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CD
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MA 081CD
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Brent Cash is back with The New High. After a five-year-long hiatus, the multi-instrumentalist from Athens, Georgia returns with his third and probably best album yet. Continuing the tradition of his previous, widely celebrated albums How Will I Know If I'm Awake (MA 071CD/LP, 2008) and How Strange It Seems (MA 076CD/LP, 2011), he once again enters melody wonderland - evoking classic pop songwriting from the '60s and '70s - chock-full of sophisticated arrangements, richly textured vocal harmonies and extravagant key changes. It's proof that pop music is alive and well in 2017. Brent decided to record the album Todd Rundgren-style this time. Each and every instrument is played by the man himself - except for the string section. It adds an earthy edge to his sunshine pop brilliance. The album starts with title track "The New High", a song that builds and builds until you finally reach, well, the new high. "Out For Blood" recalls The Beach Boys's Wild Honey (1967) period - classy, soulful techni-color vocal harmonies layered upon a great rhythm track. The quirky "The Wrong Thing" captures the playful pop majesty of Gilbert O'Sullivan. It even features a crazy fiddle. "Every Inflection" is pure pop heaven - sounding like a lost late '60s AM radio hit - with a super-cool Wurlitzer solo. "Dim Light" is full of wicked twists and turns - even featuring a Beatles-like Mellotron. It takes you on a musical trip in many different sections and evolves like a mini-movie. "The Way You Were" - a song about a love gone wrong - is a special highlight, wearing its Lennon/McCartney influences on its sleeve. "I'm Looking Up" - driven by a cool Carole King-like piano part - is a hit song in the waiting. Check out the beautiful sun-soaked string section! "The Dusk Song" is another special treat on the album. The hypnotic piano riff just grabs you - and takes you deep into Van Dyke Parks territory. The slowly rolling, mournful "Fade/Return" - accompanied by cascading ocean sounds - is a cinematic widescreen beauty with a bewitching orchestra part. The album ends with the acoustic guitar coda "Perfection Comes Near". Well, it certainly does on this album. Get high with The New High. It's the perfect soundtrack to cruise into golden sunsets along the California coast line.
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LP
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MA 081LP
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LP version. Brent Cash is back with The New High. After a five-year-long hiatus, the multi-instrumentalist from Athens, Georgia returns with his third and probably best album yet. Continuing the tradition of his previous, widely celebrated albums How Will I Know If I'm Awake (MA 071CD/LP, 2008) and How Strange It Seems (MA 076CD/LP, 2011), he once again enters melody wonderland - evoking classic pop songwriting from the '60s and '70s - chock-full of sophisticated arrangements, richly textured vocal harmonies and extravagant key changes. It's proof that pop music is alive and well in 2017. Brent decided to record the album Todd Rundgren-style this time. Each and every instrument is played by the man himself - except for the string section. It adds an earthy edge to his sunshine pop brilliance. The album starts with title track "The New High", a song that builds and builds until you finally reach, well, the new high. "Out For Blood" recalls The Beach Boys's Wild Honey (1967) period - classy, soulful techni-color vocal harmonies layered upon a great rhythm track. The quirky "The Wrong Thing" captures the playful pop majesty of Gilbert O'Sullivan. It even features a crazy fiddle. "Every Inflection" is pure pop heaven - sounding like a lost late '60s AM radio hit - with a super-cool Wurlitzer solo. "Dim Light" is full of wicked twists and turns - even featuring a Beatles-like Mellotron. It takes you on a musical trip in many different sections and evolves like a mini-movie. "The Way You Were" - a song about a love gone wrong - is a special highlight, wearing its Lennon/McCartney influences on its sleeve. "I'm Looking Up" - driven by a cool Carole King-like piano part - is a hit song in the waiting. Check out the beautiful sun-soaked string section! "The Dusk Song" is another special treat on the album. The hypnotic piano riff just grabs you - and takes you deep into Van Dyke Parks territory. The slowly rolling, mournful "Fade/Return" - accompanied by cascading ocean sounds - is a cinematic widescreen beauty with a bewitching orchestra part. The album ends with the acoustic guitar coda "Perfection Comes Near". Well, it certainly does on this album. Get high with The New High. It's the perfect soundtrack to cruise into golden sunsets along the California coast line.
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CD
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MA 076CD
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The Marina label presents the second release from Athens, GA-based Brent Cash. Brent Cash's widely-celebrated debut album How Will I Know If I'm Awake (MA 071CD/LP) was released in 2008. The multi-instrumentalist took the long gap to create an even more elaborately crafted follow-up. How Strange It Seems is chock-full of sophisticated arrangements, multi-layered vocal harmonies, extravagant key changes and intricate rhythms. From the start, Cash decided to record his songs like "they did it back then," so no costs were spared to hire the best players in town and assemble a mini-orchestra featuring almost 30 musicians. The resulting work sounds like a lost pop masterpiece from the '60s and '70s. Opening track "I Wish I Were A Song" -- which bookends the record -- is the song cycle's lavishly orchestrated overture featuring strings, horns, flutes, tympani and even a harp. It perfectly sets the mood and is extremely rich in detail, scope and color. It's followed by "It's Easier Without Her" which sounds like a straight-ahead '70s AM radio hit à la Todd Rundgren and America. With its infectious Burt Bacharach-like horn motif and a great harpsichord part, it seems like the perfect soundtrack to cruise into golden sunsets along the California coast line. "I Can't Love You Anymore Than I Do" takes us straight into TV theme territory. Riding on a funky bass line, wah wah guitar and stabbing strings, it could easily be the mischievous love child of The Rockford Files, Dallas and Shaft. You can virtually see the opening titles roll to these delicious sounds. A special feature throughout the album is vocal quartet The South City Voices. Their light and breezy flow adds a lovely dose of sunshine pop to tracks like "The Heart Will Always Work Alone" and "Just Like Today" -- evoking groups like The Free Design, The Swingle Singers and Roger Nichols & The Small Circle Of Friends. Title track "How Strange It Seems" is pure Brent Cash brilliance. It starts out as a West Coast singer/songwriter tune, and then gets propelled to new heights by a powerful Brill Building arrangement (even featuring castanets!) -- delivered with all the vocal honesty of a Carpenters record. Its lyrics cover one of the main themes of the album: heartbreak turns into a new beginning. The album comes to a conclusion with the epic "I Just Can't Look Away." Clocking in at nearly seven minutes, it is an amazing musical journey. Structured in several different sections -- like Jimmy Webb's "MacArthur Park" -- it takes you through a rollercoaster ride of a relationship, beautifully set to music in an extraordinarily detailed arrangement.
