Sunday, January 6, 2008

"Pennsylvania Avenue" from "Greetings From Lafayette Park" (OneSuch Records)

"As the vendors, tenders
Menders, benders
Spenders and amenders
All rise to seek the hope within a brand new day"

-"Pennsylvania Avenue" from "Greetings From Lafayette Park"

More than a quarter of a million people have now experienced X-Patriate.

Music and politics. "Pennsylvania Avenue". "Dirty Little Secret." "Dirty Life." "Unintended Consequences." "More and More Like A Civil War." "Future Remembers." "The Joke."

"Brilliant...Like Springsteen does for Asbury Park, Lipman does for Washington, DC"-Amazon.com

"Beautiful"-Whipart

"Revolutionary" - MySpace

Tracks down the darkness and brings it hard and real into the light.

The music. The politics. The season. "Greetings From Lafayette Park":

Go See It At ITunes:
X-Patriate (Alan J. Lipman) - Greetings from Lafayette Park


Go See It At Amazon:
Amazon.com

From "Beatwire":

March 28, 2008

Do
You Know The "Dirty Little Secret"? Song From New Release CD by Doctor/Lawyer, CNN/BBC Commentator Tops iTunes Popularity

"Dirty Little Secret", the haunting release that is now becoming known as "Hillary's Song" (referring to her misstatements on Bosnia, Iraq and other issues) comes from the remarkable new album “Greetings From Lafayette Park”, newly released on OneSuch Records. This record, with its echoes of Springsteen, Dylan and The Beatles, has been making waves all over the world – first in Italy and France, and now in Japan and the US too, word-of-mouth has drawn over a quarter of a million viewers to X-Patriate’s MySpace page. And with other album tracks “Pennsylvania Avenue” and “Dirty Life” also achieving top popularity on iTunes, it seems that Lipman truly has something to say that people want to hear.

Lipman writes all of the music and lyrics, plays all of the instruments, and sings every word on the record. He also has a unique background. He has been writing music since the age of 8, but he is also a doctor with a private practice in the heart of Georgetown, in Washington DC, has served as a professor at Georgetown University, is a graduate of Georgetown law, a published author (represented by the country’s leading non-fiction agency, as cited in the “New Yorker”, Dupree-Miller), and a commentator for CNN, the BBC, NBC News, the Washington Post, L.A. Times, and Agence France Presse, among other media.

He has seen it all--and brings this to his music. Having served as an expert on government panels and as advisor to nations and the State Department, and in elite institutions such as Yale University School of Medicine, The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Georgetown, yet also having worked with the most bereft souls on the streets of Washington, Lipman’s work has ranged from the most powerful hearts and minds in Washington DC, to those struggling to keep heart and mind, body and soul together–as well the many minds and souls in between.

Yet through everything else, each year, Lipman has been writing lyrics and music, singing, playing all the instruments, and recording. He now records his music in a studio that he has built located just a few steps away from the Capitol and the White House - in the very heart of the nation. “Greetings From Lafayette Park” has now delivered this music from the heart of the nation into the world.

“Greetings” has been lauded far and wide for its musical diversity and lyrical depth. International publications such as “Whip art”-Italy’s National Art Publication based in Rome, and Nighttime Magazine are amongst the new devotees of this extraordinary album, with feature stories and in-depth interviews of Lipman. Even the cover shows the levels of thoughtfulness and invention Lipman has brought to the project. Combining the famous “Abbey Road” cover with an ironic nod to Springsteen’s “Greetings from Asbury Park”, and the apples and oranges presented to us by DC brilliantly captures the musical diversity, emotional depth and lyric complexity of the songs within.

Greetings From Lafayette Park

The epic “Pennsylvania Avenue” uses DC as Springsteen used Asbury Park, with the inner emotions, darkness, passions, power, and hope of the many different groups in DC used as a prism to reflect the power, passion, dreams, and often undiscovered darkness of humanity. The powerful political message has since seen the track included in a very popular Obama IMix on iTunes.

The haunting “Dirty Little Secret”–also having reached top popularity on iTunes–evokes Dylan in its lyrical sharpness, while Lipman’s deep, warm, powerful vocal performance has been compared to Nick Cave. The cool, knowing “Dirty Life” with a driving backbeat, reminds the listener of Lennon’s irony and his direct biting insight. Lipman also shows full out orchestral power in the beautiful ballads “The Cost” and “I’d Rather Close My Eyes” , and the multiple string sections and extraordinary close of “A Physical Thing” is like a modern take on “All You Need is Love,” rising to a powerful crescendo that includes carillon, wedding bells, stereo sweeping subway chimes, telephone–and barking dogs!

These 16 songs represent extraordinary musical artistry, with lyrics of rare insight, intellect, and depth, and with layers of meaning that invite – even demand – multiple listens.

With almost no prior publicity, every song on the album has already reached top popularity on iTunes in France and Italy. It has received over a quarter of a million views on MySpace, where countless listeners have left unsolicited rave reviews about Lipman’s deep voice and powerful and moving songs. European press, including the international art periodical Whipart, and the Italian magazine Nighttime, have hailed Lipman as a new star, and his music has received airplay across the continent. The album has since been acquired for sale by Rhapsody, Amazon, Emusic, Target, as well as all other iTunes International Sites.

“Greetings” is a powerful work by an artist with a unique ability to look into the hearts and minds of those at the center of the nation. He has brought his experiences to the music as a reflection of the diverse desires, passions, hopes, darkness and dreams of this world. No doubt, the rest of the world will soon discover the "Dirty Little Secrets" that Lipman reveals so well.