Review: Renee Mixon - Dance With Me

Renee Mixon – Dance With Me
2008, Renee Mixon

Rome, Georgia’s Renee Mixon signs honest, heart-on-your-sleeve story songs against the backdrop of subdued, Folk/Pop/Americana arrangements. Dance With Me is a remarkably consistent listen, with sound and quality not varying significantly throughout the album. When Mixon is at her best the results can be quite wonderful. Love Me For Me is an honest request for someone’s heart. It’s an amazing song that cuts to the heart of the matter without sounding trite or quaint. Dance With Me sweeps by on a memorable melody and a quiet sense of urgency that can’t be overlooked. Just Go chomps at the bit to break out into a big rock and roller and displays Mixon right on the edge of a different kind of energy than what she expends on the rest of Dance With Me. There are all sorts of wonderful tension and angst built up in this song. It’s released in a controlled fashion that leaves you wondering about where the rest will release. Who’s Right follows that inevitable blow up (although we don’t hear the blow-up). It’s a song about the politics of relationships both within and outside of the duo. Other highlights include In My Dream, I Hope It Was Worth It and You’re Still Here.

Mixon is hard to peg compared to other artists. There are shades of K.D. Lang or Dar Williams, but neither really describes the aura around Mixon. Dance With Me is all heart, lumps and all. The songs aren’t all pretty because they are a reflection of life as Mixon (presumably) sees it; but there’s not a dishonest or false note or word here. Any awkwardness or imperfection is simply the reflection of whatever Mixon saw or thought about at the time. A very strong debut.

Rating: 4 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Renee Mixon at http://www.reneemixon.com/. You can purchase a copy of Dance With Me at www.cdbaby.com/cd/mixon3.

Review: Natascha Roth - Way Out South

Natascha Roth – Way Out South
2008, Natascha Roth

Natascha Roth is a native of Germany who also has a home bass in Cape Town, South Africa. She holds a master’s degree in jazz voice and has toured all throughout Europe and South Africa. Roth recently introduced herself to the United States performing with Jeanie Bryson, the daughter of the late, great Dizzy Gillespie. Roth’s latest release, Way Out South came out in 2008, and seems fairly representative of the artist as she presents herself.

Natascha Roth writes in the same acoustic folk/pop vein as The Indigo Girls and Shawn Colin with a hint of pop refinement. See You There is a prime example of the pure folk singer/songwriter Roth began as. Intelligent and poetic lyrics dovetail with a gorgeous melody and plaintive guitar background to provide a true musical “moment”. Mariana is a wonderful song featuring Spanish Guitar styling and a nicely rhythmic arrangement. The absolute highlight of the album is Someone Like You.

Natascha Roth brings a highly personal and personable style of songwriting and performance to the table. Way Out South does cross a few rough spots, but all in all is an excellent introduction to Natascha Roth. Great listening!

Rating: 3.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Natascha Roth at www.myspace.com/natascharoth or http://www.natascharoth.com/, where you can purchase a copy of Way Out South as well as Roth’s two previous albums.

Review: Faith In Action - Live

Faith In Action – Live

2006, Faith In Action

Following in the footsteps of some of the more talented college a Cappella ensembles, Faith In Action bring the gospel to Pop a Cappella arrangements. Faith In Action is an all-female vocal orchestra based out of Boston spreading the word with harmony and unusual vocal arrangements. Formed in 1996, Faith In Action celebrated their tenth anniversary in 2006 by releasing their debut album, Live; It’s a spirited and spirit-filled release that gets your attention early on.

Courage My Soul is a contemplative and lovely song for quiet moments. It Ain’t Right starts out sounding like a Bobby McFerrin song with a reggae beat and a wonderfully soulful lead vocal. This song also features some of the most vibrant lip trumpeting you’re likely to hear. Promises is about Adam and Eve, and has an old-school sound to it that would have fit right into one of the Sister Act movies. He Shall Be Like A Tree features a memorable melody and a very southern gospel feel to it. The highlight of the disc is Show Me The Way. The lead vocalist here is phenomenal. Bright Glory (If You Miss Me) follows in the same gospel vein and is a great listen.

Faith In Action seems to do their best work in the gospel realm. One or two vocalists in particular really stand out, and the last few songs on the CD are among the best. Overall, Faith In Action Live is a little uneven, but a pleasant listen. This is the sort of ensemble that definitely comes across better in the live environment, as a large part of the charm of these sorts of a Cappella ensembles is their rapport with the audience. The live recording captures a hint of that, but it’s just not the same on CD.

Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Faith In Action at http://www.fia-boston.com/, where you will find links to purchase Live or download individual tracks.

