Category: Highly Recommended by Powerpopaholic

Adrian Bourgeois “Pop/Art”

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It’s been a while since his debut album, and Adrian Bourgeois can hold it back no longer. Adrian returns with a massive collection of songs, 24 tracks that feels like an anthology. Richly melodic, the singer songwriter covers all the bases here.

Opening with the delicate ballad “New December” that swells to a full orchestral production. Another early standout is “Everybody Knows Its Me” a sweet combination of both Todd Rundgren and Nilsson. Then the album veers into folk singer mode with “Pictures of Incense” and “Jonah.” Comparisons to Robert Harrison (Cotton Mather) come out on certain tracks, “Waterfalls” slide guitar goodness and the sharp lyrics on “Hanging Day” stand out. The Phil Spector wall of sound approach works well on “Aquarium” and the yearning ballad “Don’t Look Away” is another winner.

And although not every melody sticks with you, so many pop styles are explored its hard to find an outright flop here. More gems include the “Shot In The Dark” which is a memorable duet with Paige Lewis. “Sunflower” is another epic love story in pop form. He explores a roots rock sound with “The Howling Wind” and bouncy electronica on “Better” and “Parachutes,” but Adrian really shines with the orchestral ballads throughout. There is a lot of music here, so give yourself time to drink it all in. Highly Recommended and it gets added to my year end list. Available on Bandcamp and Adrian’s web site, plus you can pick up his debut for free.

Stoney and Midrone

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Stoney “More Than Animals”
The media is always looking to find the next “big” musical rock star to move the masses, and Mark Stoney is positioned to be it. Fans of Arcade Fire and Coldplay will find Stoney’s dramatic vocals and stadium sized themes most pleasing as heard on the opening track “Sweet Release.” The echoing background harmonies are layered just right into a pretty well slick pop hook. “The Score” goes in a different direction, getting darker almost shoegaze like, but maintains a driving riff that keeps you hooked till the end. “Defiantly Loved” goes back to that big theme, with a huge chorus that demands attention.

Stoney doesn’t sit in any genre too long, so labeling him is difficult but its clear he appreciates a good pop melody. “Devil On My Back” goes back to the catchy goth angst that bands like Muse and The Doves thrive on.  “Bedpost” proves to carry the most emotion – it feels like an album finale, and the tracks after it lack the energy to carry Stoney over the finish line until the very Beck-like blues-pop of “Round Here.” There is plenty here to love and recommend, so catch Stoney now before fame catches him first.

Bandcamp

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Midrone “My Kingdom”
Paul J.N. is a musician from Madrid, Spain known as Midrone. He favors a polished synth-pop sound, that is highly influenced by Nik Kershaw and Howard Jones. While the song “Addicted To You” takes a while to build up, it rewards the patient listener with a fine melody. If you enjoyed the melodies of Dynamo Bliss, you will also like “Blood On Your Hands” with its excellent chord shifts. Paul’s vocals are a bit pedestrian, but the vocorder effects keep songs like “the Best Day Of Your Life” fresh and exciting.

What makes Midrone special is the compositions, “Another Land” is a big highlight, a beautiful piano melody comparable with Julian Lennon and the disco rhythms of “Ghosts” and “Little By Little” will bring you back to the Godley and Creme era of pop. My only pet peeve here is that the songs are too long (a few over 5 minutes) but don’t let that stop you from sampling these impressive synth-pop songs.

Itunes | Amazon

Evil Arrows and Steven Bakur

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Evil Arrows “EP 1”
With Evil Arrows, Bryan Scary has scaled back the stylistic excess that flowed freely with The Shedding Tears. But the catchy melodies are still there and the simpler compositions allow the listener to absorb the songs better.

The first track “Romancer” starts with a sparse guitar strum, then the signature sticky chorus starts up with great percussion and bass lines. “Silver Bird” is another ear worm with Bryan’s vaudevillian keyboard skills. “The Lovers” is a sweet combination of bouncy melody and somber guitar licks. Every track here shines and production is clean and straightforward. First on my list for best EP of 2014, and it bodes well for future Arrows releases.

