by Zac Taylor (‘10)
Contributing Writer

If you stroll by Wally’s on Massachusetts Avenue and hear original music coming out of the doorway instead of “Giant Steps”, you might be lucky enough to hear the jazzy-cool stylings of Rachel Borovik. Borovik, who released her debut record last month at this world-renowned jazz club, is part 50’s lounge singer and part R&B radio starlet, with some neo-soul to wash it down.

Untangled, Rachel Borovik’s first full-length offering to the world, is a strong album. On the surface it harkens back to the female songstresses of the 90s like Linda Perry, Joan Osborne, or even early Sheryl Crow with feel-good hooks and poise. But when you listen a little closer, a modern jazz nouveau edge is revealed, not unlike Corinne Bailey Rae or Alicia Keys.

The beef of the instrumentation comes from Tom Kain’s tasteful keys, Rhodes, and organ playing. He leaves space, embellishes the dynamic with subtle textures, and knows when to let it all hang out. Mark Hadley’s guitar playing follows suit. His picking and strumming are always in service of the songs, but he lets it rip when necessary, adding a nasty solo to “Unsatisfied.” Meanwhile, bassist Bryan Percivall and drummer Ricardo White lay down grooves that would make both Norah Jones and Prince quite pleased.

Riding on top of the solid instrumentals, Rachel’s voice is the face of the sound. She’s not afraid to lay down some old school scatting, such as in the opening bars of “Middle Ground.”

The album’s standout track is “How To Be A Woman.” The vocals shine as the age-old story of Adam and Eve is funked out and re-harmonized to the ear’s delight.

Untangled came to life at Flying Dutchman Studio. The production has a touch of edgy R&B flavor, which comes as no surprise, as it was produced by Owen Ross of Re-Up. Mixed by Berklee faculty Rich Mendelson and mastered by former Berklee professor Tom Carr, the sound has a radio-ready sheen that is crucial for a young artist starting out.

“My plans for future are to be able to support myself doing what I love most: connecting with others through music,” Borovik says. “I am open to wherever being able to do that takes me.”

At 20 years old, Rachel Borovik is taking her music very seriously; you should too.

For more on Rachel Borovik and her upcoming shows, visit her website: www.myspace.com/rachelboro. Catch her Friday July 2 at Cafe Luna, Cambridge.

By Zac Taylor
Managing Editor

Photo by Conor Doherty.

You hear her voice and you go: man! You see her photo and you go: huh? It’s a common occurrence for Merrily James , a slender girl with a gigantic voice, who could give Jill Scott a run for her money.

Produced by Darren McGrath, the soulful tunes on Words for Everything are supported by an all-star cast of musicians:  Jake Cohen on drums and Claire Finley on bass laying down dynamic grooves; Randy Runyon on guitar, Dane Farnsworth on keys providing tasty R&B-infused textures; and a host of horns, strings, and backup singers that give all of the songs a lovely listenability.

Perhaps the most easily accessible of the six tunes, “Braver than Blue” could easily be a track on the next Joss Stone CD, minus the accent. A childlike glockenspiel bounces on top of a smoky Wurlitzer as James comes in, “Remember that time we kissed on your front steps?” The chorus explodes with horns and “ahhs” that bury into your brain upon first listen.

In “Street with No Name” a tasteful piano welds together with a heart-rendering string section make certain lyrics like “So you take your faith and you throw it out on the wet ground/Just when you think that love’s keeping you warm, it burns you alive” hit you right in the kisser.

The record takes a bluesy turn on the next track, “Long, Long time.” Saucy organ licks and rhythmic feel changes between the verse and chorus show that James has been taking her gospel vitamins and listening to plenty of Ray Charles; it also illustrates that her songwriting is easily as impressive and mature as her powerful voice.

You can hear James belt it out this Friday night at the Agganis Area for Berklee’s Commencement. 

By Ann Driscoll
Associate Editor

If you wanted to create an indie rock darling in a cynical laboratory, your Frankenstein creation would have cool beards, lots of reverb, gimmicky instrumentation, and mediocre songs. It’d probably have the word “bear” “rabbit” or “fox” in the band name. Heck, just call it Frankenstein Bear.

Zac Taylor is the antidote to indie-rock’s substantive bankruptcy. A clean-cut Georgia boy, his debut LP, Salesman is straightforward guitar-driven pop/rock. No cut corners. Just expertly written songs with simple, effective production courtesy of Ben Gebert (one half of NINI+BEN). This is a record for people craving meat-and-potatoes rock: great melodies, witty lyrics, chord progressions that take unexpected but logical turns.

Taylor’s music is steeped in great music from the past but not as a gimmicky stylistic pastiche. The pop music vernacular in which he writes just so happens to be mainstream and accessible, as pioneered and perfected by idols like The Beatles, Nirvana, and Ryan Adams.

Throughout, Taylor remains his own man. “Cold Light of Day” demonstrates a unique melodic sensibility during the verses as well as a passionate vocal performance from Taylor, who has increasingly come into his own as a vocalist.

