This is a quick shout out for the smoothness of John Zedd, whose “In This Together” album is nothing but sweet, gentle love songs. His voice is reminiscent of John Mayer, James Taylor, Dan Fogelberg . . . It’s not going to blow you away, but it isn’t trying to. It’s more like a gentle breeze.
Best of all, he’s the real thing. A man who makes music that he wants to make, and who followed his dreams.
Home By Now (direct download)
Tags: Soft Rock
Hall and Oates. The gayest duo ever to not be gay. I was going to post this review/tribute under the category “guilty pleasure,” and yet . . . I don’t feel guilty. The Bird and The Bee are releasing an entire album of covers, and it’s all over the internets (actually, they did this on purpose–very cool marketing strategy). The actual record comes out March 23 (order here). How is it? It’s a lot of fun, but I’m not sure it can live beyond the novelty. It makes me want to hear the originals. But there’s no denying that I listened to it straight through, twice, and loved doing it. That doesn’t happen often.
In listening to it, I realized (or “re-realized”) what pure pop R&B genius lay at the heart of just about every single Hall and Oates single. Whether it’s the hot percussion-and-synth that introduces “Say It Isn’t So;” the veiled reference to homosexual sex in “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do);” or the delicious harmonies in the too-silly-for-words “Rich Girl,” the band never lets you down. I”m going to say it loud and proud: I love these guys!
Private Eyes-Towa Tei (of DeeLite)
I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)-Orson
The NO BITCHING ABOUT EXPIRED LINKS zipfile!
Tags: Covers, Guilty Pleasures, Indie Pop, Soft Rock
