Perpetual Change — Namoli Brennet “Live” CD Review

Back at the beginning of last month, we introduced singer/songwriter Namoli Brennet to TGForum readers. Although she is new to TGForum, she has been touring and recording as a solo artist since 2002 when her first album Boy In A Dress was released. Prior to that, she does have extensive experience with bands and other musical endeavors.

Namoli sent me a copy of her recent release, Namoli Brennet Live after I contacted her for the initial interview. The first thing that really stood out was how solid a vocalist she is. Her voice is forceful yet very personal and feminine, and her control is excellent. During the album’s 15 songs, she maintains a perfect balance between her vocals and her guitar playing. Neither dominates nor takes away from the other.

A live album is not the easiest type of project to review, especially when you’re not familiar with the artist’s catalog. In the case of Namoli Brennet Live I was able to find out which of her studio albums the songs came from, with the exception of two.

The project opens with Surrender which is laid back, and presented in a sort of Joni Mitchell style.

On some tunes, Namoli uses a very percussive strumming technique. The best examples are Grapes of Wrath from her album Until From This Dream I Wake and Settle Down a very dynamic tune from We Were Born To Rise

There are three songs during which Namoli is joined on stage by other players. Two songs, Isn’t That Enough (from We Were Born To Rise) and Rough Enough (from Singer Show Your Light) feature Michael Connoly on mandolin. On Good Life Namoli is accompanied by Kari Newhouse on backing vocals and guitar. This is one of the best tunes on the project, with very pretty harmonies and Namoli’s style is complemented nicely with Kari Newhouse’s presence, both vocally and instrumentally.

The stand out tunes on the project are The Lottery Song which is somewhat dark sounding, and Border Crossing (both from Singer Show Your Light), the latter tune being extremely dynamic in a live setting. Other stand outs are Stars (originally released on Chrysanthemum with another live version on the album Alive) and I Will Get Along (from We Were Born To Rise). This last tune also incorporates brief segments of Joni Mitchell’s Big Yellow Taxi and Lou Reed’s Walk On The Wild Side This is the tune that gets the best overall crowd response.

Namoli also pulls tunes from her album Black Crow with the title tune from that project as well as the song Iowa Dust On My Radio is pulled from We Were Born to Rise and the album closes with Turning Song which goes all the way back to her first album, Boy In A Dress.

I’m looking forward to eventually hearing a Namoli Brennet studio album. As a live performer, she definitely has the musical and vocal chops to hold an audiences attention. When working with other musicians, her style is complemented and her presentation sharpened but never diminished in any way.

Namoli Brennet has carved out a successful solo career over a decade of hard touring and creative, innovative, thought provoking song writing. She deserves a much wider audience, and I don’t think she’ll have any trouble finding one. Do yourself a favor and check out Namoli Brennet.

I’ve decided to include the lyrics to Turning Song the aforementioned last tune on the …Live project, which goes all the way back to Namoli’s first project, Boy In A Dress This is an early example of her very creative songwriting. You can read whatever you wish into the meaning of the song, but personally, I feel it shows a person who has come to grips with their gender issues and is just now figuring out how to let everyone else know. That’s my take, at least.

TURNING SONG

Everybody’s mother’s turning to another’s daughter
Who is turning to her father, who is turning to his sonNow his son is turning to his mother
Another father, sister, brother?Turn into yourself or everyone.

Everything is turning black or turning white
Turning wrong or turning right, everything I say
As I open up my mouth to speak
The words get lost the colors bleed?And all my blues are turning into greys

Yeah we all toe the line
I’ll cross into your heart if you’ll cross into mine
Too busy turning out to turn into

Everything that we receive is turning into make believe
And everything is turning into you, you, you
Turning out and turning in?We do without and do within
Turning circles till our turning is through

Yeah, we all toe the line
I’ll cross into your heart if you’ll cross into mine
Too busy turning out to turn into

For more information, please check out Namoli’s website. She’s also on YouTube, Facebook, twitter, and iTunes. Music downloads are available through her website, and CDs are available through CDbaby.com and Amazon.com.

ALSO THIS MONTH

Rev. Yolanda

Rev. Yolanda has sent out a very heart felt “THANK YOU!” to all who attended her birthday gig on August 4th. She also wishes to thank everyone who voted her song Home into the #1 position on the Outvoice Top Ten Song Chart.

