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PLAYING OUT LOUD! Gig Reviews (top) Eastleigh Summer Festival, Fleming
Park, Eastleigh, August 4 - 8.
Quality performances continued on Saturday with Levellers’ man Simon Friend protesting about just about everything in his set, feisty young band The Duhks from Canada impressing with their set which embraced folk, gospel and reggae, and stirring Irish band Lunasa who produced a flawless display.
The Undertones and The Proclaimers then gave their fans exactly what they were waiting for to complete another successful day.
CD Reviews (top) Richard Hawley. Coles Corner. Sheffield man Richard Hawley, once a part-time member of Pulp, and a solo artist since 2000, pops up with an album of well-crafted songs. Opening with the title track “Coles Corner,” the album has a timeless quality with Richard’s smokey baritone impressing throughout. The overall feel is romantic, with thoughtful lyrics addressing love, loss and regret and it makes for compelling listening. American influences pervade Richard’s songs - echoes of Johnny Cash and Hank Williams filter in on several tracks, but in essence it’s a very personal and English style that Hawley conjures up. Amongst the best tracks are the gently building “The Ocean” and the melancholic “Just Like The Rain.” Extremely well-produced and beautifully arranged, it’s an album to savour. Alanis Morisette. Jagged Little Pill Acoustic. Not being over-familiar with the original album is probably an advantage
in
reviewing this excellent album. Some reviewers have accused Alanis of sounding
lacklustre, and suggesting that the album sounds watered-down in comparison
with the original. Hearing the songs for the first time in their entirety, I
can make no comparisons, but listening to it without prejudice, I cannot find
fault with it. Morisette’s angst-filled vocals drive along a fine collection
of songs that have already achieved 30 million sales. And what strong songs -
“All I Really Want,” “You Oughta Know,” “Hand In My Pocket,” “Ironic” and
the other eight tracks are all gems, belted out in strong style by Alanis. Mick Harvey. One Man’s Treasure.
Mick is the founder of The Birthday Party and The Bad Seeds, so
it’s not surprising that several of the tracks recall the Nick Cave days,
especially “Come On Spring.” It’s his first solo offering for eight years and
apparently Mick plays most of the instruments on the album. Clear, unpretentious
vocals, thoughtful lyrics and neat arrangements make for an engaging album
encompassing a host of styles. Most of the tracks are covers, including a
version of Tim Buckley’s “The River” and “Demon Alcohol,” an excellent song
written by Bambi Lee Savage. The two tracks written by Mick, “Man Without A
Home” and the gentle “Will You Surrender?” are both stand-outs. The opening
track “First Street Blues” is another highlight, as is the country-style “Hank
Williams Said It Best.” Donal Hinely. Giants. Another great album which arrived unsolicited on my doormat, coming all the way from Springfield, Tennessee. Thankyou very much Karen of Scuffletown Records for sending it to me, because it’s one of the best albums I’ve heard this year. It’s what I would define as honest music - songs written from the heart, without commercial considerations. Donal’s got a very listenable voice, he writes perceptive lyrics and instrumentally it’s highly distinctive - how many times to you get to hear glass harmonica and 24 water-tuned wine glasses and brandy snifters on an album?! Some very personal statements here from the opening title track “Giants” onwards through the self-explanatory “Before Music Was a Product,” “Shock and Awe” - a total of 12 tracks which range through country, folk and blues. Donal’s got some very talented friends who helped out on this fine album, including members of Wilco and Hayseed Dixie. I can’t recommend it highly enough to lovers of pure, organic music - Donal’s a great storyteller who should be up there with Steve Earl and company. I don’t know whether the album is available in this country but you can get if via Donal’s website www.donalhinely.com . Goldfinger. Disconnection Notice.
