From the lectern to the stage: Bio dean Thompson plays the blues
The News Review:
- From the lectern to the stage: Bio dean Thompson plays the blues
- … And Cambria And More: New Releases – News Story | Music…
- Spain’s Concha Buika uses music to focus her capricious mind
- Duet album unites 3 distinctive talents
- Echoes Silence Patience & Grace
- Got a tip? Send it our way
- Good Times Great Golden ’80s
From the lectern to the stage: Bio dean Thompson plays the blues
Brown Daily Herald – The Brown Daily Herald – Oct 23, 2007
She teaches guitar with Jorma Kaukonen former lead guitarist for Jefferson Airplane. But Thompson hasn’t quit her day job – associate dean of biological sciences at Brown. Beyond her teaching advising and planning duties for the Division of Biology and Medicine Thompson has just released her fourth album “Right By Me” comprising mostly original blues and folk songs. “Sometimes I wake up and ask ‘Who am I today?’ ” Thompson said. In addition to fulfilling the demands of being a dean throughout the school year she travels all around to teach guitar workshops and to perform. “The medium is different but for me my life at the University and with my guitar are very similar – both involve instruction education creativity passion. “”I don’t know how she juggles it all” said Fred Jackson the director of the Plant Environmental Center who has worked with Thompson in her professional capacity at Brown… She continues to do both things with such great enthusiasm. “”I try to keep them separate so people know that I value Brown” Thompson said. “But my students and other professors have listened to my music and come to shows – it’s nice to share that with them. “Although both music and biology have always been essential to Thompson’s life it wasn’t until recently that she began making a career out of her music. After attending a workshop program for musicians in 1999 Thompson began writing in 2001 – and has received critical success with her four albums. “It was never my goal – just playing guitar was all I wanted. I started writing songs by accident and it became a central part of my life” Thompson said.
… And Cambria And More: New Releases – News Story | Music…
MTV.com – Oct 23, 2007
Not in Shambles?: Pete Doherty who also knows a thing or two about rehab you could say is back with his band Babyshambles who are birthing their second effort this week. Shotter’s Nation which the band recorded in London with producer Stephen Street (Blur Morrissey) boasts a guest appearance by Scottish folk legend Bert Jansch — on the final track “The Lost Art of Murder” — and also includes “Crumb Begging” “French Dog Blues” and “Baddies Boogie. Fallen “Idols”?: We can hear enough about “American Idol” contenders when they’re on TV but when it comes time for them to release material some of them are actually making their albums hard to find. Elliott Yamin put out his NBC Sounds of the Season: The Elliott Yamin Holiday Collection in Target stores only last week and now Bo Bice is delivering his new album See the Light exclusively to Wal-Mart. Black Crowes drummer Steve Gorman and ex-Allman Brothers Band keyboardist Chuck Leavell helped make sure Bice’s second effort had a Southern touch. Song Title of the Week:”Manager and Coordinator of Prostitutes” by Les Georges Leningrad (on the Worried Noodles compilation)Album Cover of the Week:.
Spain’s Concha Buika uses music to focus her capricious mind
PopMatters – Oct 23, 2007
concert debut Wednesday at Miami’s Manuel Artime Theater before going on to the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York. Buika’s music is a blend of flamenco jazz blues copla – an old-fashioned romantic Spanish song form – and more which Buika sings with a combination of jazz cool and flamenco’s ripped-from-the-gut intensity. Her music and her lyrics are as individual as she is. “I believe in myself and in my way of saying things” she sings in “A Mi Manera (My Way). ”“I don’t know what is flamenco or what is blues or jazz or rock. I only know what is singing and playing” says the 35-year-old-singer.
Duet album unites 3 distinctive talents
Columbus Dispatch – Oct 23, 2007
“We didn’t really know too much about the infinite myriad influences underneath. And so it was an absolute coup that T-Bone came on the scene. Krauss 36 had worked with Burnett on albums such as the multimillion-selling neo-Appalachian soundtrack album for Brother Where Art Thou? Plant and Burnett who were both born in 1948 are connoisseurs of older American music who share a taste for the deepest blues. Plant came to realize however that he had long focused on black music while he had virtually ignored the other side of the racial divide Krauss’ stamping grounds and part of Burnett’s down-home foundations. “I thought I was pretty knowledgeable about American music but I’d missed out on an entire area” Plant said. “I now know that American music is a total panorama. I was cutting it off and thinking it was redneck hell down there.
