A to Z Album and Gig Reviews
Tom Napper & Tom Bliss - The Kelping (Slipjig Music)
This second album release from this great team builds on the artistic success and wide acclaim of their first, The Silverlode, which came out at the end of 2002 and (for those who'd not followed his earlier work with the band Slide) revealed Tom Bliss as a songwriter of real stature. The Kelping is defined as the process of the making of size from seaweed, and in leading off the new disc it typically illustrates Mr Bliss's penchant for authentic tales derived from local and/or industrial history, which he has the gift for expressing vitally and in an equally typical, catchy quasi-folksong mode; this loosely thematic approach forms the basis for many of the songs on this fine album. In fact - and this ain't meant in any way as a complaint - there's almost too much Quality to cope with here, so many bloody good ideas, so many damned good songs, so much excellent playing, a real embarrassment of riches. You get 16 tracks, with a total running time of 68 minutes, and the proportion of top-drawer original songs on this CD is higher than you might find on two whole albums by an average singer-songwriter. But then Tom Bliss ain't yer average singer-songwriter - no way!; he informs while he entertains, for you learn loads of interesting incidental and historical detail from his songs, and it's all been properly researched too (you can tell that straightaway from his brief but telling booklet notes!). So here, as well as learning of the kelping, you find out about the "raven queen" Henrietta Maria, also the "real" Grace Darling, as well as the dubious deeds of Sir Cloudisley Shovell, the last land battle fought between England and France (on Jersey!), and even Mr Bliss's own mill-owning ancestor! Tom Bliss the songwriter has an unerring ability to choose just the right kind of musical setting for his narratives too, from the compelling ebb-and-flow of Flotsam And Jetsam to the jaunty jingle of Silken Leather, the lively refrain of the title track (now there's one that's tailor-made for Duncan McFarlane and his merry band!) to the poignancy of God Speed (an abstract of The Snow Goose) and the anthemic closer Tower Of Refuge (which celebrates the deeds of Sir William Hilliary, founder of the RNLI). But I digress… For those not yet in the know, Napper, Bliss are blessed with a well nigh unrivalled combination of talents that any top-name duo would kill for. They've been compared with Show Of Hands and Fox & Luckley, and these are certainly quite pertinent reference points for anyone starting out on the Napper, Bliss trail. Some biographical detail won't go amiss here though: originally from the Channel Islands but now based in Yorkshire, Tom Bliss has recently returned to the folk fold, initially with Leeds band Slide and then latterly teaming up with Leeds's stalwart sessioneer the eminently versatile Tom Napper. Now Mr Napper is a true "dab hand" in so many ways; he's best known perhaps as a banjo player, but he deserves a far, far better reputation than that description might normally infer, for he's also an expert exponent of the mandolin. And what's more, he's nowhere near rubbish as a singer either, putting it mildly (as demonstrated here by his expressive singing of Bliss's On Longstone or his adaptation of the traditional Campbell The Rover). Napper's serious prowess as a tunesmith is highlighted on the album's five purely instrumental tracks, which aptly punctuate the vocal cuts, but then again these are as much a vehicle for Bliss's skilled counterpoint on guitar, mandocello or mandolin. And that's another big feature of Napper, Bliss; i.e, that each of the two musicians can effortlessly and credibly take on either lead or support role within any given framework - and what a trick that is if you can pull it off! Bliss has composed three of the tunes himself, Napper one, and the rest are vital arrangements by both lads of traditional material. Icing on the already satisfyingly rich instrumental cake baked by the Toms is provided by the guest appearance of that exceptional bodhránist Ciaran Boyle on three instrumental and two vocal tracks. Then, having said all that, the centrepiece of the whole CD turns out to be the riveting solo rendition by Tom Bliss of the traditional Lady In The East, on which he accompanies himself variously on concertina and accordion - a real showstopper, that. But I must conclude by saying that extreme musicality is in abundance all through this beautifully recorded CD, and the whole classy package is a shining example of the true lasting quality that can be achieved without artistic compromise or need for major-label backing. I'd not hesitate to say this is an absolutely brilliant album, in fact, and I'll be surprised if it doesn't make my Albums of the Year list in 10 months' time! (By the way, grab it before 1st April and it's yours for a special price of £11- see website.)
David Kidman
These two Leeds-based musicians have buckets of skill and experience between them. Napper, currently one-third of The Idle Road (with Ciaran Boyle and Dave Kosky), has in the past worked variously with Gina LeFaux, Tom McConville, Gordon Tyrrall and Alistair Russell. Bliss has latterly returned to acoustic music after a post-student flirtation with new-wave rock through bands like Pin-ups; he now fronts the excellent Slide (uk), and is fast gaining a reputation as a gifted (predominantly) folk-style songwriter. The teaming-up of these two in a working duo context was perhaps inevitable, for their talents can be seen as perfectly complementary and their ideas and approaches genuinely compatible. With each of them, a proven high level of musicianship can be taken as given - both are gifted exponents of mandolin-family instruments, Napper additionally a virtuoso on tenor banjo, Bliss no slouch on guitar, and both possess characterful singing voices - but, every bit as importantly, each is equally comfortable with either a leading or supporting role, which makes the internal flexibility for such a working arrangement infinitely more satisfying than in many similarly instrumentally-disposed duos. Each has a wholly natural mutual responsiveness to each other's playing and/or singing, which, allied to their enthusiasm for music-making (in and out of sessions), makes for a tremendously winning combination.
The Silverlode is their first duo release, and intersperses short tune-sets with songs, some traditional and some self-composed. The tunes are intelligently arranged for the various instruments and expertly played, with neither undue haste nor emphasis on note-spinning, and the non-traditional examples, all composed by Bliss, have a true feel for the idiom. The songs necessarily include solid traditional fare from each Tom's repertoire - Napper contributes Poor Labourers, Bliss The Blue Cockade for instance - but it's Bliss's own compositions that stand out here. They're superior examples of modern-day folk writing, clearly rooted in traditional styling yet with a contemporary sensibility. Show Of Hands are clearly a major influence (and I'm sure Bliss won't mind me observing that he even visually resembles Steve Knightley!), but Bliss is very quickly acquiring his own distinctive songwriting voice; he has a grand sense of narrative, augmented by the knack of creating catchy hooks and choruses to enhance already memorable tunes. The Violin, a partially-invented tale ostensibly told by said instrument over the ages, is an outstanding piece of storytelling indeed, and here benefits from a guest appearance by Tom McConville weaving his own individual magic. The whole album has an immediate, live feel, and the limited amount of multitracking is sensible and non-distracting. Typically too, the duo's craftsmanlike attention to detail extends right to the insert notes. A superb package that's unlikely to disappoint.
David Kidman
Five albums in and the New York trio have arrived at their most appealing and accessible to date, a chiming collection of hooks laden guitar power pop that recalls the halcyon days of The Byrds and the best of early REM or vintage Fleetwood Mac. Parading their academic prowess, they open with See These Bones which takes the quotes from the epithet at the Capuchin crypt in Rome ("What you are now, we were once") and makes it a reminder to live life while it's here. The rest of the album provided an uplifting soundtrack to doing so, firing the blood with the blurred crusade of guitars on Whose Authority and the lyrically haunting Ice On The Wing, celebrating the transfigurative power of music on Beautiful Beat, slow dancing to a twilight breeze for Are You Lightning? and radiating skiffle beat harmonies on the wonderful Here Goes Something.
Some of the songs may have fatalist hearts, but even the closing The Film Did Not Go Round with its observations on the nature of relationships to end (either with parting or death) comes with a beguiling gentle melody and grace notes about accepting the inevitable and being grateful for whatever transient pleasures have been experienced. It's a love song in disguise. "I only want to make you happy", they sing on the ringing, bouncy I Like What You Say. Ambition satisfied, then. Grab a wave and get lucky.
www.nadasurf.comMike Davies February 2008
Peter Nardini - Rain Din (Whistleberry)
The third in the initial batch of releases from this new Songwriters' Cooperative record label is a bit of an enigma, for it has so far sharply polarised critical opinion. Peter Nardini is an award-winning painter based in Lanarkshire, who also happens to be a singer-songwriter with a certain degree of cult status. This may be due to the (obstinately?) stark, minimal presentation Peter uses on this CD (his third, it turns out) - just guitar, voice and harmonica. The album's very title proves a creative pun - Peter's talent is "reined-in" to this restricted palette… A very direct comparison with early Dylan isn't misplaced, as Peter's slightly nasal vocal delivery and his distinct penchant for irregular line-lengths both reinforce. But Peter's painter's-eye-gift for storytelling brings some curiously tender insights as well as some sharply-observed vignettes and imaginatively poetic commentary. The lyricism of Peter's world-view is conveyed with a remarkably compelling economy and an often surreal turn of phrase (there's another point of comparison with early Dylan) - but you do need to listen closely and get yourself past what some listeners will consider the biggest turn-off, the relative lack of melodic content in Peter's songs (and yes, that was a barrier for non-converts to early Dylan too!). There's a bleak Leonard-Cohen-like demeanour to Bright-Eyed Boy, but (like his unintentional model) this isn't depressing music; rather, it's very much life-affirming. I'll apologise to Peter for any labouring of the Dylan comparisons, but quite honestly no review could truthfully ignore these reference points; however, please don't dismiss Peter as a mere Dylan clone, for what's striking is that Peter transcends this potentially merely superficial congruence by making us listeners really pay attention to the plights of his protagonists, to appreciate their innermost feelings and thoughts by dint of what I can only describe as a more intensely personal delivery (ie Peter's singing to you rather than at you?). Rain Din breaks the usual singer-songwriter-album mould in that more than a handful of its songs are genuinely top-drawer material - and there are two uncredited bonus tracks appended at the end of the CD, one of which proves Peter's got a good grasp of f** (I mean fun) too! So don't just give Peter a cursory listen, do persist - his songs are worth it.
David Kidman
The intimate ethereality of Nina's presence captivated me greatly on her 2006 album On Leaving, and her latest offering pits her tenderly expressive voice against a quite stark yet tremendously busy musical backdrop consisting exclusively of Jim White's tumbling drumming and insistent (yet equally often elusive) interjections from Nina's own fingerpicked guitar. (By the way, in case you're wondering, this is the Jim White from the Australian trio Dirty Three, not the maverick singer-songwriter). It proves to be quite an extraordinary combination, one which - if you're already acquainted with Nina's songs and singing - you might not expect to work, but it does! Described as somewhere between a duel and a dance, the music takes on a life of its own as a vital, organic dialogue between two creative minds (and bodies), in which Jim's fresh, raw and often experimental style and unpredictable rhythmic impulses (one minute dapper shimmering, the next explosive flurries of activity) serve to impart Nina's quaint and fragile musings with a new toughness of expression, while emphasising the volatile nature of her vocal talent. On songs like Late Night, Nina can turn almost at a whim from langorous, soft and breathy melodic lines to intense, howling outpouring, whereas I Write Down Lists makes a virtue out of its almost onomatopoeic jitteriness. The feel of the recordings is quasi-improvisatory, almost as if the music's being made up and reacted to as it progresses, yet the looseness of the approach conceals curiously open, special perspectives between the words. Nina's is a genuinely cathartic performance, emotions are laid bare and yet... it's all oddly sensual, while inwardly satisfying in a more quiet-spoken sort of way. Apparent contradictions are rife, but I still say you gotta hear this collaboration.
