Just Writing About “Mondo Amore” By Nicole Atkins…

I like music a lot and listen to it all day. So sporadically, over the next several days, I’m going to be writing about the twelve albums I’m listening to the most lately. They’re not in any certain order because I don’t think you can judge music that way. This is the just how I wrote them down. Actually, they’re probably in alphabetical order by artist name, since I simply parsed my Rhapsody library to find them.

And, for the record, I’m by no means under the delusion that I’m a music critic or expert. All I intend to do is communicate why I like them while trying not to judge them esthetically. The seventh album is “Mondo Amore” by Nicole Atkins…

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If I was stranded on a desert island and could take only one of these albums with me, it would be “Mondo Amore” by Nicole Atkins. Obviously, she has an amazing voice that works for all sorts of songs, but what I like most about her is she doesn’t hesitate to go big and make every song a unique experience. There are no cookie cutter arrangements and with this album, her second, she has really found an interesting sound, which she calls “pop noir.” “The Tower” is the track that stands out as the best representation of what I’m talking about.

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Retro bands, like The Black Keys, could learn a lot from Nicole Atkins about how to be inspired by the past and still write modern sounding songs that improve upon and revel in what we loved about the originals. Unlike what the critics preach, songs don’t have to be new or revolutionary in order to be good. That’s the highest compliment I can pay this album (or any album). All the songs are good and get better with every listen.

Sunday, January 22nd, 2012

Michael Island