The Driving Test
A Musical Car Ride
Whilst we would love to give every album/EP/single a full indepth review,we are only human and don't have a time turner so we aren't able to give every release the time and attention it deserves.
In the past that would have ment that we either reviewed a release or we didn't, but now we have a third option, a middle way.
The solution here has been a simple one. Rather than review individual artists' CD's at length, we play them one after the other on a long car journey. The simple listening test is: "are they bearable in the car - interesting, enjoyable, not distracting". This may not be how the artists want us to hear their work, but it's how a lot gets listened to for the first time and at least raises awarenes! The rating system is simple and provides a shorthand for reference.:
Shotgun Funeral - Nicer ****
shotgunfuneralchi.bandcamp.com
They say there's a musical genre for every mood, and sometimes you just need a high energy blast of musical adrenaline. Described as fever-dream core, queer 3-piece Shotgun Funeral combine a whole load of elements into an EP that defies labels. Metal, punk and rock all feature, and tracks like Witching Hour lean into the heavier elements with great effect. The standout track comes at the end with For Good, which is a complete change of pace with a mellower summer style track. This much variation in a four track EP is an unexpected delight and marks out Shotgun Funeral as one to watch. AJ
Jubal Lee Young - Wild Birds Warble ***
www.juballeeyoung.com
The son of Steve Young, this, his first album in a decade, leans heavily into that songbook with his versions of 'Seven Bridges Road', 'Jig', 'Travelin' Kind'. The White Trash Song', 'East Virginia' and 'Long Way To Hollywood'. When he's not leafing through his dad's songbook, he's flipping the pages of others: David Olney ('If My Eyes Were Blind', 'Deeper Well'), Townes Van Zandt ('No Place To Fall'), Richard Dobson ('Useful Girl'), Utah Phillips ('Rock, Salt and Nails' which, of course, his father covered). Mickey Newbury ('Why You Been Gone So Long') and Warren Zevon ('Carmelita'). He has an engagingly dusty vocal and sits comfortably into a similar style to the artists covered, but he brings nothing new to the party and really just sends you back to play the originals. The last track, the slow waltzing honky tonker highlight 'Angel With A Broken Heart' is one of his own and proof he has a voice of his own. Maybe next time, he will shake off the ghosts and let his own light guide the way. MD
TangleJack - The Ragged Edge ****
tanglejack.co.uk
This was album that caught me by surprise, two old friends, John-Paul Davies & Duncan Leigh, harmonising, folk rock, here comes another Simon & Garfunkle clone. Wrong. TangleJack are a duo, the do folk, that's where the similarities end. The is something quintissentially English about "The Ragged Edge", earthy, thought provoking, full of reference points both old and new. These are collected into a group of songs that make you want to listen. Songs you feel you could enjoy anywhere, home, car, pub, festival, songs that have the strength for the occasion in which they are put to you. "Players Not The Playwright" is a standout track for me, not least because I've already assign a plethora of meanings to it. NK
Robert Vincent - Barriers ***
www.robertvincentmusic.com
Vincent made quite a splash with 2020's In This Town You're Owned, named UK Album of the Year at the 2021 UK Americana Awards with him also winning UK Artist Of The Year. So, it's disappointing to say the follow-up, while undeniably engaging listening is also somewhat undemanding, the songs, rarely rising above a leisurely drift, washing over you without any real impression. The slightly more uptempo 'Follow What You Love And Love Will Follow' lifts the temperature somewhat while the soaringly anthemic, emotion-powered ballad 'Burden' is the obvious highpoint, but otherwise these barriers prove hard to surmount. MD
Orphan Colours - King Of Alchemy ***
www.orphancolours.com
Comprising ex-Ahab members Steve " Llewellyn and Dave Burn alongside Noah and the Whale guitarist Fred Abbot, and bassist Lee Childs with pedal steel from Jon Harvey-Whyte, their second album, as per the title takes a theme of transformation and is, more the most part, driven by big thumping drums with influences that range from Thin Lizzy ('Free'), Dire Straits ('Sex And Violence') and the Doobie Brothers ('Temptress') to the soft rock of Laurel Canyon ('Always Spend The Days Running', 'Let You Go'), and the Americana strum of 'Radio Heart'. The songs aren't especially memorable but the title track stands out as a soaring Celtic-coloured stadium ballad and there's nothing that wouldn't sound good with the windows down to while away a long drive. MD
Jon Budworth - In Sight Of Home ****
www.jonbudworth.co.uk
Transplanted from Lancashire to Yorkshire since 2017, fingerpicked opener 'Shadow of the Chevin' is a love song to his now hometown of Otley, a track that lays down the template for Budworth's melodic acoustic troubadour folk-rock with its ringing and circling guitar notes and bright, slightly raspy vocals. The title track, with its spoken intro and written about the tragic sinking of the Naval yacht the Iolaire in 1919 carrying sailors returning home from the war and the loss of 200 lives, is a notable standout, not least for the vocal contribution by Edwina Hayes, but ears should also be directed to the driving 'Flatlining' with its mandolin and reflections on first world problems and social media, the intricately picked, fate-themed '1000 Faces', 'Ghost Of A Girl' inspired by a forlorn looking statue of Alice In Wonderland behind York Minster and, written after seeing a homeless girl to the backdrop of cruise ships in the harbour, album closer 'Holyhead', though I must confess I initially heard the refrain as fairies rather than "the ferries come and the ferries go". MD
Tim Isberg - ****
timisberg.com/
"Prairie Fire" is the latest cut from Canadian singer-songwriter Tim Isberg and fulfills my comment that a really good album should be a history lesson, a geography lesson, full of people and rich in damned fine songs. This is an album that charts the 19th century migration across Canada, the good, the bad and the downright ugly. Surrounded by a core band and with a number of guest performers, "Prairie Fire" is very much a story album with 12 chapters that are little gems in their own right. One of the themes that slides through the album is that of freedom and what can happen when freedom moves unfettered by things like conscience and responsibility. Most importantly it does so in an interesting and entertaining way, well worth checking out. NK
Fatea Showcase Sessions
The Fatea Showcase Sessions are a series of downloads featuring acts that we've really enjoyed and think that more people should get the chance to hear.
Corsair is the current session and features 16 fantastic artists check out the website to find out more about them and download your copy
www.fatea-showcase-sessions.co.uk for all the artist information.