Martin Craft - Silver And Fire

MINE

I had an amazing moment listening to Siver and Fire.  Firstly there was annoyance - at the thought I hadn't heard it before.  You see, YourZ often tells me he's bought a CD I'd like, and I nod, and then I never listen to it.  That's been the best part of this whole process, you know - moments like this.  Because now I'm in love with Martin Craft.

OK, then secondly there was joy at listening to the most beautiful music, amply highlighted by the most poetic lyrics.  How about When the planet spins, it sings like the wings of a dragonfly.  And All he ever cried for you was a teardrop tattoo.

Thirdly my damn producer head then started analysing the sound and finding little tiny bits of fault with some of the drum tracks and wanted to make them warmer and tighter, less flat and dull.  And wondering if Martin really wanted the sound like that, and then berating myself for doing this instead of just enjoying the songs as they came out.  And then finally I contemplated going for an extra long drive to hear it again, all the way through.

It's all beautiful, all of it.  I can't name a favourite song, but my mouth did fall open a bit in amazement at Snowbird.  Starts out spare and builds and builds - before fading away.  Orchestral and epic, and like the rest of the album, unforgettable.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

YOURZ

I got Silver And Fire initially out of a sense of alliegance to Martin Craft being as he is an old friend who has 'made good', whatever that means.  I've already related how I met him in the Sidewinder review we did recently (see it here if you're interested).  There was always a small chance it might have been crap but I was prepared to take a risk.  Thankfully, crap is the one thing this isn't.

This is real beauty in music form.  No, seriously...  It is more than just the songs, the playing, the lyrics or Martin's voice.  But it is a combination of all these things and more.  From the opening title track, which slowly builds around a beautiful acoustic guitar, he has built a record that may very well be viewed in years to come with the same reverence as we view Nick Drake or Elliott Smith now.  There is a confidence in both the songwriting and execution similar to both artists without Craft sacrificing any of his own style.

You Are The Music has a cheeky groove to it that becomes more and more irresitable with each listen, while Lucile (Where Did The Love Go) displays a great updated retelling of classic rock, all while maintaining a restraint not often found in a lot of music these days.  Dragonfly, another slow builder, is superbly understated, something Craft seems to excel in achieving.  There is so much more to like about Silver And Fire, but I think I will leave it up to you, dear readers, to find this out for yourselves.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

For more information: http://www.myspace.com/mcraftmusic

Badly Drawn Boy - The Hour Of Bewilderbeast

MINE

I tried hard to like Badly Drawn Boy, given every critic in the world (it seemed) has sung his praises, but really I can't.

That's because he just puts too much into each song.  I mean, the melodies are lovely, but I really have no idea if he can sing, because all his vocals are muffled and/or obscured by the layers and layers and layers and... layers of other stuff that's going on.

It's another CD that got me annoyed enough to yell at it, and abandon listening about three songs from the end.  So I'm sorry if one of those is a masterpiece, but even then it wouldn't be enough to keep it hanging around.

VERDICT: THROW IT OUT

YOURZ

I really don't know what to make of Damon Gough, aka Badly Drawn Boy.  The Hour Of Bewilderbeast was talked about a lot when it came out and I'm really not one for taking much notice of hype, particularly when it's led by the British music press who continually display a heavy bias towards their own.

It wasn't until this album turned up in a discount bin that I actually got it and gave it a listen.  And then it went straight into the collection where it's stayed ever since.  It kind of reminds me of over-earnest young solo musicians playing at a local open-mic night to three friends and bar staff.  The reality is if I wanted to listen to something like this, I'd go to Nick Drake or M Ward or, in fact, just about anyone else.

VERDICT: THROW IT OUT

For more information: http://www.badlydrawnboy.co.uk/

Nick Drake - Pink Moon

YOURZ

Nick Drake's song, River Man, is another of those songs I want played at my funeral.  It is beyond words, for me.  If you don't know the song, have a listen.

Of course, said song isn't on Pink Moon, his third and final album.  The tragedy of Nick Drake is not so much his death (although this is indeed tragic) but that it took many years after he died before people understood his genius.

Yes, there is a lot of music being made in the world and sometimes the best music being made isn't easily available.  So it is up to us, as dedicated listeners, to search out the Nick Drakes of today and let them we do appreciate what they're doing and we love them and we want them to stick around.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP (oh, how they come and go, oh how they come and go)

MINE

Another doomed young singer-songwiter - we seem to have a lot of them.  But the odd thing about Nick Drake is he's someone I've known for ages I would like, someone cited in many music anthologies as an artist to have in your collection, but we just didn't have anything.  Except for River Man, which I think is on two of our compilation CDs.

