Lucinda Williams & Opinions on Rhye
Singer-songwriter and alt-country pioneer Lucinda Williams is live in the Sound Opinions studio.
Music News
It's the silliest meme since Psy's "Gangnam Style," but in some parts of the world, Bauuer's "Harlem Shake" is serious business. In Egypt, protestors filmed themselves performing the dance in front of the Muslim Brotherhood's headquarters, and in Tunisia, students' attempts to make Harlem Shake videos have ignited violent riots with religious conservatives. Half a century after Blackboard Jungle and "Rock Around the Clock," Jim says pop music still has the capacity to shock.
Lucinda Williams
For almost four decades, Lucinda Williams has been writing and performing music, without ever really fitting into any music industry labels. During this time she's moved cities almost as many times as she's moved labels. She's released 10 studio albums, including the critically lauded Lucinda Williams for Rough Trade and Car Wheels on a Gravel Road. Many of her songs have tackled love, loss and liquor, but people have been noticing a sunnier side of Lucinda in recent years. She named her 2011 album Blessed, perhaps a nod to her 2009 marriage to manager Tom Overby. But, Lucinda insists she still has plenty of material, even if she's in love. Maybe she's just channeling the always optimistic, Tami Taylor. You can still hear the fire in songs like "Born to Be Loved," "When I Look at the World," and "Something Wicked This Way Comes."
Woman Rhye
Not much was known about the electro-soul duo Rhye before the group's debut album Woman came out this month. Early reports had that Sade-like voice coming from a woman, but now the truth is out: Rhye is Canadian electronic musician Mike Milosh and Danish producer Robin Hannibal, both men. It's only March, but Woman is already high on Jim and Greg's Best Of lists. Jim calls Woman "mind-blowing" and compares the duo's combination of steamy lyrics and cool accompaniment to Sade's best work. Greg agrees. What gets him is the orchestration. On tracks like "Woman" and "Verse," drawn-out phrasing and evocative water drips underline the meaning of the lyrics. This is music about love and lust, with the flame turned down low he says. Rhye gets an enthusiastic double Buy It.
Featured Songs
- Baauer, "Harlem Shake," single, Mad Decent, 2012
- Lucinda Williams, "Seeing Black," Blessed, Lost Highway, 2011
- Bob Dylan, "Like a Rolling Stone," Highway 61 Revisited, Columbia, 1965
- Lucinda Williams, "Pineola," Sweet Old World, Chameleon, 1992
- Lucinda Williams, "Happy Woman Blues," Happy Woman Blues, Smithsonian Folkways, 1980
- Lucinda Williams, "Side of the Road," Lucinda Williams, Rough Trade, 1988
- Lucinda Williams, "Born to Be Loved" (Live on Sound Opinions), Blessed, Lost Highway, 2011
- Lucinda Williams, "Buttercup," Blessed, Lost Highway, 2011
- Lucinda Williams, "Joy," Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, Mercury/Polygram, 1998
- Mary Chapin Carpenter, "Passionate Kisses," Come On Come On, Columbia, 1992
- Lucinda Williams, "When I Look at the World (Live on Sound Opinions)," Unreleased, Unreleased, 2013
- Lucinda Williams, "Essence," Essence, Lost Highway, 2001
- Lucinda Williams, "Something Wicked This Way Comes," (Live on Sound Opinions) Unreleased, Unreleased, 2013
- Lucinda Williams, "Come On," West, Lost Highway, 2007
- Rhye, "The Fall," Woman, Republic/Innovative Leisure/Loma Vista, 2013
- Rhye, "Open," Woman, Republic/Innovative Leisure/Loma Vista, 2013
- Sade, "Smooth Operator," Diamond Life, Portrait, 1985
- Rhye, "Woman," Woman, Republic/Innovative Leisure/Loma Vista, 2013
- The Beach Boys, "Had to Phone Ya," 15 Big Ones, Brother/Reprise, 1976
- Rodriguez, "Sugar Man," Cold Fact, Sussex, 1970
- Pain of Salvation, "Ashes," The Perfect Element, Part I, InsideOut Music, 2000
- Refused, "Worms of the Senses/Faculties of the Skull," The Shape of Punk to Come: A Chimerical Bombination in 12 Bursts, Burning Heart, 1998
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