Through These Walls

Hilary McRae’s fun and funky debut crackles with tasty old school R&B goodness. With her big, expressively soulful voice ably aided and abetted by thick, sassy rhythms, tastefully supportive guitars and keyboards, lovely backup vocals, and sweet, cool horns, McRae’s music is at once a throwback to the heyday of 70’s soul and a sterling example of enormously engaging 21^st century pop.

It is, as Miss Martha Stewart might say, a good thing

The energetic “Every Day (When Will You Be Mine)” and the propulsive “Consider Me Gone” opens the disc with a powerful one-two punch that sets the bar high. The rest of the disc proves to be up to the task.

From the mid-tempo swing of “Why Can’t Now” to the bittersweet balladry of “Love Song for You”…from the self-affirming, horn-driven swagger of “Hostage” to the pop sheen of the keyboard-led “Like You Never Loved Me”, the disc continues to percolate with aplomb.

By the time McRae and the horn section…along with the backing singers…locks into an almost irresistible groove on “Better Off Alone”, I couldn’t help but feel that a star was ready (if there’s any justice in the pop world) to claim her spot high up on the charts.

And then…and then…she throws a cool curve with the jazzy phrasing of “Let’s Stop” and then follows that up with the shimmering “Only Light” and the wistful “Waiting”.

As the disc ends with jamming with the R&B stomper “Somethin’s Come Over Me” and the powerful ballad “Where Will We Be, I found myself smiling contentedly and making plans to keep this disc in heavy rotation for the foreseeable future.

Through These Walls is an enormously enjoyable collection with nary a misfire amongst its 12 tracks; Hilary McRae is certainly a keeper. Yeah, it’s definitely a good thing :-)

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Below is the cool video for "Every Day (When Will You Be Mine)"

Elvis Costello: Artist's Choice

Going into a Starbucks can be a somewhat disorienting experience for someone like me who doesn't drink coffee. When the line is long and the machines are all churning out their hot, frothy brews, the air is thick with steam and caffeine and the potent, pungent aroma of java that is nothing like the "cup o' joe" you would find at a corner diner.

I would skip the experience altogether save for one thing: they have music.

They have tasty compilations that you can't easily find anywhere else. Like this one: the latest in Hear Music's "Artist's Choice" series wherein artists select "music that matters to (them)"...a brief glimpse into their personal influences and record collections if you will.

Costello's choices for this shimmering 18-track collection are eclectic (a man after my own heart) and delightfully surprising. He harkens back to the great Louis Armstrong ("Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love)" and Muddy Waters ("I Love the Life I Live") and forward to 2004 with cuts from Rilo Kiley's cool disc More Adventurous ("Does He Love You?") and (wife) Diana Krall's smoky cover of Costello's own "Almost Blue" from the lovely The Girl in the Other Room.

Along the way he samples familiar cuts from wonderful artists like Aretha Franklin (the immortal "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man") and Joni Mitchell (the wistful "The Last Time I Saw Richard") and well as lesser known tracks from other artists (Paul Simon's "Peace Like a River" from his 1972 solo disc and "You Ain't Livin' Till You're Lovin'" a duet by the classic team of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell.)

Clifford Brown, Fleetwood Mac (pre-Stevie and Lindsey with "Oh Well, Part 1"), The Band, Nick Lowe, Lucinda Williams, George Jones, Dusty Springfield, Joe Tex, and Randy Newman (the devastating "Real Emotional Girl") are all given shout-outs by Elvis along the way.

The disc closes with Freda ("Band of Gold") Payne's earnest Vietnam-era anti-war song, "Bring the Boys Home", because Costello feels it has a resonance to today's headlines.

This is a grand little collection and I'm glad I braved the coffee fumes to obtain it :-)