Music in the air

The two CDs today come from very different ends of the musical spectrum — one is by a critically-acclaimed female singer/songwriter who hasn’t really made a dent in our local market; while the second is a movie soundtrack, filled with the sounds of the film, and songs, especially composed for the film and produced by everyone’s current favorite, Pharrell Williams.

Ingrid Michaelson — Lights Out (Cabin 24/mom+pop, available on Amazon.com). The new album of Michaelson sees a clarity of voice and vision, culminating in tunes that really bear repeated listening and see her maturing as a singer-songwriter. While some of the songs harken to the fragile, emotive phase of her career, and which I’m certain a lot of females identified with, there’s also a more ferocious, gruff side that now comes out, both in the lyrics of particular songs, and in the arrangement that have industrial pop touches. The carrier single, Girls Chase Boys, is a great example of the newfound effervescence we can detect in some of the songs. I especially loved her collaborative efforts on the CD — Wonderful Unknown with Greg Laswell, You Got Me with Storyman, the plaintive Ready to Lose with Trent Dabbs and the superb One Night Town with another favorite of mine, Mat Kearney. It’s particularly apt that with a sly sense of humor, the last rack on the CD is titled Everyone is Gonna Love Me Now. Well worth the listen; as there’s a lot of music with a capital M, to be found here.

Amazing Spider-Man 2 Soundtrack (Columbia Records). If you’re not one for the film’s filler music and sound effects (courtesy of Hans Zimmer), a purchase of the CD will have to answer the question: “Are four to five genuine songs worth the purchase of this CD?” Yes, one song is Here by the ubiquitous Pharrell Williams, and we also have the excellent It’s On Again by Alicia Keys and Kendrick Lamar. Song for Zula by Phosphorescent grows on you, and there are tracks courtesy of The Neighbourhood and one by Liz. But the bulk of the album is made up of tracks that make up the movie’s score, and while Zimmer does himself proud on this one, it would be fans of movie soundtracks and die-hard Spidey/Peter Parker fans that will snap the CD off the record racks.