Cherry Blossoms Sakura by Girl On Top Written by Joe Viglione Monday, 24 August 2009 08:50 Copyright © 2010 GEMM Magazine. All Rights Reserved.

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Going Track By Track with The Atlantics

Written by Joe Viglione

Friday, 21 August 2009 11:52

Big City Rock Atlantics Live

Last Updated on Friday, 21 August 2009 11:55

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Fotomaker! and Vis-a-Vis

Written by Joe Viglione

Sunday, 13 September 2009 14:44

The pop of Fotomaker takes a previous project of Rascals alumni Dino Danelli and Gene Cornish, Bulldog, up a few notches. As the Raspberries emulated the Beatles, one can hear those familiar '60s sounds in "All Those Years" and "Pain" on side two, while the sparkling guitars that Wally Bryson added to the Raspberries' hits from 1972-1974 are here in all their glory. Another plus is the extraordinary production work by engineer Eddie Kramer. There are a lot of producer names thrown around here, but it is clearly Kramer's instincts which benefit these musicians and this disc. The material is all good album stuff -- five of the songs are around four minutes, the other five are closer to that three-and-a-half minute mark -- essential for radio play at this point in time. The strings on a ballad like "Lose at Love" hint at the coming '80s sound, as do the big guitars, and the group feels as if they were in a time warp, caught between the '60s and '80s and searching for an identity. "Where Have You Been All My Life," the only outside material, written by a J. Cawley, is rife with the guitar sound from Wally Bryson's 1973 hit with the Raspberries, "Let's Pretend." It's the closest thing to a possible chart record here. Lex Marchesi is a competent songwriter, and his "Can I Please Have Some More" actually sounds like Eric Carmen going for that British pop-meets-the Monkees vibe. But where Shaun Cassidy was covering Eric Carmen's "Hey Deanie" the year before, as well as the Lovin' Spoonful, and where Carmen ventured off successfully to adult contemporary along with another '70s rocker, Burton Cummings, Fotomaker go the route of Player's "This Time I'm in It for Love" with "All There in Her Eyes." Pleasant material, well-played and well-produced, but in that identity crisis mentioned earlier. "Two Can Make It Work" would work if it went more into the Beatles' territory, where it is heading, instead of the unholy marriage between Ambrosia and the Raspberries, which is where it ends up. Fotomaker is a tough one because they succeed on certain levels, achieving what bands like Alex Chilton's Big Star was looking for, but inevitably failing to deliver the knockout punch. "The Other Side" dabbles with progressive rock sounds, something alien to the fans of pop. This album feels like a chemistry experiment by creative students who come very close to finding that magic formula. A guest performance by Eric Carmen, Felix Cavaliere, or both is definitely what the doctor ordered but didn't get. Vis-a-Vis Vis-à-Vis has immediate and satisfying jangle pop sensations in "Miles Away," the revved-up "Dear Prudence"-inspired "Snowblind," and the exquisitely son-of-Raspberries "Just for You." For all the extraordinary good points this album contains -- and there are many -- the band just misses the mark by not thinking in terms of a number one smash. Take "Name of the Game," a song title that ABBA utilized more efficiently, as just one example. Cars drummer David Robinson referred to Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson of ABBA as true "craftsmen" -- and that is all that is missing from the first side of Fotomaker's second disc. They are a terrific pop band in need of a production team, an Ulvaeus and Andersson, to take it all to the next level. But despite the lack of a big smash single, leadoff track "Miles Away" getting to only bubble under the Top 40, side two holds some very pleasant surprises. "If I Can't Believe in You" and "Two Way Street" are both in-the-pocket, dreamy FM-friendly material, the first borrowing heavily from John Lennon's "God," the second finding inspiration in McGuinness Flint, some of the majesty you know these guys had in them from former glories. "Make It Look Like an Accident" follows the same routine and shows real promise. "Sweet Lies" is a bit of an oddity -- gritty and charging, it could be mistaken for Bachman-Turner Overdrive lite, but still manages to survive surrounded by better song structure. Vis-à-Vis had all the elements except for that perfectly positioned monster hit. It's really a shame, as this disc -- and the group's career -- deserved a better fate.

