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Posted on May 9th, 2010 by Alan @ 12:00 pm
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Posted on May 6th, 2010 by Alan @ 3:42 pm
I promised you more frequent posts, and also a review of Eg’s newest album, “Adventure Man”. Before I brave the ash cloud and jet off on holiday I’m determined to do both, and also line up a few wee posts to appear automagically while I’m away. Eg’s almost done the pop star thing himself – he was the drummer in Brother Beyond until they signed to Stock, Aitken & Waterman, and was half responsible for the best pop record no-one’s ever heard of in 1991 (Eg & Alice’s “24 Years Of Hunger”). Since then, other than a solo album every 10 years or so, he’s been content to write pop songs for other people (James Blunt, Will Young, Duffy, Kylie, James Morrison, Take That etc) But thankfully he finds the time to record himself, and his records are always enjoyable. Some of the tracks on this new one are quirkier than the top ten would probably live with (Weird Friendless Kid, for example) and I wonder how many of these tracks were originally intended for others to sing, and how many were written with this album in mind. The highlights for me are “But California”, the album’s opener which starts tentatively but builds momentum beautifully (is that Alice on backing vocals?) and “Broken” which I’m amazed wasn’t a huge hit. Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. Buy “Adventure Man” here No Comments |
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Posted on May 4th, 2010 by Alan @ 7:38 pm
I stumbled across a new album by Alice Temple last weekend (wifi on the train, or the iPhone… I’m not sure which is the best technical leap forward this century, but they combined beautifully to help a 2 hour journey pass like a dream) and after having it on fairly heavy rotation all week I thought I’d share my thoughts on it plus a couple of my personal highlights. The first thing that struck me about the album was Alice’s voice – so distinctive, even more so than in the Eg & Alice days (almost 20 years ago!) as it’s a bit edgier these days. The next thing is that this album has got so much variety – after hearing Chemical Way a few years ago, from her 1999 album “Hang Over” which I’ve still not tracked down, my expectations were a bit lower than I’d have liked them to be. It’s not that I didn’t like Chemical Way, it’s just that it wasn’t a patch on Eg & Alice, and I loved that album. Still do. But this new album has tracks on it that have that same bittersweet feel to them – this track, If I’d Met You, is in that vein. Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. The album swings between these more melancholic tracks, goes into territory more reminiscent of NIN with tracks like Black Sheep, jump-about rock with Take Me To Your Leader, and this next one, The Saint Of Love. Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. I’m happy in a way that I’d set my expectations fairly low, as this album really grabbed me. I’m even more eager to get my hands on Hang Over now – if anyone can help out please shout! More good news – after finding this album I googled Eg, and he released a new album, “Adventure Man”, last year too! Alice features on a couple of tracks (including Pull Me Through, which is apparently a re-recording of a track from Hang Over) and now I’ve managed to get Be With You In A Minute out of my CD player I’ll maybe get a wee review of it on the site before too long. You can buy “Be With You In A Minute” on iTunes. Yeah, I’d rather have it on CD too, but I think we’re both showing our age now. No Comments |
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Posted on May 4th, 2010 by Alan @ 1:48 pm
I managed to catch a bit of Ally Gourlay’s radio show on Leith FM last night (every Monday night from 10pm til midnight, on www.leithfm.co.uk or 98.8 FM if you’re local) – wish I’d caught more of it as it was superb. I was listening via the Wunder Radio iPhone app, and will be doing that again whenever I’m out of the country. The show details are on Ally’s facebook page – I’ve no idea if anyone can see this if they’re not his FB friend, so just in case here is last night’s playlist:
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