A Thousand Songs

I should have reviewed this fine, fun CD a long time ago (the reasons I didn’t are many and too self-indulgent to bore you with here) but better late than never (I hope.)

Ric Seaberg is such an affable and talented singer-songwriter that it’s almost impossible to listen to his music and not feel like smiling (and bobbing your head and dancing happily even…and maybe especially… when you’re all alone…try to resist the effortless bounce of the playfully rueful “Why Didn’t I Think of That?”, you’re a stronger person than I if you can :-)

A Thousand Songs is filled with charming love songs (name checking Richard Thompson on the wistful “When I Come Home” made me smile knowingly) and fanciful “real guy” ditties (that word used with unapologetic affection for the tunes…the grand ode “My New Truck” was featured on one of my favorite radio pleasures, NPR’s warm and wacky Car Talk and as football season comes back he makes me realize that I want a “Big TV” too :-) with Ric’s solid, unpretentious vocals ably supported by warm and sometimes muscular (but never overwhelming) musical backing (a special tip of the hat to Tim Ellis who plays some mighty fine guitar on all of the tracks including the jaunty “One More Beatles Song”, a tune that in a better world would be booming from car stereos all over the country on these bright summer’s days) and sweet harmonies.

A Thousand Songs is a lovely record for a summer’s day…full of unabashed and unapologetic love and passion, fun and wit, lovely melodies and heartfelt vocals…a lovely record anytime for anyone who likes their rockin’ pop music to be real and engaging and smile-inducing.

(Links to Ric's page (you can hear audio of the title track at the second link) and to the page of his music sold by my pals at CD Baby (tell 'em I sent ya...you won't get any discounts or anything but it may make them laugh :-) are included in the body of the piece above.)

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MKW's writing stuff: Bread and Roses

Black Halo

This record came out in 2005 but I only found out about it this week...more’s the pity for me. I was introduced to it through the tender auspices of MySpace. Yeah, I know I’m a little outside of the demographic target of MySpace but it is, I’ve found, a wonderful way to discover interesting new music and enormously talented musicians who haven’t broken through yet.

Case in point…this grand little set from the enormously talented Ms. V.K. Lynne. At turns tender and tough…bluesy and rocking…soothing and invigorating…Black Halo is a solid set of 10 fine, fine songs (all written by Lynne) that clocks in at just over 30 concise minutes without a clunker in the bunch.

Lynne’s voice is strong, sassy, soaring, sweet, and extremely soulful…there are hints of Melissa Etheridge here and there (the driving rock of the acerbic “Her End of the Phone”, for example) but Lynne is no copycat. She is just as compelling on the rocking title song as she is on the shimmering ballad “Other Side of my World” or the spare, wistfully-haunting “My Bones”.

With her band adding tight, tasteful, tuneful support, Lynne’s music soars and enthralls and draws you in for repeated listenings. It's a keeper.

Black Halo is available from my pals at CD Baby. You can sample clips from the disc there.

FYI: My MySpace is here

Santa Monica

One of the coolest byproducts of surfing the "blogoverse" (or whatever the heck it's going to end up being called) for me is discovering music that I would otherwise never get a chance to hear, enjoy, and embrace.

Discovering the music of the ever-delightful Last Girl on Earth was a grand treat (see here for more about that) and this CD is another welcome addition to my ever-burgeoning music collection.

Years ago, a wonderful record by Nick Lowe was re-titled Pure Pop for Now People because the American record company thought the original British title, Jesus of Cool, might have proven problematic here in the States (can't imagine why...:-) Whatever the origin, I love the phrase...pure pop for now people...and I like to use it to refer to rockin' pop records that I really like.

Ric Seaberg's Santa Monica is, in all of the positive aspects of the phrase, pure pop for now people. It's sunny and warm...with wordplay that is often witty (and sometimes delightfully silly) and occasionally sweetly poignant...and it rocks with easy, melodic aplomb from the tasty lilt of the clever title track through the funny "Jesus Didn't Have a Car" and the bittersweet "Family Asshole Void" all the way to the lovely Christmas song that is the unlisted 16th track on the disc.

If cornered to describe it, I would say to try to imagine a less acerbic Warren Zevon fronting a harder-rocking version of Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer Band...Seaberg is no copycat, I'm just trying to get across the touchpoints that come into my head as I groove to his music. Pure...rockin' and engaging...pop indeed.

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My new best buds at CDBaby, a very cool site with a wealth of indie music in all genres, sold me my copy of this disc and my hat's off to them (you should drop by and check them out...but, just so you know, if you're an adventurous music fan you might be there for a while...)

(FYI: Their listing for this disc, including samples, is here.)