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| Updated: 28/01/08 | © 2008 Cool Bunny Media | Da Cool Bunny sez 'Splank that Plank, Baby!' | |
#3 |
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I've never heard of The Children before, and the group's name is a rather nondescript one which doesn't give any clues to the type of music they play. As it turns out The Children perform a hybrid made up from elements of rock, folk and jazz. The overall sound and musicianship is understated rather than the usual overblown vapidness of other 'mix and match' projects. This is aided by the semi-acoustic nature of much of the music here which helps keep the album intimate. The personnel of the group seem to shift between tracks but the core appear to be Armorel Weston on vocals, John Gibbons: Guitars/vocals, Alfredo Genovesi: guitars/pedals, Frank Hall: drums, Anne Wood: violin, and Gail Brand: trombone. Legendary jazz trombonist Annie Whitehead guests on a couple of tracks. Play is such a listenable album that picking out selected tracks is difficult, though Get Shaggin' and Boychild stick in the mind. If I had to off a thumbnail description of The Children's sound then imagine The Beautiful South with added irony and wryness plus a set of cool jazz licks. Nice! Adiemus
- The Journey I'm not sure who or what Adiemus is, though I think the music is composed by Karl Jenkins, late of the Soft Machine. The reason for my uncertainty is that the CD I'm listening to is a pre-release version with no inlay booklet. Be that as it may, the Adiemus sound is a well known one, played all the time on Classic FM, used for tv ads for BA etc. If you hear this CD you'll recognise at least a handful of the tunes. For anyone who hasn't heard of Adiemus then you'll be in for treat - what we have here is something akin to modern classical music: orchestral, with a global rhythm section, and a female chorus. The track titles are mostly in latin and mean bugger all to the lay[wo]man, musical influences cover the world - you'll hear bits that remind you of Africa, the Balkans, the arab world, India... The Journey is a compilation from the previous two or three Adiemus albums, and it is both restful and invigorating, and you'll be humming a lot of these melodies after just a few listens. Good stuff. Phil
Beer, Ashley Hutchings & Chris While - Ridgeriders This is essentially a soundtrack album for a tv documentary series on a series of ancient roads, ridgeways, that criss-cross southern England. Providing the music is folk legend Ashley Hutchings and a number of musicians who are members of his Albion Band. In terms of music this is modern folk - new songs drawing on the heritage of English traditional music and the legends of these near mythical ancient roadways. As well as being a tv soundtrack these songs also carry on the folk tradition of social commentary, so while there's nothing here that constitutes a 'pop' song, the material is very accessible without seeing the tv series. Songs such as The Drover's Song, Turnpike Reel and Shapes on the Landscape all evoke strong images of Southern England, of the past and the now. The performances are everything you would expect of such high quality musicians, and Chris While's beautiful voice floats over everything with lambent tranquility. This is a beautiful album that deserves more notice than being simply a tv soundtrack. If you enjoy quality songwriting and musicianship seek this CD out. The
Carnival Band - Hoi Polloi
Chaka Khan - I'm
Every Woman: The Best Of Chaka Khan
Deep
Purple & Orchestra of the Light Music Society - Gemini Suite Live Several of the rock bands from the late 60's and early 70's toyed with orchestral music and symphonic backings - especially prog rockers such as Barclay James Harvest and ELP. It surprised everyone when Deep Purple did so - they weren't exactly famed for purveying the bloated overkill of pomp-rock. This recording is truly for DP fans and true collectors, it is the live recording of the debut performance of Jon Lord's second orchestral work, way back in September 1970. According to the excellent sleevenotes, none of the group, apart from Lord himself, were really committed to this music, and the orchestra, conducted by Malcolm Arnold, had barely rehearsed the three movement piece before this world premiere. And yet, despite these shakey foundations, there is power in the music on this CD. I have to admit that it isn't really to my taste, but one can't ignore the commitment of the musicians when they finally came to perform it. Whether this is rock or classical music I leave others to judge - for me there is a lack of interconnection between the orchestra and the group. Each element performs separately most of the time, with hardly any integration of the rock instrumentation with that of the orchestra. This was one of many experiments to meld rock and classical together, and I guess they will continue until someone gets it right. According to the sleevenotes Jon Lord has revised and re-recorded this work several times, but this CD contains the original version. Like I said, one for the collectors only, I think. Hollydrift - Hail
the Frozen North
Cheb Mami
- Meli Meli
Hawkwind
- EpochEclipse: The Ultimate Best of...
