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Sometimes it's just fun to take a chance on an album. I've often done this before, buying one on a whim. Like a small child in a sweet shop that's excited but doesn't know quite what he wants --- everything looks tasty but is it good for you? --- or a magpie, I'm attracted to shiny things. It's either going to be the title of the album, the name of the artiste or indeed the cover art that attracts me, but usually I check further to see what genre this music belongs to, because a really cool cover could hide a band or artiste I do not want to hear. But now I'm going to start taking chances, especially since I signed up for Spotify, which allows me to experience these albums without actually having to pay for them. I've decided that every week (he says hopefully) I'll just grab something off either Spotify or one of my online music vendors that I like the look or sound of, and try it out. Whether it's good bad or indifferent I'll review it here and let you know what I thought of it. Could end up being something really cool, could be meh, could be god why did I even think that would be good, but it's all, as they say, in the roll of the dice. At the end of the review I'll score the album with two dice (original, huh?), in a manner I'll explain at the end.

And yes, before any smartarse comments and says so, it's pretty much an extension of "The Meat Grinder", just widened beyond the scope of heavy metal. But these won't necessarily focus on the bands per se and then the album, as in that other section: these will be a review of the album with information back on the band. Of course, the album may end up getting me into the band, or making me stay a million miles away from them, but we'll see.

Anyhoo, the first sparkly thing that caught my eye was this.

All the little lights --- Passenger --- 2012 (Nettwerk)


What was it about it that caught my eye? Well, you can see from the album cover it's a really nice colourful one, quite simple and yet at first glance can be taken as two separate things: a sort of forest scene at night with the sun going down, or a galactic nebula in space. I believe it is the former, but either seem to fit. Then there's the band name: Passenger. Immediately this brought to my mind the Mostly Autumn album of almost the same name, and wheels began turning. Maybe it's something similar, I thought? Progressive rock? Though with my luck it'll be hip-hop or punk! Finally, the title --- "All the little lights" --- not only ties in well with the cover but gives a sense of nature and simplicity that appealed to me. So I racked it up on Spotify and began to play it.

Now, in a departure from my usual method of reviewing I'm not going to do this track-by-track, but more like the reviews in "Bitesize", though a little more comprehensive than those. I'll be breaking the review up into things like first impressions, likes, dislikes, sound and overall satisfaction (or disappointment) with the album.

First impressions: A lovely celtic feel and atmosphere, very laid back and gentle. The vocal from Mike Rosenberg, who is basically all that remains of Passenger these days, is a little off-putting; it's the accent, it's very harsh. Kind of reminds me of yer man from The Lightning Seeds, but I think I'll get used to it. Lovely instrumentation, including violin and acoustic guitar, and though Rosenberg is essentially a solo act he does recruit an Australian band to help him on the album. There's a sense of melancholy and loss in the music, and certainly sounds quite folky at times. Opener "Things that stop you dreaming" is a great introduction to this artiste, and it gets better as it goes along.

Likes: Celtic/folky instruments, soft gentle sound, backing vocals, simple lyrics that still say a lot

Dislikes: Singer's voice --- not really though: it just takes a little getting used to. I'm used to it by about the third track.

Development of album: Nice upbeat country-style tempo on "Staring at the stars". Love the line "All our girfriends are long gone/ We watch too much internet porn/ Who needs love when you've got silicon and strap-ons?" with a real bleak message in the boppy music. The uptempo continues in the title track, with some really nice vibra- or xylophone work and something of a Beautiful South vibe to it. Slowing things back down a little then, with a sort of marching beat is "Circles", with lovely violin and some heavy hollow drumming, while "Keep on walking" recalls some traditional ballads and ups the tempo again. Lovely waltz-style ballad in "Life's for the living" with some cool trumpets and a great sense of determination, standing against the darkness of despair in "Holes", with a great building chorus and fine backing vocals. Excellent closer in the hilariously right-on "I hate". Love it, just puts the seal on a great album by a band I had never heard of before, but intend to check out more now.


Overall sound: Very gentle, laidback with a dark thread of sadness and bitterness running through it. Can also kick up the tempo but the down-to-earth honesty remains in the lyrics. Everyman music at its best.

Reminds me of: A gentler Waterboys, Deacon Blue, bits of David Gray

Favourite track(s): "Holes", "Things that stop you dreaming", "Staring at the stars", "Keep on walking" --- pretty much all of it really.