David Kidman September 2008
The venerable Peel was mightily impressed by Nina's debut album Dogs, which spurred her on to release two further discs on Chicago indie label Touch And Go before signing to Fat Cat this year for On Leaving, her fourth album. This NYC singer-songwriter has an intimate presence, with a voice that's powerful yet gentle, brushing past your consciousness like a ghost, yet mouthing words that make an immediate impact not least because of their deep sense of loss. Instrumental settings are considered and minimalist, courtesy of Nina's regular band members Dylan Willemsa (viola), Steven Beck (piano) and Jay Bellerose and Jim White (drums); at times the arrangements almost seem to have been thrown together in the studio, plucking sounds out of the air, such is the immediacy they bring across. Also, the space between notes and chords is often as important as the sounds themselves. All these elements provide the perfect backdrop for Nina's songs, which combine a gritty, rustic charm with equally gritty emotional honesty. Nina's trademark is tender, soft expression, yet always with the feeling that unsettling undercurrents lie not far beneath the surface; her spareness and expressive simplicity is deceptive. On the fleeting portrait of Jim's Room, strangely hazy string harmonics provide a subtle counterpoint to the detached, simply expressed vocal line, contrasting with the more direct idealism of Our Day Trip and the cooingly childlike If We Go To The West and Dumb I Am. Then again, Counting Up Your Bones is irrepressibly eerie, disturbed and introspective to the point of impenetrability perhaps, yet still most rewarding. On Treehouse Song, almost random neo-classical piano notes cascade through the air like falling leaves, while the ensuing Lee, the album's longest song, ebbs and flows mysteriously then ends abruptly like a wave breaking on the shore, leaving us with the sands of time in the shape of the appealing gentler rippling, swaying rhythm of Settling Song. The album's invitingly pithy 34 minutes is over far too soon however, and I find myself compulsively reliving the whole experience straightaway.
David Kidman
Nathan Music Co - Jimson Weed (Nettwerk)
Of the species Datura, Jimson Weed grows in the deserts of the southwestern USA, usually along roadsides. They have trumpet-shaped white flowers that open at night and wither early in the day. They contain hallucinogenic alkaloids and are often smoked to get high, though the hallucinogenic dose is very close to the fatal dose. The name is a corruption of Jamestown weed, because many soldiers were poisoned by this plant when stationed at Jamestown to quell a rebellion in 1676.
Well, so much for your botany lesson. Musically speaking, it's the latest album from Winnipeg outfit Nathan (they had to change the name outside of Canada so as not to be confused with some UK r&B act) who comprise harmonising singer-songwriters Keri McTighe and Shelley Marshall with Doug Latimer on bass, Daniel Roy on drums and any number of chums on accordions, steel guitars, pianos and, er, tubas. Nominated for the 2005 Juno Awards as Best Roots or Traditional album, it's a wonderfully dreamy set of dusty old-tyme Appalachian influenced songs that also lean to shades of country jazz on dance hall good timin' Emilina and the brushed shuffle One Spend or to the wonderfully galumphing reggae beat Big Galoot and the front porch jug blues (with added twang) on Lock Your Devils Up where those McGarrigle or Oh Susannah comparisons bubble up.
With songs that treat on regret, betrayal, murder, anger, and dysfunctional relationships, the lyrical moods are considerably darker than their musical settings but so intoxicating are the likes of Sunset Chaser, Stone and Home With Me that you'd not wish them any lighter less the spell be broken. "I've got gadgets that mold the things that are old into sleek facsimiles of what was once guaranteed to please," sings McTighe. But there's nothing fake about the music here.
Mike Davies
The National - Sad Songs For Dirty Lovers (Talitres)
Mike Davies
National Debt was formed by Ronnie Smith and Michael Messer in 2002 to play for fun when Messer was not out on tour. That is still the situation but last year they decided to record an album and From The Horse's Mouth is the result of that decision. Oozlin' Daddy Blues sets the tone for this Rootsy album however, don't ask me what the title means as I have not got a clue. Slide guitar from Michael Messer is fantastic. Charlie's Tale is the first of a trio written by vocalist Ron Smith. This is top class folk with added value in the form of Messer's guitar. The second of Smith's trio is Love To Burn and this one is old style Country/Mountain music. Backing vocal from Cheyne Pride is very good and her voice compliments Smith's extremely well. By now it should be taken for granted that Michael Messer's guitar work is nothing short of superb and the short solo on this is sublime with backing from long time musical partner Ed Genis. Dead Men's Wages makes it three in a row of Smith penned songs. This is the weakest of the three and his vocal is not really on form here. He would be best leaving this type of song to the guy that I was reminded of when I heard it and that is Nick Lowe. Leaving Home is a Charlie Poole song and is firmly in the Roots/Americana genre. This earthy offering would go down great in an intimate live venue.
Preach The Gospel has the band going electric for the first time. Written by Washington Phillips, this is an easy going, laid back stroll. Lonely Road is another of Smith's songs and this is brilliantly raw Alt. Country. No matter how good a song is, and believe me, this is a highlight, Michael Messer always manages to lift it with his guitar fills. Salvation Blues is Smith's last solo song writing credit and is Americana of a high standard. Turning Blue sees Messer co-writing with Smith for the first time on a stripped bare rootsy offering. They turn to the mountains again for Ridin' That Midnight Train. Messer and Genis are standouts here again on this up-tempo classy Americana. I would have swapped the final two tracks around for the last song, The Memory Of Your Smile is a bit too laid back for my liking, good though it is. Backing vocals from Pride and bassist Chris Clarke are top drawer and there is a powerful chorus to its credit but the pace lets it down for a closing track as it does not really implant itself in the memory. However, the track is of such a high standard that it is only me being picky. This is a very good album by very good musicians.
www.michaelmesser.co.uk/NATIONAL%20DEBT.htm
David Blue July 2007
Life just isn't fair. Not only is Australian Derrin Nauendorf young and good looking he is also one of those naturally gifted musicians that can lift our spirits, even Meatloaf conceded that two out of three ain't band so Naunedorf is just being greedy.
And if all that weren't enough, he has now released Skin Of The Earth, the album that with a fair wind behind it, will bring him to a wider audience. However, he should be also be given credit for forging a career the old-fashioned way. Since arriving from his native Australia, Nauendorf has learnt his craft with a solid diet of touring and recording. His talent may well be God-given but he's learnt his trade the hard way.
Having seen him demolish some rock classics and set fire to some blues standards, Skin Of The Earth came as a bit of a shock that turned into a very welcome surprise. Nauendorf has clearly matured into his own talent, there is now a complete confidence in his own music that has done away with the need to rely on the work of others.
The difference with Skin Of The Earth is that it is a singer-songwriter's album in its truest sense. Understandably some of his earlier albums were showcases, but this banishes any thoughts of Nauendorf as simply a competent 'jobbing' musician, he is now a strikingly original talent.
The album sets off in fine style with the deep, rich earthy blues of the title track, he sets his stall out early - strap yourself in tight, you're in for a ride.
However, Skin Of The Earth is not without its flaws, Push The River, one the best written songs on the album - which is saying something. That thought is reinforced by Pride Before A Fall, a singer-songwriter in his the perfect setting with virtually no production, there is more than enough to listen to with voice and guitar.
When you can bend a guitar so completely to your will as Derrin Nauendorf can, the temptation must be to play to that strength and continually dazzle everyone, to his credit and the album's benefit he resists. True, tracks like Not Alone and Mystery Child are guitar driven but both are 'whole' tracks, the raw naturalness of the voice is given equal prominence.
But the 'proof positive' that Derrin Nauendorf is anything but a 'one-trick pony' arrives in the beautiful form of Most Of The Time, again it's the deep, dark rich, honest quality of Nauendorf's vocals that carry the song. Songs like these depend on an artist's ability to mine the lyrics for every meaning and Derrin Nauendorf extracts every last ounce of honest emotion.
Slightly strangely, Skin Of The Earth ends with what can only be described as two minutes of stripped back, elegant acoustic magic. For a guitarist who has the talent to mesmerise at his fingertips, to end an album with something as simple as Sometime was inspired bravery but it works.
www.myspace.com/derrinnauendorf
Michael Mee October 2008
Anyone fortunate enough to catch Australian Derrin Nauendorf on one of his many tours the length and breadth of the UK, will know exactly what to expect from The Rattling Wheel, the unexpected.
Nauendorf may incorporate the blues, rock n roll, country and a hint of folk into his music but in truth he is none of these. The wellspring of his talent isn't tainted by influence, it is pure Derrin Nauendorf. Instead of a 'mid-Pacific' rock 'wannabe', with American affectations searching for success, Nauendorf is an untamed, free spirit, constantly testing the limits of his own, considerable, musical talent.
Derrin Nauendorf is blessed with three things: The ability to write songs like I Won't Turn My Back, where he doesn't skirt around the margins of the song, he dives straight into its heart, taking willing listeners with him. Secondly, he has a voice that, like an awakened volcano, appears to be on the very edge of eruption. It seems that at times Nauendorf struggles manfully but fails to hold it in check, Where Two Men Go Tonight, travels at the speed of a runaway train, heading for a spectacular but disastrous end. And finally his guitar prowess: Nauendorf's playing ranges from the poignant to the manic. However, even during the fast and furious My Hurricane, Nauendorf's guitar maintains a frenetic grace, throughout The Rattling Wheel he weaves a delicate and magical spell.
When you throw into the mix the passion and energy of a young artist for whom making music is as vital as food and drink, you have a recipe for spontaneous combustion.
And while it is understandable to be dazzled by the sheer force of Derrin Nauendorf, the depths to which Deliver Me An Angel reaches cannot be ignored, underneath the young rock n roller lurks the soul of a romantic poet. The song is a plea to the gods that only the hardest-hearted deity could ignore.
Derrin Nauendorf is perhaps one the rarest of artists, a musician born with all the tools of success but without the cynical and calculating nature to exploit them for anything other than the creation of wonderfully exciting music.
Michael Mee, May 2006
Derrin Nauendorf returns to the live arena for his third album, New History. The sound is better, the playing is more polished but it is still the same dynamic Derrin. Recorded at Mr. Kyps in Poole, Dorset, UK just two months ago, it opens with Wasted In The City, a gentle introduction to the style of Derrin Nauendorf. Things speed up a little on Queensland and some of Derrin's trademark guitar flurries start to appear. His voice has a more rounded tone to it these days. Careless Hands is an ethereal burner and Let It Go is another fast one where you wonder how he manages to keep the pace up. There's a bit of respite towards the end but his fingers must be blurs.
If I Were A Winner has a bluesy feel and the Tex Perkins song, What I Done To Her allows Derrin to express himself fully. He doesn't do too many covers but this is one of Derrin's best. He has a wonderful way of expressing feelings through a song. This one has him promising not to make the same mistake twice. Shipwrecked is classic Nauendorf with lines such as 'better to be shipwrecked than never sail at all'. As ever, the guitar is the star and his technique is top-drawer. Shatter Like Stars is from his last album, Wasteland, and is as stunning live as it is in the studio. He has the audience is the palm of his hands and you could hear a pin drop. The finale is Tom Waits' Get Behind The Mule, which is delivered at breakneck speed and again shows what a talent Derrin Dauendorf is. This is the third album of Derrin's that I have reviewed and he just keeps on getting better and better.
