Reviews

Weekly Reviews For October 3, 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

The Bevis Frond - Hit Squad

For me the release of a new Bevis Frond CD has become an event I eagerly anticipate much in the same way as I used to anticipate a new album by The Beatles or Procol Harum.
I was ‘late developer’ into the music of this band but from the moment I heard the first bars of ‘What Did For the Dinosaurs’ I was hooked and began to check out the back catalogue. Hit Squad’, despite the fact that it was a real effort to put the album out as Nick Saloman related with his usual candour in a diatribe against the low grade state of the music (and other cultural) industries, stands up there with the ‘best of ‘em’.

The first four tracks are as good as anything the band has done. ‘All set, come in, sit down, there’s beer in the basin’ sings Nick. You feel like an old friend is back, Roddy Lorimer’s trumpet heightens further the sense of anticipation- if only this song had lasted a few minutes longer. The slow burning incendiary rocker ‘Dragons’ is next followed by 8 minutes of being ‘dragged backwards through the hedge. Snappy drumming, great bass playing a blissful duet between guitar and a cheesy organ (sounds like my old Farfisa- deliciously retro!), this track has everything! You know a heartfelt ballad is coming soon and sure enough- this is delivered on ‘I Feel Bad About You’.

Nick’s lyrics are, as always deeply personal based on (often bitter) experience but always observed with a trained eye. On the ‘spoof’ title track (For a few seconds I thought it was Duane Eddy but I guess it’s supposed to be more something from James Bond) Nick ‘vents his spleen’ as never before. But I guess he’s got a lot to be angry about. Why music like this doesn’t get maximum exposure is beyond me. I thought instantly of Rare Bird (You know the melodic incarnation) when I heard ‘Way Back When’- quite beautiful. The band can’t resist a good riff for long though and it’s more the Jimi Hendrix Experience on ‘Mission Completed’ with one of Nick’s fabulous little guitar breaks thrown in for good measure. A hard act to follow Andy Ward may be on drums but Jules Fenton does a pretty good job here. ‘Your Litte Point’ is a particular favourite- have a good listen to (or read – the words are all thoughtfully provided for you) but don’t analyse too deeply. Frond music is not for the faint hearted. It does get pretty intense at times but the rock gets you in the end and the choruses prove irresistible. I can’t make up my mind whether ‘Crumbs’ is written as an ode to a guitar hero or an unattainable love. Whatever, it’s a beautiful little song of few chords but big impact. The punkish ‘Doing Nothing’ follows- correction punk bands didn’t use warbling synths- did they? The wordsmith manages quite a collection of verbs here to describe his frustration with modern life. ‘High Point’ is getting a bit of radio play and Nick adds some harmonica to round off a pleasing country tinged song. The reference to ‘sad sack’ is intriguing. It’s not the ‘sad sack’ in the old comic books is it? It includes the immortal line ‘your cranial caesarean section’ and could be Elvis Costello and the Attractions. On ‘It’s A Gut Thing’ the opening suggests Motown but a lot more complex than that and features some notable bass playing from Ade Shaw.

Nick sings of ‘retribution’ as his frustration boils over in ‘No Attempt’. The heavy penultimate track ‘Am I Burning?’ has another of those ‘killer riffs’ and again Hendrix’s Experience springs to mind. The album closes with nearly 12 minutes of ambience.
‘Hit Squad’ is a quite brilliant double album containing 18 haunting songs. of the superlative quality I’ve come to expect from The Bevis Frond. My advice to music lovers everywhere is ‘Buy! Buy! Buy!’ and really set The Bevis Frond ‘at large in the world of rock’.

(Reviewed by Phil Jackson for Zeitgeist)

Kirsten Williams - Flood The Sky

Kentucky born singer/songwriter Kirsten Williams was originally inpsired by the modern folk music she heard while in college. Thus inspired, she picked up the guitar and taught herself to play, eventually performing solo at various local venues, leading to her first album, 'Exposure', in 1998.

In 1999, her second album, 'Where I Was' saw Kirsten with a full band and the same year saw Williams move to the East Village, in the heart of one of New Yorks most vibrant music scenes. Album number three, 'Between Home and Here' arrived in 2001 and now, 2004 sees the arrival of 'Flood the Sky', a truly remarkable release.

If you're looking for comaprisons, then it's the alt folk stylings of Lucinda Williams that is closest, with hints of the Cowboy Junkies and early Sarah McLachlan, all underpinned by a remarkable ability to write a memorable and pointed song, all self penned apart from a cover of the Edie Brickell song, 'Olivia'.

Virginia Astley - From Gardens Where We Feel Secure

A lost ambient classic from 1983, this is the first time her most famous album has been given an official U K release on CD, only having been available as an import from Japan and the USA.

A direct ancestor and inspiration to the the Orb, Ultramarine and others, this appeared from seemingly out of nowhere, owing nothing to anyone else, and seemingly timeless in mood.

The album is split into two sequences, morning and afternoon, this is a historical ambient document which anyone with an interest in that style of music has a duty to investigate. Virginia Astley has never stopped making music, and has collaborated with the likes of Siouxsie & The Banshees, Bill Drummond, David Sylvian and Ryuchi Sakamoto. Half a decade before The KLF’s 'Chill Out', this is the sound of someone ahead and out of time.

Daco Sepali – 16th Sept - The Vale – Glasgow

Technical problems delayed the start; they had a very complacent cocky attitude. They are a mild mannered version of the Sex Pistols, Chris wasn’t hitting all the notes, but hey look at Sid Vicious he never hit a note and look how well he did for himself! Daco Sepali are the babes of the Glasgow punk scene. They definitely have the attitude they just need to work on bringing their set together as they were out of sync. The mic was handed over to the guitarist as Chris had a ‘sore throat’ sorry boy’s but you did that last time it’s what’s known as a gimmick. Tonight’s performance was average perhaps they should concentrate a bit more in rehearsals and knock the complacent attitude on the head.

Katey J

Daco Sepali are:

Chris - Vocals and Harmonica
David - Guitar
Midge - Guitar and Vocals
Paul - Bass
Sean - Drums

Thirteen Senses - Do No Wrong

Another bunch of indie rock hopefuls looking to grab onto the Coldplay market while Chris thingy is playing change the nappy with Gwyneth and little baby Indolent, or whatever it's called.

Unlike Keane, however, they do actually have some depth to their middle class musings, with some inspired guitar work and tuneful melodies. Granted, I'm never going to care for upper register vocals (haven't they dropped yet?), but if you're going to listen to swelling anthems, better this than the competition.

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Muleskinner Jones - Death Row Hoedown

Somebody, somewhere, somehow compared Mr Jones to the Handsome Family, which was enough to propel this straight into the B-bin, an array of music for review, which only see the light of day in the event of biblical type disasters. Thankfully, the arrival of a hurricane propelled this out of the darkness.

Number 1 good thing about this album - it lasts less than half an hour. A proper length for an album. Don;t bother with eighty minutes of guff, show some quality control people. Artists poop too. And far too often it ends up being pressed onto a CD and foisted upon the poop purchasing public.

Number 2 good thing - the music. Like a crazed Beefheartian take on the rootsier side of rock, it's a little bit country, a little bit rock and roll, to quote another handsome family, namely Donnie and Marie Osmond. If you're looking for a highlight, head for 'Truckstop Funeral', nearly eight minutes of swirling bluegrass psychedelia. The album is swathed in Vanilla Fudge keyboard sounds, but retaining a country edge, this is absolutely splendid. A bit like the Coral, but without the annoying scousisms, and with a reasonable chance of keeping the tyres on your car.