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101	Fotomaker! and Vis-a-Vis	Joe Viglione	10
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103	Bob Dylan PLANET WAVES with The Band	Joe Viglione	9
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105	Bob Dylan/The Band Before The Flood	Joe Viglione	9
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108	Buckwheat Zydeco Produced by Rob Fraboni	Joe Viglione	9
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110	The Band Northern Lights Southern Cross	Joe Viglione	8
111	Pure Prairie League with Vince Gill Something In The Night The Rob Fraboni Collection	Joe Viglione	8
112	Pat Watson - GOING TRACK BY TRACK	Joe Viglione	8
113	Brooke Waggoner Go Easy Little Doves	Joe Viglione	7
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Brooke Waggoner Go Easy Little Doves

Written by Joe Viglione

Monday, 31 August 2009 13:01

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE BROOKE WAGGONER ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM GO EASY LITTLE DOVES In Stores On November 3rd 2009 Upcoming Tour Dates With Owl City August 2009 – Brooke Waggoner returns on November 3rd with her second full-length album titled Go Easy Little Doves. All twelve songs on the album were not only written and composed by Waggoner, as with her previous releases, but Go Easy Little Doves was entirely self-produced. With Go Easy Little Doves, Waggoner expands and surrounds her sound with lush orchestration, moving melodies and introspective lyrics. Waggoner’s new album begins with two instrumental songs “Query” and “Ruminate” which beautifully fade into the title track “Go Easy Little Doves, I’ll Be Fine.” The album plays more like a symphony rather than a standard pop release. Songs such as “Chromates Soft Love” and “Find Her Floods” reveal dynamics that could be suitably described as cinematic. Waggoner describes the process of writing the material for the album and inspiration by commenting, “This is a collection of music I've wanted to record correctly for a very long time. Some of the songs were written over ten years ago. And some were written the night before I was scheduled to record. The project is full of Q&A, pensiveness, elasticity, and romance. It truly follows my story from beginning to its current state. This is the one I've always dreamt of making.” Go Easy Little Doves is the follow up to Waggoner’s critically acclaimed debut Heal For The Honey. The entire album can be downloaded here: http://www.brookewaggoner.com/BW_GELD.zip Independently released on Swoon Moon Music in September of 2008, Brooke Waggoner’s Heal For The Honey received mass critical acclaim and coverage, including the New York Times’ description of it as “… an eclectic, 10-track album that favors a serene voice quietly singing about the tribulations of love against a backdrop of classical piano crescendos.” Paste Magazine wrote, “In a music world overpopulated with acoustic guitars, warbling voices and tinkling piano keys, Brooke Waggoner and her cache of mesmerizing tunes stand out.” Brooke Waggoner has a full run of tour dates starting in Chapel Hill, NC on September 1st with Denison Witmer. Following the conclusion of that tour, Waggoner will join Owl City on the road beginning October 8th in Des Moines, Iowa.

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Pat Watson - GOING TRACK BY TRACK

Written by Joe Viglione

Friday, 21 August 2009 13:11

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Pure Prairie League with Vince Gill Something In The Night The Rob Fraboni Collection

Written by Joe Viglione

Friday, 28 August 2009 21:41

1 Don't Keep Me Hangin' Gill 3:45 2 Love Me Again Gill 2:50 3 Hold on to Our Hearts Gill 3:43 4 Something in the Night Greer, Wilson, Woodard 2:41 5 Do You Love Me Truly, Julie? Gill 3:45 6 You're Mine Tonight VanHoy 3:31 7 Still Right Here in My Heart Greer, Wilson 2:56 8 I Wanna Know Your Name Gill 3:08 9 Feel the Fire Greer, Wilson, Woodard 3:33 10 Tell Me One More Time Greer, Wilson 4:04 Catalog # 1981 LP Casablanca 7255 1981 Mercury 514 684 1994 CD Polygram 514684 1994 CS Polygram 514684