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Ras.Al.Ghul - Spatial Pulseheight
(Edition Neumann)
This is most clearly evident on all of the tracks on Spatial Cluster, but most notably on the first few tracks: Galaxy Cluster, Partial Plastic Flow and Logarhytmic Plot. I'm very impressed, this short album [approx 33 minutes] was all over far too quickly and I wanted to hear more. Its mix of cosmically ambient soundscapes and chilled out dance beats is simply invigorating.
Ras.Al.Ghul - Sinmatic Layers (This.Co)
I'm not sure who will be stocking Sinmatic Layers here in the UK. Try your usual import specialists, or contact Ras.Al.Ghul directly. InfoPoint
Sci Fi Industries
- Dead People On Stylish Chairs As far as I can make out from the Portuguese sleevenotes Sci Fi Industries is composer/musician and studio wizard Luis Filipe Seixas. Dead People On Stylish Chairs is a collection of hard edged electronica, veering from thumping techno drum 'n' bass, to industrial and ambient. Opening track Looking Thru is a prime example of the techno genre, but it has enough quirky sounds in its deep space echo mix to make it listenable, and even hummable after a few listens. Organismo II follows, a more lightly percussive piece with sampled dialogue clips mixed in with the synths and drum machines. A throbbing pulse opens Positiva, which opens out into a cavernous ambient soundscape, with sounds flying between the speakers. Listen to this with the headphones on and and it'll do your head in! The remaining tracks on this 12 track cd follow similar blueprints, this is cutting edge techno, and depending on the cd programming, is suitable for the dance floor or the chill-out room. In small doses I enjoyed some of these tracks, but I found listening to the whole album in one sitting very wearying. I'm not sure who will be stocking Dead People On Stylish Chairs here in the UK. Try your usual import specialists, or contact van@netcabo.pt, or check out www.bairroalto.net/ultravioleta. You could also try www.thisco.net. Various
Artists - Voices of the Real World
Gordon
Giltrap - Fear of the Dark, Perilous Journey, Visionary
Fear of the Dark was the first of Giltrap's hit albums, and it is easy to see why: layered guitars, keyboards and a string section to give it a lush sound. For an ex-folkie it is surprising that these albums didn't draw on traditional music, like Oldfield did, but went for something a lot grander. The extra tracks on this album include a pretty fine version of Peter Green's Oh Well, and the single version of Fear of the Dark. Perilous Journey is more of the same mix of acoustic guitars and quasi-orchestral backing, this time the extra tracks include a version of Parry's Jerusalem, and a fifteen minute demo track of the album, featuring all the main themes. 1977's Visionary still featured the acoustic guitar, but was a little more electronic, with synths coming to the front more. The extras this time include a fully orchestra version of Quest, the demo of Heartsong and a twenty-one minute compilation of the demo tracks, with Giltrap calling out the chord changes - something any guitarist will find useful if trying to learn these pieces. Okay, crunch time - I love these albums, I did when they first came out, and that hasn't changed but it is interesting to hear them together and see just how much they were cut from the same cloth. These three albums sound as if they could have been recorded at the same sessions - most of the same musicians, arrangers and production team are involved on each album, and it makes it hard to distinguish one album from another. But then, with musicianship this high, who cares! Klaus Schulze
- X Vol 1
Bill
Foreman - Building St. Petersburg
Bill Foreman
- Seventeen Miles Past Indio
So how does ...Indio stand-up? Pretty damn well, if you ask me - there are a variety of styles here, from Dylanesque rant Can't Wait To Be Free, the gently understated St Louis, Byrd's-style 12-string folk/country Queens, and short, almost jazzy instrumentals The Professah and Smile, to joyous dance tune The Sun Is A Mighty Lamp. All told there are a dozen tracks here and they cover a wide variety of moods, opinions and styles. On some tracks Bill Foreman provides all the instrumentation and on others he is joined by a small band of musicians who provide sympathetic and extremely tight support. The bottom line is that ...Indio doesn't sound like a compilation of tracks from a number of years, the songs work together and create a pretty good picture of Bill Foreman's talents as musician, songwriter and performer. If you enjoy songs that have some bite to them I don't think you'll find better this year than Seventeen Miles Past Indio. Bill Foreman
