James Rhodes BULLETS & LULLABIES. Warner

Rhodes has forged a career through a resolutely unconventional path. As a child, he used his love of music as a form of escapism against a traumatic life of abuse. After turning down a music scholarship at the age of eighteen, Rhodes didn’t play the piano again for another decade, instead working in the City while battling drug and alcohol addiction, as well as spending time in mental institutions. The birth of his son was the catalyst he needed to quit his day job and to pursue the career he had always dreamed of.

Bullets & Lullabies is a two-CD album that allows you to pick the disc to suit your mood. Disc one features fast and furious “Bullets”, whilst the second disc of “Lullabies” is the gentler option. According to Rhodes, the album could have just as easily been called “Uppers and Downers” or “Cocaine and Benzos”, a statement which pretty much sums him up. “The idea of Bullets and Lullabies is to give you an idea of what it’s like to live in my head for 24 hours. And if that doesn’t interest you in the slightest you still get to hear some particularly awesome music…” explains Rhodes. He continues, “This is 24 hours in my AM PM - madness, anger, fear, chaos, hope, victory, acceptance and a host of other emotions on an infinite loop.”

Disc one, the ‘Bullets’ segment of the album features Rhodes’ performances of compositions by Ravel, Moszkowski, Beethoven, Chopin, Grieg, Alkan and Blumenfeld. The contrasting second disc, ‘Lullabies’, highlights music by Rachmaninov, Debussy, Grieg, Chopin, Ravel, Debussy and Brahms. Does he achieve his above stated objective? He certainly does and you can clearly sense a number of emotions and moods coming through in his playing. What’s so refreshing here is that Rhodes has shed the mystique and formality playing almost like a freestyle jazz pianist or rocker - purists may find sleep difficult after hearing it. The material of course is wonderful but it is Rhodes’ openness, honesty, interpretation and skill that makes this a highlight of the release year thus far in 2011.

5/5

Ringo Death Starr COLOUR TRIP. Club

Texas band Ringo Death Starr is Elliott Frazier (guitars and vocals), Alex Gehring (guitars and vocals) and Daniel Coborn (bass, vocals and drums) and this is their debut record.

“The demise of Shoegaze was not much mourned at the time, which to me seems rather a shame, not least for the monotony and predictability of Grunge. For all its more indulgent and easily mocked qualities, there are some great sounds from Shoegaze’s attic. From Ride’s first two EPs, through the Boo Radley’s pre-Wake Up Boo efforts, and on to Slowdive’s Souvlaki Space Station, it’s well worth re-visiting, and covers a far broader range of sounds and styles than you might remember. Equally, an album like My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless deserves to be held up as the incredible classic it is (for all that Kevin Shields seems incapable of releasing the re-mastered version any time this decade).”

“Fortunately, it seems that Shoegaze, and the scuzzy noise-pop of the Jesus and Mary Chain (JAMC) are not entirely lost. In fact, regardless of what Chapterhouse and their ilk have been up to since the early nineties, in the meantime a trio of Texans appear to have gone round their house and stolen all the records that they used to listen to. And then learned to play them. And, more importantly, missed out the half of each of those records that was, in retrospect, rubbish.”

“My favourite song on the album is probably Do It Every Time, an infectious slab of noise pop featuring the killer line ‘we’re falling apart again, she took my cardigan,’ in a drawl oozing with ennui. It’s to Elliot Frazier’s credit that, if anything, he sounds underwhelmingly bored of things falling apart, and far more disconsolate about losing his cardie. The flipside is that Imagine Hearts, the opener, is far more about guitars distorted into swirls, buried female vocals, and that odd drift that My Bloody Valentine perhaps, with retrospect, should have trademarked.”

I happen to agree with everything this Amazon critic has written so I’ll end with a strong buy recommendation and…

4/5

Heidi Spencer And The Rare Birds UNDER STREETLIGHT GLOW. Bella Union

Heidi Spencer is a singer/songwriter from Milwaukee, Wisconsin (The Cheese Capital Of America!) and ‘Under Street Glow’ is her debut album with her band The Rare Birds.

“Spencer has a singularly distinctive voice. A little cracked; a little breathy and with the power to bring her compositions to life with a bewitching mixture of pathos and authentic charm. There are ten songs in the set. A little bit country; a little bit folksy but reading between the lines we perceive a composer of imagination with something all her own to share with the listening world. The production is a little rough around the edges (in a nice way!) and emphasises all that is best in her simple but evocative, homespun arrangements. Spencer is nothing if not believable in the musical tales she has to tell.”

“Opening track ‘Alibi’ finds her snapping her fingers in the beats between the bars as she delivers the lyrics with a touching tremble in her voice. A curious fusion of longing and regret. ‘Moth Met Spider’ is a fragile and strangely affecting invention too. ”

“‘Red Sky’ is a strong contender for top track. A bruised and broken instrumental arrangement supports the simple two-part harmony; leaning dangerously to the left and then to the right it nonetheless manages to stay upright until the final chord. Concluding track ‘Whiskey’ is a cautionary tale sung with passion. It’s as close as Ms Spencer comes to being a cowgirl. As the clouds gather around her it is not hard to imagine her riding off across the plains into a acid-coloured sunset to escape her heartache.”

Yet another Amazon review that hits the proverbial nail on the head… There’s a mountain of quality, distinction and originality here - vocally and in Spencer’s song-writing. The simple acoustic instrumental arrangements and bare-bones/honest production are the icing on a gorgeous cake that tastes better with each play.

4.5/5