SMALL MUSIC REVIEWS

My take on albums from every decade, every country and every genre.

Just my opinion…

(please use the search page to find specific albums and artists. Once on the right page, use Ctrl+f to locate the content)

REVIEW 28

ARTIST: Olivia Chaney

ALBUM: The Longest River

YEAR: 2015 (UK- Folk)

SMALL REVIEW: A bit too self-conscious; mix of standard "trad folk" fare and introspective ballads.

ADD TO PLAYLIST: 1) The False Bride.

REVIEW 27

ARTIST: Hoa An Xua

ALBUM: Siagon Soul Revival

YEAR: 2019 (Vietnam)

SMALL REVIEW: To my ears, sounds like mediocre imitation of western styles. No doubt there is more to it locally.

ADD TO PLAYLIST: None.

REVIEW 26

ARTIST: Spoon

ALBUM: Everything Hits at Once: The Best of Spoon

YEAR: 2016 (USA: Rock-Alternative)

SMALL REVIEW: Disappointing: had heard "Got Nuffin"- impressive- but rest of the album seems lackluster, formulaic.

ADD TO PLAYLIST: 1) Got Nuffin

REVIEW 25

ARTIST: George Benson

ALBUM: Tell it Like it is

YEAR: 1969 (USA: Soul-Jazz)

SMALL REVIEW: Rather dated mix of ballads, jazz and "calypso". Some decent covers. Still looking for signature sound.

ADD TO PLAYLIST: 1) Tell it Like it is.

REVIEW 24

ARTIST: Louis Prima

ALBUM: The Very Best of Louis Prima

YEAR: 1950 (USA: Swing)

SMALL REVIEW: High energy performances but generally limited compositions (or standards with little added). Very expressive voice.

ADD TO PLAYLIST: None.

REVIEW 23

ARTIST: Issam Hajali

ALBUM: Mouasalat Ila Jacad El Ard

YEAR: 1977 (Lebanon)

SMALL REVIEW: Flashes of originality and striking melody alongside more ordinary material. Nice hybrid sound. Early work- feels somewhat undisciplined. First main release hard to find- said to be strong.

ADD TO PLAYLIST: 1) Lam Azal.

REVIEW 22

ARTIST: Eska

ALBUM: ESKA

YEAR: 2015 (UK- Alternative)

SMALL REVIEW: Distinctive and often original. Reminisent, at times, of Kate Bush and Cocteau Twins. Many tracks through-composed; often build from quirky, angular beginnings into soaring codas (which can leave a mixed impression). Perhaps more listening required.

ADD TO PLAYLIST: 1) This How A Garden Grows, 2) To Be Remembered.

REVIEW 21

ARTIST: Julian Bream

ALBUM: Elizabethan Serenade

YEAR: 1970 (2019 reissue) (UK- Early Music)

SMALL REVIEW: Seems very remote and stylized; hard to gauge emotion or musical innovation relative to starting point.

ADD TO PLAYLIST: None.

REVIEW 20

ARTIST: Billy Joel

ALBUM: Cold Spring Harbor

YEAR: 1971 (USA- Rock)

SMALL REVIEW: Pre-fame debut: largely me-too material save the stunning "She's Got a Way". Later evolution shows that hard work can transform seemingly ordinary beginnings.

ADD TO PLAYLIST: 1) She’s Got a Way.

REVIEW 19

ARTIST: Alice Gerrard & Hazel Dickens

ALBUM: Pioneering Women of Bluegrass

YEAR: 1996 (reissue) (USA- Bluegrass)

SMALL REVIEW: Early female bluegrass recording artists (two 1960s/70s albums reissued by Smithsonian Folkways). Real-life sentiment and authentic sound but shuffling a limited deck of melodies and imagery.

ADD TO PLAYLIST: None.

REVIEW 18

ARTIST: The Commodores

ALBUM: Machine Gun

YEAR: 1974 (USA- RnB)

SMALL REVIEW: First album- routine funk, oversexed lyrics and obligatory "save the world" track. "Machine Gun" is the strongest.

ADD TO PLAYLIST: 1) Machine Gun.

REVIEW 17

ARTIST: Pink Floyd

ALBUM: The Final Cut

YEAR: 1983 (UK- Progressive Rock)

SMALL REVIEW: Near-solo Roger Water's effort before the band's break-up, castigating militarism (rooted in his father's dearth in WWII) and social atomism amid the threat of nuclear war. Very effective modulation of voice, choice lyrics and evocative audio effects. Real grasp of song craft. Works best as a concept album, listened right through.

ADD TO PLAYLIST: 1) When the Tigers Broke Free, 2) The Gunner's Dream, 3) Two Suns in the Sunset.

REVIEW 16

ARTIST: Mal Waldron

ALBUM: Searching in Genoble: The 1978 Solo Piano Concert

YEAR: 1978 (USA- Jazz)

SMALL REVIEW: Revered jazz pianist- last to work with Billie Holiday. Appealing rhythmic-lyrical style but a rarefied diet nonetheless.

ADD TO PLAYLIST: None.

REVIEW 15

ARTIST: Kolonien

ALBUM: Till Skogen

YEAR: 2022 (Sweden)

SMALL REVIEW: Bouncy, ebullient folk- well-crafted but samey (and over-produced in places).

ADD TO PLAYLIST: 1) Till Skogen, 2) Hjatesaga.

