SONG OF THE DAY: MARCH 5, 2010

Donovan's "Atlantis" from 1968. There was a guy named Paul McCartney who provided some background vocals on this track. Not sure if anything else ever came of Mr. McCartney, but his presence on this one is surely felt. If only someone else had believed in him, I think he definitely could have cracked the top 10 at least once.

On a serious note, I dig the spoken word intro that lasts nearly 2 minutes. It really helps to build the song before its release. It's certainly a different approach, and one you don't hear in pop music today.

THE RIGHT NOW AVAILABLE SOON

The Right Now: Ain't Going Back
From Carry Me Home (Unsigned/Independent, 2010)

Who said pop was dead? Pop music certainly isn't in the best state, artistically speaking, these days. The Right Now are up-and-comers out of Chicago with a decidedly pop sound inflected with soul tinges here and there.

Their debut CD, which they'll be selling on their current tour, as well as other outlets such as iTunes, Amazon, their own website (linked above on the album title), and a few indie shops, officially releases March 3rd. (Side note: they're also releasing a 45 that features a non-album track called “7 To 10.”) The Right Now is a completely self-contained unit. Brendan O'Connell plays various keyboards as well as guitar and had a hand in penning/co-penning every song on the album. Lead singer Stefanie Berecz has an absolutely beautiful voice, both in tone and power. The rest of the band members are no slouches either with a sound best described as clean and polished.

“Ain't Going Back” is definitely the strongest song on the album. Over a funky intro, Berecz comes into the track singing in a sultry voice. Right before the first chorus, the song crescendos into a blaze musically and vocally as Berecz works her pipes with an authority that doesn't let up especially after the bridge.

Much of the rest is catchy, hummable pop such as “Doing Nothing” that reminds me of Rod Stewart's “The Motown Song” with its affable MOR melody that makes you swing your hips along to its poppy soulfulness. “I'll Get Down” gets back to a funkier side with the metronome cranked up as the horn section, especially the saxes, provides an energetic boost.

All in all, this record is about fun, while not sacrificing quality, as The Right Now represents musicianship to the fullest and have crafted a solid album that warrants repeated listens.

You can check out a few more of their songs as well as their tour itinerary on their MySpace page. If you're in Chicago on March 19th, be sure to check out their CD release party/show at Lincoln Hall located at 2424 N. Lincoln Ave.

LIGHT, AIRY, AND MAGICAL

From Mavis (Strut, 2010)

Ashley Beedle's latest oeuvre (releasing March 2), along with musical brother-from-another-mother Darren Morris, finds the British producer (among other things) bringing a unique idea to the table. Long fans of soulstress Mavis Staples, a maven in her own right of bringing righteous sounds and feelings to vinyl platters, they fell in love with her take on the Bacharach classic “A House Is Not A Home”.

So they constructed a piece of music built around elements from the song and sent it to some fellow friends and collaborators to write lyrics to accompany it. Those lyrics were then recorded, but in an ingenious move on the producers' parts they retooled their backing track for nearly each song by taking various components to highlight over the 11 songs found on this release.

On songs like the beautiful “Puzzles And Riddles,” Beedle and Morris revel in providing a quiet but engaging backdrop that stirs emotions equally in the spaces in between the notes as it does within the notes themselves. Vocalist Ed Harcourt laces a mesmerizing vocal that marries well with the song's style - evocative but understated, enigmatic and comforting.

“Dreamers Interlude,” which appears just past midway through the album, recalls Earl Zinger's spoken word piece in Koop's “Beyond The Son,” with its inquisitive nature. Maybe someone should just record a full album of blokes with an English accent reading over top of soothing melodies? I almost think I'd buy that!

Where the album leads off, it also ends much like Dilla's “Donuts” album's last track, where musically speaking it's nearly the same as its first track that lends to a seamless looping listening experience. Instead of Kurt Wagner singing, however, Edwyn Collins sings an uplifting tune about the power of positive thinking and finding joy in life after a few setbacks in “Feeling Lucky.” Mix in a few time-honored “sha-la-la's” and a guitar solo from his son (in his first recorded output), and you've got a song that brings the album to a nice close It's the sound of winter winding down and spring preparing itself for full bloom.

