Many thanks to Jeffrey Raskin and Pop That Goes Crunch for this thoughtful review of one of “the finest longplayers of 2014”:

Edward, O’Connell, Vanishing Act: O’Connell creates smart, unaffected guitar-based rock that sounds instantly familiar upon its initial listen. His recently released long-player, Vanishing Act, has a timeless quality to it, as it if could have been released in 1969, 1979, 1989 — well, you get the point. Although nothing on Vanishing Act advances the march of western civilization, O’Connell nevertheless delivers twelve expertly crafted pop tunes that make perfect use of the occasional string, keyboard, horn or pedal steel to add texture and a full, rich sound to the basic guitar-bass-drums approach.

The opening track, the country-tinged “My Dumb Luck,” sets the tone for everything that follows — O’Connell’s strong lead vocals alternating with plush harmonies amid a hook that will stay with you for hours. “Every Precious Day” took me back to the days of driving around college in a 1981 Honda listening to the local alternative rock station, a very good thing indeed.

“I’m The Man” ups the country quotient considerably and, in the grand tradition of a certain branch of that particular genre, repeats its basic hook –“I’m the man that she wants to kill” — several times. The swaying title track has a slightly baroque feel, and features the backing vocals of Parthenon Huxley. Quite naturally, the collection ends with the slightly jangling rocker, “The End Of The Line,” whose pumping, sunny disposition will make your forget, or not even notice, its bleak theme and inherent sadness. It attests wonderfully to O’Connell’s songwriting chops.

Vanishing Act displays O’Connell at the top of his craft. It contains not a single bum track, and its twelve songs ultimately go by in a blink of an eye. It should be available wherever finer music is sold.

I’m returning to play again at the annual Bannockburn Music Festival in my hometown neighborhood of Bethesda, Maryland.

The day-long festival is held on Saturday, October 18, from noon to 10 pm on the grounds of the Bannockburn Club House, 6314 Bannockburn Drive in Bethesda.

I’m taking the stage from 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm for a set with a fantastic band that features David Kitchen, Karl Straub and Eric Goldberg on guitars, Ariel Francis on keyboards, and the crack Vanishing Act rhythm section of drummer Jonathan Babu and bassist Jacob Chmara.

We’ll be playing songs from Vanishing Act and Our Little Secret.  This family-friendly event takes place rain or shine, and features local musicians, artists and crafts vendors, and the food trucks will be serving during our set.  It’s always fun to play this event, and it’s become one of the rare regular live gigs in my schedule.

 

The 13th Annual NewSong Music Contest has announced its regional finalists, and I’m honored to be included as one of the ten Northeast Region finalists.

Voting for the next round occurs here.

Twelve final round nominees perform at Lincoln Center in New York City later this year, and the grand prize winner records an EP with Pat Sansone (of Wilco and the Autumn Defense) in beautiful Asheville, North Carolina.

Edward O’Connell – Vanishing Act

By Fred Mills

Tell ya what: if 2011’s Our Little Secret was, well… our little secret—the implied “us” being the oft-insular power pop community of fans and critics—then this D.C. rocker’s new album Vanishing Act will surely put the lie to its titular suggestion. Bursting with sonic buoyancy and lyrical resolve, its dozen tunes make an essential case for Edward O’Connell’s nomination for this year’s best kept songwriting secret.

Track after track here—the heartbeat-thumping gem “Every Precious Day”; sturdy Tom Pettyish jangler “Severance Kiss”; blazing album closer “The End of the Line,” which is surely the best song Nick Lowe never wrote; the stately “Odds Against Tomorrow”—finds its way to earworm status. O’Connell, singing in a voice clearly informed by early exposure to Elvis Costello but tinged with a genial Americana warmth, understands how to make the nuances of the pop-rock format work in his favor, and its how he leavens his material with subtlety and wry humor that leaves the listener nodding and smiling at the sonic bearhug being received.

With additional dips into pedal steel-powered country-rock and ‘60s baroque piano/guitar/strings pop demonstrating O’Connell’s mastery of pretty much every form within reach (regarding the latter, BLURT fave Parthenon Huxley turns up on backing vocals on the title track, which makes for additional reasons to cheer), Vanishing Act ultimately becomes a must-hear. If you’re a true music lover and aficionado of sharp songcraft, don’t be a dummy and pass on this album.

 

JANGLE ON – July 2014 | Pop Geek Heaven

By Eric Sorensen

Vanishing Act – by Edward O’Connell. There was no sophomore slump for Edward O’Connell either! While one can accuse me of being partial to O’Connell’s music because he is another very talented Washington, D.C. area pop musician, I think that pop fans around the world will agree that Vanishing Act is a strong second release. O’Connell channels elements of pop/rock from the past five decades (starting with British Invasion influences) into this superb disc. My favorite tracks are “Every Precious Day,” “Severance Kiss,” “Odds Against Tomorrow” and “Last To Leave.” O’Connell blends superior song-writing, an excellent sense of melody, strong vocals and a primo cast of supporting musicians on this terrific album. The result is a twelve-track disc leaving the listener wishing for more. Long may you run, Sir Edward!

Edward O’Connell “Vanishing Act”

Edward O’Connell was “Our Little Secret” back in 2010, and finally we get a follow up with similar results. A smart mix of influences: Tom Petty, Roger McGuinn, Bob Dylan, Warren Zevon and Elvis Costello. Now with a larger cast of supporting players (including P.Hux!) the sound is richer than before, and O’Connell hits his stride here. “My Dumb Luck” is an great opener, a contemporary guitar ear-worm that can live on “repeat.” Next, “Lonely Crowd” is a bit more subdued, but it sends a thoughtful message about his audience. “Every Precious Day” pumps up the jangle, making it a catchy single.

