Review: Black Gold – Idols
A dose of mid-tempo indie cruising with mild outbursts of reflection is illuminated by stammering instrumental and vocal touches, drawing out worrisome tendencies for ‘Idols’. This is the third single from the genre mixing debut album ‘Rush’ and, it bears out singer Eric Ronick’s ability to slowly build up the vocal tension.
Already Black Gold show the mood building leanings and tune-crafting poise that many had been expecting Haven to go onto prolifically produce. The foundation is firmly set for a thoughtfully melodic career, as long as they keep building from their stammering and reflective base.
Review: The Swell Season – Strict Joy
Strict Joy is the second album from duo The Swell Season. The duo comprise Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova.This album was released in October 2009 and consists of twelve tracks,all autobiographical and describing the love affair between Glen and Marketa.
The couple starred in an indie film called Once,in 2007 and their debut album named after the band was released in 2006, so they are relative newcomers to the indie folk genre,having formed The Swell Season the year before.
Glen Hansard is late of Irish rock group The Frames and he was privileged to sing at Eunice Kennedy Shriver’s funeral in August of this year.He has toured with The Frames as support to Bob Dylan in Australia and New Zealand in August 2007.
Marketa Irglova is primarily a pianist,and together with Hansard she wrote Falling Slowly, which received an Academy Award for Best Original Song.Marketa,then 19, is the youngest person to win an Oscar in a musical category.
Three singles were released from Strict Joy – Low Rising,Feeling The Pull and In These Arms. The first song is a nice,leisurely,melodic tune slightly reminiscent of David Gray’s vocals, with some firm piano and slide guitar, blending with tambourine and brass.
Feeling The Pull has another David Gray-like intro,this one rather reminded me of his song Babylon,and also quite Dylanesque to boot.
In These Arms is rather lovely…Glen and Marketa’s voices sung against acoustic guitar -very passionate and folksy in its tone. Descriptive of the romance between the two singers. This is my favourite track from the album.
The rest of the album has some charming tracks,particularly The Rain, which is yearning, folksy and classy. Marketa’s and Glen’s voices blend nicely here, reaching a climax in this rather sad song.
Fantasy Man has Marketa singing first, with Glen taking a back seat vocally. A dreamy, rambling tune, this one’s very soothing.
Some lovely Spanish guitar on Paper Cup makes it very easy listening and laid back. Glen’s almost whispered vocals are nicely balanced on this song.
On the whole,I liked this album very much. It was classy,without being pretentious, and struck the right balance musically.
News: Mew Live Album Details
Mew will release a live album on the 7th December recorded from their show at the Hollywood Palladium in September of this year. Featuring songs from their most recent album ‘No More Stories…’ as well as their previous albums ‘And The Glass Handed Kites’, and ‘Frengers’, the track listing is as follows…
Intro
The Circuitry Of The Wolf
Chinaberry Tree
Am I Wry? No
156
Hawaii
Hawaii Dream
Special
The Zookeeper’s Boy
1Sometimes Life Isn’t Easy
Comforting Sounds
News: Paul Weller Plays Two Nights at the Albert Hall in May 2010
Paul Weller has announced that he will be performing 2 nights at the legendary Royal Albert Hall on 24th and 25th May 2010.
MAY 2010
Mon 24th London Royal Albert Hall
Tue 25th London Royal Albert Hall
Supports to be confirmed
TICKETS: £50.00 (boxes), £45.00, £40.00, £35.00
ON SALE: Monday 30th November