Ben Glover - Do we burn the boats - Album Review

Ben Glover is back with a fourth album, Do we burn the boats, as emotionally graceful and expertly Americana as his previous three. 

Recorded in the heart of Nashville, the album was produced by Neilson Hubbard (Kim Richey, Glen Phillips, Garrison Starr) and features a track (Rampart Street) co written by seasoned folk songstress Mary Gauthier.

This album is excellent with tracks that are instantly memeroable.Ben Glovers' voice is smooth and very reminiscent of artists such as Bob Dylan, David Gray and Bruce Springsteen and lyrics that are on a par with them also.

The songs are mature in their approach and  thoughtful and thought-provoking, in fact this album has something for everyone and its defintley an album you will want to listen to over and over. Highly recommended


http://www.benglover.co.uk

Article posted by Musicmafia

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Professor Penguin album review - Planes

Professor Penguin’s first two singles ‘Pilot’ and ‘Pirate’ have already seen the band win support from The Fly, Q Magazine’s “Track Of The Day”, BBC Radio 1 (Rob Da Bank and Nick Grimshaw), BBC 6Music (Lauren Laverne, Radcliffe and  Maconie, Steve Lamacq, Gideon Coe and Tom Robinson), BBC London (Gary Crowley) and XFM where ‘Pilot’ was play listed as the “Xposure Big One”.
The band have even picked up Brian Eno as a fan, who described their debut single ‘Pilot’ as “a beautiful piece” and took the track in to air on BBC 6Music during an appearance on Radcliffe and Maconie’s show.
 

Professor Penguin certainly like the letter P. Not only is there name made up of P's but each track on the album begins with a P. Maybe this was to freak me out or there is some subliminal message hidden in there. Anyway...the album as a whole is a light, breezy affair. Mellow and laid back and perfect for the summer. Listening to it you can almost imagine yourself on a beach, lazing back listening to the lapping of the waves. Beautiful and melodic and a use of many different styles and incorporating many different instruments into the mix. The only negative I have is that at times the songs can seem to blend into one when listening to the whole album in one sitting but on an individual basis they work and there is definitely an individuality to the songs.
If you like artists such as Just Jack or Jack Johnston you will probably love this album. Lay back, grab a drink of choice and chill out to Professor Penguin.

http://www.professorpenguin.co.uk

http://www.facebook.com/professorpenguinuk

http://www.soundcloud.com/professorpenguin

http://www.twitter.com/profpenguinuk

article by Musicmafia

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Prowl - Clinical -album review

Yorkshire trio Prowl  formed this alum entirely through the technological wonders of cyberspace. Comprising of bassist and vocalist Benjamin Sherwood, guitarist Jono Sayner and self-taught drummer and female vocalist Lauren ‘Loz' Goodacre, Prowl carry themselves with the confident swagger of a band formed long before 2008. Labelling themselves as "either alt-rock or new prog, and claiming influence from Porcupine Tree, Pantera and East 17, the band have gathered much local support within North Yorkshire, releasing debut album 'Clinical' recently.

Opening track Victimless brings us into the brooding and dark lead singer's voice which supplies a stark contrast to the music with a high pitch vocal. The guitar solo reminding me of 90s grunge. 

Encounters is one of the more stand out tracks from the album with a more catchy feel about it with great drum loops and Benjamin's vocal complimenting the music very well.

Little ones Bass line is amazing. Loved the grotesque sound it makes and makes for a more uplifting track but still with the hint of morose about it.

Inertia comes in at a hefty 9mins 13secs and is quite hard going at times with a constant drone of the base throughout making the listener very uneasy.

Go ahead was probably my favourite track on the album. A glorious rock themed tune with a foot tapping beat to it. Drums,guitar and bass all coming together to combine with the vocals in an intense build up and climax.

Misplaced ends the album with a lovely slow acoustic guitar accompanying the gorgeous lyrics and vocals.

