Interesting album, this is an interesting blend of sounds, perhaps not as chilled as Jem (a namely definitely worth watching for over the coming year), slighly less in your face as the chart stuff from Gwen Stefani’s first solo ofering (but also a damn sight better than Gwen which is fine as far as the singles go but after that is to put is baldly crap). The sound often comes across as ideas from the 80s pop to today thrown in a blender and the nicest results being pulled out. For example Me Plus One – sounds a bit like a Madonna singing the Human League’s Love Action, or Always Too Late could be a white Beyonce or a girl band with talent!

If you want to go light a frothy without becoming crappy (aka Girls Aloud)- then this is a good place stop.

10 Minute Review

The ever changing Elvis Costello is back again with Delivery Man having completed another classical piece this year and contributing to Mrs Costello’s latest(better known as Diana Krall) with a new album backed with the majority of the Attractions.

Time to rush out to your favourite CD shop, quickly click your way to that cheap online site you’ve found, or simply Amazon cause you they’ll have it listed?

Well the opening track suggests we’re in for something more punk/new wave than Elvis’ hayday; and hey whats the piano motif in the background that keep cropping – damn I know that but where from? Then onto something could have come from his North album (polished nudging towards something Jazz like). Then we’re off to something thats somewhere between Country and Costello’s New Wave roots. This pretty much how the album goes all the way through swinging between Country/Americana and Lounge Jazz with varying degrees of new wave infusions. As usual Costello’s song writing is strong distinctive (and you’d expect nothing less of him).

Do I like it, would I recommend it, on the first listen or two I personally am finding the strong shifting styles a little unsettling, just as I settle into the groove we’re off again. But it is growing on me, the title track, Monkey Man and Nothing Clings Like Ivy are certainly hittin home (with the lovely Emmylou Harris). I’m more than likely to be saying to be saying its a corker in a week or two, but try not not listen to it with any particular expectations.

Michael Mann films are noted for three things :
1. A decent story line
2. Amazing cinematograhy – often of LA
3. Use of music to underline or enhance the atmosphere of the film (for example the downtown shoot out sequence in Heat – which can’t have run on so long if it hadn’t been for the taught underlying music, or closing scene when De Niro is shot featuring Moby’s God Flying Over The Face Of The Water).

Many of Mann’s soundtracks are essenitally compilations with a few additional special sequences written for the film (this time contributed by James Newton Howard). Unlike a lot of main stream soundtracks that work from compilations, Mann doesn’t go for obvious or easy choices – this makes for a refreshing change, and still the soundtracks stand up in their own right as an indpendent piece of music – see The Insider for proof of this. This soundtrack continues with this form, with only one well known track which was remixed for the film (Oakenfold’s Ready Steady Go which has appeared in the Bourne films).

The soundtrack opens with some decent straight ahead rock, which happens whilst the film is introducing Max. Then the you have the fantastic Groove Armada’s Hands Of Time which has a Ritchie Valens vocal. The album is worth investigating purely on the strength of this track alone.

After Hands Of Time we have several Latin/Mexican tinged numbers which build up tempo to an Audioslave number, all of which are worthwhile. But after Audioslave we get a jaring change of style to Jazz from Miles Davis, a fine number but I’m inclined to resequence the album to avoid this jaring (the album’s running order reflects the film’s chronology).

Then we have another dramatic change of style for Paul Oakenfold’s Ready Steady Go – a pretty dramatic piece of electronica, which was brilliantly cut in the film.

The final sequence of the pieces come from James Newton Howard which provide a tremondously pensive close.

Overall, great, but not quiet as brilliant as the Heat soundtrack.

Another 10 minute review!!

It is a rare thing to hear raw authentic blues these days – and we’re talking Robert Johnson style recordings – a guitar, vocal and maybe something simple beating (a foot on the floor, a single drum etc) the basic rhythm. This is a long way from the studio polished efforts from the current blues statesmen (i.e. Eric Clapton et al). But here we have it – minimal mic’ing, all the nuances of guitar strings buzzing and vibrating on the recording. To top this off Chris also plays using a Pedal Steel Guitar – on its own a rare thing, but combined with the rawness of the delivery – something special to hear, particularly as it isn’t muddied by the fact it has had to be mastered from a piece or warn and tired out piece of vinyl or aged master tape. For most people this isn’t a recording that will invoke simple pleasure and emotional response. This is something that should be atleast listened to once for an appreciation of authenticity.

Chris’ voice is far from the smoothest, but then Chris’ isn’t in the easy listening secton of your local CD shop or webstore; his voice is extremely expressive easily changing in strength of delivery and intonation to support the lyrics.

Before I put most people off Chris’ work completely – his recordings so have ranged massively, through the blues (from this raw approach, through to very polished performances), into Americana (check out Living with The Law) and onto more conventional Rock and Grunge (Din Of Ecastasy). But this album is for Chris Whitley fans, and those that love the purest and rawest of blues or want to have a lesson in what it should sound like.