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| Apart from the Bobby Braddock/Claude Putnam composition, "D.I.V.O.R.C.E." (popularized by Tammy Wynette and borrowed from manon's dream's Raging Passion CD), whose wavy version has a pleasing sub-aqueous vocal texture to it, there isn't really anything "progressive" here. That's not to say the CD isn't enjoyable just the same, even if, like me, country music is not really your thing. There are lots of uptempo country rockers, like Mary Livingston's credible vocals on the rockabilly composition, "Bad News" (Terry Blankley-Jerry Knight), Beth Profitt singing about a "Boy Next Door" (Lloyd/Ouellette), and the best of the bunch, by Lynne Wilson & The Rebels, "It Ain't Easy", a highly under-exposed band of musicians with a full-on vocal approach not heard since Bonnie Tyler. Notable tracks from the first half of the CD were Mark Laforme's country-swinger, "High and Lonesome" (with some excellent keyboard and harmonica breaks), Shelly Buffitt's cleverly-written and charmingly-vocalized "I'm Onto You" and Robert Maciag's "You". I didn't really like the latter song itself, as it was a bit too mushy for my personal taste, but his vocals and easygoing guitar styling left me wanting to hear more from him. The RotoNoto Band, with Dieter Boehme on quintessential country & western vocals, get bitter-sweet and mournful on slide guitar with "Baby Come Home", which Dieter co-wrote with RotoNoto Music/Alleged Iguana Records producer Randall Cousins. The introductory track ("Hurt Before the Fall") draws attention to an attractive rising young star, Jessie Commisso, whose d�but CD, Can't De-Schreiber, was also produced by Mr. Cousins. Ms. Commiso's ambitions, however, are much bigger than her vocal cords, which sound irritatingly like a young Michael Jackson, whenever her lung-power increases in volume. She's got a great crew of musicians backing her up, though, including Shelley Buffitt (who wrote this particular composition, along with J. Gosling), Sean O'Grady, Neil Nickafor, Harry Paratestes, Jesse O'Brien, Steve Petrie and Bob Doidge, all well-known in the Hamilton-Toronto corridor. Shelly also performs "I'm Onto You", one of the better tracks performed by the female performers. Speaking of Bob Doidge, his former bandleader, Lindsay Morgan ("This Ol' Rock 'n' Roller"), also contributes a snappy little pop tune called "Wedding Rings". Not being familiar with the '70s Hamilton-area band known as Morgan, I can't really say if Lindsay's vocals have changed for the worst over the years, but they are sounding pretty wobbly here. The founding members of Morgan were Lindsay and Jacqui Morgan, Bob Doidge, Daniel Lanois, and Garnett Todd, and went on to include such notables as Paul Benton, Ed Roth, Bill Dillon, Robbie Robertson, and Rachel Paiment (Cano). If Bob Dylan can still impress an audience with his rapidly deteriorating vocal cords, Lindsay certainly deserves the same respect for his longevity. Randall Cousins has an illustrious musical legacy, as well, that crosses many different genres of music and continues today with his fabulous "Meltdown" Series. In fact, Road to Boombladore's "Are We There Yet" (Meltdown Green) is being featured as the "Track of the Day" in the "Electronic" category at www.garageband.com on May 11/03. I highly recommend any of the colourful Meltdowns, especially his latest production, the spacey and tripped out Music for the Mildly Disturbed (Meltdown Brown). Randall has a special affinity for country-based rock music, as well, as evidenced on "Miss Behave", which owes much to Chuck Berry's "Sweet Little Rock'n'Roller", as interpreted by Rod Stewart, and Georgia Satellites' "Keep Your Hands to Yourself" (who in turn interpret Rod's "Every Picture Tells a Story" on their wildly popular d�but CD). Nice pedal steel guitar and vocals, too. Other musicians appearing on the CD are Sharon Westlake, Roe McCaw (who, along with Beth Profitt, was produced by Mick Lloyd) and a mysterious male performer known as NSS, who incidentally collaborated with Randall on Music for the Mildly Disturbed. For more information on the artists showcased here, go to www.alleged-iguana.com or www.rotonoto.com. |
| TAKING COUNTRY TO THE NEXT LEVEL - ROTONOTO MUSIC PRESENTS |
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