Ani DiFranco New LP

  Pink Floyd’s Animals Remix

  SHIT FLOATS

  Seasick Steve Alive & Kickin’

  Joe Bonamassa Live LP & Tour

  Pearl Jam New LP & Tour

  Feeder New LP & Tour

  “My country, right or wrong…”

  Heart Announce Live Tours

  Anais Mitchell HADESTOWN Returns

  The Photographer’s Selection

  My Favourite Records

  Gaza Nightmare Continues

  Gaza Nightmare Continues

  The Killers New LP & Tour

  Download 2024 First Acts

  Princess Goes COME OF AGE

  Springsteen 2024 Tour

  Philip ‘Seth’ Campbell Live

  This Troubled World

  Dark Side Of The Moon 50th

  The More I Hear The Less I Know

  Glen Hansard New LP/Tour

  Great Albums: Fresh New Life

  Hozier’s New Album

  Nicole Atkins Jim Sclavunos Live

  SBT (Sarabeth Tucek) Live

  I’m As Angry As Hell!

  Magnum - A Year in Ukraine

  Alessandra Sanguinetti Interview

  The Damn Truth Live

  Newton Faulkner Live

  The Handsome Family Live

  The State We’re In Pt II

  Eric Gales Live

  The Cavalry Never Arrived

  Chvrches Live

  Andrés Peña Flamenco Star Live

  Paul Draper Live

  A Fly-Free Zone

  Liverpool Jazz Festival

  The Charlatans Live

  UK Democracy Threatened

  Rag’n'Bone Man Live

  Sea Girls Live

  Martha Wainwright Live

  Politics is Failing

  Moby The Very Best Of Interview

  Lucy Kruger TRANSIT TAPES

  Joe Bonamassa Live!

  Rodrigo Y Gabriela Interview

  Amy Macdonald Rescheduled Gig

  Music & Brexit

  Happy New Year?

  On Barbra Streisand

  The State We’re In…

  Welcome Back! But To What?

  What Have We Done?

  A RISK TOO FAR

  Photojournalism Hero

  Samantha Fish Live

  Gill Landry Live in Chester

  Noah Gundersen Live

  David Gilmour’s Interview

  Snow Patrol Live in Manchester

  New Model Army Live

  Shakespears Sister Live

  Lamb Live in Manchester

  The Struts Live

  Sting & Shaggy Live

  Ana Popovic, Lynne Jackaman Live

  David Gray Live in Liverpool

  The Slow Readers Club Live

  Karine Polwart Trio Live

  Benjamin Folke Thomas Live

  Chilly Gonzales Live

  Gomez Live in Manchester

  John Lennon Interview

  Ray LaMontagne Live

  Satriani’s G3 Live

  Jim White Live in Manchester

  Tori Amos Live

  Bush & RavenEye Live

  Laura Marling Live

  Jimmy Eat World Live

  Roger Waters on Amused To Death


Album Reviews

rl-1

Ray LaMontagne PART OF THE LIGHT. RCA

With a delicious and exciting acoustic guitar sweep LaMontagne opens this album in grand modern folk style. ‘To The Seas’ superb production quality hits me immediately as that gentle and smooth voice
flows over a melody one will not forget in a hurry. Add to this the dramatic backing vocals and you have something very special indeed, and not a little epic. Lyrically, it’s as homespun (and joyous) as you can get: “I’ll be waiting in the car/don’t forget the camera/and if you wouldn’t mind/could you find my yellow shoes?/I think they’re under the stairs.”

‘Paper Man’ is next and thunders along in darker mode with production that’s Spector-esque, grand and compelling. Anothe fine melody makes this one linger in the head…”Why so many people always running around?/Looking for a happiness that can’t be found” is the observation that opens ‘Part Of The Light’ with the message hammered home with: “For every one respendent in/the wealth of kings/thousands upon thousands only suffering?” The fragile backing vocals add such emotion and drama to a song with another solid melody and one of the most expressive and moving vocals on the record.