This is an excellent album full of good songs, great riffs and arrangements, delivered with high energy. It came over to me as a punk version of The Police, with shades of The Who. Vocalist John Feldmann who wrote all the songs is outstanding. The album gets off to a crack ing start with “My Everything” and the standard is maintained throughout. There is also a lot of variation in style and instrumentation with the full-throttle guitar sound augmented by trombone, trumpet and mandolin on some tracks. I particularly enjoyed “Damaged” with its Indian vocal samples, and the catchy “Uncomfortable,” but there isn’t a dud track here. If the running time is relatively short by contemporary standards, with the longest track kicking in at 3:39 it’s because the songs are tight, without any self-indulgent guitar solos - a trip back to the days of early Beatles and The Who when various wonders were packed into a 3-minute pattern. Highly recommended. Big Joe Turner. My French Connection. A generous helping of 13 tracks with vocals by Big Joe on the
first two songs, the rest by Ladonna Smith. All the songs were written by Joe,
but despite some highly professional musicianship from his band, particularly
the harmonica work of Emmanuel Frangeul, there’s nothing very much to get
excited about. Buck 65.
Secret House Against The World. Buck 65 is talented Canadian Richard Terfry performing his songs
with the help of Tortoise, D Styles and Feist, whoever they might be. Not
someone I’d heard of before, but this is an awesome album. It’s essentially a
merge of folk, blues and hip hop and has been described by one reviewer as “the
hip hop album Johnny Cash never made.” As Buck himself says about it: “t’s junk
I picked up on my travels. It’s alligator heads and broken hearts and buses and
pretty accidents. I hope you like it, but it’s OK if you don’t.” Well, I like it
very much - interesting lyrics, lush strings, eerie violins and subtle piano
work make for a highly atmospheric sound, with the committed vocals of Buck 65
roaring out. There’s a bluesy punk feel about many of the tracks and it’s
compelling listening. Standouts include the opener, “Rough House Blues,”
“Kennedy Killed The Hat,” “The Floor” and “Drunk Without Drinking.” Highly
original and bound to appeal to fans of artists like Tom Waits who are not
afraid We welcome you to submit your own cd, gig or venue reviews here at POL. Simply click on the link below and type away! Please include relevant details such as your name, date of gig etc. Click here to send in your own review Looking for a different Review? Click here for our archive |
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Thousands
enjoyed ideal weather and a well-balanced programme of music acts at this
well-organised and atmospheric festival. From the spectacular opening night
headlined by Pink Floyd tribute band Perfect Alibi to the closing night topped
by the irrepressible Rolf Harris it was a success all the way.
The
music was staged in a big top double the size of last year’s with Friday
afternoon hosting a Battle of the Bands. I was one of the judges who watched
Serpica, Sounds of Panis and Lake Aurora go through their paces. All performed
well but we were unanimous that Lake Aurora were the best band.
The
evening’s entertainment included the engaging Croft No 5 from Scotland and a
superb set from Kosheen before crowd favourites The Saw Doctors took the stage
for a rollicking folk outing. A balmy evening with a real festival feel was
enhanced by a crystal-clear sound system which enabled listeners to hear every
word without being deafened.
The
Paetbog Faeries and Michael McGoldrick and his band then produced well received
instrumental sets. Into the evening, and stunning hillbilly rockers Hayseed
Dixie left the audience howling for more with a tremendous all-action set. I met
the band just before they went on stage - a friendly bunch of musicians who
certainly like their beer and cigarettes! I too would have liked to hear more
from them - a great act with AC/DC favourites interspersed with their own songs.
The
feast of live music continued on Sunday including promising young singer Martha
Tilston and veteran folkie Ashley Hutchings. The lively Bellowhead and the
introspective Beth Neilson Chapman were followed by a rousing session with
Capercaillie before everyone’s favourite entertainer Rolf Harris and his band
proved the perfect bill-toppers to end the festival.
Thanks
to organiser Peter Chegwyn the festival ran like a dream with swift changeovers
on stage and good facilities for the fans, hence the smiling faces in the
crowd. Crowds were up on last year for a festival to remember - let’s hope it’s
now firmly established as an annual event. Photos by Peter
Ashton & Claire Edwards
Mute Records. Running time: 46:17
Maverick Records. Running time:
58:33
Mute
Records. Running time: 47:39
Scuffletown Records - ST1082.Running time: 42.24
Mystic Records - MYS
CD190. Running time: 73:10 
Warner Music. Running
time: 49:04
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