NEW ADDS: Barry Gibb, Sheer Mag

Barry Gibb - Greenfields: The Gibb Brothers Songbook, Vol. 1

When most people think of Barry Gibb, what comes to mind is not classic, soulful American country music, but rather the hop and bounce of the days that disco ruled, headlined by Barry and his brothers Robin and Maurice Gibb, AKA the Bee Gees. The Bee Gees are too often confined to their disco hits; songs like “Stayin’ Alive” and “Night Fever'' helped define the disco sound, and for most casual fans of the group, cemented the Gibb Brothers’ musical legacy in the mid to late 1970s as one trick ponies. However, the Bee Gees have brought to the musical world far more than just a few songs to roller skate along to – the UK group released albums before gaining widespread recognition across the globe. Their first big hit came on their third studio album “Bee Gees’ 1st” in 1967 with the song “To Love Somebody,'' which more closely resembles the UK sound the Beatles had pioneered and popularized worldwide throughout the 1960s. The group released 9 more studio albums before their 1975 album Main Course graced the music scene with hits such as “Nights on Broadway” and of course “Jive Talkin,” later to be featured in the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever. The next half of the decade brought the group’s tight harmonies and unique sound more fame and recognition than most bands could ever hope for in a lifetime of work.

Less appreciated is the prolific songwriting work the group did for countless artists throughout their long career, churning out as many hits under other artist’s names as they had under their own. Originally written for Marvin Gaye, “Islands in The Stream” performed by and re-adapted for country legends Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers, may be the closest glimpse into the Gibb Brothers’ country genius a casual fan has experienced. With the passing of Robin and Maurice, Barry has begun to focus on his own writing passion, the classic art of American country music. Greenfields is Barry’s rediscovery of his own and his brothers’ vast songbook, in a reimagined, emotional, and moving form that pays tribute to his family’s musical inspirations and the current legacy of the Bee Gees. Produced by Dave Cobb, a prolific country producer whose projects soar high on the sound of analog tape and old school recording techniques, and recorded in historic RCA studios in Nashville, the album captures the Gibb Brothers’ songwriting in its purest form. Country superstars Dolly Parton, Brandi Carlile, Allison Krauss, Keith Urban, and many others join in on the album to record together with Barry a reimagination of the Bee Gees’ musical legacy and a reinvigoration of the Gibb Brothers’ vast songbook. “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart,” featuring Sheryl Crow, exposes a new found tenderness to the song only a country touch can reveal, while Allison Krauss’ duet with Barry on “Too Much Heaven” displays a gentle vulnerability unique to this version of the song. I highly recommend this album to anyone looking to experience the legend of the Bee Gees in a more intimate musical setting, off the dance floor, and away from the flashing lights of the roller disco.

- Ashton Wise, KXSC Alum

RIYL: Bee Gee's Spirits Having Flown & Main Course; Frankie Valli's “Grease," Dionne Warwick's “Heartbreaker,” & Barbara Streisand's “Woman in Love,” all of which the Bee Gees wrote
Recommended Tracks: 4, 8, 9
FCC: Clean

Sheer Mag - “Crushed Velvet”

Certain bits of sartorial imagery—blue velvet, raspberry berets, pumped-up kicks—have such an iconic place in pop history that their mere mention in another context is enough to have you humming a chorus that’ll be stuck in your head all day. I have the feeling that Philly hard rock heroes Sheer Mag’s newest track, “Crushed Velvet”—which appears on the soundtrack of the new Hulu original film The Ultimate Playlist of Noise—will do the same for me. The titular textile’s name is richly evocative, modifying the regal femininity of velvet with a word that suggests either infatuation or violence. It reminds me, too, of one of the first items of clothing I ever felt a profound identity-based attachment to: a pair of purple crushed velvet Doc Martens that I wore to every punk gig and holiday party of my middle school years.

For Sheer Mag fans, “Crushed Velvet” delivers exactly the kind of headbanging rock we’ve come to know and love from the band. It opens with a shimmering synth run that evokes the glitter and smoke machine ambiance of a late 70s stadium show, after which a shaker-laden drum kit comes in alongside an earworm of a guitar hook. Lead singer Tina Halliday turns the song in a different direction than the confident, swaggering opening sets up. The distortion on her vocals suits the track’s aural aesthetic, but the subtle note of desperation in her voice gives them a warm vulnerability. The song’s chorus is simple but evocative: “She wore,” the deep voices of Halliday’s bandmates chant before she continues, “Crushed velvet / At the Berlin Wall / After all / Crushed velvet / She lives to see it fall.” In a time of totalizing darkness, Sheer Mag offers a glimpse of righteous joy.

- Lucy Talbot Allen, Music Writing Director

RIYL: Sweet, T. Rex, Heart
FCC: Clean