Customer Reviews

Drama

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The songs on this album tend to be fun and playful whereas the songs on The Mating Game tend to be considerably deeper. There are a lot of feel-good songs here, where The Mating Game was a lot heavier on torch songs. There are also some unabashedly sexy songs on this album--Get What I Want, Drink You Sober, and (in the online extras) Trois--while there were none on The Mating Game.

The flip side of that is that none of the songs on Drama reach much emotional depth. "A Moment" has the most emotional depth of the lot, and it's still a "feel-good" song. "Everything" is sentimental but there's a difference between sentiment and emotion, and it's another "feel-good" song too. "Drama" and "Waking Up" are the only torch songs here, and neither one is a patch on Bitter:Sweet's work on The Mating Game.

Speaking of which, "Trouble" is a fun little song unless you're familiar with "Dirty Laundry" from The Mating Game, which covered the same territory about five times better. It's not that "Trouble" is bad because it's not, it's that "Dirty Laundry" is outstanding.

Shana's also reined in some of the wild poesy that marked her lyrics in The Mating Game, lyrics that were sometimes amazing and sometimes inscrutable. One thing that hasn't changed is that you can still do an easy drinking game: whenever she sings "drink", take one.

Don't get me wrong, I love the album (see the 5 stars I rated it?). But the musical choices are decidedly different: light, bouncy, playful, and sexy. Drama is certainly not The Mating Game II.

One other difference: this album comes with a lyric sheet for all of the songs except "Trouble". I love Shana's voice, but she favors interpretation over enunciation, and when combined with occasional odd choices of lyrics, frequent unexpected changes of cadence, and her whistled sibilants, it can be difficult to understand what she's singing at times.

if i would have heard this album on its own, it would have gotten 5 stars from me. but, because i find i like the darker, more "bitter" side of their album "the mating game", this one seems a little too up-beat for me. still, it's great lounge music with beautiful, fun vocals and instrumentation.

This album (along with the first release by Bitter:Sweet "The Mating Game") make me want to host a dinner party complete with candles & martinis! I cannot get enough of this album -- it has been in non-stop play since we purchased it! If you liked the first album, you will enjoy this one, too. It's the perfect mix of lounge meets electronica with the track "Trouble" being a James Bond-esque favorite!

This album by the duo Bitter:Sweet (Shana Halligan and Kiran Shahani) and is a unique blend of jazz, rock, electronic and smooth music. It refines the sound made in their initial album The Mating Game. Shana Halligan has a smooth and sensuous voice and there is an obvious influence from "The Supreme Beings of Leisure" sound which Kiran Shahani founded with Rick Torres.

The music is very melodic and has some very memorable melodies which includes the title track. A thoroughly likable album that I purchased on iTunes first but then felt the need to get the fidelity of the CD so that I could get more enjoyment.

The first album drew me in because of a certain likeness to Supreme Beings of Leisure, but this one is more uniquely lounge sound. "The Bomb" is absolutely impossible to drive from your head.

This album is a lot more diverse and varied, which keeps you interested start to finish. One minor complaint is the singer's need to lisp her s'es seemingly on purpose. "Sugar Mama" also sounds embarrassingly like "Don't Worry, Be Happy."

But if you can get past the emulative flaws, you'll certainly enjoy the album while driving or chilling at home.

Bitter:Sweet's "Drama" is a glorious electric ode to '50s era lounge music. Bitter:Sweet first made their mark when their "Dirty Laundry" was used as a promo for Ugly Betty&Grey's Anatomy. "Drama" is a worthy follow-up to "The Mating Game." it's at once jazzy,stylish,and kitschy. "Drama" is a cocktail lounge of intoxicating music.

Shana Halligan&Kiran Shahani,who found each other over the Internet,are an electrifying pairing. The joyous "Get what I want" was recently used on NBC's "Sex and the City" spin-off "Lipstick Jungle." "The Bomb" has Shana purring sexily. "Drama" and "Everything" are more thoughtful,reflective,indeed,bittersweet. "Waking Up" is trance-y trip-hop. "Sugar Mama" is a comical song,with whistling that makes it bear an uncanny resemblance to the Ratatouille theme. "Trouble" sounds like it came straight out of a James Bond flick. "Neurosis" is a whimsical ode to smelling the roses. "Drink you sober" is a tongue in-cheek sultry song.

Bitter:Sweet is worthy of being grouped with other lounge greats such as Portland,Oregon's own Pink Martini and the Teutonic Senor Coconut. "Drama" is bittersweet like a Lemon Drop,as sophisticated as a Manhattan,and as comical as a Fuzzy Navel. Drink it down!

I'm loving this movement for actual orchestral instrumentation that's been popping up here and there. Most obviously you seen in the wave of neo-soul singers with their peppy backing bands. Here, Bitter:Sweet utilizes samples of real instrumentation to create a very refreshing electro-pop. Hard to describe, but the word "swanky" certainly fits it. This is the futuristic cosmopolitan jazz/lounge music promised to people back in the late forties to early sixties, or at least what they would have made. That's pretty much the sound I get from it. Quite a tasty drink, deep with sweeping strings and percussion. Dancible in the old fashioned way despite being slick and modern.

Tracks like " The Bomb" are magnificent. I had heard it on the radio and went nuts over it. The smart part about it is that listening to the lyrics, it's bitingly political but presents it in such a manner seemingly opposite than serious. Incredibly manic with the lead singer's vocal 1950's sex kitten "Ooh! Ooh!"'s. The rest of the album is a bit less manic, probably it's only disappointment, but the atmosphere of subdued space jazz is ear candy nonetheless. Play this at a party and people will most certainly ask who it is. I'm only eighteen and I dig this stuff, so it's not just for adults.

Drama has all the same elements that made The Mating Game a great success. This sophomore album is similar in style, but enjoyably different from the first offering from Bitter:Sweet. Definitely recommend all Bitter:Sweet fans to check this album out!

Shame it didn't debut higher. But I guess you can't expect this style to be very popular. Amazing either way. =)

Had a friend's daughter not used a tune by Bitter:Sweet as bumper music for her website, I might never have heard of them. The song she used was so intoxicating, I contacted her to find out the title. And as I find downloading lame and ephemeral, I looked the group up and took a chance on the entire album. And so? Well, not only is the voice of Shana Halligan alluring but the music is both interesting and quite different from the styles that usually attract me. She reminds me vaguely of Ambrosia Parsley, the delightful vocalist for Shivaree.
Here's what I like best: the sultry Come Along With Me, the energetic The Bomb with it's interesting vocal changes, that incredibly intoxicating A Moment, the evocative Trouble, and the dreamy Everything. Two I don't care for are Waking Up and Love Revolution, mostly because of what a friend refers to as cheesy "R2D2" noises that randomly intrude. Some of the other songs are beset by such noises to a lesser degree. Might that be the Monte Nido Frog Choir listed in the credits or is it mere electronica?
The couple who comprise Bitter:Sweet are backed by a shambolic orchestra that help make Drama at least a fun album. And no one can say that Halligan and Kiran Shahani are not talented songwriters and arrangers. This was released in 2008, I hope it's not the last we are going to hear of them.
Drama is issued in digipak form and is accompanied by a flimsy booklet bearing all pertinent album info and the lyrics. If you like hearing female vocalists who are out of the mainstream and enjoy new music that is both different and interesting then just maybe Bitter:Sweet is for you!