Album Review - Cat Power "The Greatest" - Guest Blogger

Having access to a record store owner that listens to all the CD's he orders is a rarity these days, and Cat Power The Greatest was one of the albums that he recommended. She was playing on the stores music system at the time, and I couldn't help but be mesmerized by her husky alto voice. Released in 2006, it received critical acclaim with Rolling Stones Magazine rating it as one of their albums of 2006.

The album starts with a lilting, rhythm driven, medium tempo number. Cat Power's voice gently pours over the piano melody, breathy but substantial. The track sets the tone for the rest of the album and although there are brief moves in and out of "country", and the "blues", the overall tone of the album does not develop or vary much as the album progresses. It has an intimate and mellow feel, and although it starts of with a gentle punch, it peaks quickly and the tracks start to blend into each other. This is probably partly due to the fact that Cat rarely extends her voice, either to the extremes of pitch or volume. Although her Indie/Folk style will appeal to some, for me it's the sort of album that is pleasant, but forgettable. Definitely not the greatest.

Standout tracks: "The Greatest, "Hate"
Give a miss: "After it All"

Rating: 3/5 

Album review : Katy B "On a mission"

After building hype the last few months with a number of quality single releases- namely Lights on, Katy On a Mission and Perfect stranger- Peckham born Katy B finally releases her first album On a mission. The question is can the rest of the album cuts match the high standard of excellent singles that proceeded it?

Immediately on first listen the prevailing thought that rings in your head is just how achingly cool and assured this début is- a feeling not felt since the release of the first Sugababes album Overload.  Every song is a confident stride into a different dance genres and whether its a dub-step inspired banger like Katy On a mission or the 2-step sound of Lights on, the project maintains a consistency and honesty that many seasoned veterans have never even achieved.


Part of the magic comes from the stellar producers- like Benga and Magnetic Man- that wondrously seem to manage the impossible by making  an album consisting solely of electronically created music sound organic and of housing a semblance of a human soul. An accomplishment made even more notable when contrasted with the sugary, empty, bloated electro-club sound that has permeated the world music scene the last few years.

But the main heart of the album is provided by Katy B's vocals. Her voice isn't the powerhouse, belting kind, but it's instead a light, warm, emotive instrument that is perfectly suited to the material it sings. Her delivery is always intelligent and frames the cool dance beats with a natural rhythm and skill that is incredibly hypnotic.
 The melodies she crafts are also solid and often have a tendency to dip into an Eastern scale -see Witches brew and Why you always here- that adds to the vibrancy and originality of whatever its floating over. This is singing that is as affecting as any wailing Diva and is a real showcase of why vocally sometimes less can be more if there is intelligence behind the delivery.


Summary:
Diva's take note as Katy B shows why music doesn’t have to be about outrageous attire, subversive lyrics, or about distancing yourself as far from the "ordinary" as possible to be fun,exciting or cutting edge. 
Download:Katy On A Mission,Witches Brew, Movement, Broken Record

Avoid: Disappear, Go Away
Rating:4/5

Review: Britney Spears "Femme Fatale"

Unfortunately for Britney Spears her new album Femme Fatale has leaked prior to it's March 25th release date and via Youtube and Soundcloud I have had a chance to hear the album in its entirety. But after this early preview will I still be buying the album come release day?


Femme Fatale finds Britney Spears firmly in the club-which is where she should always be quite frankly- with excellent production and surprisingly good vocals-even when they are being stuttered and autotuned- to boot. The album bares some of the strengths of her most adventurous and best works but overall it stays too close to the prevailing mainstream sound  to be as revolutionary as the Blackout album. Instead, it straddles a line between  said albums' electro-infused, gritty club sound and its predecessor Circus' highly polished pop sensibilities. For the most part its a great fusion that accomplishes the job of keeping Britney Spears cutting edge and one step ahead of the competition but without it being at the expense of her pop fanbase.

Femme Fatale is ultimately a dance album that bravely doesn't try to be anything else but that.  Fast paced beats, lots of bass and Britneys unmistakeably voice all come together brilliantly to create a quality cohesive body of work. Granted the lyrics are pretty shallow and ubiquitous but what with the aim of the album being to get, and keep, people on the dance floor it doesn't suffer from the lack of lyrical depth one iota. Although not as revolutionary as Blackout, Femme Fatale still manages to show that after more than a decade in the industry Britney Spears is still as relevant and a trendsetter as she was when she first entered the game.

