You Are Free arrives nearly five years from her last album of original material, and everything, yet nothing, has changed about Chan Marshall's music. The album's title is as much a statement as it is a challenge, a command to free one's self from the hurt and pain of the past, or to at least find a way of making peace with it. Marshall seems to do both on You Are Free, a collection of songs about finding freedom and peace wherever she can. Initially, the album seems more diffuse than Moon Pix, as it spans tense rockers, blues, folk, and singer/songwritery piano ballads, but it gradually reveals itself as Marshall's most mature and thematically focused work yet. You Are Free opens with a stunning trio of songs that encompass most of the moods and sounds she explores later in the album. On I Don't Blame You, the first of You Are Free's many spare, piano-driven moments, Marshall paints a portrait of a tormented musician, her voice so full of sympathy that she may well be singing a reconciliation to a previous incarnation of herself. The brisk, buzzing intensity of Free, however, offers liberation in the form of rock & roll's immediate, poetic nonsense: Don't be in love with the autograph/Just be in love when you love that song all night long. You Are Free's first two songs address musicians and making music directly; Marshall is a famously willful, volatile artist, and the increasing gaps between her albums (not to mention her unpredictable live performances) suggest that being a musician isn't the easiest thing for her to do, even if it's a necessary one. She addresses the struggle to do the right, but difficult, thing on Good Woman, a near-spiritual breakup song where, backed by a children's choir and fiddles, Marshall explains that she needs to be a good woman with -- or more likely, without -- her bad man. Aside from being a lovely song, it's also a departure; earlier in her career the song might have just focused on the conflict instead of Marshall's gently strong resolution to it. This gentle but resolute strength runs through most of You Are Free's best moments, such as He War and especially Names, a terrifyingly matter-of-fact recollection of child abuse and lost friends that says more in its resigned sorrow than a histrionic tirade would. As the album progresses, it moves toward the spare, affecting ballads that give her later work a strange timelessness; listening to You Are Free gives the impression of stripping away layers to get to the essence of Marshall's music. In some ways, the quiet last half of this album is more demanding than the angsty noise of Dear Sir or Myra Lee, but hearing her find continually creative interpretations of minor keys, plaintive pianos, and folky guitars is well worth the attention it takes, whether it's the dead-of-night eroticism of her cover of Michael Hurley's Werewolf, the pretty yet eerie longing of Fool, or the prairie romance of Half of You. Every Cat Power album takes at least a few listens to fully reveal itself; You Are Free may take awhile longer than expected to unfold, but once it does, its excellence is undeniable. ~ Heather Phares, Rovi

You can’t fall in love without taking a chance. Anybody But Justin Gabby is enjoying her search for Mr. Right and the sex that comes with it. There’s only one man she doesn’t want to fall for—her best friend Justin, a player in every sense of the word. Except Justin doesn’t want to be just friends anymore, and he’s ready to do whatever it takes to convince her not to run. Luck Be Delanie Years ago, Delanie’s sorority prank led to an unplanned—and passionate—night with a sexy stranger. A memory she still holds close to her heart. Grant always suspected she stole his lucky coin, but never knew why. Now he’s got her right where he wants her, and he not only wants answers, but Delanie too. Protecting Phoebe Phoebe’s work at a women’s shelter has gone a long way toward her own healing, except when it comes to dating. Then a hot, young cop sets her pulse racing straight toward a casual fling. Craig’s interest goes way beyond casual, but it’ll take time to convince her to think long term. Until her violent ex comes out of the woodwork, and time becomes the one thing they don’t have… Warning: This book has hot sweet lovin’ between friends who become lovers, lost lovers reunited, and an older woman and younger man. Male masturbation, a violent ex, and tropical islands make cameo appearances between rounds of “you could have died” sex.

