat Pop Rocker that will get inside your head and set up residence. This is one of those songs that ambushes your thought process three days after you've heard it and just won't get out of your head. Luckily it's well written, bordering on comical at times. Sad House Daddy has a cabaret feel; it amounts to an apology for everything from someone who might be segueing in and out of reality. Sweet Hallelujah is a lilting prayer; a gorgeous tune with a melody that's practically heart-breaking.

Bullets is an amusing tune full of campy machismo and wit; danceable and catchy and driven by a sense of invincibility that appears on its face to be ridiculous. Workman gives a highly emotive performance on Don't Be Crushed before transitioning into a quasi-Country/Pop sound on Stop Joking Around. Workman strips away all excess on Safe And Sound, an amazing love song offered here in a simple acoustic arrangement. This is a tune destined for Mix Tapes, movies, television and anywhere else a licenser could think to put it. Baby This Night is a slow jam for the 21st century Alt-Rock fan, with a slightly twisted turn. It's a strong song, although Workman does get a bit bogged down in repetition part way through. Workman closes out with Beautiful & Natural, a song that sounds like something of an ode but burrows through a dark psychedelia in tribute. You'll walk away thinking perhaps it was a sweet song as played in the sort of distorted funhouse sounds you hear in horror movies.

Hawksley Workman is nothing if not enigmatic. I don't know if this is the album I would have used to introduce him to US audiences (I might have chosen (Last Night We Were) The Delicious Wolves)). but it is a fair representation of where his muse leads. That being said, For Him And The Girls is a brilliant collection that will intrigue you and keep you off balance as a listener. Workman knows how to push a listener's buttons, but not so far that he drives you away. Quite to the contrary, you're likely to stick around even if it’s just to see what he might do next.

Rating: 3.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Hawksley Workman at http://www.hawksleyworkman.com/ or www.myspace.com/hawksleyworkman. You can order a copy of For Him And The Girls from MapleMusic.com, or you can download the album from iTunes.

Review: Jenn Grant - Echoes

Jenn Grant - Echoes
2009, Six Shooter Records

If you don’t know who Jenn Grant is, you might want to make the calendar for today as the day you first encountered her. Besides being Wildy's World's Artist of the Month for September, 2009, the Prince Edward Island, Canada native has made a name for herself with highly personal songs that flow from the heart like warmth from the sun. Grant has earned several East Coast Music Award nominations, and opening slots for such Canadian artists as Martin Tielli (Rheostatics), Hawksley Workman, Hayden, Great Lake Swimmers and The Weakerthans. Grant releases her third CD, Echoes, in the United States on September 29, 2009. Echoes, continues in the same, heart-on-her-sleeve vein under the guiding hand of Producer/pianist Jonathan Goldsmith (Bruce Cockburn). Echoes may be a challenging listen, and is certainly a bit off the beaten path, but is worth the time you’ll put into it.

Echoes opens with the rambling, pensive Heartbreaker, which rises out of the depths of melancholy sounding like the Yin to Feist's Yang. This impression is fed by both Grant's shadowy alto voice and a quirky, Feist-like nature drawn in burgundy and charcoal. Where Are You Now is a beautiful song of longing and loss with an almost classical feel to it; the accompanying string arrangement lends a depth and weight to balance Grant's lyric vocal line, creating a moment of musical beauty that is deeply tangible. Blue Mountains has a vaguely dream-like feel to it; a love song built as much on the ideal of running off together as in stand still. It's an unusual and beautiful testament to emotion that's part Be Good Tanyas and part Feist. Parachutes is a wonderful conglomeration of Emo art song and girl-group glitz (although only briefly). The song is dark and light and thoroughly ambivalent on love, life and anything else that's important. It's a statement from the heart in all of its mixed beauty and darkness in song.

