RANDOM SIGHTS + SOUNDS

Steve Perry was the dynamic voice behind the popular 70's rock group, Journey who had such memorable hits like "Open Arms", "Who's Cryin' Now", "Any Way You Want It" and one of their most famous, "Don't Stop Believin'". But by 1998, Perry, who had suffered a hip injury and burned out by the pressures of fame,  decided to walk away from the band and music. Now after almost twenty-five years, Perry will be releasing his third solo album, "Traces" which is due out in October. He actually began work on this project back in 2015 and has co-written all of the songs. With two singles released, "No Erasin'" and "No More Cryin'", the sixty-nine year old singer's voice may no longer have the power of his younger days but the passion and deep emotion is still there.



And here is a bonus of two of my favorite songs that features the incredible voice of Steve Perry:





Here are a couple of recent songs I'm digging right now:






Two more great performers from the past have released new material. Janet Jackson dropped a surprise song, "Made For Now" that has a lively Afrocentric beat. It was inspired by her desire to put out a much needed dance tune about love and positivity and features reggaeton performer, Daddy Yankee to deliver a Latin flavor.



British blue-eyed soul singer, Lisa Stansfield is also back with new music. Her eighth studio album, "Deeper" was already released in Europe earlier this year and the fifty-two year old vocalist went on a successful tour to support the record. I'm excited to learn that Stansfield plans on hitting the road for a North American leg of her tour which should begin next month. The second single, "Never Ever" is a shimmering slice of disco heaven that is highlighted by Stansfield's sensuous voice.



And we finally have a proper tribute to Aretha Franklin which was performed during the recent BET Black Girls Rock telecast. Ledisi, Jazmine Sullivan, Cynthia Ervio, Stephanie Mills, Yolanda Adams and Fantasia are the powerhouse talent that showed respect to the Queen:

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM. . .

It seems to be that you if you are a professional musician with any significant popularity, your career is not complete without a Christmas album. So here are three of the latest who have added to the endless glut of music for the holidays:

SIA

The one pop singer I thought would be the absolutely last to ever record a Christmas album would be Sia. Yet, here it is but "Everyday Is Christmas" is hardly a conventional holiday offering. First, the entire album features all original songs co-written and produced with her longtime collaborator Greg Kurstin. And the songs are not what would be anywhere near traditional yet they are fun, quirky and sometimes moving holiday-themed pop songs. Here is the lyric video for the single, "Santa's Coming For Us" which features a few familiar faces:



FANTASIA

With her album, "Christmas After Midnight", Fantasia has made a record for grown-folks during the holidays. This collection features some of the r&b vocalist's favorite Christmas songs and done is her very distinctive style. Some of the highlights include "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)", a moving version of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" and a duet with CeeLo Green on their take of "Baby, It's Cold Outside". Have a listen to her sassy cover of James Brown's "Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto":


GWEN STEFANI

For her first holiday album, "You Make It Feel Like Christmas", Gwen Stefani has six original songs on her collection which she also has co-written. The title track is a duet with her country musician beau, Blake Shelton and just like their relationship, the song merges their respective musical genres. The rest of the album features her versions of familiar Christmas classics including "Santa Baby"," White Christmas" and WHAM'!s "Last Christmas". Enjoy the lyric video of Gwen and Blake's Christmas duet:

HOT & FRESH OUT THE KITCHEN

FANTASIA - "BACK TO ME"

I'm not going to get in to any of Fantasia's personal drama (there are plenty of other places you can go to get all of that info) but I am going to tell you about the American Idol winner's third album, "Back To Me [+digital booklet]". 

The title of this new record is appropriate because she has come back strong with a collection of solid and smooth r&b songs and brings her own special spin to each one.

This is a great song off of the album and she's gotten some assist from Cee-Lo Green:

The Thrill Is Gone - Fantasia

KATY PERRY - "TEENAGE DREAM"

Katy Perry is off to a great start with her summer smash hit song, "California Gurls (feat. Snoop Dogg)" which was a nice kick off for her third album, "Teenage Dream [Explicit]".

She began her career as Katy Hudson singing Christian-rock before taking on her mother's maiden name and becoming Katy Perry (to avoid any apparent confusion with actress, Kate Hudson) to belt out secular music.

This follow-up to her 2008 hit album, "One Of The Boys" has her returning to the sound that worked so well for her previously. That's not necessarily a bad thing but it does make this album seem really not much more that a collection of a few potential singles surrounded by a lot of filler. Despite that, I'm sure this CD will keep Ms Perry at the top of the charts for quite a while.

The title track appears to be her next hit single:

Teenage Dream - Katy Perry

And here is the trippy music video for her first hit off of the album:



MATTHEW DEAR - "BLACK CITY"

Matthew Dear is better known as a electronic producer and a remix artist but he is taking center stage on his new album, "Black City".  His sound is a combination of house beats mashed up with his distorted vocals and grooving techno pop music.

Although he was born in Texas, he grew up in Michigan where as a teenager, he was inspired by the electronic music scene there.

He has also created music under the names, Audion, False and Jabberjaw.

Here is a sample of his music off of his latest:

Honey - Matthew Dear

USHER - "VERSUS"

"Versus [+digital booklet]"  is Usher's follow-up EP to this year's release, "Raymond V Raymond [+digital booklet]". I'm not sure why this was necessary because his other CD just came out only five months ago but this collection would, according to the artist," explore the subjects of being newly single and being a father".

There are seven new songs plus two remixes which includes the Justin Bieber single,"Somebody To Love Remix".

I like this song off of his new record in which he teams up with Jay-Z:

Hot Tottie - Usher Featuring Jay-Z

AMERICAN IDOL: SEASON FINALE

So ends another season of "American Idol" and another winner was crowned.

This year's champ was Lee DeWyze and although I would have preferred Crystal Bowersox, I wasn't really that excited by either one. In fact, none of the twelve finalist this season were particularly strong, memorable or imaginative. I think this was emphasized by this episode being the lowest rated season closer in the history of the program.

I think the problem is that because everybody has watched the show and know what to do and what not to do that they all wind up playing it safe. . . too safe. They're to the point were they are afraid to take any musical chances, like picking songs that haven't been done to death on previous seasons and trying something a little more challenging. The fear of being voted off has made most of the contestants uninteresting. The only person this season who was fearless and stayed true to who she is throughout was Crystal but although she is very talented, I'm not sure how successful of a recording artist she will be. She lacks, just like the many of these other wannabe "artists", that certain je ne sais quoi to help her stand out in a very crowded music field.

Here I am. . . sounding like Simon Cowell, who is going to be greatly missed. He may not have any tact but he was the only one of the judges keeping it real. I have no suggestions for a replacement for Mr. Cowell but it definitely needs to be somebody with more depth than Randy Jackson and more bite (and musical background) than Ellen.

In regards to the show, I thought the musical tribute to Simon Cowell with all the previous "Idol" winners and contestants was very nice. The new song that Christina Aguilera performed was an odd choice but she sang it well. Although for some reason it just comes across as a little sad when they pair the "Idol" contestants with artists whose glory years are behind them but it's still great to see people like Hall & Oates, Chicago and Alanis Morissette.

For me, watching Janet Jackson perform was certainly a highlight of the show although I'm not so sure she was actually singing "live" but who cares? It was good to see her, she looked great and she was entertaining.

Here are some tunes from previous "Idol" winners. Enjoy:

Truth is - Fantasia.mp3
Because Of You - Kelly Clarkson.mp3
Before He Cheats - Carrie Underwood.mp3