Review: Jar-E - Chicas Malas

Jar-E – Chicas Malas
2009, Exotic Recordings

Jar-E is the musical alter-ego of Asheville, North Carolina singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Jon Reid. Jar-E recently released Chicas Malas on Exotic Recordings, proving that pure Pop music isn’t dead. In an era of electronic enhancement and even complete electronic creation, Jar-E has released what may be the best pop record of the waning decade. Mixing a melodic sense worthy of The Beatles with Latin rhythms and complex song structures that would make Sting shake his head in wonder, Jar-E sings with the pure charisma of a young Elvis Costello about the sort of women who make him want to be more than he is. Chicas Malas (Bad Girls) is inspirational.

Fever Break might just be the perfect Pop song, mixing Caribbean rhythms, a quirky Ska-style horn section, gorgeous backing vocals from Meredith DiMenna (Saint Bernadette) and Stephanie Morgan (Stephanie’s ID) and one of the most infectious melodies of the young year. Jar-E follows up with Heyday, which you’d be humming for a week after hearing it if it weren’t for Fever Break. 3 Leaf takes a different tack, pursuing a blues-flavored rock style with horns and harmonies that help to build the sound into a glorious throng. Jar-E gives an outstanding vocal performance that you just have to hear. Casa Believe will get your feet dancing while it blows your ears away. Jar-E gives another amazing vocal performance on a wonderfully varied pop song steeped in Latin rhythms and some unique and unusual compositional choices.

An Idea seeks to challenge Fever Break for the best pure pop song of the year (so far). The jury is out on that one, but it’s a great song. Safe To Say is unusual in that it seems to alternate between a waltz and straight ¾ time with country accents. I am not as strong on my music theory as I’d wish, but it’s a very unusual and welcome musical choice. The Pedestrian mixes a Samba beat with a country arrangement that is again, very unusual but fun to listen to. Rosary heads right for the reggae section with a little bit of 1970’s soul mixed in. Jar-E dazzles again on vocals. The album closes out with Ramparts, an introspective and solemn musical moment that shows another side to Jar-E we haven’t previously seen on Chicas Malas.

Jar-E is more than just a Pop song machine, but the man has an ability to write pop songs that stay in your head for days. I daresay that in another time and place he’d be a superstar known the world over. In this day and age that sort of notoriety just doesn’t happen all that often; As we’ve widened the sphere of celebrity with reality TV and focused the lens of popular radio, stardom has less to do with song craft or performance ability and more to do with look, style and who’s behind you. Nevertheless, I present Jar-E to you as a must-know artist. The songs on Chicas Malas are so well crafted that even folks who eschew Pop music will find themselves caught up. Chicas Malas is without a doubt a Wildy’s World Certified Desert Island Disc.

Rating: 5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Jar-E at www.myspace.com/jare. You can purchase Chicas Malas from Amazon.com as either a CD or download.

Review: Carla Seidl - Under My Skin

Carla Seidl – Under My Skin
2009, Carla Seidl Music
Carla Seidl is a singer/songwriter/radio producer/world traveler based in Huntington, NY. In January of this year she released her first album, Under My Skin. Sounding a bit like Eva Cassidy with a little Norah Jones thrown in for good measure, Seidl uses her multi-textured voice to cast a spell on listeners.

Carla Seidl has this wonderfully distinctive voice made up of honey, amber and wood timbres, almost achieving a dual tone in her sound that is warm and memorable. On Under My Skin she has mostly written/selected songs that fit her voice perfectly; songs generally of gentle or reserved arrangements that allow the color and tone of her voice to have free reign in your mind. The first track, Flame In The Dark, goes a step further; the a Cappella arrangement is dark and beautiful. Lucilla Galeazzi's Quante Selle nel Cielo con La Luna is the perfect vehicle for Seidl’s voice, however, emanating a powerful grace and beauty. Under My Skin finds Seidl at her confessional best in a folk song that is like to get covered by others. Other highlights include Gul Senin Tenin, A Subtle Glance, Far And Wide and a cover of the Simon & Garfunkel classic Scarborough Fair.

Carla Seidl is one of the more distinctive vocalists you’ll find. While her sound isn’t what you might call pretty, it is very listenable and memorable as long as she stays in her vocal comfort zone. Under My Skin is a varied and uneven album full of some very strong songs. Seidl occasionally picks one that just doesn’t seem to fit her voice, but even then gives it her all. It’s an intriguing introduction that leaves us wondering what she’ll do next, and interested enough to want to find out.

Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Carla Seidl at http://www.carlaseidl.com/. You can purchase a copy of Under My Skin at www.cdbaby.com/cd/carlaseidl.