The Chemical Brothers never stopped being great producers, but during some of their ho-hum full-lengths of the early 2000s, they relied too much on production skills and forgot what they were first known for: innovative sounds and great hooks. (It's hard to deny that their comparatively sleek psychedelic house was a far cry from the big-beat bombast and excitement of their first two LPs.) Unfortunately, We Are the Night is no departure, although it does reveal Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons showing some build-to-suit character instead of angling for the straitjacket-tight and over-serious dance music of their past ten years. The first half of the record, including the single Do It Again (unconsciously ironic title?), is no better nor worse than most of what the Chemical Brothers produced between 1998 and 2007, but beginning with a diverting little electro noodling called Das Spiegel, it becomes clear that there's a little more going on here. Hip-hop's favorite toker, Fatlip, stops by to relate an odd tale about fish (The Salmon Dance), A Modern Midnight Conversation dabbles in Italo-disco (but gets most of its flavor from a sample), and the duo stretch out (slightly) for the creepy four-four crawl Battle Scars with neo-folkie Willy Mason. The Chemical Brothers have occasionally shrouded their more interesting productions until the second half of their LPs, but something else is obviously needed. ~ John Bush, Rovi

A long overdue release of one of the great brother vocal groups of the 50s. 50 Remastered tracks, in a 2 CD set. Includes 3 number # 1s & a host of other chart entries. The career of The Ames Brothers fits nicely into two separate compartments - the years on the Coral label and those with RCA Victor. Little has been available of the early days of the group and this double CD is putting matters to rights. The Urick family were Russian Jews from the Ukraine who settled in Massachusetts where they brought up 4 girls and 5 boys. Although the family was poor they instilled in their children the love of classic literature and music. The four youngest boys, Joe, (Born 3rd May 1924) Gene, (13 February 1925) Vic (20 May 1926) and Ed (9 July 1927) - but I have also seen dates making the eldest three a couple of years older. They were all gifted vocally, singing at High School, and quite good sportsmen too who took their basketball skills on the road with them early in their singing career. Their love of baseball saw them perform sometimes at the Franklin Field and at various military camps in the Boston and State area. Through this they also managed to get appearances on local radio. Joe had ambitions as an opera singer in Montreal and for a while a cousin, Lenny Kaufman, took his place in the quartet but when he took sick Ed returned to form the line up that wouldn't change over the next 15 years. See also: JASCD434 - Together

Recorded in Los Angeles and Rome under the watch of Grammy-winning co-producer Humberto Gatica and Tony Renis, the second studio album from dreamy teenage tenors Piero Barone, Ignazio Boschetto, and Gianluca Ginoble, better known as Il Volo, begins appropriately with a sweeping rendition of the Dianne Warren/Aerosmith power ballad Questo Amore [I Don't Want to Miss a Thing], dutifully extending the already lengthy 21st century bridge between commercial pop and classical. The trio, which first turned heads on the popular Italian talent show Ti Lascio una Canzone, brings an excitable, youthful bravado to the 12-track We Are Love's more pop-oriented offerings like Warren's newly written I Bring You to My Senses, U2's Beautiful Day, and the Mark Portmann-penned title cut, the latter two of which are the only songs sung in English. The more traditional, operatic/classically minded pieces, while seamless, soaring, and impossibly pretty in all the right places, lack the gravitas to truly make the listener swoon, a notion that's lent further weight when the great Placido Domingo steps in halfway through Il Canto and effectively steals the show. ~ James Christopher Monger, Rovi

