Author: jerobear
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Judith Owen: Somebody’s Child
You can have a two-word review for this album: Laurel Canyon. If you want four, Laurel Canyon, Carole King. Owen is a Welsh singer-songwriter, and has been releasing music since 1996. She’s toured and recorded with Richard Thompson, and is married to Harry Shearer (Spinal Tap, and the likes of Mr Burns and Principal Skinner…
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Beverley Knight: Soulsville
After her last album of British soul covers, Knight has turned to the US and the Memphis air has clearly done her good. We’re not big on her music in the Review Corner but the fact that we like this must mean it’s her best work in a while. She sounds like a performer half…
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Roxette: Good Karma
After playing this the statutory 10 times we realised that a good Roxette tune is one that hits a certain groove and stays there, like Got The Look; opener Why Dontcha? is one such tune — fast, clean and catchy (and a bit like Look). Track two Just Happens is another strong one (it’s slower…
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Enrique Granados: Orchestral Works Vol. 2
Unlike the Portuguese album we reviewed recently, Enrique Granados Campiña, who died 100 years ago, was a Spanish pianist and composer whose music in places sounds very Spanish, its straightforward sound being immediately appealing. The CD opens with Intermezzo from his one-act opera Goyescas, apparently one of the best-loved pieces in Spanish music. It’s easy…
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Air: Twenty Years
There must be people who love Air (and we did play Pocket Symphony a lot when it came out) but they’re one of those bands we never think of, then enjoy when we do hear them. You can guess what this double CD is all about, and the surprising thing is how many tunes are…
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Phil Collins: …But Seriously
The latest in the series of reissues, this is the most Phil Collins of Phil Collins albums. Phil Collins central. If you don’t like Phil Collins, there’s nothing here for you. Turn round and walk away before anyone gets hurt. First play-through it came over a bit samey, then the memory cells kicked in. It…
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Metronomy: Summer 08
Metronomy’s Joe Mount’s new album recalls when his band first made it big, summer 2008. We think we first saw him the year before, at the 2007 edition of Latitude; after hearing the music floating about a bit, we suddenly realised what he was trying to do with his quirky, out-of-kilter electronic pop. Since the…
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Fantastic Negrito: The Last Days of Oakland
Xavier Dphrepaulezz (pronounced De-Frepple-Ez) is about the most interesting musician you could come across. Ignore that qualifier: the most interesting person, full stop. Dphrepaulezz was born in western Massachusetts, the eighth of 14 kids in a strict religious family. His Oxford-educated Somalian father ran a restaurant — his dad was born in 1905 so he…
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Kenneth Hesketh: Horae (Pro Clara)
Pianist Clare Hammond performs music by British composer Kenneth Hesketh, the title track written for her. It comprises 17 short pieces in four works, the complete work Notte Oscura clocking in at seven minutes, the shortest track just under three. It’s just piano; the shortness of the tracks and the fact that it wanders in…
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Xia Guan: Symphony No2 Hope
We always find film soundtracks a bit naff — they seem to lack soul, partly because they’ve usually got to play in a film without overwhelming the plot, and partly because some sections are written to be in the background. This new CD by renowned Chinese composer Xia Guan is good because it sounds like…
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