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Reviews
Weekly Reviews For January 28, 2007 I am Managing Editor at Metal4Life
I also contribute reviews to getreadytorock I am also featured reviewer at spacerock.co.uk
I
was Editor & reviewer at MetalUK.
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New Reviews Even so, they maintained their Grateful Dead links, recording songs by Robert Hunter and getting Phil Lesh and Jerry Garcia into the producers chair, the latter on their cracking 1974 live album, "Home, Home On The Road". Ex Jefferson Airplane man Spencer Dryden did a stint on drums and Byrds alumnus Skip Battin ended up in a later lineup. This best of album first appeared back in 1976 as the New Riders left Columbia and was a good enough precis of their seven album stint, although lacking anything from albums number 3 and 7, "Gypsy Cowboy" and "Oh What A Mighty Time". That's kind of corrected here as "Farewell Angelina" from the latter is added (one of two Dylan covers here). However, in a shameless piece of marketing, it's an alternate take of "Linda" from the former that appears. The other three extra tracks are all from the live album, and if you've never had the pleasure, the 15 tracks here could prove a treat.
Stu Goldberg & Cassius Khan -
Dark Clouds Once in a blue moon, a record comes along that challenges your preconceived ideas of what music is and should be. It forces you, painlessly, into listening in a way that is alien to you. Rhythms drift in and out of your brain waves, scaring you, then comforting you. This is one of those records. What is it? Is it jazz, is it fusion, is it Indian, is it blues? Well, I can clear that up for you. It is all and none of the above. And it is more. Stu Goldberg may be a familiar name to some, having plied his trade as a keyboard player with the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Billy Cobham, Jack Bruce and numerous others. Names that are, frankly, too heavy for the likes of me to drop. But when he sat down one day to jam (man) with tabla whizz Cassius Khan, his musical world flipped around. The opening, twenty minute plus, "Ragmala" switches between raga, Indian classical, jazz and Professor Longhair at will. "Rain", which features the unbelievable vocals of Jennifer Lauren Goldberg, is a ballad that just rips right through you before the percussion duet of "Keherwa". The closing, title track, is a three part symphony, beginning with a Hindi / English lament sung by Cassius and the returning Ms Goldberg, leading into a percussive frenzy, ending with the Dark Clouds bursting forth. One of the most inspirational musical works I have heard in a long
(long) time.
The Haiku - An Introduction To... Right, you're off to a bad start with a name like that. I smell hippy, own a cosh,and I'm not afraid to use it. Phil and Bert are an acoustic guitar / drum duo, which kind of makes them a cheap rate White Stripes sans hottie Meg, which isn't a good thing. It also means you've got to have some bloody good songs cos' there's nowhere to hide.Well, the songs are alright bar "You Don't Have A Choice" which is a fabulous song. However, Phil doesn't have a distinctive enough voice to carry the moremundane tunes. Nearly but not quite.
Matti Roots - See You Again
Hello, that was a bit good. Especially when they harmonise on the word 'underwear'. Something there's not nearly enough of in the music world. For those of you who pay attention to the small print, Mr Roots is an acclaimed UK producer now doing his own thing. And his thang seems to be a fine fusion of seventies soul, acid jazz and hip hop. The word Spearhead kept springing to mind, and in my world that is a very good thing. I'm not sure why he has a Christmas tree growing out oh his head, and the remixes seem to be frantically covering all bases. Stick to the main course and enjoy.
Juewett Bostick - It's Not So Easy Back when I were a lad, this was called soul. Of course that was the seventies, so now I am compelled to call it contemporary r&b / smooth jazz to try and get your attention. Over the years Mr Bostick has worked with the likes of Bobby Brown, Vanessa Williams, Johnny Gill and The Temptations (bow down), so it's fair to say he should know a good singer when he hears one. And so it is with the triumvirate of Jean Carn, Ali Woodson and Denise Stewart who bring the songs to life here. And the songs are good, with only the programmed percussion letting things slide. My preferences point me towards the r&b numbers over the smooth jazz, and when the musicians hit a late night lurve groove, it's a delight. The CD comes with a CD-ROM which includes footage shot during the recording sessions alongside interviews with the musicians. Key tracks - "You Need Love" and "What Will I Do".
Jamie Pearce - More Than Enough Hmm, haven't we got enough angst and string drenched young men fopping around town, only a cravat away from being on the wrong end of Oscar Wilde? Apparently not. For here comes young Jamie with a tremelous quaver in his voice and some Snow Patrol like sturm and drang. Which is quite clever. Mix up James Morrison with the Patrol, bung in an orchestra and watch the Tesco mums melt. It is a good song, although Wagner may have paused for thought at the layers of melodrama. However, the boy can sing which will be why an acoustic track is bunged in for a Mike Yarwood 'this is me' moment. There's certainly no reason why this shouldn't hit as it makes all the right moves.
Chevy Martin- Planet Chill
There can be few things more daunting than a double CD from someone you've never heard of. And so it took a few deep breaths, but I made it in OK. As it should be, for this is, as the name suggests, very chilled. Dutch film and theatre composer Martin B Scheffer, for it is he, has split the music across the CDs into a chillout / lounge album and an ethnic ambient album, although there is some crossover. It's actually the second, ethnic ambient, album that works best with some glistening, glimmering passages that are just delightful.The glory days of chillout may have passed but there are still moments to listen out for. Key tracks - "I Need You Babe" and "Voices From Atlantis".
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