City Beach (album)

Last updated
City Beach
City Beach cover.jpg
Studio album by
Jill Cunniff
ReleasedFebruary 20, 2007
Genre
Length42:40
Label The Militia Group
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 52/100 [1]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [2]
Now Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [3]
PopMatters 2/10 [4]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [5]
Slant Magazine Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [6]

City Beach is the title of the solo album released by Luscious Jackson member Jill Cunniff. It was released on February 20, 2007 on CD. [7] It was also released on 12" vinyl, which also includes an exclusive track co-written by author, journalist, musician and cult heroine Vivian Goldman, "Like Smoke" not available on the CD or by web download. 500 copies of City Beach were made available on red and yellow vinyl. [8]

Contents

The following is the Official Press Release taken from JillCunniff.com: [9]

Jill Cunniff, ex-singer of the alternative rock, all-girl group Luscious Jackson, explained her debut solo album as a “mood record made to bring the beach to caged up city dwellers. I hope it will also bring the city to homesick urbanites everywhere.” The twelve-track album is a breezy, earnest yet celebratory piece—aglow with motherly wisdom and metrical nods to the unassailable grit and color of urban life.

Emmylou Harris appears as a guest vocalist on the album.

Critical reception

City Beach was met with "mixed or average" reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 52 based on 13 reviews. [1]

In a review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine said: "City Beach never hits hard, never seems forced, but even if this is deliberately lazy music, that doesn't mean that it lacks hooks or structure: if anything, the best songs here are more immediate than Luscious Jackson, evidence that Cunniff's skills as a writer are sharpening. But the best thing about City Beach is how Cunniff easily sucks you into her particular worldview." [2] Christian Hoard of Rolling Stone explained: "Her [Cunniff] solo debut offers something a little different: breezy indie pop underpinned with electronic beats that are usually lush and sometimes expansive. Much of City Beach is sort of bland and a little corny." [5]

Track listing

City Beach track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Lazy Girls"Jill Cunniff2:49
2."Happy Warriors"Cunniff3:11
3."NYC Boy"Cunniff3:31
4."Warm Sound"Cunniff3:17
5."Eye Candy"Cunniff2:49
6."Apartment 3"
  • Cunniff
  • Dave Schoomer
4:01
7."Love is a Luxury"Cunniff3:40
8."Exclusive"Cunniff4:10
9."Kaleidoscope"
4:15
10."Future Call"
  • Cunniff
  • Schoomer
3:26
11."Calling Me"Cunniff3:55
12."Disconnection" (12" vinyl only bonus track)Cunniff3:36
13."Like Smoke"  
Vinyl edition [10]
No.TitleLength
13."Kaleidoscope" (Fader Creeps Version) 
14."Ladyfingers" (Fader Creeps Version) 
iTunes Deluxe version [11]
No.TitleLength
12."Disconnection" (featuring Emmylou Harris)3:36
13."Last Summer" (Sparkle mix)4:52
14."Blue Nile" (featuring Nile Rodgers)4:50
15."Daisychains"3:37
16."Ladyfingers" (Fader Creeps version)2:55
17."E Is For Everybody"5:32

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References

  1. 1 2 "City Beach by Jill Cunniff" . Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  2. 1 2 Thomas Erlewine, Stephen. "AllMusic Review". AllMusic . Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  3. ↑ Liss, Sarah (February 15, 2007). "Now Review". Now . Archived from the original on March 1, 2007. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  4. ↑ Heaton, Dave (February 22, 2007). "PopMatters Review". PopMatters . Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  5. 1 2 Hoard, Christian (March 7, 2007). "Rolling Stone Review". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on March 15, 2007. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  6. ↑ Gonzalez, Ed (February 7, 2007). "Slant Magazine Review". Slant Magazine . Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  7. ↑ "The Militia Group". Archived from the original on 19 September 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  8. ↑ "Please Log In" . Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  9. ↑ "JillCunniff.com" . Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  10. ↑ "Jill Cunniff - City Beach". Discogs . Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  11. ↑ "City Beach (Deluxe Version) by Jill Cunniff". Apple Music . Retrieved April 9, 2021.
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