Tag: jazz
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Son of Dave: Music for Cop Shows
We’ve heard of Son of Dave — he’s being going for 20 years — but heard nothing by him until now. Or at least no solo work; he was in Crash Test Dummies for a spell. Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm. He plays beat-box and harmonica-driven blues, and the sound and DIY ethos are reminiscent of…
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Rationale: Rationale
We were anticipative of contemporary hip hop but Rationale — real name Tinashe Fazakerley — is somewhat old school Rnb. Having been flummoxed by the lack of hippity hop, the album still left us slightly discombobulated (he started it, Rationale Fazakerley indeed): Fazakerley has a good voice, a soulful baritone that connects with the listener’s…
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Rob Keeley: Twists and Turns
Skittish is the word for this CD from Keeley. This is partly because of the pairing of instruments such as clarinet and harpsichord (which create a sound different to what one normally hears) but also because of the music itself, which skitters about like a giddy rabbit in a summer’s field. The sound is somewhere…
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Green Day: God’s Favourite Band
No really, God loves them. Not THE God, obviously, the one whose son’s birth we celebrate, but a Python-esque carton voiced by an actor on the Stephen Colbert show, presumably so they could name this hits package what they did. Green Day’s last hits package was 2002’s International Superhits, at which time they had a…
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Alexander Armstrong: In A Winter Light
We were expecting to mock this: a cursory play through, a pithy review, job done. Unfortunately, it’s pretty good; if it was more Christmassy, it’d come with free reindeer poo and tinsel. We played it about six times on the run. Armstrong is not only the voice of Dangermouse, he went to St Mary’s…
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Madeleine Mitchell: Violin Muse
This CD demonstrates the violin at its most bleak/stark/purest; take your pick. Even Atlantic Drift, which opens with the sound of a lively folk song, is sparse and with an edge. This is not a criticism, just to say the album is mostly not warm or romantic, just dry and slightly melancholy; more a funeral…
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Pet Shop Boys: Elysium
This was their 11th album and named Elysium for the place the ancient Greeks sent their Gods for a blissful afterlife. It’s chilled and for a dance act, low key. That’s not to say the album lacks variety. Not as good as Very, reviewed last week but it has the comfort of the familiar, a…
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Squeeze: The Knowledge
Younger readers might not have heard of Squeeze, famous for hits such as Up The Junction and Cool for Cats; witty, insightful lyrics coupled with catchy pop tunes. In latter years they’ve reformed and toured but not achieved the same status as Madness or even some of the 2-Tone bands still touring. It was never…
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Anthony Goldstone and Caroline Clemmow: Franz Schubert: Complete Piano Duets
This came out a while back. It’s a lovely thing to have, as an object: a nice box, with seven CDs and a thick booklet. That’s before you hear a note. Short of an essay, how can you review it fairly? Worse, Anthony Goldstone died last January, while Divine Art was finalising the design…
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The Septura Ensemble: Music for Brass Septet, Vol.5
This is not really a Christmas album, but it’s Christmassy. Septura (not to be confused with the Brazilian metal band from Belo Horizonte) brings together a number of London’s leading brass players. It’s a brass septet and thus has no traditional repertoire, and is creating its own, recording a series of 10 CDs of different…
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