While some singers thrive on idealism, Sunshine Anderson comes from the perspective of “What have you done for me lately?” With her 2001 anthem “Heard It All Before,” from her debut “Your Woman,” the no-nonsense songstress spoke for fed-up women everywhere. Those earnest tunes also permeate her sophomore effort, “Sunshine at Midnight.” Whether blaming […]
While this is arguably soprano Anna Netrebko’s least “commercial” recital to date — although it’s already reached the top 10 on Germany’s pop chart — it’s musically the most interesting. Rather than hewing to a collection of well-worn operatic favorites, Netrebko, joined by her mentor, conductor Valery Gergiev, and the Orchestra of the Mariinsky […]
It has been three years since Stacie Orrico commandeered the globe with hit singles “Stuck” and “(There’s Gotta Be) More to Life,” resulting in a Grammy Award nod and sales of 3.4 million albums. While that’s a lifetime in the pop arena, “Beautiful Awakening” percolates with confidence and plentiful momentum, thanks to the soulful, […]
This Canadian band (previously known up North as Pilate) has so far slipped under the radar in the United States, but Wind-up is ramping up radio promo in the new year for the track “Into Your Hideout” to coincide with live dates with Dears. Fans of U2 and Sunny Day Real Estate will feel […]
Chinese Internet search service Baidu.com Inc. said on Tuesday it was launching an advertising-supported online music service in mainland China with Britain’s EMI Music.
The service will provide a stream of free online music, the company said, but would only include Chinese-language music, which people could listen to but not download.
EMI and Baidu would also […]
One of the few remaining titans of modern jazz, living legend Sonny Rollins no longer has to deliver colossal statements as he did when he was coming of age in the ’50s and ’60s. All he has to do now is breathe deep and sing on his tenor saxophone with his singular voice. While […]
How apropos (and no doubt more than a coincidence) that in the midst of all the “Dreamgirls” hoopla, the original dream girl herself is releasing a new studio album. This 14-track set features classic love songs personally selected by Ross. These range from such standards as Bacharach/David’s “The Look of Love” and “Only You” […]
Parting can be such sweet sorrow, but melancholy meets its match when a guy like Crowded House drummer Paul Hester leads the crowd in beer jingles or jokes about how many of his illegitimate children are in the audience. That certainly helped make the Down Under quartet’s final show in 1996 a graceful goodbye, […]
In-between working with his many, and often dubiously titled (um, Goblin Cock?) side projects, Pinback frontman Rob Crow found time to craft this new solo set, “Living Well.” The album, which owes much of its content to Crow’s recent marriage and the birth of his first son, departs from the strangeness of his previous […]
The offbeat name of the group is unfortunate. The music, on the other hand, is a delicious revelation, teeming with snappy, sunny songs that hail “The Bird and the Bee” as the surprise CD of early 2007. Meticulously crafted with multilayered arrangements by duo partners Inara George (alluring vocals) and Greg Kurstin (all instruments), […]
Yo-Yo Ma’s latest endeavor is a selection of classic works closely associated with the virtuosic cellist during his four-decade career (all but four previously released), centered around the infinitely faceted theme of love. While the collection succeeds splendidly as a “soundtrack” to personal, romantic love, it bespeaks even more deeply Ma’s love for his […]
This very hip intermingling of electronica and dub reggae comes at us from a somewhat unanticipated source. Collaborators DJ Pharfar and DJ Filip cooked up this magic in their studio in Copenhagen. Vocalists Jah Bobby, Tuco and Little T provide crucial aid, as do Jacob Mortensen (bass) and Daniel Muschinsky (keyboards/melodica). The CD features […]
The previous single from Clay Aiken’s “A Thousand Different Ways,” an inexplicable cover of Mariah Carey/Harry Nilsson’s “Without You,” barely connected at adult-contemporary radio. Follow-up “A Thousand Days” is an original song that delivers upon the potent interpreter’s signature: hand-flinging vocals, a soaring melody and a simple, singable chorus. Aiken’s challenge at this point is […]
“American Idol” season five runner-up Katharine McPhee is arguably the most striking of the high-profile finalists who have gone on to release major-label albums, and there is little doubt that she possesses formidable chops. But the question dogging anyone who studied the singer throughout the season is whether McPhee possesses the internal depth to imbed […]