It s said that the true test of a jazz musician s mettle is to hear how they treat a ballad. Legendary pianist Denny Zeitlin no longer needs to prove his fantastic ability as a master interpreter of ballads, along with many other songs. On his new Sunnyside recording Wherever You Are, Zeitlin presents an entire program of ballads (classics from the American Songbook along with a couple of originals and tasteful renditions of compositions by the master songwriter Antonio Carlos Jobim.) Wherever You Are is Zeitlin s third solo outing for Sunnyside and his most focused. The pianist s intent to explore a particular mood and style rewards the listener with a very personal experience: My hope is that you will be rewarded by deep listening to this album, and also find it a worthy companion to activities of daily life a fine meal, perhaps; moments of contemplation; and most especially, being with someone you love. Zeitlin s love for these compositions isn t only for the brilliant compositions but also for the lyrics that accompany them. The best interpreters know not only the harmonic particularities of these gems but also the inflections and nuances that only a human voice can invoke. The true masters can make the song sing without a syllable being sung. Zeitlin does that here. The album begins with the composer Johnny Green s classic Body and Soul re-harmonized and lovingly embellished by Zeitlin s musing. Good-Bye by Gordon Jenkins follows with its plaintive, melancholy melody. The short medley of Jobim s Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars/How Insensitive is an unintentional but natural shift from one of this master composer s deeply sensual bossa novas into another. Harold Arlen s Last Night When We Were Young arises subtly, poignantly as the pianist caresses a lovely performance from the instrument. Zeitlin challenges himself by reharmonizing the melody of Fragos, Baker and Gasparre s I Hear a Rhapsody, making a very unique rendition of this standard. Time Remembers One Time Once is one of Zeitlin s favorite original compositions a waltz that arrived fully formed which he dances through. Bobby Troup and Leah Worth s The Meaning of the Blues is a lilting, solemn number that Zeitlin utilizes resonating high notes on and a reflective pace. My Dream Is Yours by Harry Warren and Gene De Paul and Don Raye s You Don t Know What Love Is are perfect vehicles for the pianist s ruminative improvisations. The album concludes with Zeitlin s Wherever You Are originally recorded for his album Tidal Wave is as stately as any of the other themes presented. On Wherever You Are, Zeitlin performs an affecting set of paced, deeply emotive songs that are intended to make the listener pause in enjoyable reflection.

The Canadian band's tenth studio album follows 2002's Palace of Gold, which found Blue Rodeo reinvigorated and ready to occasionally break out of the country-pop-rock mold that they are inextricably linked to. The ostentatious horns and strings of the group's previous release are gone (except for the stray solo trumpet on the closing two tracks), replaced with a British Invasion feel for the opening cuts. But after the twangy guitars appear on the third song, Rodeo play to their strengths. That's not a bad thing, though, as both founding guitarist/vocalists Greg Keelor and Jim Cuddy have crafted some particularly earnest and soulful country-rock that stands with their best work. Cuddy's clean-cut, ageless voice, somewhat similar to Jackson Browne, sounds terrific on strummy ballads such as Great Lakes, Rena, Runaway Train, and the beautiful I Will, all tunes that will sound familiar to established fans. Similarly, Keelor's Stuck on You, Up That Cloud, and Phaedra's Meadow glow with his traditional scruffy, moody resignation, highlighted by Paddy Malone's somber tin whistle and Uilleann pipes on the latter. His epic for the album is the six-plus-minute Tired of Pretending, a somber piece that grows in edgy intensity and volume as it progresses, with Keelor shifting from a whisper to a hoarse howl. It's the opening songs that signal the most distinctive break with Blue Rodeo tradition, as both Can't Help Wondering Why and the title track tap into retro British Invasion territory with tough garage rocking results, somewhat like what Tom Petty occasionally plays. Ultimately, though, this is another in a long line of quality Blue Rodeo albums that takes enough chances to keep the band from getting stale while also staying the course. It may not win many new listeners but will please the group's existing admirers, and it provides Blue Rodeo with a handful of tracks that are as powerful and moving as anything in their extensive catalog. ~ Hal Horowitz, Rovi

Best practices are a moving target and the subtitle, Twelve Reasons Smart Organizations Thrive In ANY Economy, perfectly describes what's inside this book. The author is a highly respected and sought after keynote speaker/trainer/consultant who has carefully documented why some organizations succeed and others fail. You'll read interviews and case studies from such diverse companies as Nordstrom, Zappos, BDA Marketing, Staubach Company, Comedy Central, Honeywell, Lucky Strike Lanes, LiveScribe, PG& E Power, Lush Cosmetics, McCormick & Schmicks Seafood Co, Hackensack Medical Center, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, and dozens of others. Every executive should study this in order to best navigate a recession.

