Album Review: Jason Mraz

Jason Mraz- We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things

The sketch of Jason Mraz on the cover of the album We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things is a proper metaphor for the music inside.

Gone is the askew trucker’s cap that had become a bit of a trademark, replaced now by a Sinatra style fedora. The image speaks to the general maturity shown in the music and songwriting on the album.

The sleek soul sound of the opening track “Make it Mine” makes the listener quickly realize they are about to get some different things from Mr. A-Z.

There have always been a myriad of genres blended together in Mraz’s music, but those different styles are much more definitive now. The single “I’m Yours” is most definitely a Reggae song while “The Dynamo of Volition” taps into the hip-hop world rather specifically.

We Sing… is also highlighted by a couple guest spots, Colbie Caillat on the cutesy “Lucky” and James Morrison on the poignant “Details in the Fabric”.

All in all, the record shows a great step forward for Mraz as a songwriter and an artist

MY GRADE: B

Album Review: Duffy

Duffy- Rockferry

Trends and comparisons are dangerous monsters in the music business, and Duffy is either a victim or a product of both on her debut Rockferry.

Almost immediately after hitting the scene the Welsh singer was being hailed by the British press as one of the “New Amys” drawing comparisons to troubled retro-popster Amy Winehouse.

That comparison is unfair in many ways but a couple stand out.

First, Duffy’s voice is considerably stronger than that of Winehouse, but there is also considerably less attitude.

Rockferry starts out with the title track, a wall of sound ballad that evokes the great Female Brit singers of the mid-sixties; the problem is that the power of the opening song doesn’t continue.

The album continues with a number of sweet and subtle ballads that are good, but not unlike anything you’ve heard before, and by the time you get to “Mercy” (the current single and the albums only up-tempo track) it almost sounds out of place.

The album finishes up with “Distant Dreamer” another throwback with a big big sound that ends the album on a full and beautiful note.

I can’t decide if all these comparisons are good or bad thing for artists and/or listeners (I’m leaning toward bad), but if I must compare then I will say this.

The retro sound is there, the vocal power is most certainly there, the attitude just isn’t.

MY GRADE: C+

Todd Snider- America's Favorite Pastime

I have told some of you about this song.

It's one of the greatest stories ever. The story of Doc Ellis throwing a no-hitter on LSD.

One of my all-time favorite songwriters, Todd Snider, wrote about it and here is the song.

As far as I know this is the only recording of the song just yet, he's playing it for famed producer Don Was in a hotel room.