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LP
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MA 076LP
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LP version. The Marina label presents the second release from Athens, GA-based Brent Cash. Brent Cash's widely-celebrated debut album How Will I Know If I'm Awake (MA 071CD/LP) was released in 2008. The multi-instrumentalist took the long gap to create an even more elaborately crafted follow-up. How Strange It Seems is chock-full of sophisticated arrangements, multi-layered vocal harmonies, extravagant key changes and intricate rhythms. From the start, Cash decided to record his songs like "they did it back then," so no costs were spared to hire the best players in town and assemble a mini-orchestra featuring almost 30 musicians. The resulting work sounds like a lost pop masterpiece from the '60s and '70s. Opening track "I Wish I Were A Song" -- which bookends the record -- is the song cycle's lavishly orchestrated overture featuring strings, horns, flutes, tympani and even a harp. It perfectly sets the mood and is extremely rich in detail, scope and color. It's followed by "It's Easier Without Her" which sounds like a straight-ahead '70s AM radio hit à la Todd Rundgren and America. With its infectious Burt Bacharach-like horn motif and a great harpsichord part, it seems like the perfect soundtrack to cruise into golden sunsets along the California coast line. "I Can't Love You Anymore Than I Do" takes us straight into TV theme territory. Riding on a funky bass line, wah wah guitar and stabbing strings, it could easily be the mischievous love child of The Rockford Files, Dallas and Shaft. You can virtually see the opening titles roll to these delicious sounds. A special feature throughout the album is vocal quartet The South City Voices. Their light and breezy flow adds a lovely dose of sunshine pop to tracks like "The Heart Will Always Work Alone" and "Just Like Today" -- evoking groups like The Free Design, The Swingle Singers and Roger Nichols & The Small Circle Of Friends. Title track "How Strange It Seems" is pure Brent Cash brilliance. It starts out as a West Coast singer/songwriter tune, and then gets propelled to new heights by a powerful Brill Building arrangement (even featuring castanets!) -- delivered with all the vocal honesty of a Carpenters record. Its lyrics cover one of the main themes of the album: heartbreak turns into a new beginning. The album comes to a conclusion with the epic "I Just Can't Look Away." Clocking in at nearly seven minutes, it is an amazing musical journey. Structured in several different sections -- like Jimmy Webb's "MacArthur Park" -- it takes you through a rollercoaster ride of a relationship, beautifully set to music in an extraordinarily detailed arrangement.
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CD
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MA 071CD
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The Marina label presents the debut release from Athens, GA-based Brent Cash. Sounding like a lost sunshine pop classic from the '60s, How Will I Know If I'm Awake is overflowing with hook-laden choruses, multi-layered vocal harmonies and lush, sophisticated arrangements. It's the sound of endless summers and good vibrations. From the start, multi-instrumentalist Cash decided to record his songs like "they did it back then," hiring the best musicians in town and assembling a mini-orchestra featuring strings, brass and even a harp. The results are simply stunning. From the opening chords of "Everything That's Grey," we enter melody wonderland, a place where major 7 chords rule and beautiful vocal harmonies dazzle your mind. "Digging The Fault Line" is full of Byrds guitar jangle, sounding like the perfect soundtrack to cruise into golden California sunsets (with a great Wes Montgomery-like guitar solo along the way). "Only Time" explodes with 100 % fat-free youthful euphoria -- Roger Nichols meets The 5th Dimension. While deeply rooted in '60s songwriting -- influenced by Bacharach, Wilson, McCartney, and yes, The Monkees -- Cash certainly has his own unique signature style. Just listen to "And Had We Ever?" and "I Think I'm Falling In Love" -- with its complex, enchanting textures, ignoring conventional song structures. "Love Is Burning Down Tonight" -- a striking duet between Brent and Amanda Kapousouz -- is a special highlight of the album, while "Good Morning Sunshine" could be the theme song to the best TV series in the world -- the harpsichord-driven piece is chock-full of amazing twists and turns of melodic beauty. "This Sea, These Waves" moves us into bossa nova territory -- starting off in a classic Getz/Gilberto mould, the song soon morphs into heavenly orchestrated Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 elegance. "More Than Everything," clocking in at over six minutes, ends this beautiful song circle with a great final statement about overcoming heartbreak, delivered with the sincerity of a Carpenters record. Music made the way it was meant to be heard.
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LP
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MA 071LP
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