Great Ideas! The Official Blog of Singer-Songwriter Christian Beach

A short, sweet review of Christian Beach’s self-titled CD appears in the August 2010 issue of Origivation Magazine. You can also check it out online here.

And if the review piques your interest, “Christian Beach” is available for purchase at CDBaby.com, iTunes and Amazon.com.

Jersey Beat’s Phil Rainone reviews the upcoming 2-CD tribute to Queen from Main Man Records, “Horse Feathers & Animal Crackers,” in his latest Pop Vulture column for the music fanzine.

Christian Beach’s dirge-style cover of Queen’s “All Dead, All Dead” is acknowledged in the review…

Several near-misses like little-known Queen cuts like “The Loser in the End” by JISM, “Fight From the Inside” by FourYearBeard, or “All Dead, All Dead” by Christian Beach actually serve as a backbone to this tribute album. Although pretty much unknown, you’re going to want to delve into the band’s catalog (iTunes is a good place to start), and dig out their originals.

Here’s a sample of Christian Beach’s cover of “All Dead, All Dead” from “Horse Feathers & Animal Crackers,” which is scheduled for a January 26 release and is available for pre-order now on MainManRecords.com.

Christian Beach – “All Dead, All Dead” (:45 sample)

To update an earlier post here on Great Ideas, Christian Beach’s self-titled CD came in at No. 23 on the Top 60 Albums of 2009 list compiled by the Lazlo’s Den Internet radio program at BlowUpRadio.com.

Lazlo played “Poet of the Great Plains” on the Dec. 29, 2009, edition of his program to represent the CD. The countdown continues with albums 20-11 tonight and concludes with a top 10 countdown on New Year’s Eve.

Lazlo’s Den airs Mondays through Fridays at 8 p.m. ET on BlowUpRadio.com and at 9 p.m. ET and 1 a.m. ET (replay) on ThePenguinRocks.com.

Christian Beach’s self-titled CD has been ranked among the Top 60 albums of 2009 by the Lazlo’s Den Internet radio program.

Lazlo has announced what CDs are on the list, but his listeners won’t know where they rank until he begins to unveil the Top 60 albums of the year by playing albums 60 through 51 on the Christmas Eve (Dec. 24) edition of Lazlo’s Den at 8 p.m. ET. The rest of the list will be gradually revealed during subsequent shows, culminating in a Top 10 countdown on New Year’s Eve (Dec. 31).

Lazlo’s Den airs Mondays through Fridays at 8 p.m. ET on BlowUpRadio.com and at 9 p.m. ET and 1 a.m. ET (replay) on ThePenguinRocks.com.

Here is the announcement from Lazlo’s Den, including his comments about the list and detailed schedule of the countdown:

Lazlo’s Top 60 Albums of 2009

It’s that time of year again, and below is my top 60 albums of 2009.

As with previous years, let me make the following comments before you see my list:

It is hard doing this list, because:

- It’s totally subjective. The list below is strictly my opinion. I’m just another music fan making a list.

- My list is only comprised of albums I’ve actually listened to from beginning to end. Many albums come out each year, and I only listen to a few thousand albums in a year. There are likely many good albums I haven’t had the chance to listen to.

So with that in mind, below is my top 60 albums of 2009 in alphabetical order.

I’ll be counting down the top 60 in order on Lazlo’s Den (8pm ET), as follows:

Thursday December 24th – albums 60-51
Friday December 25th – albums 50-41
Monday December 28th – albums 40-31
Tuesday December 29th – albums 30-21
Wednesday December 30h – albums 20-11
Thursday December 31st – albums 10-1

After each show airs, this page will be updated with the album’s played in countdown order.

