Harsh Critic

...."More Reviews of Flying-V Guitar-rock or your table top gets it's own Comment, Capiche! ..."

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”.

Wingfield Reuter Sirkis - Lighthouse

Wingfield Reuter Sirkis

Lighthouse

Moonjune Records

This ‘boy band’ wasn’t put together by producer Leonardo Pavkovic because they could sing or dance, but because he knew each is a master of his musical field.  The collaboration gives improvisation a fresh makeover suitable for the twenty-first century.  It’s almost new age yet employs both jazz and progressive rock ideas.

Mark Wingfield’s signature sound is to push his guitar to the limit by manipulating the notes and pitch into something visionary by pedals, pick-ups and processors that create a cleaner feedback sound whilst simultaneously being able to lay down chords in the background.

Composer and instrument designer of TouchGuitars, Markus Reuter who has built on the premise of fretboard tapping that emerged in the 1950’s, brings his eight-stringed beast of bass to keyboard ambient textures and soundscapes but is also capable of taking his turn in the spotlight of lead performer.

Drummer Asaf Sirkis has built an impressive CV with his own groups The Inner Noise and his own Trio, but has also worked with the Gilad Atzmon & the Orient Ensemble, Natasha Atlas, Polly Scattergood and the inimitable Norman Watt-Roy on his solo album Faith and Grace.  Sirkis says music gives him the legitimacy to be who he really is and the rhythms and cymbal work are enthralling and it feels like he takes the lead especially on the first two tracks of Lighthouse, Zinc and Derecho.

There were no prior compositions of this recording.  The only methodology was to decide which notes may be called upon in each improvisation.  Each musician produces an intermittent signal, a navigational aid for the others to absorb and react to in real time.

Fans of albums that break genre boundaries, and throw the template away, have a new leading light to follow.

NE

Typhoon ~ Offerings (Album Review)

Typhoon

Offerings

Roll Call

Offerings is a concept album about memory loss, from the moment of knowing something is wrong, through the stages of fear, isolation, suffering and acceptance.  Its melancholy makes Radiohead sound like a boy band, as a parallel is also drawn from the central character to the state of the world today where we “don’t have public trust and there’s just chaos” (Kyle Morton)

Frontman Kyle Morton’s gift is to confront the uncomfortable truth in detail that one in three of us may develop Alzheimer’s with a warmth and compassion brought from his own experience of multiple organ failure early in his life.

It’s an emotional seventy-minute journey that should appeal to the fans of The Decemberists, Frightened Rabbit, Beirut, Jónsi and Alex and The Flaming Lips.

Choral parts, ambient layering of guitars, piano and strings is perfectly balanced by the more uplifting songs. The contrasting voice of Shannon Steele raises the album to another peak.

Opponents of assisted dying, who may not appreciate the effect of irreversible physical and mental decline may want to take a listen.

One of my favourite paintings in Sheffield Graves Art Gallery is Nemours, Seine-et-Marne, by Henri Eugene Le Sidaner (1864-1939) which is similarly bleak but beautiful, with much to admire.

I could happily die listening to this album but would need to ensure that the hidden track is played, or my last gasp would be my last protest!

NE

Tank Full O’Gas - Sacrifice Paradise

Tank Full O’Gas

Sacrifice Paradise

Rec/odds

Tank Full O’Gas are Dutch brothers, Patrick (T-Fog) and Herald Arkenbosch who are domiciled in Frankfurt.  They’ve hitched a hint of grunge to an indie groove and it works.  The sound is raw and embryonic and T-Fog has clearly revelled in the creative freedom that GarageBand software (sold by Apple) allows.  He succinctly concedes it  “reassures that you can create, plan, finalize and afford it “. 

Not only do I admire the honesty, but I also admire the music.  I wish radio stations would play this choice of music again.  Plaintive vocal harmonies, plenty of acoustic guitar and an indie invention that has been missing for far too long, mark them out as possible future Summer festival contenders, provided they find a bass player and drummer who don’t swamp their sound.

NE

Steve Ellis - Boom! Bang! Twang!

Boom! Bang! Twang!

Steve Ellis

Sony

Of all the doormats in all the towns in all the world, this flopped onto mine. I’m very happy it did, except for a heartbeat, I thought my brother had made the leap from karaoke to compact disc and I was being played.

