Archives for July 1998

Label: Slow River / Rykodisc

It’s not often that I get too excited about a fundamentally straight-forward pop-rock record that is upbeat, has nearly painfully catchy melodies, and a real “American” soul (think Toad The Wet Sprocket, Matthew Sweet, Freedy Johnston). But when it happens, it’s a good feeling because I can once again reaffirm how potentially open I can be to commercial music. In a fairer world this record would set the standard for commercial radio, however it’s unlikely that this 25 year old Nashvillian will ever hear himself on anything other than college radio stations.

With his clean polished vocals and precise guitar arrangements, Rouse has strung together a collection of truly catchy songs that also happen to be a slightly more serious collection of songs and thoughts. These are songs that are pure rock-pop, but are also more than just a novel and barely heard afterthought, they come complete with a kicker: lush violin and cello accompaniments.

On “Dressed Up Like Nebraska” you can hear evidence of a genuinely talented young songwriter who crosses his astute ear for pop music with a great knowledge of all the best music that has come before him. Josh Rouse is a name to remember, and one that might help cheer you up after finding another parking ticket on your car!

Label: Verve

“Get It Together” is easily the best R&B effort I have heard in years. Like the first couple of solo Paul Weller and Jamiroquai efforts, Pete Belasco delivers more “pure” soul than any Motown record released in the past ten years. Sounding, at times, more like Marvin Gaye than the retro-white-boy-with-hipster-facial-hair that he appears to be, Belasco has succeeded in pulling the bell-bottoms over our ears and settling in on an authentic groove. Built around a steady diet of organs, strings and sax and guitars, Belasco has fashioned a bouncy bowling-shirt set of nightclub tunes.

The real beauty of Pete Belasco is his incredible range. Most R&B stars make concept records where they follow a singles thread throughout an entire album. This has always basically been the way R&B records were made. But Belasco glides smoothly through a spectrum of different styles. Beginning with the incredibly toe-tapping “All I Want,” an almost Ike & Tina Turner style R&B romp, Belasco mixes a spunky sax an organ with his silky but cool vocals. He picks up this boppy sax driven style on killer tracks like “I’ll Be Gone” and “Heat.” But the album is sequenced by alternating slow jams with poppy grooves.

This authentically retro 50-60’s masterpiece catches its breath between the upbeat songs by shifting gears into a slower almost Crowded House meets Marvin Gaye slow jams. On “Without Within” and “Love Train” you can almost see the smoky lava-lamp lit parties Belasco is playing to in his mind.

“Get It Together” is that surprise record I bought on a whim, forgot about, and then uncovered by accident after moving into a bigger apartment and subsequently rearranged my CD collection. Pete Belasco is the real thing, and the fact that Verve (a classic jazz label) released it is even further proof that this guy knows what he’s doing.