Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More

MINE

This band have the honour of being the band that officially made me feel very very old.  Because when I saw that they'd topped the Triple J Hottest 100 this year - I had absolutely no idea who they were.  But of course, I'd heard Little Lion Man - and had kind of dismissed it.  And I wonder if it would have made the top of the list if the chorus wasn't "I really fucked it up this time".  Triple J is the nation's Youth radio network, after all.  Ah, to be so young and rebellious, to vote for a song with "fuck" in it.

Listening to the whole album for the first time for this review, I have to say that song is the stand-out. And I'm really puzzled as to why these guys, of everyone making music today, get such plaudits.  It's not that the music's not great, because it is.  These guys can really play.  But for a girl brought up with the folk of Joan Baez and others, there's something missing in the state of Mumford - meaning.  Where's the politics?  Where's the rage?  It's literary and poetic - but there's no guts and all glory.

VERDICT: TURN IT DOWN

YOURZ

There was a lot of fuss made about Mumford & Sons when their music first hit the Australian airwaves.  The Australian market has been very good to the band and Sigh No More, their debut, has so far achieved double platinum status here.  This was no doubt further helped by their track, Little Lion Man, being voted top song in the Triple J Hottest 100 early this year by a considerable margin.

Often times, particularly with English acts, the music media over-hypes a band to the point where I deliberately avoid having anything to do with them.  But in this case, the hype is spot on and well-deserved.  Sigh No More is a fantastic, incredibly accomplished debut of twelve memorable songs that straddle the lines between folk, country and contemporary rock.  And when a man like Ray Davies steps up and names the band as a favourite, you better believe they're better than good.

This is the kind of music that deserves to be played loud and live, in front of a sweaty, smiling, beer-fuelled crowd who sing the words to the sky like a gospel.  It is postive, powerful and one of the most honestly uplifting pieces of music I've heard in years.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

For more information go to http://www.mumfordandsons.com/

The Kinks Choral Collection - Ray Davies

MINE

When I came across a mention of this in some article, somewhere, I happened to be at work.  So I threw on the headphones and let YouTube take me there.  Big mistake.

The reworking of Waterloo Sunset had tears rolling down my face, and it was only with some effort that I managed not to howl out loud, but rather sniffle genteelly into a hastily-snatched tissue. For some reason Decca appear to have removed all the original video for the album, but there's a taster here.

I know you're probably wondering why I seem to be obsessed with music that makes me cry.  I'm not really, but when there's a song that really touches me like this, I have to let you know about it.  It brought me back to when I saw Ray Davies, a few years ago now, when he was doing a "Words and Music" tour, talking about his songs as well as playing them.  And it's strange that now he claims the song wasn't about Terence Stamp and Julie Christie, because I'm sure that's what he said at the time.  It also makes me remember standing, as they did, on Waterloo Bridge at sunset, watching the ducks on the Thames.  I also have a big link with Days, as I love Kirsty MacColl's version and the choir just brings it together beautifully.

And quite apart from anything else, I immediately recognised the cover art as being from William Blake, which made me admire the project all the more.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

YOURZ

Mine had read about The Kinks Choral Collection somewhere recently and came home declaring we had to own it.  Considering we don't own anything by either Ray Davies or The Kinks, I wondered why she was so insistent.  I mean, choral versions of The Kinks classics didn't sound that appealing to me.  Choral versions of anything are the realm of my parents and kind of make me cringe.

But listening to this collection is a pure treat.  Ray is in as fine a voice as he's ever been and the Crouch End Festival Chorus, as choruses go, gives a surprisingly rich and textural backing to Davies' originals.  While a lot of the material is new to me (I've not ever heard any of Ray's solo stuff, at least not intentionally) it all sounds gloriously big yet unexpectedly intimate at the same time.

But it's the familiar tracks that do it for me.  Waterloo Sunset could very well have been written for a choir, such is the strength of this retelling while both You Really Got Me and All Day And All Of The Night benefit hugely from the booming choral arrangement.  But it is Victoria, Ray's classic satirical dig at Victorian times and the decline of the British Empire, comes a full circle and sounds so alive and vibrant, it is almost hard to believe the Empire is dead and gone.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

For more information go to http://www.raydavies.info/