SURPRISES CAN BE SO GOOD

Gaby Moreno: Amapola
From Still The Unknown (Unsigned/Independent, 2008)

I got an e-mail the other day about an indie singer/songwriter who had a soulful tone to her. Now typically this kind of talk is nothing more than a hasty, catchy headline to fill space. For some reason this time, I bit. I looked up her MySpace page to check out her music. There, I was greeted with the warm, beautiful sounds of the bilingual “Amapola” and was drawn in. My first thought was you could easily throw this in the middle of playing the sublime Norah Jones album “Come Away With Me” and not notice that it was a different singer.

That's not meant to imply that she sounds like a Norah clone, but merely to state that she presents herself with an intimacy that is somewhat rare for a newcomer, as unfamiliarity tends to keep us from exposing our innermost feelings. Typically new acts try to hash out a catchy tune with a hook that you find yourself humming while at the copy machine at work. She takes a different approach, though, by drawing you in with a sense of openness.

“Amapola” is a cover of a 1920s bolero that has been covered numerous times, but unlikely with these results. With its sweet melody and stripped acoustic sounds, Moreno's disarming vocals make you feel like the scene in the Christmas classic where the Grinch's heart grows three sizes. Although not quite with this amount of charm, there are other breezy gems that grace your ears on this debut album such as “La Vez Que No Me Pude Atrever.”

However, she also knows how to throw a little attitude into her music, too. “Wrong Side Of The Road” finds her throwing some blues guitar into the chorus and the fadeout. Inspired, in part, by blues artists such as B.B. King and Muddy Waters through some blues compilations she first heard while on a family vacation to the USA from her native Guatemala, she finds a way to blend those sounds into a friendly-sounding pop song.

Currently, she's on tour supporting Ani DiFranco on some east coast US dates along with a few Canadian stops. She's been heralded by NPR and KCRW, and while her career has yet to fully take off, she's certainly got the talent to be around for a long time. With a solid voice and the musical and songwriting chops to back it up, it surprised me that I hadn't yet heard of her. I only wish I got surprises like this more often.

BATTLE STUDIES: MAKING IT THROUGH LOVE LOST SCARRED BUT BETTER OFF BECAUSE OF IT

John Mayer: Perfectly Lonely
From Battle Studies, (Columbia, 2009)

The first thing to know about this album is that it's not “Continuum Pt. 2.” That album, one of the finest albums of the '00s, was critically praised and won numerous awards in its marriage of pop and blues and crafty songwriting.

“Battle Studies,” which you can still listen to in full at Rhapsody, is more pop than its predecessor. Pop over the last ten to fifteen years has become a bit of a dirty word to music connoisseurs. It's part Fleetwood Mac, especially in the Taylor Swift-assisted “Half Of My Heart,” a song in which Mayer has openly admitted he was looking for the Stevie Nicks to his Tom Petty, in part a reference to his “Free Fallin'” cover from last year's “Where The Light Is” CD/DVD. It's part blues on the Robert Johnson-cum-Eric Clapton cover of “Crossroads” that features a blistering guitar jones, more akin to the Clapton version than the '30s version that Johnson laid down. The album also has shades of '70s rock in “Perfectly Lonely.”

From the stripped sounds of “Who Says”, there's an inherent maturity that continues in his work. The lyrics, while upon first listen may feel a bit immature – especially with the stoned reference, offer a deep but simplistic view into the mind of a man still trying to find himself and where he fits in. The music behind it fits perfectly with an almost folk, or at the very least a lite rock, offering. That mood is continued on the sparse, but effective, iTunes-only bonus track, a cover of Bruce Springsteen's “I'm On Fire.”

Upon first listen I thought it was a step backwards artistically until I realized that my expectations of what it should be versus what it is were ruining the experience. Throughout there are nuances of understated musicianship where less is more and buried deeper in the mix is better than in your face. The album shows that you don't always have to follow the same route to get where you're going. Instead, taking a detour can be a way to meet new friends and find new experiences to write about. You'll still get to your destination, but a change in scenery can make the trip far more enjoyable.