David Blue
First impressions? One Australian guy with an acoustic guitar and his mate with a home-made drum kit. What would you think? Me too.
I then listened to this live album and Derrin, guitar, sidekick and drums proceeded to blow me away. They are obviously in their element in the live format and they give a performance that sounds so effortless.
From the opening strains of the slow-burning Ghost Town to the last track Danielle Nauendorf puts in a virtuoso performance. His powerful yet graceful guitar style is perfectly complimented by David Downing's minimalist drums.
Although he does sometimes go over the top with his Gordon Giltrap-esque flurries up and down the fretboard, Nauendorf does show himself to be an accomplished songwriter.
His influences are hard to figure out but he does give himself away by adding one cover, a nine-minute, wall of sound version of Jimi Hendrix's Voodoo Child. This builds into such a crescendo that you think that something has got to fall off of his guitar. Thankfully, nothing does and he returns for the excellent Shadows Of Love.
It's hard to pick an outstanding track from such a marvellous collection of songs but if I had to then I Won't Turn My Back has to be up there. This is a stunning track but the other eight run it very close although, for some reason, Scared Of Being Free sounds a bit like Lyle Lovett's Family Reserve to me.
If you can categorise Derrin Nauendorf then you're a better man than I. Blues, country, folk, rock - you choose. Whichever you choose, the man, and drummer Downing, deserves to be a star. Buy the CD, see him in concert and make him one.
David Blue
Once solo, now a trio (sorry, singers collective) with fellow songsmiths Pete White and Steve Austin, this is London born (Holloway Rd if you must know) Beth Navaro's (not to be confused with US children's writer Beth Navarro) follow up to last year's debut country album Sanctuary. Navaro only contributes one song ( the pure voiced closing Blackbird with its simple piano backing ensures it's a strong one), the rest penned by either White or Austin, but all three handle the vocal duties.
The country flavour is still in evidence on White's Made To Match, but this is a far more acoustic folk affair and, arguably, the more distinctive for it. Featuring Gareth Turner on melodeon, album opener When You Go From My Door sets a high standard with its lightly waltzing melody, harmonies and the scent of autumn hops.
While White's nasal tones may prove an acquired taste (especially over a six minute For A While), it's a standard that never dips, even as the styles shift between the airy piano ballad Home with its rolling hillsides freshness, jaunty brass band fattened Always, the stars over still lakes mood of Moonrise and the warm buttered brass duet Stepping Back From The Edge which puts me in musical mind of Fairport's White Dress.
With plenty of young bucks looking to carve out their slice of the folk pie, it's a bit of a crowded market out there at the moment but there'll always be room for quality music played by quality performers, two boxes Navaro tick with aplomb.
Mike Davies October 2008
Youssou N'Dour - Nothing's In Vain (Nonesuch)
Fresh from overseeing the comeback of Orchestra Baobab, N'Dour now re-establishes himself as the greatest voice of contemporary African music. Gone are the excursions into funk and back come acoustic rhythmic African folk balladry, traditional Senegalese instrumentation given contemporary arrangements and rippling uplifting melodies Most are sung in his native tongue (the lyric sheet helpfully providing translations so you know what he's on about, basically celebrations of the human condition and friendship, reminders that women should be celebrated and, on Genne, socio-politics about the world's displaced), but there's also songs in French (La Femme Est L'Avenir De L'Amour andGeorge Brassens' chanson Il n'y a pas d'Amour Heureux), English (the rather self-conscious and ironically Westernised pop anthem Africa, Dream Again that sounds like a Tim Rice Lion king out take) and, on So Many Men's song of freedom, all three. He should stay away from Wyclef Jean more often
Mike Davies
Neck - Sod 'Em And Begorrah! (Hibernian Records)
London-Irish band Neck were a new name to me, but the press handout says they've firmly established themselves as a leading force in the folk-punk scene - and who'm I to challenge that? well certainly not on this evidence. Reading further, it transpires that Neck have played at Glastonbury, and supported or toured with every major name in Irish punk, SLF through Levellers and Stateside contemporaries Flogging Molly and The Dropkick Murphys. Pedigree assured, then. This album may only be a studio representation in the cold, harsh laser light of CD, but it's got a tremendous "live in the cavern" feel to it and it's probably not one to play if you've even only a mild headache! It hits you from the very first thump: the visceral energy, the full-on thrash is palpable, everything's thrown at you with the kitchen sink in the mix - crashing guitars and pounding, thumping drums, piping whistles, heavy "distortion flute", fiery fiddle, plangent banjo, churling pipes, snarling vocals, heaps of whooping and yelling, all set to often (tho' not always) suitably manic, driven tempi. All tracks bar two are original compositions by Neck's supremo Leeson O'Keeffe (formerly of Shane MacGowan's Popes) - frantically stirring songs in the best Pogues tradition with plenty to say and transcending clichés even when they get seriously anthemic like May The Road Rise With You. (And incidentally, the comprehensive booklet notes are worth the effort of deciphering too, containing as they do a full glossary of useful terms and origins of useful expressions.) Sometimes, you might feel, the cataclysmic onslaught of sheer full-on rowdiness is just a little too hectic to assimilate on any level - on tracks such as Down Where The River Bends, the band rather tend to run the mild risk of losing the vocal line altogether (or at any rate any semblance of lyrics), although I feel that part of the problem may be the difficulty of achieving a credible recording balance with so much going on; I appreciate that keeping both reverb and presence strong in the sound picture can be a tricky combination to fulfil. If you believe anything the beer-fuelled booklet credits say, Neck comprises a wild septet of "lunatics, drunkards and gob-shites", which was boosted on the recording by a "whole rake of muckers" along for the ride at the hooley – it sure sounds like it!… Any moments of comparative repose and/or relative textural clarity (like the Caoineadh section that opens for Blood On The Streets) are striking, yet equally soon get subsumed in the chaos. The non-original tracks present a kick-up-the-arse madcap instrumental medley (The Psycho-Celilidh Mayhem Set) and what seems in present company an oddly routine thrash through Star Of The County Down. But whatever, Neck's pungent brand of "psycho-ceilidh punk-folk" sure is the real deal - a glorious noise, and most highly recommended. Great title too - sez it all! Sláinte!
David Kidman
So, broadband internet connection may now be cheap but, boy, is it going to cost music fans as they pick up on all the radio available out there. Listening to Boston Folk Radio, my ears pricked up at Casey Neill's 'Kitty' and I had to find out more. When I dig into his 'Memory Against Forgetting' CD, I find that Casey has a wide range of style outside the troubadour approach to traditional song that originally attracted me. To some extent, the variation on this release comes about from the fact that it pulls together some of his best material from the last 10 years. Yet, the record reveals a common thread of political commentary that attracts him to his subjects. As Steve Earle has commented, he's a man who tells tales. You'll get everything from the stories of street kids on 'Sisters Of The Road' to struggles against the hard labour of mines in 'Moly'. In its tale of the downtrodden, the latter is reminiscent of fellow Canadians such as James Keelaghan and Stan Rogers. On other material such as 'The Valley', you can hear the influence of the acoustic Springsteen coming across. Then again, tracks like 'Riffraff' show his Celtic side with a punk flourish that could be straight out of The Pogues' songbook. Such flavours were no doubt part of the attraction for the fiddler Johnny Cunningham, Phil's brother. Sadly, his untimely death late in 2003 robbed the band of a great asset and supporter. Nevertheless, there's some strong material here and other pals like Kevin Burke on the live 'Paddy's Lament' lend a helping hand of support. Though the mix of approaches might be a little confusing to the casual listener, there's no question that there is a great songwriter here ready to expand his audience.
Steve Henderson
Chris and Siobhan, now based in Southport (Lancashire) and residents at the celebrated Bothy Folk Club there, have been around the folk scene for more than 20 years. They first got together while members of "rogue folk" band Cluster Of Nuts in the 80s, but of late they've been concentrating on working in a more intimate acoustic setting. Day Has Dawned is only their second record as a duo, yet it's an extremely fine set that shows them to be a hell of a team as well as a talented pair of individuals! Chris is unafraid to try out imaginative combinations of instrumental timbres for accompaniment; for, while Siobhan is a really good singer with a moving, appealingly tender-sounding voice which can sometimes quite belie its very power, Chris is a way-better-than-skilled accompanist on fiddle/viola and mandola/mandolin/tenor guitar and his arrangements make superbly inventive use of minimal resources. Enterprisingly, they draw their repertoire from a wide range of sources, both traditional (around a third) and top-quality contemporary; the latter category includes some real gems: Abbie Lathe's gorgeously evocative Curlew (a real highlight) and Barry Wake's pensive City Lights provide good contrast with Richard Thompson's infrequently-covered savage indictment of intolerance Outside Of The Inside, Mike Waterson's superficially jolly Mole In A Hole and the old Jack The Lad favourite Rocking Chair. Chris and Siobhan also turn in great covers of Tucker Zimmerman's epic settler's tale Oregon (learnt from the singing of Maggie Holland) and Cathie O'Sullivan's brilliant setting of Banjo Patterson's Song Of The Artesian Water. And perhaps best of all, The Climbing Boy and Chapel Streets, two excellent local-historical songs by Barry Wake (a Southampton-based songwriter) bookend the album, while a further composition of Barry's (Purple, White And Green) relates the story of women's fight for voting rights. The traditional songs are no makeweight either, with a persuasive solo acappella version of the ballad Young Waters by Siobhan set alongside equally thoughtful (and sometimes quite unusual) renditions of Streets Of Forbes, The Bold Dragoon, Rain And Snow and False Knight On The Road. Although Chris and Siobhan's performances carry the material so very well on their own, Roger Gardiner (basses) and Bill Hackney (harmonica) are brought in on many of the tracks to augment judiciously, with local legend Pete Rimmer's distinctive guitar work adding further ambience to City Lights. This is a quite exceptional CD, which manages the difficult feat of being both satisfyingly charming and thought-provoking in a way that doesn't need to shout at you but makes a more unassuming impact by virtue of its integrity, excellent taste and high-quality musicianship.
www.cnelson.plus.com
www.myspace.com/chrissiobhannelson
David Kidman March 2007
This is a cracker of a debut album from Drew Nelson, so accomplished it speaks of years of work building to this point of getting himself recorded. A lot of the credit must go to Michael Crittenden who produces and plays guitar and piano (amongst other things). The production is fantastic: warm, intimate and clear. The songs come through and speak for themselves but there's lots of background detail that rewards repeated listening. Drew is firmly in the singer/songwriter mould, and his acoustic guitar playing is excellent - sometimes coming over jazzy enough to be reminiscent of John Martyn in the early 70's. His singing is pleasingly gruff, very warm and sincere; when he rocks out a bit on "Wal-Mart V2.0", a kind of protest song about changes for the worse in his neighbourhood, his singing is harder and more assertive but he knows better than to try too hard; he doesn't need to batter his audience into submission, he's got subtler tricks to his trade than that.
