Bloggerhythms

Hot Streets is an album I was completely disappointed with and had no respect for when it was first released in 1978. I couldn’t believe what happened to my guys! Was it too much too soon after Terry Kath died or was it that Chicago just didn’t care anymore? While the album hasn’t changed with the times I have, and I now view Hot Streets in a completely different light than I did in 1978. While I will never consider this record high art - and it will never show up on lists of Chicago's great works - I now view it as a fine pop album. If there is a problem with Hot Streets it is the songwriting, not the musicianship. I find the musicianship on this disc to be impeccable throughout the entire album and it's the reason why I like it. The band's "chops" elevate mostly ordinary songs. Both Danny Seraphine on drums and Laudir deOliviera on percussion are superb. Anyone who enjoys percussion will love these guys here. Newcomer Donnie Dacus, who...

Let It Snow is this year's Christmas CD from Starbucks and it's another good one. The Seattle coffee chain's annual collection of seasonal tunes are always among the best compilations assembled for the holidays. A lot of thought has gone into every single one of their Christmas discs and, as always, they combine tracks by famous heritage artists with more current stars (along with a couple of complete unknowns) yet somehow they make all of the songs feel as if they belong together. At first glance I was disappointed when I saw Brenda Lee's name on the song listing. "Here we go again," I thought, "the same old stuff." But what to my wondering eyes should appear was not "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" but her version of "Jingle Bell Rock." Yes, it's a very famous song by an artist we always hear from at Christmas but it's a different version than the one we are normally exposed to so my faith in Starbucks wa...

Gold and Green , the first full-length Christmas CD by the country duo Sugarland combines five new, original tracks with five more famous Christmas songs that they previously released only as a bonus disc on a now hard to obtain version of Sugarland's 2006 album, Enjoy the Ride . The limited edition was a Wal-Mart exclusive. The covers include the religious carols "Silent Night" and "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel," the pop-classic "Winter Wonderland," and two songs normally aimed at kids, "Holly Jolly Christmas," sung by Kristian Bell and "Nuttin' For Christmas." All are nicely rendered and Jennifer Nettles voice carries the day on most of them. The last song is far less juvenile than usual because it's given a bright bluegrass arrangement that elevates it into an entirely different realm. It's nice to see the country stars reworking a tired old holiday tune by turning it into something unique. The real gems here ...

Cyber Monday was the impetus for a lot of great music deals from Amazon. The massive online store even offered some downloads for as little as $1.99 per album, a price too good to ignore. One of these bargains was A Very She & Him Christmas the latest CD by singer-songwriter M. Ward and his singing partner, the terminally cute actress, Zoey Deschanel. The third release by the pair is an unoriginal but pleasing take on twelve mostly famous Christmas tunes. More sparsely arranged than She & Him's first two discs, many of the songs consist of little more than solo acoustic guitar supporting Deschanel's sometimes multi-tracked vocals. Some light percussion, ukulele, keyboards, and electric guitar occasionally spice up the songs and Ward duets with her on a few tracks, taking the lead on one. Deschanel has a voice good enough to do the job but it isn't especially distinguished or powerful. "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" and "The Christm...