I think at a gig i may find myself shuffling a bit as the songs are all very intense. The obvious influences are there and the tracks are longer than your average ones. Overall the band are obviously talented and songs like Misplaced and Go Ahead show the true talent. I feel if they focused more on these types of songs rather than the heavily influenced others then they would have a more balanced album. Lyrically they stand out but the road can be, at times, heavy going and this could be the thing that turns most listeners off.

You can have a listen for yourself at the following links

http://soundcloud.com/prowlmusic/sets/clinical/

http://open.spotify.com/album/0OLGekiZ48sjXBsIdmCNCN


 follow here 
prowlmusic.com or facebook.com/prowlmusic


The tour dates in April are:

April 1st - The Dublin Castle, Camden Town, London
April 5th - LYH, Newcastle
April 6th - Royal Park Cellars, Leeds
April 7th - Hollywood & Vine, Hull
April 9th - The Riverside, Selby
April 12th - Lomax, Liverpool
April 13th - Blue Cat Cafe, Stockport
April 14th - Vintage Rockbar, Doncaster
April 20th - Stereo, York

Clinical is the debut album from Prowl. Released on March 26th 2011 it features some tracks from the Open To Debate EP, as well as several songs from our Clinical Sessions jam weekend.

It will be available to buy from iTunes and all good download stores shortly.

Tracklisting

1. Victimless
2. Encounters
3. Pulse
4. Plenty
5. Little One
6. Inertia
7. This Room
8. But Anyway
9. Go Ahead
10. A Kinda Love Song
11. Biological
12. This Time Around

www.prowlmusic.com

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Ben Sommer - Super Brain - Album Review

Ben Sommer is a composer and performer making edgy, political prog-rock. Full, amusingly illustrated bio is available at http://bensommer.com/bio

The album Super Brain is at times an outpouring from Ben Sommer's.With a political slant to some of the songs it feels like a giant out-pouring of ideas and thoughts and as the tracks go on they do seem to descend into a madness that probably only Ben understands.

The excellently titled "I married a prostitute" reminded me of something the great Frank Zappa would come up with. With its witty title and its concoction of different styles within the track. 

 "Belly mother" uses a wonderful trumpet on the track and though this may sound odd taken in the context of the over-all heavy feeling of most of the tracks,it works and gives it a jazz feel. 

 "Consumerism" was brilliant. Made up completely of the word SHOPPING done as if they were Benedictine Monks to highlight,in my opinion, the religion that is peoples obsession with buying tat that they don't need. This is a wonderful mixed bag of an album and with titles that want to make you listen to them just to see what they are about and then being pleasantly surprised to find they are,at times, even crazier than the titles themselves.

The vocals, from Ben,are not the smoothest but they work within the context of the majority of the tracks. His heavy metal influence apparent on a lot of the tracks to.

The whole album gives me the feeling it has been written for some crazy off Broadway musical.In fact at times I thought I was listening to the soundtrack to an elaborate rock opera and one I'd probably like to go see! 

Track Listing 

1) Young Turks 

2) I Married a Prostitute 

3) Baby Mother 

4) Consumerism 

5) Militarism 

6) Cadaverism 

7) Fist 

8) De Profundis 

9) Count to Twelve 

10) Dark Grey Matter 

11) Deo Gracias Angilia 

12) Cloaca Maxima 

www.bensommer.com

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Junkie Joker - Save The World Album review

Formed in 2009 by Eddy Limongi and Luciano De Lucca, with a passion for American and British music, Junkie Joker tries to deliver a honest mix of styles and influences in upbeat, uplifting songs, and they certainly do that with the Save the World Album.

Every tune on this album is likeable. It influences are apparent and they're love for American rock is apparent, from Bowling for Soup through to Blink 182. 

The guitar riffs are infectious as are the meaningful lyrics which make this band stand out from the usual hum drum you hear. The band mix both with ease and with style and the use of piano in songs like Stand are a touch of brilliance.

Lead singer, Luciano De Lucca, has a smooth yet rough approach to his vocals and they accompany the 2 guitars brilliantly. 

There's nothing I didn't like about this album and it the album ended far too soon also any band that gives all its proceeds from this album to a worthy cause such as the PDSA is OK in our book!!

