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Amazon.co.uk Watershed is the first major project from celebrated Canadian chanteuse k.d. lang since 2004's Hymns of the 49th Parallel. Where Hymns explored the music of fellow Canadians such as Ron Sexsmith, Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, Watershed represents the first set of original songs from lang in around eight years. Self-produced and arranged by musicians she has worked with a lot in the past, the most striking aspect of the album is its intimate, homely feel. Adding to the cozy ambience is the fact that Watershed brings most of lang's musical passions and influences--jazz, country, folk, bossa nova--under one roof, lending the project a dreamy, mellifluous coherence. But if the musical landscape is mellow and easy to traverse, Lang's lyrics can be less comfortable. Using her laid-back, often ethereal arrangements as sugar-candied coating for thornier topics, the singer serenades with stories of broken love, occasionally harsh self-analysis and the obligatory forays into existential angst. These contrastive elements only serve to make the album stronger, adding emotional weight to the airless arrangements of "Once in a While," and the delicate "Close Your Eyes," and conjuring up images of beauty on the string-laden "I Dream of Spring," and the wonderfully lazy "Sunday". Intelligent, mature and sophisticated, Watershed is the kind of perfect pop album it's difficult not to fall in love with immediately and forever. --Paul Sullivan Amazon.com Watershed, K.D. Lang's second Nonesuch album, indeed represents a significant juncture in her 25-year career as a recording artist-a collection of eleven new original songs produced, for the first time, by Lang herself. As with any challenge she's met in her unparalleled career, lang is a natural behind the boards in the studio. Watershed has an intimate feel and a sophisticated sound that highlights the warmth in Lang's voice, the maturity of her songwriting and the simple beauty of her arrangements. The Grammy Award-winning artist draws on her wealth of experience with an impressively wide range of genres to fashion a revealing portrait of the artist as she is right now. As Lang explains, "Watershed is like a culmination of everything I've done — there's a little bit of jazz, a little country, a little of the Ingénue sound, a little Brazilian touch. It really feels like the way I hear music, this mash-up of genres, and I think it reflects all the styles that have preceded this in my catalogue." K.D. Lang Photos  |  |  | More from K.D. Lang 
Watershed Deluxe Limited Edition | 
Hymns of the 49th Parallel | 
Ingénue | 
Shadowland | 
Live by Request (2001) | 
Absolute Torch and Twang |
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Originally released in 1975, this was Aerosmith's breakout recording. Listeners only familiar with their more recent, post-comeback material may be surprised; like their other albums from the 1970s, Toys has a strong blues inflection, as indicated by their cover of "Big Ten Inch Record," which also shows that Aerosmith has never lacked raunchiness or innuendo. There's also the original (pre-Run-D.M.C.) version of "Walk This Way," and the classic "Sweet Emotion." This is classic Aerosmith at its gritty, streetwise best; they may have been derivative, but it really doesn't matter, then or now: it's all in good fun. --Genevieve Williams |
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It's a very special day when Peter and his friends go to Grandpa's to see his toys. And before they know it, they find themselves magically shrinking to toy size! That's just the beginning in this delightful musical adventure with an international flair. Meet Punchinello the Clown, a clapping British sailor, a jump-roping little Dutch Girl, young Scottish dancers, and more, as they sing, dance, and serve up plenty of laughs. And when they help Grandpa solve a problem, everyone learns the importance of being young at heart. This colorful, live-action, upbeat musical is sure to charm kids of all ages with over 20 familiar children's songs, jump rope rhymes, and clapping games. |
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Dora has lost her special teddy bear and is headed to the City of Lost Toys to find it. Dora and Boots consult the Map and head for the Number Pyramid where they learn all about counting, adding, and sequencing. Next it's on to the Mixed-up Jungle where they put out-of-place things like clouds and fish back where they belong. Finally, they arrive at the Lost City and sort through a stack of lost toys to find Dora's teddy bear and return a number of lost items to friends like Tico, Swiper, and Benny. (The live touring show Dora the Explorer Live! Search for the City of Lost Toys is based on this episode.) When Boots' new toy "Squeaky" slips out of his hands and floats downstream in "Lost Squeaky," Dora and Boot rush to Gooey Geyser to rescue it. Careful attention to visual details leads the pair across Bubble Bridge, over Muddy Mountain, and into Gooey Geyser. These two Dora episodes foster the development of basic math skills, visual discrimination, and simple Spanish vocabulary in children ages 2 to 5. --Tami Horiuchi |
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A best seller! Cats go crazy when they watch this tape created just for them. Your cat will be entranced as he follows the antics of a menagerie of wildlife including birds, rabbits and chipmunks. 25 minutes/VHS. |
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Keep all your precious valuables safely stowed away with this sturdy steel safe from Schylling. A great way for your little one to start learning valuable lessons in savings, this safe includes a coin slot, catch drawer, a two-number combination and an alarm. |
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