March Cover Art

Looking at Amazon.com, I stumbled upon the new album artwork for Keith Urban’s Defying Gravity. Now, I’ve gathered a few country releases coming up in March, and I want to see what you guys think of the album artwork.

Well, the Neko Case one has been around for a while, and is probably my favorite of the three. I mean come on, Neko on a car with a sword? It just doesn’t get much cooler than that. I also like the cool writing of the album title into the background- it’s creative, and random, which seems to be the theme of her upcoming album.

On the other hand, the McBride cover is elegant, but the “bleeding” effect is really cool looking. I like her cover for Waking Up Laughing, but looking at it now, it looks boring, so I like how this one is more interesting. Shine also has one of my favorite fonts that I’ve seen in a while, which sounds kind of geeky to say. Her expression kind of makes it look like she got knocked out though…

Finally, we get to the Urban album. This is a radical departure from his last cover, which gave a darker tone to the hard times he was going through. This cover seems to reflect the more upbeat tone of this album, if ‘Sweet Thing” is any indication. He seems to be past his rehab and enjoying married life and his daughter, which should make for a happy album. I like how in the cover he is literally “defying gravity” by being sideways, so it links it more to the album material than other album covers.

Interestingly enough, all three of these have a gray-ish background, which can get boring after too many similar ones. I prefer albums with more color, like Sugarland’s latest, but these three are unique and interesting album covers from some of my favorite artists. Of course, this will be my first Neko Case album, but I already love her!

So what do you guys think? Are these good or not?

PS: Martina has posted new tracks from her album on her myspace.

Album Review: Wynonna – ‘Sing: Chapter 1′

Wynonna’s latest album – a covers disc incorporating styles ranging from bawdy blues to elegant pop to Stones-style rock and roll to traditional country – is an interesting and at times inspired collection. Wynonna’s ferocious delivery is front and center the entire time, always reminding us that Wynonna Judd is the owner of one of the finest voices of our time.

The one new song, the brilliant Rodney Crowell-penned ‘Sing’ is without a doubt the album’s masterpiece – an uplifting number with a swelling chorus.  The message isn’t terribly original, but lyrics like “Sing it like you hear it/Like you have no need to fear it now/Sing it like you know it/Like you’re not afraid to show us how” put this anthem of empowerment just a step ahead of the dozens of others of the same ilk.

Opening the album is the percussion-driven ‘That’s How Rhythm Was Born’.  Her bluesy take on the old Sippie Wallace number ‘Women Be Wise’ is pure ear-candy to anyone with a penchant for torch songs performed to perfection. Likewise, Wynonna tears into the Dave Edmunds cover ‘I Hear You Knockin’, infusing the 12-bar blues tune with those fierce, patented Wynonna vocals.

Another stand-out track is the Doris Day/Nat King Cole hit from the 1950s ‘When I Fall In Love’.  Celine Dion and Clive Griffin also recorded it for the soundtrack to the blockbuster Sleepless In Seattle  in 1993. Again, it’s the crooning of Wynonna that takes this, an average tune, and turns it into something special.

Chris Isaak gets real with Trisha Yearwood

For the pilot episode of his new A&E series ‘The Chris Isaak Hour’, the California rocker wanted to open with a winner.  And he certainly accomplished that.  The hour-long show premiered tonight at 10pm on both A&E and its offspring network, the Bio Channel.  Yearwood was also a guest on Isaak’s Showtime sitcom/variety show ‘The Chris Isaak Show’ in the beginning of the decade.  And in between songs, the two sat down like old friends and talked about some very candid subjects.

The pair opened the show with a bluesy take on Yearwood’s ‘The Wrong Side of Memphis’.  Then, the interviewing began – this was the formula for the entire hour:  to talk a bit and then segue into a performance.  Isaak began by asking about Monticello, Georgia. Trisha happily recounted memories of her hometown and told him her family had cows, chickens, pigs, and a garden – which she and her sister regularly tended.  Talk turned to music next as Yearwood credits her Dad for introducing her to music through artists like George Jones, Hank Williams, and Patsy Cline. Another bit I found interesting was her admission that instead of a doll, she asked for a tape recorder for her birthday so she could record herself singing.  She says there are tapes around somewhere of her 11-year-old self singing mostly Cher tunes. (Yearwood apparently wanted to be Cher at the time.)

Trisha recounts Elvis as the first voice she remembers.  ”I was always drawn to big voices that were really emotive,” she says.  Adding she was always a fan of singers who “really pull the listener in.”  This segues into another duet, this time on ‘Walkin’ After Midnight’.  Yearwood rips into the song, trading verses with Isaak in a playful take on the classic.

Her stint on a 1980s TV talent search called ‘You Can Be a Star’ – which she lost to a cab driver from Atlanta – was a sort of turning point. She quit her job as a receptionist at MTM Records and began recording demos full time after the show, she says. Recording demos not only eventually lead to her recording contract with MCA, but introduced her to the most important person in her life. “We were instant friends,” Trisha recalls of the first time she met Garth Brooks. They recorded a demo tape of a duet together for a mutual friend. She also recorded the demo for ‘If Tomorrow Never Comes’ before Garth had a record deal himself and was still pitching songs.