Cabin Essence Blog

If you want an education in putting together a classic pop sound, this is one school that you should be registering for. Wales may not be the original source of the 60s girl group sound, but Liz Hunt has assembled a fairly big group of musicians and put together this lovely debut album.  Loveless Unbeliever openly wears the influence of girl groups, but The School also openly acknowledge the influence of Brian and the Boys.

The result is some wonderful melodies and heartfelt emotion. Tracks like Let It Slip, Is He Really Coming Home?, I Want You Back and Shoulder could all have been big 60s hits and should be on all airwaves during this Northern Hemispehere. The band know all the pop tricks, but there is also a sense of originality and freshness throughout. It’s time to go back to school early this year! You can get on Amazon here as well as all the usual sources.

With titles like The Girl From Algenib and Theme From “Memoirs”, you can already tell that the latest album from the Postmarks has its soul somewhere between a 60s movie and a South American beach. The album exudes glamour and nostalgia from the days where meaningful music was on the airwaves all the time; the retro packaging even looks like a well-worn vinyl CD.

Of course, this would mean nothing without quality music, but this album provides some wonderful songwriting and production throughout. The highlight is Go Jetsetter, which sounds like an instance pop classic, but there are riches throughout the album. For those who think that classic pop songwriting is a thing of the past, Memoirs At The End Of The World is a big relief. You can get it at Amazon, amongst other places.

All Brian Wilson fans love Zooey Deschanel for the 2008 MySpace (remember them?) interview with Brian Wilson which showed that the pretty girls love Brian too. But she also made her own music with M. Ward in a group called She & Him. Their first album (Volume One) came out in 2008 and now it’s the turn of Volume Two.

If Zooey’s group and album names seem uninspired, you will be glad to know that the music on this second album is even more inspired by Mr. Wilson, a fact acknowledged by Deschanel. The album has a retro sound throughout, reinforced through covers of Ridin’ In My Car and Gonna Get Along Without You Know, but it is on the originals that the songwriting, crisp production and yes, even the sleighbells, shine through. Standouts include In The Sun, Don’t Look Back, Me And You, Over It Over Again and the harmonic If You Can’t Sleep. Worth checking out for Brian fans, sunshine pop lovers and those into good music.

It’s not even eighteen months since I reviewed Laurie Biagini’s debut album, Ridin’ The Wave. Now she’s back with her sophomore record, called A Far-Out Place,  and it’s very clear that she is tapping even more deeply into the vein of musical inspiration that she has found in the past years.

The album contains more harmonic rock-and-roll songs inspired by Brian and the Beach Boys and her own experiences. Many readers will be drawn to Crazy People On The Internet, a slice of the big part of our lives that has brought together lovers of good music. There are some great tunes here, including Sweet Dream Symphony, Not What It Seems, Rockin’ My World Like You Only How and I’ll Be Back Again. We certainly hope Laurie Biagini will be back soon. You can get this at CD Baby and visit her Facebook artist page here.

We’ve got a double dose of sunshine for you-today’s review is Sunrise Highway-which is both the name of the band and their debut CD.  The band is led by songwriter and guitarist Marc Silvert, with lead vocals by Greg Schlotthauer, and the sound definitely hearkens back to the classical California pop pioneered by Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys, with touches of the 70s West Coast and singer/songwriter genres.

Tracks such as Endless Summer, Jerry In The Sky, Lonely Guy and Roundabout deliver on the promise of their titles with their classic retro pop grooves -these are sounds that feel like a beautiful vista that you don’t see enough of, but each time you do see it, you remember why it is so beautiful and can still see find new angles to admire the view. You can find band information and ordering details at http://songheads.com/.

Sunshine Collective is a group consisting of singer/songwriter Stephanie Richards and composer/songwriter/producer Brian Arbuckle.  As the group name may suggest, they take inspiration from the Sunshine Pop sound of the late 60s, but they also dig deeper into traditional pop sounds and the Great American Songbook.

Wanna Play? is their debut album, and the sound is both sunshiney and playful, with a certain whimsy which is something of an antidote to these cynical times. This is best exemplified by I Just Wanna Play, which starts off in a simple, childlike manner but develops into a substantial pop song.  You Know is another track which could easily be a hit in any era.

Sunshine pop and classic hit fans will do well to check this out, the group’s website is at http://www.sunshinecollective.com/ and you can buy the album at Amazon here.

Just under three years ago, I reviewed Nushu’s first album on this blog. A quick reminder that Nushu consists of Lost Winter’s Dream angel Lisa Mychols and LA musician Hillary Burton. The great news is that they are back with their second album, called Hula.

Once again, it is a great slice of girl power pop n’ rock, combining melodicism, catchy pop and some driving rock rhythms. Some of the great tracks include Weary Eyes, which hearkens back to Lost Winter’s Dream bittersweet romanticism, the great potential pop single Leave Me Behind and the beautiful Like The Sun. Those who buy the physical CD also get an educational bonus track.

Brian Wilson and power pop fans should definitely head out to http://www.nushumusic.com for ordering the CD as well as other goodies and info on the band. These are ladies that should be part of your life!

There isn’t anything as good as a great pop song. The combination of a catchy tune, toe-tapping beat and lyrics that you know could have been written about your own life drive you to that place where your eyes well up because you know that life can’t get any better.

Sadly, in 2010, we live in a dearth of great music. Instant gratification and music that seems more around to create earache than pleasure dominates, and even those semi-decent tunes seem to be drowned in overproduction, gimmick and vocals that are more machine than human.

But dig a bit deeper, and great pop music is still being made. You can find it in the pages of the blog and we all know that Brian Wilson is still adding to his canon of Californian joy and heartache. You also know this blog has been a fan of Lucky Soul for some years, and it is time to celebrate the release of their second album, A Coming Of Age.

 Andrew Laidlaw, the main creative force of the band, indicated his intention to create a great album of twelve tunes, with no filler, and drawn-out arrangements. No track is longer than four minutes, and if you think 36 minutes is too short, let me remind about a 1966 album of just about exactly the same length that many think is the greatest ever (Hint, if you really don’t get it). I’m definitely one with a view that less is usually more in putting together a great album.

It’s all pretty brilliant, with a great variety of sounds and mixture between up-tempo and down-tempo songs. Saint Etienne, 60s girl groups and Smiths are sometimes reference points given for Lucky Soul but a far wider palate is hinted it. Up In Flames evokes Dexys’s Midnight Runners, Warm Water reminds one of traditional British folk balladry while one of the greatest tracks, Southern Melancholy taps into the well of California heartache of Mr. Brian Wilson and evokes his most moving songs.

It’s a lyrically downbeat album, evoking much loss and heartbreak- but much great music was created in these emotions. Lucky Soul definitely see themselves as outsiders -titles of their songs so far (not all on this album) include The Great Unwanted, Ain’t Never Been Cool and Could Be I Don’t Belong Anywhere. They know they aren’t in the mainstream but their proud of it. Let the greatest pleasures be restricted to the few.

This will be one of the albums of 2010 and the decade, so get into your music collection now. You can buy it on Amazon here. Those outside the UK should be able to download it from 7digital here. A reminder also to Brian Wilson fans that the Stockholm Stings n’ Horns play on a number of tracks here.