Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians: Love Like We Do

I'm already rushing around like crazy today, so I'm just going to post up an old favorite. Hope you enjoy it!

Edie Brickell & Harper Simon: The Heavy Circles

Last week I mentioned that the Edie Brickell/Harper Simon collaboration, The Heavy Circles, is finally out. Here are a few more details for you:

There's an interesting interview on Morning Edition with both Harper Simon and Edie Brickell. It's fascinating to hear them talk about their songwriting process, which basically consists of Simon playing guitar riffs and Brickell imagining the images the music invokes and just singing the lyrics that pop into her head.

I was glad to hear songs like Dynamite Child, on this album, which is probably my favorite on the disc. It's a little more rocking, which allows Edie Brickell to really let loose on the vocals. Some of my favorite songs from her early work with the New Bohemians were the songs that had an edge, and I missed that in the solo albums Volcano and Picture Perfect Morning (though I still love them).

Other highlights include the peppy, feel-good Better, and the quirky 60's-tinged (something about it reminds me of Charade) indie pop song Henri...which you can download for free at Amazon.

Since The Heavy Circles webpage says that videos are "coming soon," I thought I'd post up an older video of Edie Brickell singing the lovely "Once In a Blue Moon"--not a song with an edge :) Enjoy!

The Heavy Circles: Henri & Confused

I don't know how I missed it for three whole weeks, but this morning I woke up and realized that the new collaboration between Edie Brickell and Harper Simon is out! The Heavy Circles was released Feb. 12, and so far this morning, I've listened to two songs:

• Henri, which you can get from Amazon for free
• Confused, which plays automatically when you go to The Heavy Circles website (not much to see on the website yet, but I'm hopeful for more soon)

So far, the vibe is cool, Edie Brickell's voice is engaging and startling and lovely as always, so now I'm off to Rhapsody to listen to the rest. I'll do a full review next week after I've had time to listen to the whole thing and process it all, but in the meantime, let me know what you think!

Edie Brickell's "Site for Stray Songs"

In the free song category, Edie Brickell (remember her from the late 80s/early 90s?) has put up a website with a bunch of new songs that you can download for free.

I have always, always been a fan of Ms. Brickell's voice and whimsy, so I had a lot of fun exploring this site. As she describes it in her note on the home page, this is a site for songs and "musical doodles" that will probably never make it on to an album.

The songs range from silly ditties like "The Pond" (where "romances, mimosas, and blue bonnets grow") , to carefree folk-ish songs like "Let it Slide" ("I'm gonna kick this rock on down the road/I'm not gonna carry no heavy load").

There's even a very cool poppy, produced, and catchy "Long Line" from her new project with Harper Simon (Paul Simon's son) & Rene Lopez which is due out this Spring.

Visit Edie Brickell's website for stray songs.