Reviews

Weekly Reviews For April 11, 2005

Review Index

I am also Assistant Editor & reviewer at MetalUK.

I also contribute reviews to getreadytorock

Recent reviews include
Rush - Chronicles (The Video Collection)
Deep Purple - The Early Years
Damageplan - New Found Power
Whitesnake - The Early Years

You will also find some reviews at spacerock.co.uk

The Rocker
New releases from;
Superczar - Pop Art
Various - Further Adventures of the Telepathic Explorers
When's The Future - Then
And many more....

 

New Reviews

Amberjack Rice – Get So Little

An Austin-based band, led by vocalist/guitarist/bassist Rice Moorehead, they have already released a number of indie albums, and if this one is anything to go by, they’d be well worth getting a hold of.

“Get So Little” is white boy blues, done with some style and a sense of humour. And as far as I’m concerned slide guitars, George Thorogood riffs and an amusing lyrical line, a good album make. The highlight is the rollicking, addictive, “When The Money Gets Big”, which throws some Tom Waits into the mix, to great effect. Also well up there is the ballad, “I Want To Go Home With You”, a fifties rock and roll ballad, out of time, but well in place.

You just need to be in a dark juke joint, cursing your woman, for it all to make sense.

Collide – Vortex

I’m a fan of Collide, loved their last couple of albums, but I have trouble with remix projects. Must be the anti-dance in me, but it always seems a bit pointless. If I like a song, tinkering rarely improves, and a bad song is usually just that.

So I approached this with some trepidation. On the plus side, there are 26 tracks spread across 2 CDs, which means oodles of the seductive Karin, to tease and torment me. On the downside, that equals 26 opportunities for remixers to ruin some great moments.

Oh, and there also three cover versions to pore over - "Feed Me to the Lions" - Adam and the Ants, "The Lunatics Have Taken over the Asylum" - Funboy 3 and "Haunted When the Minutes Drag" - Love and Rockets.

And as expected, it’s a mixed bag. Some are awe inspiring, such as Charlie Clouser's Emirian Mix of "Euphoria", some are dire – “Wings Of Steel”, being the worst offender. Rhys Fulber's Conjure One remix of “Tempted” is also outstanding, but “Slither Thing” loses all its menace. You win some, you lose some, so this gets filed under interesting rather than essential.

This is really for fans only, although some of the heavyweight names should pull in a few curious punters. After all, you’re getting Conjure One, Skinny Puppy, NIN, and Machines of Loving Grace collaborators here. I can’t recommend this above “Some Kind Of Strange” or “Chasing The Ghost”, which you should really check out first.

Jo McCafferty – Games For One

Why isn’t this woman a star? She writes, sings, plays and looks like a star, so what’s the problem? People like you, that’s the problem!

“Games for One” is a compilation of Jo's work and is a good starting point for all you lazy bandits out there who’ve ignored my pleas, nay demands, to buy her previous albums.

Just for the sake of you still to catch up, Jo McCafferty is a singer/songwriter from Aberdeen who has released five albums independently She has toured with Marillion, the H band on their European Tour, Midge Ure, Donnie Munro and Fish.

In a previous life we said "a voice to die for, an aura of greatness, and songs to match." I repeated it over and over again, as if my words alone could convince you that Jo has the songs and the voice to rule your world. Sometimes bitter, sometimes sweet, sometimes both, usually over a spartan acoustic backdrop, Ms McCafferty is one of our hidden treasures. Time to dust her down, and put her on the trophy shelf where she belongs. Best songs here – “Over The Course Of An Evening” – an absolute peach, a bit Tracy Chapman, but in a good way. “Clean”, an acoustic marvel, with sweet ,sweet melodies. And “Page 94” is still one of the best songs of the decade.

All of Jo's music is released via her website, through her own label 'Neosome Music'.

When’s The Future - Same Time Tomorrow

After I had recovered from the initial shock of a When’s The Future sound devoid of words, a seemingly unfathomable collection of weirdness dominated by drum ‘n’ bass and samples and virtually stripped of guitar I found myself being drawn into the music particularly the more up tempo moments like ‘General Jigg’ with its liberal sprinkling of flute and vibes and the irresistibly entitled ‘Articulate Hoover Nozzle (Slight Return)’.

After the early promise of the Nick Mason inspired drum rolls of ‘Radiation Meditation’, the album really begins to catch fire with the impossible synth solo and organ stabs of ‘Vague Mutterings’. My favourite piece of music in the first part of the album though is ‘Choroid Plexus’ with its crisp, snappy drumming, the strings curiously reminding me of Angelo Badalamenti (Remember ‘Twin Peaks’?) and dreamy guitar. ‘Same Time Tomorrow’ is full of surprises, constantly restless in its (successful) attempts to grab your attention- ‘Lyre in the Tyne’ starts with plucked strings and continues with sampled double bass and ‘skat’ vocals that sounds like Lemon Jelly (A good thing in my book!). And who could resist the oriental strangeness of ‘Yin Tang Meringue’ or the aptly titled African rhythm odyssey of ‘Smelifant’?

All the music was written and produced by the Musgrove brothers, Dave, the guitarist and John the drummer (Both play keyboards) who many of you will remember from Kromlek and the album was mastered by Tim Jones at The Stone Studio.

Definitely an album that will figure prominently in the alternative musical history of the Stone Premonitions label, a very contemporary sounding release that will hopefully open up When’s The Future music to a wider audience. Now I wonder what other surprises are in store?

All Stone Premonitions releases are available through The Rocker

(Reviewed by Phil Jackson for Zeitgeist)

Syrinx - Reification

Apparently, the musicians of Syrinx come from different bands, some of which are well-known on a national or international level and that the name and career of each musician are unimportant. For the moment, they do not wish to add to explanations already given in the album; in fact they are "transcribers".

Which is a shame because their complex instrumentasl fusion is fascinating and compelling listening. The four musicians play acoustic guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, drums and occasional flute, and regard their output as 'metamorphic music' and themselves as merely transcribers. Which is either interesting or weird, depending on your viewpoint.

The concept behind the album seems to be a complex mix of Greek mythology and Gnostic beliefs. Fortunately, you can read as much or as little into the concept as you wish, allowing the flowing, melodic instrumentals to stand on their own or act as signposts into other realms of consciousness. It's not for m to pass comment on the belief systems of others, suffice to say, the music alone is remarkable.

The title track, "Reification", is probably the best number on the album, washing you into their music, and preparing you for the journey ahead which comprises of classic prog, some jazz fusion and a swathe of electronica.