Sarah Vaughan - Whatever Lola Wants

من از بین تمام اجراهای این آهنگ، اجرای Sarah Vaughan را بیشتر دوست دارم. برای دیدن لیست همه کسانی که درباره Lola خوانده اند، به اینجا بروید.

Whatever Lola Wants, Lola Gets

Justin Nozuka - You, I, Wind, Land and Sea

Justin Nozuka came onto the scene a couple years ago as the guy with a guitar who liked to write about love. Immediately you could equate him to Jason Mraz and other soulful singers that tend to have their acoustic guitar glued to them at all times. But Justin Nozuka never really fit into that category as much as you’d like to put him in; his charm always seemed a bit more genuine, not fitting the mold of the radio-smash flash-in-the-pan bands of the time. So with his latest album You I Wind Land and Sea, he tries to distance himself even further from those other artists, implementing different styles and songwriting choices that most likely weren’t the result of an executive’s decision, but more from the artist himself.

From the beginning of the album, the affair seems more intimate and stripped down then ever, with all the sheen taken off it where it’s just you and the music. The song “Gray”, with Nozuka’s delicate falsetto and the heart pounding drums really gets into your head and begins to take over. The album truly feels as though it is trying to pull you in, and make you one with the music, rather then having you stand back and observe as a third party - you are right there with it.

Just because Nozuka isn’t striving to become the next radio sensation it seems there are some genuinely catchy moments that come naturally, and just feel right. Songs like “Carried You” and “Soulless Man” both have their fair share of hooks, the first being a light pop song that breezes by on a catchy chorus, and the second riding along a solemn piano and harmonies that will have you humming along with Nozuka’s pained crooning.

The best part of this album is the dancing amongst genres, and Nozuka’s ability to go through different times and styles to make an album that is utterly timeless. Whether it be capturing the vibe of classic R&B with “Heartless”, or when he unleashes his inner rocker near the end of “Woman Put Your Weapon Down”, or when he is at his most genuine just needling a guitar in the Neil Young-esque “Unwoken Dream (King With Everything)”, it’s an affair that just happens as the artist feels it, nothing ever seems forced, which makes it smooth and easy to listen to.

This album is a welcome surprise from an artist most people probably wouldn’t expect much from. It just goes to show how you can’t judge a book by its cover, and that being yourself can often be better and more fluid then trying to fit standards. Given the example of the album’s arguably best track “Swan In The Water”, it’s a melding of the albums best elements of down trodden songwriting, with rocking rhythms and a certain flair that Nozuka brings, showing off his profound ability at being a legitimate artist and not just another radio staple.

Reviewed By: Max Specht (London)

آهنگهای زیر را دانلود کنید:

Swan In The Water

I Wanna Know

Woman Put Your Weapon Down

Soulless Man