Visual Sound: Issue 15
Vakili Band
“Honey”
Their Honey album won’t be released until September 8 but Montclair’s earthy Vakili Band has shared the title tune’s clip. Street poet Lily Vakili says the song was inspired by “the transportive state of being absorbed by love, of being utterly enthralled with another person. When I’m in the presence of someone I love intensely, I feel like I am in an opiate soundscape that is totally unique to that person. When I brought the song to the band, our agreement on how to build the arrangement was practically wordless, we just played. I love the result.”
George Benson
“Give Me The Night”
Upon interviewing George Benson at his Englewood home in Bergen County, I chastised him for leaving jazz to become a millionaire pop superstar. He laughed and said, “what would you do?” The dude’s an unbelievable guitar player, but you wouldn’t know it here. Still, out of all his pop hits, this 1980 gem still bounces righteously.
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Mary Chapin-Carpenter
“Down At The Twist And Shout”
There’s a bar in Bethesda, Maryland, called The Twist & Shout. Princeton country singer Mary Chapin-Carpenter made it famous when she wrote and recorded this song as part of her groundbreaking Shooting Straight In The Dark album in 1991. That’s the legendary New Orleans fiddler Michael Doucet from the band BeauSoleil in on the fun. The song won the 1992 Grammy Award for “Best Country Vocal Performance.”
Overkill
“Scorched”
Overkill, the 1980s thrash band from Old Bridge Township in Middlesex County, is going stronger than ever with the release of their brand new Scorched album.