Stuart Valentine's Melody's True was an album that was criminally overlooked in 2005. Maybe it's the hair - on the cover, he does kind of look like Eugene Levy as Rockin' Mel Slirrup from SCTV. In any event, this one falls somewhere between the finely crafted pop of Pat Buchanan (this Pat Buchanan, not that one), and the darker, indie pop of Elliott Smith or even Nick Drake. Valentine has been around a while, as he puts it:
I've been playing music since I was way too young to get into bars. The better known bands are probably The Out Crowd, Paramore and Richmond Fontaine. I've been part of six published albums in my life, toured all over and even stumbled into the movie DIG! I started as a drummer and then learned to play other instruments and write songs. This is my first solo album, produced by Brian Coates who has worked with The Dandy Warhols.Particular highlights here are the opener, "Downtown In Time", and the title track "Melody's True", which is complete with a melody that is true and some "uh ohs" in the chorus; it could have been a hit in a parallel universe somewhere. Judge for yourself, here's an mp3:
Melody's True
You can stream this one, "Downtown in Time", and two more at his myspace page. It'll be worth your time. And who knows, between this one and the David Doll, perhaps we're establishing an inverse relationship between hairstyle choices and musical ability.
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