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Bob Harris Saturday Show 31/03/07 - a review by Cherskiy

 
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Cherskiy



Joined: 08 Dec 2006
Posts: 3701
Location: near Amble, Northumberland

PostPosted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 5:20 pm    Post subject: Bob Harris Saturday Show 31/03/07 - a review by Cherskiy Reply with quote

As BB said, a cracking start to Bob’s show this week with the Rolling Stones’ “Start Me Up”, because it was the tenth anniversary of the Saturday Show, this record being the one it started with.

The opening of Thirteen Senses’ “Follow Me”, taken from their album “Contact”, could have easily been mistaken for a Coldplay track. Normally that would have turned me off completely, as I’ve never been swept up by the hype that surrounds Coldplay, but this Cornish outfit managed to divest themselves of any stigma that a comparison may bring. If anything, Will South’s vocal talents are far more mellow and engaging than Martin’s dirge-like mutterings or struggles with pitch, which in my book makes the Penzance band much more appealing. The two acts share the same producer, which explains a lot.
So to Ambulance Ltd, which wins this week’s prize for “Band With The Daftest Name”. Their choice has not affected their output, I’m pleased to say – “Swim”, from their debut album named simply “LP”, featured some decent melodies from this New York garage rock band. A catchy tune, quite uplifting in places, but with some impenetrable lyrics (at least on this listening): there was however enough on this particular track to make me want to hear a little more at least.
Natalie Merchant is probably better known as the lead singer from 10,000 Maniacs, although she left the band and embarked upon a solo career in the 1990s, shaking off the seriousness she once displayed in the process. “Tigerlily” is one of her solo efforts, Bob playing “Carnival” from this. As a fan of the Maniacs, no doubt due to them frequently featuring on Anne Nightingale’s Request Show on R1 in the late 1980s/early 1990s, “Carnival” is a great example of just how good her voice is, especially when set alongside a cracking rhythm such as the one here, together with the superb backing vocals provided by Katell Keineg. Another track taken from the running order of Bob’s first Saturday show.
“Lowlife”, from Jude Cole’s album “I Don’t Know Why I Act This Way”, kicked off with a cacophony of radio edits and other noise, but soon settled down into a reasonably pleasant slice of AOR – nothing too demanding nor subliminal, before pitching into a wonderful guitar segment that was easily the memorable part of the track. Definitely enough here to register on my interest-o-meter – Bob has played his music for something like 15 years now, although the artist is more into producing these years.
Bench Connection followed with “Saint Want” from their debut album “Around the House in 80 Days”, an acoustic duo who delivered some wonderful harmonies and delightful accompaniment. Reminiscent of Peter Gabriel’s solo stuff in places – I can see them appearing again on Bob’s show.
“Heather, Remind Me How This Ends” was taken from Portland-based band Dolorean’s third album “You Can’t Win”. Al James’ vocals are almost so laid back, they are horizontal, but the song was engaging and a fine example of how to blur the edges between alt-country, folk and pop – simple arrangements done well with a minimum of fuss.
Steve Earle is probably most famous for his “Copperhead Road” album but has managed to produce several further excellent albums over the years, despite a rather sporadic marketing of his output and the artist himself doing time as a result of continued drug use. Bob played “The Revolution Starts…. Now” from his “The Revolution Starts Now” album, demonstrating but one facet of this multi-talented singer-songwriter, whose output spans rock, rockabilly, acoustic, Americana roots and even Irish music.
Many of the bands and artists featured on Bob Harris Country crossover onto the Saturday show and vice versa: this week it was the turn of Jane Gillman to escape the Country show and debut on a slightly wider scene. “List of Wishes” is her fourth album, although there has been a big gap between this one and her last, released back in 1994, due to a sabbatical to get married and raise kids. A beautiful yet intensely powerful voice was on display on “We’re So Close” from “List of Wishes”, showing that Americana is not the male-orientated genre some people take it for. I suspect this album will be featured again on both shows in the near future. Based on this performance, I am inclined to seek out her earlier releases.

