Our latest Short Cuts, a monthly feature where AUK casts a brief eye and ear on several albums we’ve received recently which just didn’t make the cut for a full review. Like most major music websites we can’t mention every album we get sent but we reckon the picks below deserve a nod. Click on the links to hear a song.
Nero Simon and The Sunsetters might be just the band you want to listen to as the weather gradually becomes some sunnier. Although they’re a fair distance from the beach (hailing from Atlanta, Georgia), the band say they evoke sun-drenched coastal vibes, kind of like yacht rock, really. They evoke their idea of a good time on the strum a long song ‘There’s Reefer In The Air‘, not really much of a daredevil move these days we suppose. Anyhow, their third album ‘Pura Vida’ (a Puerto Rican term roughly meaning the good life) is a pleasant enough listen although at times the material is fairly lightweight as on ‘You And Me’. Jimmy Buffett comes to mind, but there’s nothing here to match his songwriting, and they close the album with a fairly redundant cover of Steve Stills’ ‘Love The One You’re With’.
New Orleans’s Jamie Bernstein also has more than a hint of yacht rock about his as his album ‘Zeus’ was recorded on an actual sailboat as he coasted around the Bahamas. Armed with just his acoustic guitar, Bernstein’s songs are unadorned but quite engaging in a laid-back manner. ‘My Hillbilly Ways’ finds a country boy hampered in the big city by his upbringing while ‘Cheap Rose‘ is an intimate portrait of a lady friend. ‘I’ve Got a Boat’ is fairly self-explanatory, and ‘Lake Pontchartrain Waltz’ is quite lovely.
‘Racing Down The Valley’ finds Boston’s Sam Bergquist singing everyday tales about the American heartland as on ‘Mountain Boy’ and ‘Mama’s In Jail’ along with a nod to climate change on ‘Earth On Fire’. Ranging from acoustic-based songs to creamy country stylings, Bergquist is earnest enough, but many of the songs fade from view soon after listening. He saves the best to last on the closing song ‘Morning‘ which stands out.
If the aforementioned Nero’s reefer has wafted your way you might enjoy the decidedly oddball psychedelia which emanates from Delta Stardust’s ‘Snakes Made Of Light’. Led by Michael Graber this outfit play a mixture of fuzzed fuelled freakouts and, not so much cosmic as blissed out, rock. The premier example here is on the nervy twists and turns they take on ‘Two Questions’ but they do have a weirdly mutated take on acoustic blues on ‘Feeling Good Blues’ while ‘What The Fuck Did You Put In My Drink‘ reminds one of Lowell George’s tenure in The Fraternity Of Man and his song ‘Don’t Bogart That Joint’ in its stoned silliness.
We’re in mainstream Nashville territory with Madison Hughes’ ‘All That I Am’ which comes across as radio-friendly but has precious little roots sounds in its DNA. There’s a hint of the south in ‘No Rain’, which is one of the more restrained numbers, but the title song soon ditches its banjo opening for a stadium-like rock bluster, likewise ‘Losing The Grip‘, which opens promisingly with a hint of menace but soon strives for the airwaves. Expect to hear Ms. Hughes’ duet with Brent Cobb on ‘Nobody Knows Your Love’ on the radio sometime soon.
Mirrored Daughters seem to have wandered in here instead of our folk round up, but nevertheless we’re glad as their self-titled debut album is a curious but very likeable collection of folk-like drones and ambient sounds. Wheezy harmonium, rippling guitars and woody cello drape the songs which have an autumnal touch to them, inspired, say the band, by their wanders in Epping Forest. Despite this, one of the most engaging numbers is titled ‘City Song‘. Harmonium heavy instrumentals such as ‘The Ambresbury Daughter’ are incredibly atmospheric while singer Marlody effortlessly floats throughout songs such as ‘Unreturning Sun’ and ‘The New Design’. Very nice.
Finally we have to mention a worthy album which celebrates a man who spent his life promoting music. ‘A Taste Of Honey’ is a two-CD compilation of blues and roots artists compiled in memory of the late Martin Bedford, who ran the Sheffield-based Honey Bee Blues Club. With 35 tracks featuring acts who have played there over the years, the album is a fine collection with a variety of styles featured alongside your traditional 12 bar blues. In fact there’s little of that, instead there’s the folky ‘Green Gravel’ from Fay Hield, the gravelly slide blues of ‘Devil May Care’ by Dave Arcari, Serious Sam Barrett’s acoustic blues on ‘Last Of The Yorkshire Outlaws’, the country rock of Ash Gray And The Burners on ‘Black Muddy Woman’ and some Americana from The Fargo Railroad Co with ‘Jackie Come On‘. A worthy listen, all profits go to The Sarah Nulty Power of Music Foundation.
Martin Bedford is a greatly missed figure in Sheffield and beyond. Not just a music promoter but a talented artist. See his fantastic poster art at https://martinfbedford.com/