As soon as I played the piano-led ballad Black Sheep Boy, I knew I was listening to a vocalist of distinction. It’s the same voice which took Everlasting Love by Love Affair to the top of the charts fifty years ago. Like Rod Stewart, Steve Ellis has also looked after his instrument. Boom! Bang! Twang! is his third solo album release in ten years and he is well respected by his peers including Roger Daltrey, Peter Frampton and producer of the album, Paul Weller.

Together they have produced an album with a slick array of styles that has flow, vitality and depth in spades. Soul Trek (Holy Blue) includes strings and trumpets, Sitting in Limbo is reggae. Two songs Tobacco Ash Sunday and Lonely No More could easily have come from Weller’s Stanley Road sessions with their upbeat melodies and a hint of nostalgia.

Life has conspired against this artist but he has shown that the best things are worth waiting for. The gospel-tinged Glory Bound and the haunting Oh Death which would have even Delta Bluesmen murmuring approval, close an album that outshines artists a third of his age.

NE

Lowdrive - Roller

Lowdrive

Roller

Sea of Green Masterworks

Sheffield rockers Lowdrive present a collection of styles on their debut Roller. Riff-heavy opener The Last Stand is a song Lemmy might have loved with its throaty vocals. Title track Roller heads out to Kyuss-like territory. Fallen Saviour slows the pace before It's not Heaven leads a trio of the best tracks. Endless Rain with its psychedelic opening and involving lead guitar is my favourite. Into the Fire is pure Classic Rock with a bassline that satisfies.

Lowdrive take simple song structures and infuse them with a top-flight, hypnotic pulse. Catch them on tour in March and April as they have great potential to raise the banner of Classic Rock once more after its recent sad losses from its ranks of revered heroes. Rock will endure, provided we support the next generation.

NE

Flutatious - Festival

Flutatious

Festival

Magick Eye

Veterans of over fifty Summer gigs, Festival is the first release for Flutatious on Magick Eye after managing everything themselves for their previous three discs. Enlisting John Mitchell (It Bites/Arena/*Frost) as producer has enabled the band to concentrate solely on what they do best to offer their own brand of Summer. Listening to them is like shedding traces of Winter like a snake sheds its skin.

Rollicking basslines and minimal vocals allows flute, violin, guitar and keyboards to dovetail to create cheerful and intoxicating music to move to. Standout tracks are Acid Rain, Joy and Lazy Summer Daze. Best savoured with a can of your favourite brew and the hippest t-shirt you can find.

NE

Futility of Flowers

Who sneezed over my flowers?  

The Crying Game

Also known as "One Tin (in the sun) is Never Enough  / Runway for my Tears / Planks of the Dumb

Hot day, perfect for decking preservation but ran out of decking oil with 4 planks to go !

Lost In Translation ? - Not these two Novels !

I almost always enjoy books that have been translated from another language.  The translator has already recommended the book.  Why go to the trouble of translating and presenting to a new audience if it's a poor story?  I've rarely been disappointed with any of them.  What I enjoy most is the freshness of style and fluency which is often influenced by history and culture.  The best ones are like savouring an unknown banquet of foods or uncorking a corker of a bottle of wine that you want to tell everybody about.  They have taste and impact.

Like many of our meals, authors rush their stories, to meet the clamour of consumer demand and the lists of best-sellers.  Both Sweet Bean Paste and New Finnish Grammar rise above genre and have left a lasting impression that I'd like to share.

If you like culinary TV programmes then Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa should whet your appetite. It describes in detail about dorayaki which is a type of Japanese pancake filled with the title of the book.  If cooking isn't your bag of rice, then stay just a little longer with the book and my metaphors as the meatier themes of loneliness, belonging and one very special hidden ingredient is added to the pan, awaiting your discovery.  The translator is Alison Watts, a freelance translator who lives in Ibaraki, Japan

New Finnish Grammar  by Diego Marani, translated by Judith Landry, is a complex read and study of self and identity through the learning of language and an interwoven assessment of what memory is.  It's set in war-torn Europe and the main character has a head injury and has lost not only his memory but also his language and culture.  There were times when I felt I'd lost mine, especially in the Finnish myths, but the hardships of war, the descriptions of port cities, the learning about language and a better understanding of memory and the story of the central character, kept me reading and intrigued.  It's certainly one I'll re-read.