SUMMER MAY BE GONE BUT MRAZ BRINGS THE SUNSHINE OUT ANYWAY

Jason Mraz: Sunshine Song
From Beautiful Mess: Live On Earth (Atlantic, 2009)

I've had the pleasure to see Mr. A to the Z in concert three times over the last 6 years. One time was perhaps the worst concert I've ever attended, not so much because he wasn't capable of entertaining but more so because of the material of his mostly forgettable sophomore album that he was supporting. Fortunately, his most recent release “Beautiful Mess” passes over that material and focuses mostly on his latest studio album, “We Sing We Dance We Steal Things.”

Of course “I'm Yours,” which recently set a record for the longest run on Billboard's Hot 100 chart in history, makes its way onto the set. Longtime collaborator Toca Rivera gets the crowd revved up with a small scat before Mraz comes in crooning with his underappreciated vocal performance. He then extends the jam out past radio-length standards with a tongue roll before some ad libs and thanking the Chicago crowd.

It's a set of mostly non-singles, outside of “I'm Yours” and “Lucky,” which Colbie Caillat duets on, and his remix version of “The Remedy.” The latter features a Jamaican riddim backing with a horn section that really shines not only this song but throughout. It's a sound that fits him well, in part because of the Caribbean flavor he brings to many of his songs in live form.

The party continues with his cover of Lionel Richie's “All Night Long.” The musical performance outshines his vocal performance with its spot-on version of a street fiesta. It's still a respectable cover, but a bit more vocal grit would have put the song over the top. The aforementioned horns bring the house down with an outstanding showcase, but it's the understated percussion section that drive this one home.

“Sunshine Song,” a previously unreleased song, sounds like a lost John Denver song content-wise and has a touching tenderness in tone. As he sings about “getting high on heavenly breezes,” it's a bittersweet sermon on life for a half-glass empty person who meets his half-glass full mate and a bit of optimism ends the song as the rain clouds are driven away.

“Beautiful Mess” is the best of his live releases so far. It comes with an accompanying DVD, which I haven't yet gotten a chance to see, but the energy and care for his craft are evident even through the speakers. With Christmas just around the corner, it's a great addition to add to your own wish list or to give as a Secret Santa gift.

DISCO FUNK

Alice Russell: Living The Life Of A Dreamer (Mr. Scruff Remix)
From Pot Of Gold Remixes Vol. 1 (Six Degrees, 2009)

Recently I heard this tasty little gem by UK chanteuse Alice Russell, who has garnered all sorts of comparisons to other blue-eyed soulsters. The beat itself was constructed by her fellow British comrade Mr. Scruff and is featured on one of the remix suites to last year's Pot Of Gold album. The new remix suites are available now digitally or on December 15th in 2-CD physical format.

With its groove-heavy disco funk that replaces the original's jittery backbeat, Russell sings with an impassioned urgency. The track spins for a lengthy 8 minutes with long breaks that extend throughout in multiple spots. It's sure to find its way into your local club DJ's sets with a groove like this that is so hard to deny.

LIVE YOUR LIFE ON YOUR TERMS

John Mayer: Who Says
From Who Says (Digital Single) (Sony/Columbia, 2009)

It's not often anymore that you get a sub-three minute radio single, especially a lead single from a major artist on a major label. So if you're going to make such a song, make the most of the time you get. Mayer does that exceptionally well in this introspective stripped down effort. It's reminiscent of “Stop This Train” from Continuum from a songwriting sense, both very James Taylor-ish in their hushed tone.

The lyrics sound as if he's writing/singing this song to himself, especially in this clever line:

I don't remember you looking any better
But then again I don't remember you

Given his public romances over the past few years, it's a fitting lyric for him to look in the mirror and note not remembering seeing just himself. Aside from the supposed controversy of a repeated line throughout, “Who says I cant get stoned?” (which Mayer himself has even said isn't about marijuana but about the freedom of living your life), it's a real winner of a song and shows a tenderness that he has hit upon more than once in his career. I found myself listening to “Who Says” for about an hour straight this past week, something I've never done with any song before.