Liquid Blue
Country of origin:
U.S.
Type of music generally:
Dancey pop with some Eastern world influences
Status:
Most recent release, Baked: 2010's Tribute (covers, 2015)
See also:
Liquid Blue's site
Comparisons:
Mainstream dance pop (though they add a touches of world pop); they sound a lot like some of the mainstream pop produced in the third world
Covers/own material:
Own, some co-writing with non-band members
General comments:
This is dancey, lively pop for the mainstream pop fan in your house, as long as it's someone who will be interested in the other influences (though actually they're mostly so mild as to be almost unnoticeable in the overall wash of pop sound and vocals). This is a seven-member band (all men) fronted by three female singers (featured on the cover). One of the women does play some keys...they also stress in their press that "one of the girls, Layla Loxa is a World Champion Bodysurfer and placed third in the U.S. Surfing Championship in 2003." Ack. So the music? At least the world influences makes it less predictable than most pop. They claim they do alternative pop, but I don't hear any alternative influences at all. This is pop, through and through. (sophiagurley@hotmail.com)
Recommended first album:
Supernova is the only one we've heard
Recordings:
- Supernova
- Earth Passport (2010)
- Peace Anthems (2014)
- Protest Anthems (covers, 2015)
- Cosmic Covers (3/5/15)
- Rock Tribute (4/17/15)
- R&B Tribute (5/8/15)
- Blue Ballads (6/6/15)
- Acoustic Blue (7/16/15)
- Trippin': 1960's Tribute (8/21/15)
- Dazed: 1970's Tribute (10/2/15)
- Juiced: 1980's Tribute (10/30/15)
- Blazed: 1990's Tribute (11/6/15)
- Faded: 2000's Tribute (11/13/15)
- BlueBrass (11/20/15)
- Baked: 2010's Tribute (11/25/15)
Supernova
Release info:
2004—Deep Blue Records
Availability:
See Liquid Blue's site for availability
Ecto priority:
Recommended for mainstream pop fans only
Group members:
Scott Stevens—vocals, keys
Michael Vangerov—guitar
Rocket Rodriguez—bass, horns
Jordan Medina—drums
Nikki Nova—vocals, keys
Layla Loxa—vocals
Devonne Dawn—vocals
Guest artists:
Rahis Ahmed—tablas, vocals
Tamim Assifi—sitar, sarod
Sudakshina Alagia—vocals
Brooke Benson—vocals
Mark Schulman—drums
Kristen Kelly—vocals
Shah Sinanoglu—keyboards
Eric Klein—keyboards
Bib Dude—turntable
Nick Zaber—turntable
Produced by:
David DeVore
Comments:
The overall sound of this is very mainstream dance pop, but with world influences. The lyrics are mostly straightforward complaints about the state of the world, that combined with the dance beats makes for some odd listening — things like "Bossa Supernova, bossa Supernova, dancing on a shrinking planet" gave me pause. Other lyrics in that song go "population overload, treading in a fragile zone / Ozone layer disappearing, predictions that the end is nearing" make for a serious mismatch in sound and meaning. I'm not sure I can dance to those words, though the music is telling me to. At least their hearts are in the right place, and the beat is strong. Go dance. (sophiagurley@hotmail.com)
Thanks to Sophia Gurley for work on this entry.
