Browse by Artist: CASH, BRENT

Artist:	CASH, BRENT
Title:	How Will I Know If I'm Awake
Label:	MARINA (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	MA 071CD

The Marina label presents the debut release from Athens, GA-based Brent Cash. Sounding like a lost sunshine pop classic from the '60s, How Will I Know If I'm Awake is overflowing with hook-laden choruses, multi-layered vocal harmonies and lush, sophisticated arrangements. It's the sound of endless summers and good vibrations. From the start, multi-instrumentalist Cash decided to record his songs like "they did it back then," hiring the best musicians in town and assembling a mini-orchestra featuring strings, brass and even a harp. The results are simply stunning. From the opening chords of "Everything That's Grey," we enter melody wonderland, a place where major 7 chords rule and beautiful vocal harmonies dazzle your mind. "Digging The Fault Line" is full of Byrds guitar jangle, sounding like the perfect soundtrack to cruise into golden California sunsets (with a great Wes Montgomery-like guitar solo along the way). "Only Time" explodes with 100 % fat-free youthful euphoria -- Roger Nichols meets The 5th Dimension. While deeply rooted in '60s songwriting -- influenced by Bacharach, Wilson, McCartney, and yes, The Monkees -- Cash certainly has his own unique signature style. Just listen to "And Had We Ever?" and "I Think I'm Falling In Love" -- with its complex, enchanting textures, ignoring conventional song structures. "Love Is Burning Down Tonight" -- a striking duet between Brent and Amanda Kapousouz -- is a special highlight of the album, while "Good Morning Sunshine" could be the theme song to the best TV series in the world -- the harpsichord-driven piece is chock-full of amazing twists and turns of melodic beauty. "This Sea, These Waves" moves us into bossa nova territory -- starting off in a classic Getz/Gilberto mould, the song soon morphs into heavenly orchestrated Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 elegance. "More Than Everything," clocking in at over six minutes, ends this beautiful song circle with a great final statement about overcoming heartbreak, delivered with the sincerity of a Carpenters record. Music made the way it was meant to be heard.

Artist:	CASH, BRENT
Title:	How Strange It Seems
Label:	MARINA (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	MA 076CD

The Marina label presents the second release from Athens, GA-based Brent Cash. Brent Cash's widely-celebrated debut album How Will I Know If I'm Awake (MA 071CD/LP) was released in 2008. The multi-instrumentalist took the long gap to create an even more elaborately crafted follow-up. How Strange It Seems is chock-full of sophisticated arrangements, multi-layered vocal harmonies, extravagant key changes and intricate rhythms. From the start, Cash decided to record his songs like "they did it back then," so no costs were spared to hire the best players in town and assemble a mini-orchestra featuring almost 30 musicians. The resulting work sounds like a lost pop masterpiece from the '60s and '70s. Opening track "I Wish I Were A Song" -- which bookends the record -- is the song cycle's lavishly orchestrated overture featuring strings, horns, flutes, tympani and even a harp. It perfectly sets the mood and is extremely rich in detail, scope and color. It's followed by "It's Easier Without Her" which sounds like a straight-ahead '70s AM radio hit à la Todd Rundgren and America. With its infectious Burt Bacharach-like horn motif and a great harpsichord part, it seems like the perfect soundtrack to cruise into golden sunsets along the California coast line. "I Can't Love You Anymore Than I Do" takes us straight into TV theme territory. Riding on a funky bass line, wah wah guitar and stabbing strings, it could easily be the mischievous love child of The Rockford Files, Dallas and Shaft. You can virtually see the opening titles roll to these delicious sounds. A special feature throughout the album is vocal quartet The South City Voices. Their light and breezy flow adds a lovely dose of sunshine pop to tracks like "The Heart Will Always Work Alone" and "Just Like Today" -- evoking groups like The Free Design, The Swingle Singers and Roger Nichols & The Small Circle Of Friends. Title track "How Strange It Seems" is pure Brent Cash brilliance. It starts out as a West Coast singer/songwriter tune, and then gets propelled to new heights by a powerful Brill Building arrangement (even featuring castanets!) -- delivered with all the vocal honesty of a Carpenters record. Its lyrics cover one of the main themes of the album: heartbreak turns into a new beginning. The album comes to a conclusion with the epic "I Just Can't Look Away." Clocking in at nearly seven minutes, it is an amazing musical journey. Structured in several different sections -- like Jimmy Webb's "MacArthur Park" -- it takes you through a rollercoaster ride of a relationship, beautifully set to music in an extraordinarily detailed arrangement.

Artist:	CASH, BRENT
Title:	How Strange It Seems
Label:	MARINA (GERMANY)
Format:	LP
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	MA 076LP

LP version. The Marina label presents the second release from Athens, GA-based Brent Cash. Brent Cash's widely-celebrated debut album How Will I Know If I'm Awake (MA 071CD/LP) was released in 2008. The multi-instrumentalist took the long gap to create an even more elaborately crafted follow-up. How Strange It Seems is chock-full of sophisticated arrangements, multi-layered vocal harmonies, extravagant key changes and intricate rhythms. From the start, Cash decided to record his songs like "they did it back then," so no costs were spared to hire the best players in town and assemble a mini-orchestra featuring almost 30 musicians. The resulting work sounds like a lost pop masterpiece from the '60s and '70s. Opening track "I Wish I Were A Song" -- which bookends the record -- is the song cycle's lavishly orchestrated overture featuring strings, horns, flutes, tympani and even a harp. It perfectly sets the mood and is extremely rich in detail, scope and color. It's followed by "It's Easier Without Her" which sounds like a straight-ahead '70s AM radio hit à la Todd Rundgren and America. With its infectious Burt Bacharach-like horn motif and a great harpsichord part, it seems like the perfect soundtrack to cruise into golden sunsets along the California coast line. "I Can't Love You Anymore Than I Do" takes us straight into TV theme territory. Riding on a funky bass line, wah wah guitar and stabbing strings, it could easily be the mischievous love child of The Rockford Files, Dallas and Shaft. You can virtually see the opening titles roll to these delicious sounds. A special feature throughout the album is vocal quartet The South City Voices. Their light and breezy flow adds a lovely dose of sunshine pop to tracks like "The Heart Will Always Work Alone" and "Just Like Today" -- evoking groups like The Free Design, The Swingle Singers and Roger Nichols & The Small Circle Of Friends. Title track "How Strange It Seems" is pure Brent Cash brilliance. It starts out as a West Coast singer/songwriter tune, and then gets propelled to new heights by a powerful Brill Building arrangement (even featuring castanets!) -- delivered with all the vocal honesty of a Carpenters record. Its lyrics cover one of the main themes of the album: heartbreak turns into a new beginning. The album comes to a conclusion with the epic "I Just Can't Look Away." Clocking in at nearly seven minutes, it is an amazing musical journey. Structured in several different sections -- like Jimmy Webb's "MacArthur Park" -- it takes you through a rollercoaster ride of a relationship, beautifully set to music in an extraordinarily detailed arrangement.

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