Vienna Teng - Waking Hour

2002 | SOFT POP ROCK | ACOUSTIC

Track Listing

 

1. The Tower ✔

2. Momentum 

3. Gravity

4. Daughter

5. Between ✔

6. Say Uncle 

7. Drought ✔

8. Enough To Go By

9. Unwritten Letter No. 1

10. Eric's Song ✔
11. Soon Love Soon
12. Lullabye For A Stormy Night
13. Decade And One

✔ indicates track pick

Rating

 

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review 

Before I started this review I had to type out the track listing, upload the album cover, then choose what I thought were the track picks from the album. And I must say; never have I been faced with such a challenge. Even when I went back and listened to the album again from start to finish, it was a still a struggle to narrow it down to four, as this is such a brilliant album. Debut albums are a special thing; for everyone has a handful of good song ideas within them; and it's the first album where many of these surface. And this is one album overflowing with them. It's such a hard sound to describe, but so simple at the same time. Soft piano pop is probably the most appropriate terms to apply to it, but this isn't a just another Vanessa Carlton, it's more along the lines of Sarah McLachlan and even Enya dare I say it; with elements of chamber pop and even folk music thrown in. It's so much more gentle than most piano driven albums of a similar nature, so much less predictable and sounds much more suited to the world of film and television than the likes of modern pop radio.

Although Teng has gorgeous voice, it's very much her touchingly beautiful piano playing that drives this album. It's kept simple at all the time; most of the songs just feature gentle shuffling drums and sweeping piano melodies with lush strings to add to the texture. First song on the album 'The Tower' is the song for the radio if there had to be one. A catchy drum beat and piano riff kick off the song, which builds into the verse where we get the first taste of Teng's voice. Things get a bit more lively in the chorus with guitars thrown in, but it feels like it's meant to be there. That's another positive aspect of this album; it's got that real under produced sound, and it's such a raw album in that sense. It's just the music straight to your ears as played by the musicians, with no fancy effects thrown in. 'Momentum' and 'Daughter' are prime examples of this; it's just Teng and her piano. Her vocal dynamics keep things varied here; switching from a gentle whisper into soaring high hamornies. It's very much music to loose yourself in.

'Between' and 'Drought' also deserve a mention; as they are two beautiful piano driven ballads. 'Between' features acoustic guitars and tribal sounding drums, then progresses into a soaring chorus, which uses the same four chords that songwriters have been using for decades. However her warm harmonies and graceful piano work keep this formula from sounding repetive and dull; it's almost as if she pioneered it. 'Drought' is a song with a driving rhythm which fades in with a piano riff as memorable as it is haunting. It's a song for thought, that will tug at your heartstrings and bring a grown man to tears; listening to this the first time I felt like I was being serenaded by angels. Just when you've thought you've heard everything, along comes, "Enough To Go By" which is an upbeat country pop song. The album closes on a gentle note, with four delicate piano lullabies that will soothe you to sleep even when extreme insomnia strike. "Eric's Song" really stands out with heartfelt lyrics and soft vocal work; its easy to see why this is a fan favorite.

It's experiments within her genre that makes this an album that you can listen to continuously on repeat without ever tiring of it. Vienna Teng (born Cynthia Yih Shih) has a gift on the piano and on this album she's crafted thirteen stunning compositions that are guarenteed to leave you breathless. It's never going to make it to the radio for many reasons; too soft, too sad, too under produced and just too damn musically talented. However it's fairly safe to say that if falling in love had a soundtrack, with all the moments of sorrow and joy, happiness and sadness, tears and laughter, that this spectacular album would be it.  

The Musicians Are...

