Andy Lehman and Ray Mason

Andy Lehman & The Night Moves “Low Country”

Andy Lehman’s debut “Landline” showed a lot of promise, and his development continues here. With help from his new band, The Night Moves, he’s left the harder guitar sound to a softer, glossier approach. An excellent single is the emotional “An Arrow Flew” where the strings build to an exuberant chorus. The production has a wide open sound that works well on ballads “I Smelled You On The Breeze” where it conveys brilliant pop longing, I’ve not heard since George Michael. Unfortunately it doesn’t help on lighter pop like “Million To One” where a catchy song drowns in echo-filled instrumentation. On “Wolf’s In Sheep’s Clothing” Andy sounds a little like family friendly alt rockers The Fray or Train here. Songs like this and “All Along The Roads We Walked” sound too commercial to me, but they are good quality songs. For me, the gorgeous ballads like “Missing At The Docks” and “Moving With You” make up for this. Give it a try, you can get a FREE sampler on Andy’s site.

MySpace | Amazon | Aimee Street | Get a FREE Song Sampler


Ray Mason “Like Bugs Chewing On Paper”

Americana rocker Ray Mason is an amalgam of The Barenaked Ladies and Tom Petty, where you can hear a song about almost anything, like an earnest tune about your “Lunch Box.” Mason with his trademark Silvertone guitar has been pumping out music albums since 1996, and it’s an acquired taste. The slow tempo of “Shooting Over The Head” gives way to a full upbeat rocker, with tempo shifts and strings for emphasis. All this is pretty melodic, even the title track, with goofy lyrics about aliens/bugs… “what’s it about a desert in outer space, don’t these creatures like any other place.” Mason has a speaking/singing approach on most of the album that contrasts with his brilliant musicianship. But after albums mid point, it really takes off. My favorite here is “Tourist In Town” – like Stew (Passing Strange) or Todd Rundgren, it’s a funky mix of rock and storytelling through a stream of consciousness narrative. Another highlight is the fun “Everything Worked” with Ray’s best vocal performance. When you hear “Ceiling” you will wonder, Ray could probably write an ode to a lawn sprinkler and you’d love to hear it.

MySpace | CD Baby

Giving thanks this holiday season

While you are passing out leftover turkey over the next couple of days, there are quite a bit of NEW holiday releases out there to help cure the post-Thanksgiving blues. So let loose those holiday songs!

Greg Pope “Christmas Snow”

When the king of power pop plays we listen, even if it’s one song. Being from the South, Greg rarely gets any snow on Christmas, so when it comes its extra special. Based on a poem that he used to recite to his four year old, I’m glad he made it into a song we all can enjoy.
MySpace | Amazon

Jana Peri “I Hate The Holidays”

After a hearing her single on the IPO compilation, this was the next logical step. Peri is a true talent, and for those with a bit of Scrooge in your step, check out the single on My Space – soon to appear on CD Baby.
MySpace | CD Baby

Andy Goldberg “Jingle Jangle Pop” EP

It wouldn’t really be the holidays without Andy Goldberg and his tune “Chanukah Guy” about a jew who loves Christmas, featuring Rich Pagano from The Fab Faux on drums. The EP also contains new songs from Andy’s other pop group The Sun Kings – shine a light this season with an excellent holiday EP only at iTunes. Get any of The Goldbergs other CDs on CD Baby.
MySpace | CD Baby | Itunes

Andrew Ripp “Blue Sky Christmas” EP

Criminally underrated, Andrew Ripp has a tremendous vocal, and here it provides with a neat little holiday EP for FREE when you spread the word with Noise Trade. In all a total of three songs, it’s a perfect addition to your holiday music mix.
MySpace | NoiseTrade

David Dewese “Next Christmas”

Forget some meager little holiday single or EP. David Dewese has full blown Christmas album here, listen to the entire thing streaming from his website. A mix of traditional songs (“Silent Night”) and a few originals (“Still, Still, Still”). Done with catchy guitar and piano it’s so far my favorite holiday album.
David’s Website | MySpace | Itunes

The Muppets "Bohemian Rhapsody"

How can you not enjoy this one — I love Animal forgetting the lyrics and just yelling “Mama! Mama! Mama!” and Beaker’s high notes. Freddy is giving a big thumbs up from heaven. I loved all those classic performances on the Muppet Show, now you can see it all again on DVD.

The Muppet Show – Season One (Special Edition)

Girl in A Coma. The Power Popaholic interview.

Another good month as far as interviews go, San Antonio trio Girl In A Coma is comprised of siblings Nina and Phanie Diaz, and complemented by childhood friend Jenn Alva on bass. I was lucky enough to have Nina for a few minutes, and I interviewed her for The Rock and Roll Report. If you’d like to know why they are such an exciting band, check out my review of the new album. Even more musician interviews are coming, so check back often on Power Popaholic!

Anny Celsi "Tangle-Free World"

If you combine equal parts of Laurie Biagini and The Gripweeds Kristin Pinell, you may likely end up with Anny Celsi. Anny Celsi is a west coast musician with links to Brian Wilson band alum Nelson Bragg, who produced the album. The title track is a good example of the Byrdsian jangle and exquisite psyche-pop harmonies perfect for a long car ride. Anny’s follow up song “Thanksgiving In Hollywood” starts slow but grows to a rich folk tapestry of guitars, and then she does a country ballad on “First Love Freezes” with a melancholy, but beautiful vocal lead. The Motown soul balladry of “Now You Can Hurt Me” is a nice change of pace here, that compares well with those classic girl groups of the 60’s. A bit of Bacharach styled pop is visible on “Own Sweet Time,” and it’s a gorgeous tune but I expected Anny to belt this one out, and her voice just stays too gentle and sweet here. A cover of Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra’s “Some Velvet Morning” (with Bragg and additional members of Brian Wilson’s band) is so effective, I would be really cool with a full album of this type of material (okay guys, get to work). Another highlight here is the strong hook of “Piece of Heaven,” full of jangle guitars and floating background harmonies. Anny is super talented here and the production work is superb as well. Fans of classic sixties pop influences should pick this one up right away.

My Space | CD Baby