7 Worlds Collide – “the sun came out”
The Accelerators – “do you remember punk?”
Agency – “revolutions”
Analogue Transit – “gearheart”
Assembly Of Dust – “some assembly required”
Austin Lucas – “somebody loves you”
Beatallica – “masterful mystery tour”
Billy – “blue skies blue everything”
Blackberry Smoke – “little piece of dixie”
Bob Marley – “B is for Bob”
The Break Evens – “win if you can…lose if you must…but always break even!”
Christian Beach – “Christain Beach”
Colin Hay – “American sunshine”
Copesetic – “wedding song ep”
The Datsuns – “headstunts”
Dipsomaniacs – “social crutch”
Domenick Carino – “the only thing that comes to mind are songs about us”
Elvis Costello – “secret, profane, & sugarcane”
The Extras, Inc. – “super hits of the ’00s”
The Future Kings Of Nowhere – “solo demo”
Great Northern – “remind me where the light is”
Hey Tiger – “morning light”
Jered Tanner 4 President – “primary”
Jon Caspi – “Eddie knows! a novel”
Jonathan Andrew – “arrivals & departures”
Julian Peterson – “get on the train”
Julie – “an act of communication”
Julie Peel – “near the sun”
Kava Kava – “forwards”
King Wilkie – “King Wilkie Presents: The Wilkie Family Singers”
Last Perfect Thing – “the signal”
Linda Draper – “bridge and tunnel”
Lost in Society – “eastern empire”
Marcy Playground – “leaving wonderland…in a fit of rage”
Matt Wade – “Matt Wade”
Megaphone – “exit silent mode”
Michael Gilligan – “happy songs about death”
Miles Hunt & Erica Knockalls – “catching more than we miss”
Montagna & The Mouth To Mouth – “l’avenir”
P.O.S. – “never better”
Particle Zoo – “collection”
Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson – “break up”
Peter Bradley Adams – “traces”
Quincy Mumford – “south edgemere”
Razorlight – “slipaway fires”
Rick Barry – “this antediluvium world”
Rik Mercaldi – “Rik Mercaldi”
Slo-Mo featuring Mic Wrecka – “gimme what you got”
Steve Martin – “the crow”
Street Sweeper Social Club – “Street Sweeper Social Club”
The Subdudes – “flower petals”
The Tea & Whiskey – “we’re not doing “a” material for charity”
Tris McCall – “let the night fall”
Verve Pipe – “a family album”
The Very Best – “warm heart of Africa”
Vulture Whale – “Vulture Whale”
Westbound Train – “come and get it”
Will Hoge – “the wreckage”
The Winter Sounds – “church of the haunted south”
The Woodlands – “Woodlands”

Lazlo at BlowUpRadio.com has posted a mini-review of Christian Beach’s self-titled CD:

“There’s no denying Singer-songwriter Christian Beach’s talent on his 1st solo CD…”

If you are at the Jersey Shore, be sure to pick up your copy of the May 2009 issue of The Rag, which features a review of Christian Beach’s April 10th CD release party at The Saint in Asbury Park, N.J.

Here’s an excerpt:

Christian has come full circle with the release of his self-titled CD “Christian Beach”…showcasing Christian’s musicianship and amazing vocal range. Seeing him perform songs from the new CD live makes the audience aware that this isn’t your parents’ pop. It is much edgier with more of a twangy rocky/fok sound. Whatever it is, it works.

If you can’t wait or are unable to get your hands on an actual copy of The Rag, you can check out a scan of the review online by clicking on the link below.

The Rag: Christian Beach CD Release Party a Hit

Steve Bove, Entertainment writer for the Asbury Park Press, wrote a review of the CD that was featured in the paper on 4/10.  You can read it here!

MATURE AND TEXTURED

By STEPHEN BOVE
Staff Writer

You’d think, with a rootsy croon and unassuming onstage demeanor, local singer/songwriter Christian Beach’s bare-bones style would work against his efforts to stand out among the competition.

But staying true to a natural talent for composing mature and textured folk songs, the classically inspired musicianship of the Lakewood-based performer … a former member Artists That Kill and Ton of Bricks … will ultimately serve as a reward to the discerning fan who chooses to move in for a closer look.

Layering Beach’s husky voice and piano atop melodic rock and a tinge of country twang, Beach’s self-titled latest release is well served by passing on the accoutrements common to many of his peers.

Backed by the production work of Jason Corsaro* (Peter Gabriel, Steve Winwood), the album features Beach on piano, acoustic guitar, organ, accordion and drums; John Pfeiffer on electric guitar and Gorgo  on bass and mandolin.

Though production seems a little thick at times, cameos by Gary Mazzaropi (Les Paul Trio) and Rob Angello (The Secret Syde) change the album’s tone just enough to keep arc.

Comprising 12 tracks, the album presents a broader vision of westward redemption that truly finds its shape in the second half, with the opening chords of the Band-inspired “Poet of the Great Plains.”

Beach credits influences that range from Townes Van Zandt to Tori Amos, and nowhere is the latter more present than on the brooding “”Cemetery Friends,” a noir-jazz that’s easily the album’s best four and a half minutes.

Upcoming gigs include Beach’s record release party tonight at The Saint in Asbury Park, as well as performances at Princeton’s Triumph Brewery on April 23 and May 21 and Fergie’s Pub in Philadelphia on May 13.

For more information, visit www.myspace.com/christianbeach.

*Correction.  Please note that Christian Beach was not produced by Jason Corsaro.  The CD was produced by John Pfeiffer, Gorgo and Christian Beach.  The confusion resulted in the fact that I worked with Mr. Corsaro on a previous studio project.  Thanks!

Check out Martin Halo’s review of Christian Beach’s new CD at TheWaster.com, an online music publication.

His self-titled debut is a collection of soundtrack worthy compositions spanning the spectrum of arrangement choices…

Read the complete review.

You can purchase the “Christian Beach” CD at CDBaby.com, iTunes and Amazon.com.

And don’t forget…Christian Beach will be doing an in-studio interview/performance on WBJB-FM 90.5 The Night tonight at 7:15. If you are not in the Jersey Shore area, you can listen online.

Also, remember that this Friday night is Christian Beach’s CD Release Party at The Saint in Asbury Park, NJ. Click the link for details.