Category: Singers
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Phil Collins: Face Value / Both Sides
It’s not quite up there with Blackadder going over the top or Del Boy missing the bar and falling over, but one truly great television moment was the opening episode of Miami Vice: Crockett and Tubbs drive down a waterfront road in a Ferrari Daytona Spyder, racing to a show-down. The soundtrack that made it…
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Stephanie Kirkham: Tiny Spark
We’re highly impressed with this album, though its slickness might put people off: it makes Mumford and Sons sound like a grim underground black metal band. In a nutshell, she’s written the soundtrack to a rom-com (not starring Jennifer Aniston — it would be really good) with songs that are often jauntier than the Andrex…
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Them: Complete Them 1964-1967
Stealing their name from now long-forgotten London band, Shorty and Them (“Nobody’s going to hear of us London” figured young Ivan Morrison), Them are the band with which Van the Man first made his name, though not much cash (“It was a weird situation to be famous and broke — it’s one thing being broke…
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Johnny Cash: Man In Black Live in Denmark
The highlight of this CD is possibly not the Man In Black himself but a tune that later featured in Quentin Tarantino’s best film. This CD (it was originally part of a DVD) was recorded in 1971 for Danish television, which explains the self-censoring line “son of a bleep” at the end of Boy Named…
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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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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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CeeLo Green: Heart Blanche
This has received a few mixed reviews so we were surprised how good it was. While it’s not original, it hits a consistently high standard and it’s an upbeat, positive album. Younger listeners will appreciate the slick tunes and dance/soul that’s a cut above most music around, older folk will like the references to past…
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Frank Sinatra: A Voice On Air (1935-1955)
This 4CD deluxe box set comprises 100-odd tracks featuring radio broadcasts and rehearsals featuring Sinatra, and restored from the original recording masters. This overview charts Sinatra’s evolution as a vocalist, and includes samples of his radio work from the first 20 years of his career. Having just had Peter Andre’s swing album to review, this…
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