Drew's songs cover a wide area, from social commentary to celebration of the simple pleasure of being alive in the world; he's serious and thoughtful, and definitely cliche free, which is always welcome. Clearly all these songs would come over strongly with just the man and his guitar, but for the benefit of the album each song is drawn out to a distinct musical character - so that the sublime "Summer Rain" has a mellow, jazzy feel, even with a pedal steel in the arrangement, and it captures the feel of a hot, sticky day quite magically. "Immigrant Son", on the other hand, a meditation on the immigrant state of mind that continues to play its part in American society, is coloured by fiddle, tin whistle and bodhran to evoke the Celtic heritage of so many of those immigrants.
I hope this guy has some more songs in his locker, and that he gets to work with Michael Crittenden again. They're a good team and this is a richly rewarding album.
John Davy
American iconography stalks Willie nelson like a prowler in the night. With an unmistakable voice and rough-hewn face that could have come straight from Mount Rushmore, he has plotted a stately and unstoppable course through American culture. Even the odd patch of personal turbulence has only added to the legend.
In a 50-year career Nelson has collaborated with fellow legends Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson, 'young guns' Toby Keith and here Kenny Chesney. He's even duetted with Julio Iglesias and, if Gary Allan is to be believed, that ain't easy to do.
Wherever you look in modern music, the hand of Willie Nelson is never far away, either as a performer, or the writer of the likes of Crazy and Funny How Time Slips Away. It all means that you can't really review a Nelson album in the accepted sense. He is a treasured landmark, so any new release is about the what, not the how and why.
So fixed in our minds is the image and music of Willie Nelson that any attempt on his part to radically alter his approach is fraught with danger. However within moments of beginning Moment Of Forever you're met with a myriad of moods, shades and subtleties, all delivered with the warmth and integrity. In fact it's only when you delve into the likes of the title track that you fully realise just how tender, honest and caring a musician Willie Nelson is.
But as she should, he also uses his gift and the status it has brought wisely, Louisiana engages heart and mind without browbeating either. He knows he commands respect and it is a responsibility he takes seriously. It's somehow amazing that within Moment of Forever there is such a sense of an artist discovering the full depths of the music, he's been at it for half-a-century but he's still learning. The Bob Song is, in the context of a Willie Nelson album, a towering epic and it becomes almost irrelevant that the dark Gravedigger is a Dave Matthews song. Nelson moves both beyond their respective starting points. The exception that proves the rule is Gotta Serve Somebody, which closes the album, but then again not even icons can ever truly 'own' Dylan songs.
If Gravedigger exposes the 'dark' side of Willie Nelson then the truly exquisite and delicate balances of Always Now open up the album to the sunlight. I'm Alive and When I Was Young And Grandma Was Old offer up thechance for some poignant reflection. In what is essentially a country album, Willie Nelson travels so many roads.
In the case of Moment Of Forever, it's not insulting an artist of the calibre of Kenny Chesney to say that his is a walk-on role, in the presence of greatness, second fiddle isn't so bad. His 'moment' arrives with the slipping, sliding country blues of Worry B Gone, which sees the pair take turns to bemoan the state of the world.
Willie Nelson is Willie Nelson and Moment Of Forever is a Willie Nelson album. However as the lines on his face grow deeper so do the places where he takes his music and he's not done yet.
www.willienelson.com
www.myspace.com/willienelson
Michael Mee March 2008
When you reach the age of 73 and you've made the kind of contribution Willie Nelson has, no-one should begrudge you the privilege of doing just what you damn well please.
So, for his latest album, Songbird, the 'legend' has teamed up with one of Americana/alt country's brightest young talents, ex-Whiskeytown front man Ryan Adams, also along for the ride is Adams' band The Cardinals (Neal Casal, Jon Graboff, Brad Pemberton and Catherine Popper) and together they have produced an album that, while it is typically Willie Nelson, is also completely unique.
If a definition of 'genius' is the ability to take something that is fixed in people's minds and make it new, then the Nelson/Adams version of Amazing Grace is a work of genius. The pair have taken the uplifting spiritual and turned it into a liferaft of a song, Nelson sounds as if he's hanging on for dear life. It's originality and imagination is the high water mark of an album that shows the spark of creativity still burns bright after all these years.
Nelson also reaps the rewards of an imaginative song choice. While Gram Parsons' $1000 Wedding is not a huge leap, Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah certainly is. The idea and execution are startling, a description rarely associated with Leonard Cohen.
Paradoxically, the title track makes less of an impact, Christine McVie's floaty and ethereal Songbird is competently done but it is a little uninspiring and predictable.
Both Nelson and Adams have written songs for the album, Nelson contributing Back To Earth and Adams Blue Hotel and the Adams song gets to the heart of the album's energy. Sometimes legends have to meet a song half way and Adams has inspired the great man to discover even more in himself.
While it would be impossible to mistake a Willie Nelson album, Songbird may just raise a few eyebrows, even amongst the faithful.
Michael Mee November 2006
Can this really be true? Mainstream country giant of noted integrity Willie Nelson playing dreadman reggae? Aaagh! Actually, and rather surprisingly, I suppose it's not all that bad - that is, unless you're a hardcore country fan!... Crossover can be so rewarding, but some of this set - which was recorded in the 90s but sat on the shelf until now - is (with the best will in the world) a little misguided. I admit it's all quite well done though, much of it in the all-purpose chirpy, commercial UB40-sunshine vibe beloved of the pop-reggae scene, and Willie evidently believes in it all as a viable project. Willie "takes a handful of his own classics and filters them through a reggae prism, peppering them with his nylon acoustic guitar, pedal steel, dobro, harmonica and the familiar comforts of country, while bringing drums and bass to the forefront, yard-style." All under the guiding hands of producer Don Was and Island Records' Chris Blackwell. And I actually rather liked some tracks, like the curious shuffling country take on Jimmy Cliff's The Harder They Come. The performances by all concerned are duly committed, and include a guest appearance by Toots Hibbert (on a cover of Johnny Cash's I'm A Worried Man). I can imagine this album going down well on a late-night radio show aimed at relaxing night-shift workers. OK, so Countryman ain't the out-and-out turkey I thought it was going to be - just don't expect too much from it, and you might just enjoy it for a while.
David Kidman
Willie Nelson - It Always Will Be (Lost Highway)
Another week another Willie album. Following swiftly on the heels of the live ...And Friends set, here's his latest studio venture, and another familiar set of dusty weary ballads and Nashville outlaw rock n roll. Thankfully there's only two of the latter, I Didn't Come Here (And I Ain't Leavin') and, er, Big Booty, neither of which are going to go down in anyone's history books. The success rate is fortunately higher on his lost love laments, those leather and honey tones easing their customary relaxed way over You Were It, My Broken Heart Belongs To You (which sounds suspiciously like Angels Flying Too Close To The Ground) and Dreams Come True, a duet with Norah Jones that's planted firmly in Crazy territory.
None of them are up there with the classic days of Red Headed Stranger but they slip down warm and easy. The trouble is these days, impeccable though the playing and singing may be, Nelson can do stuff like his Lucinda Williams duet Overtime in his sleep, and there's times here when he may well be. And while you wouldn't fault the playing, singing or his sentiments the truth is that things like blue collar storysong Tired (factory man tells of 20 years of working and struggling trying to raise a family) and the bluesy desert mood Texas (Willie tells us where he belongs) are becoming dangerously close to cliche.
Mike Davies
Willie Nelson - It Always Will Be (Lost Highway)
Maybe the greatest compliment you can pay Willie Nelson is that whenever and wherever people talk about American culture, they'll talk of Willie. Six decades, 100 albums and two tour buses run into the ground are testament his endurance. He's the living legend that doesn't require the prefix, he's quite simply Willie Nelson.
But even after a lifetime the man goes from strength to strength and It Always Will Be is proof positive that he has much more to say. Part of that is due to the almost childlike innocence and joy he brings to the title track and warm glow of affection that surrounds Picture In a Frame. But after seeing and doing it all, he still has fun making music and, like all great musicians, he is held in due respect by today's new stars. He is joined on Overtime by Lucinda Williams and current sensation Norah Jones duets on Dreams Come True and you can understand why, a duet with Willie Nelson is a career highlight for anyone.
Given that he has spent a long time defining what is Willie Nelson, musically there are few surprises, you don't buy his albums for radical changes. You buy them for classic country, honest music from the most honest of musicians. Willie Nelson is the musician you can put your house on and It Will Always Be is a safe bet.
Michael Mee
Willie Nelson and Friends - Outlaws and Angels (Lost Highway)
When you've just about seen it all and got a wardrobe of T- shirts to prove it, your friends get together and hold an all-star tribute in your honour.
This one celebrates Willie Nelson's 70th birthday (better than a telegram) and a true measure of the respect in which Nelson is held is that lurking in the 'House Band' are none other than Nils Lofgren and Jim Keltner, while Sonny Corleone (sometimes known as James Caan) acts as MC.
The list of major contributors is quite staggering, from Toots Hibbert to Kid Rock, from Lucinda Williams to Carole King and from Keith Richards to Jerry Lee Lewis. Add in Al Green and Lee Ann Womack and there isn't a genre or generation that isn't represented.
By definition the night is a Nelson 'love-fest', however that shouldn't mask the fact that there are some staggering performances. Georgia On A Fast Train and Ramblin Fever with Toby Keith, Joe Walsh and Merle Haggard get things off to a rumbustious start. But it's when you hear Nelson go toe to toe with soul legend Green on Rainin' In My Heart that the tingle of excitement really kicks in.
The CD is full of golden nuggets Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow becomes even more plaintive with Nelson alongside Carole King. While Whole Lotta Shakin Going On with an all-star band of Kid Rock, Richards, Haggard and of course Jerry Lee couldn't be anything less than stunning.
But standing head and shoulders above them all is Nelson's 'homage' to a tortured soul of country music. His version of Townes Van Zandt's Pancho and Lefty, with Haggard and Keith along for the ride, has no glitz, no showbusiness, no backslapping. It's a country great giving an affectionate nod to a fellow traveller. Worth the money on its own.
Michael Mee
Willie Nelson - The Great Divide (Lost Highway)
Willie's just got himself a Tae Kwon Doe black belt, so you probably wouldn't want to cut up too sharp about his new album. Fortunately, there's no need. Recorded in LA, it's an intriguing and indeed on paper often eccentric duets collection that sees the near seventy year old Nelson taking on the sort of songs and arrangements country artists half his age might find daunting. Solo stuff first; the title track, co penned with jazz guitarist Jackie King, is the sort of sparse, haunted and haunting song of lost love that, redolent of desert moods and Mexican haciendas, might have cropped up on Red Headed Stranger while Just Dropped In is an equally border town flavoured revamp of the old First edition psychedelic hit, and This Face is a reflective account of ageing with grace and acceptance. Only the overly busy pizzicato strings enhanced and overblown take of Cyndi Lauper's Time After Time lets the side down. Turning to the shared numbers, Bonnie Raitt pops in for You Remain, a thematic companion piece to This Face written by Leslie Satcher in tribute to Willie, soul man Brian McKnight gets silky on the very show ballad sounding Don't Fade Away, Sheryl Crow shares a slow blues meets electro cabaret swagger with Be There For You with Matchbox 20's Rob Thomas helping crank up the opening Texicali flavoured Maria (Shut Up And Kiss Me) and CMA Female Vocalist of the Year Lee Ann Womack firmly riding the country range on Mendocino County Line. But by far the most eclectic, bizarre yet brilliant pairing is with rap n rock bad boy Kid Rock on the big noise Peckinpahesque outlaw last stand Western elegy Last Stand In Open Country. It shouldn't work but it does. Asked if he was ever going to retire, Nelson said that since all he did was play music and golf, which should he give up. I'd say golf.
