[.ca] Sarah Shannon

From Amazon.com:
On her full-length solo debut, Sarah Shannon makes a clean break from her stint as frontwoman for '90s indie rockers Velocity Girl. The polished, jazz-tinged album draws from smooth-as-silk '70s pop and soft rock; the work of Burt Bacharach seems to have been a particularly strong influence. Ample use of laid-back flugelhorn, nice strings, and gentle horn statements imbue the CD with Me Decade mellowness. Fender Rhodes electric piano and Hammond and Wurlitzer organs further add to the period flavor. Shannon has a pure, semi-classical voice that would be at home in a rock opera or a Stephen Sondheim musical. "When You Live Life Alone" is pure show biz drama; it's the sort of tune you'd find in a Broadway production. "Are You Far Enough," with its punchy rhythm guitar and insistent drums, evokes the singer's former band more than any other track. Sarah Shannon should appeal to listeners with a taste for clearly stated romantic laments accompanied by tasteful arrangements. --Fred Cisterna

Sultry Siren Sarah Shannon:
This CD has so many memorable tunes..ones that you sing over and over while going about your day...especially if you want to feel GOOD! It takes me back to the sixties when I would sit around with my friends and sing songs together...like the Beatles, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Motown, Carole King, etc. Great stuff..can't wait to here more!

Someone send Brian Wilson a copy!:
I heard about this album on NPR's "Weekend Edition Saturday" and totally fell for it. This is a deliciously terrific pure pop album, something no one seems keen to make anymore, and for my money the best release of the year. There's nary a clunker on the record (hard to pick a fave) and a few solid rockers that might -- MIGHT -- appease Velocity Girl fans. I've been recommending this to my friends who care about good pop. If I had Brian Wilson's address, I'd send him a copy. I think he'd approve. Burt Bacharach, too.

Sarah Shannon is one of my Top Ten Favorite CD's:
I heard about thirty seconds of Sarah on NPR's Weekend Edition and that was enough for me. I love this CD, and the only reason I can think of that it has not received more national acclaim, is that Norah Jones' debut was released one month later on a major label. This is a great performance by Sarah, who has one of the freshest voices to grace the airways in years. She holds the notes, her songs are well crafted, and musically there's something for everyone. Down, Call You on the Telephone, Heaven got Wider, and Can't You See are all great pop-type songs, in that they are easy to listen to, but not cookie-cutter pop. I'll Run Away, When You Live Life Alone are great ballads that are readily identifiable. This CD is on my top-ten deserted island list. Enjoy!

Like Watching Puddles Dry, But More Boring:
One word: ugh. Dreadfully boring musical arrangements back Shannon's less than exciting voice. I find the lyrics to be quite sophomoric, reminiscent of angst-laden poems I wrote in junior high school and tortured my mother and friends with. I've had a more intellectually stimulating time listening to Weird Al Yankovic.

Best of 2002 (and I bet you don't even own it!):
The first solo effort from the former Velocity Girl front-woman, this self-titled release is an absolutely stunning combination of a pop sensibility like that of Carole King, horns that sound lifted straight from a Chicago album, and vocal treatment that PJ Harvey might deliver if she wasn't a sheer force of nature. With all of this packed into an impeccably tracked ten songs ranging from soft to surging rock and roll, Sarah Shannon has made the most memorable debut so far in a year ripe with new releases from young artists.

• Down
• I'll Run Away
• Call You on the Telephone
• Anyone
• What's Mine
• Looked to the Sky
• When You Live Life Alone
• Heaven Got Wider
• Are You Far Enough
• Can't You See