Poco, Live At Columbia Studios Hollywood 9/30/71

Just released in The States (on Collector’s Choice label), a live CD from the band Poco, Live At Columbia Studios Hollywood 9/30/71. Poco first made their reputation as a live act—it’s no accident that their 1971 live album, Deliverin’, was the band’s biggest seller until 1978’s ‘Legend’. The discovery of this crystal-clear recording from 1971, then, is cause for rejoicing for Poco fans; it was actually recorded a year later than ‘Deliverin” was, with the high-flying line-up of Richie Furay,Timothy B. Schmit, George Grantham, Rusty Young and (making his first live appearance with the band) Paul Cotton, and boasts a set list that departs significantly from the one on the previous live album. Live At Columbia Studios Hollywood 9/30/71 includes ‘Introduction—I Guess You Made It; A Man Like Me; Ol’ Forgiver; Hear That Music; Hurry Up; You Are the One; Bad Weather; Medley: Hard Luck/Child’s Claim to Fame/Pickin’ up the Pieces; Hoedown; What a Day; Railroad Days; What If I Should Say I Love You; Just for You and Me’, and C’Mon’. One hour of great country rock… 16...

Seth Swirsky, Watercolor Day

Seth Swirsky just wants to make the world whistle and hum, and that’s just what he does on his new, second solo album, Watercolor Day. Swirsky’s love of classically constructed pop songs continues from his winning solo debut, Instant Pleasure (Best Pop Album 2005, Los Angeles Music Awards) through his deliciously retro, British Invasion-minded project with Mike Ruekberg, The Red Button, whose 2007 release, She’s About to Cross My Mind, was both a critical and commercial success. “If The Red Button was around in the ‘60s,” said legendary Beatles recording engineer, Norman Smith, “I would have signed them to EMI!” Now, just two years later, comes Swirsky’s highly ambitious (18 songs in just 43 minutes) Watercolor Day. To borrow a phrase coined by the great Nick Lowe, this is truly an album of pure pop for now people. Susanna Hoffs of The Bangles agrees: “Watercolor Day is a sonic banquet of delicious melodies, melt-in–your-mouth harmonies, warm butterscotch guitars that jangle and shine — made with love and reverence for the music of the golden age of pop — guaranteed to raise a smile!’” Swirsky’s songs have their roots in the most blissful work of Brian Wilson, Paul McCartney’s Wings, ELO and the smart style of Burt Bacharach. Some highlights include the 10cc-inspired, “Matchbook Cover,” the baroque “Song for Heather,” the sunshine-y “Summer in Her Hair” and the cheeky “Big Mistake.” But to Paul Ellis, music-historian and member of the highly acclaimed rock group, Pop Archaeology Transmission, the songs on Watercolor Day can be compared with the best in the pop genre: “I was going to say that Seth has created one of the best current retro ‘60s Sunshine Pop albums out there, but that’s not the whole story. What he’s actually created is one of THE best albums in that style, ever. Period. Regardless of the “when” aspect, this...

Josh Rouse, El Turista

Tourists get a bum rap. They’re loud, invasive and wear ugly clothes — at least according to caricature. Cultural tourists endure an even worse rep. They’re exploitive, clueless and downright racist — if only to purists who look askance at anyone who dares annex the art of a land other than his own. (Prime targets of wrath from the intolerant range from Paul Simon to Vampire Weekend.) Given all this, you have to admire the guts of singer-songwriter Josh Rouse. Not only did he plunge headfirst into the controversy, he gave his efforts the asking-for-it title “El Turista.” The new CD from this well-respected performer finds a guy raised in the ultimate Midwest state of Nebraska singing songs heavily influenced by the balmiest rhythms of Brazil. More, he chose to sing them in Spanish rather than Portuguese. And, oh yeah, he recorded it all inNashville. Then again, Rouse isn’t a total outsider to the cultural flavors he’s tasting. Five years ago, Rouse, who’s from Brooklyn, moved to Valencia, Spain, where he lives with his native-born wife and their 1-year-old son. Rouse speaks Spanish in his adopted home, but you don’t have to be a Catalonian to know his accent isn’t quite on point. He goes out of his way to pronounce the local “th” accent (especially evident in a track named for his chosen home). But when he croons Spanish in the cover of “Duerme” (made famous by Cuban singer/pianist Bola de Nieve) he sounds like someone who learned the language in a crash course. Then again, Rouse sings as often in English as in Spanish, and the instrumental aspects of the CD prove as impressive as anything sung. The opening instrumental, “Bienvenido,” features wafting strings that flow with a jazzy flair. Strings enliven the whole CD, giving it a breezy feel that’s in no way flighty. Rouse’s boyish voice has the right light touch for...

JEFF LARSON, HEART OF THE VALLEY

Over the past decade or so, Jeff Larson’s consistent string of smart, hooky and alluringly accessible albums have borne clear references to the Southern California sound of the mid-to-late ’70s. So it seems fitting that for the lovely and evocative Heart of the Valley he has collaborated with America’s Gerry Beckley and welcomed appearances from soft-rock stalwarts including America’s other half, Dewey Bunnell, Poco pedal steel player Rusty Young and Brian Wilson associate Jeff Foskett. The America signature is immediate and unavoidable, given that Beckley penned the majority of the songs, produced the sessions and contributes the lion’s share of the instrumental duties— guitar, keyboards, bass, accordion, percussion and programming among them. Consequently, the album basks in a hazy supple sheen that helps ballads like the title track, “Airport Calling,” “Southern Girl” and “Five Mile Road” to invite an instant embrace. Credit Larson’s radiant vocals with accentuating the appeal, giving this set potential placement on adult-oriented soft rock radio—or for that matter, any arena where beautiful balladry, well-crafted compositions and studio savvy still have an opportunity to...