Mike Davies
Contemporary acoustic duo Chris and Siobhan Nelson were for many years part of Southampton's Appalachian dance team Loose Screws alongside songwriter/guitarist/singer Barry Wake, and they formed a bond which extended to a keen interest in, and growing admiration for, Barry's developing songwriting. Since relocating to Southport, Chris and Siobhan have recorded two fine duo albums, on each of which they've covered four of Barry's songs. Now they've teamed up with Barry for the first time as a trio, to perform a further fifteen of his songs, all hitherto unrecorded. Anyone who's responded to Barry's writing thus far will revel in this new album, which is chock-full of true craftsmanship in the writing and partnered by responsive and abundantly sensitive musicianship. For although Barry's songs are the focus, his own voice takes the lead on four of the fifteen songs and his own guitar features on these performances, what is particularly striking is the feeling of togetherness coming across with the whole project, in the extent to which the vocal and instrumental contributions of Chris and Siobhan furnish the songs with an ideally complementary musical character and signature. So, what of the songs themselves? I suppose you could define them as old-fashioned (at least in the best tradition of contemporary folk songwriting), in the sense that they're characterised by a combination of appealing melodies (many also with good choruses for those inclined) and simple sentiments, conveyed without sentimentality, in plain language yet powerfully evocative. Almost always with a socio-historical bent, they convey the stories they set out to tell with a trademark wistfulness, an often deeply moving sense of nostalgia that's nevertheless not without regret or bitterness in its believable perspective. Some songs concern themselves with Southampton's industrial heritage (Heartbeat Of The Town, Woolston's Pride) or its local characters (St. Crispin's Day, The Itchen Ferry Lad), some with often harrowing wartime experiences (this time, WW2: The Morning Train, recounting the plight of evacuees, and Along The Way, reflecting poignantly on the D-Day landings). Mazey Days is a catchy little number that cheekily uses the opening phrase of MacColl's Schooldays' End as a springboard for portraying the copper miners' way of alleviating their harsh working life by drunken celebrations, while Living In A Shadow recalls the Lancashire cotton industry. And then there are songs whose raison-d'être is altogether more universal (a plea for peace, Raise A Banner, and a convivial farewell-chorus-song, Close The Door).
The accompanying instrumental work is both fresh-toned and appropriately skilled, with Chris's fiddle, viola, mandolin and octave mandola (and very occasional accordion from guest Roy Eccles) providing an entirely refreshing and gently virtuosic foil for Barry's own solid and simply judged guitar parts. Just under half of the songs are sung by Siobhan, beautifully and expressively and with exemplary diction, which is not to underplay Chris's sterling renditions of a further three. Perhaps I could make one or two minor observations, which aren't intended as adverse criticisms of Nelsons Wake in terms of the quality or integrity of their own performances or interpretations: firstly, that some of the songs might alternatively benefit from being sung by a rougher-toned (perhaps "older") voice, and secondly that one or two of Barry's melodic hooks or phrases have a distinct (though I'm sure unintentional) resemblance to existing, familiar songs (The Morning Train's opening line resembles that of The Little Piecer and James And John that of MacColl's My Old Man) – I hasten to add, I'm not accusing Barry of plagiarism!… And finally, there may be times when the cumulative impact of so many high-quality individual songs may be diluted by a touch of emotional overload in the listener (pleasing though this may be). But all in all, this is a most attractive collection of classy and satisfying songs that richly deserve to be heard (and sung) more widely. Anyone responding to the writing of (say) John Conolly, Dave Evardson or Graeme Miles is sure to find these songs well worth investigating. For Barry's songs are rapidly forming an impressive body of work, of which Nelsons Wake are likely to be considered definitive interpreters.
David Kidman May 2008
The New Amsterdams - Story Like A Scar (Vagrant)
It's not particularly polished (they adopted a first take philosophy) and his voice cracks now and again, but that's part of the ragged charm inherent in something like the empty barstool moods of Your Ghost and the lonesome keening of The Death of Us with its shuffling train rhythms and the rather lovely mountain streams ripples of Turn Out The Light, a wistful love song about finding your emotional home. If it means he keeps making albums like this, then let's hope the scar never fully heals.
Mike Davies, May 2006
This retrospective compilation came somewhat out of the blue. In fact, I'd almost forgotten about this Scottish band, whose music was notoriously hard to get to hear, in the early days of its existence (late 70s) especially. The few tracks I did get to hear over the years (mostly from their seven-piece post-reformation lineup's 90s releases on Lismor and Iona) had never quite hit the mark for me at the time. But what this new compilation does reinforce is the influence, then largely uncredited, that the innovations of New Celeste (who were "named after a stop on a harmonium") were to have on subsequent adventures in folk-rock from Oysterband to Runrig. Their often wild eclecticism is apparent at once when you play just the first four tracks of this compilation: gentle acoustic balladry, worked-up dance tunes, East-European-inflected instrumental pieces, funky flamenco-style guitar and mandolin embellishments, sturdy reinterpretations of traditional material. Stylistically you'll probably find it's quite a jolt, then, from the lovely Rosemary (taken from an obscure 1977 album, then re-recorded in 2004, along with the two brand new songs in the shape of bonus tracks here, The Pool and Copper And Gold), to the synth-ridden disco-beat of 1996's Stumblin' & Stottin', the sequencer-heavy Polkadotty and the brassneck-rock-guitar-laden Reconnected. But it's all quality stuff, and worth hearing again even at this temporal distance. Additionally, this new compilation is a salutary reminder of Iain Fergus's songwriting and adaptation skills, which are more noteworthy than I remember. Myself, I love the 70s tracks, even though they may have their dated moments: P Stands For Paddy moves the traditional song convincingly through a procession of ever-inventive ideas, and Ploughmen looks forward to the gutsiness of early LJE. By the end of its 68 minutes, I'll admit, this handsomely lengthy new collection had my mouth watering for more (and the fine historical booklet notes were well worth reading); so, if it were to prove possible to retrieve the lost masters for the band's 1977 debut, and license more of the band's back-catalogue for another volume... well, how about it Park?
David Kidman, July 2006
At first glance, Some Me Back Home, looks like just another master-class in the musical gumbo of New Orleans.
Just check out the roll-call of house band The New Orleans Social Club. With two founder members of the Meters, Leo Nocentelli and George Porter Jr, pianist Henry Butler, and Ivan Neville on board, this was always going to be a star-studded affair.
The guest stars are not too bad either. Musicians like Cyril Neville, Dr John, the subdudes, Irma Thomas, Marcia Ball and John Boutte simply do not know how to make a bad record.
But scratch a little deeper and you'll find the ghost of Hurricane Katrina and the plight of those whose lives have been turned upside by last year's tragedy looming heavily over proceedings.
What makes this a truly remarkable CD is the hope, resilience and defiance which shines through. The opening track, This Is My Country, may date back to 1968, but in the hands of Cyril Neville it is as potent as ever. Politics remains close to Ivan Neville's heart as he sings John Fogerty's Fortunate Son with an earth-shattering amount of conviction and soul.
This is also a remarkably uplifting record. Irma Thomas and Marcia Ball's take on Look Up is resolutely upbeat. Likewise, the Sixth Ward All-Star Brass Band Revue give us an authentic slice of Mardi Gras with their medley of Jesus on the Mainline, I'm Walking and The Saints.
The producers save the best to last with John Boutte's version of Annie Lennox's Why. Singing straight from the heart, the New Orleans singer pours so much emotion into the song that the original by Lennox almost becomes redundant. It's an incredible cover version, which deserves to be heard the world over, and especially in Washington DC to make sure the tragedy of Katrina never happens again.
www.shorefire.com/artists/nosc/
Jamie Hailstone, May 2006
New Riders Of The Purple Sage - Home, Home On The Road/ Brujo (BGO Records)
BGO continue their NRPS reissue programme with albums 5 and 6 of the series. Following the success of the Adventures Of Panama Red, a semi-concept album, it was time for the obligatory live set, which turned out to be Home, Home On The Road. Although this proved a reasonable gambit, the performances therein being better than workmanlike, the album didn't sell particularly well (sharing the fate of similar live albums of the era by country-rock combos like Poco, in fact – very much a sign of the times with the genre on the wane generally by then). The band lineup for the shows from which Home… was taken was Dawson, Nelson, Dryden, Torbert and Cage, with production by Jerry Garcia. The release was arguably most noteworthy for the inclusion of five songs which hadn't hitherto been issued in studio performances – Hi, Hello, How Are You?, Sunday Susie, Truck Drivin' Man, School Days and Dead Flowers. (The latter Stones song would eventually get a studio recording on the band's eponymous 1976 album for MCA.) Shortly after the release of Home… and before the release of the band's fifth studio album Brujo which followed quickly thereafter, Dave Torbert had left the band, to be replaced by bassist Clyde "Skip" Battin fresh from the Byrds. Four of the songs on Brujo turned out to be joint compositions by Battin with Kim Fowley, but in spite of the inclusion of three compositions by John Dawson, much of the rest of Brujo was made up of covers, albeit respectable ones – Dylan's You Angel You for instance – while Crooked Judge was co-written by David Nelson with Dead lyricist Robert Hunter. Musically, Brujo was necessarily patchy, with the covers probably faring best, and although the playing can't be faulted the earlier NRPS spark was distinctly lacking for much of the time. Indeed, it's probably fair to say that one of the best things about Brujo was its sleeve painting! Whatever, Brujo sold even less units than its predecessor, and Columbia was to drop the band from its roster after just one more album (Oh What A Mighty Time).
David Kidman
BGO now follow last year's reissue of the third and fourth NRPS albums with the first and second, dating from 1971 and 1972 respectively. That eponymous debut is particularly welcome, as it contains the fruits of the teaming-up of the Dead's Jerry Garcia with young Bay Area bluegrassers John "Marmaduke" Dawson and David Nelson, together with bassist Dave Torbert. This produced some quintessential "nouveau-grass" with occasional psychedelic leanings. Rumour has it that Garcia needed a vehicle for his newly-acquired pedal steel guitar, which was not appropriate to the sound of the Dead of the time (1969-70 vintage), and this spurred him on to rehearsing with Dawson and Nelson (though the first NRPS album wasn't in the end to emerge until a year after the Dead's re-embracing of their country-roots heritage with the landmark Workingman's Dead album). Powerglide, however, was a far more inconsistent affair. Out of its 11 tracks, no less than five were covers (though not bad ones by any means) and sat none too easily with the band's self-penned material. By Powerglide, Garcia had left the lineup (though it was a moot point whether he should ever have been considered a full member, if the first album's sleeve credits are to be taken literally!); Buddy Cage had been recruited, although Garcia and other Dead members guested on the album sessions. There's some good stuff on Powerglide, sure, but it still doesn't hang together as an album in the way the first album does. Still, both are worth having in the 70s country-rock collection.