This week’s live performance was provided by Scott Matthews, who has been described as one of the best young contemporary singer-songwriters around today. “Eyes Wider Than Before” was the first of two tracks, taken from his album “Passing Strangers”. Some extremely good acoustic guitar followed, consisting of delicate plucking and strumming which made the performance rather pleasant listening. His vocals could be likened to a combination of Nick Drake and Jeff Buckley although he has his own laid back style. Scott Matthews attended South by South West and Bob managed to elicit more descriptions of the event in three minutes than I heard from Dermot O’Leary’s entire show the other week. A quick tune of the guitar ensued whilst Bob read out Scott’s future gig dates, followed by a different version of “Dream Song” to that normally heard, one that he called ‘the ultimate version’. The comparison with Nick Drake was even more pronounced here: I could almost have been listening to “Bryter Later”. To be honest, however, I wasn’t that struck by this particular track, nor the off-hand way he deflected Bob into giving him a little more time to prepare for it. I felt that he wasn’t set up for the planned three tracks or the timing meant he couldn’t do the third: “Passing Stranger” seemed to have got lost somewhere along the line. A promising start to this session was, I felt, spoiled a little by the second half. Given the number of live performances Bob is cramming into his show each month, it was about time that I heard one that on the whole I wasn’t too bothered about.

Next week’s live session, however, will be provided by The Draytones, Bob playing “Keep Loving Me” from their newly-released EP “Forever On” – the fifth time this track has featured in his show this year so far, which gives a good indication that he’s rather fond of it! I’ve already reviewed it a few times in previous round-ups so will not repeat myself – but will say that I’m looking forward to this weekend already!
The John Lee Hooker/Carlos Santana collaboration on the former’s “Chill Out” (from the eponymously titled album) was nothing short of superb. Carlos Santana has introduced me to various artists over the years through his unselfish attitude to working with established and upcoming talent – one example being Michelle Branch, who I became interesting in listening to via the single she released with Santana a few years ago. I can see I may have to do the same re John Lee Hooker’s forthcoming re-mastered albums now!
Kris Delmhorst’s third album, “Strange Conversation”, comprises twelve poems from celebrated poets set to music – a premise that on the face of it may not be expected to work but surprisingly does, and well. The featured track, “Since You Went Away”, was decidedly non-poem like in its delivery, and sounded like an extremely well-written piece of acoustic music, the artist’s voice slightly resembling Norah Jones in places but with a charm and presence all of her own. In a word – lovely.
Speaking of Norah Jones, next up was her single “Thinking About You”, taken from her latest release “Not Too Late” (which I still haven’t got around to purchasing yet!). Everything I’ve ever loved about her music is right here – strong, flowing yet unobtrusive backing and percussion, her upbeat vocals and simple but memorable tunes.
Still haven’t got my ticket for The Great Lake Swimmers at the Sage yet, but Bob thankfully played another reminder in the shape of “Catcher Song” from their third and latest album “Ongiara”, Tony Dekker’s mellow yet uplifting vocals providing another reason for me to catch them live. Not a band who will instantly grab you by any means, but one that will grow on you the more you listen to them.
The rich vocals of Diana Jones followed, “My Beloved” from her soon-to-be-released album “My Remembrance of You” serving up a delicious slice of what on the surface resembles a traditional backwoods song but is in fact all her own work, infusing modern production values with the time-honoured values that survive through Americana music. Wonderful to listen to and another artist that will cross over onto Bob’s Thursday show in the near future – she is coming onto his programme to do a session in three week’s time.
Final one for this week’s review was “Seventh Heaven” from Dreamcatcher, the album sharing its name with the band. I can usually take or leave most ambient music (although Enigma and a few others still make me stop and listen) but this one reminded me a lot of Peter Gabriel and some of the African bands I used to hear on Andy Kershaw’s World Music programme back on R1 all those years ago. The album was released ten years ago but this track still feels fresh today.

Next week’s live session is provided by The Draytones.
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Author: “To the Ends of the Earth: A Snapshot of Aviation in North-Eastern Siberia, Summer 1992”
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mark occomore



Joined: 07 Dec 2006
Posts: 9955
Location: UK

PostPosted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 8:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I had a nice email from bob saying 'he only just seen my email' and said 'hope you are still listening? I replied saying of course.. Very nice of him..
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