| If the release of Lionel Ritchie’s latest album made you shake your head, then it’s time to sit down – this is gonna make you lose your will to live. Not only does George Michael have a new record, Patience (Epic), so do Wilson Phillips. California (Columbia) is named for the Joni Mitchell song of the same name, which the trio of second-generation musical talent try their hand at. In fact, the whole album is covers, which means they butcher everyone from Neil Young to Fleetwood Mac. Even with guest appearances by Brian Wilson and Linda Ronstadt, this collection is a syrupy piece of crap that manages to ruin a bunch of decent songs.
If you are going to record cover songs, do something interesting with them – like Greg Milka Crowe. A mix of covers and originals, his album Bhakta Basics (Bacteria Buffet Records) sounds a lot like John Flansberg from They Might Be Giants fronting a ska band. Crowe takes on the Beatles and Billy Bragg, and his originals stand up pretty well too. Not a perfect album, but with a touch of faux-klezmer the album offers more than your average ska release.
Just the other day I was talking with a co-worker about how Canada’s ambassador of ethereal pop, Sarah McLachlan, could ride out the rest of her life on the royalties from "Building a Mystery." As if on cue, Nettwerk has released a five-song EP by McLachlan entitled Live Acoustic. Guess what the fourth track is?
|
Copyright ©2004 FFWD. All rights reserved.