London based singer-songwriter Tom Hector has an old spirit. On this, his third EP, his music has a dreamy quality, resurrecting sixties pop and sunny attitudes, replayed through a sort of nineties filter. It results in four tunes that might appeal to fans of the Beach Boys or The Feeling, yet at the same time he presents material that holds on to a slightly woozy attitude that might just catch the ear of those who’ve followed the solo career of The Bluetones’ Mark Morriss.
Tag Archives: pop
BRYAN ADAMS – Get Up!
When you’ve topped the singles chart for a record breaking sixteen weeks, career-wise, there’s nowhere to go but down. For Bryan Adams, this was certainly the case. None of the albums he released in the wake of ‘Waking Up The Neighbours’ and its world dominating Robin Hood single in the early 90s were a patch on most of their predecessors. There were glimmers of goodness, of course: his collaborative single with ex-Spice Girl Melanie C remains a career highlight and 1999’s parent album ‘On a Day Like Today’ was pleasant enough, but generally speaking, it’s just a few tracks here and there which impress from then on in. Most of his twenty first century output possibly doesn’t resonate with anyone but the more hardcore fan. 2014’s ‘Tracks of My Years‘ was especially grim; aside from a few examples, the covers album represents either a spent force or contractual obligation and for Adams, it was a genuine nadir.
Five For Silver: Real Gone meets Daniel Tashian
The Silver Seas released their third album, ‘Chateau Revenge!’ in 2010. It quickly became one of Real Gone’s favourite albums of that year…and indeed since. …And to think we’d discovered the album almost by accident, off the back of another release which was actually one of the worst things we’d been sent for review that year! The band’s retro pop talents did not go unnoticed by others either, since they were also championed by a couple of legendary figures from the world of UK radio. From then on, we kept a close eye on things happening in the Silver Seas camp and plans were made at the end of 2014 to catch up properly with their frontman Daniel Tashian. Busy schedules meant that the proposed interview did not happen straight away and, in fact, it would be almost a year until we could actually sit down and have Daniel spill the beans with regard to any future plans…but in December 2015, he joined Real Gone for a look back and a look forward to all things musical.
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DAVID MYHR – Record Collection EP
In 2012 singer-songwriter David Myhr (one time of The Merrymakers) released his solo debut ‘Soundshine’. That album was one of the best power pop releases of the decade – possibly even ever – with Myhr celebrating pop’s past, his love of McCartney and myriad 70s pop bands cutting through the core of each track. This follow up EP (issued in early 2014) rounds up a few extra tunes, each one delivered with a broad smile designed for that maximum feel-good factor.
ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA – Zoom
Fifteen years after their last major hit (‘Calling America’) and subsequent break-up, Jeff Lynne revived Electric Light Orchestra. The move seemed to come from necessity, since his own recording in the interim (‘Armchair Theatre’) was not as successful as many predicted it would be. It was by no means a flop – and Lynne, too, achieved critical and commercial success as a member of Traveling Wilburys in the wake of his former band – but it seemed that any recordings made with the bespectacled and bearded Brummie at the helm (supergroups notwithstanding) stood a far better chance of acceptance if the ELO moniker came attached.