Review: The Matthew Show - February

The Matthew Show – February
2008, Wampus Multimedia

The Matthew Show is the musical alter-ego of Songwriter/Producer Matthew Broyles. Drawing on the misgivings of the first generation in US history to not do as well or better than their parents, Broyles explores the lives of five adults on the cusp of middle age in spoken word and song, delineating the sometimes divergent paths of dreams and reality that have led them to the here and now. The end result is February, a moving and poignant musical experience that is part album and part documentary.

I have to admit, February is one of the more original concept albums I’ve come across. Styx fans might recognize the format from Movement For The Common Man (Styx I), interspersing interviews with music; each illuminating the other. February is about walking the line between dignity and despair; the human tendencies to give in to the latter yet retain hope for the former. Matthew Broyles displays a wickedly incisive sense of humor as the occasional relief or illumination for a murky topic. Half The Man opens the musical portion of February; a tongue-in-cheek bit of self-realization about the loss of dreams. Innocence is a brilliant song that shows some real Pink Floyd influence in the construction.

My personal favorite is Impotent Rage. The song is again, slightly tongue-in-cheek, but deals with the sort of general, undirected and unaccounted for anger that seethes in cities and occasionally ends up on the news with neighbors saying, “he was always such a nice, quiet man…”. February is a snappy little song about the depths of despair, the archetype being the coldest, snowiest month of the winter. Hope seeps through the pores of this song in the abstract, much the way that we know logically that by February we’ve turned the corner on winter and more light is coming, but it’s still cold and snowy and bleak in the moment. The Last Words Of Sigmund Freud is the waltz you knew it had to be, dealing with the tendency to live in dreams what we have lost in reality.

The World Of One Percenters is brilliant songwriting about the human need to be seen. Not seen in the sense of the narcissistic tendencies of the city, but in a human need for confirmation. This is particularly true in a large city like New York, (where the concept album is “based”). In a large city it is easy to lose your own identity when everyone is packed so close together, particularly if you feel like you have no control over your own fate. Connections to other people help to maintain your senses of self and reality in such a place. The World Of One Percenters represents this perfectly in song.

The last song offered here is The Skyline Hotel, a wonderful look at how close the haves and have-nots come in a large city. Often times a hotel may sit on the outer edge of a poor neighborhood in a city. Tourists who stay in the hotel may never know they are staying right on the edge of No Man’s Land, but the residents of that neighborhood see them come and go every day. This song is about watching the privileged come and go right on your doorstep and feeling powerless to escape your surroundings. It is a powerful look at the sociology of neighborhoods and social strata in a large city.

The Matthew Show’s February is an amazing album. This isn’t stuff you’ll hear on the radio, and it’s not written for mass commercial consumption, but it’s some of the most intelligent and powerful rock songwriting you’ll find. The interview snippets help to illuminate the songs with personal viewpoints and experiences. I highly recommend this recording, but be prepared to give some real time listening to February. If you don’t give this one your full attention you won’t get it.

Rating: 4.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about The Matthew Show at http://www.thematthewshow.com/. You can purchase a copy of February at www.cdbaby.com/cd/mshow.

Review: Tammie S. Webb - Non-Performing Songwriter

Tammie S. Webb – Non-Performing Songwriter
2008, Tammie S. Webb

Tammie S. Webb is a songwriter looking for licensing arrangements or individual artists to record her material. She sent her 7-song demo, Non-Performing Songwriter for us to check out.

The demo opens with Forever Only You; a love song with a country/gospel/blues feel similar to some of Ray Charles’ old recordings. It has real potential judging from the demo presented here, but may require an artist with a big voice and bigger charisma to pull it off. Merry Christmas is a country-style holiday song that is pleasant, but perhaps a bit too generic for its own good. It Was Good is fairly representative of adult contemporary pop, but gets bogged down in a low energy presentation. Rainy Days has potential as a recording project. The right vocalist and arrangement on this song and it could make an impact in the country genre, although it’s probably not single material. I Never Second Guess is just a little too marginal to really consider for recording. It’s not a bad song, but there’s really little about that makes it stand out. Ditto for Just To Say I’m Sorry. Saving the best for last, Webb closes out the demo with Best Thing. I didn’t like the arrangement (I thought it was too tame), but this could be a single for the right artist and have real impact at country radio. The lyrics are perhaps a little too kitschy, but that’s part of the charm of the song.

Tammie S. Webb offers up a mix of material on her demo, Non-Performing Songwriter. There are at least two songs here with real potential. Best Thing in particular may have wide commercial appeal in the right hands. I can also hear reggae and pop arrangements coming out of this one that would work quite well. Don’t hesitate to check out her songs on-line.

Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)

To learn more about Tammie S. Webb or check out streams of some of the songs mentioned here, head on over to http://www.tammiewebb.com/.