Perpetual Change — Video from Georgie Jessup

Georgie Jessup will be officially releasing her new album, Philosopher Dogs, on June 21st. I say “officially” because I was given the opportunity to preview many of the songs on the project a year ago last summer. Our last interview with Georgie was in November of 2012, and after I received an advance copy of the entire project, a review was posted in this column in April 2013. I was basically given the chance to see another musician go through the rigors of the creative process, virtually step by step.

The song Red Cloud’s Room is one of her personal favorites, and was originally released as the title track for another project back in 2003. This newer, updated version, along with the video, represents Jessup’s best work to date. The production values on the new CD and the corresponding video for Red Cloud’s Room are equal and even somewhat better than a lot of what is being released in many of the mainstream music markets.

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The players featured in the band on the video are Georgie (of course) on piano and lead vocals; Christina Van Norman, acoustic guitar and harmony vocals; David Coe, bass; Royce Van Norman, drums; Michael Slim Schwartzman, pedal steel. The players on the album cut of the song are Georgie; Hudson Penner, acoustic guitar; John Thomakos, drums and percussion; Justin Crown, bass; John Heinrich, pedal steel, and Christina Van Norman, harmony vocals. It was because of scheduling issues that the people who played on the album didn’t appear in the video. That’s the nature of the music biz at times.

Philosopher Dogs was produced by Georgie Jessup and Steve Carr. Video for Red Cloud’s Room was produced by Jeff Herberger. The song was written by Georgie Jessup. For more information, please check out Georgie’s website and also on Facebook and YouTube. Some of her older projects are available on Amazon.com, as well as her site.

NEW MUSIC

For some reason, lately I’ve been inundated with several new CD’s. Now, that’s not a criticism by any means. I always enjoy coming across some interesting material I haven’t heard before.

Bonds (EP) by Deluka

The new release by Deluka, a 5 song EP entitled Bonds, is set for release on June 23rd. This is the band’s strongest outing yet. Deluka, consisting of Kris Kovacs, guitar; Ellie Innocenti, lead vocals, guitar; Robbie G., bass; and drummer Stevie J. Palmer, is originally from Birmingham, England. They moved to New York City in 2004, and have only recent once again uprooted themselves and moved to L.A. After feeling somewhat re-energized by the change of climate and scenery, they began working with producer Tim Pagnatta. The resulting Bonds EP is full of excellent songwriting with especially powerful choruses.

The first single from the EP is Home, which is a borderline arena rock anthem. The anthem feel can also be said of another tune, Dead Of Night. The best overall rocker on the EP is The Only Ones.

Clip from The Only Ones

Deluka as a band is reminiscent of The Pretenders, especially with Innocenti’s vocals, as well as her personal appearance and style being somewhat Chrissie Hynde-like. But that’s where the comparison ends. Deluka is not afraid to venture into a sort of hybrid territory of rock/dance/techno with songs like American Skies and Black Out.

All in all, Bonds is a very well produced, well played release by a band who has a lot of power just beneath the surface. You may not notice it at first, but trust me — it’s there. The band has a website and are also on Facebook, Twitter, instagram, and Spotify, with music also available on Amazon.

White Women by Chromeo

White Women, the fourth album by the Canadian duo Chromeo, is another of those “feel good” type of albums that get released right before summer and always seem to end up being part of the season’s sound track for a lot of people.

Dave 1 and P-Thugg, the aforementioned duo, delve heavily into funk/disco grooves, with only a couple of exception on the project’s 12 tracks.

The funk/disco/techno/dance groove is found throughout, but for pure old school disco, check out Over Your Shoulder and Play The Fool. The most radio friendly moments are Sexy Socialite, Fall Back 2U, and Hard To Say No. Hard To Say No is one of the best tunes on the project, being a hybrid of dance, light rock, with a bit of a light jazz groove, also.

The aforementioned exceptions to the funk/disco material are Lost On The Way Home (featuring Solange), which is heavily keyboard dominated, and an almost-ballad entitled Ezra’s Interlude (featuring Ezra Koenig.)

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It’s a sure bet that Chromeo’s White Women will be heard a lot over the summer. It’s just that kind of up beat, feel good material made for vacation times and lazy, party filled nights. Check out their website.

Opulence by Brooke Candy

Okay, for you hip-hop/rap fans out there, Brooke Candy’s Opulence EP is the real thing. With one exception, it’s all in-your-face material. That exception, Feel Yourself (Alcohol) featuring Corey Enemy, is still hip-hop, but it’s the most musical tune on the project. Expect Ms. Candy to release her full length debut album soon.

Clip from Feel Yourself (Alcohol)

Reckless, Passionate Youth (sampler) by Moxie Raia

Moxie Raia’s debut single Buffalo Bill has been released on a sampler disc that also includes the tunes I Love It When You Cry and Mistakes, as well as five remixes of Buffalo Bill.

The remixes notwithstanding, the original take on Buffalo Bill is unique for a new singer. Raia’s voice is sultry, sexy, and powerful all at once. The song itself is kind of hard to catagorize, but has excellent dynamics I wasn’t expecting, interesting, well played instrumentation, and great production.

Raia’s use of well placed dynamics continues in Mistakes. I Love It When You Cry is the disc’s rock moment, which allows Raia to show off just how powerful she can actually sing.

This is very interesting, creative material from a singer who is forging her own path and is worth paying attention to. Visit her website or check her out on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and  soundcloud.

Clip from Buffalo Bill

ChroTHIS JUST IN

Okay, I know that sounds kind of old school news room, but really, I just saw this announcement that Atlantic Records will be releasing the original Broadway cast album of Hedwig And The Angry Inch in July. The project will be available through digital outlets on July 1, and everywhere else (I think that means all retail outlets, everywhere….), on July 15. Neil Patrick Harris is of course featured on the project, as well as the rest of the cast and the killer band that has been a major part of the show’s current success. Hopefully, I’ll get a shot at reviewing this. Until then, stay tuned.

Tags: Brooke Candy, Chromeo, featured, Georgie Jessup, Moxie Raia, music, Musician, Philosopher Dogs

Category: Music, Transgender Fun & Entertainment