I happened to stumble into a Ronnie Scotts the other day, without knowing what was on the bill and I was lucky enough to encouter this extraordinarly talented young man. He is not just a virtuosic musician, but a tunesmith, a songcrafter, (this makes him sound like a character from Lord of the Rings) and without undermining the seriousness and quality of his musicianship his songs were interdispersed with witting anecdotes and silly wordplay. So what can I say? Luckily the CD did not disappoint - I'm hooked. Move over Jamie Cullum and Michael Bubble. Oh, and incase you're reading this Joe, I too love the Isle of Wight, and the Donkey Sanctuary there - maybe one day we'll meet whilst admiring the the slightly deformed spines of those lovely creatures. ... Read More:
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The Best of Jools Holland was conceived as a collection of the work he had issued under various independent record labels on signing a deal with major label WEA. It is quite a bizarre collection in that it contains `Heartbreaking World' from the Squeeze reformation album `Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti' without mentioning the word Squeeze at all. To include a Squeeze track at all seems quite strange and if the A&M catalogue was available then either `Hop, Skip and Jump' or `Wrong Side of the Moon' from Jools' first stint in Squeeze would have fitted better with the Boogie Woogie flavour of this album. Also if the A&M catalogue was available it is strange that none of Jools' first solo work with the Millionaires should be included, particularly considering all ... Read More:
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There is an old saying in music that you are only as good as your last album, and I am afriaid Quantic may be suffering from this in the public's perceptions at the moment.
The Fifth Exotic, Stampede and Apricot Morning are all wonderful albums that have been played and played to death on my system...but his last effort An Announcement To Answer left me cold. There seemed to be little spark or originality there. So when this new release hit the streets I have to admit to being a little non-plussed. Could I be bothered to make the effort?
Well I read a couple of positive reviews and my curiosity started to gnaw, so I decided to take the plunge. So glad I did...we are back to the beautifully produced sunshine and buoyancy of his earlier works. ... Read More:
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There is an old saying in music that you are only as good as your last album, and I am afriaid Quantic may be suffering from this in the public's perceptions at the moment.
The Fifth Exotic, Stampede and Apricot Morning are all wonderful albums that have been played and played to death on my system...but his last effort An Announcement To Answer left me cold. There seemed to be little spark or originality there. So when this new release hit the streets I have to admit to being a little non-plussed. Could I be bothered to make the effort?
Well I read a couple of positive reviews and my curiosity started to gnaw, so I decided to take the plunge. So glad I did...we are back to the beautifully produced sunshine and buoyancy of his earlier works. ... Read More:
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Generally very COOL mix of funky, jazzy, bossa-nova-ish, X-mas songs. Makes for a great excuse to jump around and shake your stuff - go on burn those mince pies!!!!
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What a fantatic voice and album. Favourite tracks are Smile and What A Wonderful World.
I brought tickets for my Mum and I to go and see him at the Brighton Centre on 21st October just after she was diagnosed with cancer in May and this was one of her aims to get to see him, but sadly she died on the 16th July. I wasn't going to go but did so for Mum and I am so glad I did, he was very funny and talked alot to us all and as well as doing songs from the Ray Quinn album he did a fantastic Elvis Presley medley and what got me is Mum's favourite song is Michael Buble's Home which is going to be Westlife's new single and Ray sang a fantastic version of it. He said it was going to be on his album but was not so hopefully on his next album he will have this version ... Read More:
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This is one of those rare albums that ticks a wide range of boxes almost perfectly. It's groovy enough to dance to, varied enough to listen, mellow enough to have on in the background to and detailed enough to withstand repeated listening. I keep coming back to this CD, and 8 years since its release, it still sounds fresh. It has to be in my top 5. Buy it now!
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I was about 15 when I wrote that so apologies are due as I seemed to be lacking in brain cells at that time although I stand by my statement that it's definetely worth dipping into your pockets for, whenever I'm bored of my other cds I put this back in the cd player and become content. The timelessness of most of these classics makes it a joy to listen to among my favourites is nat king coles stardust perfection. I'm also a sucker for joe cockers - bye bye blackbird. 'In the wee small hours of the morning' i do find to be somewhat tiresome and grating at times so possibly skip over that the odd times but other than that it's close to perfection. A fantastic soundtrack to accompany a personal fav film of mine.
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This CD is a re-issue of an album released in 1972. Featuring Miriam's stunning voice singing the songs she is most famous internationally for, "Pata Pata", "Ring Bell, Ring Bell" and "click song number 1". A twelfth extra track, "Malayisha" unfortunately in mono, is the B side of the original Pata Pata single. Producer Jerry Ragovoy has done an excellent job in showing the scope of Miriam's repetoire, even penning two of the most stunning songs, "Ring Bell" and "What is Love?" to do so. Particularly if you have only heard Miriam's more recent recordings I exhort you to add this to your collection, and listen a younger but no less exquisite voice.
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The concept of travelling the world and creating an album based on various cultures is always going to be a tough thing to complete. All I can say is that Nitin Sawhney has pulled off this mountain of a project with breathtaking results.
The 15 tracks of 'Prophesy' display a highly interesting and diverse body of work, from a man with a real passion to produce something amazing. From the uplifting opening 'sunset' Sawhney creates a wonderful soundscape through chilled out beats, guitar, Tabla drums and moving orchestral touches, it's an atmosphere followed equally by 'Nothing' string melodies conjure up amazing sci-fi vista's and rousing vocals create an ethereal world. Acquired dreams is an early highlight and takes the tone to a deeper emotional level, ... Read More:
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