Cabin Essence Blog

When I was a child of the late 70s, I remember listening to a radio show called Forces Favorites; basically people sending messages to loved ones serving in the army and requesting songs about loving and missing people.  I wasn’t a pop music fan then -I was mostly waiting for the sports shows and my beloved cricked updates, but this was my first exposure to pop and rock music of any era.

Now, 27 songs from that era having been lovingly remade on the compilation album, Drink A Toast To Innocence: A Tribute To Lite Rock, a project driven by Andrew Curry, with support from Elizabeth (Queen of song) Racz.  It’s a remarkable collection, and an instant time machine back to an era which was maybe not as innocent as it seems now, but where the songs may have been light, but dealt with real longing, hope, heartbreak and love.

In such an extensive collection, it’s not fair to single out specific songs, but it’s great to see Cabin blog favorite Lisa Mychols here, doing Don’t Give Up On Us. Everything is worthwhile here, and you can find out more, including ordering information on the project page.

Readers of this blog will know that Lisa Mychols will always be one of my favorite people, and therefore it is with some joy that the news came out that she would be releasing a new solo album this year. Promising her most personal work yet, all fans of Lisa, and indeed of good pop/rock music will not be disappointed with Above Beyond & In Between.

Lisa showed she was the queen of the pop Christmas album with Lost Winter’s Dream, and on this record, she shows a mastery of all pop styles, from the punchy opening Hearts Beat In Stereo, to aching ballads like Dreamer’s Awake. Highlights for me include the emotional Stay Till Tomorrow, the radio-hit-that-should-be Taken, and Make Believe which invoked the pop splendor of the title song from Lost Winter’s Dream.

It’s all great stuff, of course, and you should be heading down to CD Baby to get yourself a copy of this, and support an artist who not only has musical Brian Wilson connections, but is a huge talent and a wonderful person in her own right.

The music world will be focusing on the sad passing of one Los Angeles musician, Ray Manzerak of the Doors, but today’s review looks at another Los Angeles artist, Anny Celsi.  She’s featured on these pages before, and is now back with her third album, January.

January is a month of new beginnings, as well as endings, and sometimes a massive post-festive comedown, but for Anny Celsi, it is one of musical consolidation. There are familiar styles -sunshine pop, country flavored rock -but done with a fresh approach and melodies that sound like instant hits.

Au Revoir, My Darling kicks off the album with a instant classic pop sound that will soon playing over in your head, while Travelogue evokes the romanticism of travel. Ghosts In The Room has a fantastic horn-driven production, while Wait is achingly beautiful and the closer Citybird has country leanings but a great understated pop sound.

It’s another great record for Anny Celsi -you can buy the album on her website and CD Baby, and you should also check out her back catalogue.