Chloe Charles - Little Green Bud

Chloe Charles - Little Green Bud
2010, Chloe Charles

Put all of your preconceptions on hold. Chloe Charles bends them and breaks them. Her blend of folk, soul and classical music isn’t quite like anyone else you’ve heard. You’ll hear elements of Cat Power, Esthero and Portishead, but listen for the roots of Joan Armatrading, Janis Ian, Tracy Chapman and even Nick Drake deep beneath the surface. Charles’ next release, Little Green Bud is due out on September 21, 2010, and is a real charmer.

Little Green Bud opens with "The Heavens", a haunting baroque-pop tune marked by dark strings and atypical rhythms. Charles creates atmosphere with the noble beauty of her voice and vocal effects that add more depth to the sound. It's Charles' voice that stands out the most here, sounding like a wayward cross between Sade and Kate Bush. "Soon On A Snowflake" is a beautiful song of devotion, where Charles' poetry is nearly as striking as her voice. "Progression" is dark and full of angst and anger, calling out another who has caused her harm in mysterious language. "Water" is a lush musical experience that finds Chloe Charles layering vocals in counterpoint to a subversive string and electro arrangement that's a thing of beauty. Little Green Bud closes with "Salamander Red", a highly textured piece of baroque pop and recollection of love that gets lost in a lack of diction. Charles plays fast and loose with hard consonants throughout the EP, but here is very difficult to understand at times.

Little Green Bud shows a lot of promise from Chloe Charles. Her voice is striking; beautiful and atypical, rich and lush while possessive of the sort of vocal anomalies that create interest rather than discord. The compositions on Little Green Bud are highly original, blending pop sensibility with strings and an almost antique musical setting. Chloe Charles has the pipes to go far, and the performances on Little Green Bud indicate an artist who is very comfortable in her own shoes. Be certain that we'll be hearing more from Chloe Charles.

Rating: 3.5 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about Chloe Charles at http://www.chloecharles.com/ or www.myspace.com/chloecharles. You can order copies of Little Green Bud directly from Charles on her website.

Review: Bunmi Adeoye - Paper Dolls, Glass Houses

Bunmi Adeoye - Paper Dolls, Glass Houses
2008, Bunmi Adeoye

Bunmi Adeoye (Boo-mee A-Day-Oh-Yeh) is a hopeless romantic, and one who has been scorned judging by the songs on her debut CD, Paper Dolls, Glass Houses. With the melodic sense of Carole King, the gritty truth-to-tell nature of Tracy Chapman and the vitriol of Ani DiFranco, Adeoye spins a web of tales that will hit home with anyone who's even been on the bad side of a breakup. The Toronto-based Adeoye lists influences as disparate as KT Tunstall, Damien Rice, Barbara Streisand, Judy Garland, WHAM!, Sade, and Harlequin romance novels.

The first thing you’ll notice about Adeoye is that she has a magnificently unaffected voice. I don’t know what sort of vocal training she’s had, but Adeoye sounds like a natural singer. There’s an earthy quality to her singing that sets the listener immediately at ease, and her tone is gorgeous without ever sounding garish. She is the sort of singer you could literally listen to all day long. Adeoye kicks of Paper Dolls, Glass Houses with Stop Lying, an emotionally, lyrically and melodically intense song representing one half of an argument in a relationship that’s going nowhere. The emotional edge here is palpable, and Adeoye’s voice makes it all the more believable. The song has a theatrical quality to it, almost as if you could build a show around it, but retains the Folk/Pop sense it was written in. Unbreakable Heart is a dance song that sounds like it might have come chronologically before Stop Lying, the urgent refrain of someone who will do anything to make a bad relationship work. Long Time Coming is an empowering song about throwing the bum out and works as a perfect prologue to the first two tracks.

Player Hate turns the tables on the players, in one of the hottest songs to emerge from the cauldron of 2008. Player Hate is blunt enough to make Ani DiFranco blush, and is the sort of song that could really break out on Pop/Urban radio. Tell Me is a Reggae-flavored pop song with a melody that just won’t stay out of your noggin. The harmonies here are downright gorgeous in their own right; this is another potential pop hit. Adeoye takes on the Barenaked Ladies’ What A Good Boy next, in an amazing cover of one of the band’s best non-singles. The song itself is about expectations and pre-conceived notions we grow up with around gender and the limitations they can place on us as we grow. It’s not an issue so much of overt sexism but the ideas so ingrained in our consciousness that we never think about them. Adeoye makes the most of a great song. Sad But True is a dark and beautiful song of detached mourning about a relationship the narrator could never win at. Adeoye’s vocal line here is striking and the harmonies are angelic. Adeoye closes out the album with a cover of Van Morrison’s Brown Eyed Girl. It’s a beautiful rendition, much slower and more contemplative than the original. Adeoye takes one last to shine on the vocals; a real pleasure to hear.

When I first listened to this album I was somewhat blown away; each successive listen has made that sense of “Whoa!” grow a bit. Bunmi Adeoye is a distinctive talent. She joins a cadre of strong, intelligent female singer songwriters (Tori Amos, Ani DiFranco, Tina Turner, Tracy Chapman, etc.) willing to, in turns, be tough, speak their mind, be vulnerable… just be themselves. Paper Dolls, Glass Houses is the sort of disc that grabs you on the first listen and tightens its grip a little on each successive play. Adeoye is a gem who should not stay hidden; she’s ready for the grand stage. Paper Dolls, Glass Houses is a distinctive find, a Wildy’s World Certified Desert Island Disc, and an absolute must for your music collection. Make sure you check it out today!