Least favourite track(s): There's nothing on this album I don't like.

Overall effect on me: Really loved this album, would more than likely seek out further examples of Passenger's work. I listened to this on Spotify but I loved it so much I'm now off to buy it.

TRACKLISTING

1. Things that stop you dreaming
2. Let her go
3. Staring at the stars
4. All the little lights
5. The wrong direction
6. Circles
7. Keep on walking
8. Patient love
9. Life's for the living
10. Holes
11. Feather on the Clyde
12. I hate (live)


So here's how the rating system works. Two dice, obviously one to six, one being the lowest rating, six the highest. The first dice is just an expression of how much I enjoyed, or didn't enjoy the album, but the second one is the more important. It refers to how familiar or not I am with this genre or subgenre. If it's one I hate(d), didn't know of or had little experience with, it'll be a high score. So for something I've never heard or listened to before it could be a four to a six, whereas if it's something I know well it'll be down in the one or two region. This means that in order to get a really high value, like ten or more, the album has to be not only excellent but something I was not well-versed in beforehand. Using that logic, the best a, say, prog rock album I've never heard before but end up thinking is amazing can get is maybe seven (six for die one but only one for die 2), whereas an album that I end up loving but comes from a genre I'm not familiar with, something totally new or surprising to me, could get six on die one and five or six on die two, total eleven to twelve.

I'm hoping this system properly rates my attempts to perhaps break into new genres or subgenres, and how successful or otherwise I am in that endeavour. Anyway, based on the above my rating for this album runs like this:

Die one: How did I enjoy this? Loved it. Not a bad track. Got to get a five, if only because I'm going to reserve sixes for totally out-of-this-world albums and though this was excellent there are a very few small niggles. Also I don't want to rush into awarding sixes right at the start. So for this



Die two: How unfamiliar was I with this genre? Well, I have heard some folk and acoustic rock, and while I'm not entirely sure where this falls in terms of genres, I couldn't honestly say it was new to me, so let's give it a three, as it's not the sort of stuff I always listen to.


Therefore, total rating for this album: rolling the dice I've come up with

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Dancing down the stony road --- Chris Rea -- 2002 (Edel)


What would you do if you were diagnosed with a major life-threatening disease, and then beat it, getting a second chance at life? For Chris Rea, this question was put to him in 2001, when he was told he was suffering from pancreatic cancer, and was in very real danger of dying. Spending six months at home recovering after successful treatments, Rea says that he began to re-evaluate his life, and his work. He had become known for pop/rock anthems such as "Stainsby girls", "Auberge", "Wired to the moon" and of course "Fool (if you think it's over)", made more successful by Elkie Brooks. But his first love had always been the blues, and when he came face-to-face with his own fragile mortality, and realised once and for all how short life is, he decided to forget about the charts and rock music and concentrate on making albums of blues music.

One of these efforts was Herculean to say the least: an eleven-disc box set of blues-inspired songs, containing artwork all created by him. But prior to that he released his first album since recovering from his illness. In 2002 he returned for the first time to his blues roots, with an album of original material inspired by his blues heroes. I haven't heard all his albums, though I do have a lot of them, and I've yet to take the plunge and purchase "Blue guitars", but this definitely ranks for me right up there with his very best, like "Dancing with strangers", "Wired to the moon" and "King of the beach". It's different, certainly, but at its heart it's the Chris Rea we know and love.

His familiar but normally only sporadically-used slide guitar is the first thing you hear, very Delta blues in sound on the opener "Easy rider", and it's almost a minute before muted percussion and bass hit in, then Chris's voice --- which listening to this you immediately realise was born to sing the blues --- comes in with some fine harmonica deepening the blues feel and some serious work on the slide, piano thumping in and the whole thing comes to a powerful climax in the fourth minute of the five the song runs for, then sort of tailing away at the end. More wild slide in the title track, with the addition of banjo and what sounds like a jew's harp but probably isn't. It's another slowburner with a certain sense of bluegrass about it, and some of the most heartfelt lyrics: "Me and Katy/ We go dancin' down that stony road/ To see her laughin' through the pain/ Such a heavy load."