Stand-out tracks:

• I Wanna go: Quirky whistling, stuttering vocals, and a dirty baseline =WIN
•  (Drop Dead) Beautiful: At times the track channels Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters fame, Ke$ha and even Beyonce. Rapper Sabi is just the icing on the cake.
•  Trip to your heart: Expansive, cold synths are contrasted and warmed by an intoxicating, sweet vocal by Ms Spears. A track equally at home in the club or on a chilled night in.
• Big Fat Bass featuring will.i.am: Even though this is essentially Boom Boom Pow version 2.0 it still doesn't detract from this being one hell of a dance song.
• Till the world ends
• Hold It Against Me: Took a bit of time to grow on me, but definitely the stand out track.

Rating: 4/5

Britneys back bi*ch!

ANYONE WHO DOWNLOADED THE ALBUM ILLEGALLY PLEASE BE SURE TO BUY FEMME FATALE WHEN ITS RELEASED ON THE 25th OF MARCH.

NB: This review was created by listening to the songs via various streaming sites (Youtube and Soundcloud.)

Christina Aguilera and Cher: Burlesque soundtrack review

Christina Aguilera's CD art :Burlesque

I’m a little in love with Christina Aguilera at the moment. Not only has Bionic had resurgence in my affection, but Christina's- it’s actually a soundtrack which also features Cher- new release, Burlesque is pretty darn good. If you initially fell in love with Christina because of the Back to Basics album, you’ll fall in love with her all over again when you hear this.

Christina and her Burlesque troupe.

Song run down

The Etta James song Something's Got a Hold On Mefits Christina voice perfectly as its a style of music that actually utilises and benefits from her grunts and growls, as well as its rough texture. Having all the tools already in her arsenal its not surprising she gives a convincing delivery that effortlessly channels Etta James' sass, passion and fire.

On the flip side the Mae West song Guy what takes his time, as well as But I Am a Good Girl, have Christina toning it all down. Instead, relying on her charm and a softer, sweeter voice to communicate the song. The result is two saucy and teasing tracks that scream Burlesque.



Express attempts, and succeeds, in meshing the 50’s sound with the contemporary. It brings burlesque straight to the club with a modern bump and a percussive breakdown that practically writes the accompanying, provocative, dance routine itself. I could see this being on any Christina Aguilera album.

The Beautiful People isn’t really suited to the film, if compared to the other songs, and the use of the word Burlesque in its lyrics is pretty much the only connection it has. It feels more like a High school musical type production that they’ve attempted to give an edge to by using a sample of the Marilyn Manson's song of the same name. Surprisingly the song was penned with the help of Nicole Scherzinger!

Christina and Cher on the set of
Burlesque

There is a problem with the album though. Its not limp songs, or poor production but a voice, that belongs to one MS Aguilera, that is not being reigned in enough. For example, the beginning a cappella vocal on Tough love is a self indulgent, and clichéd mess that is everything I despise about singing. The coarse texture as well as the volume of the voice is just terrible. Thankfully the songs jaunty production kicks in and by the end you've forgotten the beginning and are left thinking its actually a nice jazzy song.

Infinitivally worse than that is Christina's only ballad on the album called Bound to you. The voice is initially controlled, measured and pleasant to listen to but once the song moves into its death throws Christina lets the voice out of the cage and just shouts into the microphone. The harshness of her voice is raw, but not in an emotional or good way, inflamed and pushed. It gets so bad I had to stop myself from reaching for the stop button; instead, controlling my instincts, I managed to lower the volume to take the edge off of it. (Realising this might be a wee bit harsh of an assessment for a first listen, I gave the song a few more listens and now have a headache. Needless to say, since the review remains unchanged, neither has my opinion.)

Overall, a good album that keeps Christina Aguilera in my good books- I'm not sure why she ever left them- with strong (sometimes painfully so) vocals, brilliant production and evocative songs. Anyone not a fan of Christina should definitely think about purchasing the two Cher songs, which are both an understated, master class in the school of less is more.

NB:Cher is a lot more talented than I ever gave her credit for-Damn you Believe and your autotune!… check back soon, as I may have to make a separate review for Cher's input on the album.

Rihanna album review: "Loud"

Rihanna Loud cove

Rihanna’s new album "Loud” is an eclectic mix of music; unfortunately its eclectic in a bad way. With so many competing styles going on it ends up being incredibly distracting . It swings from the extremes of the, intentionally drunk, unintentionality terrible, sounding "Cheers" to the piano driven, string laden, "Fading" so clumsily it painful. Not content with the "throw everything at the wall and seen what sticks" style of  album production a few of the songs even have Rihanna sounding like popular singers of the moment just in case that didn't work. The acoustic guitar, adult contemporary “California King Bed” is a song that you'd expect Taylor Swift to be singing, with the difference being she would have arranged and written it better. Where as "Raining Men" will have Beyonce stans going crazy as is it mimics "Diva" so unashamedly that I even blushed for Rihanna. Its not all bad and where Rihanna really shines is when she sticks to music that doesn't try to be someone else

 and follows the fresh dance direction that the first single "Only Girl" led the album.