Go download this album right now! I promise you wont be disappointed.

You can buy it here 

http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/junkie-joker/id489737846.  

Junkie Joker’s Debut album Save the World was released on December 22^nd 2011

All songs and videos are on their YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/JunkieJokerChannel/) and also on their website http://www.junkiejoker.com/ 


Follow here 
Twitter: @JunkieJoker
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Junkie-Joker/148855588464125?sk=info
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/junkiejoker/
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/junkiejoker

  

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Album review - The Sums - If Only

The Sums (Peter 'Digsy' Deary - Vocal, Guitar, Chris Mullin - Vocal, Bass, Lee Watson - Guitar, Chris Campbell - Drums) make a promising start on their debut album 'If Only' with a varied mix of tracks.

Distinctive above all else is Digsy's vocals. The sharp,piercing vocals are distinctive and at times exude pain. Along with the intelligent lyrics this makes it an album to listen to more than once just to pick up on some of the gems within the words.

From the opening "air raid" siren bringing us into a quick paced Darken My Doorstep, it sets the tone for the rest of the album. The electric guitar piercing the void never quite overtakes Digsy's vocals but has a good damn try at it. 

Mind Field has a wonderful guitar hook and, for me, stands out from the rest with its more mainstream feel to it and digsy's voice on this is grainier than ever and with lyrics that could easily have come from the man himself John Lennon. I'm hoping that is a compliment!

The album ends well also with Lets get Special Moving along at a quick speed until its demise at the end which slowly fades like the sun setting on a summer day.

Overall a great album and if we are led to believe previous interviews the first of  3 albums the Sums could record. I look forward to hearing the next one to see in which direction the band decide to go in.

As quoted by Digsy “We’re putting Liverpool on the moon, not just the map “says singer Digsy. Lets hope they succeed in doing that.

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Acoustic Jim and the Wires - Hanging up my cape album review

Looking out on a dank and dreary day in Liverpool is not something I would recommend to anyone but on listening to Acoustic Jim and the Wire's album "Hanging up my cape" made it all the more brighter

Acoustic Jim Hustwit, 31, is a Leeds-born singer song-writer and producer whose catchy infusion of soulful acoustic pop won him the title of ‘Best Male Solo Artist’ at the People’s Music Awards. Jim has just self-released his eagerly awaited debut album “Hanging up My Cape” which he wrote and produced. The album boasts an eclectic contrast of brooding strings, bold brass arrangements and driving bass and beats. The sound is best described as Jack Johnson/Ed Sheeran with the soulful edge of James Morrison and funky side of Jason Mraz. He’s spending August touring the UK to promote the album.

The album has a varied mix of styles from the reggae styled sound of "Time" to the upbeat, trumpet fused sounds of the first track " Superhero" and a lot of catchy, hooks and harmonies.

The first track grabs you and wants you to keep listening and keep listening you should as Acoustic Jim takes you calmly by the hand through the album. Obviously a lot of acoustic guitar plays heavily through the whole album but with the mixture of trumpet, string and Jim's sweet penetrating voice makes that second fiddle. 

"Stand and fight" has a gorgeous string section playing through-out and they compliment the lyrics and vocals beautifully.

The album goes from slow to upbeat in a blink of an eye and although this sometimes can be quite disconcerting it seems to work well and the use of the trumpet on many of the tracks is not over done and does not take anything away from the whole eel of the album.

"She's the one" stands out for me with its Spanish, flamenco style and quick paced lyrics its an ideal song to cheer you up as does "Les fourmis" which is sung entirely in french. I have to admit this was a curve ball when listening to it but a most welcome one.

The album on the whole has a glorious summer feel to it and would not be out of place in a hot sunny day and us highly recommended to brighten up the most dreary of days. A brilliant piece of work and I look forward to seeing them live if they are ever in the Liverpool area. 

You can listen and download the album itself here
http://acousticjim.bandcamp.com/album/hanging-up-my-cape

http://acousticjim.co.uk/ 

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