Album Review of City Lights by Brett Bixby

Okay, if you like acoustic music, Brett Bixby's City Lights has taken acoustic to a new level with warm melodies, a quiet voice, and atmospheric lyrics that make you think, and help you relax about life.  The first three tracks are a perfect introduction to his ability to play and let the music breathe while giving life to the vocals with cool melodies.  "Umbrella" is a ballad that holds your attention like a sentimental moment.  "Fireside" is truly the essential folk/acoustic song.  The first lyric "Do you know where I can get me some momentum, I've been lookin' but there isn't much to spare" grabs you with a beautiful string arrangment behind his quiet rhythmic acoustic guitar.  Through the rest of the tracks you won't be dissappointed as he puts his soul to C.D., and still is able to leave some mystery to who he is as an artist.  The last track, "Memento", is like him saying goodnight as he leaves you after 10 tracks of beautiful acoustic music that should be more well known than it is.  This independent singer/songwriter that resides in Long Beach, California is doing other things musically currently, but hopefully he will grace us with another album in the near future.  If you ever have a chance to see him live, he does his album complete justice.  Find him online.  And I give him the full five stars for City Lights, one of the finest albums in my opinion.

Brett Bixby's Official Website

Album Review of Static and Silence by The Sundays

Though this record was made in 1997, and the band hasn't done anything since, this is one of the finest albums ever to be produced out of England. Static and Silence by The Sundays is 12 tracks of acoustic pop folk that is led by the beautiful vocals of one Harriet Wheeler. What an amazing talent, and lyrically gives the English language a beautiful turn and takes you down the road that is her mind, which mostly consists of love, everyday enjoyment, and peaceful moods. The first track, Summertime, is about relationships and the beauty thereof. Though the music may seem sad at times because of its downtempo, it still remains hopeful, and leaves you feeling quite at peace. Her voice is so soothing on track 5, When I'm Thinking About You, a poignant love song that is simple, tasteful, and quite exquisite. As a musician, I will say that the production is top-notch, and though they tended to use electric drums in their previous albums, I'm happy to say that all the instruments used were natural. So, this is another one of my all-time favorites and it gets, you guessed it, all Five Stars. Hope you enjoy it.