‘It’s Always Been You’ is a slow-moving hymn to love which also sounds very ecclesiastical with Hammond featuring aided by mournful guitar notes. Just beautiful. This has not been the best of album release years so far but this recent release really ups the stakes. Having also recently seen LaMontagne perform live in front of a capacity 3,000 audience I can now understand why he holds a special place in the hearts of so many fans.

The album offers diversity in tempo (check out the explosive blues rock of  ’As Black As Blood Is Blue’) and mood allied with moving lyrics and vocal performances that reflect song sentiments and emotion. Essential.

5/5

voices-1

The Mystery Of The Bulgarian Voices Feat Lisa Gerrard BooCheeMish. Prophecy

In successfully connecting Bulgarian folklore with other traditions and cultures, the album manages to retain the unique identity of the voices, vocal styles and techniques of the individual choir members, even when allying them with acoustic accompaniment such as stringed instruments and various types of percussion, including beatbox. Once described as “the marriage of the avant-garde and the Middle Ages”, the magic of the ensemble stems from its success in mastering Bulgaria’s diverse, age-old vocal traditions while simultaneously sounding strikingly modern and original, thanks to the unique choral music structure - multi-part a cappella arrangements that transform its collective sound into strange colours as if something other than the human voice is being heard.”

BooCheeMish sees the esteemed Bulgarian choir performing together with erstwhile 4AD Records label mate Lisa Gerrard (co-founder of the duo Dead Can Dance) on several tracks, thereby uniting two of the most distinctive vocal acts working in music. Gerrard, who is also well known for her movie soundtrack work on films such as ‘Gladiator’ and ’The Insider’, has often spoken about the influence the choir exerted on her singing technique when she discovered their music in the early 1980’s.

Sometimes in listening to music sung in an incomprehensible foreign language one is still able to be moved and entertained. But how can this be? Listen to this album and you will understand why…the first thing that struck me listening to ‘the voices’ for the first time (with this album) was its distinctive harmonies and exhuberant tribal a capella sound. Combine these with tangible melodies, the punctuated percussive sounds and indivudually beautiful voices and one is compelled to listen. Now I also happen to be a Lisa Gerrard fan and she admits that her original and distinctive sound is at least partially influenced by Bulgarian folk music and voices.

Lisa Gerrard features on the second track of the album, ‘Pora Sotunda’, which is composed by Gerrard and Jules Maxwell. The succesful marriage of voices from very different cultures is extraordinary. The pace and mood of songs is wonderfully diverse but with a steadfast traditional thread running through, even with the modern compositions. ‘Rano Ranila’ is a fast-paced modern song followed by a much slower and mystical ‘Mani Yanni’ which is intensely moving and again features Lisa Gerrard in lead vocal duties. The sparse and beautifully judged instrumental arrangements throughout focus the attention on the voices but are nonetheless superb and a dramatic addition.

‘Yove’ speeds up and in my mind’s eye I can imagine the choir moving to the songs powerful rhythm and enjoying every minute (my feet couldn’t stop tapping). ‘Sluntse’ opens in a capella style but within seconds voices give way to a jazzy mix of guitar, gadulka, and other strings to complete another stunning song. The voices return full-time in ‘Unison’ which once again features the special voice of Gerrard. The song has a distinctly Eastern vibe with sharp percussive sounds accompanying solo and multiple voices.

I sense an innocence and sincerity with the songs on this album with harmonies which are utterly compelling. If you’re interest is in choral music with a traditional foundation but with the odd modern touch then you should savour this album.

4.5/5

Page: 1 2


Back


Manchester 2009 - Gallery: Wallis Bird
Wallis Bird
LATEST GALLERY IMAGES

Live - Gallery: Roy Orbison
Roy Orbison A Tribute to Journalists & The Innocents - Gallery: Ukraine Remembered
Ukraine Remembered
Shakenstir - Homepage Links Reviews Live Interviews Features News Contact Gallery Shakenstir - Homepage