RANDOM SIGHTS + SOUNDS

After her last venture into '80's synth-pop and hard rock and roll with "Plastic Hearts", Miley Cyrus is back with "Endless Summer Vacation", a new collection that falls more into contemporary dance-pop and mellow rock. Cyrus has teamed up with some of today's top hitmakers on this album, collaborating with Greg Kurstin, Justin Tranter, Tobias Jesso Jr. (who won the very first Grammy Award for Songwriter of the Year last month), Mike Will Made It, Sia and Kid Harpoon, the British musician who handled much of the album's production, crafting an album that is an ode to the city of LA with contrasting musical styles that surprisingly work well together. There are guest artists on board as well with Sia, who provides vocals on "Muddy Feet", and Brandi Carlile is featured on "Thousand Miles". Following the first hit single, "Flowers", this latest album from the thirty year old Cyrus has proven to put even more distance between her early days as a perky, Disney pop-star and effectively displays her growth and maturity as a serious musical artist.

Sparks, the art-rock band made-up of the Mael brothers, Russell on vocals and Ron on keyboards, have been making music together professionally since 1970. Their sound is a quirky blend of various pop music elements and caustic lyrics. The duo has released the title track of their upcoming twenty-sixth (!!) studio album, "The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte", due out in May with Sparks returning to a major label, Island Records. But it's the music video of this song that has drawn a lot of attention due to the star in the clip. Meeting her at France's César Awards last year, the Maels asked Cate Blanchett to appear in the video and she happily agreed, showing off her dancing skills in the process. Sparks will be hitting the road beginning this summer with an extensive world tour which includes a stop at the Hollywood Bowl in their hometown of Los Angeles.



Here is a spotlight on some new songs that I like from Usher (which is giving a Prince vibe), Róisín Murphy, Mae Stephens and the rally calls of the pretty people from Big Boss Vette and Soulja Boy Tell'em:

And finally, I would like to pay tribute to Bobby Caldwell, the r&b musician who passed away on March 14th at the age of seventy-one. He is best remembered for the 1978 ballad, "What You Won't Do for Love" which has gone on to become an enduring classic. But what was not popularly known at the time, largely because it was never actually publicized and Caldwell was not prominently featured on his first album cover, is that the singer behind this soulful song was actually White. Born in New York but raised in Miami, Caldwell was exposed to a variety of soul and Carribean music which would greatly influence his style when he would turn to becoming a professional musician. His first break came playing rhythm guitar on tour for Little Richard in the early '70's. Caldwell later went on to pursue a solo career, eventually signing with TK Records. As they were a r&b label, his self-titled debut was released with an artist rendering that didn't reveal his face, hoping not to alienate their African-American audience. But they had nothing to worry about as the song (which Caldwell co-wrote with Alfons Kettner) was warmly embraced, reaching number six on the r&b chart and cracking the top-ten on the pop chart. "What You Won't Do" went on to be covered and sampled by many artists over the following years, increasing the popularity of the original version. This would be Caldwell's only significant hit as an artist but would go on to write songs for other musicians, most notably "The Next Time I Fall", a hit for Peter Cetera and Amy Grant in 1986.