Christine And The Queens - Chaleur Humaine (2014)

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Héloïse Adélaïde Letissier (French pronunciation: ​[elɔiz adelaid lətisje]; born 1 June 1988), known professionally as Christine and the Queens or occasionally simply Chris, is a French singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Nantes, she started learning piano at the age of four and found inspiration in one of London's clubs while studying. Christine released a series of extended plays throughout 2011–2013.

Her debut album, Chaleur humaine (2014), received critical acclaim, reached number 2 on both French and UK charts.

It took a while to introduce Christine and the Queens' self-described "freakpop" to the world. The group's debut album first arrived in 2014 as Chaleur Humaine in frontwoman Héloïse Létissier's native France, then it was issued in the United States in 2015 as Christine and the Queens, and finally as a deluxe U.K. edition of Chaleur Humaine in early 2016. 

The acclaim for the album -- whatever its title -- only grew with each release, and rightfully so: on Chaleur Humaine, Christine and the Queens don't just embrace differences, they see them as beautiful. Within the album's lovely synth pop, there's strangeness and strength; "I'm doing my face with magic marker," Létissier sings on "Christine," a subtly irresistible track with the power of an anthem in the making. 

A similar independence pulses through the gorgeous "Saint Claude," which depicts the moment of walking away or committing entirely with heart-stopping beauty. As Chaleur Humaine unfolds, Christine reveals herself as less of a disguise and more of a prism for Létissier's distinctive outlook. 

She addresses her pansexuality throughout the album, subtly on songs like the aforementioned "Christine" and more directly on "Half Ladies" and "iT," a call-and-response track with the Queens where her backing band sings "She's a man now/And there's nothing we can do." 

This fluidity extends to the ease with which Létissier blends French traditions with contemporary pop, hip-hop, and R&B. 

She mixes all of the above on "Paradis Perdus," an interpolation of Kanye West's "Heartless" and Christophe's 1973 hit "Les Paradis Perdus," transforming them into something with its own emotive power. Elsewhere, the band balances the urgency of songs such as "Safe and Holy" and gentler moments like "Nuit 17 à 52" with a grace reflecting Létissier's former life as a dancer. 

Indeed, Christine and the Queens' emotional and musical agility only makes Chaleur Humaine's heartfelt, thoughtful pop that much richer and rewarding. 

Chaleur humaine - French edition

1.  iT - 3:38 

2.  Saint Claude - 3:59 

3.  Christine - 3:54 

4.  Science fiction - 3:39

5.  Paradis Perdus  (Christophe, Jean Michel Jarre) - 3:35 

6.  Half Ladies - 4:18 

7.  Chaleur humaine - 3:57 

8.  Narcissus Is Back - 3:28 

9.  Ugly-Pretty - 3:25 

10.  Nuit 17 à 52 - 4:22 

11.  Here" Letissier - 4:27 

Companies, etc.

• Mixed At – The Mix Room
• Recorded At – RAK Studios
• Recorded At – 123 Studios
• Recorded At – Smokehouse Studios
• Mastered At – Alchemy Mastering

Credits

• A&R – Julien Bescond
• Arranged By [Strings] – Andy Waterworth (tracks: 11), Bridget Samuels (tracks: 2), Christine And The Queens (tracks: Except 2)
• Artwork By – Uncle 0
• Backing Vocals [Italian] – Gabriel Stebbing (tracks: 4)
• Bass Guitar – Gabriel Stebbing (tracks: 10), Michael Lovett (2) (tracks: 1, 4)
• Cello – Gabriel Stebbing (tracks: 7)
• Composed By – Christophe (tracks: 5)
• Cymbal – Gabriel Stebbing (tracks: 11)
• Drum Programming – Christine And The Queens (tracks: 5)
• Drum Programming, Synthesizer [Bass], Producer, Mixed By – Ash Workman
• Electric Guitar – Gabriel Stebbing (tracks: 6, 9, 11), Michael Lovett (2) (tracks: 4, 8)
• Management – Flavie Jaubert
• Mastered By – Matt Colton
• Orchestrated By [Strings], Directed By [Strings] – Andy Waterworth
• Organ [Hammond] – Gabriel Stebbing (tracks: 11)
• Percussion – Michael Lovett (2) (tracks: 3)
• Photography – DR
• Piano – Cicely Goulder (tracks: 2, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10), Gabriel Stebbing (tracks: 7)
• Piano [Fender Rhodes] – Gabriel Stebbing (tracks: 5, 6, 10), Michael Lovett (2) (tracks: 1)
• Recorded By [Assistant] [Strings] – Mike Horner
• Recorded By [Strings] – Richard Woodcraft
• Saxophone – Ash Workman (tracks: 6)
• Shaker – Gabriel Stebbing (tracks: 9)
• Synthesizer – Gabriel Stebbing (tracks: 6, 7, 9, 10, 11), Michael Lovett (2) (tracks: 2, 3, 4, 8)
• Synthesizer [Bass] – Christine And The Queens (tracks: 9)
• Tambourine – Gabriel Stebbing (tracks: 6)
• Written By – Jean-Michel Jarre (tracks: 5)
• Written By, Composed By, Arranged By, Vocals, Producer – Christine And The Queens (tracks: Except 5)

Notes

Released:  2 June 2014 

Recorded at:  Studio: RAK Studios ·  123 Studios ·  Smokehouse Studios

Genre:  Synth-pop, Electronic, Leftfield 

Length:  47:03 

Label - Because

Todd Terje - It's Album Time (2014)

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Terje Olsen (born 1981), known professionally as Todd Terje, is a Norwegian DJ, songwriter, and record producer. His stage name is a homage to house music producer Todd Terry.

