Stage Buzz: AM & Shawn Lee
It’s hard to say whether soulful duo AM & Shawn Lee‘s delightful new synth-pop album, La Musique Numerique (well, that’s one of the things it is), picks up where 2011’s Celestial Electric left off or leaves off where Celestial Electric picked up. There is, after all, a chronology-discouraging, time-traveler ambience to Lee’s electronic exploration of the music of the spheres in general and his attraction to its most AM-friendly hooks in particular. That’s “AM,” by the way, as in “radio.” Programmed back-to-back, “Two Times” and the cover of “Steppin’ Out” practically beg Alan Parsons to roll over and tell Joe Jackson the news. But Lee’s soundscapes are just as friendly to AM the singer, whose easygoing vocals redefine “airy” with a grace that’s every bit as non-daft as it is non-punk. (Friday@Schubas.)
— Arsenio Orteza
Category: Featured, Stage Buzz, Weekly
