SOUND CHECK.Byline: Fred Shuster Reed Johnson Reed Cameron Johnson (born December 8, 1976 in Riverside, California) is an outfielder for the Toronto Blue Jays of the American League East division of Major League Baseball. He weighs 180 lb (82 kg) and is 5'10" tall. Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham/``Moments From This Theatre'' (Proper) To students of Southern soul, Penn and Oldham need no introduction. Thirty years ago, Penn co-authored such stirring r&b classics as ``Dark End of the Street,'' ``I'm Your Puppet'' and ``Do Right Woman, Do Right Man,'' among others; with Oldham, Penn co-wrote ``Cry Like a Baby,'' ``Out of Left Field'' and ``A Woman Left Lonely.'' Here, this grizzled griz·zled adj. 1. Partly gray or streaked with gray: a grizzled beard. 2. Having fur or hair streaked or tipped with gray. pair of good old boys are caught in a characteristically low-key mood in a fine collection of acoustic performances taken from various shows in the UK and Ireland in 1998. Penn and Oldham were touring as special guests of Nick Lowe, whose good taste is well known, and audiences were clearly enthralled en·thrall tr.v. en·thralled, en·thrall·ing, en·thralls 1. To hold spellbound; captivate: The magic show enthralled the audience. 2. To enslave. . On the 14 tracks here, Penn's burnished bur·nish tr.v. bur·nished, bur·nish·ing, bur·nish·es 1. To make smooth or glossy by or as if by rubbing; polish. 2. To rub with a tool that serves especially to smooth or polish. n. vocals are complimented by his own simple acoustic guitar accompaniment while Oldham's Wurlitzer piano lends an earthy, gospel-drenched feel. The disc, available only as a British import from mail-order sites like Amazon.com, opens with a beautiful reading of ``Puppet,'' a 1966 hit for r&b duo James and Bobby Purify. The Box Tops The Box Tops were a Memphis pop music group of the late 1960s. They are best known for the hits "The Letter," "Soul Deep" and "Cry Like A Baby," and are considered a major blue-eyed soul group of the period. classic ``Cry Like a Baby'' and, naturally, Aretha's ``Do Right Woman'' follows as Penn and Oldham work up to what's surely the second-best version of ``Dark End of the Street'' ever put on record. The first? James Carr James Carr may refer to:
- Fred Shuster Shelby Lynne/``I Am Shelby Lynne'' (Island) A decade ago, Lynne was a Nashville misfit mis·fit n. 1. Something of the wrong size or shape for its purpose. 2. One who is unable to adjust to one's environment or circumstances or is considered to be disturbingly different from others. ; a promising but hard-to-label country-soul singer who released an ahead-ots time swing album that quickly flopped. So, she went home to Alabama to write and plan her next move. Her knockout self-titled new effort is a well-crafted and perfectly realized synthesis of country, pop and soul ingredients that brings to mind the big pop production style of Phil Spector in one breath and the passion of Dusty Springfield in the next. Produced by onetime Sheryl Crow and Michael Jackson collaborator Bill Bottrell, many of the 10 tracks here have a '60s Memphis feel, immediately calling to mind the sultry, strings-stoked atmosphere of Springfield's wonderful ``Dusty in Memphis.'' Best of all is the seamless ``Leavin','' the only cut here penned entirely by Lynne, a completely convincing r&b ballad that will have you reaching for your Al Green records. ``I Am Shelby Lynne'' might be the first real discovery of 2000. Three and 1/2 stars - F.S. ``The English Songbook,'' Ian Bostridge, tenor; Julius Drake, piano; (EMI Classics) Bostridge cuts a wide swath with this sampler of exceptionally well- spoken songs from the British Isles. It was Britain's literary flowering, from Shakespeare through the late Romantic period, that seeded its outburst of late-19th- and early 20th-century song. Accordingly, these lovely tunes, sensitively performed by Drake, partake of the nostalgic colorings of Keats, Shakespeare, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and W.B. Yeats, among others, translated into music by the likes of Charles Villiers Stanford Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (September 30, 1852 – 29 March 1924) was an Irish composer. Stanford was born in Dublin, the only son of John Stanford, examiner in the Court of Chancery (Dublin) and clerk of the Crown, County Meath. (a haunting, impressionistic im·pres·sion·is·tic adj. 1. Of, relating to, or practicing impressionism. 2. Of, relating to, or predicated on impression as opposed to reason or fact: impressionistic memories of early childhood. take on Keats' ``La Belle Dame Sans Merci''), Frederick Delius (``Twilight Fancies'') and Ralph Vaughan Williams Noun 1. Ralph Vaughan Williams - English composer influenced by folk tunes and music of the Tudor period (1872-1958) Vaughan Williams . Bostridge, who's being hailed as England's purest interpreter of song cycles since Peter Pears, favors simplicity over rhetoric, imparting a sparkling robustness to pastoral reveries like Vaughan Williams' ``Linden Lea,'' a lyrical introspectiveness in·tro·spect intr.v. in·tro·spect·ed, in·tro·spect·ing, in·tro·spects To engage in introspection. [Latin intr to ``Come Away Death'' (from Shakespeare's ``Twelfth Night'') and a wistful tenderness to Stanford's arrangement of ``My love's an Arbutus arbutus Any of about 14 species (genus Arbutus) of broad-leaved evergreen shrubs or trees, in the heath family. Native to southern Europe and western North America, they are characterized by loosely clustered white or pink flowers and red or orange berries. A. ,'' giving this old Irish air the shapely shape·ly adj. shape·li·er, shape·li·est 1. Having a distinct shape. 