The brainchild of singer-songwriter Alice Lake, Alice & The Glass Lake explores various dream worlds of pop on this debut EP. Taken at face value, it’s quite, quite lovely. However, it shouldn’t escape the notice of most people that Lake’s pop fantasies and soundscapes owe so much to a few other artists who have graced us before, most notably Florence Welch and her million selling Machine. Still, for those who enjoy very thoughtful pop, that shouldn’t – and doesn’t – make her music any less enjoyable.
Category Archives: Album & EP Reviews
JEFF LYNNE – Armchair Theatre
In 1987, Electric Light Orchestra head honcho Jeff Lynne sat in as producer with ex-Beatle George Harrison on his hugely popular ‘Cloud Nine’ album. The combination of Harrison’s gift for pop melodies and Lynne’s very distinctive production sound (often revolving around filtered harmony vocals and a gated snare drum leading to a very compressed sound) led to the album being a multi-million seller. The sessions also gave birth to the greatest supergroup ever – The Traveling Wilburys, comprising Harrison, Lynne, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Roy Orbison. While some people overlook Lynne’s contribution to the group, it is his studio expertise which, perhaps, brings the most to what we now think of as the “Wilbury sound”.
BLOODLIGHTS – Stand Or Die
Coming almost ten years after Gluecifer’s swansong ‘Automatic Thrill’, this third album from guitarist Captain Poon’s Bloodlights is a record which could match his previous outfit’s claim to be the kings of rock. Not in a stadium filling, household name way, you understand; more in a bringing it back to the sweaty clubs sense. Far rougher around the edges than Gluecifer in their later days, Bloodlights are ugly, mean and fully charged.
ALMOST CLASSY – Almost Classy EP
Almost Classy – a four piece outfit comprising members from all over the US – bring various elements of classic pop rock together on their debut EP. Music fans will be about to pick out a myriad of influences throughout these five tunes and the active nature of the band’s arrangements are such that different people could well hear different things, but somehow Almost Classy blend their influences into a wholly enjoyable package that sounds like the work of a band far better than mere copyists.
KMFDM – Kunst
In the 1990s, during the first commercial peak of the industrial scene, KMFDM received favourable reviews in the UK press and amassed a cult fan base, but somehow the German/US outfit always ended up playing second fiddle to Nine Inch Nails and Ministry in terms of general popularity and also for press column inches filled. In 1999, after fifteen years in various amalgamations and having ended their ten album contract with Wax Trax! Records, the band bid the world farewell…at least for a while. Following a three year hiatus, the band returned, and despite various shifting line-ups since then (including Pig’s Raymond Watts and RevCo/Pigface’s Bill Reiflin) KMFDM continued to churn out more electronic goodness over the following decade.