Called "King of the summer jams" by Mixmag, "one third of the Holy Trinity of Norwegian disco" by Spin magazine, and "one of [the Scandinavian dance scene's] prominent figures" by AllMusic, Todd Terje made his name with a string of remixes and re-edits in the mid 2000s. 

He is the younger brother of Olaf Olsen, who often performs drums for Terje's live shows. 

It's Album Time is the debut studio album by Norwegian DJ and record producer Todd Terje, released on 8 April 2014 by Olsen Records. The album was self-produced by Terje and was recorded in a span of three years. It was met with generally positive reviews from music critics upon release. The album debuted at number 2 in Terje's home country of Norway, number 4 on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums chart, number 23 on the UK Albums Chart, and number 6 on the UK Dance Albums chart.

After a decade of releasing singles, remixes, and edits to large amounts of acclaim among in-the-know dance music fans, Norwegian whiz kid Todd Terje finally made an album of his own in 2014. It's Album Time is a pretty self-explanatory title, though it could have been called "I Love Many Different Styles of Dance Music and Will Proceed to Put My Warped Spin on All of Them." 

Well, that one would have been a mouthful, but it does sort of explain what was in Terje's head as he whips from one style to the next over the course of the record's 12 tracks. Stylish neo-disco is what he's best known for, and if any one style dominates, it's that. Bouncy dancefloor fillers like "Strandbar," "Inspector Norse," "Swing Star, Pt. 2," and the light-as-a-feather "Oh Joy" set the dials for the heart of the disco ball and form the shiny center of the album. Terje's unerring grooves and the sophisticated and melodic sounds he lays over the beat make them the easiest tracks to love. 

He's less successful when heading off the floor and into the chillout lounge ("Leisure Suit Preben"), the tiki room ("Preben Goes to Acapulco"), or whatever strange place the impossible-to-describe (or listen to more than once) "Svensk Sås" resides, though he does get lucky with a guitar-strumming electro '80s style ("Delorean Dynamite") that begs to have some vocoder vocals over the top. 

The sweeping, ice-colored synths get the job done fine anyway, and it seems like a path Terje would be wise to follow on future releases. The same can't be said for the one vocal feature on the record that finds a sepulchral Bryan Ferry croaking a version of Robert Palmer's "Johnny and Mary" that Terje decides to take at "Chariots of Fire" tempo and with the same level of portentous drama. It's a huge misstep that threatens to derail the album and wipe away all the good that exists. 

Take it out, along with a couple of filler-y tracks, and It's Album Time is a solid debut. As it stands, it's a hard album to get your head around and it's a hard album to fully embrace. Terje should set aside the experiments and just focus on making sleek and shiny electro-disco tracks; the rest only gets in the way of a good time.

Six singles have been released from the album: "Inspector Norse", "Strandbar", "Delorean Dynamite", "Leisure Suit Preben", "Johnny and Mary" featuring Bryan Ferry, and "Alfonso Muskedunder".

Track listing

1.  Intro (It's Album Time) - 1:40 

2.  Leisure Suit Preben - 4:20 

3.  Preben Goes to Acapulco - 4:35 

4.  Svensk Sås ("Swedish Sauce") - 2:43 

5.  Strandbar ("Beach Bar") - 4:28 

6.  Delorean Dynamite - 6:45 

7.  Johnny and Mary  (featuring Bryan Ferry) - 6:32 

8.  Alfonso Muskedunder - 3:24 

9.  Swing Star (Part 1) - 4:18 

10.  Swing Star (Part 2) - 6:17 

11.  Oh Joy - 7:09 

12.  Inspector Norse - 6:59 

All music is composed by Terje Olsen, except track 4 written by Bosse Norgren and track 7 written by Robert Palmer.

Companies, etc.

• Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Olsen Records
• Copyright © – Olsen Records
• Distributed By – Kobalt Label Services
• Distributed By – Awal
• Manufactured By – Kobalt Label Services
• Manufactured By – Awal
• Made By – www.keyproduction.co.uk
• Glass Mastered at – Sony DADC, Southwater

Credits

• Artwork – Bendik Kaltenborn
• Written-By – Bo Sven Norgren (tracks: 4), Robert Palmer (tracks: 7), Terje Olsen (tracks: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11)

Notes

Released:  8 April 2014 

Recorded:  2011–2014 

Genre:  Electro-disco, exotica, space disco

Length:  59:10 

Label - Olsen 

The Knife - Shaking the Habitual (2013) - 2CD

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The Knife were a Swedish electronic music duo from Gothenburg, formed in 1999. The group consisted of siblings Karin and Olof Dreijer, who together also run their own record company, Rabid Records. 

On their fourth studio album, the Knife don't change their habits as much as they push themselves to extremes. Despite its 100-minute length and political overtones, musically Shaking the Habitual isn't as radical a change as Silent Shout's sustained dread was from its predecessor, the relatively cheery Deep Cuts. 

The DNA of "Like a Pen," "From Off to On," and "We Share Our Mothers' Health" remains, albeit in heavily mutated forms, in the album's double-jointed beats, writhing textures, and deep tones. 

Rather, the album's title describes the Knife's mindset, which is restless and swarming with ideas; they're challenging their audience with these songs, but first and foremost, they're challenging themselves. There is nothing comforting about this album, something suggested by the two songs issued before its release. "A Tooth for an Eye" turns the steel drums the Knife have used since the beginning into something anguished and alien as Karin Dreijer howls "ice, ice, ice." 