I Was Your Woman has a strong link stylistically to Fiona Apple; a look at what was and the process of getting over the loss. Grant's voice is full of dark sorrow here, wrapped up in that gorgeous alto with a metal edge running through the center. This song could be something of a show-stopper, but it's also imbued with that sort of temporary madness that comes with heartbreak. You'll think that Jenn Grant took a sabbatical with The Be Good Tanyas filling in on (I've Got) The Two Of You. Gorgeous vocal harmonies and an Appalachian feel inform this Chamber/Folk/Rock tune. The chorus is a bit repetitive, but it works here in a song deeper in emotion than thought. Sailing By Silverships sounds like the culmination of sonic development of the female songwriter in the past twenty years wrapped into one shining moment. Fans will hear elements of Tori Amos, Sarah McLachlan, Fiona Apple and even Sinead O'Connor in this fantastical song juxtaposing the pain of loss with the search for understanding and purpose. The rhythmic and layered crescendo and then fade at the song is as powerful as a musical moment gets without words to accent meaning.

Fireflies takes on a distant country feel, accented by the presence of violin and hints of pedal steel guitar; wandering the magical corridor of catching lightning in a bottle and the fear of doing so. The arrangement here is beautiful in a vaguely haunting way, demanding the listener's attention with variegation and texture that usually resides far from anything in the popular realm. Hawaii continues the process of recovery, finding magic and the loss of words to describe it. Grant's voice is right on the raw edge of emotion here, deep within an arrangement that's full of gorgeous quirk. The cover of Neil Young's Only Love Can Break Your Heart might seem a bit cliché at first, but Grant's performance makes it anything but cliché. It doesn't quite measure up to the Waltons' cover from the 1990's (perhaps not even Young's original does), but it's likely the second best cover of the song I've heard. Grant closes out Echoes with Everybody Loves You, a song of mourning of what's been lost and of hope for what's to come. There's a core of emotional strength here that's so apparent it will practically bowl over the listener. A brief epilogue, a half minute of I'll See You Again features Grant on piano sounding as if the recording were pulled from an old vinyl copy.

Echoes is an album full of heartbreak and hope. It is an acknowledgement of what Grant learned halfway through writing the album; Echoes is a breakup album born of a tumultuous relationship Grant was in at its beginning. In this case life imitated art, as it was the songwriting process that helped Grant to see where her heart was going. Consequently Echoes is a highly personal album full of the shadows and dark closets of Grant's heart as well as the patches of light. Pathos and power mix to inform the human spirit in the process of loss across the thirteen songs presented here. There are moments of beauty in both light and shadow, as Grant reveals her heart in a much more intimate fashion than you might expect. Echoes is brilliant in so many dimensions because it features Jenn Grant eschewing any sense of popular acceptance in favor of straightforward, honest writing. The song craft is highly involved and entrancing, and Grant's voice mixes elements of beauty and with starkly unique qualities to create a listening experience you simply can't pull yourself away from. I like an album to challenge me as a listener; Echoes does. And it's well worth the challenge. Echoes is a Wildy's World Certified Desert Island Disc. Don't miss it.

Rating: 5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Jenn Grant at http://www.jenngrant.com/ or www.myspace.com/jenngrant1. Echoes drops in the US on September 29, 2009. If you can't wait until then you can purchase a copy of Echoes at Maple Music, or you can download the album through iTunes.

Review: The Apostrophe S - No Nature In Space (demo)

The Apostrophe S – No Nature In Space (Demo)
2008, Prisms And Chisels Inc.

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania’s mix a post-punk approach with a new wave melodic sound and just a touch of psychedelia to create a sound that sounds a bit like a lot of people and exactly like no one I know. Influences include Modest Mouse, The Flaming Lips, Weezer, The Pixies and The Cars. No Nature In Space is the band’s first full-length demo, mixing high energy with Lo-Fi antics. Let’s check it out.