The tempo kicks up then for "Dancing my blues away" with some top-notch accordion courtesy of Ed Hession, a real flavour of bands like The Waterboys or the Hooters in it, very celtic feel about it, then "Catfish girl" keeps things upbeat while still pulling back on the throttle a little. More bluegrass style to this, with chunky banjo and some honky-tonk piano, some more cool harmonica but possibly could have a better end considering how it builds up; slight disappointment I feel. Banjo and harmonica take the lead for "Burning feet", and it's a pretty low-key song that yet smoulders, Rea's voice matching the mood of the song perfectly. Trilling piano leads in "Slowdance", with a great thumping bassline, as Rea recalls when he first heard the blues. A wah-wah pedal on the guitar adds a smoky feel to the song and when it explodes in the last minute the guitar goes into overdrive, almost screaming for mercy.

There's a super little slide guitar instrumental in the appropriately-named "Segway", which is essentially a continuation of "Slowdance" to take us into "Mississippi", --- the second of his songs to bear the title --- with an appropriate shimmy on the harmonica then marching drums followed by strident banjo joined by Chicago blues guitar and for a minute I think I've put on a Rory Gallagher album by accident. Till Chris starts singing of course. The song pounds along like a parade, a joyful celebration and return to the hometown (though of course Rea is an Englishman; still, he's not the only one to profess a love for and an affinity with the USA). The banjo keeps up a constant melody throughout the song and is supplemented by the guitar with dashes of harmonica all over the place. Big, loud and proud is how you'd have to describe this song.

By contrast, "So lonely" is a droning dirge almost entirely on the slide guitar, with very little in the way of a lyric to be honest, and a little below par. It is however quite short and the first disc ends on a stunner, the six-minute "Heading for the city", a real anthem that starts off on simple guitar with separate notes on the piano before the melody begins to establish itself as Rea comes in on the vocal, the lyrical content somewhat similar to "Looking for a rainbow" off "The road to Hell". The piano actually develops into quite a Supertramp style before the tune ramps up on the back of organ and rising guitar, boogeying along nicely as the tempo picks up, a big guitar and organ finish to take us to the midway point through this two-disc set.

A humming little bass and gospel-style piano take us into disc two as "Ride on" sweeps in on the wings of sultry slide guitar, and Gerry Moore's banjo comes in to add its own country/bluegrass flavour to the song, one of the standouts on either disc. Sadly, things take a serious turn for the worse with the truly awful "When the good lord talked to Jesus", which is just dour and depressing, almost acoustic with dark vocal from Rea, and not a bad idea but it gets overplayed and stretched out to breaking point. Mind you it seems to be about parental abuse so I guess the tone suits the lyrical subject matter, but damn it's depressing and I'm glad when it's over. Still, this is supposed to be the blues so what ya gonna do?

Luckily that's the last low point on an album that, to be fair, it has to be said has very few. "Qualified" trips along on a bluesy harmonica and piano line, while there's joyful gospel in "Sun is rising", which opens on sultry slide and again almost acoustic in its barebones style before the piano and percussion cut in as the song takes a serious upswing, like a sort of "darkest before the dawn" idea. Thick, swirling organ comes in to ride along beside the happy piano and joyful guitar with harmonica jumping on for the trip too, and the song is a real example of going almost from one extreme to another, ending far different to the way it began. Also another standout. Great little ballad then in "Some day my peace will come", soft piano and trilling banjo in almost a mandolin-style and an impassioned vocal from Chris as organ builds in the background, with a real sense of loss and regret in the slowburn "Got to be moving on" before Chris reaffirms his decision to change his life perhaps in "Ain't going down this way", a real swinger with great guitar and a rhythm that just makes you want to move.

If you take the two discs as one work, then the closer for the whole thing perhaps bookends the two sides of his musical career, his music if you like pre-cancer and that which he explored after surviving the tumour. If you look at it as two albums, the first one closed powerfully while the second is more understated, more like gently closing a door on a sleeping child than slamming it shut. But before that we've got two more tracks to go, and "Changing times" is just a nice, uptempo fun rocker with a great Gallagheresque guitar riff running through it, while "The hustler" has a great country vibe about it with a generous dollop of "Roadhouse blues" and really does punch above its weight. To be fair the closer isn't bad. It's a nice relaxing ballad in the mould of "Seabird" from his "Deltics" album, but it just seems to sort of break the blues theme of the album, and nods back, as I say, to his earlier material. Nothing wrong with that, but given that he's already decided not to record any more of that sort of music, it's odd to say the least that he includes such a song on the album, and indeed, the last track on it.

