Catching The Waves

Give Me That Old Time Defibrillator

It was rather pleasant to find something recently that reminded me why I keep reviving this stupid blog: I still want to thank musicians for the great free music and, in my excitement, to tell as many people as possible that they could download some lovely stuff if only they'd look in this neck of the woods. Having said that, I must advise you to look in the dusty "About" section of CTW and notice that it falls within my remit to publicise commercial releases once in a very long while. Today is that day, and I do so without fear or favour even though I risk becoming part of Musicblogocide 2010. Yes, my humble loons readers, reviewing music can be a risky business. I'm so manly.

You don't give a stuff, do you? You come here for free music... and here it is. (Weird) Uncle CTW wasn't going to let you down. Yup, the about-to-be-mentioned music is free although, tiresomely, you'll have to give up an email address. Failing that, buy the CD and think yourself lucky. In Chains by Dead Heart Bloom (from New York) was once a fully fledged 2008 commercial release, but DHB, in their Buddha-like wisdom, have decided to cut the chains (boom-boom) and let it go for free. Note that this is not a Creative Commons-licensed album - so please respect the copyright.

In Chains is a five-track EP made by a four-piece band that will satisfy all three of your ears. First off, it sounds wonderful: the mix is as clear as the Hubble telescope. On first listen, Boris Skalsky's vocals are buried in too much reverb, particularly in the opener Flash In A Bottle; hear the lyrics again and it comes as a shock to hear just how much is effortlessly audible. It also comes as a pleasure to hear lyrics that  sound like they come from a newly minted classic American folk song, if that makes sense. As for the album's milieu: those of you who love late 60s/early 70s folk-rock should fetch your flares from the back of the wardrobe and settle in for some serious tokeing tapping of your feet. Falling Towards Goodbye features guitar picking, the lightest imaginable percussion and lead vocals so warm and cosy that they could replace a duvet.

Halfway through the album comes Halfway Gone, a very laidback reminder not to let The Man get you down. It's a polite, competent mid-tempo folk-rock ditty for the first thirty seconds until the vocal harmonies begin to swoop and swell... when it becomes a lost track from the White Album. It's gorgeous, and I'm especially fond of the little organ asides near the end of the track. George Martin would approve. Let's see if you do:

Continuing the utterly satisfying retro-rock feel, Farther Than You rides in on the back of a rolling blues riff. The high-pitched, whispered lead vocal reminds me of none other than, wait for it, Mickey Dolenz of The Monkees, while the background vocals and rich, echoing slide guitar/violin are redolent of Ennio Morricone.

By this time, the hash harmonies will have you looking at the ceiling, so it's appropriate that In Chains ends with Impossible New City Dream, which is literally a lullaby albeit a gently (blues) rocking one. Like all the other tracks, its strong melody will make sweet, sweet love to your eardrums. You could also strum your new Apple iAirguitar, but I suspect you'll shrug at it and wait for the Google AirGuitarOne^TM to appear in the shops.

If it was hard to pick out a track to recommend (and it was) from such a good album, imagine my horror delight when I realised that In Chains is part of a conceptual trilogy. Dead Heart Bloom describe IC as "ambient rock", Fall In as "dream pop" and Oh Mercy as something called "rock", although there's a hint  in it of that legendary Tyrannosaurus (if not T-Rex) of Rock: "Glam". They too sound superb, they too are free, and although they don't quite measure up to In Chains, I must mention Fall In's deeply Lennonesque Here We Are...

...and the gold medallion that is Blues 3, which nestles snugly in the hairy chest of Oh Mercy:

While being utterly wonderful, Dead Heart Bloom's folk/pop/rock is also utterly traditional; it doesn't innovate and it owes an awful lot to music from quite a few decades ago. But so does "traditional" classical music - and I love that to bits, too. In short, it makes me feel happy, and there is no greater praise than that in the CTW household - except when I look in the mirror. If you like the EPs, please think about sending DHB a "thank you" email and/or buying a CD or two. All the albums are available in most musical formats from Bandcamp via the DHB website.

My grateful thanks to Casey of Rock Proper netlabel (for people who love rock and hate adverbs), who recommended DHB's stuff in his Rock Proper blog.

Dead Heart Bloom - In Chains (link to zipped album and individual files)

Dead Heart Bloom website

Friends With Footwear

The greyest - that's greyest, thank you - blog in the world has coughed back into life to run its twig-like fingers over an album before the summer gets here and ruins the mood. London-based folkie Robin, er, Grey has made an album that suggests sea air, Celtic redheads, old-fashioned pubs and late-night Guinness-fuelled ruminations on life. As such, he's mortally afraid of that hot thing in the sky and, as the action photo above makes clear, has to make a dash for the nearest tearoom whenever the clouds part.

