Jade's Music Blog

Spin ItJosh Pyke Album ‘Memories and Dust’ Island Records 4/5
Reviewed by Jessie Alison
 
Soft nimble vocals and simply strummed acoustic guitar are backed up with a broad range of instrumental sounds on this album.
The Antipodean connection makes for obvious comparisons with Crowded House
There’s also something of the Crosby Stills Nash and Young sound in there.
 
Songs of memory and poignantly observed nostalgia such as Middle of the Hill
take you back to somebody else’s past, and through it, to your own.
 
Josh is playing in the uk in June. Closest to here is Manchester Roadhouse on the 13th June. Go and see him, if this is your sort of music. Next time he plays in the UK, I doubt it will be in these modest sized venues. Great things are expected of Josh Pyke, by people in the know. Listening to this album, he might just have the talent to meet and exceed those expectations.
 
  http://www.myspace.com/joshpyke  
 
So Real: The Songs of Jeff Buckley
Reviewed by Jade Wright

Ten years on and Jeff Buckley still sounds as ahead of his time as he ever did. As fans around the world plan tributes to mark the anniversary of his death, this collection of his heartbreaking, emotive songs remind us just how much we’re missing.
Jeff Buckley never had a hit during his lifetime. Before his tragically early death at 30, he completed only one album his 1994 full-length studio debut, Grace.
This compilation of fourteen definitive performances of his finest original songs and signature covers, includes two rare tracks. The first is the version of So Real, which differs from the album one, and was previously available only as a promotional single.
The second, and perhaps the most amazingm is I Know It’s Over from the Smiths' 1986 album, The Queen is Dead. Buckley and his band recorded it at Sony Studios in New York for broadcast on WNEW on April 6, 1995, but it was not included on the radio broadcast.
Buy this collection, cherish it and remember a musical genius.

Chris Cornell, Arms Around Your Love
Reviewed by Tom Martinez

Arms Around Your Love kicks off where You Know My Name, the Bond theme for Casino Royale left off. A guitar-heavy-led tune with Chris’ husky vocals, this track gives an idea of what fans can expect from the upcoming album.

Bin It
 
Paddy Milner Album ‘Based on a true story’ Bronze Records 3/5
 Reviewed by Josh Green
 
Honky tonky plinky plonky piano is the instrument of choice in this album.
But there’s also strings, horns, electric guitar and everything but the kitchen sink thrown into the mix. There are jazzy rhythms, latin rhythms, ska type rhythms, soft classical sections, and even something that sounded like a Chaz and Dave knees up!
The vocals and lyrics are a bit Jamiroqui, a bit Harry Connick Jnr. a bit Danny Elfman, and a bit Elvis Costello.
I think this is ok, but I didn’t really warm to it. I sort of longed for a bit of simplicity in with all the busy sounds. Reminds me of a souped up 10cc meets all the acts on an episode of the Jools Holland show, with everything fighting with everything else for attention, which eventually bored me, if I’m honest.
I think if there was about half as much stuff crammed onto this album, I’d have enjoyed it twice as much.
 
http://www.myspace.com/paddymilner
 
 
 
Michael Bublé Single ‘Everything’ 2/5
Reviewed by Grace Tiede
 
He’s got a surpisingly good voice, but it seems wasted on this offering. He’s probably a lovely bloke, but I can’t really get past the cheesy persona, and this music says nothing about him as the person behind the facade. He might have hidden depths, but there’s no glimpse of it here. There’s plenty of surface froth, gorgeous production, and a couple of catchy little hooks, and that’s about it. It’s perfect painting by numbers, box ticking pop, skilfully made using the tired old formula that we have all heard over and over again, and it’s nothing to get excited about.
It’s best summed up as ‘inoffensive’, and that actually offends me a little, because playing this safe is lazy and pointless, and wastes the listeners’ precious time.
 
www.myspace.com/michaelbuble