DAVE HAS FINALLY RELEASED AN ALBUM -aka- ISN'T IT NICE WHEN YOU COMPLIMENT A FRIEND AND ACTUALLY MEAN IT?
The Rappaport Account
The Rappaport Account Are Music Champions
(Self Released)
The great thing about music is its ability to transcend the time that it exists in. The way it can trick you into checking your calendar just to confirm what year it is. For example, the electronic forefathers, Neu!, which almost secretly existed in 70’s Germany could have easily been collecting unemployment in 2003’s Williamsburg. A band like Mojave 3, on the other hand, which hails from late 90’s England should have been smoking weed in the 60’s hey-day of California folk. And when an artist is able to do that--remain relevant regardless of the sociological, political and weather changes of the day--then he can sit back and whiff that fresh morning scent of true accomplishment.
Dave Rapapport, lead singer and wunderkind behind the Rappaport Account tells us that at 26, he now lives in midtown Manhattan. But after listening to his album, "The Rapapport Account Are Music Champions," I have a very hard time believing that. Because, like the bands mentioned above, the Account is a musical time machine, this time hell-bent on the past. A mode of transportation that never allows us to live in the present moment. A recorded justification for all those that argue "it was better back then."
In the opener, "Scott Free," Mr. Rapapport invokes the pop sensibilities of Andy Partridge, strumming and progressing into a harmony-versus-hook-bout in which the listener is announced as the winner. "This is where I get off, this is where I get off!" Rappaport shouts and if you’re paying attention to the intricacies, chances are you will too.
The next track, "99 Cents," conjures Ray Davies and his biting commentary on stoners and daydreamers, all the while incorporating the gentle folk pleasures of Freedy Johnston. "It’s not what you know, it’s what you do with what you know," Rappaport reminds us, reciting just one of the many lines on the album that actually ring true--that perfect balance of cliché and potency.
As the record moves on from song to song, influence to influence, nostalgia to nostalgia, there are a great many surprises like the "All You Need Is Love"-chorus of "I’ll Be The Sun" or the Johnny Cash (RIP) laziness of "Lighthouse." Another standout track on the album, "That Was The Night," proves to us that even an American can brazenly out-Kink the Kinks.
Stumbling upon the Rappaport Account’s first release was a pleasure like looking through a parent’s photo album, imaging how things were in a time when the music was the statement and not what the artists was wearing or who they were dating. Granted everything seems better once we look back on it. Marketers call it cognitive dissonance. Others say, hindsight is 20-20. Well, if that is the case, then you could say "…Are Music Champions" is also a perfect vision.
[Note: for the time being, you can only purchase the Rappaport Account’s album on www.therappaportaccount.com.]
The Rappaport Account
The Rappaport Account Are Music Champions
(Self Released)
The great thing about music is its ability to transcend the time that it exists in. The way it can trick you into checking your calendar just to confirm what year it is. For example, the electronic forefathers, Neu!, which almost secretly existed in 70’s Germany could have easily been collecting unemployment in 2003’s Williamsburg. A band like Mojave 3, on the other hand, which hails from late 90’s England should have been smoking weed in the 60’s hey-day of California folk. And when an artist is able to do that--remain relevant regardless of the sociological, political and weather changes of the day--then he can sit back and whiff that fresh morning scent of true accomplishment.
Dave Rapapport, lead singer and wunderkind behind the Rappaport Account tells us that at 26, he now lives in midtown Manhattan. But after listening to his album, "The Rapapport Account Are Music Champions," I have a very hard time believing that. Because, like the bands mentioned above, the Account is a musical time machine, this time hell-bent on the past. A mode of transportation that never allows us to live in the present moment. A recorded justification for all those that argue "it was better back then."
In the opener, "Scott Free," Mr. Rapapport invokes the pop sensibilities of Andy Partridge, strumming and progressing into a harmony-versus-hook-bout in which the listener is announced as the winner. "This is where I get off, this is where I get off!" Rappaport shouts and if you’re paying attention to the intricacies, chances are you will too.
The next track, "99 Cents," conjures Ray Davies and his biting commentary on stoners and daydreamers, all the while incorporating the gentle folk pleasures of Freedy Johnston. "It’s not what you know, it’s what you do with what you know," Rappaport reminds us, reciting just one of the many lines on the album that actually ring true--that perfect balance of cliché and potency.
As the record moves on from song to song, influence to influence, nostalgia to nostalgia, there are a great many surprises like the "All You Need Is Love"-chorus of "I’ll Be The Sun" or the Johnny Cash (RIP) laziness of "Lighthouse." Another standout track on the album, "That Was The Night," proves to us that even an American can brazenly out-Kink the Kinks.
Stumbling upon the Rappaport Account’s first release was a pleasure like looking through a parent’s photo album, imaging how things were in a time when the music was the statement and not what the artists was wearing or who they were dating. Granted everything seems better once we look back on it. Marketers call it cognitive dissonance. Others say, hindsight is 20-20. Well, if that is the case, then you could say "…Are Music Champions" is also a perfect vision.
[Note: for the time being, you can only purchase the Rappaport Account’s album on www.therappaportaccount.com.]
1 Comments:
I'm intrigued. I have heard the Lilys cover of Scott Free and it was my favorite song from that record. I would love to hear the rest of the Rappaport Account album.
Unfortunately the site that you noted for the Rappaport Account seems to be something else entirely... Any ideas on where to get a copy of this cd? Thanks!
-Jeff
neffitbea@hotmail.com
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