Top 10 Albums of 2007

(Morning Star, Friday 28 December 2007)

IN REVIEW: Morning Star awards

Folk Rock
ROBERT PLANT AND ALISON KRAUSS - Raising Sand (Decca)

HOW incredibly poetic that it's taken bluegrass/country singer Krauss to smooth the sharp edges of Plant's balls-out rock schtick.

There's a vulnerability to the duo's sound which is haunting and comforting and both the folk and rock worlds have gained something special indeed with the release of this record.

Covering tracks from sources as broad as Tom Waits and the Everly Brothers, Plant and Krauss have conducted themselves with class and decorum through the "covers album" minefield, bringing a new slant to odes to love and loss like Let Your Loss Be Your Lesson and Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On).

In truth, Plant's occasionally nasal tone here is soothing and the melodious quality of Krauss's voice really does mark her as without equal, a tuneful foil to her accompanist.

Although this union may be a fleeting drop in the ever-expanding folk rock ocean, Raising Sand stands to be a record revisited by fans of both and neither singer for some time to come, such is its glorious impact.

Folk Rock
KT TUNSTALL - Drastic Fantastic (Relentless)

IT'S a little disingenuous for KT not to acknowledge the debt that she owes to her years spent busking.

Of course, it was arduous, but the hard-won success of this native Fifer is all the sweeter because it comes to someone who has honed her craft to an almost perfect degree, producing what is easily one of the albums of the year.

The songs on Drastic Fantastic, Tunstall's third studio effort, are as sweet and tough as the singer herself and all thanks to the years spent reflecting on her work.

From the straightforward rock of Little Favours through to country-tinged Hold On, there's an evolution at work as the songstress takes her folk roots and imbues them with a sass and intelligence which knocks the spots off any of her contemporaries.

And how sweet the pleasure must be for Tunstall as she belts out If Only's chorus line - "if only you could see me now" - now that everyone can see her and what a marvel she is.

Irish country

(Morning Star, Friday 21 December 2007)

ALBUM: Richard Murray - Desert Wind
(Richardmurraymusic)

IF Bob Harris created a perfect country star from his imagination, one would imagine that it'd come pretty close to Richard Murray.

After all, the rough hewn vocal which calls to mind the wind-tousled plains of Mexico is a gift for someone twice Murray's mere 29 years.

The sweep of acoustic guitar has a profoundly blue tinge - of the grass variety - and the Tennessee twang throughout the instrumentals is a native's touch indeed.

This may seem a barrage of geographical points to plot, but the authenticity of Murray is an astoundingly genuine rendering considering that the multi-instrumentalist hails from Northern Ireland.

Now based in London, Murray's strength is in the control that he has taken over this, his debut long-player. Credited as co-producer and vocalist, Murray also racks up turns on the guitar, mandolin, harmonica and percussion.

As far as the songs go, Down in this Town is awash with the melancholy of slow country life, while closer The Wind And The Rain is an epic taste of the extraordinary future Murray that has landed himself in music.

Strong as the orchestration and melodies are, the proliferation of olde worlde nods and influences does seem a little trite at times. There's a sense that the lyrical output on Desert Wind is a bit of melting pot and the credibility is stretched when Murray cites biblical characters and events.

But, on an album where the singalong goodness of a popular tune is alive and well, Murray seems assured the status of a country star alright, with or without a commendation from Whispering Bob.

Ups and downs

(Morning Star, Friday 07 December 2007)

ALBUM: Khaya - Is/Are/Was
(SL Records)

IT'S a credit to Scotland's SL Records that, in this, its 10th anniversary year, it can draw on a back catalogue as strong as any. And it has done it as a ferociously independent label.

Khaya were the label's starter wheels and they were a band for whom erratic working and occasionally questionable output were not strange.

As such, this "best of" is an interesting listen. Of the 16 tracks, there are at least eight which hint at better things - I Hate Fucking is a riot of sound, a perfect rendering of 1980s indie and The Vampires seems like a screaming racket from some other band's session.

But, for every plus, there's a disastrous minus, with spoken-word Duet and We've Got Rhymes heading the "why bother?" bill.

There's more than a little Sons and Daughters to the rocky take on folk here and labelmates Ballboy were plainly a strong influence.

The biggest problem is, as a career retrospective, it's just really disjointed. There are moments of brilliance, but, sadly, they seem to be overshadowed by the mediocrity which one assumes drove the band their separate ways.