Please let me know of any translations that have impressed you!

NE

Tough Day?

You know its going to be a tough day when your table wobbles then spins away from you as you sit down, leaving only half a cup of coffee.
Thanks Costa! :-/

Beer Selfie

Therion : Beloved Antichrist

Therion

Beloved Antichrist

Nuclear Blast

There is a statue of engineer George Louis Stephenson outside Chesterfield railway station with an inscription that reads “Conquest over space and time”.  It could be equally applied to founder member of Therion, Christofer Johnsson, for this three and a half hours, three disc, three act opera, driven not by steam but by rock.

It’s a loose adaptation of Russian philosopher and theologian Vladimir Solovyov’s Tale of the Antichrist, a venerated book about the coming of the Deceiver.  It is better understood by also listening to the composer himself for his own explanation on YouTube.

He has finally fulfilled his lifelong ambition of writing an opera despite hitting the creative buffers for years by sustaining interest and pace with rock music.  Modern rock combines and alternates with the best hand-picked operatic voices, from bass-baritone to soprano, from solos to choirs and from simplicity to fanfare.

By also overcoming debilitating spinal disc herniations, by coincidentally flying to Moscow, Solovyov’s birthplace and resting place, Christopher Johnsson has completed his own special journey and this aural epic that entertains as well as any music or film, of a similar length.

NE

Red Pine Timber Co. : Sorry For The Good Times

Red Pine Timber Co.

Sorry For The Good Times

Goldrush Records

Don’t try to categorise this band as it’s a slippery slope and I ended at the foot of it.  I was quite sure they were Stateside, and with a terrific horn section, maybe Memphis or Philadelphia.  I was wrong on all accounts.  This 8-piece throng is from Perth, Central Scotland.

Sorry For The Good Times showcases a dazzling array of musical styles with lyrics of grit “The Duke” might have slid off his horse to hear about.  Katie Whittaker in the country ballad Put Down The Bottle, throws down a gauntlet to established Country music stars.  Soulful sax and mournful trumpet hit hard but one expletive and the line, “cause you’re drinking from the Devil’s cup”, hits even harder.

First single, Hollow Tree opens with fiddle, pedal steel and acoustic guitar and sounds not unlike Bad Company, with the vocals of song writer for the whole album, Gavin Munro.  The horn section stakes its claim before handing over in turn to mandolin and with the bass and drums, Southern Rock doesn’t get much better.

Opener, If You Want To is pure rock, Talking In The Snow is pure Americana.  Cutting You Loose could have come from the film Walk The Line and Katie’s last line “Sorry for the good times, I ain’t making no excuse” is out of the ball park.  It’s Gavin’s turn on Bar Stool, a lament in which he “travels light with a heavy heart…done things that weren’t smart”.  Doleful trombone emphasises that “days go by..”.  Get Right With You begins slowly but ends like an impassioned spiritual hymn, “I need shelter from my sins, and Lord I’ve got a few” Gavin sings. Don’t we all?

NE

Poetry - Disappointing Day

Disappointing Day

It was just after Easter

When I continued a bad habit
Of feasting head first 
on a dark chocolate rabbit,

Which bit me right back 
on my upper right gum

A tooth sheared in two 
leaving me uncomfortably numb.
The mouthful melted...leaving nothing at all,

My imagination induced panic, 
where did the rest fall?

My tongue probed 
the scene of the gore,

Where a remnant swung 
like a saloon bar door.

I moved to the mirror 
whilst trying not to knock it

Dreading the pounds that 
would be leaving my pocket.

Driven to the dentist  
by my long-suffering wife,

The stalactite was removed 
without too much strife.

My mood remained 
like the pain so sore,

As dinner became soup 
at the local store.

NE

Ani DiFranco - Binary - Album Review

Ani DiFranco

Binary

Righteous Babe/Aveline

If you were impressed by Oprah Winfrey’s Golden Globes speech, then let me introduce you to another confident, self-made woman of integrity who has also spent her life being a committed activist for positive change against the ‘isms we are familiar with and those we may not, like reproductive rights and patriarchy.  Ani believes equality is essential before we can solve the bigger issues. 

It deserves discussion because the pressing needs facing Earth, of poverty, access to water, starvation, wars, terrorism and environmental destruction are too important not to address.