David Kidman
New Roanoake Jug Band - Play It For A Long Time (Copper Creek)
The New Roanoke Jug Band takes both its name and inspiration from the original Roanoke Jug Band, an old-time group that hailed from Roanoake in southwestern Virginia and was active between 1926 and 1933. It made one lone visit to the recording studios in October 1929 and cut just four sides, which are usefully appended on this CD as bonus tracks enabling us to compare and contrast interpretations with those of the band's present-day counterpart, which has now recorded three out of those four titles anew (sounding just a little more relaxed nowadays, perhaps due to the absence of the constraints imposed by those 78 rpm side-lengths!). The New Roanoake Jug Band, unlike the original five-piece, comprises basically just three musicians - Jay Griffin (fiddle and washboard), Scott Baldwin (guitar, banjo, jug, slide guitar), and Andrew Thomas (double bass) - but they're variously augmented on a handful of tracks on this CD by four different banjoists, two guitarists and a vocalist/mandolin player. Together they certainly carry the spirit of the original lineup and impart much of its intrinsic flavour: essentially unpretentious, unsanitised good-time music-making, an uncluttered sound, and totally infectious. The material is typical jugband fare - bluesy and ragtime numbers both fun and pensive, interspersed with oldtimey hoedown dance tunes, played and sung straight down the line with a genuine appreciation for this special brand of early American rural music. The NRJB prove that you can have a good time without resorting to overstressing the air of hokey silliness that's often a feature of many latter-day outfits who choose to revive the jugband idiom. The music's in safe hands here, for sure. Presentation of this release is just fine too, and as a bonus the insert note succinctly identifies the original source for each selection (where known). This CD's a treat from start to finish, and, since it lasts a generous 78 minutes, you can indeed "play it for a long time"!
David Kidman
Newcomer she isn't. This is Carrie's 6th (or is it seventh) album; a mature collection of rich, warm-alto vocals; tender, melodious, autobiographical songs and full band production. Within you'll find no surprises or rough edges. There's a pot-pourri of instrumentation, often giving it an uneven feel and a longing in this listener for simplicity. But listen for her duo with fellow musician from Indiana, Slats Klug, on accordion on three tracks, particularly the bitter-sweet This Too Will Pass, beautiful in its sparseness with just acoustic guitar and accordion. (Slats toured with singer/songwriter Bob Cheevers earlier this year and has his own album, My Brown Country Home - Rebo 0727, which is well worth checking out. Email him at mojohand1@juno.com)
Carrie has been touring the festivals of USA, roots venues, plus supporting major acts for some years now. Born in 1958, she started playing guitar and writing songs at 14. Of immigrant Italian and Indiana farmer stock, she's steeped in the Country roots tradition; her songs are personal and positive, sometimes political, always delivered with compelling honesty. One to look out for.
www.carrienewcomer.com
www.rounder.com
Sue Cavendish
Brief biog first: David's a Hampshire-born guitarist, singer, songwriter and composer who's currently graduating from the traditional music degree at Newcastle University. Although he was a finalist in the 2003 Young Folk Awards, he's clearly more than yer average singer/songwriter, yet his debut CD can't entirely escape the tag of singer/songwriter album - if only in that it presents David, his voice and guitar performing ten of his own compositions (albeit with just a modicum of instrumental augmentation). That factual statement should not deter anyone from investigating this excellent set of songs, which exhibit a fine sense of storytelling, a keen grasp of structure, and plenty of character and variety. It might be thought unduly cryptic that the track titles comprise merely a list of names, and first-names at that, but as David's pithy insert note explains, "that's how life works", so "here they are, some names, some stories, and that's your lot"...
Even cursory examination of David's lyrics will reveal that he understands people, their motivations and attitudes; his stock-in-trade is the exploration of the unstated relationship between name and perception, memory, place and other factors which may exert a subliminal influence on the person's subsequent development and progression though life. It's probably indicative that David's songs, though typically well-constructed and full of subtly memorable hooks, don't betray any specific musical reference points, although one could argue there are vague echoes of contemporary songsmiths like Clive Gregson and Cat Stevens and even hints of traditional song. It may seem potentially contradictory, but although David explores a different persona in each song his own musical personality unifies the songs, even though his role is either that of an imaginative observer or a close friend and the song necessarily examines or outlines the subject's own interaction with David himself or his/her perceptions or attitude to David or to the world at large.
David has a gently creative approach to musical setting too, bringing in Christina Andropolis (violin, viola, backing vocal) to deploy deft and effective colours and modes offsetting David's own vocal, guitar and occasional piano, bass and percussion. David's is a particularly telling use of minimal resources, where the listener's not left feeling shortchanged; his experience as composer of music for string quartet comes through in his economy of approach and use of texture (on Peter, for instance). This is an impressive set of songs, OK there are one or two individual songs/characters I couldn't quite connect with but that's par for the course and I wouldn't consider that a failing on the part of the songwriter.
David Kidman, July 2006
Let's get that ol' "relationship issue" out of the way at the outset shall we? - yes, Mark's brother to Chris Newman, partner of harpist Maíre Ní Chathasaigh and an exceptional guitarist in his own right, so that talent evidently runs in the family! But notwithstanding Mark's own immense degree of accomplishment as an instrumentalist, and the presence of Chris on this album (playing bass, mandolin and guitar and producing and recording the whole shebang), Mark easily and naturally retains his own independent musical identity, although the two brothers share that essential quality of being able to communicate their all-too-easy-sounding and thoroughly enviable virtuosity with true musicality. Mark plays four different guitars and a four-course dulcimer here, and he thoughtfully provides details of these in the liner notes. His previous album Stories was what for many listeners is almost an automatic oxymoron - an album by a virtuoso guitarist that's also exceedingly listenable! And Routes is very much a "Stories part 2", in that it's another joyful, wonderfully accomplished and highly musical extravaganza of understated and unassuming dexterity. And again it mixes instrumental pieces with vocal tracks in as-near-as-dammit equal proportion; the latter include a sprinkling of blues/ragtime classics (John Hurt, Rev Gary Davis, Sonny Boy Williamson) alongside better-than-credible (= mighty fine!) renditions of Tom Paxton's little-known When You're Winning, Norman Blake's Church Street Blues and the traditional Peg'n'Awl. Two of the songs (Eyesight To The Blind and Jimmy Rodgers' That's All Right) provide an interesting slant on the blues, being both are taken from Mose Allison arrangements, and this hybrid style of performing suits Mark particularly well. The instrumental tracks include a couple of Mark's own (we could've done with more!), a couple of contrasted rearrangements of traditional tunes (a beauteous Blacksmith/Pilgrim medley and a seriously nifty set centred on Lilliburlero), an authentically old-timey dulcimer rendition of Richard Fariña's Tuileries and a delicate and truly beautiful reinterpretation of Tom Rush's celebrated Rockport Sunday theme. I also really liked Mark's stylish treatment of Road To Durham on track 2. And as well as the brand new recordings herein, Mark also exhumes "by request" Mustapha, a 1969 recording of a party-piece (which it turns out is both on technical and musical grounds perfectly respectable!) much inspired by Davy Graham's middle-eastern explorations, and played on Mark's "lovely old Chamberlain guitar". Routes is a very fine set indeed, and whether or not you're a fan of expert guitar playing per se it still deserves your attention on other grounds.
www.obm.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/mark_biog.htm
David Kidman April 2007
This album, ostensibly Mark's "comeback" after a few years away from the scene, contains some tremendously scintillating (acoustic) guitar playing and some pretty decent singing, and has classy, state-of-the-art production values. It will probably not reach the audiences it deserves, however, which would be a shame; let's hope that this review whets your appetite sufficiently to want to investigate, then. Lest you be wondering already: yes, Mark's the brother of that indecently talented instrumentalist Chris Newman (long-term touring partner of amazing harpist Máire Ní Chathasaigh), so serious guitar skills are obviously in the genes, but there's also an equally high level of musicality at work in every note Mark plays. His solo work displays a truly breathtaking technique, sure, but that's not the whole story, for it's paying the highest tribute to Mark that you're actually drawn in to his playing at the level of satisfying listening too. The tunes are predominantly traditional in origin, but without exception they're tackled with acute sensitivity and imagination (for a sample, just marvel at what Mark does with the hoary old Maire's Wedding – track 12 – followed by a Clumsy Lover that sounds anything but!), Mark also providing illuminating and informative notes on both the sources and his own approach and playing methods. Stories sensibly alternates songs with instrumentals, so that neither category suffers by comparison. Mark's renditions of the songs are styled very much in the laid-back bluesy, country-bluesy Wizz Jones mould, with typically understated delivery, and the material ranges from Norman Blake and Happy Traum to John Sebastian (hence the album's title), topped up with one of Mark's own (late 60s) compositions. Brother Chris (who also produced and arranged the album, incidentally) helps out on most of the vocal tracks with guitar, bass or octave mandolin as required, but, ever mindful that the album is after all Mark's showcase, leaves Mark to his own devices on the instrumentals, where he just occasionally (though to good effect) indulges in some considerate double-tracking (though Mark's creative version of John D. Loudermilk's Windy And Warm achieves an intriguingly mellifluous twelve-string sound out of two of his own guitars!). The only small reservation I have about the album is that there seems to be a touch too much reverb at times, noticeably on Mark's vocals – but that's a minor quibble when set against the abundance of really excellent musicianship here.
David Kidman
Since he last released a studio album of new material back in 1999, Newman has largely been occupied spoiling award voters for choice with his copious soundtrack contributions, most notably for Disney, to the likes of Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc, Cars, Meet The Parents/Fokkers, and Seabiscuit. Then there's been his live work and a solo piano re-recording of old songs for The Randy Newman Songbook Volume 1. Fortunately, somewhere along the way, he found some spare moments to put together a follow up to Bad Love, both taking on its masterpiece surpassing challenge and winning and proving he's not had his eyes, ears or heart closed to what's been going on around him for the past eight years. Wry, sardonic, ironic and insightful, on both a personal and political level, Newman's always had bite to his mellow, caressing the ears and making the feet itch but also prodding the brain into life too.
Who else could conjure a song like the title track, a lazy shuffling story about having a heart attack wrapped up with laconic humour as, having been told by God (who speaks French) there's been a clerical error, he returns to life, visits old friends to pass on the message about living clean and closes with 'let's go get a drink'. Working with a band that features Mitchell Froom on keyboards, Attractions drummer Pete Thomas, jazz bassist Greg Cohen, guitarist Steve Donnelly and pedal steel player Greg Leisz along with a full orchestra, he sounds a little like Dr John. That Dixieland jazz flavour's evident on several numbers here, the club combo mood and arrangements informing the brass and brushed drums of Easy Street, Only A Girl and Potholes, a talk sing celebration of the fairer sex and a droll appreciation of the crevices down which unwanted memories can slip as you get older.
Lovers of his lush cinematic arrangements will be swooning over the romantic reflections of Losing You which at times sounds like a companion piece to You've Got A Friend In Me, and the peaceful easy feeling of Feels Like Home. Dating back to his Faust concept piece, that closing track also serves reminder that, as well as film, Newman's also composed for musical theatre, a form evoked here with the chirpily cynical encouragement to immigrants to Laugh And Be Happy, which breaks out from Mardi Gras march to Ragtime Charleston, and A Piece of The Pie, a Brechtian cabaret number (complete with Flemish/French debate) about the American economy that comes with gags about social conscience flag flyers Bono and Jackson Browne.
