Harsh Critic

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Headphones Review - noise cancelling wireless

KS Kitsound

Immerse Wireless Headphones

How much do you value personal peace?  How much would you spend to get it?These active noise cancelling wireless headphones are the best £60 I've ever spent. Charge them up (3 hours max), flick a switch on the left ear-cup and pair them with your phone by a switch on the right, adjust the volume and you are good to go with bluetooth for 12 hours.

A 3.5 mm male/male lead is supplied for direct connection if required and a USB charge cable and fabric carry case are also included.  They are portable with foldable cups and can slip into a large pocket.  Sound quality is good especially on public transport and aeroplanes where they excel by allowing the music, or hush if you prefer, to surround you. Most noises are subdued, voices remain audible but at a tolerable level.  Memory foam padding on the cups  and a padded headband make for a comfortable wear for periods even while wearing glasses/sunglasses.

During this glorious Summer in the UK, they have given me prized solace and a  restfulness against an onslaught of boy-SUV-taxi-delivery-driver-racers, lawnmowers, drilling/sawing,pressure-washers, low-flying aeroplanes, neighbours with insomnia, pesky blackbirds, and even the banality of tv soaps! 

I have no connection to the company and bought the product direct from their website.  I merely want to share a secret to sanity and a product that pleases.  My wife liked these so much I've had to buy her some of her own, so I can get my own back again.

NE

The Gloaming - Live at Dublin's National Concert Hall

The Gloaming

Live at the NCH

Real World Records

Transatlantic quintet The Gloaming have established an annual sold-out residency at Dublin’s National Concert Hall.   For their third album, six live tracks have been selected by pianist and producer, Thomas Bartlett (aka Doveman), which captures a reinvention of Irish music for a world stage.

Three times Irish fiddler champion Martin Hayes, and Caoimhin (pronounced

Kvaveen) Ó Raghallaigh on hardanger d’amore (a Norwegian fiddle with extra

resonating understrings) slows traditional jigs and reels, then builds them back up. Responding to Bartlett’s subtle but avant-garde piano and fellow American

Dennis Cahill’s minimal but percussive guitar, allows this ensemble to explore and develop their lengthy compositions to almost classical music impressions.  Sean-nós singer Iarla Ó Lionáird (from Afro-Celt Soundsystem) completes the band by using Irish literature to inspire his lyrics. 

The virtuosity is a given – each member has already achieved success, but between the intuitive interplay, they’ve also managed to keep the intimacy and the warmth for which Irish music is renowned  worldwide.

NE

Buford Pope, Blue-Eyed Boy, Swedish Americana!

Buford Pope

Blue-Eyed Boy

Unchained Records

Readers and record companies, there are no hidden agendas at this magazine. This album by Buford Pope came in to me and has missed a couple of deadlines, but it keeps fighting its way to the top of my list on its merit.It’s a laid-back Americana affair that I’ve enjoyed returning to.  His unusual voice sounds a little like the upper register of Chris Isaak and most of the songs here are just as strong as the hit, Wicked Game.

Buford Pope (taken from a film) is also a master musician and he provides effective variety by alternating acoustic guitar, piano, and banjo and even slings an electric guitar for a couple of songs.  The drums and upright bass provide the steady rhythm against which Pope pours out his emotional songs.

Influenced by Bob Dylan, Neil Young and the quieter side of Springsteen, it’s difficult to ignore Freewheeling which although is autobiographical, is also an ode to Dylan in its intonations.  By the artist’s own admission, these songs have been knocking around for ten years waiting for the right circumstances.The finished quality of Blue-Eyed Boy, proves once more, that time can be the perfect ingredient for a recording.

I hope the artist will forgive the late review but in my defence, I’ll quote his own lyric on No Man’s Land – “Sometimes life feels like water, it runs so fast through my hands”.