KATE NASH

(AU magazine December 2007)

LIVE: Mandela Hall, Belfast

WITH her cute round cheeks and quite astounding head of shaggy auburn hair, Kate Nash totters onstage at the Mandela more TopShop model than real live singing star.
Coming out to the strains of ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’, the crowd are instantly receptive to her natural girlish cheeriness.
The stage is set up like Auntie Maud’s front room, decorated with faux flowers and tacky ornaments, but it all adds to Nash’s oddball stage show, as she takes her seat at a piano swathed in red velvet and decorated with a massive bow.
Starting with Mariella - the tale of the girl who glued her lips together - each song is heralded by raucous cheering from the capacity crowd, but Nash’s purely aesthetic appeal is apparent with one glance at the predominantly male audience.
Picking up her guitar for ‘Birds’, she flirts shamelessly, batting her eyelashes before launching into another teen tale of crushes and texts.
Back at the keyboard, Nash is wide-eyed, playing the nursery rhyme-like ‘Mouthwash’, soundtracking an impromptu audience dance contest.
Then the one everyone’s here to hear, ‘Foundations’ – on record a surprisingly emotional song which loses all subtlety in the live forum, but makes for good bopping material.
Nash’s ‘Skins’-era appeal is clearly massive - at just 20, she writes songs called things like ‘Dickhead’ and ‘The Shit Song’ and speaks the same language as The Kids, hence her success.
This, the chart-topper’s second appearance in Belfast this year, is marked by both a definite weight loss and a substantial leap forward in confidence, but the naïve Londoner is still rocking the cutesy angle a little too much for an adult performer.
It’s clear Kate Nash is not just a mini Allen, but will she ever be more than the sum of her Pollyanna parts?

ANTHONY REYNOLDS - BRITISH BALLADS

(AU magazine December 2007)

(SPINNEY)

Following the break-up after just three albums of his band Jack, Reynolds is using the entire canvas of British Ballads to get his own picture across, and it's quite the masterpiece.
Tales of heartache and love lost are here painted in broad strokes, while literary ideals are intricately detailed. Reynolds has worked on the album with philosopher Colin Wilson, as well as chanteuses Dot Allison and Vashti Bunyan.
In truth, the sensitive balladry of Reynolds is a definite acqured taste. Expecting everyone to enjoy it would be like proposing Elliott Smith as acceptable support for System of a Down, where there is simply no common ground. But Reynolds has sneakily accomplished so much as a songwriter that his name should be spoken in the same hushed tones as Smith, or Richard Hawley - or any singer/songwriter with ability and sensitivity to override that of his peers.

Whole lotta Rosie

(London Green News Winter 2007)

INTERVIEW: Rosie and the Goldbug

A BAND who come onstage looking more gothic Victorian parlour act than modern day pop group is enough to raise a few eyebrows - but this Cornish trio are here to tantalise and terrorise the banal and the bland. Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of Rosie and the Goldbug.
Rosie Vanier is a force of nature. As lead singer, she seems a modern day Kate Bush - with a little Karen O thrown in. In truth, neither comparison does justice to a performer who gives so much at live shows (which Bush famously shuns).
As with most eccentrics, Rosie’s unusual childhood is responsible for much of her idiosyncracies.
“I grew up in the heart of Bodmin Moor, and we lived in a very isolated farm house,” she says.
Rosie attended what she refers to as an “unusual” school, next door to the legendary Jamaica Inn where Daphne du Maurier wrote her classic book about murder, mystery, storms and smugglers.
Backed by bassist Plums and drummer Pixie, the band have been workng together for around 11 months.
Regulars at Brixton’s Jamm will remember the band from their performance at the Green fundraiser in October, which was something of a dream realised for the band.
“When we were growing up we were all in bands and always yearned to gig up in London. The fundraiser was really really great.”
Rosie’s own performances have become the stuff of legend, as she sings and dances with abandon, giving her all to the show. The work of a great dramatist?
“Onstage, I am just being myself,” she insists. “I’m a bit of an extreme performer, I don’t hold back.”
It says a lot about Rosie’s musical intentions that she has recently been co-writing with Marcella Detroit, formerly of Shakespear’s Sister - herself no stranger to eccentricity and bombast.
In spite of being a band whose future seems so ensconced in the past, Rosie and the Goldbug really are going somewhere fast. Despite being pursued by labels desperate to sign them before their fame explodes, Rosie, a self-confessed ‘control freak’, is eager to make the most of the new media revolution.
“We are using new media to our advantage, but I really am a big fan of the punk DIY ethos.”
For a band who live in a make-believe world, Rosie and the Goldbug certainly seem to have their feet firmly planted on the ground.
Check www.rosieandthegoldbug.com for live dates.