Summer 2011, Part 3: Music Reviews
I didn't listen to a new album every week, but I listened to one at least every other week. Though, I mostly kept to safe choices that fit in my music comfort-zone this summer.
Albums Listened to This Summer:
Vanessa Carlton, Be Nobody [2002] (****), Heroes & Thieves [2007] (*** 1/2), Best of [2011] (****)
Vanessa Carlton is a piano playing songwriter who sings appealing pop music. I'd never heard of her until I was searching for Sierra-Victor fan videos on You Tube -- in a moment of guilty-pleasure Dollhouse weakness-- and found a video set to Vanessa Carlton's song, "Ordinary Day".
Favorite Songs: "Ordinary Day", "A Thousand Days", "Twilight".
Adele, 21 [2011] (****)
You've heard of Adele, even if you don't know it, trust me you have. She's the young British woman with a deep sultry voice who sings additively good songs. I first heard her this spring when my Jazz class danced to "Rumor Has It" and kept listening to her all summer.
Favorite Songs: "Rolling in the Deep", "Rumor Has It", "Someone Like You", "Turning Tables".
Sufjan Stevens, Michigan [2003] (***), Come on Feel the Illinoise [2005] (*** 1/2), The Age of Adz [2010] (*** 1/2)
Several of my thirtysomething Facebook friends mentioned his music (though none of these friends know each other). He sings indie folk rock with his banjo and has a number of state-themed albums, though is newest album has a more electronic sound. His Michigan album even has a song about Holland, the town where my mom's family has reunions. When I had my horrible sinus infection I listened to "I Want to Be Well" over and over.
Favorite Songs: "Futile Devices", "I Want to Be Well", "Chicago", "Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, IL".
Amy Winehouse, Back to Black [2006] (*** 1/2)
Before her death I'd really only heard the song, "Rehab", and didn't liked it that much. After her death decided to check out the rest of her album and enjoyed it.
Favorite Songs: "Tears Dry On Their Own", "Back to Black".
Soundtrack from The Vampire Diaries [2010] (*** 1/2)
Good guilty-pleasure bedtime music, the kind of emo sugar-coated songs I like the very first time I listen and then quickly tire of. The instrumental music pieces make my life feel more tense and dramatic than usual.
Favorite Songs: "Bloodstream", "Down", "Running Up That Hill", "Stefan's Theme".
Tears for Fears, The Hurting [1983] (***), Songs From the Big Chair [1985] (*** 1/2)
The Vampire Diaries soundtrack covered a Tears for Fears song which got me nostalgic for the real thing. I hadn't listened to these songs in years. The weird thing about music is how a song can send me straight back to the sights and sounds I experienced when I first listened to the song. I listened to a lot of Tears for Fears when I was Euro-railing in Germany. It was fun having flashbacks of watching cabbage fields roll by or brushing my teeth in the tiny train bathrooms.
Favorite Songs: "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" , "Shout", "Mad World", "Head Over Heels".
The Rapture, Pieces of the People We Love [2006] (*** 1/2)
The Rapture sounds a lot like the 80's new wave I used to enjoy. They're the ones who sing the theme song to Misfits, though it's not on this album.
Favorite Songs: "Don Gon Do It", "Pieces of The People We Love", "Calling Me".