Anyone who has ever heard Rufus Wainwright knows the value of genetics. With parents such as Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III, how could Rufus ( or his sister Martha ) go wrong?
Sally Taylor, the daughter of Carly Simon and James Taylor, is another excellent example of the magic of genetics. With a voice that sounds like the perfect synthesis of her parents, she emerges as important addition to the family of pop-star offspring. Her second album Apt. #6S ( Blue Elbow/W.A.R. ) features a dozen songs written ( or co-written ) by Ms. Taylor. Taylor also has a tendency to sound like Natalie Merchant, and that's not a bad thing. On "March Like Soldiers" she sings about the end of a romantic relationship and "For Kim" examines the end of a friendship. On a more hopeful note, "Convince Me" is an uplifting love song, and the somewhat darker "How Can I," would also qualify as a love song, albeit an unhealthy one. Sally's brother Ben Taylor supplies backing vocals on a few tracks.
Liz Callaway, Broadway diva and sister of Ann Hampton Callaway has just released her long-awaited new album The Beat Goes On ( Fynsworth Alley ) . A delight from start to finish, Callaway covers 15 vintage pop songs from the '60s. Beginning with the medley of "The Beat Goes On/Feelin' Groovy," Callaway reclaims the songs of the era in the same way that she does with older American pop standards. She offers a nod to the Broadway stage of that period with her versions of Bacharach and David's "Half As Big As Life" ( from Promises, Promises ) and "Frank Mills" ( from the "tribal" musical Hair ) . Her choice of material is superb, and includes songs by Jimmy Webb ( the "Didn't We/MacArthur Park" medley and "Up, Up and Away" ) , Laura Nyro ( "Wedding Bell Blues," in a version that recalls both Nyro's original and the Fifth Dimension's best-selling rendition ) , and two by Lennon and McCartney ( "When I'm Sixty-Four" and "Here, There and Everywhere" ) . The album's best moments occur on Ms. Callaway's respectful interpretations of "Moon River" and "Downtown."
Speaking of cover versions, Kristin Hersh ( step-sister to Tanya Donnelly of Throwing Muses and Belly fame ) is the second artist in the last few months to release an album, Sunny Border Blue ( 4AD/Beggars Group ) , featuring a cover of a Cat Stevens song from the movie Harold & Maude. The first was Death By Chocolate, who did a terrific version of "If You Want To Sing Out Sing Out." Hersh's cover of "Trouble" is just as effective a tearjerker as the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens's version in the film. As for the rest of the album, Hersh has really hit her stride over the course of her last few albums ( Sky Motel, Strange Angels ) , and Sunny Border Blue continues in that spirit, particularly with songs such as "Your Dirty Answer" ( with the lines "Your guitar's a race car, sex is your best friend" ) , the tense "37 Hours," the sexy "Summer Salt," the heartache of "Flipside," and the betrayal of "Listerine" ( "Listerine covers your tracks/doesn't do shit for the facts" ) .
Retroactivity
Like k. d. lang's Invincible Summer, Mellow's futuristic retro pop knows no season. The elements ( including vocoders and moogs ) combine to create a different kind of weather that suggests both Pink Floyd and the Beach Boys, sometimes within the same song. A Wolfgang Press wind blows in on track "Paris Sous La Neige," while a Beatles breeze can be felt rustling the leaves on track "Mellow, Part 2." The "Air" ( French band of Moon Safari fame ) pressure is constantly changing, particularly on tracks such as "Shinda Shima," "Another Mellow Winter" ( with a sprinkling of Supertramp ) , and "Sun Dance."
On Doubts & Convictions ( Guidance ) , Troublemakers stir up a funky and soulful retro concoction that conjures images of platform shoes, Afro picks, large colorful plastic hoop earrings and Antonio Fargas, Richard Roundtree and Pam Grier in blaxploitation flicks. "Street Preacher" could be a funk soul brother's theme song, while "Electrologe," with its lifted Stevie Wonder keyboard riff is super fly. The brief "Hum Hum" could have been the background music for a mid-'70s Playgirl photo shoot and the groove is definitely in the heart of "Groover Is Back." Both '70s and 21st century, this is the sound of French band Air, scented with incense and oils, and something illicit and herbal.
Some people got their first taste of Death By Chocolate on the second and third volumes of the Songs From The Jet Set compilations. On their full-length, self-titled debut disc, this British unit ( that suggests Yardley lipstick, bubble umbrellas and Mary Quant miniskirts ) is fronted by young Angie Tillett who speaks/sings her way through all 17 super-groovy retro tracks. "The Land of Chocolate" is a diabetic's nightmare and will make you smile in spite of the fact that your teeth hurt. "Ice Cold Lemonade" is "Sugar Sugar"-ed by an Archies beat, "A B & C" opens Doors with its alphabet soup, and "The Salvador Dali Murder Mystery" proves that Death By Chocolate is not afraid to Monkee around. Two theme songs, "Who Needs Wings To Fly" ( from The Flying Nun ) and "If You Want To Sing Out Sing Out" ( from Harold & Maude ) , are also sweetened by Death By Chocolate. To be listened to on an empty stomach at your own risk.
Kerry Shaw's voice is the component that makes the songs on Faith In The Morning ( Wiiija/Beggars Group ) by Whistler sound retro in the same way that it is Stuart Murdoch's voice and phrasing that does the same for the songs of Belle And Sebastian. Imagine British folk-pop from the early to mid-'60s transplanted to the 21st century, on songs such as "Don't Forget Me Forever," "Watches Of Switzerland," "I Felt A Funeral" ( in which Whistler sets Emily Dickinson to music ) and there you have it. Add a touch of Velvet Underground ( on the title track ) and you have a genuine musical time warp in the making.
On their previous album, the sinister England Made Me, the British trio Black Box Recorder sang songs with titles such as "Girl Singing In The Wreckage," "It's Only The End Of The World," and "Kidnapping An Heiress." They also showed that they had something of a sense of humor with their cover of "Seasons In The Sun." They've lightened things up a bit on the wonderful The Facts Of Life ( Jetset ) , as if someone had lowered the roof on a 1969 MG convertible and let the sunshine in. In fact, cars and driving figure prominently on the songs "The Art Of Driving" and "The English Motorway." "Sex Life" is sexier and more suggestive than anything Madonna did on her last album, coming up with all sorts of sexual combinations to a seductive beat "in your dreams." "French Rock 'n' Roll" would fit in on the aforementioned Mellow disc, while the dreams continue on "Straight Life" in their dream home "away from alternative culture/transient people coming in and out" of their lives to a vintage beat. "Brutality," which celebrates "good old fashioned barbarity," calls for sadism in go-go boots.