"Full of Fire" ratchets this tension up several notches, starting with distorted beats that sound like they're burning, then (d)evolving into mangled electronics while Dreijer insistently hectors and interrogates her listeners and herself: "What's the story?/What's my opinion?" 

Yet there's much more to Shaking the Habitual than even those singles could have suggested. It's more like a performance art piece than a collection of pop songs, underscoring how important their work on the Darwinian opera Tomorrow, in a Year was to their artistic growth. Dreijer is as much of an actress as she is a singer on these tracks, particularly on "Networking," where her chittering, echoing vocals evoke the spread of a virus or a hive mind turning on itself. 

Meanwhile, "Fracking Fluid Injection"'s juxtaposition of her cawing cries and increasingly violent, slicing percussion is far subtler -- and more nightmarish -- than merely expressing the earth's suffering as oil is pulled from it. Shaking the Habitual is often more scary than it is dark, a distinction that only a group like the Knife could make. Even "Old Dreams Waiting to Be Realized," which taunts listeners with nearly 20 minutes of slow-building drones, doesn't just set an eerie mood; it's unabashedly confrontational, even if the Knife aren't as direct about it as they are elsewhere on the album. When they are direct about it, it makes for some of their most striking music, whether it's "Without You My Life Would Be Boring"'s pagan pop, the ferociously tribal "Raging Lung," or "Stay Out Here," a spine-tingling duet with Light Asylum's Shannon Funchess. Shaking the Habitual isn't as cohesive or accessible as Silent Shout, and after experiencing the whole thing, fans may not return to it often, but it's hard to deny that it's an often stunning work of art. 

Rawer yet more sophisticated than any of their previous music, it sounds like a skin being shed, and it's a testament to the Knife's skill that they make such formidable sounds so compelling for so long. 

Disc one

1. A Tooth for an Eye - 6:04 

2. Full of Fire - 9:17 

3. A Cherry on Top - 8:43 

4. Without You My Life Would Be Boring - 5:14 

5. Wrap Your Arms Around Me - 4:36 

6. Crake - 0:55 

7. Old Dreams Waiting to Be Realized - 19:02 

Disc two

1. Raging Lung - 9:58 

2. Networking - 6:42 

3. Oryx - 0:37 

4. Stay Out Here  (with Shannon Funchess and Emily Roysdon; lyrics: Roysdon; music: Funchess, Roysdon, The Knife) - 10:42 

5. Fracking Fluid Injection - 9:54 

6. Ready to Lose - 4:36 

All tracks are written by the Knife, except where noted.

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Shaking the Habitual.

• The Knife – recording,production, mixing
• Shannon Funchess – vocals on "Stay Out Here"
• Mikael Häggström – maracas on "Wrap Your Arms Around Me"
• Johannes Berglund – mixing
• Mandy Parnell – mastering
• Liv Strömquist – comic, typeface Liv Fraktura
• Studio SM – artwork
• Martin Falck – artwork

Notes

Released:  5 April 2013 

Recorded:  2010–2012 Studio Stockholm and Berlin 

Genre:  Electronic, Experimental

Length:  53:51 (Disc 1)

              96:20 (Disc 2) 

Label - Rabid 

Tim Christensen And The Damn Crystals - Tim Christensen And The Damn Crystals (2012)

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Tim Christensen and The Damn Crystals is the fourth studio album by Danish singer-songwriter Tim Christensen, and the eponymous first album of the formation Tim Christensen and The Damn Crystals.

In many respects, Christensen's fourth studio album is a clear break with his previous albums. Among others the mixing and mastering are performed by different people than those Christensen usually worked with. This was because he wanted to try something new. He wanted to record in a new manner, with a new co-producer and in a new studio.

Christensen's first three solo albums got progressively quieter and more mature but this trend has come to a halt with this album being "noticeably less quiet than Superior." Christensen also announced well in advance that "the album has a lot of rock elements here and there. In general you can say that it's less acoustic and less traditional singer/songwriter-ish as last time and more outgoing and band-like," He nevertheless had to fight off the expectations he is making music in line with his former band, Dizzy Mizz Lizzy, with whom he had been on a reunion tour prior to recording this album. He claims to have kept Dizzy Mizz Lizzy "extremely separated" from his professional development.

Previously, Christensen used to write the songs and record the bulk of instruments by himself, but this time he chose to compose and record the album with the backing band he has had since 2005, which is now named The Damn Crystals. Christensen felt that working as a team during the Superior tour had turned out very well which is why he chose to invite the band members to join him throughout the entire creative process. It was described as coming out of his comfort zone, letting go of control, and breaking with his ego-trip. According to Christensen, "I posed myself a bit of a challenge to let others join in, but it has actually been surprisingly easy," and "A totally different energy has come to this plate because we worked with four more on it. On the whole it has become so much better."

A total of 12 songs were being considered for the new album.

The album opens with the 11-minute progrock title track "The Damn Crystals". This may be a contracted track of "Reach Out" and "Where the Wild Roses Grow", which are two song titles that appear on an alternate track listing from which the title track's name is missing.

"Surprise Me" was the first single off the album, released on 24 October 2011. According to Christensen, "the single might be the most classic rock-track of the bunch."

"Love and Water" was originally written for Honeyburst while "I'll Let You Know" was written for Christensen's first solo album Secrets on Parade but was skipped as it did not fit into that album's context.

The title to "Far Beyond Driven" was borrowed from Pantera's album title Far Beyond Driven, as Christensen used it as a placeholder lyric when playing a song hook on the acoustic guitar, but was unable to find better lyrics to replace it.

It was uncertain whether the ballad "Never Be One Until We're Two" would be released on this album because of the heavier sound Christensen intended to give this album. The song was known to the audience because Christensen had played it on several occasions, including at Lille VEGA in Copenhagen on 16 September 2009 and on a Dutch radio show on 12 November 2009.

