VARIOUS ARTISTS
FRIENDS AND LOVERS
The Songs of Bread
(Badman)
www.badmanrecordingco.com
With the loss of Bread member (and "For All We Know" composer) James Griffin earlier this year, it's nice to have an additional reminder of the sweet, AM radio sounds of Bread. My enjoyment of the songs of Bread has always been nothing but sincere, so I'm glad that the artists involved in this tribute approached their subject respectfully. (Remember when Dinosaur Jr. would show up and wreck every tribute record they touched with a toxic dose of ironic hipster swagger?) Some such as Josh Rouse ("It Don't Matter To Me") or Ken Stringfellow ("Down On My Knees") employ a by-the-book take. Others like Holy Sons ("Last Time") or Jon Auer ("Games of Magic") open up to a more free-flowing interpretation. Still others fall somewhere in between, such as Oranger ("Make It With You"), Paula Frazer ("Everything I Own"), or Eric Shea & Bart Davenport ("The Goodbye Girl"). Call and Response's reading of "Baby I'm A Want You," which begins with a dead-on Karen Carpenter and morphs into Stereolab-driven post-rock, is certainly one of the more adventurous tracks. What is most refreshing is that there are no clunkers here, indicative of the talents of both the contributors and the source material. It would be difficult to ask for more (although I'm still searching for the hidden bonus track of "Lost Without Your Love"). -EDWARD BURCH
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