The eight tracks on Strangers With Shoes use only the latest plug-ins and MIDI controllers, most of which are new to me. What are these things called ukeleles, accordions, violins, banjoes and flutes? Still, they worked nicely on Robin's previous outing, Only The Missile, so I assume that all of the new software is now out of beta.

We start with Younger Looking Skin, a merry banjo and accordion-led romp through non-sequiturs so  obtuse that your forehead will need Botox if you try to work out what on earth Grey is banging on about. Fear not, Till Dawn will smooth your troubled brow with a gorgeous fluttering flute from Poppy Villiers-Stuart and quintessentially folky (read winsome) backing vocals, presumably also from the same mellifluously-named Poppy.

I Love Leonard Cohen first made an appearance on Robin's 2008 EP of the same name, and it certainly deserves another outing. It's a winning, sly look at how one's tastes change over the years. (Wedding snaps from the early 1970s are always kept under lock and key. Those flares...) I particularly like the chorus and its build-up, whose subtle pauses and changes in rhythm confirm that Strangers With Shoes is worth a listen or three. In case you're worried, Mr Grey is not quite as lugubrious as Mr Cohen. /Reservoir Dogs

Not only does the next song, The Suitors Ballyhoo, revive an underused but perfectly good word for its title (I can never get enough of "The"), it will also have you singing its catchy refrain of "I, I, I, I, I, I want you" at highly inappropriate times. After that is Montreal, a fine song marred only by a slightly affected delivery from Robin, who sounds as though he's not quite comfortable with the vocals on this one.

Shakes & Shudders, another refugee from ILLC, tells the tale of a slow train ride on a slow day:

I'm making my way north on an unpretentious day/Yesterday the sky was naked/Today she's wrapped herself in grey/And I have cloaked myself in my hat and coat and dreams/So for now I am safe from the cold/Whatever today brings.

Robin's voice and Beth Dariti's gentle background vocals and guitar accompaniment will make good use of five minutes of your life. Those of you in Europe and the USA who are snowed in will find that it's the perfect soundtrack for watching snowflakes float by, especially if you remember that Shakes & Shudders was co-written in an afternoon and recorded in one take. Those of you in more temperate zones: go out, dance, seduce attractive people, etc. The music will be waiting for you when the hangover kicks in (unless you're reading this via a RSS feed reader, in which case you'll have to knock on CTW's door).

Enjoy the good times while you can, because the next track, Ninety Days, is a terrific post-breakup song, and sourer than a liver & liqourice cocktail served by an underpaid waiter with fallen arches. Ben Oliver of Blue Swerver, having made a full recovery from an old CTW review, confirms his talent thanks to some excellent Rhodes piano noodling, while Robin lets rip with a curse that made me grab my petticoat. I'd love to hear a stadium crowd join in with the catharsis. It'll certainly liven up any Women's Institute gigs. Oh, go on then, but it's NSFW:

The chief strength of the final song, Roses From Africa, is its cheerful, valedictory atmosphere, reinforced by the playful violin of Barbara Bartz. It feels like an end-of-show song designed to:

a) send the audience on its way home with a smile on its face;

b) allow the theatre manager to switch the stage lights off one by one;

c) give Robin and his fellow musos time to dash to the bar before last orders;

d) impel online fans to buy Strangers With Shoes;

e)  and persuade the same online fans to see the man himself in concert.

Speaking of getting your grubby little hands on downloading/buying the music, Strangers With Shoes is available for free from Jamendo at a lo-fi (but actually very good thanks to excellent mixing and mastering) 192kbps, and is also available to buy & download from Bandcamp at an ever-so hi-fi 320kbps in a variety of formats at an ever-so low price of £4.99 (album)  or 70p (per track). There's also a limited edition CD if you're not into the whole brevity thing.* I'll slap the Jamendo player in this review because The Big J needs all the help it can get at the moment, but please note that the Bandcamp version of Strangers With Shoes is an aural treat.

Oh, and just in case I haven't made myself clear, Robin Grey has talent coming out of his ears and into yours. If you agree, cross his plam with sliver or go and buy a dictionary. At the very least, send him a "thank you" email.

It's good to see that Robin is enjoying life after injury ended what was a promising career as a professional cyclist, the undoubted highpoint of which was, as this second action photo demonstrates, his finishing the 2007 Tour De France as the lanterne noire.

Robin Grey - Strangers With Shoes from Jamendo (free) and Bandcamp (not free but hi-fi)

Robingrey.com

*Learn this lesson well: The Big Lebowski is applicable to any and all situations.