"Caught in the Arms of..." (working title: "Caught in the Eye of...") was likely to make its way onto the album. An unfinished acoustic version of this song appears throughout the documentary "Tim Christensen: From Roskilde to Abbey Road", and a studio version was requested by many fans. The song was completed but not included on the album.

Track listing

1.  The Damn Crystals - 10:46 

2.  Surprise Me - 4:06 

3.  Far Beyond Driven - 4:02 

4.  Million Miles Away - 3:58 

5.  Happy Ever After - 4:44 

6.  I'll Let You Know - 3:49 

7.  Love and Water - 3:11 

8.  All Them Losers - 2:58 

9.  Wiser - 4:40 

10.  Never Be One Until We're Two - 3:33 

All music composed by Tim Christensen. All songs arranged by Tim Christensen and The Damn Crystals, except "Never Be One Until We're Two", arranged by Tim Christensen.

Tim Christensen and The Damn Crystals

• Tim Christensen – lead vocals, guitars, record producer
• Lars Skjærbæk – guitars, vocals
• Søren Koch – bass guitar, vocals
• Christoffer Møller – keyboards, vocals
• Jesper Lind – drums

Production

• Rune Harder Olesen – additional percussion
• Frank Birch Pontoppidan – engineer and mixer (on tracks 1–9), producer
• Flemming Rasmussen – mixer (on track 2)
• Rune Nissen-Petersen – engineer and mixer (on track 10)
• The Damn Crystals – producer
• Nick Foss – executive producer
• Mads Mølgaard Helbæk – assistant engineer
• George Marino – mastering
• Nikolaj Vinten – additional mastering and editing
• Paul Wilson – art director
• Helene Hasen – photography
• Silke Hansen – model
• Sabrina Szinay – stylist
• Henrik Seifert – manager

Notes

Released:  25 November 2011 

Recorded:  28 January – 11 February 2011 STC Studios (Copenhagen)/ Grapehouse Studio (Copenhagen; track 10) 

Genre:  Rock 

Length:  45:49 

Label - Mermaid, Sony Music

Les Nubians - One Step Forward (2003)

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After guest appearances on Guru and Talib Kweli, as well as the Red Hot + Riot collection, Les Nubians finally return with the follow-up to 1998’s Princesses Nubiennes, the most popular French language album stateside in more than a decade. 

One Step Forward has the same Sade-meets-Zap Mama soul groove vibe that sisters Hélène and Célia Faussart are known for, but the duo adds a few new wrinkles to the mix this time around. There’s a distinct reggae influence to songs "El Son Raggae" and "Brothers & Sisters," which features Morgan Heritage. 

Even though their voices are as sassy and sexy as ever, they sing a bit more in English, but French language gems "Amour A Mort" and "J’Veux D’la Musique," two of the album’s strongest tracks, need little translation. For the most part though, One Step Forward is more self assured and richly textured, nicely refining a winning formula that will no doubt enchant the many fans of its predecessor.

The surprise breakthrough of Les Nubians version of Sade's mellow and soulful ballad, "The Sweetest Taboo," helped their American debut, Les Princesses Nubiennes to achieve a higher position on the Billboard charts than any other French-language album in the previous decade. 

 The sweet, seamless harmonies achieved by sisters Helene and Celia Faussart made an already hypnotic song intoxicating. So, it is no surprise that in their follow-up effort, One Step Forward, that those harmonies sung in the same soft, rounded, African-inflected French language would charm in the same way. 

What seems less successful are the English language efforts, especially the radio-friendly first single, "Temperature Rising," which features a stylish, if somewhat out-of-place rap delivered by Talib Kweli that seems grafted on. 

The sisters' trademark smoothness is diminished when they sing in English, which becomes even more obvious on their reggae-flavored duet with Morgan Heritage. 

Here the sisters flow from English to French throughout the song, and you can almost feel them tensing up and straining whenever they switch. 

Thankfully, though, such stumbles are few and far between on the album. Recorded in Jamaica, One Step Forward as a whole has a lulling, laid back, tropical feel that seems to effortlessly encompass jazz, African rhythms, R&B, pop and electronic sounds. 

Track listing

1.  Nu-Hymne - 1:01

2.  Temperature Rising  (Featuring – Talib Kweli) - 4:02

3.  J'Veux D'La Musique (Tout Le Temps...) - 4:28

4.  La Guerre - 7:35

5.  El Son Reggae - 3:52

6.  One Step Forward - 5:50

7.  Brothers & Sisters  (Featuring – Morgan Heritage) - 4:17

8.  Me & Me - 4:53

9.  Take T (Interlude Lounge Intermezzo) - 1:24

10.  Amour À Mort - 5:41

11.  Insomnie - 4:19

12.  Que Le Mot Soit Perle - 5:08

13.  Unfaithful / Si Infidèle - 4:14

14.  Saravah - 4:55

15.  Immortel Cheikh Anta Diop - 5:58

16.  Temperature Rising - 4:01

Credits

• A&R – Thierry Planelle
• Artwork – Sébastien Theurier
• Lyrics By – Célia Faussart , Hélène Faussart 
• Management – J. Ebella
• Mastered By – John Davis 
• Mastered By [Vinyl Cut] – RV-TR
• Mixed By – Lee Hamblin
• Music By – Les Nubians, M. Belkhir 
• Other [Hair] – Hairytaj, Tish
• Other [Makeup] – Justin Henry
• Other [Styling] – Fifi Bell, Yvette Ebengué
• Photography By – Marc Baptiste
• Photography By [Studio] – L.N.F., Renaud De Greef
• Photography [Studio] – Zoé
• Producer – Mounir Belkhir 
• Recorded By – Yves Testé
• Vocals – Célia Faussart, Hélène Faussart