TRACKLISTING

Disc 1
1. Easy rider
2. Stony road
3. Dancing my blues away
4. Catfish girl
5. Burning feet
6. Slowdance
7. Segway
8. Mississippi
9. So lonely
10. Heading for the city

Disc 2
1. Ride on
2. When the good lord talked to Jesus
3. Qualified
4. Sun is rising
5. Someday my peace will come
6. Got to be moving on
7. Ain't going down this way
8. Changing times
9. The hustler
10. Give that girl a diamond

In 2005 Chris Rea decided, and announced, that he would no longer record under his own name. He was not going to retire from music, per se, but would continue to write, record and tour under the name of the band he had put together, Memphis Fireflies. He also created a fictional band called The Delmonts under whose name he toured his 2007 release, "The return of the Fabulous Hofner Bluenotes". But Chris Rea, as a solo artiste, would appear to have called it a day. You can't blame him, with shocking, lifechanging news like that: it's a wonder indeed that he didn't hang up his guitar completely.

On the basis of this album, some of his finest and most personal work to date, I'm damn glad he didn't.

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Brothers in Arms
Although Rory was without doubt the focus of every live show, every album, every interview he participated in, and was pretty much an undisputed king of the blues, some of that was down, as he would say himself, to the talent he found to support his guitar playing, the boys who played in his band. Some of these were only with him for an album or two, but by and large once Rory found someone who fitted, clicked and "got" his music, he did his best to have them stick with him. Other artistes play or played with various lineups behind them, but Rory is pretty much known for at least one mainstay of his band. Here I'll be looking at the men who went into battle with him, standing shoulder to shoulder with the guitar god on stage, and helping create the sound that was uniquely his.


Gerry McAvoy
Position: Bass player
Joined: 1970
Left: 1991
First album played on: "Rory Gallagher", 1970
Final album played on: "Fresh evidence", 1990
Born: 1951

If anyone could be said to be Rory's lieutenant, his right hand man, then Gerry was that man. The dependable, steady heartbeat of so much of Rory's music, it's almost impossible to think of the man from Ballyshannon going onstage without his trusted deputy, to tweak the analogy slightly. Gerry's bass work will be familiar to anyone who's heard any of Rory's albums, and his presence onstage, strong and steady, reliable and reassuring, a constant and unchanging facet of Rory's live performances. He hooked up with Rory in 1970, just after the breakup of Taste, as the young Rory was looking to put together another power trio, and the two just seemed made for each other, musically. Gerry was so in tune with what Rory was playing that the two of them shared what Rory called "musical ESP". Brought up on the same blues influences as his bandleader, Gerry also opted for Fender as his guitar of choice, and played in his first band with Brendan O'Neill, who would later join him in the band with Rory.

Coming from Rory's neck of the woods (although Rory's family moved out of Northern Ireland when he was eight years old) Gerry had the same sort of experience of "The Troubles" and like Rory he was anxious to return to his homeland whenever they could, even if it worried him a little more than it seemed to trouble Rory, who really didn't give it a thought, even when bombs went off during (but not at) a gig! A story is told by Rory of one night when eleven bombs went off in Belfast, near where he was playing a gig, just before midnight. Assuming this to be a case of "twelve bombs at twelve", and knowing the IRA to be heavy into certain types of symbolism, Rory checked via "contacts" in the city and was assured "Don't worry: the next bomb won't go off where you are!"

Gerry left Rory in 1991, after what would be the last album the bluesman would ever record, 1990's "Fresh evidence", and went to join Nine Below Zero. When Rory died he organised tribute concerts to honour his fallen friend and bandleader, and has done much to keep Rory's memory alive. Gerry had two solo albums, the last of which was only released in 2010, though they seem to have been unremarked by the world, making the title of the last one either prophetic or philosophical: "Can't win 'em all!" He has also written his biography, detaiing his time with Rory both in the studio and on the road. In 2011 he left NBZ and hooked up again with drummer Ted McKenna, with whom he had recorded two of Rory's best (in my opinion) albums, "Top priority" and "Photo finish", as well as the live album "Stagestruck", and guitarist Marcel Scherpenzeel, whom he descibes on their website as "the closest guitarist to Rory you will ever hear" to form Band of Friends, playing the music of the departed legend and keeping his legacy alive.

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The next day --- David Bowie --- 2013 (Columbia)

Well, we've featured one legend in our first review of an album from this year, so perhaps fitting to continue that trend and look at an album which really looked like it would never be. Everyone, myself included, believed Bowie finished when he released his last album, "Reality" ten years previous to this. An intensely private man, it was just naturally assumed that the Thin White Duke had retired, and who would blame him, after a star-studded career spanning five decades (six now) and over twenty albums, many of them becoming icons in the world of rock, tons of hit singles and almost reinventing music single-handedly? Surely the guy must be tired, approaching his sixties?