Rating: 5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Bumni Adeoye at http://www.bunmisings.com/, www.myspace.com/bunmisings or www.twitter.com/bunmisings. You can purchase a copy of Paper Dolls, Glass Houses at CDBaby.com.

Review: Clara Bellino - Embarcadero Love

Clara Bellino – Embarcadero Love
2006, Clara Bellino

Clara Bellino melds the worlds of American and European popular music styles like few others have. Memorable melodies, infectious rhythms and a wry sense of humor are the earmarks of Bellino’s material. Born in Paris, France, Bellino spent a number of years performing on the West Coast of the United States, even landing a role as a singer in the 1993 film, Steal America. These days, Bellino performs to support her 2006 release, Embarcadero Love. Recorded while living on a houseboat at Embarcadero Cove (Oakland), Embarcadero Love has a free and easy feel that’s full of life, love and a forceful sense of humor.

Bellino studied music in Conservatory for ten years in France, and was introduced early on to jazz and classic American popular music artists by her father. These influences inform Bellino’s musical choices, as does a progressive socio-political mindset that comes across in her lyrics. Bellino opens with Tout Est Fini, a French language pop song with an infectious dance beat. Swordfishtrombone is an abstract musical piece built on colloquial humor. It’s a fun listen. Peaceful Solution draws on a modern R&B sound to deliver a pop culture re-working of the Prayer of St. Francis Of Assisi. It’s catchy and poignant but alternates a peace-oriented chorus with preachy verses.

Something Cool is a classic song. Bellino dusts off her jazz roots in a song of mistaken intentions. The subtle shift in attitude of the protagonist here is the stuff of movies (or at least sitcoms). Potential Criminal is a sardonic take on the perceived social status of a naturalized US citizen (or perhaps any US citizen in this day and age). Other highlights include Game Up Big Pickle, Big Picture and Goodnight Baby.

Clara Bellino delivers intelligent lyrics in smart, focused pop music that mixes elements of American glam-pop with the more refined sensibilities of Europop. I suspect Embarcadero Love would get mixed reactions from American audiences as an inherent European sense of superiority is woven into the fabric of the CD through Bellino’s cutting sense of humor. European audience may likewise hold the CD in contempt for its distinct American influences. This probably means Bellino is hitting some truth on both sides of the ocean. Embarcadero Love is a strong pop record and definitely worth investing a little time in.

Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Clara Bellino at http://www.clarabellino.com/. You can purchase a copy of Embarcadero Love at www.cdbaby.com/cd/bellino.

Review: Amber Ojeda - Amber Ojeda (Demo)

Amber Ojeda - Amber Ojeda (Demo)
2008, Amber Ojeda

Amber Ojeda is a singer and actress from San Diego, CA with a penchant for combining old school jazz styles with hip-hop and urban grooves. Her music has been featured on the TV show Dress My Nest, and on feature films All That I Need and Prayer Before Murder. Ojeda has a recurring role on Veronica Mars and has also had face time on Dress My Nest and promos for Starz TV. Ojeda submitted her self-titled demo for review.

The demo opens with So Lovely, a bare-bones urban groove designed to display Ojeda's dusky alto voice. The verses here are monochromatic and somewhat forgettable. Ojeda has a pleasant sound but plays very much to style here, almost constricting her voice to fit a certain mold rather than letting it range free. The listener gets the impression there is more there to be heard. Don't Rush continues in the slow jam vein, moving more into straightforward modern R&B with some neat jazz style piano underneath. Hype Love works the jazz base into a hip-hop arrangement that really is nothing more than something to sing over. The difficulty here is that the music is so generic that you could sing almost anything over it, as if these tracks could have been purchased from a producer who had nothing to do with the project. It's not so much song craft as karaoke. Very good karaoke, but karaoke nonetheless. Hype Love is something of a woo-girl song. It doesn't mean a lot to those who aren't on the inside of it, but would probably do well in the club scene.

Get To Know Me slows things down a bit and allows Ojeda to stretch somewhat. Here we get to see Ojeda at her most stripped down vocally. At its most basic presentation Ojeda's voice isn't perfect, but is full of sufficient color and texture to be enjoyable to listen to. Get To Know Me suffers from a lack of energy that shows up at times throughout the demo and never really establishes a memorable melody or hook. Love From The Band has a pop/R&B feel that approaches Sade type material and is the best track on Amber Ojeda. Here I Am plays with more tension than any of the other songs here, capturing some of the energy of the jazz foundation. Some unfortunate effects are used that provide a Chipmunk-like peripheral vocal are present here and detract somewhat from what is a capable melody and a strong performance from Ojeda. The closing track, Approaching You is the most commercial track on the demo, and might make some small waves on urban stations if push as a single.

All in all, Amber Ojeda has a good start. She has a pleasant, dusky R&B vocal style that should serve her well, although there are a lot of folks in the market in the same style that are more dynamic and more likely to get noticed first. The blending of pop/R&B with jazz is nice, but is more like placing puzzle pieces together than truly blending styles to create something unique. The arrangements here are very generic. Ideal for a producer's workload but not ideal for an artist trying to differentiate herself in the market. Amber Ojeda has potential. Her demo has some high points that are worth hearing but otherwise is too formulaic to really stand out.

Rating: 2.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Amber Ojeda at www.myspace.com/amberojeda. If you ask really nicely maybe she’ll sell you a copy of her demo!