Author: jerobear
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Dario Castello: Sonate Concertae 1629
We always seem to getting CDs of forgotten geniuses; this time its Dario Castello, whose music was published in 1621 and 1629 and was so groundbreaking it continued to be reprinted until 1658. Castello’s music was popular throughout the c17th and beyond, too. Unlike some of the CDs reviewed recently, this was not music composed…
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Red Hot Chili Peppers: The Getaway
After years of turning out cool, funky rock the Chilis hit a sound with By The Way, packed full of hits but much slicker than the previous work; we’ve found that and their subsequent work a bit samey. They also like lengthy albums — 2006’s Stadium Arcadium seemed about two weeks long. You could certainly…
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Ciaran Lavery: Not Nearly Dark
Alongside King Harvest and the Weight (reviewed yesterday), we’ve spent a lot of time listening to this lovely new album. Ciaran Lavery is from the small village of Aghagallon, on the edge of Lough Neagh in County Armagh, and started playing and singing at the age of 15. Now based in the UK, his new…
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King Harvest and The Weight: Maps
We’ve played this as much as any album we’ve reviewed, and he’s certainly a guy with talent, blending The Darkness with the Isley Brothers, and Queen with Humble Pie. Early on, it seems a bit all over the place, one minute a tight rock tune the next more soulful, but you soon get into the…
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Bruno Borralhinho/Orquestra Gulbenkian: Portuguese Music for Cello and Orchestra
This is modern (ish) music and we weren’t sure what to expect but if you’re thinking clichéd traditional music, you’re in for a surprise. It’s all modern and traditional European. Opening piece Poema, by Luiz Costa (completed and orchestrated by Pedro Faria Gomes) sounds pastoral and English, the cello of Bruno Borralhinho playing under a…
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Sturgill Simpson: A Sailor’s Guide to Earth
“Outlaw country” musician Simpson has delivered an interesting album that musically sounds like what the Blues Brothers set could have been, had they delivered a proper show at Bob’s Country Bunker (where they had both kinds of music, country and western). He sounds old school country — Waylon Jennings is the obvious comparison — but…
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Goo Goo: Dolls Boxes
Goo Goo Dolls have sold 10m albums but we bet 9m+ of those are in the States, where formulaic music goes down well. The British are more discerning. We’ve had several Goo Goo Dolls albums over the years, and it’s melodic rock we think we should like more but just never play. If you want…
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Selah Sue: Reason
Belgium produces some great music: we bought a stack of quality indie CDs (Boy And the Echo Choir, Nox) from a shop in Brussels (near the weeing nipper, if you’re over). Rock band Triggerfinger are from Lier, and we had to buy tickets to see the Rolling Stones to catch them live in Hyde Park.…
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Cosmic Machine: The Sequel
This is Because Music’s second collection of French electronica from the 70s and 80s, and we found it more entertaining than volume one, which was more up and down. It’s a bit later on in the era and there’s the Chic guitar influence, those fake disco flutes that were trendy for a while and even…
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