Two for Thursday, 7/11/13

Adam Daniel-Pop, Baby. Adam Daniel's Blue Pop is considered in the power pop community as one of the best albums of the last 15 years, but after that Daniel kind of dropped off the map. In late 2006/early 2007 he released a couple of collections of demos which were pretty decent, but it isn't until now that he's finally recorded a proper followup to Blue Pop. And while the cliche to use would be that Pop, Baby was worth the 14-year wait, in truth not much in life is worth a 14-year wait so I'll just note that this is an excellent return by Daniel and leave it at that. "Summer's Coming" is the appropriately-placed leadoff track, a peppy slice of guitar pop with punchy piano to move it along, while the midtempo piano-based "In and Out of Love" finds the golden mean between Paul McCartney and Elton John. Elsewhere, "Your Gravity" adds Beach Boy harmonies to the mix, "Quantum Love" is a clever and catchy rocker that speaks to Daniel's gift for songcraft, and "Long Cold Winter" is a power ballad with pomp. Adam Daniel is back, folks, and here's hoping that we don't have to wait for the next one until 2027.

CD Baby | iTunes



Wiretree-Get Up. Wiretree is one of those acts that I have a personal affinity for in the sense that they started out around the time I started this blog and I've been following them along each step of the way. From the debut EP through the present, Kevin Peroni has always delivered a tuneful collection of songs that were also somewhat haunting and low-key. Get Up, his latest (not to be confused with 2011's Wake Up), is more of the same. From the Shins-like opening title track to the laid-back autobiographical (?) shuffle of "Marching Band" to the Wilco-like "In the City (Rail)", Get Up is top-notch indie pop-rock. And "Doctor" is a treat for those of us who enjoyed Wiretree from the beginning, as its acoustic guitar-and-piano shuffle brings back memories of tracks like "Big Coat" and "Find a Way" from the first two releases.

CD Baby | iTunes

CD(s) Digital Downloads of the Day, 1/11/07: Adam Daniel - The Adam Daniel Frequency & Where You Are EP (4-track demos)

Back in 1999, Adam Daniel made a huge splash in the power pop/pop underground world with the release of Blue Pop. Lauded by many as one of the top guitar pop discs of the 90s, Blue Pop is an essential part of the music collection of anyone who reads the blog. But he kind of disappeared after that, going on hiatus from the music business for the last several years. Well, as you can see above, he's back with not one, but two new releases: The Adam Daniel Frequency & the Where You Are EP.
Let's take 'em one at at time. The Adam Daniel Frequency is the name of his touring/recording band, and it's the more uptempo of the two releases. Opener "Cameo" actually has a funky feel to it (not unlike David Mead's "Chatterbox"). "It's Automatic" is power pop bliss, an excellent midtempo number; "Breathe" is a great ballad; "Supernova" sounds like vintage Teenage Fanclub; "Captain Hallucination" is Beatlesque; and "Where You Are" (which interestingly is on this disc, but not the Where You Are EP) is a haunting slow number.
As for the "Where You Are"-less Where You Are EP, it's a much mellower affair, with some fine ballads. The real standout here is the finale, "Soundtrack", which sounds like vintage Emitt Rhodes, early McCartney, etc.
CD Baby (ADF) | CD Baby (WYA) | iTunes (ADF) | iTunes (WYA)