“What Have You Done?” is similar to Elvis Costello in structure, the chord and vocalization shifts makes it another highlight amongst many. “I’m The Man” is a country flavored song about a murderous wife. Like the debut, the musicianship is impeccable but its tough to keep the energy going (“Yesterday’s World”). Still, O’Connell manages to keep the sweetness on the slow tempo “Last To Leave” and put out a great finale “The End Of The Line.” Such effort does not get wasted, and it makes my top ten of 2014 best LP nominee list.

9 (Out of 10)

From Alan Haber’s Pure Pop Radio Website:  Edward O’Connell – Vanishing Act. We’re thinking that this may well be the year where we will have to, for the very first time, compile a list of favorite melodic pop records–the reason being that there are just so many of them and, well, that’s what we probably should have been doing all along. And near the top of that list will have to sit Vanishing Act, the followup to 2010′s Our Little Secret, a pretty nifty record that started it all, “it all” being the thirst for more Edward O’Connell music. Consider your thirst satisfied. Vanishing Act is everything a great melodic pop album should be and then some. The straight-ahead popper “Severance Kiss,” jangly guitars in the spotlight, is an instant classic with an equally classic melody. Sumptuous slide guitar lines kick off the hooky opener “My Dumb Luck.” The lovely ballad and title track, “Vanishing Act,” serves as the album’s centerpiece. O’Connell’s wondrous vocal is a joy to hear. Really, here is another hall-of-fame kind of album, one that will stay with you all the way down whichever line you walk. O’Connell, a Washington, D.C. songwriter and performer, is a local, should-be national, treasure. And his sense of humor is sharp and tickles the funny bone–the paper bag gag from Our Little Secret is carried over to a photo inside the new album’s package. We’ve added the whole of Vanishing Act, which is now playing in rotation on our air. You rock, Edward O’Connell. And, as ABBA once sang, “Thank you for the music!”

Edward O’Connell-Vanishing Act. Edward O’Connell’s Our Little Secret was the power pop find of 2010, an assured debut arriving out of nowhere to claim the #3 slot on my year-end list. Four years later he’s released the followup, and it strides confidently in the footsteps of its predecessor. If you missed out on the debut in 2010 or (less likely) forgot about it, O’Connell specializes in Nick Lowe/Tom Petty/Elvis Costello pop’n’roll and Vanishing Act is another 12 tracks of quality. This becomes immediately apparent with the opener “My Dumb Luck”, an Elvis C-style track with an effortless melody that aging rock critics would be writing about with reverence had it come out in 1979. “Lonely Crowd” is another winner with a chorus backed by driving, Petty-like guitar, and “What Have You Done?” is a mini-masterpiece with a transcendent middle-eight (or bridge). Elsewhere, fiddle and pedal steel make “I’m the Man” a nice, country-tinged track and the minor key of “Yesterday’s World” gives it an early 80s Squeeze/Smithereens feel. As with the debut, it’s almost folly to single out individual tracks as every one of them has something to offer. Speaking of offers, Kool Kat has this disc exclusively before its official release date next week, and they’re offering to throw in Our Little Secret with each purchase. Even if you already have the debut, take this deal and give a copy of it to a friend who appreciates good music.

Vanishing Act is the long-awaited second album from Edward O’Connell, the Washington, D.C. songwriter whose 2010 release, Our Little Secret, emerged from out of the blue to glowing reviews from the pop cognoscenti (MOJO: 4-stars –“Brilliant! — A highly promising pop debut”) and ended up on numerous top ten “best of the year” lists.

Vanishing Act serves up 12 more O’Connell originals, including a handful of collaborations with Peter Gilstrap of D.C.’s much beloved 1980’s power pop band The Neighbors. With walls of chiming guitars, surging harmonies and indelible hooks, O’Connell’s Vanishing Act ponders the mysteries of dumb luck, lonely crowds, time’s winged chariot, homicidal spouses and the odds against tomorrow.

For Vanishing Act, O’Connell again teams with a stellar band of kindred spirits with a particular affinity for vintage popcraft. The record features O’Connell on vocals, acoustic guitars and keyboards, joined by Buddy Speir (The Blackjacks) on guitars, Jonathan Babu (The Grand Candy) on drums, and Jacob Chmara (The Grand Candy, “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band) on bass, with vocal contributions from pop maestros Parthenon Huxley (P. Hux, The Orchestra), Todd Wright (Getaway Car, The Excentrics), David Kitchen (The David Kitchen Band, The Thrillbillys), Karl Straub (The Karl Straub Combo, The Graverobbers) and Kennedy Wright (The Crimestoppers).

Rounding out the lineup on Vanishing Act are multi-instrumentalist Americana legend Fats Kaplin (Jack White, Beck and other credits too numerous to list) on pedal steel, violin and banjo, Nashville string wizard David Henry (Brother Henry),and D.C. stalwarts Chris Watling (The Grandsons) on saxes and Kevin Cordt (Last Train Home, Spottiswoode and His Enemies) on trumpet.

Vanishing Act was produced, mixed and engineered by Jared Bartlett, whose recent production credits include records by Eric Brace, Last Train Home and Luke Brindley, as well as Our Little Secret, and who also contributed guitar and percussion to Vanishing Act.

Vanishing Act is available at CDBaby.com, Amazon.com, iTunes and Kool Kat Musik.