The vocals sound somewhere between Grace Jones and Alanis Morrisette and the staccato delivery, whilst fitting the jazz rhythms well, doesn't offer the variety I was expecting.  The exceptional line in the song Play God about reproductive rights, “Every chance I can, I pay my taxes like any working man, and I feel I’ve earned My right to choose, you don’t get to play God, man, I do”, demonstrates her beliefs and a mastery of the written and spoken word, but I was dying to hear more melody, less words, and a little space to hear more flair from the whole band.

Influenced by Pete Seeger, Suzanne Vega and Michelle Shocked, Ani is not your typical pop star.  She’d “rather be able to face myself in the mirror than be rich and famous”.  It’s a shame there isn’t more like her so that she could relax to include more human stories like the track Pacifist’s Lament (“But there is nothing harder than to stop in the middle of a battle and say you're sorry”) but she confesses herself that “Some people wear their heart on their sleeve.  I wear mine strapped to my boot.”

Binary may not be my first choice for my living room, but as a politician with conviction, she’s my kind of presidential candidate.

NE

Barbara Black - Ad Libitum - Album Review- Rock

Barbara Black

Ad Libitum

As a cloudy day, may shade a landscape, so this recording sometimes threatens to veil this rock artist.  Even so, Barbara Black valiantly battles with great verve, creativity and a tireless energy to create an absorbing debut album under her own name. 

She has a wonderful raw voice which can be best heard on the piano ballad Shiva and Non-Human Person which builds to a choir climax.  At the other end of her range she can rock with the best and on Stardust, Nice to Meet Me (about selfies), and Ghost, she performs with the assurance and passion of a certain Mr Mercury, holding onto notes with a similar ease.  The versatility of the two guitarists whether on dobro, acoustic or the fine solos is the other notable feature of this band.  A little more Spanish in the guitar and in the language, could help the band build on this arresting performance that captures the interest.

The recording felt a little flat in places (vocals and guitars need more mid-range boost) – a bit like my Nan’s Yorkshire Puddings (sorry Nan!) – plenty of taste but needing just a touch more lightness in the mix.

NE

Crematory - Live Insurrection - Review

Crematory

Live Insurrection

Steamhammer / SPV

“Gothic Rock and Roll for twenty-five years” Felix Stass proudly proclaims during this recording last year at the Bang Your Head Festival in Germany.  It’s a declaration of intent that the essential spirit of the band is forward looking in the recent recruitment of Tosse Basler on rhythm guitar and clean vocals and Rolf Munkes on lead guitar.

Their formula for success combines riffs that are a match for any metronome, the contrasting growls from Felix and vocals from Tosse, and the keyboards of Katrin Goger, who calls upon the great German keyboard lineage to add texture and embellishment to Crematory.

The album contains the strong singles Shadowmaker, Greed and Fly and the band sing in both German and English.  The stagecraft of the band apparent in the accompanying DVD, detracts from the music however.  The band are far too static and the excessive profanity from Felix was wearisome. Katrin, who with her keyboards are an integral part of the sound, needs to be brought forward and angled at 45 to 90 degrees to the audience and needs to find even more space musically between the bass and vocals.  Her valuable contribution, Tosse’s vocals and more lead from Rolf on their forthcoming album, Oblivion, can ensure the band remain in the spotlight with their likeable brand of rock.

NE

Comeback Kid - Outsider Review

Comeback Kid

Outsider

Nuclear Blast

Canadian hardcore crew Comeback Kid have returned to recording after a three year absence with Outsider, their first for Nuclear Blast, after exhibiting backbone by completing their previous contract in full.

Formula 1 champion Louis Hamilton could struggle to match the pace set by Loren Legare on the skins, which becomes the canvas the rest of the band use to create the art of this masterpiece.

The yelling of Andrew Neufeld is intense with an energy which is exciting.  It's balanced by band choruses, the occasional melodic vocal, and a trio of guitarists in Jeremy Hiebert, Stu Ross and Ron Friesen on bass.  Their forte is to provide changes of tempo, plentiful hooks and riffs that support the vocalist to express his anthems.

Author Ruth Krauss in the illustrated book (by Maurice Sendak) Open House For Butterflies, wrote  "A screaming song is good to know in case you need to scream" and Outsider fulfils the need with speed and style.