- Chevy w/ Balding Tires
Bill
Foreman - Poison Against Poison: Bill Foreman is not a stranger to these review pages as I've had the pleasure of hearing several of his highly idiosyncratic albums over the last few years. Bill is a prolific songwriter and with a home studio that means everythings is recorded, so this triple cd anthology acts as both a 'Best Of', sampling from all of his albums plus a collection of the best of the rest, including a bunch of alternate takes of album tracks. Bill is changing his life, moving from the USA to work for the foreseeable future in Senegal in Africa. So this beautifully produced booklet of cds and lyrics is a clearing of the decks for a new life. It would be an easy generalisation to say that Bill comes from the Dylan school of writers and performers, but he has his own style which is rough and ready and the opposite of the slick major studio artists - which is one reason why I like his music. This isn't music for the charts, it's there to resonate with its audience and find an honest home with those who put the song first. And that's why I strongly urge you to check this out and perhaps try before you buy by visiting Bill's website and download a few sample tracks first. InfoPoint
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Ras.Al.Ghul
are a Portugese electronica group [Fernando Cerqueira and Paulo Rodrigues]
that I've heard of by reputation only so when Richard Wileman of Karda
Estra passed these two cds on to me I was very interested to hear them.
Others have mentioned that Ras.Al.Ghul are the 'missing link' between
the melodic electronica of Tangerine Dream and the more dance oriented
beats of Kraftwerk, and having now heard both cds I can understand that
analogy, yet there also seems [to me] to be a strong vein of world music
influences running throughout the music. This appears most strongly in
the percussion sequences: synthesised ethnic drum rhythms and time signatures
from Africa, South America and Asia. 
Sonic
Yonic is the newer album and it pretty much carries on with the same
winning formula though the dance beats are a bit more industrial sounding
and less ethnic-sounding this time. Planar Modulator is an infectious
cosmic shuffle beat pared down to just the basic sounds which slowly evolve
into new patterns before the track ends. Floating Zone is a jazzy
crystallo-sounding piece, almost funky. Low Multiloop begins as
a piece of ambience with gently looping percussion that takes the track
to its conclusion. For a slice of cosmic ambience you can't better Coil
Wound - nearly seven minutes of shifting ambience and shuffle beats.
The rest of Sonic Yonic is much the same mix, all very listenable
and more imaginative than you might expect. 
And
here all the way from sunny Lisbon is the latest album from Ras.Al.Ghul.
Sinmatic Layers has ten tracks, Diplexter opens in mid-tempo
drum 'n' bass style, along with some spritely synth layers, topped by
a trumpet in the Herb Alpert Style. Bicrystals is similar but sans
the trumpet, but with treated voices. Thankfully by the time we get to
Cooling Cycles the strident beats have moderated somewhat and we're
approaching Kraftwerk territory with beats and a melody. With Matrix
Precursor, the beats have again been moderated, with some additional
shuffle rhythms and changing time signatures to make it interesting. Radius
Ring and Spectral Symetries are probably my favourite tracks:
slow beats, spacey synths, assorted bleeps and beeps - much more to my
taste.The remaining tracks continue in a more spacious way, and certainly
preferable on my ears than the opening half of the album. In fact the
D'n'B vibe seems to permeate most of the album tending to make it much
more upfront than previous albums - which is a shame as I prefer the more
spacey-sound of the earlier albums. I can see club DJs playing this in
the 'chill out' rooms, or whatever they are called now, to bring the dancers
down.