Echoes Silence Patience & Grace
Jerusalem Post – Oct 23, 2007
But Echoes takes that dual approach one step further with both their raucous cathartic selves and their tender introspective selves often appearing in the same song. The ferocious opening hit single “The Pretender” typifies this dichotomy beginning with a whispery Grohl on acoustic guitar before blasting out of orbit with one of his most aggressive yet catchy rockers featuring a vocal chord-shredding performance. Likewise the first two-thirds of “Come Alive” features a country-blues feel before exploding into a White Stripes-like howling stomp boasting stellar lead guitar from Chris Shiflett. ther tunes however revert to vintage Foo Fighters formula while still sounding fresh. “Long Road to Ruin” is perfect exuberant power pop in the vein of “verdrive” or “Times Like These” from their 2002 album ne By ne – sort of like The Byrds on steroids washed down with a shot of attitude. It might leave the unassuming listener short of breath. In need of calm I welcomed a pleasant surprises later in the album – two gentler songs in which Grohl debuts on piano: “Summer’s End” and the closing “Home”… The latter in particular is a moving ballad with Grohl’s most thoughtful lyrics on the album full of regret weariness and longing. The lyrics on the other songs aren’t as developed but in any case are generally overshadowed by the all-encompassing music. And that music remains as powerful as ever even with the more layered approach. While there are moments where they have the tendency to veer too close to the ‘I’m too old to listen to this hard rock’ sound the band’s pop instincts and craftsmanship always guide them back to a more palatable approach for those with weakened eardrums. Despite the band’s self-imposed framework which sort of boxes them into a certain style Foo Fighters still sound passionate and full of fire on Echoes – more than a decade since the band rose out of the ashes of Nirvana. There may not be much silence or echos on the album but their music certainly is filled with a lot of grace.
Got a tip? Send it our way
Austin 360 – Austin 360 (subscription) – Oct 23, 2007
Her’s sort of the roots rock Daniel Lanois these days the mark of quality for a project that needs a certain sonic cachet — his productions always scream “good taste” which his albums often err on the side of. But he does know how to facilitate intimacy — rarely has either performer sounded so naked. Townes Van Zandt’s “Nothin’” — with Marc Ribot’s searing fuzzy guitar and Plant’s sexy blues-whisper vocal — sounds like the sort of mezmerizing music Zep itself might be making in ‘07. “Please Read the Letter” on the other hand is the sort of music Zep (or rather Page and Plant) made on “Walking to Clarksville. ” Krauss and Plant turn it into a plaintive split grim yet mature. Adults of all ages will love it.
Good Times Great Golden ’80s
New York Sun – Oct 23, 2007
That does mean the songs wear those influences on their sleeves. ” “French Dog Blues” turns the opening melody of the Four Tops’ “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)” into the propulsive bass line of a pub anthem. And “Side of the Road” is one of the few latter-day skiffle gems that Billy Childish didn’t write. Producer Stephen Street has put just the right amount of finish on cornerstone albums for the Smiths and Blur and here he leaves just enough boom and jangle in the mix to keep Mr. Doherty’s music ramshackle without being too glossy… The biggest misfire here is the bluesy rocker “It’s Not the Thing Henry” on which Ms. Moyet sounds like she’s trying to tame Janis Joplin hollering for Broadway. Things go more smoothly when the music sticks to furtive strings and ruminative piano ballads about misguided love (”The Man in the Wings” and “Can’t Say It Like I Mean It”) and jaunty mid-tempo romantic sighs spiked with a bittersweet resignation (”ne More Time” and “Anytime at All”). Best is the orchestral pop of “Fire” a slowly erupting miniaria that boasts Ms. Moyet’s most acrobatic vocal performance. It’s unabashedly arch lounge music but if Bryan Ferry can mature into the cocktail charmer Ms. Moyet should be allowed the indulgence too.
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