www.norahjones.com
www.myspace.com/norahjones

“To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction…”
-Newton’s Third Law of Motion

A friend of mine recently devoted a post to the value of friendship. Personally, I can’t bear to offer more energy into a relationship than that which I am given in return. That is not to say we should not do good for the sake of doing good. It’s just that, after awhile, the lack of a favorable response becomes exhausting. It’s nice to get something back. Something to show the hope was not in vain. An equal reaction in the opposite direction…

What am I to you?
Tell me darling true
To me you are the sea
Vast as you can be
And deep the shade of blue

When you’re feeling low
To whom else do you go
See I cry if you hurt
I’d give you my last shirt
Because I love you so

If my sky should fall
Would you even call
Opened up my heart
I never want to part
I’m giving you the ball

When I look in your eyes
I can feel the butterflies
I love you when you’re blue
Tell me darling true
What am I to you

Could you find a love in me
Could you carve me in a tree
Don’t fill my heart with lies

I will you love when you’re blue
Tell me darling true
What am I to you…

Someone who insists on being there even during the hardest of your times… Maybe it’s selfishness or an issue of self-worth. I personally need the reciprocity to show me it’s not just empty words I’m getting back. Anyway, that’s just me…

What do you think?

www.myspace.com/burbankinternational

Burbank International – City of Burbank
Recorded, Produced, Engineered and Mastered by H.A. Eugene at Audio Box Studios in San Francisco

Inspired by frontman, H.A. Eugene’s love of airports, Burbank International’s sound is as eclectic and multidimensional as an airport itself. With their debut album, City of Burbank, the San Francisco-based rock band manages to create something more than an album, rather they release an emotive and often humorous collection of unique experiences.

The album opens with two distinctly different tracks. “Now I’m Serious” combines ambient chimes on a low-key vibe, creating a compelling piece suitable for a movie soundtrack. In contrast, “Chicken Shoals” offers a much more upbeat and bouncy experience. The album takes an introspective turn on “Who’s That Girl?” an incredibly strong song with gritty vocals, keys and haunting strings weaving in and out through the background. The band’s tongue-in-cheek humor is evident on tracks like “Charlie Jerk that Yolk” and “Drinking On An Empty Stomach,” the latter utilizing a clever inclusion of censorship bleeps. On “Tenderloin,” Eugene pays homage to his home city with an intimate guitar and vocals track, a song stripped down to its most soulful essentials. But “Laudanum” may very well be the album’s most memorable song, and it serves as the height of the album’s expressiveness. Amidst steady guitars and a beautifully eerie repeating warble, industrialized beats enter with a rhythm often independent of the track, breaking free at times to create their own sense of identity. It’s musical liberation at its best, the defiance of standards within the confines of standards.

City of Burbank is an album almost impossible to tire from. With a unique combination of ambiance, dramatic musical voices and strong songwriting, Burbank International has created an effort capable of sustaining prolonged flight. (self-released)

www.myspace.com/burbankinternational

- Keane Li (more…)

www.augustanamusic.com
www.myspace.com/augustana

I was looking through my old photographs of Boston and realized how much I missed the city I barely knew. For me, it was a place of reformation, a new start as bittersweet as offering cheers in a bar where nobody knew your name (that is where the original bar is from, you see). The unknown I felt there from the uncertain future fades now into the past, joining with the vast memory of places I have been…

“I think I need a new town to leave this all behind…”

I first saw Augustana perform at Slim’s (where my band will be playing next week, by the way), then at Café du Nord and finally at the Fillmore. My ex had been a huge fan of the band, so of course I tagged along to all their shows. While I was impressed with all their songs, “Boston” was always the one that stood out most for me (and apparently to everyone else since it was their single).

“I think I need a sunrise… I’m tired of the sunset…”

But “Boston” may hold even more meaning for me now, in retrospect, since the city now literally provides for me the song’s lyrical concept of new beginnings. I had gone to a place where (almost) nobody knew my name and left it all behind.

“I hear it’s nice in the summer…”

And now, so many years after visiting Boston and even more since I last saw Augustana perform the song, I feel a need for change again… as I reminisce on two wholly separate memories that have somehow found their connection…

“…some snow would be nice.”

www.mysecondsurprise.com
www.myspace.com/mysecondsurprise

My Second Surprise – Time to Move On
Mixed by Craig Schumacher at Wavelab Studios in Tucson, AZ
Mastered by J.J. Golden at Golden Mastering in Ventura, CA

My Second Surprise’s sophomore release, Time to Move On, follows 2005’s Avoidance as a Way of Life. Front man, Ayal Nistor’s now San Francisco-based band recorded in various countries and even acquired an Israeli Grammy. Similarly, Nistor’s latest release offers a level of eclecticism only a series of well-traveled paths can produce, as Time to Move On marches elegantly across ten tracks of lush folk rock.

Time to Move On opens triumphantly with “Bring the Sunshine.” A horn section trumpets over a pulsating piano and jangling high-hats as a sweeping chorus erupts with Nistor’s vocal polyphony. The songs exhibit a comfortable swing that’s mournful at times, as if they jump between a lazy day in the park and a sad scene in a film. Typical of the overall album, “When Your Crew Has Sunk Your Boat” exhibits a melancholy yet relaxed feel – somber lyrics with light instrumentation. This feeling continues on “All Your Rivers,” where Nistor exudes a chilling sense of intimacy as he sings in a low breathy voice: “So you had me / Sure tried to hold me down / And I liked it / But then you just turned around.” A violin creates a swelling effect that wrenches at the heart, cutting effectively at a harmonious breakdown backed by only a slight tinkling of keys.

Closing on the aptly titled, “Time to Move On,” the album exists as a journey of itself – lonely moments concluded with the closure of finding its place. My Second Surprise has traveled its fair share to find success on Time to Move On. And with solid musicianship and strong songwriting, one should never for a second be surprised. (self-released)

www.mysecondsurprise.com

- Keane Li (more…)

www.fiona-apple.com
www.disney.go.com/disneypictures/nightmare

At the risk of sounding cliché by referencing The Nightmare Before Christmas, Fiona Apple’s cover of Danny Elfman’s “Sally’s Song” serves as a perfect example of everything I love about music: it’s emotive, flowing and experiential. Several instrumental voices seemingly dance around one another while still retaining an overall sense of harmonic unity. (The string descension at 2:28 is particularly powerful…)