Music Reviews - Randy Montana and Michael Daugherty

courtesy of my blog: http://cjferrara.blogspot.com/

I used to start every year searching through the billboard charts, and listening to every song that was out from week to week. I even geeked out and made spreadsheets giving number values to their ranking, and calculating the number of charts they were on. And I'd eliminate the crappy music, and just download the good stuff. My goal was to have at the end of the year a list of the BEST music from the previous year ranked from 100 to 1. (I secretly wanted to be Casey Kasem when I was a kid. Then I did a countdown show on my college radio station, and realized it was not all that.)

This December, I simplified. I rolled back to the beginning of the year, and found the albums that I downloaded released that year. It turned into a series of blogs (1, 2, and 3) So this year, I'm breaking free of Billboard, and instead searching Napster for the New Releases each week. I'll get to hear more obscure, and often better, music that way, and will be more well informed as to who's out there.

Already, first week out, I have two amazing recordings. One is by a country singer named Randy Montana (No relation to Hannah.) He released a single on 1/4/11 called 1,000 Faces. The "EP" features the title song, and two more. The thing about Country music to me is: It's either hick-ish, down-home, no-teeth, cousin-shtupping raunchy tunes, which talk about how "country" we are; or it's great, well-written music, focusing on the songwriting, which shows off how brilliant American Music can be. Toby Keith is the former, Keith Urban is the latter, Zac Brown is both! Montana starts off with "1,000 Faces" which falls into the songwriter category. It has a sound like a soft rock ballad, the only indication of being country being the occasional steel guitar twang. Great song, which should be a big hit. The other two begin a decline into Hick territory. "Last Horse," also a well written song, uses more western imagery, and features the tag line, "Don't want to be the last horse living in this one-horse town." That is SUCH a country line. Finally, "Assembly Line" celebrates the joy and pride that comes with being an assembly line worker. No metaphor, no simile, it's literally about an assembly line worker. All three are great songs for any country fan. People like me, who like well written country music will also be satisfied, but will only LOVE the title track.

My other recommendation is a classical album. It's the new recording of Route 66 composed by Michael Daugherty, Featuring the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marin Alsop. I had never heard of Michael Daugherty, but apparently, (I did my research) he's the most often performed American Composer today, and I can see why. His music features many Jazz styles combined with a classical approach to writing. The concept of the album is literally a trip west. It begins with "Route 66" a tribute to the famous highway, which is exciting and jazzy. If classical albums had singles, this should be one. The next three pieces are "Ghost Ranch" inspired by an actual ranch in New Mexico owned and lived in by Georgia O'Keefe, "Sunset Strip" which gives you the feel of night life on the California strip, and finally "Time Machine." The final piece is an experiment which I found fascinating. It's performed by an Orchestra with 3 conductors. They divide the group up into three separate small ensembles, and each one has a different conductor, each leading them at a different tempo! Believe it or not, it totally works. You don't leave the recording humming any of the tunes, but you never regret turning the recording on. The music is new, and yet reminiscent of the past (Daugherty was obviously inspired by Bernstein). He also brings very vibrant imagery to the music. I'm going to be on the lookout for his music from now on. I highly recommend this album.

Not a bad start to the new year. Next up, Cake and Edie Brickell.