Reviews

Weekly Reviews For August 13, 2005

Review Index

I am also Assistant Editor & reviewer at MetalUK.

I also contribute reviews to getreadytorock

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....

Free Ipod

New Reviews

Tippi - Remember My Face

Tippi is a singer/songwriter/guitarist from Glasgow, Scotland, who has just released her debut album through Measured Records. Tippi previously self-released two singles on her own label, one of which reached number 16 in the official U.K. singles independent chart.

She cites Led Zeppelin, Neil Young, The Cure, AC/DC, Radiohead and Paul Weller as influences - Tippi was recently invited to perform as Weller's special guest on tour, duetting with him during his encores each night. However, it's early eighties American new wave / pop rock that resonates through most of the album - imagine the first two Pat Benatar albums sung by Dale Bozzio from Missing Persons. Which, incidentally, is a good thing.

It's a highly addictive set of songs, with the exception of 'Daddy's Little Girl', the chorus of which had me reaching for my dirty old mac and a 12" version of the Starfighters 'Alley Cat Blues', just to play the B-side, 'Don't Touch Me'. I am a bad, bad man.

Highlights abound with the pop punk 'Boy', the Mars Bonfire suing sound of 'Some Things Never change' (go on hum along to 'Born To Be Wild' and tell me I'm wrong), the more straightahead rock of 'Nothing More To Say', and the big ballad to be, 'Talking To My Angel' getting most replays.

Chock full of gutsy guitars, memorable choruses and insistent melodies, this s an absolute delight from start to finish. The only danger for Tippi is trying to cover so many bases. You can't really hang your hat on any one sound, which to someone like me with an appalingly short attention span is a bonus, but others may find it edging on schizophrenic. Bust mos tof my personalities agree - this is a winner!

Check out our Q&A with Tippi here!

The Sonic Art - Do You Ever Feel


There's something vaguely suspicious about family members making music together, it's all a bit too Beach Boys / Kinks, and we know how they ended up. But hopefully, the madness will pass by cousins James and Christian Norris, who are The Sonic Art.

Hailing from the hotbed of freaks and pasties that is Cornwall, they've overcome their sinister birthplace by making vaguely sinister music, which had me looking over my shoulder from time to time. The call could be coming from inside the house..... Infinitely scarier than a whole host of Slipknot records, this masquerades as ever so slight and wispy folk / electronica, but the undercurrent of things that should not be is never far away.

Imagine, if you will, Talk Talk circa 'Spirit Of Eden', all done up in fancy 21st century bleep bleep tones. I'm told the name for this is "folktronica" but, frankly, I feel dirty just having typed it. The good / bad / indiffernt thing about this is the way the tracks flow seamlessly together, less a CD single, more a mini Pink Floyd.

There's a lot to like here if you're paying attention, and it deserves at least one headphones play. At first glance you might be fooled into thinking indie-pap for Starsailor fans, but take your time and absorb the textures.

Rhetorica - Ganduri

Well, there's a first time for everything, and this is my first Romanian prog CD! And they say there's nothing new under the sun. A band put together to play one festival, the members of Dirty Shirt and Legion involved, decided to stick together and have a bash at becoming the next Pink Floyd. But Romanian.

They play a fairly generic progressive rock, interspersed with the odd metal riff and folk lilt, nothing new, but on the more introspective chapters, they do it very well. 'Ganduri' [read thoughts] is a concept album, with one flowing track divided into 18 chapters. I'm told it represents a journey in the spirit of a man who is thinking about his own existence. But in Romanian. So, they could be singing about doing the laundry, but I prefer to think of it being the former.

The instrumental passages are particularly well done, veering from Floyd to Pendragon to Camel, but when they try to rock out, it falls a bit flat. But credit to their ambition, they're reaching for the stars, and I would rather fail at that, then never try.

There's a fair amount of talent, ideas and vision rattling around here, and if you're minded to take a chance, it could work out well for you.

Test Icicles - Boa Vs Python

Why? Why? Thrice why? I remember the early eighties. I saw Josef K. They were rubbish. I even wondered if I was imagining the mangled funk / post rock mess that bands were peddling in those days. I wasn't and C-86 was the result. Don't ask.

So, I have no idea why bands today want to recycle it. Franz Ferdinand didn't sell that many records and despite what the NME say, selling out a small theatre in New York isn't 'breaking America'. But if I have to hear it, this dreadfully named lot are better than most.

The lead track is fairly generic but the B-side (in old money) is rather good. I could and did listen to it several times, tapping along on my wooden leg and getting mildly offended at the title 'Dancing On Pegs'. But at least it's not dancing on stilts. Time will tell, but they might overcome their awful name.

Five Gentlemen - Sommersprossen

Well this isn't the sort of thing that pops through the letter box every day.

Five Gentlemen comprises five gentlemen who sing in the style of the comedian harmonists of the 20s and 30s , using original arrangements which wouldn't have been out of place in Noel Cowards parlour or, more aptly, pre 1933 German parlour rooms.

It's an intriguing, interesting and sometimes entertaining conceit, and the 4 voices (gentlemen number five is a pianist) blend immaculately. The two tenors, baritone and bass are all excellent, with 'Eine Kleine Fruhlingweise' and 'Irgendwo auf den Welt' standing out a mile.

16 tracks later, and some of the songs and arrangements start to blend together, but it's a well performed and well produced musical oddity.

Resindust - Resindust

Resindust is a collaboration between guitarist / keyboardist Tony Harn and keyboardist / guitarist Lewis Gill, both of whom have produced solo albums in the past. You nmatt recognise Lewis Gill's name from previous coverage of Vivahead. Favourable coverage, I might add.

And some of the material could easily have fitted on to a Vivahead release, with opening track, 'Windscream', a fine example of the music Gill has produced elsewhere. Most of the album fits resolutely under the ambient banner, with mid period Floyd references, bits of Mike Oldfield and a degree of Tangerine Dream smoothly running together.

Ambient can often equate to boring, but Resindust manage to avoid the trap, especially when you hit the centre of the album with 'Suzanna', 'Resindust' and 'Cotlife' the highlights of the piece. The one track that sits rather unceasingly is 'Artism', notable for its treated vocals.

There is a dark feel to the project, with the bass lines very prominent, and the guitars and keyboards weaving in and out of each other. In fact, it's sometimes difficult knowing where one sound ends and another begins.

A largely melancholic release, which offers a lot more than the rather ordinary ambient sounds coming out today, and well worth investigating if sonic soundscapes are your thing.

No webby thing, so contact Resindust, 323 Wellfield Street, Warrington, Cheshire, WA5 1PL or email Lgill68@hotmail.com or Tony.harn1@virgin.net