LEAVE IT: Pete Yorn - Back & Fourth.

This is hard to say, but.... I'm disappointed in Pete Yorn. In the past he has composed some of the most hauntingly perfect tunes I've ever heard (Nightcrawler's "Ice Age," for one), but with his latest album, Back & Fourth, he displays little artistic growth or melodic diversity. And that is not the Yorn I know and love.


As I was listening to the album all the way through for the first time, I had to keep checking back with my CD player to make sure the tracks were progressing and that the album wasn't just one long song. Although he has decided to add a full backing band, each song is strangely like the one preceding it. One could say it's like listening to polka. With that genre it's all polka all the time. With Back & Fourth it's pretty much all moderate band-Americana all the time.

"Don't Wanny Cry," "Paradise Cove," "Close," "Social Development Dance," "Thinking of You," "Country," "Four Years," "Long Time Nothing New." Same song. Annoying.

"Shotgun" and "Last Summer" don't change up the tempo; they just add more drums to make them seem bigger. The album closer, "Rooftop," is a little more mild and cozy, but even it doesn't come close to a true ballad.

Where is the range and variety he used to show? Where is the rebel who experimented with instruments and styles? Where are the quiet who-am-I ballads, mysteriously discomforting political pieces, heartwrenching climactic choruses, and creative life-is-good melodies? I know artists are often known for a certain sound, but come on. Next time, Pete, show me what you got.

LOVE IT: Zee Avi - Zee Avi.

After days and days of humming her music and trying to place her sound, it finally came to me - she's the Malaysian Ingrid Michaelson!!



Plucked from the bowels of YouTube and brought to Jack Johnson's Brushfire Records, this woman has done more to make the ukulele cool again that anyone I've listened to. Her debut self-titled album has all the intimate and sweet imperfectness of homemade ice cream on a Florida summer day.

My personal favorite is "Monty" but every tune is catchy, light, and clever. Her strumming and whisper-singing is gentle and lulling. Definitely experience this CD.

LOVE IT: Mandy Moore - Amanda Leigh.

For a long time, I didn't like Mandy Moore. As soon as I got over my middle school girl/boy pop band phase, I sold all of my Mandy CDs for $2 to Sound Exchange, just to get them out of my sight. Years later, from the TV screen of the Target music section I heard Mandy's voice belting out an amazingly respectful version of Elton John's "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters." Lo and behold, she had broken away from the mainstream and become an artist.


From that moment on she's been back on my CD shelf and in my heart. Her new self-titled album, Amanda Leigh, is even better than her Coverage of well-chosen inspirations. Taking furious notes from her icons, Mandy brings the cleverly-arranged, finger-picking '70s into the 21st Century in a welcome burst of harmony and fun.

"I Could Break Your Heart Any Day of the Week" is light and sassy, which is terrific given that she's crushing some guy's sense of security with vocal harmonies, hand claps, and an organ.

Mandy has said that discovering the singer/singwriters of the '70s has changed the way she hears music, and the deescalating piano chords "Indian Summer" is definitely reminiscent of Elton John. I've never known anyone to actually have been an Indian summer, but the song is so prettily nostalgic that I can overlook that line's confusion and just enjoy the tune.

"Pocket Philosopher" is really quirky and cute, but it seems to belong on a Broadway musical soundtrack rather than on a collection of pop songs. Oddly-placed as it is, however, Harry Nilsson would be most proud.

My favorite song, and coincidentally the only one that really seems like a ripoff, is the ridiculously Cat Stevens-esque "Bug." Several male hummms and beautiful guitar strumming takes me back to my vinyl copy of Tea for the Tillerman. "Longer Boats," anyone?

Despite a few tracks with uncomfortably dissonant melodies, Amanda Leigh is a winner. Hopefully this is just the beginning of Moore wonderfulness to come.