Today's featured shit

Maria Taylor is/was the lead singer of Azure Ray. That says it all, really. This album is fucking amazing, and aspiring singer/songwriters, longing to escape the shackles of playing farmers markets, should take note of everything Taylor does, because these are things that they should be doing too.

The title track leads things off, and it is musical ambrosia. It almost makes me cry. “It’s Time” is enough to make me cry. Taylor’s voice is so beautiful, but it has ethereal synths in the background, acting as rubber padding so the voice can be shipped without damage.

“Green Butterfly” belongs in an Apple commercial. iPhone or iPod? I’ll leave that up to the marketing geniuses. Her voice is merely good on this track, but the musical accompaniment is amazing. I bet KT Tunstall wishes someone would ask her to sing this.

I’d be remiss not to point out how beautiful “Orchids” is. It gets a little lost among the tracks, but if it weren’t for the new Mirah album, you could use this track to hold you over.

“Cartoons and Forever Plans” sounds a little… polished? When compared to the stripped down melodies of the other tracks, the introduction of backing vocals is a little alarming, but I imagine that this track is at the end of the album for the same reason the noisy baby’s family gets the table in the restaurant next to the kitchen. It does not match the rest of the decor.

These songs are so long. When it’s a good song, such as “Red Room,” it’s great. Not all the songs are as good as “Red Room,” however. The drummer seems determined to drag the song along. Maybe he likes it on stage.

“Bruises” features thoughtful guitar with a Northwest sound. It does turn out that the band is from Seattle, so I guess it makes sense. “Dark Hair” also has drums mixed rather high, but again, that’s not a bad thing. They just stand out.

“Eyes” is clearly the song Levator put the most effort into, and it shows. It builds slowly to a great peak of musical accomplishment and then slowly wears away to its end. It’s no Book of Love, but it’s close, and that’s all you’re going to get these days.

Best suited for a movie soundtrack, “Mocking Bird” wants you to know it deserves to be two words long. Don’t fuck with this song. It’s got quite a pecker. The drums are mixed a little high again, but it’s been compensated by having the sax be even more louderer. Somehow, though, it works!

These songs are really long. No wonder it is only eight tracks long. The band name makes sense. These songs are bright, but they make me tired. They have no restraint and meander about.

One of the tracks is called “Sleepy Son,” but I don’t know whether it is a play on words or someone is just a dumbass. The song itself is fine. The first half of the album all sounds the same, really.

“Golden Artifact” is cleaner sounding and actually has some cohesiveness to it. Lisa Germano is known for this type of music, although she has put out whole albums like “Golden Artifact.” “White Dove” is a departure from the rest of the album. It reminds me of Mecca Normal. “Duet With the Northern Sky” is a fun slow dancing song. Even the cat and dog would dance together to this song.

I can picture this album playing at Coffee Society at the Pruneyard, but then again, they played “Chocolate Rain” there yesterday, so that’s not saying much.

This is fucking awesome. Sex Presleys said “fuck you” to mashups and decided to take Elvis Presley lyrics and sing them as parodies of Sex Pistols songs. “Teddy Bear” uses “Anarchy in the U.K.” for example.

This is a six-track EP, and I’d list the Sex Pistols song that goes with each song, but I am a poseur fan and can only sing “Anarchy in the U.K.” and “Friggin’ in the Riggin’.” The other Elvis songs are “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” “Burnin’ Love,” “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Hound Dog” and “Always on My Mind,” which was covered by Elvis anyway. (It is a Brenda Lee song.)

Oh, “Heartbreak Hotel” is “God Save the Queen.” That’s entertaining, but “Teddy Bear” is the best. It’s really too bad that “Friggin’ in the Riggin'” was not used. Maybe that will happen on their next album.