Charles Ives is called the father of contemporary American music, say the release notes. He was an innovator and a loner with a brilliant mind, and the songs chosen for this album range from the simplistic to the most complex, and represent the eclectic range of styles Ives used, from jazz to gospel. Henry Cowell […]
The Mornington Singers: To the Northeast, The Choral Music of John Buckley
The title suggested something like the Kings Singers, a jolly choir singing jolly tunes, but within a second it’s clear this is not the case: opener Music, When Soft Voices Die is a beautiful and timeless sacred-sounding song, suggestive of sitting in a church listening to music and pondering life and eternity. The only actual […]
Michael Bublé: Love
This starts off with a sentimental cover, When I Fall In Love, which is peak Bublé, as slow and luscious as you like and his voice shown off to its best. A perky I Only Have Eyes For You follows, just total class; you’d have to be Scrooge not to love it. Love You Anymore […]
Katie Melua: Ultimate Collection
The PR says it’s 15 years since the release of Katie Melua’s debut album (Call Off The Search) but we reckon it’s only five years … it’s only listening to Ms Melua’s music that makes it seem like 15. It’s true! We never meant to be mean about this; we were expecting nice folky pop […]
Boyzone: Thank You and Goodnight
Boyzone have managed to exist for 25 years without troubling the Review Corner sound system, but we guess fans will love this. Thank You and Goodnight is a collection of new songs, with collaborations guaranteed to get them lots of airplay and bring in new fans. Ed Sheeran, who was still in nappies when BZ […]
The Overtones: The Overtones
All we can do with this is say it’s out: it is what it is. We’re guessing the target audience is older women, the inclusion of Rockin’ Robin, a hit in either 1958 (original version) or ‘72 (Michael Jackson) indicating a more mature audience. The sleeve notes write that the music is aimed at people […]
Cilla with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
We have to confess that we didn’t spot this was with the Royal Liverpool Phil — we slapped it on and played it a few times, but Black’s 60s hits sound a little cheesy (see below), so the new orchestral arrangements didn’t initially sound out of place. Black was a singer first and foremost, and […]
Karine Polwart: Laws of Motion
Folk singer Polwart doesn’t need to sing or play instruments to sound good — as she proves on I Burn But I Am Not Consumed, she can talk mellifluously; it’s almost a disappointment when she starts to sing. I Burn But I Am Not Consumed is a good start to the album. In the opening […]
Josh Taerk: Beautiful Tragedy
Taerk comes across as a performer who’s massive in his home country (Canada in his case) and is trying to crack the UK, but he’s not; this new album is his third and he’s yet to break through. It’ll be unbelievable if he doesn’t: he writes instantly appealing, melodic pop/rock tunes that will appeal to […]
Josh Groban: Bridges
Groban is a proper singer; his voice has been called a tenor by some and a baritone by others (G2 to B4, lower than the tenor range on the low end, and above the baritone range, on the high end), and on his rise to fame, he depped for a poorly Andrea Bocelli at the […]