2. Having a pleasing shape. shape beauty of the finest Renaissance sonnet. Three and 1/2 stars - Reed Johnson Alecia Elliott/``I'm Diggin' It'' (MCA MCA in full Music Corporation of America Entertainment conglomerate. It was founded in Chicago in 1924 by Jules Stein as a talent agency. In the 1960s it bought Decca Records and Universal Pictures, and today it produces films, music, and television shows. Nashville) If record-buyers are lapping up teen pop singers, the thinking here seems to be, then maybe they'll snap up another teen pop-country crooner. At 16, Elliott is actually pretty good, though. A confident performer with a full-bodied delivery, she puts across ballads such as ``I'm Waiting for You'' and ''Every Heart'' with the same gusto she addresses the bouncy title track, which is, incidentally, climbing the country charts. Of course, it doesn't hurt to have label prez and top country producer Tony Brown on board in the studio, either, and his deft hitmaking sensibility is all over this first effort. In an age where Barbie dolls like Shania Twain and Faith Hill somehow represent country womanhood for much of the public, maybe Elliott will develop into something more substantial. Three stars - F.S. Femi Kuti/``Shoki Shoki'' (MCA/Barclay) The son of late Afrobeat king Fela Kuti, Femi proves the apple doesn't fall far from the tree on this compelling collection of loose-limbed polyrhythmic jams highlighted by a superb remix of the set's lascivious las·civ·i·ous adj. 1. Given to or expressing lust; lecherous. 2. Exciting sexual desires; salacious. [Middle English, from Late Latin lasc ``Beng Beng Beng,'' a song that was banned in Kuti's native Nigeria. Like his father's brilliant Egypt 80 outfit, the younger Kuti's Positive Force is a forceful and dynamic ensemble, full of female chanting, pungent horns and lots of delightfully complex guitar interplay. Kuti, who sings and plays sax, echoes his father's concerns about black unity and African culture in earthy, sharply constructed uptempo pieces like the disc's opening salvo, ``Truth Don Die,'' and ``Blackman Know Yourself.'' Ideally, the well-produced ``Shoki Shoki'' will make some sturdy inroads inroads Noun, pl make inroads into to start affecting or reducing: my gambling has made great inroads into my savings inroads npl to make inroads into [+ in the United States for the appealing music of father and son. Four stars - F.S. Eiffel 65/``Europop'' (Republic) Remember that '80s synth-pop hit from Aussie band Real Life called ``Send Me an Angel''? Well, Eiffel 65 do, too. In fact, these guys - veterans of Italy's thriving club-music factory - liked the song so much they practically devoted an entire album to variations on the theme. Not surprisingly, ``Europop'' is a smash in Europe and Canada, where the disco-fueled ``Move Your Body'' and dance-pop album-opener ``Blue (Da Ba Dee)'' have conquered the charts. Using electronic elements, the trio actually mixes dance and pop quite effectively, adding that ever-popular disco beat to rope in the retro crowd. Listening to ``Europop,'' you can easily imagine the tourists marching up and down the Champs Elysees to this stuff. In the end, Eiffel 65 fills that long gap between Depeche Mode albums. Two and 1/2 stars - F.S. Scritti Politti/``Anomie anomie, a social condition characterized by instability, the breakdown of social norms, institutional disorganization, and a divorce between socially valid goals and available means for achieving them. & Bonhomie'' (Virgin) These guys came together in 1978 in Leeds, England, the same depressing place that spawned always far-superior Gang of Four. After shedding the Marxist affectations, Scritti Politti - Italian for ``political writing'' - changed direction and decided they wanted hits, haircuts and hotel rooms with a view. That's when they came upon the pop-soul hybrid so popular in the '80s, scoring a Top 20 hit with ``Perfect Way.'' These days, our hero (there's just one original member of the trio left) still wants hits and nice hotel rooms (the hair went a long time ago). After a long period spent ``chilling out,'' poptastic political writer Green Gartside (for it is he) offers Scritti's fourth album, a mildly amusing mix of rock, funk, hip-hop and, apparently, nonfat dry milk Noun 1. nonfat dry milk - dehydrated skimmed milk dried milk, dry milk, milk powder, powdered milk - dehydrated milk . Don't expect a Scritti Politti comeback. Two stars - F.S. CAPTION(S): 5 photos Photo: (1 -- 5) no caption (album covers) |
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