Ryan Thomas Goodenough

Odd, I definitely was expecting Spanish pop given the title and artist. Oops! It’s still sort of “pop”-ish, but this one is definitely more of a rock song than pop. Moving on…

The song has a nice, although predictable, structure. At 4:05 it doesn’t go on too long, so that’s very much welcome. It has a good screechy-piano bridge in it, which is probably what will make me listen to it a few more times. It also ends in a rather well arranged climax, so that’s a check on my list of what makes songs particularly good for me.

Not bad and I really like the fact that it wasn’t what I was expecting.

Grade: B+

Immediately, this song strikes me as one that I should like.  Good mono stereo riff, then full stereo with some cool percussion.  And then male-female vocals–have I ever mentioned how I’m a sucker for these?

Ooh! Clapping!!

As this “review” slides further and further into pure nonsense…this is a good summer song!  This is one of those songs that I would probably roll my window down to blare as I would go by John Bapst.  One complaint though–the lyrics are probably too repetitious, even for me.  Second complaint–I think this song may be a touch too long.  But whatever, it’s my type of song.

Grade: B+

Back when I was working at Bunker’s Wharf a few summers ago, Bill Osgood (the owner) loved to play Norah Jones’ debut album during dinnertime.  At first, it was fine.  You know, nice smooth jazz, with Jones’ unique voice.  But by the end of the summer, I never wanted to hear Norah Jones again.  Yes, it’s smooth jazz, but I’m just not sure if I’m a jazz repeat listener.  After all, the reason why I like to listen to jazz is the impromptu elements–something that you won’t hear on the 50th listen to the same song.

Worrisome Heart reminds me instantly of Norah Jones.  It may be a bit more relaxed than some of Jones’ hits, but it certainly has that feel.  The song has a nice build to it, both lyrically and instrumentally.  That being said, I can’t see myself loving this song three or four listens later.  Not bad for the short term, but I’m not so sure about the long term.

Grade: B-

Uh oh, another female version of Jack Johnson. Have I told you how much I don’t like Colbie Caillat?

This is much better however! Prettyman’s voice has a nice tone and she knows how to get the most out of her range. I’m not a big fan of the verses, but the refrain has a good flow. It’s slightly more up tempo than the “I’m in California, so I’m going to sit back and sing the verse ‘bubbly’ slow”-style. The bridge works well, although I would have loved to see an a capella ending to the song.

Grade: B

1991–The second year of the 90s saw the release of plenty of my favorite albums. R.E.M.’s Out of Time, Tori Amos’ Little Earthquakes, U2’s Achtung Baby, and, heck, did I mention Disney’s Beauty and the Beast soundtrack? But no album was more captivating than Marc Cohn’s self-title debut. For years, I tried to locate this album. While Cohn won a Grammy for Best New Artist, he sort of disappeared after this album. As a result, by the time I knew who had done the songs, the album was much more difficult to locate.

“Walking in Memphis” is one of those all-time great pop songs. But the great thing about the album is that Cohn shows off a blues side as well on most of the other tracks. “Silver Thunderbird” should have been another great classic, while “29 Ways” successfully switches genres altogether. Fantastic album.

Uh oh, R&B–so not a good choice for me.

I must admit that I was intrigued by the “classical” music sampling that was performed–interesting choice. I also liked Algebra’s voice–jazzy and smooth. However, the song just didn’t hold up for me. The classical sampling got annoying by the end. While I think I might like other songs by Algebra Blessett, this is not a very good single. Ended up boring and annoying.

Grade: C-

Wow, that’s just wrong:

I should probably let everyone know that I write these reviews while listening to the song. In fact, I usually have only listened to the song once. Which means there is a high probability that my reviews are flawed. Moving on…

So, my first thought listening to “Lights & Music” is that it has a good pop/techno feel to it. It starts out nice and then really kicks into gear in the refrain. If a single could be described as “clean and crisp,” that’s “Lights & Music.” It’s got my foot tapping, so that’s usually a good sign. The ending has a good “soaring” element and the lyrics are at least somewhat interesting. It’s a thumbs up for me!

Grade: A-

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Have I ever mentioned how great a show Sesame Street is? Certainly, no other children’s show could ever or will ever be able to pull off something as simple and wonderful as this.