There’s no big surprise that Adele pops onto my list. After all, on the strength of one single (for the majority of the year) and her stellar voice, she helped reverse the decline in record sales and managed to top the charts week after week and win countless awards.
My only drawback is that the songs on the album hop from genre to genre. There’s neo-soul on “Rolling in the Deep”, country twang on “Don’t You Remember?” and gospel on “One and Only”.
Usually, I like my albums to have a bit of a more cohesive sound, but thankfully Adele’s voice is arresting enough to provide that uniting thread. And it’s best showcased with sparse musical accompaniment (see: “Someone Like You”), not fighting with overdone production (see: “Set Fire To The Rain” – I think I’m the only person who can’t stand that song).
I'll be honest. When I first saw that Linkin Park did a live cover of Adele's "Rolling in the Deep", my first thought was "It's official. That song has jumped the shark."
But, I was actually suprised to hear Chester do such a great job at singing the song! They didn't butch it up with heavy guitars or anything. It was just him and piano, kept really simple.
What's even more surprising is that if you did a Venn diagram of Linkin Park fans and Adele fans, there seems to be a big overlap! Who knew?
YouTube musicians Alex Goot, Michael Henry and Justin Robinett teamed up to produce a medley of "Rolling In The Deep", "Someone Like You", and "Turning Tables".
It sounds like Adele giving the Rascall Flatts treatment, but I kinda dig it.
Musically, the harmonies and layering are excellent. And, even though it sounds a bit boy-band-ish, I gotta give them props.
"I'm Adele and I'm going to sing you some songs and hopefully you'll enjoy them."
Such was the humility of one of this year's biggest musical success stories as she took the stage at the Air Canada Centre Wednesday night.
Watching Adele perform was like watching three very distinct personalities. Of course, there is the singer with the heartwrenching, honey-dipped voice who's honest lyrics and knack for melody was the driving force behind her runaway success of an album, 21. In fact, her voice was the first thing we heard, before she even stepped on stage, as she opened with the reflective number "Hometown Glory".
But, shortly after that, we saw Adele number 2: a shy, pretty girl who seemed nervous as hell to be singing on a stage in front of thousands. On more than one occassion, she expressed how nervous she was. After all, the venue was originally supposed to be at the Kool Haus: a modest, mid-sized club in Toronto that many bands, from The Killers to The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, are more than happy to play. But, I assume because of a high demand, the venue was changed to the Air Canada Centre. Despite the fact that the arena was set up for half it's capacity, apparently this was the biggest audience Adele had playedf for. The adoringly loud crowd prompted Adele to remark that the audience was "like a wall of sound", which was only reinfornced when we sang along to her hits "Someone Like You" and "Rolling In The Deep". "That was the biggest sing-along I've ever had," she confessed afterwards.
And then, there was Adele, the comedian. In between songs, she would tell random anecdotes that were frank and darkly comic. There was the time she pissed off her friends because she wrote "Rumour Has It" about their gossiping. And the time when she played the break-up ballad "Take It All" for her boyfriend - who became her ex 3 weeks later. And about how she "fancies the fuck" out of the much buzzed-about band The Weekend. Punctuated by a bawdy cackle, Adele seems like the kind of girl you'd want to share a drink with in the corner of a pub, people watching and taking the piss out of each other.
But, grounding it all was her stellar voice. Back by a solid band, she made singing seem so effortless and breezy. It was as if singing such well-crafted songs about love, loss and life was no different than her reciting her grocery list. And the audience was held captive by it.
Here is "Someone Like You", courtesy of Kevin Francois, prefaced with another funny tale from her tragic love life before being performed on guitar, as she wrote it, then piano as it was recorded.
Set List:
Hometown Glory
I'll Be Waiting
Don't You Remember
Turning Tables
Set Fire To The Rain
If It Hadn't Been For Love (The Steel Drivers cover)
It's been well documented that I can't stand this whole singing kick Gwyneth Paltrow has been on. Her little country music movie that bombed as far as I can figure, her inexplicable performance with Cee-Lo at the Grammys and her never-ending stint on Glee. It's all too much.
So, you can imagine how unimpressed I was to hear that she was going to cover Adele on the musical TV phenomenon. No one should touch Adele other than Adele.
But, when I begrudgingly pressed play on the link below, something happened. Gwyenth actually does a decent job with "Turning Tables." While her voice doesn't carry the soul that Adele does, she actually does a more than competant job with it.
And, since I always believe in giving credit where credit is due, I have to give props to Ms. Paltrow for not fucking it up.
Meet Birdy. She’s a gifted singer and pianist, that kind of reminds me of Adele. She’s got a great taste in music. And she’s only 14 years old.
Yeah, I was blown away by her age, too. That’s right, Birdy, which is the stage name of Jasmine Van den Bogaerde, is younger than Bieber, but somehow is making music that is more mature than most of the music I hear today.
Jasmine first gave her homeland of England a taste of her talent when she won a talent contest called Open Mic UK. She was only 12 at the time and performed an original song called “Be Free”. Since then, she was promptly snatched up by Warner Music and is now prepping her debut album for release later this year.
In the meantime, she’s released a video for her cover of Bon Iver’s “Skinny Love”. The gorgeous piano ballad follows Birdy as she moves around an abandoned house, complete with layers of dust and dead insects.
Yeah, it’s pretty depressing stuff. But it’s also really, really well-crafted. Check out her video below.
You may have noticed I've been on a bit of an Adele kick lately. But, can you really fault me for giving love to someone with such a stellar voice?
Anyway, we're only a week away from the release of her second album 21, but the second single "Set Fire To The Rain" has hit the radio and internet. And, following the theme of "Rolling In The Deep", it's another bitter, fiery song about a breakup.
When you add this in to the other songs she's been performing, "Someone Like You" and "Don't You Remember?", which take a more whistful, sympathetic look at the breakup, I realize whoever this ex is, he must feel like crap.
I mean, check this lyric from "Set Fire To The Rain" - "I felt something die 'cause I kne that was the last time". Ouch.
But, like any great artist, masterpieces come from pain, so all the power to Adele for using this to inspire what sounds like an amazing album.
Adele is one of thsoe singers who I didn't pay much attention to when she first came out with her debut album 19. Mostly because I just lumped her in to this neo-soul category that was big a few years back, with Amy Winehouse and Duffy.
But, ever since I heard her new single "Rolling In the Deep", I find myself looking forward to her upcoming release 21, which is due in North America next month.
What really captivated me was her voice. This girl sings with a voice that captivates your attention from start to finish. It's that raw talent that really has brought her to the forefront of my mind.
I also like that she's very very pretty and she's not a skanky stick figure.
Anyway, check out two live performances of hers. "Someone Like You" is a haunting song about a past relationship that is guaranteed to give you goosebumps. "Don't You Remember" is another break-up song, but she places the blame squarely on her own faults. It's genuine, raw, and oh so lovely.
