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September's medium hot CDs & music DVDs are as follows
THE HEART STRINGS try fly blue sky (Rough Trade CD)
Do the Heart Strings really exist or are they just a painfully good art student project concocted by some lonely romantic computer nerd? Actually I can't ask that question anymore since the band – all four of them, well four plus one – recently played Rough Trade East in the heart of steamy Shoreditch. And very good they were too as is this pretty set of fragile – yet melodically strong – songs. Wondrous and, at times, singalong. Like being nine years old, all over again. Listen and get transported, would more could you ask of an album? (8/10)
VARIOUS ARTISTS Dubbing At Dynamic Sound (Jamaican Recordings)
Another crucial slab of spacey rhythm and tune work-outs from reggae's pre-Eighties golden age – this time from the WIRL Studio that became famous as Dynamic Sounds, an offshoot of Edward 'CIAga' Seaga's little business empire, an offshoot that swiftly got sold to band-leader Byron Lee. The latter opened it up to all the sounds them bursting out of Jamaica including, of course, dub which is here in all its echoing glory. If you want to continue the Carnival mood, then look no further. (7/10)
KAT FLINT Dirty Birds (Albino Recordings)
A wonderfully light, yet strong, set of effortlessly good songs from Ms Flint. Soulful, stirring, appealing and poignant – with just enough catchiness to keep you really hooked. And riding over it all is the voice someone once dubbed 'scintillating'. Touches of Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell and Simon & Garfunkel are all in there somewhere too but mostly its Kat. New Acoustic? Nu Folk? Indie Song? Who cares, its just quality stuff. File under good. (8/10)
SUNSHINE SUPERMAN: THE JOURNEY OF DONOVAN (SPV Music DVD)
This film – by Donovan devotee Hannes Rossacher – is the amazing account of how Britain's poet of the Sixties took his tunes from the backstreets of Glasgow, and the beaches of St. Ives, to the very top of the music biz tree. Conquering the Ready Steady Go TV show, partying with Dylan, getting studio backing from Led Zeppelin and scoring Number One hits in the USA even while living on a dollar a day in the Med. It is an incredible story and, with plenty of new and old material from Donovan himself, Rossacher tells it well in three hours that don't drag at all. Comes with a two hour bonus disc. (7/10) |
