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Reviews
Weekly Reviews For March 19, 2006 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
Oh, yes, GA are now rocking hard. Ok, that's a lie, but they continue to be good value and good fun.
It's the kind of summery, dreamy pop that usually goes hand in hand with feel good US TV like my personal favourite, the Gilmore Girls, and you can easily see Rory and Dean gazing wistfully at each other while they think no-one's looking to the strains if "Let It Go". That song is my particular favourite, largely down to the lyrics, for the soft rock stylings of Freddy doesn't alter too much over the course of the album. It's all fine fair (do you remember Fine Fare?) with "Change It All In One Night” and “Apart” straying near the top of my list. Freddy has a soaring, sail away voice which puts the wannabee indie poppers polluting our charts to shame with a wistful falsetto that suits the tales of love, loss, happiness and redemption - the great human truths. Don't believe his own press - this is as far removed from the horrors of Britpop as anything good can be from something bad.
KT Tunstall - Another Place To Fall I think it's pretty safe to say that by the time you get to the 5th single from a platinum selling album, that there's no hidden gems lurking away. It probably is the 5th best song on the album and is, doubtless, only be released to sell the album to the 3 people, post Brit Awards, who don't actually own a copy. It's a nice song, easy on the ears, and KT is actually a very talented singer / songwriter. But this isn't a single, it's an album track a little out of its depth. Of course, in the squeeze every penny out of the die hard fans while pretending them we're doing them a favour by bunging new songs across all the multi formats world we live in, the CD single comes with a live version of KT covering the Radiohead song, "Fake Plastic Trees". And in the Radiohead slaying world I live in, that's tantamount to treason. It would be nice to hear some new songs from KT. After all, there must have been some leftovers from the 10 year writing session before the first album came out? However, I'd rather listen to an average KT song than any Radiohead one.
Gemma Hayes - Undercover We like Gemma Hayes. As does the entire Republic of Ireland, where she wins gazillions of awards and, legally, every household is required ot possess at least one of her records. To be fair, there are a lot of female singer / songwriters out there, doing the same kind of thing, but Gemma has a glossy, West Coast (California not Govan) sheen to her songs, doubtless assisted by the production nous of Joey Waronker. However, what really turns this mid paced, slight song into a gentle, melodic marvel is possibly the co-writing credit of one Roger Joseph Manning Jr. Yes, that one - founding member of Jellyfish and Imperial Drag, although probably best renowned for his contribution to the soundtrack of "Muppets in Space". Whatever, he knows his way around a melody and Gemma has done good by him. T'other track, "Perfect Day" (not the Lou Reed one) is a more traditional acousticy, strummery, summery song, with a lovely, intimate performance from Gemma. Do yourself a favour and give her a listen.
Various - Stressed Vol 2 The cunningly named "Stressed Vol 2" is the follow up to "Vol 1", and like the first highlights the best music from the Derby area. Not something you would think merits 2 volumes, never mind the 23 acts featured on this album. For like most albums of its ilk, there's a lot of guana being thrown at the wall, and not that much of it sticks. But if it helps the few good acts get some kind of exposure, it will be well worth it. Most of the bands featured are very much of the indie-guitar-rock world. and most of them don't bear repeated listening. However, point your ears towards Plans And Apologies (who I think are now signed, if my review pile is anything to go by), emo boys Dragonflies Draw Flame, In Flight Program and, best of all, Hanzo Steel who know how to bludgeon you into submission in only one minute. On the plus side, the CD's diplay a community ethic that is to be applauded, being partly funded by Stressed, with extra cash being raised through gigs in Derby. If there's one criticism it's that the whole project is rather one dimensional and enemee in tone. Maybe they should be looking to other musical styles to up the quality quotient. Having said that, some of the aforementioned could and should be making a name for themselves. And this is your chance to up your cool quotient by saying, 'of course I first heard them waaaay back when'. Even better, you can get the whole CD for the price of a single - £3!
Darron McKinney - Soft Spoken Of course you can't go wrong in America by appealing to patriotism, so when a jazz playing saxophonist former deputy sheriff writes a song called "A Call to Courage" ( here, as both an instrumental and with vocals by Michelle Colvin) and dedicates it as a tribute to fallen police officers after 9/11, then its not going to fail. McKiney says he wrote "A Call to Courage" to serve as an inspiration to police officers everywhere and to inspire police officers to establish a relationship with God, and there is a strong Christian message running through a lot of the material. But McKinney is more than just lowest common denominator patriotism. He is also an accomplished saxophonist operating in the smooth milieu. The highlights include the two gospel tinged numbers "What a Friend" and a beautiful "His Eye Is on the Sparrow". Best of all, though, is the title track, "Soft Spoken", which is an absolute treat.
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