It's the pervasive socio-political bite, though, that makes this such a sharp piece of work. Coloured by Oriental musical phrases, Korean Parents suggests outsourcing the raising of distracted American kids to competitive driven Asians parents, a sort of role reversal The King and I. And, of course, there's A Few Words In Defence Of Our Country, the lyrics of which The New York Times ran as an opinion piece, a rolling musical mix of country, New Orleans and vaudeville that laments the decline of the American Empire and (by way of protesting too much) compares the Bush administration and its patriotic climate of fear with the Caesars, the Spanish Inquisition, Stalin, Hitler and notorious Congo invader, King Leopold.
So, life, death, social critique, political analysis and personal salvation in just 36 minutes. Can you imagine what he'd do if he had more time to spare.
www.randynewman.com
www.myspace.com/randynewman
Mike Davies August 2008
Somehow, I'd been expecting to come across a tribute album to Randy (who to many folks is literally one of the greatest American songwriters) for some time. And maybe the Sugar Hill label (and its roster) is an unexpected quarter from which such a project might originate. But on this evidence, I needn't worry, for the twelve songs covered here, the majority of them among Randy's most enduring compositions, are for the most part performed here with all due regard for the originals and in many cases eclipse them. I'll admit that over the years I've not found all of Randy's songs that I've encountered to be to my taste, and sometimes his wicked political edge, though continually relevant, has left me cold; but the best of his songs possess a poignancy (and/or contrasting sense of humour) that's rather appealing, and his even more poignant "character studies" really have few equals amongst contemporary songwriting. It's the latter category that provides the highlights on this collection, then: Allison Moorer tackles Marie here with matchless understanding and sincere beauty of tone, and Kim Richey's rendition of Texas Girl At The Funeral Of Her Father is nothing short of heartbreaking, whereas Sonny Landreth's compassionate take on Louisiana 1927 proves very fine indeed (especially with our awareness of the recent Hurricane Katrina tragedy), and at the other end of the emotional spectrum Steve Earle turns in a blinding, biting, gutsy version of Rednecks. Tim O'Brien does a neat job on the title track, and Bela Fleck frails his banjo through Burn On in a Sacramento hotel room! Joe Ely, the Del McCoury Band, Guster and Sam Bush come next down the list, but to my mind the least successful covers come from the Duhks (their Political Science is at times embarrassingly overstated) and Marc Broussard (who makes rather heavy funky weather of You Can Leave Your Hat On) - having said which, neither of those last two have ever been among my favourite Newman songs!. But hey, ten out of twelve's still a good show; and if Sail Away only spurs folks on to investigate the originals, then it's been worthwhile (even if, as ever, that should be but half the rationale for this kind of tribute release).
David Kidman, July 2006
Randy Newman - The Randy Newman Songbook Vol 1 (Nonesuch)
Mike Davies
California-based singer-songwriter Joanna's official debut album The Milk-eyed Mender (2004) established her as a "sit up and take notice" talent alright, if a decidedly very strange one - and definitely an acquired taste by all accounts I've read (sad to say, I was never sent a copy). If anything, her second album, the continuingly cryptically-titled Ys, is even more of an acquired taste, although you can't deny Joanna's total individuality, a quality thrice welcome in a world stuffed full of clones and imitators, wannabees and tribute acts. First time round I honestly didn't know what to make of Joanna (and I must've heard many weird and wonderful artistes in my time!)
So let's try for some reference points, then. First up: Joanna's music is, most unusually for a singer-songwriter, harp-based rather than guitar-based. Second: she has a peculiar, I'd say unique, singing voice, one that you'd never mistake (and many of you, I suspect, might probably never want to hear again!). If you find Kate Bush or Ani Di Franco irritating and Björk hard to stomach, then Joanna's likely not for you; if on the other hand you're open-minded, receptive to unusual styles in folk, roots and world music and relish a listening challenge, then read (and listen) on. Suffice to say that Joanna's singing style includes a prominent mannerism that's maybe best described as a kind of squawking screech, which - even though it's been toned down here a bit I suspect - I still on occasion find distracting and mildly painful to listen to; some listeners will find this an insurmountable barrier to appreciation of her music on any level, which would be a pity - for Joanna has so very much to offer. Thirdly, Ys enfolds Joanna's widescreen voice within a comparably cinematic orchestral complement, a huge array of instrumentation that includes what sounds like a massive, lush string section for starters (and it's no surprise, then, to learn the album was produced by the legendary Van Dyke Parks, whose arrangements owe much to his own landmark Song Cycle and what's been termed the Brian Wilson pocket-symphony ethos). The often dense, somewhat phantasmal orchestral textures seem opaque, but close listening reveals much simple and yet painstakingly intricate detail within.
And then, every bit as significant as the elements of melody, vocal characteristics and instrumental arrangements, we come to Joanna's extraordinary lyrics. These are undoubtedly richly epic, sometimes reminiscent of Pound's Cantos in their scope and canvas, yet at the same time are possessed of a shameless poetic intimacy; during the course of a single song, Joanna's able (with an eerily painless virtuosity) to manipulate language to encompass mood-swings entirely appropriate to the shifting tenor of the text, and all expressed in truly startling imagery. Structurally, too, Joanna's songs sprawl enigmatically (as does her omnipresent rippling harp), carrying the listener along in a raging torrent of carefully considered wordage that has all the deliberation of a stream of consciousness. You might say that these songs are the sensuous American-Gothic dreams and nightmares of a grown-up spoilt child who spent her formative years steeped in wyrd Americana, bardic legend, Celtic chanson, H.P. Lovecraft, Leonard Cohen and Disney's Fantasia? Close? er, probably.
Let's try something else: like Robin Williamson, Joanna may be described as a harp-pedalling (sic) storyteller-in-song with a strange voice, but Robin Williamson she definitely ain't - for her songs are of an entirely different character albeit they share with some of Robin's the ability to soothe and disturb at one and the same time. The nigh-indescribable epic voyage of the near-17-minute Only Skin is probably the best example, moving as it does from settled contentment to deep anguish, desperation to resignation, the ebb and flow of the emotional tide more often then not confounding our expectations. As I said, extraordinary - and totally overwhelming.
I'm still struggling to come to terms with Joanna's music; there are times when I can lose myself in its intricacies like being in a substance-fuelled haze and illogically relishing every minute of it, but then there are times when I want it off the player as soon as it starts up. Its 55 minutes contain just five songs, which (superficially at least) at first might seem inauspiciously similar in tone and demeanour and at times impenetrable to a fault almost. This is no doubt because there really is so much going on in the mix, it's impossible to concentrate on it all without exercising three brains and seven senses! Ys truly is a record of distinct contradictions, in fact: simultaneously highly intriguing and infuriating, openly revelatory yet of a defiantly obstinate vision, ambitious yet highly prescribed, highly mature in expression yet also naïve with the daring and devil-may-care innocence of childhood; it inhabits a soundscape that's at once panoramic and tremendously claustrophobic, free-breathing yet stifling. Putting it in a nutshell, it's a must-hear - if only the once; in other words, you might say "no", but for me it's a resounding "ys"!
www.fromamouth.com/milkymoon
www.dragcity.com
David Kidman January 2007
Joanna Newsom - The Milk-Eyed Mender (Drag City)
It's been many a year since Mary O'Hara tinkled her Celtic harp into the charts, but now the instrument usually associated with Welsh music fests is back in favour courtesy of the infinitely strange Ms Newsom. A native of California (which may not come as too much of a surprise), the twentyish pixie-ish singer-songwriter most certainly sounds like no one you've ever heard before. Well, not unless you've been privy to some gig where Bjork has sung country tunes after inhaling helium. Grounded in American folk with particular leanings Appalachian, bluegrass and old blues, her high pitched childlike voice, ragged and cracking in place, is nothing if not idosyncratic, a bit like Victoria Williams possessed by faeries while there's times here when you can't avoid thinking of Melanie doing things like Animal Crackers and Christopher Robin.
It must be said that a little exposure to it goes a long way, but equally it's hard not to be beguiled by her official debut album, an extraordinary collection of articulate, literate but playful songs sporting titles like The Book of Right On, Three Little Babes, current single Sprout and the Bean and, pointing up her nursery rhyme, kindergarten shapes, the harmonium pumping Peach, Plum, Pear and the contemplative Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie.
Lyrically oblique with references equally to molluscs and Camus, whalebones and balloons in her storytelling songs of life, love and spirituality, musically somersaulating between the trebly piano waltzing Inflammatory Wit, the arpeggios of Cassiopeia, the backporch folk blues of Swansea and the quiet Edward Lear pulsing shanty pop of Bridges and Balloons, it makes for intoxicating and bewitching (with an emphasis on the witchery) listening.
Mike Davies
Not strictly a Barclay James Harvest album - the band is in hiatus following the departure of Les Holroyd and Mel Pritchard - this 1999 offering sees founder member John Lees reunited with the bands original keyboard player, Woolly Wolstenholme, on a selection of new songs, plus some old favourites, rearranged. Craig Fletcher plays bass, and Kevin Whitehead drums.
First up is a rather jokey piece - 'Festival' describing the writers no doubt considerable experiences with festivals over the years, with added weather sound effects! Next is the lush 'The Iron Maiden', this reminds me of early BJH with a pastoral feel, enhanced by orchestral passages from Woolly's keyboards - very nice indeed.
'Brave New World' is a sad song of regret at the end of a life that changed nothing. Rather depressing, but well written. 'Hors D'oeuvre' is a short instrumental that leads into the classic 'Mocking Bird'. This version, especially in the instrumental passage, is less frenetic than previous versions, and makes a nice change. 'Sitting Upon a Shelf' is another reflective song that brings the mood down, before we go into 'Hymn' - another BJH classic that never fails to uplift. Just when we feel up again comes 'The Devils that I Keep' - this one is positively suicidal, but again is well written and performed. 'Titles', a song written using only Beatles titles follows, again this is an excellent new version of this moving song. 'Float' is one of my favourite tracks on this album, and reminds me of much of the earlier pastoral period of the band. 'Loving is Easy' another old song is given a new, radical bluesy arrangement that works well. Finally 'Star Bright' - again that trade mark orchestral sound, cut through by John's soaring guitar runs - really excellent and a new classic for all BJH fans. This in general is a very good album indeed, and I recommend it to all those who appreciate fine songs beautifully executed.
Jon Hall
Nice Man - Sauchiehall and Hope (a pop opera) (Shoeshine)
That'll be Francis Macdonald, label boss, Teenage Fanclub drummer, BMX Bandit, and now solo artist on a collection of love songs named for a Glasgow streets intersection that tell the old story of boy meets girl boy loses girl because he starts looking at other girls boy meets another girl and starts all over again. Nothing world changing, but they sparkle with his affection for power pop (Fallin In Luv, Let's Radiate Love), country (Your Hand In Mine, Girl I'm In Love With You), the Beach Boys (Watching The Band, Daydream Girls), the 60s (Heart To Break) and Jonathon Richman (Grey Hair, She's A Monkey). Not a bad combination.
