Friday, April 15, 2005

If you happen by here... may I recommend...

...the music of Michael Penn.

Michael is the older brother of Sean "Lost my sense of humor somewhere around 'Shanghai Surprise'" Penn and Chris "Let's Hear It For The Boy" Penn. This also makes him the former bro-in-law of Madonna and current bro-in-law of the Princess Bride herself, Robin Wright Penn. (And so, for those playing along at home, that puts him two Kevin Bacon degrees away from the Dread Pirate Roberts, aka the always edible Carey Elwes.)

But I digress...

Michael Penn is a rather brilliant singer/songwriter/composer of soundtrack-ish things. He has four cds out to date, with a fifth on the way this year. You may remember him as the man who sang "No Myth" (aka "that Romeo in black jeans" song.) Yep, "No Myth" is a great little pop song, but the rest of MP's stuff is much, much better. MP has had lots of trouble with major labels and it's a great shame, really. He's one of the finest songwriters out there, and his music is fun and thoughtful and has great hooks that will grab you and just not let go.

May I recommend his third cd, Resigned, as a great way to get into his music. If you don't like the song "Try" or "Me Around", I will gladly eat one of my hats (with the exception of my great Austrian boiled wool hat. That one doesn't get consumed. No way.) From there, I'd recommend MP4. (Really excellent stuff.)

If you like those two, go back in time to his first two cds, March and Free-For-All. All of it is good. Seriously.

If you want a taste of the upcoming cd, Mr. Hollywood Jr. 1947 (yes, it's a quirky title) go here and listen to the first track, Walter Reed.

Thank you. I now return you to your regularly scheduled web-surfing.

No comments: