Author: jerobear
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Johnny Marr: Adrenalin Baby Live
Live albums can be a bit hit and miss: usually the studio versions are better (though not always — Neil Young live and in the studio is equally interesting). In this case, Marr live is better than in the studio, at least for his solo work. His debut solo album (The Messenger) was a little…
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David Guetta: Listen Again
For many a long year, we thought The Associates’ Party Fears Two was the worst record ever made but we now know this is not correct. The honour goes to Mr Guetta for the abysmal Clap Your Hands. An irritating dance beat opens the track before an annoying man intones: “If you’re happy and you…
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Carson Cooman: Liminal
According to Wikipedia, liminality is an anthropological term (from the Latin word limen, meaning a threshold, but you knew that, right?), “the quality of ambiguity or disorientation that occurs in the middle stage of rituals, when participants no longer hold their pre-ritual status but have not yet begun the transition to the status they will…
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Eternal Summers: Gold And Stone
We don’t like being negative about music — to write even a half-way decent tune is very hard — but this pop indie album did nothing more than fill us with apathy. There’s nothing to set it apart from any other indie album from a band with jangly guitars and a female vocalist. We’re…
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One OK Rock: 35xxxv
One Ok Rock are a Japanese rock band formed in 2005 and have sold a million albums over their career. With this new one we guess they’re trying to increase that into the tens of millions, via global sales. It’s a slick and highly commercial rock album. The clear influence is Linkin Park, both for…
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Enter Shikari: The Mindsweep: Hospitalised
We like Enter Shikari, with their shouty but politically charged songs coupling anger with metal/DnB. The Mindsweep, which came out early this year, was no different, the title referring to those in power withholding new ideas and keeping our minds swept clean. This sees Hospital Records’ producers remix the tracks, and we have to say…
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Neil Young: Neil Young and Bluenote Café
This live two-CD set offers up an unexpected side of Young, his blues and (almost) big band sound. It’s an intimate set that features seven unreleased songs. Standouts include the closing tracks on each CD, a smoky, jazz blues Twilight and a 20-minute version of Tonight’s The Night. The recordings are from the Bluenotes tour…
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Emilie and Ogden: 10,000
This CD is a little too unassuming for its own good; it’s endearing and entertaining but just a little too quiet to really snag your attention, which is less than it deserves. Mind you, harp-led music can tend towards twee and there’s nary a sign of tweeing here, which is good. Emilie Kahn is a…
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Frankie Lee: American Dreamer
… and coming up on the inside is this contender for album of the year, though it takes one or two plays for its many charms to become apparent. This is an excellent, if low key, album, somewhere between Stevie Nicks (for the vocals) and Mark Knopfler (rootsy country with gentle guitar noodling) for the…
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Enya: Dark Sky Island
We struggle with Enya; we like ambient and New Age music, but Enya seems content (who wouldn’t be, given her sales?) to churn out albums that are aimed more at the garden centre than the record store. It’s as diffuse (and about as interesting) as a damp autumn mist. Dark Sky Island is her first…
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