Recommended Releases
Ryan Adams - Gold
One of 2001's most acclaimed releases, Ryan Adam's Gold has inevitably invited comparisons to the glory days of the Stones, Dylan, and Neil Young. Not a bad bunch of legends to be compared to, yet Adams is no bland imitator - these 16 tunes showcase an inventive and powerful writer that has carved his own place in the sun.
Moving seamlessly from heart-felt ballads that tread the right side of sentimentality to rock that never outstays its welcome, Gold is an album that evokes a smoky bar on the edge of a lonely, mid-western highway. Pull up a chair, pour yourself a beer, and lose yourself in Adam's world.
Our Rating: 9/10.
Neil Finn - 7 Worlds Collide
Following on less than a year from his fairly disappointing One Nil, Neil Finn has released an intriguing live album with a stellar backing band that includes brother Tim, Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, and Johnny Marr of the Smiths.
Mainly a showcase of his own back catalogue, 7 Worlds Collide also features strong performances of Smiths classic There Is A Light That Nevers Goes Out and Split Enz's I See Red. A collection for the fans and those who want to share in what must have been a special night of musical collaboration.
Our Rating: 7/10.
Pink Floyd - Echoes
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The Pink Floyd story is pure soap opera - drugs, psychedelia, madness, exile, excess, and bitter feuds - but despite it all, the band (in its various guises) has crafted a body of work that few can match. This compilation brings together some of the most memorable tracks (Pink Floyd had few chart hits) from each of the bands incarnations - Syd Barrett's late '60's doodlings, the memorable early '70's sonic landscapes, the increasingly bitter polemics of the Waters-dominated late '70's, and the Gilmour-penned output from the last two albums.
The different sounds of the different eras don't always hang together well on this compilation, and despite the 'mad genius' tag that Barrett has had bestowed on him after his exile from the band, it is his tracks that sound the weakest. Interesting museum pieces they certainly are, but a song like Bike sounds particularly thin following on from the Gilmour classic High Hopes. An album (rather than a singles) band, some Pink Floyd tracks have also lost their power away from the context of the associated album (Sheep and The Fletcher Memorial Home in particular).
These are small gripes though against the magic of anthemic classics such as Wish You Were Here, Another Brick In The Wall, and Comfortably Numb. With aural gems such as the title track and The Great Gig In The Sky rounding out this worthy (if patchy) collection, fans and the curious will find plenty to please.
Our Rating: 8/10
Yann Tiersen - Amelie (Label: Virgin France)
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A highly recommended selection is the soundtrack to the film Amelie from Montmarte (see Movie Reviews). Having seen this film, I left the cinema as if still riding a merry-go-round; a feeling largely attributable to Yann Tiersen's fantastic soundtrack.
That small number of French critics of the film who have described its depiction of Paris as unrealistic have missed the point. It is a fairy-tale of true love. Jean Pierre Jeunet's choice of Tiersen's music as the accompaniment is inspired; complementing the imagery perfectly (a soundtrack cannot hope for a higher compliment).
Tiersen manipulates French musical idioms which instantly tap into the romantic view of Paris. The dominance of accordion (a favourite instrument of mine) is also key. The accordion, an instrument of the people with a proud continental heritage, is associated with heightened emotion; it is the accompaniment for weddings and funerals. The accordion is the dark and the light, and here a master of musical chiaroscuro uses it to enhance Jeunet's picture. The accordian's evocation of Brechtian theatrics, Wiellian cabaret and Victorian Circuses also allow Tiersen to create an other-wordly feeling, further helping Jeunet's film transcend the prosaic.
But the soundtrack is not all about accordion. Tiersen also employs toy piano, carillon, banjo, mandolins, guitar, harpsichord, vibraphone, piano, bass guitar and melodica. The opening track J'y Suis Jamais Allé wheels and whirls; a golden leaf dancing down a boulevard infecting you with pleasure. Les Jours Tristes is more playful and childlike, a march for toys. La Valse D'Amélie maintains the momentum, though this waltz occasionally hints at a danse macabre (as does the final La Valse des Monstres). It is revisited later on in an effective orchestral arrangement and again as a piano version. The orchestral version is a wash of sound and sadness while the piano version tumbles toward a reflective conclusion.
The Nymanesque Comptine d'un autre été: L'Apres Midi and the later Sur Le Fil are beautiful piano solos whose infusion of melancholy adds poise to the whole. The beautiful Le Moulin, where the opening accordion refrain is picked up and replaced by solo piano, is equally haunting. La Noyée is a highlight. Wheezing accordion is soon married with compelling strings and together they set the spirit ablaze. L'Autre Valse D' Amélie is more whimsical and is followed by Guilty, the first of two recordings from the 1930's that are used to allow Jeunet's characters to feel something of what the audience is feeling.
A Quai picks up the tempo again with frenzied harpsichord before the aforementioned Le Moulin. The sound of a rhythmic typewriter introduces and enhances Pas Si Simple and reminds me that Amelie is an author of good fortune. The remaining tracks continue to balance uplifting energy with melancholy, enhancing light and dark.
