CD REVIEWS
Chicklet - Indian Summer
Gloria Estefan - Unwrapped
Lisa Fraser - Midday Songs
NosajiX - Harvest Season

Artist: Chicklet (www.chickletmusic.com)
Title: Indian Summer
Label: Satellite Records (www.satelliterecords.net)
Genre: Rock/Pop
Review By: MuzikMan

When you hear the word Chicklet what do you think of? I instantly think about the little square multi-colored gum that came in a thin yellow package with a small cellophane window so you could see what was inside the box. The word happens to have a little more meaning than that these days. There is this great pop-rock band with the same name and their new album Indian Summer is a blast from the past as well.

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I was instantly reminded of the early '80s when all-girl groups like the Go-Go's, Bannanrama and the Bangles were lighting up the airways and dance floors everywhere.

This is not an all-girl group but they sure do sound like the aforementioned stars of the '80s. Their mission is to offer you cleverly constructed songs both lyrically and musically, a veritable personal listening experience that becomes a magical ride into a wonderland of feelings and sounds. The right mixture of both elements makes for one strong album. That is what I felt was accomplished while listening to all of this music.

Daniel Barida is a very capable guitar player and Julie Park sings as if she was an angel sent here directly from the pearly gates to give us all a serving of heaven to pulsate through our beings and eardrums. In the end, this CD in total proved to be a great pop-rock album that impressed me again and again. "Sight & Sound" indeed, this music manufactures that beautifully.

Artist: Gloria Estefan
Title: Unwrapped
Label: Sony
Review By: Tricia Couch

If you can remember the 80's, you know the name Gloria Estefan. A legend in the making, Gloria hit it big with her first English language song called Conga. Nearly 20 some odd years later, a career full of awards and #1 hits, nobody can seem to get past that catchy tune that turned the Latin Music world spinning.

Well, FORGET THE CONGA! It's 2003 and about time that you Unwrapped the Gloria Estefan of this decade. To fans, she never left and to the rest of the world, she's back. Her first all-original English-language album in six years, she has turned out what is now being called the most defining English language CD in her career.

Unwrapped isn't the "Get On Your Feet" kind of album that fans are used to hearing, yet its fusion of instruments, such as Andean pan pipes and pedal steel guitars, give this album a provocatively exciting new sound. Couple that with Estefan's decision to leave out her signature congas and horns and you have the masterpiece known as Unwrapped.

Estefan truly is Unwrapped in this album, giving fans and critics alike a glimpse into her closely guarded life. Gloria herself said this would be her most defining project, and she wasn't too far off. Treating fans to 14 English tracks and 4 bonus Spanish language tracks, she's making waves and in a big way. Couple all this with guest appearances by the legendary Stevie Wonder and Chrissie Hynde and you've got a music lovers fantasy Wrapped in an incredible package.

But wait, there's more! Gloria turned to her 24-year-old son Nayib when it came time to thank her fans. What is normally a short word of appreciation in the liner notes, turned into a 60 minute DVD entitled Famous which takes a look into Gloria's life away from stage lights and screaming fans. Family photos, videos, interviews and memoirs came together in an explosive collaboration of honesty and passion creating a documentary with raw power.

So, put away the tube socks and 45's. Forget the Conga, and find out why Unwrapped has made Gloria Estefan the female artist with the most #1 hits on the Billboard Latin Charts - and do it Hoy!

Artist: Lisa Fraser (www.lisafraser.com)
Title: Midday Songs
Label: Abish Music (www.abishmusic.com)
Genre: Folk-Rock
Review By: MuzikMan

Midday Songs is a very descriptive title for Lisa Fraser's new release. The only thing you will hear on all thirteen tracks is Fraser and her acoustic guitar. The simplicity of that approach makes for music that sounds as crisp and clear as a beautiful fall afternoon.

Her vocal aptitude is obvious from the outset and her guitar playing and writing is equally skillful on this recording. On the inner sleeve of the CD cover she states-"This album owes a great big thanks to all the friends who listened, liked what they heard, and told me to step out." It looks as though she felt incredibly inspired by her support network because this album is a fine effort that spotlights all of her talents. This is all Lisa; she performs the vocal and guitar parts on the entire album and produces it. It is quite evident that the woman epitomizes the independent spirit and D.I.Y. attitude.

This music has catchy rhythms that are hard to ignore and her voice is very powerful. I found it easy to "Lean Into Heaven" with the help of this breathtaking music. If you enjoy folk-rock, you cannot pass up the opportunity to discover some of the best and brightest talent the genre offers today. Who are those other women? Joni and Joan? It slips my mind. I do know this girl.

Artist: NosajiX
Title: Harvest Season
Genre: Electronic
Review By: MuzikMan

I met Jason Morin (AKA NosajiX) today by chance at a local computer company I had stopped in to visit to post some flyers and talk about teaching classes. Well, it was not coincidence because everything does happen for a reason. He teaches music composition with computers there and one thing lead to another and I found myself walking out the door with his CD in my hands.

His CD Harvest Season is a collection of electronic ambient compositions. The best way to explain what this music is about is to say that it is an intelligent display of digital ambiance. The intelligence factor plays a huge role in the overall process of making this music. There are no instruments used, just a computer. That fact alone is mind-boggling when I thought all along he was using a keyboard throughout the run of this CD. I called him after listening to his digital masterpiece and found out that it took him 500 hours of work to put it all together. It is obvious to me the reason it took so long. This is a labor of love and what makes it so special is how he got all the sounds together.

Two tracks in particular, which are beautiful and strongly classically influenced, are Track #13 "Brandyforthedamned" and # 21 "Meandyou2." If I did not know how this music was created I would have told you he was sitting at baby grand piano or one of the best Korg synthesizers on the market when he recorded these songs, they are so crisp clear and inviting. For electronic music, this entire project came as a total surprise to me how good it was and how much I really enjoyed it. Moreover, I thought most electronic music was shallow and thoughtless, I was dead wrong.

I asked Jason to send me a few words about the project and his process; this is what he had to say:

"Electronic music is everywhere today, movies, television, Top 40, and my favorite, video games. It is commonly thought that electronic music is all about repetitive loops or the "Techno" scene, if you will. While that may be true to a large part, electronic music can be very diverse and creative. Tracks like 'Meandyou2' and 'Brandyforthedamned' are an example of the diversity possible when you record every note of a piano and then arrange them to compose.

"Virtually every component of music and sound can be created, edited, arranged and recorded using the hardware and software available today. You can adjust velocity, pitch, tempo, breadth; you even have the ability of re-inventing the wheel so to speak by re-dividing an octave to say twenty-five parts or even a hundred. This gives us the ability to create chords and scales like never before heard by humans. It is an exciting time to be alive for musicians.

"Music of all types is beautiful, but my heart is really set in classical. Bringing the old style of composers like Hadyn, Mozart, and the like, together with a 3Gh computer, is bringing a completely new world of music forth. Pop singers had there fun, now lets bring back the music.

"Most of 'Harvest Season' was an experiment. With 'Meandyou2', I wanted to bring back the timeless piano, and really 'write' something, so I did. 'Brandyforthedamned' followed and more are in the works. Piano and symphony orchestra really marry well with synthesized software, and ah yes, the mouse."

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