BETTER LATE THAN JEFFREY MORGAN’S MEDIA BLACKOUT #272!

SIZZLING PLATTER OF THE WEEK – DISC ONE : Jennifer Foster – Fit For Mars (Kanada Kid) :: When this album first came out in 2003, it took me two long years before I finally got around to reviewing it in 2005—and when I did, boy, did I ever fall head over heels for her like a right fool, as evidenced by how I gushed breathlessly over Fit For Mars in my Detroit newspaper column:

“Jen has the vivacious looks, the vocal hooks, and an engaging witty songwriting style that’ll playfully sucker-punch you when you least expect it and have you down on the floor looking up with a new-found respect before you even know what hit you. You can trust me when I tell you she’s that good.”

Then, as if that shameless display of affection wasn’t enough, I hadda go and wax rhapsodic a second time in CREEM: America’s Only Rock ’n’ Roll Magazine when I wrote this unabashed mash note:

“Kid, you’ve got a great voice that you use with all the right inflections; you write real smart songs; and, equally important, you have a sarcastically wry sense of humor that’s so black it’s almost ultraviolet. In a day and age when female singers all sound like they were stamped from the same laconic sonic cookie cutter, you’ve got the powerful potential to be the next Grace Slick or Chrissie Hynde via Lene Lovich.”

Embarrassing, I know. But given how fickle a love-stricken sap can be, I went back and I listened to my copy of Fit For Mars all over again before I sat down to write this column and, guess what, I was absolutely right the first starry-eyed time!

Oh, and Jennifer? If you happen to be listening, I sincerely apologize to you for taking an unreasonable two years to review your record. Honest, it’ll never happen again. I promise.

SIZZLING PLATTER OF THE WEEK – DISC TWO: Jennifer LFO – Songs From The Alien Beacon (Kanada Kid) :: Okay, so Jennifer’s latest album came out in 2009, which means it’s taken me another two shameful years before I got around to reviewing it.

However, you know what they say about good things coming in small packages to those who wait—and this is no exception to that mangled rule because, strangely believe it, Songs From The Alien Beacon is even better than her earlier above-noted album. It’s a more mature work in that the lyrics, while still wittily wonky, are infused with a knowing been-around-block brace of wisdom that ably augments the rocking power pop that’s percolating behind her—and best of all, her inflective singing is even more playfully beguiling than ever.

But whatever you do, don’t wait two years to hear these records like I did, go and buy them both now—and while you’re at it, make sure you complete your Jennifer low-frequency oscillation collection by buying her début disc Speedyhead as well.

Be seeing you!