But little did we know that for the last two years Bowie had been secretly working on a new album, a comeback album that would show any critics that he was far from finished, and delight his fans with new material and a fresh approach. Criticism has been levelled at the artwork for the cover, and though I've read the explanations I do have to agree mostly: sure, it "subverts" the classic album "Heroes", as Tony Visconti, producer and spokesman for Bowie points out, but still, it does look ... what's the word? Oh yeah. Crap.

Happily though, what's under the cover bears no resemblance to the artwork, and this album brims with freshness, energy and a new purpose. The title track kicks it off, with an uptempo rocker which sort of reminds me from the off of "Diamond dogs", with its striding, swaggering rhythm and its somewhat dark lyric --- "Here I am, not quite dead/ My body left to rot in a hollow tree" --- and some screaming guitar, Bowie's vocal rising and almost desperate as he recounts the story of apparently the capture and trial of some unnamed despot, lyrically similar to Dire Strait's "The man's too strong". There's great energy in the song, almost a carnival atmosphere, a joyous celebration of liberation, while "Dirty boys" is just, well, dirty. Thick, sleazy baritone sax from Steve Elson and snarling guitars in an almost Waitsesque discordant melody; much slower than the opener, smoky and grinding with Bowie at his bad-boy best.

The tempo then picks up for "Stars are out tonight", a boppy, almost pop song with a great hook, a driving bass line from Gail-Ann Dorsey and some sparkling piano almost sprinkled over the tune. Rising strings orchestration helps to build the atmosphere as Bowie blurs the line between the stars in the sky and celebrities --- "We will never be rid of these stars/ But I hope they live forever". But it's the krautrock of "Love is lost" that for me takes the prize as standout --- and there are many contenders here. The deep, moody feel of it contrasts starkly with the previous track, and indeed most of the others so far. A droning synth leads the melody with great basswork again from Dorsey, and snapping, growling guitar cutting in from time to time courtesy of Gerry Leonard. I think Bowie himself plays the keyboard here, and it certainly holds court over everything else, its powerful, insistent almost church-organ sound anchoring the melody. The only complaint I have about this song is that it's not longer; at just under four minutes it seems over far too quickly.

Another contender comes in the shape of the first ballad, and indeed the lead single released off the album. With a beautiful, wistful laidback feeling recalling the classic "Life on Mars" and "Five years", it's a beautiful piece of music with a slow, dreamy feel and Bowie's voice almost cracking with emotion as he asks the question that titles the song, "Where are we now?" Bass this time supplied by Tony Levin, it's understated but certainly experienced, and the orchestration is just lovely, with some fine piano from Henry Hey adding a delicate touch to the song. Just superb. Many of the songs on this album are written as if Bowie is looking through someone else's eyes, seeing the world from their viewpoint, and "Valentine's day" is certainly one such, with the chilling opening line "Valentine told me who's to go" in the tale of a high school gunman. A tricky subject to tackle, given recent events, but Bowie was never one to play it safe or shy from controversy, and the clever title could confuse many (as it did me initially) into thinking the song was a love song written for February 14th.

It's a mid-paced rocker with understated guitar and a calm vocal for the most part from Bowie, the guitar getting a little more histrionic near the end, the tempo kicking up then for "If you can see me", with an almost rushed vocal, the song quite frenetic in its composition, sounding a little like an arabic chant or something at the opening, then throwing in some almost progressive rock influences (reminds me of Arena at their best), not too much in the way of pausing in the vocal. The melody too stays pretty constant, not changing too much until the middle eighth leading to the chorus. It's not one of my favourites, and truth to tell there are songs on this album I'm not totally gone on; it's not perfect, but it's a whole lot better than a lot of albums I've heard recently. The good definitely outweighs the bad in my opinion.

