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As I type it’s a pretty typical day here in the UK. In other words it’s dark, dank and raining but luckily I have the All Day Sucker CD to brighten my mood and transport me to sunny California. This is a very fine record, a near perfect mix of classic pop, soul and funk with harmonies that would grace a Jellyfish or Beach Boys album.
Read MoreIn 1990 Nelson released their debut album After The Rain. They were an international MTV sensation, scoring the number one hit ‘Can’t Live Without Your Love & Affection’ and a string of other worthy singles. For many rock fans (though few would admit it) the melodic lead guitar work, slick arrangements and trademark harmony lead vocals were completely irresistible. For a lot of others, Nelson symbolised everything that was wrong with the crowded hair metal scene. Pointy guitars, white teeth and dry ice-filled music videos had all had their day and the tide was to turn quickly against anyone even half as groomed as a band like Nelson.
Read MoreIf you were David Bronson and had poured a decade of your life into the release of an album ‘The Long Lost Story’ then a step back, and a good think on what you might like to do next, might be required. This time out Bronson wanted a more soulful approach and with the classic David Bowie album ‘Young Americans’ forming a musical inspiration hooked up with famed producer Godfrey Diamond (Lou Reed), a man with one hell of an address book, and the result is ‘Questions’ an album that embraces his 70’s singer-songwriter influences and takes them to a place inhabited by the soulful rock of Joe Cocker, Van Morrison and, of course, the aforementioned ‘Young Americans’.
Read MoreThe darlings of folk return with their first album in four years, Mount The Air. The fact that it is independently released, and is something of a serious, one-paced record, suggests that The Unthanks don’t want to play by anyone’s rules but their own. Their popularity means that they are still courted by major labels but nonetheless they are choosing this time to go it alone. So, they are making this music on their own terms and thus are fully able to indulge themselves with sprawling, slow-building epics; long passages of jazzy meandering and neat instrumental vignettes. It’s at this point I should also warn off anyone with an allergy to trumpets. There is a whole flood of trumpetry happening here, courtesy of the great Tom Arthurs.
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