There
are many labels promoting 'world' music but few are as well known as Real
World, founded by musician Peter Gabriel. Real World is now ten years
old and to celebrate the label have issued this excellent compilation
of the most superlative vocal music it has released in that decade. Musicians
featured include Shu-De, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan & Peter Gabriel, The
Holmes Brothers, Toto La Momposina Y Sus Tambores, The Dimitri Pokrovsky
Ensemble, Remmy Ongala & Orchestre Super Matimila, Sheila Chandra,
Papa Wemba and a host of others. There are eighteen tracks altogether
and the music comes from all over the world, with every continent represented.
The abiding emotion throughout this CD is of joy - for life, love and
the planet. If you've never really investigated 'world' music then you
couldn't do better than start here.
The
music on this album was written for a movie of the same name, and while
it isn't the direct soundtrack I assume it faithfully represents the soul
of the movie. Iarla Ó Lionáird is not a name I know but
he is a composer/musician who seems to straddle many musical categories
all at the same time. While I Could Read The Sky is nominally an
Irish traditional album it also incorporates elements of rock, trance,
drum 'n' bass, celtic, and afro/indian music. So much so that it becomes
a true WORLD music album. Contributors include Sinead O'Connor, Martin
Hayes, Dennis Cahill, Noel Hill, Caroline Dale, and Ri-Ra. As far as I
can make out the music is based around the story of Irish workers coming
to England to work as navvies and builders. The overriding atmosphere
throughout the album is of alienation and isolation - this is not a happy,
feelgood album - and ultimately, violence. Instrumentally richly layered,
Iarla Ó Lionáird has created something very extremely memorable,
though I don't think I Could Read The Sky will find a wide appeal
with many listeners, it's just too downbeat and depressing.
Ashley
Hutchings is simply a national treasure, his efforts to bring tradional
English folk music to a wider audience created a new musical genre - folk
rock - several groups of international repute [Steeleye Span, Fairport
Convention and the Albion Band], he has brought many excellent new folk
musicians into the limelight [Phil Beer, Chris While, Julie Matthews and
Cathy LeSurf] and discovered many seams of English music that had lied
dormant for decades. This excellent compilation brings together some of
his best recordings from the last couple of decades with the theme of
the countryside, and it features contributions from Martin Carthy, Simon
Nicol, Dave Swarbrick and John Tams. It is bloody difficult, if not impossible,
to pick out highlights from this album - every track is a highlight! But
push come to shove, listen to Shapes Of The Landscape, The Oak, Speed
The Plough, Life On The River for just a few gems. The only downside
is the meagre inlay booklet Mooncrest have provided, a compilation like
this really would have benefited from some in-depth notes or article along
with detailed track notes. That aside I recommend wholeheartedly this
album for the discerning music lover fed up with monotonous dance beats.
This is quality stuff and no mistake!
Mike
Oldfield started something when his Tubular Bells and subsequent albums
were all monster hits. No-one had thought instrumental rock albums would
sell, but his did, and former folksinger Gordon Giltrap found similar
success with his own series of instrumental albums during the mid-70's.
Voiceprint have now reissued these albums, and all of them have extra
tracks, many of which are rarities for the fans.
In
the world of electronic music there are none more renowned than German
Klaus Schulze: a founding member of Tangerine Dream, he left before they
broke through with Phaedra to start a lengthy solo career. X dates
back to 1978, and is part of a double album [though for some reason Thunderbolt
are releasing the CDs separately] subtitled "Six Musical Biographies".
