Friday 17 February 2012

Phantom Limb - The Pines

I am just listening again to the new album by Bristol band, Phantom Limb.  Called The Pines (of which this is the title track)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvcVcd-WJas
it was released on 13th February and is a wonderful mix of southern soul and country blues.  In fact the description on their website says it perfectly - One listen to Phantom Limb and you instantly find yourself transported to that all-too-often unexplored crossroads between country music and old style R&B. This is a band steeped in a tradition where the two genres share their musical DNA. It’s The Staples Singers fronting The Band in The Last Waltz, Ray Charles striking gold when he made his first country album, Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham down in Muscle Shoals writing Do Right Woman, a song that would go on to be recorded by both Aretha Franklin and The Flying Burrito Brothers.    Curious enough to want to take a listen?  You should be - because you won't be disappointed.

Lead singer Yolanda Quartey explains that as a child she listened to all sorts of music.  She enjoyed singing along to both Aretha Franklin and Dolly Parton, loves The Band and insists that despite everyone trying to segregate music, it is impossible to do so.  She has also worked as a backing singer for a variety of artists over the years.  Massive Attack, Will Young and Dizzy Rascal to name three.

Formed in 2004, The Pines is Phantom Limb's second album and it was produced by Marc Ford from The Black Crowes.


http://phantomlimbmusic.com/

Friday 10 February 2012

David Fisher - Valentine

The track Valentine isn't on the album Honeytrap by David Fisher but I think I might well take a listen to the album if this track is anything to go by. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCfKs8MoYcU
I posted the album cover here mainly because I am a huge 1970s fan and the Look-In inspired art c/o Nick Spender caught my eye.  Fisher is a big 1970s fan too according to his website,  and the album is apparently littered with references to that decade... but I haven't listened yet so we will have to return to this another time because I am posting another track for now.

It is nearly February 14th and, although I wasn't actually looking for an appropriate song to mark the occasion, this popped up and it is pretty good.   According to Fisher, it began life as a Tom Waits style blues song until drummer Steve Creese completely changed it into what we have here during one of their sessions. 

David Fisher appears to be an interesting guy.  At the beginning of his career, he was quite happy to get out there and do his own marketing and performs as often as possible to promote his promo cd which was on his own label.  He has performed alongside some great session musicians and also John Cooper Clarke (respect!)  He has, amongst other things, co-written and performed a tv theme (for ITV's Stan the Man) and produced a children's nursery rhyme cd.  In fact, his biography seems to reveal someone who doesn't stand still for long.

http://www.summerislerecords.com/davidfisher/index.html

Sunday 5 February 2012

Canon Blue - Indian Summer (Des Moines)

I received this particular track early last week as an extra thrown in from another band who were being supported by Canon Blue on their latest tour.  I really like it.  It has a wonderfully relaxed, early 1980s feel, along the lines of China Crisis or The Lotus Eaters.   Intrigued, I headed over to their website to investigate the latest album and find out a bit more.

Canon Blue is the alias of Nashville-based Daniel James.  The first album, Colonies, came out in 2007 with Rumspringa following in 2011, from which comes this track, Indian Summerhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E67VBL3GTrg&feature=related

Canon Blue's influences are many and varied (Scott Walker, Debussy, Tom Waits, Nick Drake and Ennio Morricone amongst them) and he has ambitions to be recognised not just as a singer-songwriter but also as a composer, and this is shown in his description of Rumspringa - an orchestral pop marvel no less, written while touring the world with Danish indie rock band Efterklang. 

Listening to other tracks from Rumspringa whilst writing this, it is clearly an unusual collection.   Andalusia (Davenport) has that other-worldliness also apparent on Kate Bush's 50 Words For Snow, and in Mark Hollis's less commercial offerings.  Nothing wrong with being compared to either of these of course.  It probably won't be the sort of album you will play every day  (Indian Summer is probably the most commercial-sounding track) but that's not to say it isn't a fine collection of interesting, unusual musical pieces.  You can stream it for free on the website.



http://www.canonblue.com/bio#awp::home