Garage rock. Lo-Fi. Call it what you want, but there's a certain attraction to the raw form of Rock N Roll that is practiced by bands everywhere on their way to finding a sound. Some bands manage to stay within that sound and carve out their own niche, or a hybrid between Garage and something else. The rest of the bands that stay in the garage range never quite find the right mix of sound and style to declare themselves. The Apostrophe S is a band that is searching for that sound and style. There is an almost ambivalent feel that comes from their demo, No Nature In Space, as if there are strong desires for different directions in the band. The first breakthrough comes on Skeletons, the 6th track. Skeletons mixes a reggae sound with that lo-fi mystique behind one of the better vocal performances on the album. There is life and energy to the song that has been somewhat muted on the first five tracks. Ode To The Sea goes for a minimalist ballad that relies on subtle progressions and an almost ethereal air that reminds me a bit of The Rheostatics. Other songs of interest are Until I Find You, 423 and Untitled.
Assuming the mix of songs is somewhat progressive for time, it sounds like The Apostrophe S is searching successfully for their sound. I am not sure that they've found it yet, but it sounds like they've got a couple of possible directions that at least sound promising. Right now this is a good bar band, but perhaps not one you'd invite to a party, as there is a bit of a melancholy feel to a lot of their songs.

Rating: 2.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about The Apostrophe S at www.myspace.com/diamondvan.

Review: The Bitter Tears - Jam Jarts In The Jakehouse

The Bitter Tears – Jam Jarts In The Jakehouse
2009, Carrot Top Records

Chicago’s The Bitter Tears are coming for your children. They shall berate the little tykes with oboes, cellos, violins and a dusty, meaty form of Americana that was almost forgotten. Known for a wild and sometimes vulgar like stage show, The Bitter Tears made an honest attempt to capture their live Mojo on their upcoming release, Jam Jarts In The Jakehouse. They have succeeded in capturing that raw energy and some wonderfully abstract musical combinations in song. Jam Jarts In The Jakehouse goes on sale on March 3, 2009.

Jam Jarts In The Jakehouse opens with the energy-filled rustic Americana of Slay The Heart Of The Earth. If Bob Dylan wrote songs for the Beatles it might have sounded a little bit like this. The Bachelor’s Say has a bit of Brit-Pop feel in an acoustic arrangement. This backward combination of Brit-Pop melodicism and American hobo-folk pervades Jam Jarts In The Jakehouse. The ethereal harmonies and stilted rhythm of the opening of Starling resolves into a blues-tinged Americana song that hides tremendous discord and dissonance at its heart. The Bitter Tears are, in turn, as musically disjointed as The Rheostatics at their art-rock best, often opting for musical choices that aren’t entirely disturbing but just off-kilter enough to fill you with a sense of unease. The most bizarre track of the album is The Companion, which brought back memories of The Police’s Mother. The highlight of the disc follows; the wonderful folk/pop number called The Love Letter. This is a great tune that could travel from genre to genre without losing its essential flavor. Even the effect of the back-alley orchestration seems to enhance the charm of this song. Jam Jarts In The Jakehouse closes with Worthless Sleaze, a not entirely chaotic composition of competing sounds and enabling musical passages. This is art rock, pure and simple; Harmonious enough to catch you, dissonant to almost lose you, and endearing enough that you’ll come back to hear it again. The Bitter Tears will disturb your senses, and you’ll like it.

Rating: 3.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about The Bitter Tears at www.thebittertears.com or www.myspace.com/thebittertears. You can purchase a copy of Jam Jarts In The Jakehouse at Amazon.com.

Review: Low Red Land - Dog's Hymns

Low Red Land – Dog’s Hymns
2008, Low Red Land

Yet another expatriate band from Boston, Low Red Land relocated to San Francisco and took up a heavy touring schedule. A dynamic songwriting style has garnered them significant attention and gains them new fans at every show. In the same musical vein as folks like Lucero, Fugazi and Crazy Horse, Low Red Land exploits unfluences ranging from Rock to country to folk to hardcore. Their debut album, Dog’s Hymns, hit shelves in 2008. Their reputation as a big rock band precedes them; let’s see how Dog’s Hymns plays.