What do you do when your heart bids you take one path but everyone else says take another? In Rules Are Rules, 9-year-old Maya faces this dilemma. With help, she discovers that the answer is neither solely one nor the other but a unique combination of the best from each. Rules Are Rules is a children's book awash with beautiful watercolor illustrations, filled with wit and sensitivity, and offering messages for all ages. As with the best of classic tales, Rules Are Rules weaves together several themes so that the right one resonates with each reader at precisely the right time. The story begins with Maya in her forest. Weighted down with her problem of having to choose between two opposing options, at first she retreats to herself. Gradually the natural environment comforts her. Nature doesn't solve her problem, but it does relax her so that later she is open to see an unconventional third option. Somewhat better, Maya encounters an older friend who gently listens to her and hears what is at the core of her troubles. Like Nature, the elder doesn't solve Maya's problem, but surrounds her with love. She asks the right questions so Maya can figure out her own best solution. Maya's dilemma revolves around a rule that, although common, does not respect her needs. Her discussion with her parents gives them an awareness of the impact of this arbitrary rule and helps them realize that people of all ages deserve respect. Rules Are Rules presents serious messages, but it tells them joyously. Throughout, chickadees flit in and out, slipping in a little nature education, singing songs that only Maya understands, and keeping the tone light. Children and adults alike will cherish Rules Are Rules, the first in a series of Maya stories.

Austin-based indie rock band Uncle Lucius is set to release its new studio album, And You Are Me, on August 28, 2012. Recorded in Austin and Nashville, And You Are Me finds Uncle Lucius stretching their musicianship and reeling in eleven songs that punch with a fullness reminiscent of The Doors to early Black Crowes to the current new blues sound of The Black Keys. Uncle Lucius takes rock and roll from its deep roots, pushes it onward by putting their own honest interpretation of new rock sounds with elements of r&b and blues added. The band includes Kevin Galloway on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Hal Vorpahl on bass, Mike Carpenter on lead guitar and vocals, Josh Greco on drums and percussion and Jon Grossman on lead vocals, and keys. The first single and video for Pocket Full of Misery will be serviced to radio and video outlets shortly. The new album comes on the heels of a three-year run of tour dates that took Uncle Lucius across the continent strapped with 2009's Pick Your Head Up, a self released album hailed for bringing rock and roll back to its heyday sound. Packed into their van the band toured everywhere from the corners of both coasts and throughout the midwest from their Austin TX home pushing their rock and soul shows into late nights throughout the country. Songs from this 2009 album were featured on tv shows such as Castle and Friday Night Lights. The band continues to tour leading up to the release of And You Are Me, and they pride their live show as a sacred and energetic experience, with a belief that this is still the truest form of communication with their fans.

Does God exist? If so, does it matter? Philosopher William Lane Craig argues that there are very good reasons for believing in God, including support from the available scientific evidence. Throughout this booklet, Craig examines numerous commonly used skeptical counter-arguments; he shows how these arguments in no way undermine the rationality of belief in God. This is a booklet for those genuinely seeking answers to some of their deepest questions about ultimate reality.

Who Are We? the fifth book of the Ringing Cedars Series, describes the author's search for real-life proof of Anastasia's vision, as presented in the previous volumes. Finding this proof and taking stock of ongoing global environmental destruction, Vladimir Megre describes further practical steps for putting Anastasia's vision into practice. Full of beautiful realistic images of a new way of living in cooperation with the Earth and each other, this book also highlights the role of children in making us aware of the precariousness of the present situation and in leading the global transition toward a happy, violence-free society. In Russian.

Austin-based indie rock band Uncle Lucius is set to release its new studio album, And You Are Me, on August 28, 2012. Recorded in Austin and Nashville, And You Are Me finds Uncle Lucius stretching their musicianship and reeling in eleven songs that punch with a fullness reminiscent of The Doors to early Black Crowes to the current new blues sound of The Black Keys. Uncle Lucius takes rock and roll from its deep roots, pushes it onward by putting their own honest interpretation of new rock sounds with elements of r&b and blues added. The band includes Kevin Galloway on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Hal Vorpahl on bass, Mike Carpenter on lead guitar and vocals, Josh Greco on drums and percussion and Jon Grossman on lead vocals, and keys. The first single and video for Pocket Full of Misery will be serviced to radio and video outlets shortly. The new album comes on the heels of a three-year run of tour dates that took Uncle Lucius across the continent strapped with 2009's Pick Your Head Up, a self released album hailed for bringing rock and roll back to its heyday sound. Packed into their van the band toured everywhere from the corners of both coasts and throughout the midwest from their Austin TX home pushing their rock and soul shows into late nights throughout the country. Songs from this 2009 album were featured on tv shows such as Castle and Friday Night Lights. The band continues to tour leading up to the release of And You Are Me, and they pride their live show as a sacred and energetic experience, with a belief that this is still the truest form of communication with their fans.

