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Weekly Reviews For January 22, 2006

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I am Managing Editor at Metal4Life

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Laurie Morvan Band - Find My Way Home

The first time I listened to this I was unconvinced. Second time around I felt more at home, and now its a regular in the CD machine. My initial problem was Lauries voice - it felt like she was singing in too low a register, so only the rare lapse up the scale grabbed my attention. But then the groove started to get to me, then the passion got me, then I just laid back and enjoyed it.

Laurie and co are operating in my favourite blues rock idiom, with a massive tip of the hat to Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble (even covering their "Tightrope"), with nods to the southern rock world for good measure.

There are plenty of highlights but I would pick out the funky "Hold On To You" which is a bass players delight, "I Can't Get Enough" which is borderline jump blues, "Rock Me Right", the song first recorded by Susan Tedeschi - a brave choice considering how good the original is - it doesn't quite pull it off, but props for trying and "Once In My Life", a moody, rockier tune, and a spirited romp through the Willie Dixon classic, "Let Me Love You Baby".

Laurie is a fabulous guitarist and with a top notch band getting into the groove, this is a delight.

At The Lake - These Days


It's a bit odd that a band should claim their musical inspirations as My Bloody Valentine (overrated), Queens Of The Stone Age (a good band gone bad) and The Smiths (the actual dictionary definition of aural shite), then end up sounding remarkably like Snow Patrol.

Now don't get me wrong (insert Pretenders singalong here), of its ilk, its very good. I was just not expecting it to sound like this. I was looking for ambientstonermancunianmiserabilist and got this. Here's the melodic bit, here's the swooping guitar bit and here's the soaring vocal bit. It's a good song, well performed, but it doesn;t stand out enough from the pack.

Flip it over (metaphorically) and "Wide Eyes" is a bit more of what I was looking for. Chuck in the obligatory angular guitar parts (damn you Franz Ferdinand) and it's a tad more individual sounding. Just a shame Editors got there first, but I'm sure Guardian readers kids will lap it up. After all, if Zane Lowe and Steve Lamacq like it, it must be good. (insert diatribe about sheep here).

Katie Melua - live @ the Edinburgh Playhouse

Well that came as a surprise! I didn't really go in expecting much, but came out pleasantly surprised. The girl really can sing.

When she stuck to what she does best, big ballads, swooping vocals, smooth jazz, it was an absolute delight. And aided by a fabulous backing band, especially the rhythm section, it was easy to see why people rate her so highly. She had the audience in the palm of her tiny hand when she ran through the ballads she's becoming so renowned for.

Granted, there were a few downers. "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" is a shite song and nothing can save it, she couldn't carry off the Rolling Stones "19th Nervous Breakdown" and someone should tell her she's not a blues singer. "Katie, you're not a blues singer!" But I never thought I would hear Bobbie Gentrys "Fancy" performed live, and it was an absolute treat.

Katie and the band aren't the most visual performers so it was nice to see some self realisation courtesy of a giant video screen and some splendid projections. She's still finding her feet as a live performer, and has been thrown in at the deep end, but she almost converted me to the cause. A splendid night out.

Also say hi to Alex McEwan the support act, whose album was reviewed here last week. Just buy it!

Allure - Chapter III

If I was a labelmate of Allure, I'd be very worried. Their 1997 debut had cameos by Nas, L.L. Cool J, Raekwon, 112, Q-Tip, and Mariah Carey, and the hit “Head Over Heels, which featured Nas was released. Then Crave Records, their label, shut up shop. However, after a brief stint on Columbia recording songs for the “Best Man” and “Runaway Bride” soundtracks, they moved to MCA for their 2nd album, “Sunny Days” which had the hit “Enjoy Yourself”. Oh, and then MCA closed down.

But give them credit for keeping on keeping on, childhood friends Alia Davis, Lalisha McLean, and Akissa Mendez got stiuck in, overcame the loss of fourth member, Linnie Belcher, and are now back with a cracking r'n'b release on Indiana Pacers star, Ron Artest’s Truwarier Records. Which I think means he plays for an American basefootbasket team, and has money to burn!

They've brought on board some heavyweight producers to try and finally push it through, and its worked. Most r'n'b albums are 3 singles and a whole lot of filler, but there's at least 6 top notch tracks here. I know it doesn't seem a lot, and the album is still too long, but it's worth it for the good stuff. Lead single "Uh Oh" is fairly pants but the flip "Hate 2 Luv U" deserves a place at the top of the charts. It's a pure delight, silky, smooth with a hint of aggression. And in a world where the Pussycat Dolls are big business, there's a place for Allure.

I know it's stating the obvious but when the hit an old school vibe, they're up there in En Vogue territory, which is high praise indeed. Listen to "Let Him Go" and try to deny!. There are still far too many atonal "uh-huhs" from random atonal rappers, but when the ladies just get on and sing, it's impossible to resist.

Watch the video here;