VARIOUS ARTISTS: Vauxhall & Us: A French Tribute To Morrissey

vauxhallThe 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.

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DREE PATERSON – A Louder Side Of Me EP

Dree PatersonOn 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…

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SHOOT THE CRICKET – Life Has Taught Me EP

STC newoneShoot The Cricket seems an odd name to give a recording project. Kind of distinctive, yet not especially good, it’s the kind of band name where you’d have to wonder which names were considered inferior… Regardless, it’s the music that’s important – and on this 2013 EP ‘Life Has Taught Me’, the duo (comprising sisters Jeje and Lesal Bognar) serve up some intermittently enjoyable piano-based pop.

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