Soul diva

Posted : 3 months, 2 weeks ago on 23 March 2008 09:53 (A review of Rockferry)

No doubt about it, Duffy has the kind of voice that feels like she's singing from the depths of her soul. Maybe that's why they call it soul music. Wonderful debut, I wonder where she will go from here.

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Celtic folk rock/pop band from Canada

Posted : 3 months, 2 weeks ago on 23 March 2008 09:48 (A review of Molinos)

I heard these guys in concert a few days ago on St Patrick's Day and was really impressed. I bought this CD at the venue and I'm not kicking myself for doing it. It's an excellent album, ranging from folk rock with Celtic flourishes to all out Irish stomps. The band's playing is top notch and the vocalist Tom Landa keeps it all together very well.

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Modern Life Is Rubbish review

Posted : 3 months, 2 weeks ago on 21 March 2008 06:13 (A review of Modern Life Is Rubbish)

At the time of recording their Sophomore album, Modern Life is Rubbish, Blur were at their (first) career low, off the back of a failed attempt to break the American market, having been defauded by their (former) manager and under pressure from their own label to get a successful album written and released. In the meantime, the British music scene had moved on since the foursome's debut, with the Manchester baggy scene having faded and being replaced with a new-found interest in all things American, in particular Grunge.

Modern Life is Rubbish was penned as something of a reaction to Britain's fascination of America and foreshadowed the way to the Britpop and "Cool Britania" era of the mid 90s with a celebration of all things British instead and begins to show a maturity that was largely missing on the quartet's debut, "Leisure".

While the production dates the record by today's standards and there's the odd piece of filler on the album (Turn It Up) - enjoyable pop hooks, but lacking the depth found in tracks such as Star Shaped and lead single For Tomorrow - Blur proved themselves more than adept at moving from genre to genre - from the punk tones of Advert to the slow and mellow yet beautiful Blue Jeans. Previous single Popscene was dropped from this (the British) version of the release after it flopped in the charts the previous year - as guitarist Graham Coxon put it "if you didn't want it then, you're not fucking having it now!", yet as brilliant and sought after as that single now proves to be, the album probably benefits from it's absence, with it not really thematically following the rest of the album.

15 years ago, critics received the record with relatively warm praise - noting the Englishness inherent in the lyrics and nods to previous English acts such as The Kinks, yet in the context of the sea change that Blur and Suede were on the crest of at the time, Modern Life is Rubbish retrospectively proves to be one of the most important British records of the 90s, and quite arguably Blur's finest work.

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Review

Posted : 3 months, 2 weeks ago on 19 March 2008 12:17 (A review of The Great Burrito Extortion Case)

What can I say, I love Bowling For Soup and in my opinion this is one of their better cds. There is not deep, hidden meaning to their music. They just seem to be having fun playing their music. Just sit back and enjoy the ride.

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You just dont cut yourself to ABBA!

Posted : 3 months, 2 weeks ago on 18 March 2008 07:17 (A review of Abba Gold)

I've finally reached that stage in my life where I'm happy with the way I am and the cards I've been dealt....as a result I recently came out as an ABBA fan, and I have to say I feel great.

Yes they're dated, yes they're Swedish, yes they're cheesier than a deli counter..but they know how to make a catchy tune.

ABBAs songs aren't particularly moving and they're certainly not in my short list of funeral songs, but like it or not you WILL know every track on this album...they're more catching than typhus (that's the last metaphor I promise).

As proof of their timelessness and status as Pop Gods, ABBA are the most covered band of all time.

It's not cool to like ABBA, but I ask you? In modern music, with generic bands making forgettable ballads, 2-a-penny rap artists singing about gold and arses, and greasy haired pseudo Goths making millions of children carve the word 'hate' in their arms with compasses....I'm glad we have ABBA!

All their best songs are on here and its well worth the buy for anyone out there who has a last remnant of cheekiness about them.

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Bless you

Posted : 3 months, 2 weeks ago on 18 March 2008 02:14 (A review of f#a# (infinity symbol))

Despite there only being three songs on the entire album, this CD still manages to clock up over an hours worth of listening time, and what an hour it is. I had something of a musical epiphany when I first heard The Dead Flag blues, I knew I had to explore the genre and the band as much as I possibly could, just in case there were other instances of such rare musical perfection as this that I didn't know about. Three years later and my search is still going strong and I have reaped the rewards of some marvellous music.

Back to this album. It starts with a tremendous song that dredges through the deepest mires of depression in a post-apocalyptic world. It has to be heard to be believed. A dour monologue is read over strings that slowly build into a tragic and melancholic rhythm that pretty much offers no hope to the listener. It then dies down and almost begins a completely different song which is initially peppered with despair but eventually achieves the unthinkable by ending on a high and hopeful note. It's just a tour de force of emotion!

The latter songs on the album are similarly impressive, but do not focus so much on hopelessness, instead just amazing soundscapes and instrumentation that slowly build into rewarding crescendos of blissful noise. The whole album is perfect.

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Doing the rounds.

Posted : 3 months, 2 weeks ago on 18 March 2008 01:54 (A review of Rounds)

Easily one of the most complete electronica albums around. There isn't a low point on the whole album, it's spectacular from start to finish. Four Tet and his songs are well and truly ingrained in my brain thanks to the sheer number of times I've listened to Rounds. I remember willing him to release another album when I first heard this one, but when he did I was disappointed with it. It wasn't anything near as good as this.

Beautiful melodies and relaxing ensembles make up 45 minutes of pure listening pleasure from the master turntablist. Definite highlights include 'Unspoken' and 'My Angel Rocks back and forth'. Spawned a whole universe of remixes and b-sides that are also well worth hunting down on his Remixes album.

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He's not gonna tear your face of anymore

Posted : 3 months, 2 weeks ago on 18 March 2008 01:10 (A review of Hello Everything)

For his latest album, Squarepusher has pushed all of the trademark skull-crushing electronica aside and made this album a lot more accessible to the average man. It's still an electronica album, but there are no more jarring interludes (such as the middle segment of Ultravisitor) there to catch you off guard. Some may say that's a good thing and I'm certainly more a fan of his melodies than his torture tunes, but at the same time I feel a little bit of him has died. It feels like he has accepted old age or impending retirement without a care in the world and churned out a record that reflects his contentment with life.

There are plenty of good songs on Hello Everyone, but there are no great ones. Classics like Tetra-Sync, Ultravisitor, Port Rhombus, the Iambic Poetries... they are in another league compared to what he has produced here. There was no song that stopped me in my tracks and forced me to listen to a musician who was clearly at the top of his game. Which was a crying shame.

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Rokk out.

Posted : 3 months, 2 weeks ago on 17 March 2008 10:09 (A review of Rokk I Reykjavik)

This is the soundtrack to a documentary into the Icelandic music scene, made in the 1980s.

In essentials it is a best of album..for an entire country. This covers music merging on rock, to ambient/electro. I can't list the tracks here, on a english keyboard...but I've pasted a comprehensive track list into the item description.

This album is hard to come by and can be specially ordered, if not downloaded. Icelandic music is an aquired taste, but those who like it will love this album.

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It's a Feedelity Affair review

Posted : 3 months, 3 weeks ago on 16 March 2008 04:31 (A review of It's a Feedelity Affair)

Please see review for Gui Boratto and apply it to this album. Another bland and uninspired electro offering that has won fantastic reviews from the indie music press despite being as dull as battleship grey. Listening to this, it's what I would expect from the lifts in a three-star Ibizan hotel. The sort of modest and unsuccessful background dance that came out of the early 90's springs to mind.

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