Conclusion: Extremely dissapointed. "That Chick"-which is strangely ommited- and "Only girl" had me so excited about this album but the album didn't live up to that hype.

Skip: Cheers (Drink To That), California King Bed, Raining Men (feat. Nicki Minaj)

Download: S&M, Raining Men (just for Nicki Minaj's rap), Only Girl (In The World), Skin

Rating: 2.5/5

Mariah Carey - "Merry Christmas II You" review.

Mariah Careys' Merry Christmas ii you

Mariah Carey's second Christmas album Merry Christmas II You has been released, but can it match the  runaway success of her first, Merry Christmas to you. Being a bit of an old Scrooge, it doesn't look good for the album even before its had a listen but this collection, minus Oh Santa and Auld Lang Syne (which is a terrible 90's club throwback), sound so evocative of the Christmas of yesteryear -think Bing Crosby and Dean Martin- that they even melted  my cold heart.
   
The Stand-out song has to be  "Come All Ye Faithful-Hallelujah" which is a duet between Mariah Carey and her opera-singer mother, Patricia Carey.To hear Patricia's thick, steadfast, soprano being danced around by Mariah's nimble melisma  is a wonder to the ears and the meeting of the classical style of singing with its contemporary counterpart is a Christmas present come early.

Mariah's voice is in fine form, and in similar strength and texture to the late 90's. The most noticeable improvements will be apparent to any fan in  the quality and amount of vocal runs Mariah Conducts, and the use of  a solid vibrato on many of the belted notes (something which has been sorely missing since her Emancipation).The vocal quality is so improved from her last album, Memoires of an Imperfect Geisha,  that one has to wonder if any studio trickery has gone into the vocals on the album. I suppose we shall know soon enough when it comes to the live renditions of the songs during the promotion period.


Whatever the case, this is a solid Christmas album that, although may not be able to reproduce another classic single like All I want for Christmas,  is certainly a more enjoyable and classy listen as a whole than her previous effort.


Download: Come All Ye Faithful-Hallelujah, The First Noel-Born is the King Interlude,  Christmas Time is in Air Again
Avoid: Auld Lang Syne
Summary: The voice has returned, a Christmas miracle perhaps? Must have Christmas album.

4/5

Merry Christmas II You  vocal range : Bb2- Bb6 (4 octaves)

 

Low Register: Bb2, C#3, E3, F3, F#3
Upper Chest Register: Bb4, B4, C5, C#5, D5, Eb5, E5, F5, F#5, G5,G#5  
Head Voice Register: G5, C#5, A5, Bb5, B5, C6, C#6, D6 ,E6  
Whistle Register: Eb6, E6, F6, F#6, G6, G#6,Bb6  
Sustained Notes (Seconds): 9, 13,14
source:calvin999999999

REVIEW: Mariah Carey "Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel"

Mariah Carey : Memories of An Imperfect Angel

Listening to Mariah Carey's latest album, Memoires of an imperfect Angel, makes a previously unnoticed rut the 5 octave singer has been stuck in since the Buttefly album become shockingly apparent all of a sudden.

Here we have an album that doesn’t have Mariah trying to stay relevant, or safe, by chasing current pop trends and singers or rehashing #1s from her last album. Instead, Memoirs offers a riskier album with a Mariah who is funny (Up Out My Face) sassy (Betcha Gon Know, Standing O), and clever ( H.A.T.E.U, Up Out My Face).

Vocally, Mariah is on top form- if at times slightly annoying with the unnecessary whistle embellishments. The most striking vocal aspect of this album is the appearance of Mariahs’ midrange minus the whispery, airy quality applied to it. There’s been much discussion about the "whispery voice" being a sign of her mid-range being damaged, but this album makes it clear that its still present and clear if she so chooses to use it. Although her voice still sounds raw and rough in parts no one can deny that Mariah can still sing better than most.

To any Mariah fan this album will be initially hard to get into, as the formula that started with the "Daydream" album has been set aside (“Angels cry” may help ease you in). However, this is a rewarding album that highlights that Mariah “the hit factory” Carey is not necessary the Mariah we want or need.

Download: "Standing O", "It's A Wrap", "H.A.T.E. U", "Obsessed".

Avoid: "I Want To Know What Love Is"

Summary: The is the true Emancipation of Mimi, but is let down by "I want to know what love is" which sounds as if it has been tagged on as a point of reference for old school Mariah fans.

4/5

Memoires of An Imperfect angel vocal range : b2- d7