Reviews
Artist: Les Cotton
Album: Northern Slums To Western Dreams
Tracks: 15
Website:http://lescotton.blogspot.com
A remarkable album from a remarkable talent. Apart from the very last track, Les wrote all songs, played all of the instruments, (including drums, keyboards and guitars), sang all of the vocals, recorded, edited and mastered the tapes, produced the album and designed the artwork, but not only that, he is also responsible for sales, marketing and advertising. A complete one-man music industry!
Despite that, there is nothing amateur about this record, and it sounds as professional as any backed by some large record label.
The last track though, Homecoming, was written by a friend of Les's, Bjorn Nilsen, who lives in Poland. Bjorn also played acoustic guitar on this track, (recorded in his own studio in Poland), and another friend, Pete Rand, added a mellotron accompaniment, recorded in a third studio, so the editing of this track was no mean feat.
The songs were recorded by Les mainly in 2009, though there a few earlier tracks, one dating back to 2003. This was an instrumental entitled Shoreline, a name that Les has adopted for his recording studio.
His songs encompass quite a wide variety of genres, from rock to pop and even includes a piano rag. In general, though, all the songs are very upbeat, with a cheerful disposition. Not everyone can reach the top, so you might as well be happy with your lot. If you're chasing rainbows, chances are, you'll never catch one, but Les exhorts you to simply enjoy the chase.
Les lives just over an hour away from Manchester and, to my Southern ear, when singing his accent sounds distinctly Mancunian, so his voice cries out for comparison with Oasis. Not actually surprising as Les once played on the same bill as a band called Rain, a precursor to Oasis before Noel Gallagher joined.
Highlights, for me, on this album include "Photograph", and "This One's For You". The latter, purely because of the imagery, now burnt on my retina, of an ex-girlfriend of Les's with hot pants that zipped at the rear. Whilst searching through a pile of old family snaps, Les was struck by an image of a young lady, long forgotten, and this inspired "Photograph". This song includes a stunning guitar break, of the sort that could well be featured on a Channel 5 "50 best guitar riff" programme in a few years.
All told, a very impressive debut album.
Pete Bradley