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MUSICDISH
REVIEWS
You've heard their emotional songs on Dawson's Creek and Strong Medicine. Live Sessions is the 3rd album from Granian, which Spin magazine called the best unsigned band of 1997. But this is Garen Gueyikian's solo album, with naked tunes dressed just with voice and acoustic guitar. Funny how more powerful that sound becomes, more than an orchestra's worth of hard-jamming electric guitars. Though the songs are at once aggressive, each one is more like a consolidated personality. Something that changes with time or instantly, moody and pleasant, unsure and laughing, something that cannot be charted, except after the fact.
Take the opening words of 'Contagious': she's
like a drug when you're addicted to love It is a masterwork of musical head games, this album.
The last time I heard Sue Tucker sing I was impressed. That was in 2001. In 2003 on her new release May I Come In, she picks up where she left off and continues to sing with inspiration and heart. The woman sings a jazz tune with great enthusiasm and has a deep respect for all the great divas that have come before her. With help from her brother Dick Oatts (woodwinds) and brother-in-law John Mosca (trombone) and several other top-flight professionals, Tucker dances and sings her way through a set of standards and not so standard tunes along with a few originals as if it were a walk in the park. Her voice is so sweet and endearing; it reminded me of the way Ella Fitzgerald always sends me straight to heaven. Sue Tucker has a mountain of talent and does a beautiful job with tunes created by other composers. I do feel her level of talent is very high, good enough that an entire album of originals would be a great success for her. I hope the next time she cuts an album this will become a reality. The most impressive aspect of this woman's talents is the way she makes her voice an instrument that is able to blend with the music. That God given gift is precious to any vocalist. In this particular style of music, it serves as her greatest benefit in making each individual song a treasure for your listening pleasure. This CD could be "The Best Thing For You" if you have not relaxed and got into a smooth jazz groove in some time. Let Sue Tucker will show you the way. I know because this gentleman is no dope, I know when I hear great jazz and this CD swings.
Husband-and-wife team Christa Meyer and Tim Kelley have created something truly incredible here. On one hand, it's a eerie and creepy concept album about a beautiful girl, Elena, whose father falls in love with her and runs off with her and, I think, fathers another child with her-or at least that's what I'm picking up from the lyrics. I could be wrong with that part, because there are several references in others songs about Elena's mother being upset because she knew her husband would run off with their daughter since the day she was born. On the other hand, this album is a stellar feat of musical talent that forays into stark, cold industrial beats, gentle folksy-sounding ballads sung in German, sweeping Mediterranean rhythms and tonal structures, and just plain lovely, near-a capella choruses sung in multiples by Meyer. The closest comparison I can come to is to imagine that The Residents went to Turkey and were heavily influenced by both the traditional musicians and the fabulous DJs based there, and came back and wrote an album about child abuse from the point of view of the deluded and pampered child. It's just a fantastic record, and I just hope there are more to come from these two.
ATM = A Toda Maquina = All That Music. Founded by David Elizondo (Kidd Cumbia) this quintet surfs toward the more exotic Latin sound, forsaking horns and multi-rhythms for a power pop, hip hop Mexican combo, which puts this music at the edge of what's going on Now rather than what was built Then. The accordion weaved into the mix brings on world flavor, while the vocal harmonics make sure all the ladies sit up and take notice. Says lead vocalist Chelo Mejias, 'There's traditional "cumbia" but new components like rap, reggae and a little bit of each one of us is intertwined to generate the sound that defines our band's style.' That style has been pulled from Austin, Texas, Miami, and Puerto Rico, giving the tunes a distinctly American feel, with roots more than definitely like Spanish R&B. One such perfect blend is the cover of Air Supply's classic 'All Out of Love,' which has actually been softened even more. Crashing drums within the chorus, urgent Spanish lyrics uttered with the passion of a man leaving for war - oh yeah, it works perfectly. The energy level on A Toda Maquina may not be high, but that's not what ATM are pushing. They're saying, like a good relationship, sometimes you have to go slow. Provided by the MusicDish Network. Copyright © Tag It 2003 - Republished with Permission
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Artist: Granian (
Artist: Sue Tucker (
Artist: Puerto Muerto 
Artist: ATM 