Upcoming Rev. Yolanda shows include: The Unity Center in Norwalk, CT on September 7th — Unity Center for Practical Spirituality, 3 Main St., 2nd Floor, Norwalk, CT, 06851, phone# 203-855-7922, [email protected]; Concerts For City Greens, September 11th, at Tudor City, NYC; The Carboro Arts Center, Carboro, North Carolina, September 27th, 300 G East Main St., Carboro, NC, 27510, Phone# 919-929-2787.

Beth Isbell

Beth Isbell

We’ve briefly mentioned before that Beth Isbell has a new album entitled We Are The Gods which is now posted on her website TG Forum will be posting a new interview with Beth as well as a review of the new project in the coming months.

Georgie Jessup

Back in November, 2012, we posted an interview with Georgie Jessup, and a review of her new project Philosopher Dogs in April, 2013. As you might recall, the title of the album is in reference to Georgie’s two dogs Max and Blaze. Max has an incredible story, and Georgie was recently interviewed about her beloved four legged friend. Follow this link to read the story. Check out Georgie’s music on MySpace and CDbaby.

Calpernia Addams

Calpernia has posted an extremely interesting YouTube video of her singing Mein Herr written by Kander and Ebb, which most of us will remember as being sung by Liza Minnelli in the 1972 movie Cabaret. Calpernia does a very laid back, acoustic version on autoharp, which gives the song a sort of haunting yet airy feeling. Her vocal is perfect for this style.

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Storm Miguel Florez

Storm Florez has announced that he is involved with a new documentary film entitled Major. Florez’s Company, Bad Flower Productions, will be co-producing and Annalise Ophelian is directing.

“I am hoping to help generate a lot of awareness and interest about this film, Florez said. “As many of you know, Miss Major is the executive director of Transgender Gender Variant Intersex Justice Project in Oakland. She was also an original Stonewall Rebel and has been a tireless social justice activist for over 40 years. This documentary is a visual, oral history of Miss Major’s life and our communities.”

Please check out the film’s Facebook page as well as Twitter @theMAJORdoc.

Cornelius “Popcorn” Robertson

Another Independent Music Festival is being announced in Nashville, TN (on Music Row across from BMI) by Cornelius Popcorn Robertson. Scheduled for October 3rd through the 6th, all genres of music and musicians are invited. Registration is now open. For more information, please contact Cornelius through the event website.

NEW MUSIC

Rudimental

Rudimental is a sort of conglomeration of sounds and styles from the U.K. underground scene. A four piece band — Piers Aggett, Kesi Dryden, Amir Amor and Leon Rollie — that finds a way to mix traditional song writing with contemporary electronic elements. A good example of that statement is Feel The Love which mixes organ and dance beats along with a trumpet solo. It’s also the band’s breakout single.

They also manage to mix R&B/Soul with hip-hop and dance. Throughout this debut album, Rudimental utilizes the talents of several different singers as well as other musicians. You’ll have to check out the CD insert for proper credit.

While practically everything tune works on the dance floor, the standout tracks, besides the single, are Powerless which is very dynamic, with good instrumentation and one of the better production moments; and Free which ends the project with a more old-school feel than anything else on the project.

It’s not often that a band comes along that’s practically hard to catagorize, but Rudimental definitely accomplishes that. While the overall focus seems to be to stay close to the dance floor, as a band Rudimental does stay close to their … well, rudiments. Should be interesting to see what they continue to come up with over time. (For more information, check out their website; also on the UK versions of Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.)

Scream For Love Natali Yura

New singer to hit the scene, Natali Yura, who was born in Seoul, South Korea to Russian parents, has released a remix disc of her single Scream For Love.

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The disc also contains 11 remix versions along with the original radio edit of the song. Yura’s voice manages to sound delicate yet powerful all at the same time. You’ll be hearing this throughout the remainder of the summer and well into the fall, and will definitely help to fill dance floors everywhere. (For more information, please check out her website; also on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Soundcloud and www.last.fm )

Tags: Beth Isbell, Calpernia Addams, featured, Georgie Jessup, music, Musician, Namoli Brennet, Storm Florez

Category: Music