Musicology

Published: October 29, 2008

Country Crystal Shawanda "Dawn of a New Day" (RCA Records)
Whether she succeeds with her debut album, Crystal Shawanda will live forever at American weddings. Shawanda's first single "You Can Let Go" will be the new "Butterfly Kisses" of father-daughter dances at wedding receptions.

The rest of her 11-song effort is full of hits and hiccups. Shawanda, a full- blood North American Indian from the Ojibwe tribe in Canada, doesn't draw from her heritage to influence any of her musical styles or lyrics. Most of the album is vintage Nashville pop with big chorus anthems and maudlin ballads. Shawanda's voice opts for gravelly earnestness far too often to be genuine, and she sounds like a sober and softer Janis Joplin. "My Roots Are Showing" is a poor man's version of Shania Twain, and the Hank Williams cover of "Your Cheatin' Heart" definitely cheats the original.

There are a few great songs delivered with style, such as "What Do I Have to Do," that will touch any lonely housewife. There's not much different or special about Shawanda's debut. She might have been wise to include some influences from her native culture to differentiate her from a crowded crop of female country artists.
-- Ben Scott

Rock Various artists "Little Steven's Underground Garage Presents Halloween a Go-Go" (Wicked Cool Record Co.)
Little Steven Van Zandt's taste in modern and classic garage rock is so impeccable, it's scary. He's becoming as well known for creating cool compilation albums as he is for his gargantuan guitar work in Bruce Sprinsteen's E Street Band and his frighteningly convincing turn as mobster Silvio Dante on "The Sopranos."

He's also host of "Little Steven's Underground Garage," the most successful syndicated rock radio show in the U.S. and a 24-hour channel on Sirius satellite radio, which have spawned an excellent seven-volume series of albums called "The Coolest Songs in the World!" Now he's gone into the holiday album business with "Halloween a Go-Go," and only Little Steven could put together artists as diverse as Howlin' Wolf ("Howlin' for My Darlin' "), the Electric Prunes ("I Had Too Much to Dream"), Springsteen ("Restless Nights"), Tegan and Sara ("Walking With a Ghost"), Carl Perkins ("Put Your Cat Clothes On") and Pretty Things ("Walking Through My Dreams") - and have it all make sense.

And what All Hallow's soundtrack would be complete without Donovan's spooky "Season of the Witch"? The cartoon cover drawings are cool, too.
-- Gene Triplett

Kids/Alternative Various artists "Yo Gabba Gabba!" (Sony/BMG)
Parents go through the gauntlet on children's entertainment, and after a few years of separating the educational food pyramid of options from the sugar-coated fat bombs, a few things become clear. If it looks and sounds condescending, skip it. If it seems designed to indoctrinate your toddler into the malevolent maelstrom of modern marketing, hang on to your wallet. And if it makes parents jump out of their skin when it lands in the music player or on TV, it's probably the equivalent of un-reading a book.

The first song collection from Nick Jr.'s "Yo Gabba Gabba!" doesn't reach the level of They Might Be Giants' "Here Come the 123's" (a must-have), but the ingredients are there. The show is a great place to see first-rate indie-pop bands (The Shins, The Postmarks, Shiny Toy Guns and Cornelius) playing for the small set. This disc features a ton of filler from DJ Lance Rock and various fuzzy creatures, but a few glimmers of goodness lie therein.

The Roots' sweetly soulful "Lovely, Love My Family" and Tahiti 80's "Train Ride" will show up on adults' iPods, and Mark Kozelek of Sun Kil Moon and Red House Painters delivers a "Bedtime Lullaby" that is almost preternaturally beautiful. But it's a mixed bag. As the lead track from Lance Rock implies, "Yo Gabba Gabba!" is more "Party in My Tummy" than stomachache.
- George Lang

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