Notes

Release Date: March 25, 2003 

Recording Location:

Electric Lady Studios, New York, NY 

Geejam Studios, Jamaica 

La Ka Studio, Marseille, France 

Sony Music Studios, London, England 

Twin Studios, Paris, France

Genre: R&B, Neo Soul

Styles: Reggae

Duration: 1:10:03 

Label - Virgin

Journey - Evolution (1979)

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Evolution is the fifth studio album by American rock band Journey. Released in April 5, 1979 on Columbia Records, it is their first album to feature drummer Steve Smith.It was the band's most successful album at that time, charting at No. 20 on the US Billboard 200 chart. It has sold three million copies in the US. 

They retained Roy Thomas Baker (best known for his work with Queen) as producer, but drummer Aynsley Dunbar was replaced with Smith, formerly with Ronnie Montrose's band.

Evolution features their first top 20 hit, "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'", which was inspired by the classic Sam Cooke top 20 hit "Nothin' Can Change This Love" and reached No. 16 in the US. 

"Just the Same Way" featured original lead vocalist Gregg Rolie along with Steve Perry. 

With the platinum triumph of Infinity still ringing in their ears like coins in a slot machine, Journey was now committed to completing their transformation from jazz fusion/prog rock mavens into arena rock superstars with their fifth album, 1979's Evolution. 

This transition (also clearly illustrated by the futuristic insect gracing each album cover henceforth) would not come without its growing pains, however, and while producer Roy Thomas Baker was back for a second go-round, original drummer Aynsley Dunbar would be the first casualty of the band's new direction. 

Thankfully, former Ronnie Montrose skin-beater Steve Smith soon brought his college-trained jazz fusion background to the table, and the band was ready to get back to work. 

If Infinity had defined a new songwriting formula for the act, Evolution only served to develop it and streamlined it further, clearly qualifying as their strongest effort to date and endearing the band to millions of FM rock listeners in the process. 

With commercial rock hits like "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" (their first single to crack the Top 20), "Too Late" (which reached number 70), and the powerful "Just the Same Way" (which peaked at number 58) leading the way to radio dominance, Journey had never sounded stronger or more determined. 

And with Steve Perry's tenor pipes now clearly driving the band's engine, and guitarist Neal Schon beginning to relish in his guitar-hero persona, Journey could seemingly do no wrong. Evolution quickly became the band's biggest-selling album, and Perry and co. soon embarked on yet another mammoth tour.

Track listing

1.  Majestic (Instrumental) - 1:16 

2.  Too Late - 2:58 

3.  Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin' - 3:55 

4.  City of the Angels - 3:12 

5.  When You're Alone (It Ain't Easy) - 3:10 

6.  Sweet and Simple - 4:13 

7.  Lovin' You Is Easy - 3:38 

8.  Just the Same Way - 3:18 

9.  Do You Recall - 3:13 

10.  Daydream - 4:42 

11.  Lady Luck - 3:35 

Journey

• Steve Perry – lead vocals
• Gregg Rolie – keyboards, backing vocals, co-lead vocals (8)
• Neal Schon – guitars, Roland GR-500 guitar synthesizer, backing vocals
• Ross Valory – bass guitar, Moog bass, backing vocals
• Steve Smith – drums, percussion

Production

• Roy Thomas Baker – producer, mixing
• Geoff Workman – engineer
• George Tutko – second engineer
• Greg Schafer – production manager
• Larry Noggle, Jim Welch – package design
• Alton Kelley, Stanley Mouse – cover art
• Sam Emerson – back cover photography, liner photography
• Hiro Ito – liner photography
• Pat Morrow – liner notes
• Herbie Herbert – management

Notes

Released:  5 April 1979 

Recorded:  October – November 1978 Studio Cherokee, Los Angeles 

Genre:  Arena rock

Length:  37:10 

Label - Columbia

Tom Trago - Iris (2011)

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The Dutch producer returns with a mix of techno and vocal house that is gorgeous on the surface but harder to crack on a deeper level.

Arriving in the context of 2011 dance music's taste for niche, Tom Trago's new album Iris feels almost refreshing for its "broad church" style of eclectic populism. It wanders through a variety of dance sub-genres (admittedly all variations of house and techno) with that air of assumed ownership that used to be the hallmark of big statement dance music albums in the late 1990s. It wasn't ever thus: the Dutch producer's 2009 debut, Voyage Direct, was a rigorously focused throwback to lo-fi second wave Chicago house disco loops, as tunnel-visioned as any purist could hope for. Whether intentional or not, Iris feels like a stab at main stage crossover by comparison, a short-circuit bid for the kind of statesmanship long enjoyed by Carl Craig.

Iris even sounds like the kind of album Carl Craig might make if he got down with vocal house more intently. It cycles between dreamy, spacey, exquisitely produced mood pieces and surprisingly upfront but still painstakingly airbrushed vocal house (this time splitting the difference between first wave Chicago and brassy New York divatude), all wrapped up in a sensibility of rhythmic looseness swiped from 80s R&B. The rhythms are the album's key drawing card, fluttering and flexing with delectable voluptuousness-- a surprise given the uncompromising straightness of Voyage Direct. Trago also has a light touch with gently murmuring basslines and sweeping synth chords, wrapping them around his rhythms like so many layers of fairy floss. In fact it's difficult to think of a recent dance album so unabashedly pretty at all times, deploying its top-shelf production nous to caress, rather than impress, its audience. The gorgeous, delicate Metro Area shimmy of "Being With You" is a particular delight.