Mike Davies
Fiddler and concertina player Niamh was fortunate to have grown up in Killarney, surrounded by a wealth of Sliabh Luachra musicians, so her successful eight-year stint as featured fiddle player in the Riverdance touring show came as no surprise. She's now returned to her native Ireland however and at last has had the opportunity to record and release her first solo CD. Its thirteen tracks enterprisingly span the gamut of traditional music, not just from Niamh's Irish heritage (and half-a-dozen tunes of her own devising too) but also from considerably further afield: there's American hornpipes, a Bill Monroe bluegrass tune, some Cape Breton reels, and even some Hungarian czardas from the repertoire of Muzsikas which are bolted infectiously onto a superb rendition of The Gravel Walks reel. And not to mention a cheery little miniature, an allegretto by Geneva-born Giulio Rigondi, who was the first to introduce the concertina to Irish audiences in the mid-19th century. There's almost a sneaking sense of trying to cast the net too wide at times, but Niamh's instinctive response to the various stylistic and technical challenges she sets herself easily overrides any potential charge of musical dilletantism. And Niamh's enterprise isn't confined to her choice of material, for her playing displays an abundance of life, light and shade alongside the power of her bow and the dexterity of her fingers. For the "both sides" of the CD's title would appear to refer to Niamh's equivalent degree of expertise on fiddle and concertina (wherein the different instrumental timbres enabling her to bring out the distinctive nuances of her talent) and on faster or slower material alike. As a fiddler, she's delightfully vigorous, with plenty of joie-de-vivre to counterpoint the often syncopated rhythmic impetus, while her concertina playing is nifty yet melodic and at the same time superbly characterised. On some tracks she moves swiftly between instruments (courtesy of the studio facility), but in all other respects the overall effect is every bit the reflection of, and as vital as, a live performance, with a commendably realistic balance from the sound-desk too. On first couple of playthroughs at any rate, I thought the disc took a few tracks to really get going, but I loved the opening set of slip jigs third time round and it rapidly became a favourite track, as (I was surprised to find) did also the ensuing air, Caoineadh Eoghain Rua, which is played as a concertina solo, and the brilliant track 8 barndance/reel set. The other slow air I really liked was An Raibh Tú Ag An gCarraig?, where guest accordionist Brendan Begley's excellent singing turns an already fine rendition into an album highlight. On most other tracks Niamh enjoys the musical companionship of a further handful of excellent players: Mike Galvin (guitars, bouzouki), Robbie Harris (percussion), Eoghan O'Neill (bass), Conor Sheil (clarinets) and Cathal Synnott (piano). This is a far more than credible offering - and overdue solo debut - from a highly talented young musician who doesn't need to show off on stage (or to worry about her hair or makeup!) in order to impress.
www.niamhnicharra.com
www.copperplateconsultants.com.com
David Kidman September 2007
Johnny Nicholas' second release of 2005 was the original Livin' With The Blues and followed the re-release of Thrill On The Hill. This album has seven new Nicholas compositions added to five classy covers and highlights both his song writing and instrumental skills. He begins with the Cajun style Froggy Bottom, a medium paced, infectious original that would grace the start of many an album. This is followed by another of the originals, Hill Top, which is old style country mixed with a jazz edge. This instrumental throws up some excellent individual performances, none more so than Floyd Domino on piano and Ray Benson on guitar. The Roosevelt Sykes song You Can't Be Lucky All The Time is a hypnotic piano led blues that highlights Domino again and I'll Be Around, a Chicago blues, confirms the status of Floyd Domino as the star of the album so far. Johnny's voice shows a couple of cracks but this is an emotional song and re-affirms the loss of the veneer of his previous recordings. His voice certainly has matured into a top class instrument and this Howlin' Wolf song suits him to a tee. The next original, Dirty People, bounces along nicely and has a good sax solo from Greg Piccolo. Teardrops On My Windowpane is another new song and is in the classic 'Woke up this morning' vein. The fractured guitar and sleepy sax make this a classy track.
The title track is a Brownie McGhee song and has the classic McGhee sound. Harmonica instead of accordion may have been a better option although with the electrifying guitar solo he manages to make the song his own. Talking of making a song his own, Nicholas turns in a version of Need Your Love So Bad that is completely different to the well-known Fleetwood Mac track. His vocal duet with Marcia Ball is sublime. Honeydrippin' Baby is a swinging blues with added horns and the lightning fingers of Joel Guzman on accordion. Johnny goes all cowboy on us with Texas Drifter, which is surprisingly good for a genre of songs that I don't particularly like. Red Young on organ keeps up the high standard of soloists. I'm From Texas is a big band blues (Texas Swing) that produces yet another great all round performance from the band. The closing track, Down In The Alley, is a little slow for my liking (those of you that have read my reviews will know that I like an album normally to finish on a high note) and really should be in the middle of the album. It's pleasant enough and highlights Nicholas' voice again but it's nothing special although the little bit of slide guitar does lift it momentarily.
David Blue December 2006
Johnny Nicholas is a big advocate of the cultural diversity in Texas and has gathered a bunch of musicians to showcase Blues, Swing, Ballads, Rock n Roll, Country and Tejano on the live album, Big Band Bash. All of the musicians on the album live within a 90 mile radius of Austin or San Antonio and have decided to get together once a year to pass the music on to the next generation. The opener, Broke Again, aptly features Johnny and is big band style rock n roll - Chuck Berry with horns and fiddles, what a combination!! Baby I'm Gone features Greg Piccolo, his tenor sax and laconic vocal and he delivers a great swing feeling. The great Jimmie Vaughan joins the band for the first blues, the gritty instrumental The Ironic Twist before Johnny Nicholas returns for Down In The Alley. This is a song for Doug Sahm and is a slow, bluesy ballad that is well delivered by Nicholas. The well known Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing features John Mills and The Texas Horns and all I can say is, scorching! Mescal Road is Tex-Mex and introduces Joe King Carrasco to the audience. Unfortunately, the music is let down by the vocal which is not as strong as those that have gone before. However, it is a good fun-time song all the same. Respected guitarist Stephen Bruton lends his big reputation to This Old World Needs Love but I feel that the lyric is a little forced in places. Floyd Domino gives us the piano led instrumental All Blues and turns in an excellent performance on the keys. Johnny Nicholas is back for Good Morning Judge, no not the 10cc song, and I can't help singing I Want To Be Like You from The Jungle Book along to it. It's just got that beat as Baloo would say. Seriously, this song confirms what a strong stage presence Nicholas has.
Greg Piccolo gives us a sultry sax instrumental version of Somewhere Over The Rainbow before Joel Guzman and Sarah Fox re-introduce the Tex-Mex feel with Maybe Maybe. This has a few ropey moments but it all goes to prove that it's completely live. Augie Meyers, who played organ on Mescal Road, gets his chance to shine on I'm In Love Again. He delivers this classic song in a sleepy style, supported by strong saxophone, and pulls it off completely. Trumpeter Al Gomez features on the instrumental Can't Stop The Crying and his performance on this ballad is faultless. Johnny Nicholas makes another return for Before I Grow Old and this is slow R&B of the highest class with The All Stars showing that they are a top calibre band. Another man making a return is Greg Piccolo (great name for a sax player!) and The Hammer allows him to show all the levels to his playing - a great rock n roll instrumental. The closing track needs no introduction and it is right that Jimmie Vaughan joins Johnny Nicholas for Texas Flood. It's not Stevie Ray but if this is the first time that you've heard the song (unlikely) then you're still in for a treat. Jimmie is a good guitarist in his own rite but my favourite version will always be Stevie's.
David Blue October 2006
These two 2-disc sets, released a few months apart, together give the fullest picture ever available of this obscure artiste. In 1966, Billy, as a "starry-eyed school leaver", was hired by Andrew Oldham as a staff songwriter; at Immediate, he fell in with Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane, who helped out on some of his recordings (Billy later returned the favour by contributing uncredited backing vocals to the Small Faces' Ogden's Nutgone Flake album). Would You Believe is the title of Billy's "great lost album", recorded in 1968 but permanently shelved due to the label's cashflow problems; it's presented here in a new deluxe expanded edition (it's around seven years now since Sequel first unveiled on CD the entire original album, together with both sides of Billy's debut single), which recycles the full album and the single together with some mono mixes, alternate and acoustic takes, and a whole extra disc of demos and out-takes from 1967 and 1968 that throw even more light on Billy's wilful musical personality. Top session musicians appeared on Billy's album, though, including Ian McLagan, Caleb Quaye, Nicky Hopkins, John Paul Jones, Kenny Jones, Joe Moretti and Big Jim Sullivan. The baroque-psych-pop arrangements are brimful of the era's breezy post-summer-of-love confidence - bright vocal harmonies, strings, twinkling celestes, tinkling harpsichords, trumpets, delicate acoustic guitars - but there are some even more delightfully eccentric touches too (like the banjo and tuba interjections on the title track, and false-fade/coda devices). Think Pet Sounds, the Association, Macarthur Park, but also significantly more inventive than other "copycat" products of the time, with a surprising amount of depth and detail. Admittedly, Billy's lyrics, replete with archetypal Chelsea whimsy, betray the peculiarly British origins of the music (though to be fair, some tracks remind me of Village-Green-period Kinks), though the overall sound world is often as much pure Californian sunshine pop harmony. It's absolutely irresistible! The bonus Snapshot disc contains many insights into the gestation and development of the LP; four of its tracks were originally written for the album, while others are little more than unfinished doodles, but all are fascinating and prove a useful adjunct to the main disc, making this new package now the definitive edition of this "lost classic".
Forever's No Time At All, named after Billy's 1972 composition, is an anthology that takes Billy's story from 1967 right up to 2004, providing an essential supplement to the above deluxe extended reissue of his magnum opus. Only the first half of disc one, in drawing on Would You Believe and Snapshot, duplicates tracks available on the aforementioned definitive reissue; thereafter it trawls a wide variety of sources in order to bring Billy's hitherto unappreciated later career into focus. Around 1972, through a common interest in the teachings of Meher Baba, Billy met and became firm friends with Pete Townshend; Billy has retained this friendship ever since, and for the past 20 years he's been employed as Musical Director on various Who-related projects. In the mid-70s, Billy had a track on Townshend's Who Came First solo album, and contributed backing vocals to the Tommy film soundtrack, and although he became a member of the Who/Faces extended "family" his own recordings never received much attention in spite of their (as we can now hear) high quality. Judging from the tracks on this anthology, Billy's neglect is all the more surprising; perhaps it's indicative that he only ever began to receive any measure of critical acclaim with a 1990 album Under The Banner, released on Phil Manzanera's label, which eschewed his trademark harmony pop for radio-friendly AOR styling. Until, that is, his 2002 single Can't Stop Loving You... which, along with his subsequent album Still Entwined (five tracks from which are included here), proved that Billy's ability to write timelessly appealing and melodic pop-rock songs remains undiminished after all this time. This is therefore a valuable anthology, and a spur to further investigation of Billy's later work.
David Kidman
Just a couple of years ago, Portland (Oregon)-based Celtic harp specialist and singer Elizabeth gave us a lovely CD Sink Or Swim, on which she presented a persuasive collection interspersing her own takes on traditional balladry with some tunes from (or inspired by) the Celtic tradition. On just over half of that CD she was accompanied variously by the four musicians who have now come together to form the group Stringed Migration: Bob Soper (percussion, occasional fiddle and guitar), Jim Chapman (whistles, bouzouki), Eddie Parente (violin, viola and violectra) and Rob Barrick (bass - although, confusingly, Tim Renner takes bass duties instead on the majority of tracks on this, SM's debut CD). There's inevitably a little more of a bias towards tune repertoire