Music : Album Review 003-005 (Cover Albums Special)

I just realize that I haven't done an album review in ages.. so here goes.

Album Review 003 : Easy All Stars - Radiodread

Not surprisingly, the reggae collective Easy Star All-Stars has chosen Radiohead’s OK Computer for its second cover project. The group’s first was a reggae interpretation of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, an album that struck a similar emotional and sonic tone. As they did with Dub Side of the Moon, the All-Stars shine when they are able to find the hypnotic essence of OK Computer and its surprisingly natural expression in the reggae idiom. It helps that, like Dark Side, the Radiohead album relies on a soporific, trancelike ambience. Hypnotic reggae, mon!

Track Listing :
* Airbag* Paranoid Android* Subterranean Homesick Alien* Exit Music (For A Film)* Let Down* Karma Police* Fitter Happier* Electioneering* Climbing Up The Walls* No Surprises* Lucky* The Tourist* Exit Music (For A Dub)


Album Review 004 : Buena Vista Social Club - Rhythms del Mundo : Cuba

Remember the Wim Wenders' film, Buena Vista Social Club? Back in the late 1990s, it evoked a bygone era with a sound drenched in Afro-Cuban son that left the world with a nostalgic longing for Cuba and its music. Now the group's tropical romanticism serves as the nucleus for Rhythms del Mundo: Cuba, a return to old Havana but with a new twist. The twist is that this album features tunes by U2, Coldplay, Sting, Radiohead and others to fuse with the Buena Vista style for this collection It proves to be quite an entertaining work of art, done with honesty and sincerity. You may have heard these songs before, but never like this. "Clocks" by Coldplay is a medium-tempo guajira, with Chris Martin's voice dancing atop a solid clave beat. A version of U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking for" -- featuring both original vocals plus Cuban singer Coco Freeman -- is great. My favourite tune on this album, Arctic Monkeys' "Dancing Shoes" is superb as a rhumba. Charter Social Club members Ibrahim Ferrer and Omara Portuondo melt your heart with "Killing Me Softly" and "As Time Goes By," Ferrer's final recording before his death last year. Great tunes with a twist; the Havana twist.

Track Listing :
* Clocks (feat. Coldplay)
* Better Together (feat. Jack Johnson)
* Dancing Shoes (feat. Arctic Monkeys)
* One Step Too Far (feat. Dido & Faithless)
* As Time Goes By (feat. Ibrahim Ferrer)
* I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (feat. U2)
* She Will Be Loved (feat. Maroon 5)
* Modern Way (feat. Kaiser Chiefs)
* Killing Me Softly (feat. Omara Portuondo)
* Ai No Corrida (feat. Vania Borges & Quincy Jones)
* Fragilidad (feat. Sting)
* Don't Know Why (feat. Vania Borges)
* Hotel Buena Vista (feat. Aquila Rose & Idania Valdez)
* The Dark of The Matinee (feat. Franz Ferdinand)
* High And Dry (feat. El Lele De Los Van & Radiohead)

Album Review 005 : Various Artistes - Bossa N' Roses

The latest in Music Brokers' hugely popular "Bossa N" series contains laid-back electro-bossa versions of Guns N' Roses classics like "Welcome To The Jungle," "Sweet Child O' Mine," and other hits. Bossa N' Roses is currently # 9 on Spain's album charts. Its predecessors, Bossa N' Marley and two volumes of Bossa N' Stones, have sold half a million copies around the world with the same formula: melding massive pop hits with bossanova rhythms, Brazilian beats and breezy female vocals. Personally I think that this album is a little bit ironic. I mean, can you imagine anyone else singing "Paradise City" except Axl? But it's kinda' cool and could be good for a few listens; before it starts to annoy you. After that, of course you will be clawing for the original. And I really hate the cover because it is so freakin' tacky. What's with the bikini, smoking fingers and roses background?? (Oh, I geddit.. guns and roses..and bikini?). If listening to rock tunes with Brazilian bossa meshed with hip-hop and Latin beats is your cup of tea, then go get this album. I suppose if you can't stomach Axl in his original form, this is a little easier to digest.

Track Listing : * Intro * Patience (Cool Wave Mix) * Sweet Child O' Mine * Paradise City (Vibes Edition) * November Rain (B&H Version) * You Could Be Mine * Knockin' on Heaven's Door * Since I Don't Have You * Don't Cry * Welcome to The Jungle (808 Remix) * It's So Easy * Used To Love Her * Live and Let Die (Rua Do Cosmos Mix) * Outro