All of which should make Iris pretty compelling indeed, and I've puzzled long and hard over why it's, somehow, not. The short answer is that the vocal tunes that ought to provide the album's highlights are almost uniformly underwhelming, capturing everything but the bittersweet euphoria that is vocal house's most noble contribution to culture. On moments like the stagey soul of "Suckers For Fools" (whose repetition of its title could move less patient listeners to acts of self-harm) or the classicist diva workout of "Gave Me the Love", Trago is nothing if not scrupulous, pulling out every possible production trick and arranging with infinite care and attention to detail the succession of melodic and sonic motifs that confirm he has studied the masters. But the key to crafting truly transcendent dancefloor anthems is to conceal within them an indefinable intensity-- physical, emotional, or preferably both-- that can't be reduced to their sonic signifiers. Trago comes close to this only once, on the aching and undulating synth-disco strut of closer "Corrupt".

It's not that Trago can't do intensity. Although I'm not sure that it was the superior album, at its best Voyage Direct certainly generated a great deal of dancefloor friction. But his advance on the center stage takes him into territory well-worn with the footprints of giants of the form. To complain that Trago struggles to match the anthemism of Armand Van Helden, the lush soul of Moodymann, or the sheer physical presence of Paperclip People may be unfair, but, well, life is short and filled with great records covering the same beat. You'd probably be better served spending your time with those records, but if the prospect of inconsequential but exquisitely constructed tributes to past glories appeals, then Iris' eagerness to please probably won't lead you astray.

Track listing

1.  Life Of Plants & Flowers - 4:37

2.  Being With You - 3:36

3.  Space Balloon - 4:02

4.  What You Do  (Featuring Tyree Cooper) - 4:52

5.  Rootstopia - 2:14

6.  Suckers For Fools  (Featuring Olivier Daysoul) - 3:28

7.  Watch Me  (Featuring Meikbar) - 3:17

8.  Gave Me The Love - 4:49

9.  Soon In A Cinema - 1:57

10.  So Cold  (Featuring Om'Mas Keith) - 2:59

11.  Steppin' Out  (Featuring Romanthony) - 3:46

12.  Scent Of Heaven - 5:28

13.  Joys Of Choice - 3:19

14.  We Like Noam - 1:01

15.  Corrupt  (Featuring San Proper) - 4:28 

Companies, etc.

• Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Rush Hour Recordings
• Copyright © – Rush Hour Recordings
• Pressed By – Docdata

Credits

• Art Direction, Design – Marco Sterk
• Music Consultant – Christiaan Macdonald, Tom Trago
• Photography By – Bart Oomes, Bram Spaan
• Written-By, Producer, Mixed By – Tom Trago

Notes

Release:  2011

Genre:  House, Electro

Length:  53:59

Label - Rush Hour

Kooymans / Carillo - On Location (2010)

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George Jan Kooymans (born 11 March 1948, The Hague, Netherlands) is a Dutch guitarist and vocalist. He is best known for his work with the Dutch group Golden Earring.

Frank Carillo (born July 14, 1950) is an American rock musician. In 1971, manager Phil Lorito formed a band around Frank Carillo called Doc Holliday, with Carillo, Bob Mayo, Tom Arlotta and Bob Liggio. In 1973 they released one album, Doc Holliday.

Frank Carillo and George Kooymans are longtime friends. They have been writing together on and off since the mid-1990s. In April 2010, this resulted in their first album, On Location. Frank is also a supreme producer. When combined with George Kooymans, the results are mixed at best. I like the Carillo-penned songs like “Maybe Roses Never Die” and “Temptation” which stand out on this album. The title track “On Location” is also a winner.

There are more of Kooymans-penned songs that to me do not make it especially lyric-wise. If you are unfamiliar with this team I’d recommend you getting the Millbrook album instead by Golden Earring on which Frank Carillo also appears, or better-yet get the latest Carillo album with the Bandeleros.

 Track listing

1. All My Love Is on Location  (3:03)
2. A Blind Love   (3:57)
3. Temptation  (4:47)
4. Armageddon   (3:24)
5. Chelsea Hotel  (3:36)
6. Don’t Wanna Go Across the River   (4:35)
7. Love Is the Only Magic  (6:56)
8. A Sound I Never Heard   (3:47)
9. Maybe Roses Never Die   (3:37)
10. The Hudson Valley Ghost  (5:06)
11. Enrico Martin  (4:01)

Companies, etc.

• Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Lagune Music
• Copyright © – Lagune Music
• Licensed To – Universal Music B.V.

Credits

• Acoustic Guitar – Frank Carillo, George Kooymans
• Bass – Karl Allweier, Manuel Hugas
• Drums – Eddie Seville, Ton Dijkman
• Electric Guitar – Frank Carillo, George Kooymans
• Harmonica – Frank Carillo
• Organ – Frank Carillo , Nico Brandsen
• Percussion – Norman Deltufo
• Piano – Frank Carillo
• Slide Guitar – Frank Carillo, George Kooymans
• Vocals – Frank Carillo, George Kooymans

Notes
Release: 2010
Genre: Pop, Rock
Length: : 46:49

Label - Universal Music

Marc Broussard - Keep Coming Back (2008)

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Marc Broussard (born January 14, 1982) is an American singer-songwriter. His style is best described as "Bayou Soul", a mix of funk, blues, R&B, rock and pop, matched with distinct Southern roots.

Marc Broussard is the son of Ted Broussard, an acclaimed Louisiana Hall of Fame guitarist and former member of The Boogie Kings. Marc was raised in Carencro, Louisiana and Lafayette, Louisiana.

