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Album Reviews
Album Review: Jonas Shandel - Jonas Shandel (Nowhere Town)1 September 2010 - 12:00amThis first solo outing for Vancouver-based Jonas Shandel indicates that he has all the necessary credentials to go it alone with no trouble at all. Already equipped with some studio experience having recorded two albums with Headwater, MY OLD FRIEND (2006) and LAY YOU DOWN (2008), the singer-songwriter presents six assured self-penned songs and one cover,...By: Allan Wilkinson |
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Album Review: Saloon Dogs - Shooting Star (Self Release)25 August 2010 - 12:00amSHOOTING STAR has been a very slow train coming. Recorded by the newly formed Saloon Dogs, shortly after the breakup of their previous band The Bogarts in 1995, the band's debut album lay dormant for the next fourteen years after they folded in 1997, before the band had chance to release it. The four band members Billy MacInnes, Maria Gallagher, Phil Taylor and David Longworth obviously worked...By: Allan Wilkinson |
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Album Review: The Pines - Tremolo (Red House Records)18 August 2010 - 12:00amFollowing on from their Red House debut SPARROWS IN THE BELL, which in turn followed their self-titled debut on a previous label, Minneapolis-based band The Pines return with their third album to date, demonstrating their own distinctive blend of folk, blues and Americana. David Huckfelt and Benson Ramsey, both originally from Iowa and now collectively known as The Pines, recorded...By: Allan Wilkinson |
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Album Review: Garforth and Myers - Bonfires (Self Release)18 August 2010 - 12:00amSome contemplative and mellow vocal harmonies set against a richly rhythmic backdrop courtesy of the towering combined force of the Andy Seward/Keith Angel collective, who also co-produce this four song EP BONFIRES from Barnsley duo Rory Garforth and Adam Myers. Well if that rhythm section is good enough for Martin Simpson..! It's immediately obvious upon first hearing these...By: Allan Wilkinson |
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Album Review: Andy Lucas - Weekend Millionaire (Crimp)18 August 2010 - 12:00amCutting his musical teeth as a session musician and pianist throughout Scotland, singer-songwriter Andy Lucas steps out of the shadows to release his debut solo album WEEKEND MILLIONAIRE. Despite some pretty obvious influences, Lucas creates his own musical landscape, a landscape chock full of wry humour, witty lyricism and social observation. From the...By: Allan Wilkinson |
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Album Review: Sean Taylor - Walk With Me (Self Release)16 August 2010 - 12:00amSean Taylor's fourth album begins with the piano accompanied Perfect Candlelight, a new departure for the North London based blues guitarist perhaps, with the sort of underplayed arrangement Ryan Adams would have used for the odd Sylvia Plath for instance. Similarly, For You touches on Taylor's sensitivity as a writer and performer of tender love ballads as he approaches his more delicate side...By: Allan Wilkinson |
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Album Review: Catriona McKay and Chris Stout - White Nights (Self Release)14 August 2010 - 12:00amInitially creating a similar ambience to that which Adrian Johnston came up with for his wonderfully evocative soundtrack to Michael Winterbottom's film Jude in the early 1990s, the combined forces of Catriona McKay and Chris Stout, on Scottish harp and Shetland fiddle respectively, have likewise produced a musical landscape that is both ancient in feel yet timeless in execution. The two...By: Allan Wilkinson |
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Album Review: Reg Meuross - All This Longing (Hatsongs Records)14 August 2010 - 12:00amThe black and white shot of a typewriter on the cover indicates something that we've all known for some time, that Reg Meuross is first and foremost a writer; a storyteller in song form. Following hot on the heels of his 2008 release DRAGONFLY, which brought the singer-songwriter to prominence as a solo artist after spells with The Panic Brothers and Hank Wangford, ALL THIS LONGING...By: Allan Wilkinson |
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Album Review: Tony McLoughlin - Ride the Wind (Self Release)13 August 2010 - 12:00amWell travelled and clued-up musically, songwriter Tony McLoughlin delivers his fourth album Ride the Wind, the first to be recorded on home turf and with a handful of fellow countrymen. Gathering together a fine supporting cast of Irish musicians such as Ben Reel on guitars, Ronnie O'Flynn on bass and percussion, Michael Black on drums and John McCullogh on keyboards, the kindred...By: Allan Wilkinson |
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Album Review: Colin Clyne - Doricana (Starving Dog)12 August 2010 - 9:00pmScottish-born singer-songwriter Colin Clyne returns with his second album, the follow up to his 2006 debut Songs from the Cold Store, intent on creating a new genre. If the album's title attempts to describe a certain marriage between an ancient Scottish language and the more recent collective term for American roots music, then the songs presented here bridge the Atlantic...By: Allan Wilkinson |
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