 

Vienna Teng - Vocals, Piano, Keyboards

Craig Wright - Drums
David Henry - Guitar, Cello, Bass
Eric Miller - Guitar, Synthesizer, Bass
Kim & Dave - Violin

  

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Track 7. Drought

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The New Morty Show - Mortyfied

1998 | ALTERNATIVE ROCK | SWING | JAZZ

Track Listing

 

1. Baby What's Up ✔

2. White Wedding / Rebel Yell Melody

3. Out Of Control

4. 15 Months In Jail

5. Buddha's Bounce

6. Blue Martini ✔

7. In The Groove ✔

8. Shoppin' Mall Mama

9. Knockin' At Your Door

10. Enter Sandman
11. Caledonia

✔ indicates track pick

Rating

 

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Review 

I've never really listened to much swing before. It was listening to metal that ironically got me onto this band. Some time ago I discovered and fell in love with The Diablo Swing Orchestra; and their deliciously avant-garde combination of metal and swing. So out of curiosity I searched for 'swing metal' and one of the results that surfaced was a catchy little swing cover of 'Enter Sandman', or in the words of the band; 'The New Morty Show swings Metallica baby!" I quite enjoyed their straight swing cover of the Metallica classic, so went out and got hold of their debut effort 'Mortyfied' (yes, with that spelling). For a person who's only real taste of jazz up until then had been through 'The Blues Brothers' and an occasional episode from 'The Simpsons' which featured 'Bleeding Gums Murphy', 'Mortyfied' worked its way into my head and led me to impression that everything sounds good when swung. See the problem with swing is that it's a genre that's never really been embraced by the mainstream, however 'The New Morty Show' bridge that gap as their repertoire features that old style swinging big band numbers infused with a modern sound and just a hint of rock in the mix.

Led by trumpet player Morty Okin and with brilliant duo vocal performances from Connie Champagne and Vise Grip this is a excellent first record, filled with with infectious tunes that will have you bopping the head and tapping the feet all night long. It's a full sound achieved as well, and with a rich horn section, guitar, bass, drums and piano they've got it all. Opener 'Baby What's Up?' shows what this group is all about; giving each other a moment in the spotlight. A bold trumpet riff begins the song, taking turns with a playful little piano melody. We get some nice harmonies from the singers in the chorus, while the verses give each individual vocalist some room to play. It's the solos that make this song brilliant though; first we're presented with a dirty little sax solo, and the tones on the instrument are astoundingly good. And if that wasn't enough, we get a rocking little acoustic solo before it descends back into the chorus. It's because of this perhaps that this band is often tagged as 'neo-swing' because it follows a more standard verse chorus formula that's so common in music today, but this works to their advantage and makes it more easy to listen to. 

Much of the rest of the album follows the same path as the opener; a tight horn section, a quick pace and solos a plenty. 'Blue Martini' stands out from the rest; it's the laid back piece that sounds like it's been directly pulled out of a romance movie's obligatory 'restaurant date scene', although the lyrics speak of sitting alone at a bar drinking expensive drinks late into the night.  This is where the piano gets to shine; with slow meandering jazz chords and fills. The female vocals take lead here, and Champagne certainly has great range hitting the essential lows and highs. Although she covers a wide dynamic range, her voice never becomes harsh. The highlight of the song however is the two minute long brilliant improvised solo from pianist John Quam, which begins slow but quickly gains momentum, playing off the drums and building up to a fast paced climax with horns thrown in, after which it brings you back to slow and mournful tune of the start. And all in the space of six and a half minutes. At the start of the review I mentioned the band's take on Metallica, but they also cover Billy Idol in the form of 'White Wedding'. The 'Enter Sandman' cover is an innovative and creative take on the original, with some brilliant piano work and a funky wandering bass line. It sounds like it was meant to be swung, and although more could have been done with it, it simply worked. However the Billy Idol cover falls a bit flat; the music doesn't seem to match up to vocals. It resembles what can only be described as 'musical photoshop', in which they take a generic swing song and chuck the vocals over the top. 

It's still music that's never going to find a mainstream audience which is shame, but The New Morty Show gives a good window into the past, while looking ahead to the future. And one can only imagine that when these jazz cats hit the stage, everybody on the floor will be dancing all through the night and day.

The Musicians Are...
 

Morty Orkin - Band Leader / Trumpet
Connie Champage - Vocals
Vise Grip- Vocal
Van Hughes - Trombone
Joe Escobar - Trombone
David Murotake - Saxophone
Tom Griesser - Baritone Sax
John Quam - Piano
Trevor Kinsel - Bass
David Rubin - Drums
Robert Castillo - Guitar

  

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Track 1. Baby What's Up?

