Reviews

Weekly Reviews For October 24, 2004

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

Dan Israel - Time I Get Home

Frankly, you lot sicken me sometimes. I've been raving about Dan (and the Cultivators) since 1999, and you still don't listen. Why? I'm not in the habit of leading you astray. If I say something is essential, it usually is. Although I apologise for the Spin Dictors gaffe of 1987. That was wrong of me.

And here's Dan with another album chock full of fabulous songs, singing an picking, approximately lumped in with the unfortunately titles alt-country (or worse Americana). What you get for your $10.97 is 13 songs of universal truths. Something we should all get in touch with more often.

"Come to me when you need somebody, come to me when you need someone, when people are no help if you're lucky, when you're on the run, every day I live right through it, the sheer indifference of everyone, come to me when you're standing alone, under the sun"

So says Dan, and so should we all. Best of all is "Don't Turn Away", the first time a tear has been shed this long, lonely year, and hopefully the last. This CD is pitched inbetween the solo acoustic sounds of "Dan Who?" and the sparseness of the last Cultivators album, "Love Ain't A Cliche", with the 'up' of "Mama's Kitchen" seeming a long time gone.

One of the most rewarding set of songs I've heard this year, you'd be foolish not to do the same.

Rodrigo Y Gabriela - Re-Foc

What I know about flamenco guitar could be written on the head of a pin, with enough room left over for the ego of an average politician. However, I do know good msic when I hear this.

Strange to relate, this ended up my way due to a Metallica connection. As well as having one track dedicated to Dave Mustaine, they also reinterpret 'One' from the former masters of metal.

Which makes sense when you realise that the duo started off in Mexico City playing Metallica covers in a heavy metal band, before swapping over to acoustic guitars. In reality it's not really a flamenco album, what with bits of jazz and Celtic folk dropping in all over the place (they used to busk in Dublin!). Hence the appearance of Zoë Conway from the Irish Chamber Orchestra on violin at opportune moments.

Just to confuse matters even further 'foc' is Catalan for fire, and there's no argument from me as they kick up a storm on their nylon strings. However in amongst the original material the one tune that really stands head and shoulders is their reinvention of the Paul Desmond classic "Take 5", where some inspired percussion sounds and their background in heavy metal drives them on to new heights.

Julie Mahendran - Never Do Without You

I blame the BBC. When I were a lad the powers that be at the British Broadcasting Corporation decided that jazz was a good thing when played by seventy year old me, preferably doing something atonal with a brass instrument and admiring the handiwork from afar. Granted, I found my way into fusion from a technical perspective, Mahavishnu and all that, but it was only in the last few years that I discovered there was more to jazz than Monty Frump and His Trad Dad Octet. Of all people, it was Jane Monheit. I was flipping through the cable channels, when a voice summoned back a few flips to the Performance channel. And there was Jane at some jazz festival or other singing the standards I remember from Radio 2 and my parents record collection. But, shock, horror, she was young, gorgeous and radiated enjoyment. This wasn't what I expected. Where were the manic depressives nodding sagely over red winr and turtlenecks? Well, actually, theywere still there, but in the shadows. And that was that. Jazz came and took me away. Which is a long winded way of saying that I love this CD, a loosely themed concept album tapping the emotional arc of a love affair

This is the debut CD from Julie Mahendran, featuring 10 jazz and pop standards, and one original, with just acoustic bass and drums. No room for Monty Frump here. Kicking off with the purest version of 'On The Street Where You LIve' it has ever been my pleasure to hear, this is a delight from start to finish. Fair enough, Julie is still young and the deisre to show off is still lurking there, with Jon Hendricks' vocalese version of the Miles Davis tune 'Freddie Freeloader' being an example of what I don't like about jazz. It smacks of Donkey in Shrek shouting "me, me" to attract attention. And she doesn't need to attract attention that way, not with such a fabulous voice.

So skipping over track 2, the other highlights include the self penned 'Killer', a taut piece of sultry noir, which will hopefully encourage Julie to write more songs, a surprisingly effective George Michael cover, 'Kissing A Fool' and the album highlight, a closing medley of 'What'll I Do / I'll Be Seeing You', which combines Irving Berlin with a Tom Waits feel into a strangely effective new whole.

Musicians: Julie Mahendran (vocals), Daniel Skakun (drums), John Taylor (acoustic bass)

Saxon - 5/10/04 - King Tuts, Glasgow

Saxon have the kind of stamina that younger men surely must envy (my friend made me say that) Pretty much every 80's rock fan in Glasgow turned out to see the 'Mighty Saxon' lots of big hair and tight straining T-shirts and that was just the men. Hell my friend travelled 200 miles for this little soiree, was it worth it? Apparently so. For an older chap Biff sure has some energy, 2 ¾ hours of old school trash metal ain't bad going. At one point they were so well choreographed it was like an excerpt from Wayne's World. They regaled the crowd with oldies, with a couple of new ones thrown in for fun. A rather entertaining if not slightly commercial set, it went down well though. Not everyone's cup of cocoa but still, a fun way to pass a wet Tuesday night.

Reviewed by Katey J

Pharrah Phosphate - self titled

It's always nice when a CD comes along that is completely impossible to categorise. And this is one of those beasts. At times it's a little bit new wave, then it's a little bit prog, then we go all big melodies, imagine IQ crossed with Radiohead and you might get an idea.

There are some stunning arrangements, and a nice use of alternate sounds, particularly the strings that dip in and out right on cue. They also go for some spacerock style keyboard sounds that add a dramatic and somewhat gloomy edge to the music. Having two different vocalists can sometimes ruin a band, but here it makes for an almost play like scenario, interweaving stories and emotions.

The highlight of an outstanding release is "Regret", straight to the point, bordering on melodramatic, but reining back in just in time. It's definitely a bit different, but the diverse influences meld together beautifully. Available from their website, and well worth checking out, if you like some swoon with your swoosh.

Root Deco- We Come In Peace

An 8 track mini CD to follow up the excellent 'Rings a Bell' reviewed previously on Zeitgeist. The same distinctive Root Deco sound with the opener 'We Come in Peace' sounding a close relation to the wondrous 'O'Ryan in the Underworld' the band so kindly submitted to the 'Moon Orion Project' CD to celebrate 10 years of the Stone Premonitions label. There is also a revisiting of 'Eyes in the Back of my Head' (Roots version) and a welcome return for Heidi Garber's voice on 'Postcard'.

Reviewed by Phil Jackson