Elbow – THE TAKE OFF AND
LANDING OF EVERYTHING
Starting off with one of the
best debuts not just of the last couple decades but maybe in rock history,
Elbow has since then succumbed to a kind of musical inertia, slowing the pace
more and more into predictable big chant choruses with heavy percussion. This record is a slight improvement over
their last record with much better songwriting and a louder guitar sound. I haven’t given up hope on Elbow but they
need to kick out the jams a bit.
Neil Finn – DIZZY HEIGHTS
I am a huge fan of Split Enz
and have enjoyed some of Neil Finn’s solo records especially TRY WHISTLING THIS. I was not a fan of Crowded House's bland commerciality however. On his newest solo record, Finn’s voice is so
produced it’s almost ethereal. This is a
pretty record that bogs down a little bit during the slower tracks where Finn’s
gift of melody can get submerged. Much
better are the faster songs like Pony Ride and Strangest Friends.
Black Submarine – NEW SHORES
Black Submarine features two
members of the Verve, guitarist Nick McCabe and bassist Simon Jones, and a
number of others in a sort of a collective.
I prefer the songs that feature the female vocalist over the ones with
the male vocalist. The true star here is
McCabe’s huge expansive sound contrasted against the equally big backbeat which
acts as sort of a safety net. A fabulous
return to the kind of late 90’s Britpop big rock song as commercial single.
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