Reviews

Weekly Reviews For October 10, 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

Salmon - Decade Reference

For once I'll give you an easy intro - if you like classic melodic prog rock in the vein of Twelfth Night or immediately post Gabriel Genesis, then you're going to really like this.

'Trespassing' is an early highlight and you won't be surprised to learn it is very Genesis like, with strong melodies and an aggressive guitar. However, the centrepoint of the album is the 21 minutes and 42 seconds we get to spend in the company of "A Second Life With Heart And Soul", a six part epic. In amidst some wonderful instrumental moments, there are touches of Dream Theater dotted around its utterly pretentious presentation. But not in a bad way, it's nice to see a band willing to take some risks.

Things finish up with another highlight, "The Observer", where some baroque keyboard flourishes lead into a medeival dance number, which turns into an introspective lament, ending an excellent album on a very high note.

Dashboard Confessional - 26th August 2004 - Birmingham Academy

What an amazingly intimate gig, considering the rather roomy venue. Chris Carrabba has this incredible knack of making a person feel like he is singing to them and them alone. He stepped on stage and kicked off the night with a solo number (the rest of the band joined half way through song 2) the crowd went crazy and didn’t stop singing from the first bar to the last note, poor Chris hardly got a chance to sing. The band seemed amazed that hundreds of people had turned up and knew all their songs! A very different style to Chris’s earlier stuff Dashboard Confessional have found their niche, it’s a very acoustic enigmatic sound that makes you want to sing along. Even though they are very easy listening and have been proclaimed the kings of EMO they could never be accused of being bland. They performed many favourites that involved a staggering number of guitar changes through the night. The brilliant dance, swiss army romance and this bitter pill were a few of the very many played. They came back on to perform vindicated (off the Spiderman 2 soundtrack) and finished with the unspeakably brilliant hands down. That performance was so intense that people had tears in their eyes, a beautiful way to end a superb night. Well worth traveling 400 miles for.

Reviewd by Katey J

Dashboard Confessional are: Chris - Vocals/Guitar / Scott - Bass / John - Guitar/Backing vocals / Mike - Drums

Sue Foley - Change

‘This CD took one night to make. There are no overdubs and no re-dos. What you hear is what it was like that winter’s night at Hugh’s Room in Toronto. We did it on the fly without rehearsing. Sue Foley goes on to say in her sleeve notes that making ‘Change’ was the best time she’d had making a CD. It turns out that this is her ninth CD and that she has received Blues Awards in Canada and supported the likes of John Lee Hooker, B.B. King, Joe Cocker, Buddy Guy and Tom Petty.

The CD opens with the self penned ‘Going Down the Road Again’ and Sue’s prowess as a guitarist is soon is evidence. An obscure blues ‘Hardworking Woman’ written by Mississippi Matilda also proves that Sue digs deep for her material. The CD begins to really take off with ‘Doggie Treats’ where she is joined by her band: Graham Guest on keyboards and a rhythm section of Mike Turenne and Tom Bora. A brilliant six minute interpretation of W.C. Handy’s ‘Careless Love’ is followed by an impressive title song before Sue tackles a ditty by one of her musical heroines, the larger than life Memphis Minnie (Minnie Douglas McCoy) a big star in the 1930s with her raucous brand of electric blues. Two of Minnie’s songs ‘Bad Luck Woman’ and ‘Me and My Chaufeur’ are covered to excellent effect. Amidst the blues there’s a sensitive version of George Harrison’s ‘Here Comes the Sun’ and a rocking closer in Sue’s own ‘Shake That Thing’. The two other songs ‘Sugar in My Bowl’ based on Bessie Smith’s version and featuring a neat keyboard solo and Jimmy Reed’s ‘You Don’t Have to Go’ complete an impressive set.

The lucky people who were in High’s Room in December, 2003 were treated to a wonderful show. I’m really glad this recording came my way as it has whetted my appetite to check out the rest of Sue’s catalogue.

Everything about ‘Change’ is quality- the impressive digipak sleeve, the choice of material, some fine playing and most of all Sue’s extraordinary voice, reassuringly familiar yet in a style all her own.

Well done to Ruf Records for making this live concert available. ‘Change’ comes highly recommended to all those who like their blues well done with a bit of rock on the side.

(RUF 1096)
(Reviewed by Phil Jackson for Zeitgeist)

Editors note - any CD by Sue Foley is worth owning, as watchers of Joan Of Arcadia now know, she is hugely talented.

Jo Cang - Firefly

Jo Cang has been playing music since he was a boy, performing in various bands before joining Scritti Politti at the tender age of eighteen. However, at the time, he was writing and recording with the Ghanain master drummer Reebop Kwaku Baah (best known to Western ears from his time with Traffic). Jo reckons that this was an "important experience" in his musical development.

After Baah's untimely death he spent a year touring with Ian Dury, Desmond Dekker
and Kintone. His first solo album, 'Navigator' came out and led to writing collaborations with Hall & Oates, Hugh Masekela and Aswad amongst others.

As well as writing and producing tracks for Steel Pulse, he also co-wrote on the Hall & Oates album "Marigold Sky", and still found time to complete this new solo album, 'Firefly'.

The crucial clue to this collection of outstanding songs lies in the one cover version. 'Long Distance Love' from the pen of Lowell George (Little Feat) sets the mood for a stirring collection of soulful, bluesy, seventies style guitar rock, all underpinned by the warm vocals of Jo.

And it's that fuzzy amalgamation of styles and genres that makes this a truly delightful set, from the acoustic love lament that is 'Sure' through to the laid back funk of 'Bad Luck' and the delightful 'Trust Me'.

It's a reflective set of songs, carefully put together to provide a late night mood, relaxing, thoughtful and sometimes inspiring.

Henry - A Little Fiat

Well, I suppose as the Pixies have reformed to some acclaim, there must be a market for their eighties based spiky, wired guitar alternative rock, and Henry fit the bill to a T. It's a little bit shoegazing, it's a little bit Mary Chain, with nods to the requisite Velvet Undergound influences.

From the first number, 'Fun In The Sun', I'm transported to a time when whey, pasty young boys in long raincoats would talk existential over a glass of cider and blackcurrant, while the rest of us were having sex, but there will always be a market for slightly gloomy, alt-rock.

The highlights are 'Don't Wait Forever' and 'My Home' where they overcome their influences and begin to assert themselves on original music. Song about love, drugs and suicide will always have a home amongst the disenfranchised and the uninteresting, and these throaty tales are as good as the genre gets.

Fade – 16th Sept 2004 - The Vale – Glasgow

Fade kicked off the night with a long funky intro, they sound like Oasis with a wee bit of Primus mixed in. They have a very raw sound and they weren’t gelling in the beginning, but all credit to them for getting on stage and receiving rapturous applause. When the beats are good THEY ARE!!!! The lead singer was just missing his parka and a tambourine; he has a rather gritty and unmistakable voice that you remember. You can’t fault FADE on enthusiasm 10/10 for effort. The crowd got more and more enthusiastic I think there may have been a few friends and family present but towards the end of the set they deserved response. Their performance got stronger as they gained confidence. A point to make though they should consider being a 3 piece with a front man i.e. the singer should stop playing guitar and concentrate on what he does best SING! The last track was ambient and rocky, a good finisher that even had people standing up to clap. Keep up the good work lads.

Reviewed by Katey J