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New Reviews
Holly Taymar - EP
One of the downsides to receiving, listening and reviewing hunnerds
of new releases every year is the amount of unmitigated shite that
becomes popular. Especially when you hear so many fantastic artists
that don't receive an nth of the publicity and popularity they deserve.
And Holly falls firmly into the latter category.
At the tail end of 2004 I received her debut album and began foaming
slightly at the mouth. Then I removed it from said orifice, put
it in the ceedee player where it belonged, listened, and began foaming
all over again, but for entirely different reasons.
Last time around the Yorkshire lass (spook! - I'll be in Yorkshire
next week) was singing a set of jazzy originals all composed by
York based sisters Catherine Cowan and Lise-Marie Baker. This time
around the prodigiously talented 19 year old has written 5 of the
6 songs herself, moved sideways into jazz tinged singer / songwriter
territory, stripped the accompaniment right back to basics and delivered
something even better! Remarkable.
Granted I do kind of miss the more upbeat material of her debut,
but then I listen to "Chasing Rainbows" again, and marvel
at a jaw dropping talent, who just keeps getting better.
The Like - June Gloom
What a really, really crap name for a band.
Bad enough they've got the whole Wilson Phillips vibe going with
3 muso dads looming over their shoulders. Lucky then that todays
kids are too young toremember Throwing Muses, for that is their
indie pop lilt.
It's poppy, it's indie, it teeters on the edge of falling over,
and there's no reason whatsoever not to enjoy its naivetie.
The Hazey Janes - Your Enemy
Naming yourself after a Nick Drake song is always a bad move in
my book, but fortunately that's pretty much all the share with the
fey fake.
Kicking off with a glam rock drum beat they fire straight off into
an adrenaline rush of song, redolent with mid period Undertones
overtones. However, there's a strong melody and some nice harmonies
to go along with the enthusiam.
Yeah, there's some jangle lurking around the corners but it's worth
putting up with. If only all indie was like this I would be a happier
man and my bill for shotgun cartridges would be considerably lower.
Ne-Yo - So Sick
He started off as a songwriter penning Mario's hit "Let Me
Love You". THis, his crack at solo stardom is a soulful, downbeaten
but melodic song, dripping with regret. Just the way we like it.
He doesn't have a standout voice but when the songs are this slick,
who cares. The B side "Sign Me Up" shows a seventies throwback
sound with old school jams shored up some modern beats. Pretty good
stuff, and bodes well for the future.
Chris Brown - Run It!
Certainly the best Usher impersonation I've heard, although there's
something wrong about a 16 year old claiming he knows what girls
want. I can promise you, son, you know nothing.
He topped the US Hot 100 chart for weeks on end with this debut
single, assisted by a cutting edge production from in demand producer,
Scott Storch, who digs out the in vogue eighties synth sound. However,
if was the aforementioned Usher I'd be playing "Yeah"
back to back with this and wondering!
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