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Reviews
Weekly Reviews For January 7, 2007 I am Managing Editor at Metal4Life
I also contribute reviews to getreadytorock I am also featured reviewer at spacerock.co.uk
I
was Editor & reviewer at MetalUK.
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New Reviews
Well that's what happened when ChristiAna Perez started to sing that hoary old chestnut, 'They Call It Stormy Monday', the opening track on this CD. Just 22 years of age, Ms Perez is an outstanding raw talent who may have just have been born out of time. Dipping in and out of blues, soul and jazz, every song on this five track mini album was written before she was born. Yet she has a remarkable affinity for the material with only a misfiring stab at Stevie Wonders 'Never Dreamed You'd Leave In Summer' failing to come off. At the moment she is better suited to the slow and sultry material, and some of the programming needs work but take a listen to 'Misty Blue' or, better yet, 'Do Right Woman Do Right Man' and marvel at what is and what might be.
'On A Bicycle Built for Bicycle 9' could easily have been on The Beatles 'Revolver' album- yes, it is that good and the shuffling drumming of' Rick Lotte and McCartneyesque 'hypno riff' bass playing of Gabe Nelson is just perfect. What totally lifts the song though is an exquisite synth line played by Ant himself and Jaime Smith's ascending violin lines. Jaime adds a psychedelic violin break to 'Murray Boots are Conquering The World' and mixing up female vocals with Ant's tenor and falsetto works well throughout the album, nowhere better than on 'The Bane of Your Existence' on which Ant himself takes the drum stool and adds some nifty Wurlitzer and Korg synth lines. It's also nice to hear the bass so high up in the mix! Before you can pause to catch your breath Ant comes up with another thought provoking song, the eerily hypnotic 'Seeds of Space' (The longest on the album at 5:11) with a myriad of musicians (including banjo). Acoustic guitar and Wurlitzer feature prominently on the hauntingly infectious 'Creep in the Garden'. (I loved the description of 'a restless ghost thrashing about on an upper floor', applied to Ant's drumming but equally apposite for pieces like this-one- a part of it reminded me very much of Zappa and Ant's short howling guitar break just adds. to the sense of 'ethereal disembodiment' referred to in the press release). Speaking of Zappa, there's a lot of wry humour in Ant's music, sometimes it can be a bit annoying like the throwaway lines of 'My Hair is Oily' that''' stick in your head like glue! 'In The Meadow of the Mellotron' has an 'otherworldly' sound with a namecheck for Oxford, apparently the inspiration for the title track on which co-producer Alan Strawbridge plays two backwards guitar solos once it begins to rock out. It even has a short pennywhistle break played by Sharon Kraus and at one point Ant sounds like he's singing through a loud hailer, a definite Tiny Tim moment! The Kurzweil also does a passable mellotron impression and Gabe's 'double fuzz' basses are simply stunning. My only complaint is this track should have gone on much longer! Just when you think it's all over there's even a violin 'raga' hidden away at the end! 'In The Village of the Apple Sun' celebrates psychedelic rock in a way I've heard on few other albums. Anton's 'eclectic ensemble' does him proud and the approach is as idiosyncratic as a Syd Barrett or a Kevin Ayers and on some of the songs right up there with The Beatles and XTC. Don't miss it! Selections for the iPod/ MP3 (A difficult choice!): (Reviewed by Phil Jackson for Zeitgeist)
twentysevens - Diplomatic / Songs
From The Middle Ages I'd never heard of Australian blues rock, bells and whistles combo, twentysevens, but there they were, the opening act on the recent Status Quo UK tour. And what can a poor boy do, save grab a couple of CDs and find out more. Apparently, they opened at one Quo show back in Australia and ended up getting offered a slot over here. So what do Messrs Tyson,Barr and Parnell have to offer? Well, yes they're happy to brew up some mid paced boogie on "There's Blues In My Heart", and they do it very well. But then they also credit a turntablist, DJ Indelible, indulge in some politicising, ask questions of God and stir up a funk worthy of the finer jam bands. That's all on the 8 track mini album, "Diplomatic", and over on the 15 track parent album they have even more space to search for the perfect vibe. "Music Is The God" is now my new favourite song, one part Widespread Panic, one part Santana and one part Stephen Stills. At times - "The Message Of The Night" - they even conjure up memories of the late, lamented Tea Party. But panic ye not, the dobro gets whipped out on several occasions including a down home country blues take on the Stones "'Satisfaction". Both these CDs are absolute peaches, and with only one shared song, you really need both.
Lefty Jones Band - Peace Bomb Where do you begin with something like the Lefty Jones Band? Primarily a creative outlet for one Jeff Harris, who writes all the songs as well as singing and guitaring, they've released countless albums over the years, each one borderline deranged. Imagine an unholy triumvirate of Bob Dylan, Captain Beefheart and Loudon Wainwright III getting together to conceive their very own Frankensteins Monster, dedicated to releasing psychotic country blues albums, and you'd not be far off the mark. Here the highlights include the tale of "Mr Greenfield" who doesn't own a CD, not even a folk one. "Mr Death" comes across like the Red House Painters on downers and if you can decipher "Guthrien Psychology (E.R., not Woody), (You're A Rat)", then you're on considerably better meds than me. I was particularly taken with "Permanent Vacation", where a modicum of funk is added to a tale of mental breakdown. Not for the faint of heart. However, Roy Harper fans may pass right in.
Cathy Segal-Garcia - Secret Life I may be coming late to the party but I'll be first to admit that it's a truly delicious CD. Nominally a jazz album, although Cathy has dubbed it 'alternative jazz', this has more in common with some of Joni Mitchells more adventurous releases. Although Ms Segal-Garcia can actually sing! One moment you're in smooth jazz territory, then it goes all sultry boogie woogie and next it's gone r'n'b / acid jazz fusion. Magical. Yes, the arrangements are jazz based, but then the vocal harmonies kick in, and it's pure seventies Laurel Canyon. Nine of the ten songs are originals, each one a treat. An album that gives more with each listen, this is one to keep close to your heart.
The Cathode Ray - What's It All About? It actually sounds like a mix of Mott The Hoople and Cockney Rebel, which is a very good thing. And as someone who went to school with Josef K guitarist Malcolm Ross' little brother, I can vouch for the dearth of Television records at parties in the ministerial manse. The other track sounds like the Divine Comedy, but we will pass over that and simply repeat track one.
The Beat Poets - Turn It On What a really, really crap name. Makes me want to smack them upside the head with a seal cub. Tunes alright mind, even if it isn't sure whether it wants to be Husker Du or the Buzzcocks. T'other side, "Shadowlands", is better where they go a bit psychodoodle and wibble wobble, to good effect. They're still wee babbies, but definitely could grow up to be special.
Matias Manser - Home? Luckily for me, after trochling through a pile of uninspiring CDs, a jewel sometimes rears its shiny little head, and reminds me why I do it in the first place. And this gem is one of them. It's also hard to categorise. At its heart it's classic US rock. But there are some rootsy touches, some delightful percussive touches and a modern rock production. Right from the opener, "Complain", I was hooked, and when the next track, "Falling From Grace" turned out to be one of those wide open spaces powerful, big ballads our ungrateful ex colonials specialise in, I was a goner. Mr Manser wrote all the songs as well as singing them, and is a redoubtable talent. Do yourself a favour and get this now.
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