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September 1997 [Music Reviews for September] [The Golden Zone for September]
With his debut release Remi Boudreau follows closely
in the footsteps of fellow New Brunswick pop-rocker, Roch
Voisine. Many similarities can be drawn between the two,
including the smooth, emotion conveying vocal styles, the
reliance on a predominance of ballads built around
melodic acoustic guitar playing and the fact that they
record in both official The CD is almost a two in one deal with the first 7 songs being French, followed by a brief instrumental acting as a segue for the last 7 songs which are English. M. Boudreau songs are centered around his life experiences and judging by the number of songs about lost loves, I would have to conclude he had a much more interesting social life than I did as a teenager. Lyrically I perceive the French songs to be better written and this is probably due to the fact that French is his first language (I presume) and he is rightfully more comfortable writing and performing in it, although my limited familiarity with the French language may be partly responsible for my perception. Inside the CD booklet Remi reflects on his history as a songwriter. From the time he was 11 he was writing his own music. At that age, he goes on to say, with a limited vocabulary and being short on life experience his songs surrounded simple themes. Remi now sings passionately about life and I surmise that this young man will continue to grow and to develop the obvious natural talent he has as a songwriter. ...Bruce Bassett Meredith Brooks - blurring the
edges Excerpts from the Journal of Bruce: June 15, 1997 - Saw the Meredith Brooks video today. Thought to myself, I'm a bitch, I'm a lover, I'm a child, I'm a mother... Those thoughts repeated on me all day. June 19, 1997 - Went to the local record store today. Saw what I thought to be Sheryl Crow's new disc, or at least it looked that way from a distance. Picked it up to discover it was Meredith Brooks. Something unexplained came over me and I bought it. July 19, 1997 - Had my first listen of Ms. Brooks. I originally thought it was Sheryl Crow and they had just mislabeled the cover. It confused me. I shut the disc off. I felt nauseous. Ended up sitting staring at the wall for the rest of the day trying to figure out what this evil trickery was. July 28, 1997 - It had been over a week and I had psyched myself up for another sampling. During the first listen of the day, and through the fog of nausea that had again enveloped my brain, I had a revelation. Sheryl and Alanis had been cloned, like Dolly the sheep, with the result being some mutant hybrid known as Meredith Brooks. It all made sense now but I couldn't help but feel cheated. After the next listen the nausea faded considerably. Subsequent spins found the music growing on me like some sick fungus. Aug. 4, 1997 - I have been listening to Meredith everyday now for a week. How could something that once made me feel so sick, now bring me so much pleasure? I need help. My wife threatened to leave me if she hears "her" one more time. Aug. 11, 1997 - I have been at the Perry Como Clinic, for people addicted to musically uninspired and originality challenged artists, for about a week now. My wife had me committed and looking back I see that she was only doing it out of love. The doctors have been feeding me a steady diet of dysfunctional jazz to shock my system back to normal. They say my progress has been very good and I can go home tomorrow. I can't wait. Aug. 12, 1997 - I left the hospital today. On the drive home a familiar song came on the radio. It has been repeating on me all day. I don't feel so well anymore ...Bruce Bassett Sarah McLachlan - Surfacing Sarah McLachlan happy? Judging by the album cover she sure looks content anyway. Sarah of the past produced hauntingly beautiful songs that ached through her sensual voice. Sarah was somewhat in pain and you could feel it through her work. Moving, unsettling, emotional, and gripping were some words used to describe her previous albums. Her most upbeat songs, "Ice Cream" from Fumbling Towards Ecstasy and "Ol' 55" from The Freedom Sessions, were only hints at happiness. Today Sarah is married and judging by the success of the recent Lillith Fair tour, a hugely successful musician. She has gotten her house in order, as they say, and is reportedly much, much happier. However, with this new found lease on life came rumors circling like vultures that perhaps the new material on Surfacing would not be as, to put it bluntlyl, GOOD! Happy musicians are not always the best musicians you know. But rest assured that all is as good, if not better, in Sarah-land. As a matter of fact, Surfacing may her finest overall work to date. No, it is not quite as compelling as some of her best individual songs such as "Good Enough," "I Will Not Forget You," etc., but as a album it works wonders. "Building a Mystery" is a fabulous hit-single and even the uncharacteristic "I Love You" works well. Sonically, I had great hopes due to Producer Pierre Marchand's excellent past work on Sarah's The Freedom Sessions and most recently Greg Keelor's Gone. Something got lost along the way on Surfacing. Too much mixing I fear. Both Freedom and Gone are much simpler and magnificent sounding. Overall, the album sparkles with McLachlan's brilliance and is treasured in my collection. Musically an A and sonically a B- score. ...Doug Schneider Copyright © 1997 SoundStage! |
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Remi Boudreau - Xpressions