Amazon


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Steven Bakur “Sooner Than Later”
Bakur is an adult contemporary pop musician with a polished sound, starting with “Sasha Says,” a jingle jangle pop tune with rock guitar riffs in the chorus that really come to life.”Comes & Goes” is very much like a Peter Cetera song with sweeping dramatic chords about a tragic female figure, “…her life’s so wrong.”

Bakur’s guitar opens up “So Shy,” with piano and orchestral accents driving the chorus and its another highlight. Vocally Steven does a good job, but occasionally a few tracks do feel like sketched ideas (“Sorry”) or treacle (“Mannequin”). The first half has the best music, sure to appeal to fans of Richard X. Heyman or Van Morrison. Give it a try.

CD Baby | Amazon

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Bubble Gum Orchestra and The Sensibles

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Bubble Gum Orchestra “The Discovery”
“The Discovery” is Bubble Gum Orchestra’s third album release, created by Jeff Lynne clone Michael Laine Hildebrandt and assisted by brother guitarist/keyboardist Douglas Hildebrandt, accordionist Mitch Rogers, frontman/keyboardist Les Farrington (Sugarbomb) and ex-Wings trumpeter Steve Howard. As expected Hildebrandt takes the stylistic template of ELO and builds original pop compositions.

Catchy and bouncy “Lovely Days, Lovely Nights” is a great example of using the ELO style without over emulating. And he keeps the novelty approach at arms length, except for the tribute to “Evil Woman” with “Evil, Evil Girl.” It’s still a worthy follow up to the original, and “New York City” is another gem that salutes the environs of the late John Lennon. A Beatlesque “First Time For Everything” is another terrific tune, and “One More Night” borrows heavily from ELO’s “Showdown.” And until Mr. Lynne can deliver another ELO album, this will do just fine.

CD Baby | Amazon

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The Sensibles “A Bunch of Animals”
Punk pop band from Italy, The Sensibles comes out of the gate with “Happy” which sounds like a rocking’ party at a dog pound, with vocals similar to Shonen Knife. Each track stays in the 2 -3 minute range, its a perfect example of bubblegum punk. Fans of The Muffs, Ramones, and Yum Yums will love this. Highlights include “Confetti Blizzard,” “I’m A Brat,” “I Want Your Blood,” and “Silly Song.”

The party atmosphere continues throughout the album, and doesn’t leave your head. The tempos vary a bit to keep things from getting tiresome, so if you ever wanted to party at a zoo, I highly recommend this album. At 3 euro (about $4.00) its a bargain too!

Bandcamp Only

Celebrating The Arrival of The Beatles at JFK Airport

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[cycloneslider id=”honoring-beatles-50th-anniversary” fx=”fade” timeout=”5000″ speed=”1000″ width=”600″ height=”400″ show_prev_next=”true” show_nav=”true” hover_pause=”true”] I was very lucky to get into the ceremony celebrating the arrival of The Beatles at JFK Airport in 1964. The NY news media was there in force as they met with Beatle fans and other dignitaries at the event in the famous TWA Flight Center, a building that Port Authority Executive Director  Pat Foye described “painstakingly recreated” as a symbol of the early sixties “jet age.”

The one official getting most of the attention was Gary Millar, the Lord Mayor Councillor of Liverpool (UK). I also met Billy J. Kramer, a British Invasion/Merseybeat singer who often opened for the Fab Four in those early days. A commemorative plaque was unveiled for the occasion, and the Beatles cover band Liverpool played a few songs in advance of this weekend’s Fest for Beatles Fans. Check out Liverpool’s performance embedded on the last slide above. (Note: Keep your mouse pointer in the slide area to view the video without interruption.)

Glen_BurticI was fortunate to do a mini-interview with Liverpool lead singer/guitarist Glen Burtnik. It was pretty cool even though I was “winging it.” Glen was very friendly and approachable, he’s worked alongside Marshall Crenshaw in Broadway’s Beatlemania and mentored Graham Alexander. We started talking before I even got his full name!