Seeing through the eyes of another again, Bowie this time inhabits the body of a soldier as he bemoans his fate, wishing he were at home. "I'd rather be high" couldn't have a more simple title and will certainly appeal to a section of the younger listenership, who would agree wholeheartedly with his sentiments, but even at that, there's more of a message in the song than just the wish to be stoned. As Bowie sings he talks about "Training these guns on those men in the sand", and while I originally believed this to be a reference to soldiers in Iraq or Afghanistan, Visconti has confirmed it's actually a soldier in World War II that he's singing about. No matter: it's probably a sentiment universal to those who have to put themselves in harm's way. Great military drumbeat from Zachary Allford, and a sitar-style guitar riff running through the song, taking us into "Boss of me", with the return of that dirty baritone sax from the second track. It's a little jazzy for my tastes, but not a bad song. Much better though is "Dancing out in space", where Bowie revisits his sixties persona, allying it to an eighties britpop rhythm and melody, a very busy song with elements even of country in there, reminds me a little of the Waterboys or even Bon Jovi at times. Yeah, sue me, you don't own my head!

Maybe David Byrne is a better comparison; it's sort of hard to make it though because there's quite a lot going on as I said in this track and it kind of changes as it goes along. Great little track though, and it's followed by "How does the grass grow", which comes in on distorted guitar and borrows just a little from the main riff in Floyd's "Echoes", with a kind of staccato rhythm for the verses then an almost Elton John feel in the la-la-la-la chorus. Great bit of guitar there from Gerry Leonard, kind of crashing through the melody. Things stay mostly fast for the rock-and-roll, almost "Rebel rebel" intro to "You will set the world on fire", with some great vocal harmonies and a hook to die for. One more beautiful ballad before we close, with the gospel "You feel so lonely you could die", a real triumph for Bowie, almost spiritually uplifting in its power, and again a sense of "Five years" in the melody I find. One of his most arresting vocal performances on this song, and I love the way he doesn't have to make every line rhyme with the previous: real poets or lyricists don't feel that need. If the lines are good enough and evoke the right feelings and images, why should they have to rhyme?

Wonderful performance by Janice Pendarvis on the backing vocals, really makes the song come alive. We close then on the dark, doomy, almost claustrophobic "Heat", a slice of musical dystopia on which Bowie is backed by minimal instrumentation and makes his voice the main instrument, almost crying the vocal, the band mirroring his melancholia in the melody that backs him. The song virtually screams in torture at you, like some inmate of an asylum trying to break out of their cell by sheer force of will. It's a bleak, angry, desolate and powerful ending to the album, taking you by surprise after the uplifting nature of the previous track.

TRACKLISTING

1. The next day
2. Dirty boys
3. The stars are out tonight
4. Love is lost
5. Where are we now?
6. Valentine's day
7. If you can see me
8.I'd rather be high
9. Boss of me
10. Dancing out in space
11. How does the grass grow?
12. You will set the world on fire
13. You feel so lonely you could die
14. Heat

I admit, this album took a little getting into, but each time I spun it I got to like it more and more. There are still tracks on it that don't appeal to me, but as I said they're very much in the minority. It's also great value, from a purely financial point of view, with fourteen tracks, and more if you buy the special editions. There are some great classic Bowie moments on the album, some new influences and some great imagery, but then, you'd expect nothing less from this man, would you?

It's certainly been worth a ten year wait, and while I'm not one of those who could point to Bowie's Berlin period and tell you all about it, or own all his albums, I know enough about him to know that this album is going to rank right up there with the best he has done in his long and successful career. Like the twelfth track says, this album is quite likely to set the world on fire, and even if it doesn't, there's one inescapable conclusion that nobody can miss: the Thin White Duke is back.

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The Batlord

^^^

tl;dr

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The Batlord

Love the Virgin Steele love. Great power metal band that never gets any love. Now I need to really listen to a lot more of them than I have up til now.

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Trollheart

Wow! Praise from Caesar! I am honoured man, truly!
Yeah, they're a hell of a band and like I say, and you say, tend to get a little overlooked which really is a criminal state of affairs. Glad you enjoyed the reviews.

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The Batlord

Even peons such as you can come up with a gem or two given enough time. Chimps and typewriters and Shakespeare and all that.
I guess they just don't sound European enough, or maybe just cause they're American and American labels just don't care.

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Big Ears

^ Great review as always TH. I enjoyed Plankton's YT clips, so I am downloading the album as I speak. Plankton, you should send this album to Fireworks magazine as they are usually positive with, and supportive of, new artists. I have known them to review an album by a musician from a forum (actually a guitarist with an instrumental album). I don't work for Fireworks, I just like them!

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Big Ears

Are there real and sequenced drums on Krill? ?

Are you playing all instruments, Plankton, except on Canadian Mist?

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