Tyree Johnson stands accused of first-degree murder in a South Carolina courtroom. His crime? Making love to his girlfriend after he had been diagnosed HIV-Positive. The defense, however, claims there is reasonable doubt that Tyree's diagnosis was wrong-that, according to numerous scientific studies, these so-called HIV tests are fraught with errors, and have been ever since their inventor, Dr. Robert Gallo, lied on his patent application. Furthermore, Tyree's lawyer argues that there is no scientific evidence that HIV is transmitted by heterosexual intercourse, and that Tyree's girlfriend died from taking lethal anti-retroviral drugs rather than from any HIV/AIDS illness. Ripped from the headlines of today's newspapers, Are You Positive? Raises serious questions about whether anyone has ever been properly diagnosed as HIV-positive, and whether most people today are dying from the HIV medications prescribed by their doctors.

While the title of this book may suggest there are sinister influences involved in many ailments thought to be physical or psychological in nature, its true message is one of healing. Yes, dark entities, discarnate beings, and past-life attachments can often be the root cause of a wide variety of unpleasant conditions. But the exciting news is there is something you can do about it! Based on the work of professional Spirit Releasement Practitioner, Wayne Brewer, this book explains what these lower energies are and how they can affect your mental and physical health. More importantly, it describes how these blocks to your health and happiness can be removed through the process of Divine Healing. Read the extraordinary stories of people who have already found relief from their lifelong struggles with negativity and are now experiencing a new, healthier, and more joyful life. No matter who or where you are, Divine Healing is available to you, too!

It s said that the true test of a jazz musician s mettle is to hear how they treat a ballad. Legendary pianist Denny Zeitlin no longer needs to prove his fantastic ability as a master interpreter of ballads, along with many other songs. On his new Sunnyside recording Wherever You Are, Zeitlin presents an entire program of ballads (classics from the American Songbook along with a couple of originals and tasteful renditions of compositions by the master songwriter Antonio Carlos Jobim.) Wherever You Are is Zeitlin s third solo outing for Sunnyside and his most focused. The pianist s intent to explore a particular mood and style rewards the listener with a very personal experience: My hope is that you will be rewarded by deep listening to this album, and also find it a worthy companion to activities of daily life a fine meal, perhaps; moments of contemplation; and most especially, being with someone you love. Zeitlin s love for these compositions isn t only for the brilliant compositions but also for the lyrics that accompany them. The best interpreters know not only the harmonic particularities of these gems but also the inflections and nuances that only a human voice can invoke. The true masters can make the song sing without a syllable being sung. Zeitlin does that here. The album begins with the composer Johnny Green s classic Body and Soul re-harmonized and lovingly embellished by Zeitlin s musing. Good-Bye by Gordon Jenkins follows with its plaintive, melancholy melody. The short medley of Jobim s Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars/How Insensitive is an unintentional but natural shift from one of this master composer s deeply sensual bossa novas into another. Harold Arlen s Last Night When We Were Young arises subtly, poignantly as the pianist caresses a lovely performance from the instrument. Zeitlin challenges himself by reharmonizing the melody of Fragos, Baker and Gasparre s I Hear a Rhapsody, making a very unique rendition of this standard. Time Remembers One Time Once is one of Zeitlin s favorite original compositions a waltz that arrived fully formed which he dances through. Bobby Troup and Leah Worth s The Meaning of the Blues is a lilting, solemn number that Zeitlin utilizes resonating high notes on and a reflective pace. My Dream Is Yours by Harry Warren and Gene De Paul and Don Raye s You Don t Know What Love Is are perfect vehicles for the pianist s ruminative improvisations. The album concludes with Zeitlin s Wherever You Are originally recorded for his album Tidal Wave is as stately as any of the other themes presented. On Wherever You Are, Zeitlin performs an affecting set of paced, deeply emotive songs that are intended to make the listener pause in enjoyable reflection.

