Author: jerobear
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Wille and The Bandits: Living Free
Like a pint of hand-pulled beer and a log fire after a long day’s walk in the hills, this double live CD is instantly comforting and familiar. Wille and The Bandits are predominantly a live band and we’ve never heard of them before, but frontman Wille Edwards is a consummate guitarist, playing lap steel and…
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Michael Barenboim: Sciarrino – Tartini – Berio – Paganini
After an acclaimed debut solo album of music by Bach, Bartók and Boulez, Barenboim returns with this new recording, in which the word “virtuosic” is used in the Press release. It is that, but the mix of old and more modern means it’s not a CD of two halves, more like three or four. All…
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Johann Sebastian Bach: St John Passion (1749 version, with additional movements from 1725 version)
As the sleeve notes put it, this and the St Matthew Passion are “without a doubt” two of the most important works Bach composed. Say the notes: “No further reason needs to be given for the fact that they are considered among the most distinguished compositions of Western music since they were rediscovered in the…
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Thomas Truax: All That Heaven Allows
We’ve not Googled Truax as we like the fact he is a mystery; to find out he’s called Gary and the son of an accountant from Manchester or he’s really called Dwayne from Ohio would spoil the mystique. The best comparisons with Truax’s music are from film: Donnie Darko or David Lynch (upon whom Truax…
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Giacomo Carissimi: Oratorio Di Daniele Profeta
Another CD for those who want some inspiring sacred music for Easter. Carissimi (1605-1674) was well known in his day, and Samuel Pepys wrote of a performance of his music: “Fine it was, indeed, and too fine for me to judge of,” a review that we’d probably not get away with: “It’s so good we…
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Josh Taerk: Stages
Taerk (pronounced Turk) looks and sounds like a refugee from Top Of The Pops in the 80s, up there with people like Nik Kershaw and Howard Jones — singer/songwriters far better at writing tunes then looking hip. We’d not heard of him, but you can tell he’s one those “big in their own country” acts,…
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Field Music: Open Here
We guess you can either write tunes to make money or write what you feel you need to, sod the market and keep your self-respect. Field Music are in the latter camp; from what we can gather brothers David and Peter Brewis make minimal money from their music but have accumulated a back catalogue to…
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Andrew Lloyd Webber: Unmasked The Platinum Collection
Lloyd Webber is one of those composers you never think about; his music has become the background sound to modern culture in a way that few other performers manage. Don’t Cry For Me Argentina is a song that everyone can sing along to, from youngsters to pensioners. Listening to this four CD boxset, the overwhelming…
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The Xcerts: Hold On To Your Heart
The Xcerts have been going for years, formed by 13-year-olds Murray Macleod and Jordan Smith in 2001, and have toured with Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly, Fightstar and Taking Back Sunday. They were meant to support Guns N’ Roses but for “logistical reasons” all the support bands were forced to drop off of the tour.…
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Panayiotis Demopoulos: Brahms, Demopoulos and Mussorgsky
It’s not the usual comparison but this CD reminds us of Rob da Bank’s old 5am show on Radio One, aimed at people who’ve been up all night at a discotheque (as they don’t call them), and need some chill-out music to bring them down to a point where they can sleep. Clearly classical piano…
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