And then we bought this, only about a month or so ago.  I hadn't had a chance to listen to it before now, and doing so I just thought it would have been an ideal soundtrack to my younger days.  It needs to be listened to by candlelight in a teenage bedroom, the lyrics dissected for inner meaning.  It'd be ideal for those long sessions of kissing (remember just kissing?) in those snatched home-alone moments with your boyfriend or girlfriend.  Not that  it's no good to listen to now, but this is a record that I shoudl have heard then, that should have been a classic now, one that evoked all those memories of youth.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP in a darkened room, maybe even wearing headphones

For more information: http://www.nickdrake.com/

Elliott Smith - Figure 8

YOURZ

Listening to Elliott Smith is painful - not because he writes beautiful music, rich with melody and harmony, but because he's no longer around to write and record more.  His death, reported to be a suicide, is still surrounded in mystery, so much so, that I'm sure the truth will never fully be known.  Regardless, it's a tragic waste of a great talent.

As Mine acknowledges below, Elliott was introduced to us by a friend and has become a firm favourite in our house.  From A Basement On A Hill, his posthumous release, is probably my favourite but by a very small margin.  As with this, both Figure 8 and XO are absolute treasures, full of gorgeous, often sad songs and layered with Smith's resonant harmonies.  They truly are a listening pleasure.

On Figure 8, Elliott moves from piano-driven songs to quiet, solo numbers to full band tracks.  The continuity is his voice and arrangements, which I'm sure every sad-eyed boy with a guitar would love to emulate but very, very few have succeeded.  But he does this so effortlessly, I can't help but be somewhat envious of the depth of his talent. 

We've spent many early mornings, after rowdier nights, being drawn up and away to Elliott's tunes.  In fact, I can't imagine better music to accompany the sun coming up after a long night than his. 

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

MINE

Just how many sad, dead, gorgeous guitarists do we have in our collection, anyway?  Along with Mr Smith I can count Jeff Buckley and Nick Drake...  and all of them have their moments.  (YourZ sez: well, there's also Marc Bolan, David McComb, Kurt Cobain and Brad Nowell - these are all I can think of but I'm sure there are more...)

YourZ and Mine(self) were introduced to Elliott by a friend (hi, Dave!) who left us with a bootleg copy of XO.  Much playing later we swapped that for a real version and have been buying up his back catalogue ever since.  Or at least YourZ has because frankly, he's the one who brings the most music into the house, and I'm the one who (mostly) enjoys the consequences.  That's just the way it is.  It's kind of like, I'm the one who brings the most cookbooks into the house, and he's the one who (mostly) enjoys the consequences.

Where was I?  Ah yes, Mr Smith.  I'm really sorry he's dead.  It was like reading The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and then learning the author was dead (damn!) and then learning he wrote two more books (hooray!) and then learning he planned to write TEN in the series (double damn!)  Loving XO led us on to loving Figure 8 and From a Basement on a Hill and do we have Roman Candle?  But however many albums of his we discover, nothing makes up for the fact that this amazing talent left this earth way, way too soon.

Side note:  this and the other CDs are probably NOT albums to play in the car, as the music is often so beautiful you just want to close your eyes.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP get comfy and dream a little

For more information: http://www.sweetadeline.net/

In our collection, we also have:  XO and From a Basement on a Hill

The Flaming Lips - LateNightTales (compilation)

MINE

A lovely compilation to round out the month, and one of several LateNightTales we have in our collection.  I'll admit I voted for this particular one because it contains the beautiful River Man from Nick Drake, but I'm also loving 10CC's I'm Not In Love, 2HB from Roxy Music and of course the Lips' special version of The White Stripes' Seven Nation Army.  Gorgeous.  We loved this CD so much we bought it twice (seriously, we forgot we already had it and bought it twice. D'oh!)

In fact the only thing that spoils this CD is that damn Radiohead song.  SKIP!

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

YOURZ

The LateNightTales series and its predecessor series, Another Late Night, are a fucking great idea well-executed, so good, in fact, we have a few of them and will most certainly be adding more as we can.  As Mine points out, we liked this particular one, we had to buy it twice to show our love.  One of my brothers was the lucky recipient of the second copy, although his recent behaviour has me regretting this decision (a little in-joke, dear readers - I'm not serious).

The Flaming Lips are one of Mine and YourZ (truly)'s favourite bands so owning this was a no-brainer.  I love that we get a glimpse into the minds of our favourite acts via these collections - it is just fascinating what they pick as being influential and often completely defies the band's public persona. 

Every track on this is a winner but my favourite picks off this, aside Nick Drake, include Bjork's Unravel, People by Alfie, the Radiohead track Pyramids (yes Mine, it IS a classic), Chris Bell's Speed Of Sound and Sebadoh's On Fire.  And despite my avid dislike of most jazz, the Miles Davis track, My Ship, has me wanting to hear more of this genius' work.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP,


For more information: http://www.latenighttales.co.uk/

In our collection, we also have: Air - LateNightTales, Fatboy Slim - LateNightTales and Kid Loco - Another Late Night