Taylor’s lyrics boldly explore his own rock star ambitions. On opener, “Know My Name” acknowledges the blue collar humdrum of struggling to make it in the ‘biz. “I guess this means that I won’t get a severance check/I’ll have to go/Take out some loans and drill my bones for marrow just to pay my rent.” The chorus then gives way to optimism, “When I leave this place/Everyone here will know my name.”

In the vividly imagined and somewhat theatrical world of Salesman, rents are expensive, blue jeans are tight, and casual sex has replaced real romance. “If she can hear my catcall/Through a foot of drywall/I might not end up sleeping on the floor,” he croons on charming ditty, “Spend the Night with Hannah.” Taylor lets his theatrical imagination run wild in “The Getaway” – a Bonnie and Clyde tale about bank robbery with a Hall & Oates groove.

At times, Salesman a bit oversells Taylor’s sense of his own iconography as a rock musician. On “NYC ASAP,” he whispers “Fast love/Fast life/Fast money” over 80’s-sounding sexy guitar swells as if he were the protagonist of a Bret Easton Ellis novel. On tracks like “Sleeping in the Car” Taylor’s self-deprecating humor deflates the pseudo-glamor of his subject matter.

The standout track, “Go If You Must” is a boppy tune that sounds a bit like Elliott Smith on Prozac.  It’s also one of the few songs that showcase Taylor’s emotional vulnerability. He’s singing from the heart, and that’s something worth selling and buying.

The CD Release Show is this Thursday night at Cafe 939. Kris Roche and Nini+Ben open. Everyone in attendance will get a free copy of Salesman.

By Zac Taylor
Managing Editor

Better in the Summertime, Natalie Smith’s debut EP, opens with: “Boys and girls go through each other like disposable toys, taking out all the joy.” This opening track, “Call it Off,” is the first of five tunes that weave together sharp, straightforward lyrics and pop textures with dirty electric guitar and driving keys.

Smith’s punchy and, at times, gritty vocal delivery finds a balance between Alanis Morissette’s confessional attitude and Ingrid Michaelson’s bubble gum charm.

The record was recorded this past fall; it’s no wonder that the wretched New England weather has given this California native the wintertime blues. The title track, a melancholy power ballad, finds Smith coping with an everyday case of seasonal affective disorder: “Somewhere between the autumn leaves and the equinox I buried my hopes in all of the snow,” she sings.

You can clearly hear a Ben Folds vibe in the tune “Never Gonna Be,” complimented by producer/keyboardist Matt MacArthur’s contributions on both sides of the glass. This comes as no surprise, considering that Smith actually sang back-up for Folds for his performance at the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Clearly a well-trained singer and songwriter, Smith always keeps the song at the top of her priority; no excessive vocal runs or any other showy elements that would distract for her stories.

These songs have the grrl power substance that pop tarts like Avril wish they could write (or have written for them). There is an uplifting thread that tie the narratives together in a well-produced, radio-friendly package—just in time for summer—when “hope is finally in bloom again.”

By Ann Driscoll
Associate Editor

If I were a music publisher, I would snatch up Alicia Lemke in a heartbeat. She has TV and film placement potentially virtually embedded into her earthy, wistful folk-pop debut Shades of Motion. To begin with, the five-song EP is exquisitely produced and performed by Lemke, a Berklee freshman, and her team of recent alumni: Josh Fobare, Alvaro Kapaz, Pablo Eluchans, and Ryan Gleason. Lemke’s pretty, conversational vocals are clear as a bell, occasionally accompanied by soft harmonies. A steady interplay between piano and acoustic guitar form the harmonic texture of most of the tracks. The arrangements compliment the songs without being obtrusive — from the upright bass on “Wave to Nowhere” to the organ on “The Break-Up Song” to the hand claps on “I’m Here to Stay.” Recorded and mixed by Gerry Putnam at Cedar House Sound in New Hampshire, the music is sonically ready- as crisp and well-performed as any Ingrid Michaelson or Colbie Caillat record.

The 22-year old Lemke has a knack for straightforward, unpretentious lyrical nuggets: “I miss you as much as anyone can miss what’s done- done are the days of ever after,” she sings with resignation on opener, “Wave to Nowhere.” Lemke graduated from Swarthmore with a degree in Theater and a minor in Biology, and spent a summer, conducting environmental science field research in Australia. She contemplates the physical world with impressionistic observations in the title track. “Purple light frames the highway/Spinning past yellow dotted lines/Counting signs.” Lemke remains even-keeled and earnest throughout her recounting of bad breakups. She sings, “You screwed me once and you screwed me twice” and completes the couplet with “My problem is I haven’t taken my own lame advice.”

On closing track “I’m Here To Stay,” Lemke showcases more pop than folk with “Come On Eileen”-esque melody soaring above multi-tracked handclaps and jumpy piano. You could easily hear it in a Target ad or a Grey’s Anatomy episode. In this day and age where sync licenses earn artists more money than record sales, there may be no better compliment to pay Shades of Motion’s industry potential.