NE

Greatest Hits - Laura Barnett - Book Review

Greatest Hits

Laura Barnett

Book Review 

The beautiful retro cover of this novel pulled me in.  The heart of the book hit me like a ton of bricks and I couldn’t wait to get it home.  An English singer-songwriter called Cass Wheeler selects tracks for her Greatest Hits album and she picks the songs that have meant the most to her in her life.  At the start of each chapter the lyrics of each song are placed and the story of her life unfolds. 

Laura Barnett is a former freelance arts journalist with a love of rock music and this is the reason the book is so convincing. She has worked for most of the broadsheet newspapers. She spent half a year reading biographies of successful female artists like Joni Mitchell, Sandy Denny and Chrissie Hynde.  She also spoke to publicity people and tour managers to provide a vital framework upon which she develops all her characters, their traits and real life problems of both human nature and creative partnerships. Good examples of course aren’t hard to find – Simon and Garfunkel, and Fleetwood Mac spring to mind, but you’ll know others I don’t. (Please feel free to add via comments or an email)

The story isn’t a fantasy.  It’s like reading a star biography and kept me hooked through the story of a career woman in music.  It’s a terrific second novel from Laura Barnett whose debut was The Versions of Us.

The book is also augmented by an available recording of the songs by singer-songwriter Kathryn Williams which is called “Songs from the novel Greatest Hits” . I have two of her albums Little Black Numbers and Old Low Light so I know the album will be a worthy purchase when I get around to it.  Kathryn has also more recent good form as she has also released Hypoxia which came from a writing commission and was inspired by Sylvia Plath’s book The Bell Jar.

Greatest Hits has inspired me to make my own playlist on YouTube, not only of my singles collection but also albums that have had an impact in my life.   Have you the stamina to do the same?  I’ve been called geek and nerd (these are the nicer ones) so don’t let anyone else know until you’re finished and ready to share to cyberspace!

NE

Poetry - War on Terra

War on Terra

Abandon the weapons.

Gather the shards of humanity

From the ruins of religion.

Slash the cords of hate

That bind to the grave.

Be braver 

To plant new flags to

Older world colours of kindness.

NE

Arcelia - Building on the Land

Arcelia

Building on the Land

How Now Records

“This ain't rock n roll..” David Bowie began on his song Diamond Dogs, neither is Building On The Land by Arcelia.  It’s not folk, country or easy-listening.  Instead the highly-listenable mature vocal trio of Gavin Alexander, Simon Foster, and Teresa Gallagher are trailblazing a new genre which recognizes its fan base.   It’s for people who may be over 30, who horror of horrors, still wear jeans,   and who aren’t ready for shapeless beige or corduroy, just yet.  They don’t need their trainers to be adorned with symbols or stripes of a certain angle.   It’s music for adults with themes of family and life happenings.

Gavin Alexander on acoustic guitar writes all the songs and I found the lyrics, almost poetic, which I’ll come back to later, if you’ll allow.   All three members have great voices, and together with the deft jazz –like hands of Perry White on piano and Martin Elliott on acoustic bass, the sound is melodic and endearing.   It is quite possibly an unconscious reflection upon Kent – The Garden of England, with its pastoral landscape together with embers from the Canterbury scene. 

What is not mere speculation, (Did the cover cast a spell?),  is the quality of this recording, made at Arcelia’s  own studio in Kent , which is largely down to Simon Foster, an experienced sound engineer, co-founder of How Now Productions and  present member of The Flying Pickets. 

Teresa Gallagher is also a voice artist and her reading of Dickens’ Bleak House was a Times Audio Book of The Year.  If that’s too high-brow, she’s also been heard in TV series such as Thomas & Friends.  She’s a true all-rounder, having experience also in radio dramas.

Is this a perfect album? - Not quite.  Nine out of the twelve tracks however,   are exceptional.  Workhouse was a commission (Gresssenhall  Workhouse in Norfolk) and is outstanding – “From 4am till very late, the men unpick the oakum, I scrub the laundry cloth so white, 30 lashes if outspoken” Teresa softly sings.  I was slightly disappointed at each end of the album therefore,   as each end didn’t reach the same heights as the nine.   I would have led with The World or the title track, that would have been better indicators of what was to follow.  Alternatively,   I would have used Teresa’s experience to make a reading of Gavin’s lyrics.  

NE