Andrew Gabbard - Homemade - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Two little girls, one of high birth, the other of more modest origins, mixed up in their bath and brought up as twins; an impending wedding; the first pangs of love and a few intrigues... On this amusing narrative framework by Albert Vanloo and Georges Duval, André Messager composed a score as graceful as it is invigorating. The straightforward, elegant melodies are immediately appealing, with a harmonisation and scoring that give them immense charm. Les P'tites Michu was an overnight success after it's premiere at the Bouffes-Parisiens on 16 November 1897. The cast featured two big stars of the Parisian stage in the title roles, Alice Bonheur (Marie-Blanche) and Odette Dulac (Blanche-Marie). Every number in the score quickly became a 'hit song', notably the duet 'Blanche-Marie et Marie-Blanche'. After a run of more than 150 performances, the work toured the provinces and was subsequently staged outside France (as The Little Michus or Die kleinen Michu), ending it's career more than twenty years later on Broadway.

You find Andrew Gabbard on the road and in his creative prime on this astral road trip, collecting songs like a cosmic traveler hitching a ride. InchRamble & Rave On!,Inch Andrew's third solo LP, sounds like the kind of weathered tattoo you'd see etched on a barfly's forearm as he slams another drink in a dive. Like it's title, the record feels like something that's always been around; a trusty mixtape that everyone can agree on. Andrew comes to this collection of songs with something that very much feels like a 'studio' record, the kind of album a 60s rock star feels like they've built the confidence to make, to shake off a rawness for something fuller and more realized. The fact that this record was yet again a homemade effort, with Andrew playing everything (apart from Sven Kahns' pedal steel), gives you an idea of how devoted and studied he is to creating that perfect song.'Ramble & Rave On!' is Andrew's most personal album yet, it finds him journeying between his worlds as a decades-long touring & studio musician/vocalist for the Black Keys, as a songwriter with his head-in-the-stars, and as the man in his home with the people he holds dearest and with the studio where he brings it all together. It is clear that Andrew finds himself at this prolific point in his career completely beholden to songs, to their absolute power, and to their otherworldly ability to connect. He has mastered his craft, and proves throughout the course of this album that he can truly make a pitstop stop at every genre.

Andrew Devillers - Andrew Devillers [COMPACT DISCS] Canada - Import date 09/30/2008