In 2001 Broussard was part of Y, a Christian band based out of New Iberia, Louisiana.

Keep Coming Back is the fourth studio album by Marc Broussard. It is a collection of all-new material. It debuted on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart at #136.

Who would have thought it would take a deal with Atlantic Records to uncover the raw live spirit of Louisiana singer/songwriter Marc Broussard? Broussard drew more than a few raves for his 2007 Vanguard issue S.O.S.: Save Our Soul, but it tried too hard to sound like an old-school soul record and contained only covers. 

This time out, all original material was recorded on two-inch analog tape. 

Broussard used his road band, and longtime collaborators Justin Tocket and Calvin Turner as co-producers; he knocks it out of the park. He employs a couple of Nash Vegas studio aces in keyboardist Tim Akers and guitarist Gary Burnette, the Nashville String Machine, and a seven-piece horn section to enhance the proceedings. LeAnn Rimes and Sara Bareilles sing on a track each. Keep Coming Back is a brash, very present recording rooted in Broussard's arrangements. 

Cut in 11 days, the singer claims eight songs were first takes. It's drenched in gritty Southern funk, blue-eyed soul, and swampy blues-rock. He has more in common with singers like Delbert McClinton, Delaney Bramlett, Joe South, and even Daryl Hall than the bizarre comparisons to Al Green and Donny Hathaway he got last time out. 

The set kicks off with gritty funk as Broussard comes strutting into his lyric in a relaxed but low-down backcountry seductive croon. One can feel the immediacy of the band's presence in the whomp of the snare drums, choppy guitars, and snaky keyboards winding themselves around the blanket of horns (can you say Muscle Shoals?) and a backing chorus that takes it all to party-ville.

"Hard Knocks" contains a Hendrix groove in the guitar sound, explosive bassline and staggered breaks. Broussard's voice soar's above a wall of brass. 

"Why Should We Wait," with Bareilles, is a catchy pop-soul tune--but it's far from the best thing here. The Rimes duet on "When It's Good" is a solid clue that she should sing in this vein more often. To be truthful, one has seldom heard her this up-front and fearless. 

Her emotional depth almost steals the show -- especially with the whining Dobro playing country blues in the background. But Broussard can emote in the slow ones too, and this duet recalls Delaney & Bonnie. 

"Another Night Alone" showcases his upper register and ability to croon as well as growl -- likewise for "Going Home," which is downright sexy. "Power's in the People" is a deft, anthemic political song, no matter your party preference. Musically, this track is the mythical place where War, the Staples, and Bobby Whitlock all meet. 

The references are merely that, and Broussard sounds like himself. Keep Coming Back is a conscious attempt at capturing immediacy for the listener rather than an attempt at retro revisionism. This album is full of crackling, funky Louisiana blue-eyed soul; it should should be heard by anyone with a pulse.

Track listing

1. "Keep Coming Back" - 3:34
2. "Hard Knocks" - 3:55
3. "Real Good Thing" - 3:52
4. "Why Should She Wait" (featuring Sara Bareilles) - 3:32
5. "Power's in the People" - 5:50
6. "Evil Things" - 4:04
7. "When It's Good" (featuring LeAnn Rimes) - 4:12
8. "Man for Life" - 3:27
9. "Another Night Alone" - 3:53
10. "Saying I Love You" - 3:49
11. "Going Home" - 3:42
12. "Evangeline Rose" (Untitled Bonus Track) - 3:07

Personnel

• Roy Agee - trombone
• Tim Akers - Fender Rhodes, moog bass, organ, piano, Wurlitzer
• Sara Bareilles - duet vocals on "Why Should She Wait"
• Marc Broussard - choir, lead vocals, background vocals
• Gary Burnette - acoustic guitar
• Court Clement - electric guitar
• Jeff Coffin - saxophone
• Nickie Conley - background vocals
• David Davidson - concert master, string contractor
• Mark Douthit - saxophone
• Dan Dugmore - dobro, pedal steel guitar
• Jason Eskridge - background vocals
• Chad Gilmore - drums, percussion
• Reggie Gisham - trumpet
• Barry Green - trombone
• Mike Haynes - trumpet
• DeMarco Johnson - clavinet, Fender Rhodes, piano, synthesizer bass, Wurlitzer
• Jennifer Kummer - french horn
• Ken Lewis - percussion
• Steve Patrick - trumpet
• Andrew Ramsey - background vocals
• LeAnn Rimes - duet vocals on "When It's Good"
• Shannon Sanders - background vocals
• Adam Shoenfeld - electric guitar
• Calvin Turner - bass guitar, bells, horn arrangements, horn conductor, mellotron, percussion, string arrangements, string conductor, background vocals

Notes

Release Date:  September 16, 2008 

Recording Location:  Dockside Studios, Maurice, LA / Ocean Way Studios, Nashville, TN 

Genre:  R&B

Styles:  Blue-Eyed Soul / Contemporary Singer/Songwriter / Retro-Soul

Duration:  47:07 

Label - Atlantic

The Black Keys - Attack & Release (2008)

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Attack & Release is the fifth studio album by American rock duo The Black Keys. It was produced by Danger Mouse and was released on April 1, 2008. 

The sessions saw the band transitioning away from their "homemade" ethos to record-making; not only was it the first time that the band completed an album in a professional studio, but it was also the first time they hired an outside producer to work on a record.

Leading up to the recording sessions, drummer Patrick Carney wanted to change the sound of his drums and envisioned two approaches to doing so. 

He said, "I had one of the Bonham reissue kits and I set that up in a live room. 

