Bloggerhythms

Every once in awhile I feel the need to give the 1980s a nod because occasionally the decade really did offer something to talk about musically. The British synth-pop duo of singer Marc Almond and David Ball, known as Soft Cell, were not true one hit wonders but they may as well have been. They're mostly remembered for their 1981 hit "Tainted Love" that peaked at #8 in the United States and #1 in seventeen other countries including their native England. Almond was the singer and Ball played virtually every instrument. The 2:34 single, from Soft Cell's debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret pales in comparison to the nine minute, 12" version that segues into a cover of The Supremes' "Where Did Our Love Go." Almond contributes a fine lead vocal while Ball adds a very spooky, yet almost danceable, full, bottom end. When the riff from the Motown trio's hit is added on top with what sounds like a vibraphone (but is probably a keyboard) we r...

For those of you who miss The Grateful Dead, Pure Prairie League and Sweetheart of the Rodeo era Byrds there is San Franciscan J. Burn who, I'm sure not coincidentally, recorded his new EP at Bob Weir's TRI Studios in San Rafael, CA. Burnt Blue , a brief four song set, is Burn's second effort. His first was a full-fledged fourteen track album, Major Melodies Backward Beginnings , in 2014. Burn should be taken seriously. You can tell by the company he keeps in the studio. In addition to working at TRI he is supported by multi-instrumentalist Jason Crosby (vocal, piano, violin) who has played with The Allman Brothers Band, Carlos Santana, Eric Clapton, Pete Seeger, Blind Boys of Alabama, Dave Mathews, Robert Randolph and Susan Tedeschi. Also assisting on these sessions was Robin Sylvester on bass and slide guitar. He too has played with a host of famous rockers including Weir's group, Ratdog. Burn is a good composer and he sings like Jerry Garcia (especia...

Diana Krall moves closer and closer to being a pop act instead of a jazz musician with each successive album. In the process you may think that she would lose much of her old fan base, especially when you consider that many of the cover songs she is doing these days were not the hippest things on the block when most of them charted back in the 70s. However, after hearing Krall's latest album, Wallflower , I'm convinced that her audience will remain. Krall has always been a fine interpreter of other people's work and she takes these soft rock hits and completely reinvents them. On Wallflower she serves mostly as a soft-spoken vocalist. She only plays piano on three of the twelve tracks, and she is accompanied throughout by an "A" list of heavyweights including Michael Bublé who duets with the star on Gilbert O'Sullivan's "Alone again (Naturally)." Jazz bassist Christian McBride gives "California Dreamin'" a solid foundation ...