REVIEW 14

ARTIST: Tim Hardin

ALBUM: Reason to Believe

YEAR: 1970 (1990) (USA: Folk-Rock)

SMALL REVIEW: Underappreciated songwriting talent lost to drugs. Best tracks distill real angst and indecision, helped by well-judged piano and strings.

ADD TO PLAYLIST: 1) Reason to Believe, 2) It'll Never Happen Again, 3) If I Were a Carpenter, 4) Green Rocky Road.

REVIEW 13

Artist: Traffic

Album: When the Eagle Flies

Year: 1974 (UK- Progressive Rock)

SMALL REVIEW: Plodding rock-jazz style offering little sparkle. Best track is "Walking in the Wind"- beguiling rhythm, strong verse-chorus contrast, melodic life and playfulness.

ADD TO PLAYLIST: 1) Walking in the Wind.

REVIEW 12

Artist: Tenzin Choegyal

Album: Lend Me Your Wings

Year: 1999 (Tibet)

SMALL REVIEW: Exiled Tibetan musician. Album displays great variety. Most pieces- for the outsider (and without the words)- struggle to transcend reactions of polite otherness. For me "Pha Yui"- an example of the high volume, ascending/descending Tibetan throat singing technique- is most impressive (evokes incredible Tibetan track on Volume 2 of the “Secret Museum of Mankind” series).

ADD TO PLAYLIST: 1) Pha Yui.

REVIEW 11

Artist: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

Album: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

Year: 1976 (USA- Rock)

SMALL REVIEW: Tight debut but most tracks are content to revisit past rock styles (simpler approach seen as needed at the time). Petty makes the most of his limited voice- sounding like Randy Newman on "Luna". "American Girl" breaks through- flying guitar solo fade out is one of the most tragic edits in rock history.

ADD TO PLAYLIST: 1) American Girl.

REVIEW 10

Artist: Jon Boden & The Remnant Kings

Album: Rose in June

Year: 2019 (UK- Folk)

SMALL REVIEW: Over-produced, standard folk fare. Unwise "Hounds of Love" cover.

ADD TO PLAYLIST: None.

REVIEW 9

Artist: Nina Simone

Album: Fodder on My Wings

Year: 1982 (USA- Jazz)

SMALL REVIEW: Always distinctive but more eclectic and impassioned than musically interesting. Gilbert O'Sullivan "cover" is powerful lyrically.

ADD TO PLAYLIST: 1) Il y a baume a Gilead.

REVIEW 8

Artist: Eliane Correa & La Evolucion

Album: Signo de Fuego

Year: 2022 (Cuba)

SMALL REVIEW: Very formulaic to my outsider ears- spinning inside the genre. Hopefully lyrics make a difference.

ADD TO PLAYLIST: None.

REVIEW 7

Artist: Loretta Lynn

Album: Coal Miner’s Daughter

Year: 1970 (USA- Country)

SMALL REVIEW: Title track does not live up to billing- tame music and lyrics, but I suppose notable reflection at the time. Rest of the album is usual mix of hard-hitting and trite sentiment, with standard accompaniment. Melodies rarely a match for the emotion. "For the Good Times" is stark but anodyne compared to the Al Green version. "Snowbird" is simple but infectious.

ADD TO PLAYLIST: 1) Snowbird.

REVIEW 6

Artist: Taylor Swift

Album: Speak Now

Year: 2010 (USA- Pop)

SMALL REVIEW: Formulaic and original at the same time- arresting narrative approach to songwriting, blending banal and sparkling words and ordinary and emotion-laden hooks. Too much crashing backing. Only "Never Grow Up" sustains quality throughout.

ADD TO PLAYLIST: 1) Never Grow Up.

REVIEW 5

Artist: Marillion

Album: Clutching at Straws

Year: 1987 (UK- Progressive Rock)

SMALL REVIEW: Fish's alcoholic soul-searching produces two outstanding tracks ("Going Under" and "Sugarmice") plus a lot of heartfelt lyrics with uninspired backing. "Incommunicado" is irrepressible but is more fast than formed.

ADD TO PLAYLIST: 1) Going Under, 2) Sugarmice.

REVIEW 4

Artist: The London Bulgarian Choir

Album: Alyana Galyana

Year: 2008 (Bulgaria)

SMALL REVIEW: Bulgarian choral music is always an arresting sound, but no stand-out tracks on this particular album.

ADD TO PLAYLIST: None.

REVIEW 3

Artist: Robert Lopez, Jeff Marx, Jeff Whitty

Album: Avenue Q

Year: 2003 (USA- Musicals)

SMALL REVIEW: Funny, clever and touching (and irreverent). Musically uninteresting. Best listened to whole (or seen live).

ADD TO PLAYLIST: None.

REVIEW 2

Artist: Gram Parsons

Album: The Complete Reprise Sessions

Year: 1970 (USA- Country Rock)

SMALL REVIEW: Tragic, genre-bending artist. Some nice high-energy rockers and tense ballads amid more also-rans.

ADD TO PLAYLIST: 1) Big Mouth Blues, 2) Brass Buttons, 3) The New Soft Shoe, 4) $1,000 Wedding, 5) Ooh Las Vegas.

REVIEW 1

Artist: Ensemble

Album: Sweet Charity

Year: 1966 (USA- Musicals)

SMALL REVIEW: One of the cast albums my father had- strong score, clever lyrics. Pertinent 1960s setting: risque topic, classic song craft.

ADD TO PLAYLIST: 1) Sweet Charity, 2) Where Am I Going?, 3) I'm a Brass Band, 4) I Love to Cry at Weddings, 5) If My Friends Could See Me Now.