I found Dog’s Hymns to be a very experiential album. In a case like this it becomes less important to talk about specific tracks than it does to discuss the general mood, affect and experience of the album itself. My initial impression is that Low Red Land is in some ways a throwback to the AOR Era of music (not in sound, per se, but in style and approach). The closest comparison I can come up with for Low Red Land is Canadian legends the Rheostatics. Vocalist Ben Thorne sounds like Glen Phillips of Toad The Wet Sprocket, and this easy vocal approach is set up against the vibrant rock sound of the band. My personal favorite track is Hunt Song. Big guitar and a driving rhythm sell this rocker with a distinct pop sensibility. That is the other thing that sticks out about Low Red Land; their pop sense. Even the most rhythmic rock tune has a light and airy feel about it like it has been kissed by the pop gods. Dog’s Hymn is an off-center example of this quality. Also a potential winner is Landmark. Battles goes the Americana/Rock hybrid route, sounding like Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers but with a fuller sound.

The most unusual song on the CD is Goodnight Moon; this extremely inventive composition makes use of unusual and distinct chord progressions to alter the soundscape; sufficiently capturing the attention of even the most casual listener. Other highlights include Better Angels, Wovoka and Duke.

Low Red Land is a little out of the mainstream sonically, but has such a delicious sense of pop musicality that they might just pull the mainstream their way. Dog’s Hymns displays the type of unique song craft that is both the bane and boon of popular music. Make sure you take a few minutes to check out Low Red Land online. Not everyone is going to like it, but I am betting more will than won’t. A strong debut.

Rating: 3.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Low Red Land at http://www.lowredland.com/. You can purchase a copy of Dog’s Hymns at www.cdbaby.com/cd/lowredland2.

Socks For Dinosaurs – Miracles And Magic
2008, Socks For Dinosaurs

Socks For Dinosaurs is the brainchild of Kevin Cosgrove. Based Maryland, Cosgrove sought to build a musical community by recording an album of songs he wrote for friends to sing. The other goal of Socks For Dinosaurs was to build a signature sound without being tied to one particular style. It would appear that the goals of Socks For Dinosaurs have been met. Socks For Dinosaurs debut album, Miracles And Magic, is very distinctive and instantly recognizable.

Miracles And Magic opens with Here In This Moment, an avante-garde rock recording in the spirit of The Rheostatics. The lead vocalist on Here In This Moment even sounds a bit like Martin Tielli. The song itself is quite a pleasant listen, although the peripheral instrumental flourishes can get a bit distracting. Brazil plays on the edges of Latin Jazz. The melody line is quite listenable but the arrangement seems a bit out of time with the melody and lyrics. The odd placement/arrangement of instrumental soliloquies does end up mudding the musical waters a bit, although it seems that is perhaps the intent here. Tired explores the dark waters of sleep deprivation in an arrangement that wants to be beautiful but never quite crosses that line. Dark, minor key secondary melody lines ive this an almost disturbed sound that sticks out in the mind.
Is Love Real asks the age old question not in the dulcet sweet tones normally heard but in dark and disjointed minor keys; juxtaposing love and attraction as opponents rather than components of a whole. Weary Angel is a tribute that is sweet and full of sentiment that attempts to capture the melancholy grace of a classic country tune. In this instance Socks For Dinosaurs succeeds, although the running together of violin and pedal steel guitar in the bridge creates more dissonance than appealing sound. East Coast Land is an odd arrangement that sounds like it escaped from a 1970’s jazz vault. The melody and base arrangement are at least interesting, but there’s just too much going on in the periphery to allow a subtle intrigue to develop.