Many of the tracks are taken from Tiersen's earlier albums so even if you haven't seen the film this is a valuable introduction to his work. There is much to love in this music.
Our Rating: 9/10
Saso - Big Group Hug (Label: Melted Snow)
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File under 'Cherished'.
Since hearing Saso's Warmed Up EP I have been longing for the album. Saso (Jim Lawlor et al) are an Irish outfit and reviews for their EP likened them to other Northern giants Mogwai, Sigur Ros and Radiohead - almost doing Saso justice.
If you want a label then "slowcore" is as (in)appropriate as any. There are some glimpses of early Mogwai's calmer moments but Saso almost never engage in noisy eruptions, favouring beautiful modulations. There is none of Radiohead's overt angst. Nor are the tunes or production overwrought. We are treated to an introspective sound but one that is never morose or maudlin. Minor keys dominate but the tempo maintains momentum. Listening to this music leaves me hopeful.
The title is NOT ironic, and while I could sometimes be mistaken for Diogenes (well, the barrel he lived in anyway) I welcome this refreshing rejection of irony and cynicism. Big Group Hug delivers music of emotional substance (and you can enjoy this big group hug in the privacy of your own home). It is an intensely personal music displaying sensitivity, fragility and honesty, and it delivers catharsis. To listen to this album is to know you are not alone.
Our Rating: 9/10
New Order - Get Ready (Label: London Records)
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It has been a long, empty eight years for die-hard New Order fans, most of whom must have assumed that this most influential of British bands had hung up the dusty keyboard and bass guitar for good. When news of the band reformation - something that seemed unlikely given the diverse projects undertaken by band members and seemingly strained relationships - came to light, there was a high level of expectation. Eight years on from the underrated Republic, did New Order still have it in them to produce a worthy addition to their catalogue?
Happily the answer is 'yes', although there would be few who could deny that this is an uneven 'hit and miss' affair. Thankfully the key ingredients - Bernard Sumner's distinctive vocals, Peter Hook's bass lines, electronic-infused rock - are still present and all accounted for, and there is enough freshness evident to make this album much more than a nostalgic rehash.
A rockier effort than most New Order albums, Get Ready contains enough nods to the past to keep the '80's fan sated, but has thankfully moved the goalposts well and truly into the present. Reminding us that no-one fuses so many musical genres so successfully, we can only be grateful that New Order make it work more often than most.
Our Rating: 7/10
Ed Harcourt - Here Be Monsters (Label: Heavenly)
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"Harcourt doesn't put a foot wrong. 8/10" - NME
"An album of lush sounds cleverly arranged in layer upon layer of piano and trumpet, with a fascinating dose of weirdness thrown in. 5/5" - The Fly
"Here Be Monsters is a fine way to begin a career. If he betters this he
will have become very special indeed. 4/5" - Q
"Slow growing gem of a debut evoking a myriad of moods with its depth, dramatics and well constructed melodies." - Time Out
And who am I to argue? This, Harcourt's first full album, has deservedly been nominated for the Technics Mercury Music Prize. There is a lot to listen to on this album.
Musically the opening track "Something In My Eye" doffs its cap to Radiohead's "No Surprises", but thankfully (for a change) Harcourt's voice, while heavenly, is not another from the angelic school (Jeff Buckley, Thom Yorke, Adam Cohen, Geneva's Andrew Montgomery, etc.). Harcourt doesn't eschew vibrato and is capable of communicating emotion to either match or contrast (for sardonic effect) his lyrics, as on tack three "She Fell Into My Arms" which musically evokes a silly little love song.
"God Protect Your Soul" is instantly reminiscent of David J's (former
Bauhaus bass player) "Urban Urbane" with a predominantly sinister whisper for vocal underpinned by a similarly dark piano refrain. However, it is not long before the song erupts with Hadrian Garrard's mariachi-style trumpet (ala Tindersticks and Calexico) and Harcourt's vocals become painfully expressive.
The con sordino trumpet on track four, "Those Crimson Tears", is quite
different. Like that on The The's "Dusk" it evokes wet nights, city lights and melancholy - perhaps a lonely winter walk through one of Europe's old cities, matching as it does the mood captured so well by the excerpt of Beethoven's Fidelio in the closing scene of Martha Fiennes' film of Onegin. Bowed double-bass, brushed snare drum and sustained (but spaced) piano open the track before it slides into plucked double-bass and the occasional strum of guitar, to which are added a haunting string arrangement and the aforementioned trumpet. A track of great beauty. Track eight "Wind Through the Trees" is a similarly beautiful song, evoking loss and an autumnal Sussex countryside.
Harcourt is already a master, somthing that becomes more evident with each listening. You won't be short-changed if you buy this album. As Harcourt says "Listen to the songs when drunk , sober,happy or sad and they will make sense."
Our Rating: 8/10
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