The opening track is a portrait of Friedrich Nietzsche, the philosopher,
and is a twenty-five minute epic of high class music. Swirling lines of
synths and sequencers take you on a very spacey journey, but it's always
anchored by a strong percussive riff, supplied by a real drummer rather
than a drum machine. Harald Grobkopf supplies the drumming for all the
tracks, and it gives the music a very human beat to march with. George
Trackl is the next portrait, though the name is unfamiliar with me
- this is a much shorter track, very ambient and laid back after the previous
storm. We're off into space again with Frank Herbert, a musical
portrait of the author of Dune - again the sequencer riffs set the pace,
and this is a stomping piece of electronica where you can almost imagine
the sandworms of Dune slicing through that arid planets' surface. The
final track is dedicated to Freidemann Bach, and is more adventurous,
exploring the musical character of one of that family of great composers.
The music is almost gothic, with a screechy synthesised violin and string
section rampaging through an echoey old house. This is a great album,
certainly on a par with the best of Tangerine Dream from that period.
We
are repeatedly told that the current state of popular music is dire, that
the homogenised corporate mentality of the major labels is stifling creativity.
That may be true for the major labels, but there is a new underbelly of
small, vibrant independent labels which have bypassed the traditional
retail outlets for distribution and now sell their wares via the Internet
and through specialist networks. One of these labels is General Ludd Music,
co-founded by songwriter/poet Bill Foreman, and Building St. Petersburg
is his new album [not sure if it's his debut album, if so then it's a
very assured one]. Most of the songs on this CD are pretty acerbic about
the good life in the USA, and Bill's performing style should appeal to
those who like Loudon Wainwright III and Jonathan Richman - it's a voice
of character, it might waver a bit on the odd note but it is honest and
true and warm. If you want to categorise the style then I guess modern
folk or Americana is the most appropriate. Best songs include Building
St. Petersburg, the spoken Talking Ballroom Blues, and The
Good Life. Bill keeps the instrumentation simple, mainly acoustic
guitar, a little piano and penny whistle, and that makes for as refreshing
change where many others fill every nano-second with sounds. A little
silence and space works wonders at times. This is a good album worth seeking
out if you have an adventurous spirit.
Songwriter
Bill Foreman's latest album Seventeen Miles Past Indio is a round-up
of the best of his work, collated into a nicely packaged and produced
album that acts as a superb showcase for his talents as writer, performer
and acerbic commentator on American life. I guess that here in the UK
his style of rootsy music would be classed as Alt.Country, and if you
enjoy Lambchop, Wilco and the Handsome Family then you should go for this
album in a big way. There's no indication which previous albums these
songs originate from, but as many of these were low printrun tapes I guess
the intention is to make ...Indio the breakthrough album to push
Bill's music into the professional arena.
The
latest collection of ten songs by Californian songwriter and multi-instrumentalist
Bill Foreman shows that he is still on top form when it comes to writing
songs full of sharp observations and barbed wit. Utilising a mostly acoustic
format, with occasional flourishes of Mexican music, Bill just lets his
voice rip and roar over the music, sometimes spitting the lyrics out and
sometimes gently crooning them. Like the UK's very own folk punk Billy
Bragg, nobody could describe Bill's voice as that of an angel but it is
stuffed full of character and commitment, and is the ideal vehicle for
these songs. If there is a recurring theme to this set of songs it is
that they are all set in and around Bill's home town of Riverside, California.
I'm not going to single out a few tracks for the usual commentary as the
quality is consistently high, besides, part of the fun is exploring this
album yourself. I will however list a few personal favourites: A Man
& His Laboratory, the ramshackle instrumental My Favourite
Recipe [For Dawn], and To An Angry Pot Farmer. Chevy w/
Balding Tires falls ssomewhere within that marketing category of Alt.
Country or perhaps Americana, about as far away from Top 40 as possible
and all the better for it. Originality comes with a price - pay it!