Wednesday morning standouts:
KCMP (St. Paul, MN)
- Hospital-Madison Cunningham (Cunningham's new song acknowledges that keeping it together isn't always so easy. Bridal Party's "Tylenol" would sound smooth before or after this.)
KING (Seattle, WA)
- Enrique Granados: Spanish Dance No. 5, Op. 37, "Andaluza" (Jorge Federico Osorio, piano) (By dance standards, there's an appealing semi-quiet intensity to this piece and performance.)
WDCB (Chicago, IL)
- Groove's Groove-Richard "Groove" Holmes (A steady seven-minute organ groove that's equal parts jazz and R&B; the organ and walking bass line radiate coolness right from the start.)
WDIA (Memphis, TN)
- Mt. Airy Groove-Pieces Of A Dream (This instrumental's light keyboard touch, prominent bass, and infectious percussion hold up 40 years later. The tune is pure 1982, and that's not to its detriment.)
WRBR (South Bend, IN)
- Shimmer-Fuel (One of the strongest examples of good hard rock from the '90s; it illustrates Robert Frost's observation, "Nothing gold can stay," convincingly through powerful vocals, crashing guitar, and strings.)
WXPN-2 (Philadelphia, PA)
- Timing-Alisa Amador (What do you do if you meet your ideal match at the wrong time? Considering the lyrics and strong vocals on "Slow Down" and this track, Amador is an artist to watch.)
- Creepin' In-Norah Jones (One of her best-recorded songs and a great
example of how Jones conquers an uptempo track. Vocally and
instrumentally, everything clicks from the first note, and the tune chugs along appealingly. These are also the best guest vocals by Dolly Parton I've heard.)
