As a veter
an of the music scene for the last sixty years or so, Chip Taylor has earned the right to make what could be considered an indulgent album telling stories from his life and family. It sounds like it could have been made as conversation flows and reminicences come forth following a long and well lubricated dinner party with relaxed and easy storytelling coming from a voice that sounds honeyed and velvety and which delivers the spoken and sung word with charm and wit. This is not an album to get the blood racing and it needs a few listens to “get”, but it is a generous piece with all the right sentiments. Continue reading “Chip Taylor “Little Brothers” (Train Wreck Records, 2016)”
Category: Reviews
Black Angel Drifter “Black Angel Drifter” (Bastard Recordings, 2016)
Landing somewhere between the Cramps and the Handsome Family, this one-off project creates its own feral sound. It’s a musical collage with a Gothic heart. It flirts with genre but shies away from commitment – instead it skids from one thing to another, the opener skitting between avant electronica, Morricone western soundtrack and something swampy. ‘Black-Eyed Susan’ makes a bid for coherence and ends up like Lee Hazelwood soundtracking a Roger Corman flick. Continue reading “Black Angel Drifter “Black Angel Drifter” (Bastard Recordings, 2016)”
Blue Rose Code: St. Andrews In The Square Glasgow Americana Festival – 5th October 2016
“I’m going to start with my most miserable song.” Thus opened the 10th Glasgow Americana Festival, the words spoken by Ross Wilson of Blue Rose Code as he opened his set with a solo rendition of the achingly beautiful “Pokesdown Waltz”. Well, Americana (and Country) fans do love their misery so no complaints there then especially when it’s a curtain raiser for Wilson’s latest sold out show in Mother Glasgow, the dear green place having clasped this Leith born troubadour to its bosom. And while there’s a pedal steel on stage this is no country song jamboree, no tears in your beers, more reflections in a rain swept loch. Wilson and his current line up deliver his increasingly Celtic ruminations with wild flurries of notes which capture the grandeur of the Highlands along with the more introspective moments one has come to expect from a writer who has used his songs as a confessional on more than one occasion. Continue reading “Blue Rose Code: St. Andrews In The Square Glasgow Americana Festival – 5th October 2016”
Josh Birdsong “Simple Geometry” (Independent, 2016)
Nashville-based singer/songwriter Josh Birdsong has released his debut EP of five contrasting and certainly interesting songs which seem to comprise a range of influences. Recorded in Nashville, producer Stephen Leiweke has also stamped his identity on the sound with a smooth and clean sound that allows songs of original structure vital breathing space. Josh Birdsong claims influences as diverse as John Maher, Morrisey and James Taylor alongside the ambient sounds of Tycho. The EP also features the song ‘You and I’ which won the 2015 International Song-writing Competition from over 18 500 entries from around the world. No mean feat but it arguably isn’t even the best song on ‘Simple Geometry’.
Continue reading “Josh Birdsong “Simple Geometry” (Independent, 2016)”
Chatham County Line “Autumn” (Yep Roc, 2016)
The seventh studio album from this Raleigh-based four-piece delivers exactly what you would expect, top quality Bluegrass from a band still firing on all cylinders. Formed in 1999 in the North Carolina city, Chatham County Line have been producing thoughtful albums in the traditional style since 2003. Autumn is no exception to this tradition and demonstrates that the string-band format is no barrier to imaginative song-writing. There is a devotion to the tradition of Bluegrass and incorporation of a range of roots influences evident on the album, but also present is the subtle presence of the history of the musicians in rock bands, hence the arrangements may fly a little higher than expected. Continue reading “Chatham County Line “Autumn” (Yep Roc, 2016)”
Jimmy Webb: The Stables, Wavendon – 21st September 2016
Jimmy Webb is, without a doubt, a songwriter of some high ability – even if he’s not best known for what are his most interesting compositions. His reputation in the UK has been burnished in recent years by appearances on “Later…” and “Songwriters Circle” where he has been able to mix songs with some autobiography – a bit like the programme for this evening of Jimmy Webb & Glen Campbell. Continue reading “Jimmy Webb: The Stables, Wavendon – 21st September 2016”
Roger Roger “Fairweather” (Independent, 2016)
Twins Lucas and Madeleine Roger, a folk/roots duo from Winniipeg Canada, launch their debut album Fairweather which, to complete the family connections, was engineered and produced by their father Lloyd Peterson. Fairweather showcases songs that incorporate the styles of both of the siblings and certainly indicates a real potential. It also shows that they are capable of a range of styles as they generally alternate lead vocals throughout which lends an interesting structure to the album. Continue reading “Roger Roger “Fairweather” (Independent, 2016)”
Rogue Valley “Radiate Dissolve” (Independent, 2016)
Rogue Valley, the Minneapolis-based outfit who burst onto the scene like the brightest of comets with their Seasons project, return. Like the afore-mentioned comet, the band haven’t been sighted on the new release list for nearly five years, yet this return is worth the wait. In 2009-10, Rogue Valley, led by Chris Koza, hit on the idea of releasing four albums in the same year to reflect the different seasons which they did to widespread acclaim. The albums shimmered and sparkled with originality and achingly beautiful moments and the new offering, Radiate/Dissolve, picks up where the Seasons project left off. Continue reading “Rogue Valley “Radiate Dissolve” (Independent, 2016)”
Proudfoot “Flower Of London” (Reckless Records, 2016)
Proudfoot are essentially a vehicle for the songs of Michael Proudfoot, a man who has had one foot in the musical world since his student days singing in bars in Nottingham. These days he runs a film production company. Overall, Flower Of London is an album that manages to engage the listener despite Proudfoot’s limitations as a singer and the occasional dip in his song writing. This is largely due to the very talented Duncan Kerr, Proudfoot’s sidekick guitarist and a man he first met back in those Nottingham days. A veteran who started off in Plummet Airlines, a 70’s pub rock band recording for Stiff Records Kerr currently plays with Darts and The Brainiac 5. Playing 6 and 12 string electric and acoustic guitars here he can transform a song into a pastoral reverie, on a few occasions sounding positively Byrdslike, elsewhere he throws in vibrant lead and slide guitar. Continue reading “Proudfoot “Flower Of London” (Reckless Records, 2016)”
Wire & Wool “Wire & Wool” (Independent, 2016)
Wire & Wool are a lively 7-piece from Dundee, Scotland. Formed in 2014 they combine elements of bluegrass, folk and country with energy akin to punk. As with their American counterparts, North Carolina band Chatham County Line , the well-structured unit may push back boundaries, but at the same time they respect the old values. Recorded up in Perth, members Mark Hand (mandolin, vocals), Alex Riach (fiddle, vocals), Jimmy Buchan Wright (banjo, vocals), Hazel Martin fiddle, vocals), Theo Barnard (guitar, vocals), James Hall (double bass, vocals) and Barry Nisbet (fiddle, vocals) are a fiddle-driven unit, and a handy clean set of players at that. Continue reading “Wire & Wool “Wire & Wool” (Independent, 2016)”