And then I knew I wanted a kind of '70s dead sound too, so I did the whole 'towels on the drums' thing."Attack & Release features a guest appearance by Marc Ribot, who used to play alongside Carney's uncle in Tom Waits' band.

Attack & Release debuted at number 14 on the Billboard 200. The album was ranked 83rd on Rolling Stone's list of the greatest albums of the 2000s. The song "I Got Mine" was number 23 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2008.

Back in 2002, it seemed easy to discern which of the Midwestern minimalist blues-rock duos was which: the White Stripes were the art-punks, naming albums after Dutch art movements, while the Black Keys were the nasty primitives, bashing out thrilling, raw records like their 2002 debut The Big Come Up and its 2003 follow-up Thickfreakness. Six years later, the duos appear to have switched camps, as Jack White leads the Stripes down a path of obstinate traditionalism while the Black Keys get out, way out, on their fifth album, Attack & Release. 

Evidently, their 2004 mini-masterpiece Rubber Factory represented the crest of their brutal blues wave, as ever since singer/guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney have receded from the gnarled precision of their writing and the big, brutal blues thump, they started to float into the atmosphere with their 2006 EP-length tribute to Junior Kimbrough, Chulahoma. Ever since then, the Black Keys have emphasized waves of sound over either ballast or song, something that should be evident from the choice of Danger Mouse as the producer of Attack & Release, a seemingly unlikely pair that found common ground in the form of Ike Turner. 

Danger Mouse worked with the rock & roll renegade when he produced the Gorillaz's Demon Days and the plan was to have the Black Keys cut an album with Ike but Turner's death turned the project into a full-fledged Keys album. 

That's the official story, anyway, but the timeline doesn't quite seem to fit -- Ike died December 12, 2007 and a finished copy of Attack & Release was out in February, which is an awfully short turnaround to complete an album -- nor does the sound of the album seem to fit that timeline, either, as it's elliptical, open-ended, and reliant on the spacy sonics the Black Keys have sketched out since Rubber Factory, so it's hard to imagine where Turner would have fit into this. 

But it's not hard at all to see how avant guitarist Marc Ribot fits into this elastic mix, as this is the kind of restless, textural roots-aware rock reminiscent of the spirit, if not quite the sound, of Elvis Costello and Tom Waits, two mavericks Ribot has played with in years past. 

This shift to sound over song has been so gradual for the Black Keys that Ribot's cameo doesn't seem intrusive, nor does Danger Mouse's hazy production feel forced upon the band, it's filled with details so sly they're almost imperceptible. As always, Danger Mouse encourages the band to intensify what's already there, and so Attack & Release willfully drifts, as dreamy, artfully sonic sculptures are punctured by Auerbach's rumbling guitars and Carney's clattering drums. But where the interplay of the Auerbach and Carney always felt immediate in their earliest work, there's a bit of a remove here, with the riffs used as paint brushes instead of blunt objects. 

The same can be said of the songs, where even the most immediate tunes -- "Psychotic Girl," the B-side "Remember When" -- don't grab and hold like those on the group's earliest records, and they're not really growers either, as the point here is not the individual tunes but rather the greater picture, as everything here weaves together to create a mood: one that shifts but doesn't stray, one that's nebulous but not formless, one that's evocative but not haunting. 

To be sure, it's an accomplishment and one that showcases the Black Keys' deepening skills but at times it's hard not to miss how the duo used to grab a listener by the neck and not let go. 

Track listing

1.  All You Ever Wanted -  2:55 

2.  I Got Mine - 3:58 

3.  Strange Times - 3:09 

4.  Psychotic Girl - 4:10 

5.  Lies - 3:58 

6.  Remember When (Side A) - 3:21 

7.  Remember When (Side B) - 2:10 

8.  Same Old Thing - 3:08 

9.  So He Won't Break - 4:13 

10.  Oceans and Streams - 3:25 

11.  Things Ain't Like They Used to Be - 4:34 

12.  Mr. Dibbs // Fight for Air Mash-Up (Hidden Bonus Track) - 4:03 

• "Things Ain't Like They Used to Be" features a duet between Dan Auerbach and then 17-year-old bluegrass/country singer Jessica Lea Mayfield.

All tracks are written by Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney, except "Things Ain't Like They Used to Be" by Dan Auerbach.

The Black Keys

• Dan Auerbach – vocals, guitars, bass guitar;
• Patrick Carney – drums, percussion;

Additional Musicians

• Danger Mouse (Brian Burton) – Hohner bass 3, Korg and Moog synthesizers, piano, organ
• Carla Monday – harmony vocals on "I Got Mine", "Psychotic Girl" and "Lies"
• Jessica Lea Mayfield – harmony vocals on "Things Ain't Like They Used to Be"
• Ralph Carney – jaw harp on "I Got Mine", contra bass clarinet on "Lies", clarinet on "Remember When", flute and concert bass harmonica on "Same Old Thing"
• Marc Ribot – guitar solo on "Lies" and "So He Won't Break", rhythm guitar on "Remember When (Side A)", and slide guitar on "Oceans and Streams"

Credits

• Artwork, Design – Michael Carney
• Mastered By – Robert C. Ludwig
• Mixed By – Danger Mouse, Kennie Takahashi, The Black Keys
• Mixed By [Assistant] – Todd "Itod" Manfalcone
• Producer – Danger Mouse
• Recorded By – Paul Hamann

Notes

Released:  April 1, 2008 

Recorded:  August 9–23, 2007  Studio: Suma Recording (Painesville, OH) 

Genre:  Blues rock, Indie Rock

Length:  41:23 (with bonus track)

 

Label - Nonesuch / V2