Armed with an unhealthy obsession with Donald Fagen, an admiration for Todd Rundgren and a liking of Badfinger, Malcolm Moore and David Myers (aka The 1957 Tail-Fin Fiasco) set to work in their quest to create proper “pop music for grown-ups”. With all manner of invented characters and scenarios to share the British duo laboured hard, writing and recording at various locations into the small hours in an attempt to bring results that tipped the hat to their myriad heroes in a most appropriate manner. Unleashed to an unsuspecting world at the beginning of 2013, their first release ‘Private Jet Flashback’ is a sophisticated work comprising of seven glossy pop/rock ditties. The results are almost guaranteed to thrill those with a retro ear, a liking of an off-kilter lyric and – perhaps most importantly of all – a craving for tunes that have the kind of love and care afforded to those Steely Dan and 10cc records of yesteryear.
Tag Archives: pop
OSTRICH RUN – Acoustified EP
Although the bulk of the material on Ostrich Run’s debut EP could likely be stripped back and presented as simple acoustic pop songs, the recorded results do not resemble the kind of workouts perhaps suggested by its title. While a chunkier electric sound brings a few layers for extra interest, it’s not long after affording the material some close scrutiny that it becomes clear that the Anaheim based duo’s songs just aren’t strong enough to stand naked in an acoustic format. Attempting to cover patchy song writing, Ostrich Run throws a kitchen sink approach at most of their arrangements to detract from their empty sentiments – thoughts and feelings seemingly aimed at a young audience keen to move away from more disposable pop.
VARIOUS ARTISTS: Vauxhall & Us: A French Tribute To Morrissey
The world has seen release of many tribute albums, many tossed off with casual indifference that miss the mark completely. Occasionally, one comes along that’s just so misguided you end up wondering how it came to be in the first place. The idea of thirteen different low-key French artists recreating Morrissey’s 1994 album ‘Vauxhall & I’ could easily sound like a bad one from the off, but somehow, through an array of reasonable talent – not to mention excellent source material and sheer balls – ‘Vauxhall & Us’ works. Without Morrissey’s distinctive croon adding to a many a black humour within his lyrics, these songs sound markedly different. Their charm is still often apparent, but in a wholly different way. The acoustic setting on some of the recordings allows Moz’s gift of words to remain the biggest draw of all, but the European slant evident from time to time also lends a certain charm.
DREE PATERSON – A Louder Side Of Me EP
On this debut release, Dree Paterson displays a hugely polished talent and appears adept at a variety of musical styles. If we were to be cynical, we could view this as a “musical CV” since her chosen styles are so disparate on occasion. She seems more than content to deliver several musical ideas and see which sticks…almost to try and gauge which will be most commercially viable, as if she’s not bothered with which one she finds success – as long as someone with the right connections likes one of them, that’s a good start. Even the title of this show reel, ‘A Louder Side of Me’, sounds like some kind of exercise in public relations…
New video from Nina Persson
As part of the ongoing promotion for her 2014 solo release ‘Animal Heart’, one-time Cardigans vocalist has issued a new video, which you can view in full below.