Shades of Motion is available now on iTunes and physical copies will be available at Alicia Lemke shows.

Black Kettle: Narrative
By Zac Taylor
Managing Editor

“Oh please—tell me that you like me,” Keeley Bumford sings in the first tune of Black Kettle’s debut record, Narrative. Charming. Fun. Flirty. These words describe the songwriting, production, and even performances on these ten self-produced tunes.

The bulk of the record falls into the folky-quirky pop category, especially aforementioned opener, “Magnetic,” “Chameleon,” and “The King and All His Horses.” But after these first three single-worthy tracks, the Kettle throws a welcomed curve ball with the demure “Like a Book,” which sounds like a track from Tegan & Sara’s The Con.

Fast forward to “I Don’t Want to Know,” a ballad lush with gentle fingerstyle acoustic guitar and elegant violin. Bumford loses the cheeky flirt in favor of passive jealousy, cooing “You’re crawling up my spine, you’re in through my ear, down to my heart, I’m losing all direction, but I don’t want to fall this time.”

Narrative’s sound immediately tosses a grappling hook into your eardrums upon which the oohs, bop-bops, whoa-whoas, ukeleles, and glockenspiels climb into your brain and hang out. The guitar work and orchestration from Kailynn West and Peter Holland-Recine sounds as sharp and well executed as anything Blake Sennett (Rilo Kiley) has done recently.

The band’s CD Release Show earlier this month at Café 939 was very well-attended, thanks in part to openers Tamsin Wilson and Natural Forces. Wilson’s honest delivery and positively lovely stage presence mesmerized the crowd. Accompanied by Jörn Bielfeldt on cajon and Tommy Bohlen on pedal steel, the mellow trio played tunes off of her self-titled EP, including the entrancing tunes “Just How it Goes” and “Foolish.”

Left to right: Bumford, Baum, Hayes, and West. Photo by Cierra Walker.

Natural Forces, an upbeat rock duo consisting of Josh Washam singing and playing guitar and Andrew Kahl backing him up on both drums and backing vocals, played tracks off of their new EP One-Track Mind, calling to mind a stripped-down Jet singing Jim Croce-style songs. The duo’s performance easily outmatched the energy from most rock trios and quartets.

Still hot from Heavy Rotations Records CD Release show in February, Black Kettle took the stage in full force, relishing the opportunity to get all of the sounds and quirks of their record performed live, including the bops, whoas, and oohs from sexy backup singers Elyse Hayes and Whitney Wolf. Throw in guest musician Chris Baum for the violin on “I Don’t Want to Know,” and of course the grooving rhythm section of drummer Curran McDowell and bassist Michael Manke, and you got yourself one hell of a CD Release Party.

And Keeley, to answer your first question: Yes. We like you.

Michael Greenberg: Blue
By Zac Taylor
Managing Editor

If Sublime reunited for an unplugged show produced by Coldplay with some splatters of sequencing, you might get an idea of Michael Greenberg’s debut LP Blue. The record kicks off with the title track that grabs you with a crisp arrangement and slick harmonica playing. The young songwriter shows a mature voice with this upbeat tune about growth, and follows it with a smooth, R&B-tinged groove “Song to Remember.”

Greenberg sings with a subtle Chris Martin inflection on “Best of Us Die,” and it may sound like a Coldplay tune if it weren’t for the reggae groove, which steers it into Jack Johnson territory. The tune would be impeccably crafted for the pop medium, were it not for a very live-show-feeling arrangement including a breakdown (“Bring it back now”) and a lengthy acoustic guitar solo, but hey—you got to get the licks in somewhere.

The next couple tracks are perhaps the most ambitious of the collection. In “Death of a Son,” Greenberg narrates a solemn tale of a fallen hero over an 8-piece string section composed and conducted by George Woods; “We Need Help” is just over two minutes of ominous pleading over MIDI sequencing. These two sonic tapestries nicely offset the more straightforward songs.

“Portrait of Katy” is a bona fide hip-hop track. Songs like this rarely work, and usually fall into the despicable genre of lame white-boy rap. But this song’s honesty and cleverness is consistently engaging, centering around the hook, “it’s hard living with the fact that you’re running around my mind and not my body.” The delivery, rhyme, and instrumentation would impress G-Love or even Hova himself.

“I am not your friend, and I won’t settle for foe,” is the first line of “See You Through,” a slow groove that could function as a Justin Timberlake B-side in both its sensuality and plainness.

Greenberg brings the reggae back on the Jason Mraz-y “Say Something Useful” and closes out the record with “Keep On,” a well-rounded, optimistic anthem that would not be out of place on Steve Miller’s Greatest Hits.

Blue is a satisfying first installment from this talented musician, who clearly has the writing, playing, and singing chops to get the material out of his heart and into a tune.

Every band and artist on the new roster of Heavy Rotation Records sat down with BerkleeGroove.com to talk about their lives, music and dreams of success. Click on their name and picture to read their full interviews.