Notes from the Underground

For those that know me from down South, you all know how I enjoy my music (my mother is nodding her head while pointing towards the two HUGE rubbermaid bins I left with her filled with CDs) while everyone else is pointing towards the massive hard drive array that I have that currently stores the rest of my music. Well, I would like to pass on a musical jem to all of you .... and the story that leads me to this ramble.

Many of my friends can attest that I had .... er have this little habit of just going into Music World or HMV, staring at the wall of new releases (or sometimes the sales rack) and closing my eyes, and grabbing what ever my hand nabbed off of the shelf. For the most part (99% of the time) I've fallen in love with my selection and have become a fan, purchasing either all subsequent albums, or everything that lead to the album that I fell in love with (imagine if you will, Kennie at HMV while they have the 2 for 30$ or 3 for 50$ sale on of all the Pink Floyd albums, or Nine Inch Nails, or Tragically Hip or Moby or Ani DiFranco ..... yes, I do have a wild music taste).

On this particular evening (or afternoon ... can't quite remember, but I do remember who was there with me when I made this purchase and who the sales person was...), following my ritual of looking at all of the new releases and looking for one that "spoke" to me, I nabbed up Sarah Slean's first major label release Night Bugs. And was I ever amazed. This album was just fabulous. It has everything. Uplifting songs that you could just bounce around to (or dance to), brooding songs about love lost and forgotten, and instrumental tracks that touched your soul. From there I was hooked ... and on subsequent album release days, I was there at HMV, purchasing the next musical jem ... Day One. Yet again, it was another album that just clicked with my musical side.

This brings me to today's release of The Baroness, Slean's third major label release (I downloaded it early this morning when my pre-order came available online - hehe!). Like Night Bugs and Day One, Slean has produced another fabulous album filled with wonderful piano solos, string accompaniment, lyrics, and her haunting (yet soothing-jazzy-blues) voice. The Baroness has a great mix of "up beat", mellow and emotional-dark songs following in the footsteps of Night Bugs and Day One.

All I can say is check it out (you can listen to 30 second clips on iTunes) ... and just maybe you might find yourself adding to your music collection.

Update: I just got an email regarding this post asking me "Who does Sarah Slean's music resemble". Well, emailer, Sarah Slean is what I consider a "less edgy pre-The Beekeeper Tori Amos crossed with Pre-Afterglow Sarah McLachlan with a touch of Post-Metric Emily Haines and a splash of Merrick".