The Chemical Brothers never stopped being great producers, but during some of their ho-hum full-lengths of the early 2000s, they relied too much on production skills and forgot what they were first known for: innovative sounds and great hooks. (It's hard to deny that their comparatively sleek psychedelic house was a far cry from the big-beat bombast and excitement of their first two LPs.) Unfortunately, We Are the Night is no departure, although it does reveal Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons showing some build-to-suit character instead of angling for the straitjacket-tight and over-serious dance music of their past ten years. The first half of the record, including the single Do It Again (unconsciously ironic title?), is no better nor worse than most of what the Chemical Brothers produced between 1998 and 2007, but beginning with a diverting little electro noodling called Das Spiegel, it becomes clear that there's a little more going on here. Hip-hop's favorite toker, Fatlip, stops by to relate an odd tale about fish (The Salmon Dance), A Modern Midnight Conversation dabbles in Italo-disco (but gets most of its flavor from a sample), and the duo stretch out (slightly) for the creepy four-four crawl Battle Scars with neo-folkie Willy Mason. The Chemical Brothers have occasionally shrouded their more interesting productions until the second half of their LPs, but something else is obviously needed. ~ John Bush, Rovi

Chances are you've been hearing the call for culture change... but, how to answer? This DVD can help. Featuring footage and interviews with staff, residents, board members and leaders of culture change organizations, it explains the movement and the steps folks have taken to return power and home to the lives of elders in long-term care. Designed as a primer on the who, what, why and how of culture change, the program is ideal for screening to staff, families, residents and board of directors as your organization begins its transformation or as individuals join in the movement. You'll see how organizational redesign, physical redesign and personal transformation come together to create an environment driven by person-centered care. Filled with practical ideas and ah-ha! moments this film will give viewers a better understanding of what your nursing home could and should be!

You can’t fall in love without taking a chance. Anybody But Justin Gabby is enjoying her search for Mr. Right and the sex that comes with it. There’s only one man she doesn’t want to fall for—her best friend Justin, a player in every sense of the word. Except Justin doesn’t want to be just friends anymore, and he’s ready to do whatever it takes to convince her not to run. Luck Be Delanie Years ago, Delanie’s sorority prank led to an unplanned—and passionate—night with a sexy stranger. A memory she still holds close to her heart. Grant always suspected she stole his lucky coin, but never knew why. Now he’s got her right where he wants her, and he not only wants answers, but Delanie too. Protecting Phoebe Phoebe’s work at a women’s shelter has gone a long way toward her own healing, except when it comes to dating. Then a hot, young cop sets her pulse racing straight toward a casual fling. Craig’s interest goes way beyond casual, but it’ll take time to convince her to think long term. Until her violent ex comes out of the woodwork, and time becomes the one thing they don’t have… Warning: This book has hot sweet lovin’ between friends who become lovers, lost lovers reunited, and an older woman and younger man. Male masturbation, a violent ex, and tropical islands make cameo appearances between rounds of “you could have died” sex.

A long overdue release of one of the great brother vocal groups of the 50s. 50 Remastered tracks, in a 2 CD set. Includes 3 number # 1s & a host of other chart entries. The career of The Ames Brothers fits nicely into two separate compartments - the years on the Coral label and those with RCA Victor. Little has been available of the early days of the group and this double CD is putting matters to rights. The Urick family were Russian Jews from the Ukraine who settled in Massachusetts where they brought up 4 girls and 5 boys. Although the family was poor they instilled in their children the love of classic literature and music. The four youngest boys, Joe, (Born 3rd May 1924) Gene, (13 February 1925) Vic (20 May 1926) and Ed (9 July 1927) - but I have also seen dates making the eldest three a couple of years older. They were all gifted vocally, singing at High School, and quite good sportsmen too who took their basketball skills on the road with them early in their singing career. Their love of baseball saw them perform sometimes at the Franklin Field and at various military camps in the Boston and State area. Through this they also managed to get appearances on local radio. Joe had ambitions as an opera singer in Montreal and for a while a cousin, Lenny Kaufman, took his place in the quartet but when he took sick Ed returned to form the line up that wouldn't change over the next 15 years. See also: JASCD434 - Together

(The Best of Glee, Season 3 Medley). By Glee Cast. Edited by Mark A. Brymer. Arranged by Adam Anders and Peer Astrom. For Choral (2-Part). Pop Choral Series. 36 pages. Published by Hal Leonard