Change is as close as we get to a truly marketable tune, drawing on 1970’s soul and funk influences. This duet has some real highlights but still gets caught in Socks For Dinosaurs’ tendency to overproduce the songs presented here. It’s as if melody and harmony are never enough; like a painter who draws a perfect flower but then continues to add embellishment and effects until the perfection and even the character of the original is lost. The incessant tendency to tinker to make the music sound perfect to the creator is one that comes up often in music as well as other art forms can be the quick path to musical peril. Tar River follows somewhat the same path, coming across as a transitional piece from an off-off-off-Broadway show. Late At Night closes out the set in a select piece of jazz noir. This is the most enjoyable track on the disc, as Socks For Dinosaurs seems to pull back just a bit and let the song breathe.

Socks For Dinosaurs is afflicted with an inability to let their songs be songs. The endless push for the perfect sound or note or phrase turns art into a mercurial pixilation of notes and silence; devolving from song into minutiae devoid of real personality or character. While there are a couple of bright moments on Miracles And Magic, in the end it was a difficult listen. Technically brilliant performances just get lost in all of the detail and enhancement; squeezing the intended spirit from the music. This will appeal to a narrow demographic of jazz fans but isn’t likely to find much traction outside of that small group.

Rating: 2 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Socks For Dinosaurs at www.myspace.com/dogsofrebellion. You can purchase a copy of Socks For Dinosaurs at www.cdbaby.com/cd/socksfordinos.

Review: Alan Cohen Experience - Alan Cohen Experience

Alan Cohen Experience – Alan Cohen Experience
2008, Alan Cohen Experience

Alan Cohen is a concept guy. The Boston-based singer/songwriter/bandleader turns out new music like breathing. Cohen and his Orchestra of Personality comprise The Alan Cohen Experience, name coined by a drummer Cohen once knew. The name is apt, Cohen is a musical experience. His latest album, a 6-track EP entitled, aptly, Alan Cohen Experience, was released in November of 2008. Produced by Roger Greenwalt (The Pierces, Ben Kweller, Nils Lofgren), Cohen comes out of the deeply conceptual into the wonderfully strange.

Alan Cohen Experience opens with Elephant, a bizarre ditty that sounds like something Saturday Night Live's Dieter might have played on his fictional television show Sprockets; "All's quiet on the waterfront, it's just me and my ellee-phant." The music is minimalist Euro new wave circa 1985, with riffing guitar and a hip 1985 dance beat. Up Next is Roy's Rock, a classic rock mover with funk in its ancestry. Lyrically the song is fluff, but it's a fun listen that will be sure to get your feet moving. Communist Park reminds me of what might have happened if the early incarnation of They Might Be Giants wrote lyrics for and sang with Ben Folds. The tune is catchy; the arrangement based on pop piano and horns, the lyrical content is strange.

Saturday Morning is a dreamy musical landscape that's more a descriptive musical image than a story or idea. It's sweet in its own way with a lovely melody and perfect harmonies. Bonita is a "love song for no one"; it's a bit cliché and silly but quite enjoyable. The song is accompanied by gorgeous orchestration and shows the depth of songwriting talent chief songwriter Cohen possesses. Space Watch takes some lyrical license in a song that is both odd and richly rewarding.

The more I listen to Alan Cohen Experience the more they remind me of another band known for richly psychedelic songs. Canada's Rheostatics made a long career out of the same sort of material for nearly twenty years, although they had a slightly harder edge at times. Fans of The Rheostatics of Kevin Hearn (Barenaked Ladies) will get the Alan Cohen Experience. Musically the band/orchestra is top notch. The songwriting is clean, crisp and rich in orchestration and musical development. Lyrically they'll leave some folks behind, but not too many. Alan Cohen Experience is a worthwhile listen; one of those you might not listen to regularly over the long haul, but will call to you from time to time to pull it out and give it another spin.

Rating: 4 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about the Alan Cohen Experience at www.myspace.com/alancohenexperience or http://www.alancohenexperience.com/, where you can purchase a copy of Alan Cohen Experience.