Michael Franks

<Dragonfly Summer>是Michael Franks 在2011年12月12日发行的专辑。

Dragonfly Summer

Coming to Life (Album Version)

Soul Mate (Album Version)

Dragonfly Summer (Album Version)

Monk's New Tune (Album Version)

Learning What Love Means (Album Version)

I Love Lucy (Album Version)

Practice Makes Perfect (Album Version)

String of Pearls (Album Version)

Keeping My Eye on You (Album Version)

The Dream (Album Version)

You Were Meant for Me (Album Version)

How I Remember You (Album Version)

Michael Franks - The DoctorSoul Reworks

The Cellar Door (Live Washington D.C. '79)

Crimson Skipper

Joe Sample

David Sanborn

TOO DARIUS (feat. Michael Franks, Joe Sample & David Sanborn)

The above thought occurred to me when Como's passing coincided with a recent spell of Michael Franks listening on my part. My first impression of Franks was that, despite his skill at songwriting, he was a bit of a lightweight--I asked myself; "Who says jazz needs its own John Sebastian?" Anyone who has that initial reaction to Franks should do what I did--let him grow on you. It isn't an easy thing to do for rock fans, who are used to the first impression either hitting you or missing you by a mile--we're used to being figuratively smacked upside the head by our entertainers. But this album's a good start--the song you might already know is love song cum geography lesson "Popsicle Toes". Who can argue with the cleverness of a song that says the thing that turns you on the most about your lady is that she has cold feet? Which correspond of course to Tierra del Fuego? Franks' writing style is literate and tongue-in-cheek sexy and his talent for arranging shows the capacity to come up with whatever fits the song, rather than songs that all sound alike except for the lyrics and melody a la Barry Manilow. He can even come up with lyrics for another artist's tune (see "The Dream", based on the Yellowjackets' "Local Hero", found on his "Dragonfly Summer" as well as their live set). The singer-songwriter format is alive and well, and in Franks' case, better than ever. It's just that artists like him go more for staying power than short-term overhype. 


The Best Of Michael Franks: A Backward Glance

Recorded after a two year break, Michael went head first into electric music. This album is wholly electronic, "Passionfruit." the album before this one, experimented with synths and the like lightly. Michael also experiments with multi-track vocal overdubbing and vocal doubling effects. "Now I Know Why They Call It Falling" is a prime example of Michael´s vocal arrangement in the overdubbing vein. Moving away from electric, "When She Is Mine" is a moving jazz ballad surrounding Michael in a full horn section. "You Secret´s Safe With Me" was a radio hit, this is the song that helped me discover Michael. Remember the video? It was in heavy rotation on the infant channel VH1. Michael was walking down a rainy street wearing a black trench coat. Not really creative, but it was his first attempt. I´m a huge Brenda Russell fan as well as Michael´s, the duet "When I Give My Love To You" is sweet, I´ve often wondered whose idea it was for Brenda to do all the background vocals. I feel the song would be a bit warmer if Michael had a helping hand harmonizing with her backgrounds, it worked for the Carpenters. "Queen Of The Underground" displays Michael´s interesting word choice for lyric, his vocal is run through a vocoder for added effect; the track is almost danceable. The opening track "Read My Lips" is an upbeat tale about secret love..."Don´t be Shy" is a song actually built around a synth drum riff. This album overall is more upbeat than anything Michael had recorded to this point. It may mark time as eighties music but it´s still thoroughly enjoyable. 

Skin Dive

This is the most fantastic musical poetry I´ve ever heard. Only MF could have the great Astrud Gilberto sing backing vocals (Amazon.com)and pull it off without a hitch. Every track is a standout. My personal favorite is Alone At Night. However, my strongest recommendation is this. For those who are able, go out and find Passionfruit on LP. Do whatever you have to. I have 2 copys on CD and a copy on minidisc. I bought the vinyl on a whim. I was blown away. Completely. This is the ONLY way Michael Frank´s music should be heard. On vinyl, the music actually involves you. I rarely listen to the CD now. I listen to the LP almost everyday! If you´re looking to get into MF´s music, this is the album to do it. 

Passion Fruit

That said, this album is, as usual, wonderful. The songs are not really designed to stand out on their own, save for "Art Of Love," that song got lots of airplay and it´s upbeat arrangement with optimistic lyric differs from the rest of this album, it also lacks the tropical overtones in the arrangement. The real story begins with "Woman In The Waves" and goes from there taking us to Michael´s state of mind, the tropics and relationships with a little conflict but a lot of love. It almost seem Michael´s perfect woman is a tropic paradise, and he wants to prove it to us that he´s right. "Woman In The Waves" contains the lyric in the refrain "she understands how the blue water behaves, mother of pearl is the woman in the waves." The rest of the album does not stray from this feeling, "Speak To Me" is a slight departure because of it´s tempo. "Vincent´s Ear" is a song from Michael´s play "Noa Noa," which was in almost draft form by this albums release, the play is now finished and the characters have been cast. The song has a cool jazz feel. "Chez Nous" had to grow on me a bit, Michael sounds almost strained to sing this one, the lyric I thought was a bit weaker than the rest of the songs. The title track is an almost summary of the entire body of work, the last track is a beautiful, airy song, a great way to close the album. Unlike most of Michael´s albums, the songs here do not make sense out of context but when listened to as a whole, the story is wonderful fantasy. 

Blue Pacific

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Dragonfly Summer

歌曲列表

Dragonfly Summer

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