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The White Room - White Room Music

2007 | ALTERNATIVE ROCK | ACOUSTIC

Track Listing

1. Enemies Closer
2. Vicious Girl ✔
3. Unbreakable
4. I Am No One ✔
5. Nerve
6. Lover Number One
7. First Page
8. Figure 8
9. All There Is
10. Out Of My League
11. Halo
12. The Way That I Am ✔

✔ indicates track pick
  

Rating

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review
 
I came across a two track sampler from this album purely by chance, in a small opportunity shop just off the side of a busy highway. It was tucked on a shelf in the back corner of the shop, between all the albums and singles that nobody wanted anymore. A few things made me buy it;  the cover was engaging, it was less than a million years old, but most importantly it was put out by Roadrunner Records. Now for those who don't know, Roadrunner is a label that primarily focuses on heavy metal bands, and with the exception of Nickelback they're home to many talented rockers such as Killswitch Engage, Trivium and Megadeath to name a few. So naturally I was expecting something of the same mold from 'The White Room', however I have never been so delighted to be wrong. In fact I enjoyed the two songs on the sampler, 'Vicious Girl' and 'Enemies Closer' so much that it prompted me into a long and hard search on the net to find the rest of the album. I ended up to my dismay having to use iTunes, as it was a hard album to track down, but it was money well  spent, as I enjoyed the whole album just as much as the sampler.

It's tough to attempt to describe this band. If The Goo Goo Dolls and AC/DC had a love child, I think it's safe to say that 'The White Room'  would be the result, although this band actually sounds nothing like either of them. It's an incredibly diverse album and sound, with a combination of acoustic pop ballads and hard rocking tracks. It's also very much a family band. Wheelchair bound Marc Collins fronts up the band on guitar, with sister Steph on drums and together they share the vocal duties. 'White Room Music' kicks off with two hard hitting numbers; the first being 'Enemies Closer', which starts with muted guitar and a pumping drum beat, before progressing into a rocking chorus. It's much the same with 'Vicious Girl', and the guitar riff that begins this song is guaranteed to have you banging your head, as it has such a nostalgic old style hard rock feel to it, that you just don't hear in music anymore. The chords themselves are kept simple, much like the formula so it doesn't take long for the listener to identify with the audible pleasure they're  experiencing. The drums are another high point of the album; they're kept simple, unlike some drummers who place fills everywhere. But they're still diverse, experimenting outside of the normal straight rock beat.

The album continues to delight as it progresses. Songs like 'Unbreakable' display a technique the band is fond of; acoustic chords and riffs to fill the verses and with distortion for the chorus, while 'I Am No One' almost takes the form of a rock ballad, with multiple harmonies in the chorus and a slower feel overall, with a guitar solo to cap it all off. 'Nerve' also deserves a mention. With a punk rock vibe, Steph gets to take lead vocals for the first time. Her voice is very much in the vein of Paramore and Flyleaf, and it was a wise choice to give her more of a forward role in this song, as her voice suits it perfectly. Then there's the other side of the band; the soft side. The best showcase of this is in the album's closer 'The Way I Am'. Normally I don't look too much into lyrics, but the wry reference to Marc's own situation is hard to miss; it's his message to the world that he accepts himself the way he is, and isn't about to let his disability become a hindrance to achieving his goals and dreams. Two beautiful picked acoustic riffs contrast each other through the introduction and into a positive sounding chourus. It's often said that the voices of siblings work well together, and it's certainly proven here, as Marc and Steph make this a beautiful duet, with gentle harmonies

It's a wonderful debut effort from some extremely talented songwriters. It's also easily marketable material and should have seen the band off to grander places. However most unfortunately 'The White Room' seems to have since dissolved and slipped into oblivion. The official website has closed down and physical copies of the album are now notoriously hard to track down. iTunes and Myspace remain as the only evidence that this band once existed. Hopefully they'll emerge again at some point in the future, as they showed great potential on this breathtaking debut album

The White Room Was...

Marc Collis - Guitars, Vocals
Steph Collis - Drums, Vocals
Ben Jarvis - Guitars
Barry Brauer - Bass

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Track 2. Vicious Girl 

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