Music

Iyaz 'Replay.

Our apprentice reviewer, aged 11, has already earmarked this for her collection, and that's all you need to know.
It's slightly more cutting edge than Miley Cyrus (and Iyaz has recorded with her) and was produced by Jonathan "JR" Rotem, producer and writer of tunes for Jason Derülo and Rihanna - the last album our apprentice filched was Derülo, as it happens. So: slick, radio-friendly catchy pop that's designed to make money. The Fall it ain't. It's hard to knock as they're both clever blokes and seem decent enough. Iyaz has a degree in digital recording arts and Rotem is an accomplished musician who realised he could make more money spotting stars on MySpace than playing jazz piano. He told website HitQuarters that Derülo "has one of the most impressive work ethics I've ever come across" while Iyaz "has an ear for perfection" in terms of the lyrics and melodies. Rotem played and arranged all the instruments and did most of the knob-twiddling - impressive. Out now.
JMC

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Merchandise 'For the masses'.

Bolton band Merchandise play finely crafted acoustic pop that's quite nice, but no more. But you, of course, might want just that and in that instance you're going to be mighty happy. Order it from A&A right now for a gentle wig-out. Many of the songs have an instant familiarity, but it's the kind of familiarity you get slipping on a pair of much-loved brown slippers rather than the exciting familiarity of knowing Led Zep's "In my time of dying" all the way through to the cough. The music mixes acoustic and eclectic in a nice way. Opener "Listen up!" is a chipper little tune that sounds like The Thrills playing live in slippers and sat on the sofa rather than dreaming of a surf board and Big Sur. Track two "Sometimes" is a catchy cheesy pop tune that had the dumb likeability of Nizlopi's JCB song. They can do rocky: "Enemy" almost crackles - almost, mind - and has the bass line and the breathlessness of The Beat's "Mirror in the bathroom". The press release compares them to different bands: Super Furry Animals (not as interesting) or The Beta Band (not as charmingly Scottish) but it sums the band up best when it says: "From time to time they will recruit friends and, well, 'rock out a little'. In a gentle manner, mind." And that's what the album is - gentle. As such, it's hard to be really critical; it would be like stealing the sandals off a passing Buddhist. Download "Listen up!" and "Enemy". This is out now on Cityscape.
JMC

Sandy Denny and the Strawbs

'All our own work'

This re-mastered and expanded album is generally billed as "historic"; recorded in 1967 during a brief break during a short tour of Denmark, the album was not released until 1973 when it was banged out cheaply to cash in on The Strawbs' sudden success. The press notes claim it's the first-ever British folk rock album, and even if you argued about that, you'd have no trouble arguing about what a good album and how little it's dated in the past 43 years.
The highlight is probably Sandy Denny's legendary "Who knows where the time goes" - this is the first recording ever made, and it's beautiful. Makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Others feel the same: this is a song that's been covered by Nina Simone, Eva Cassidy, Nancy Griffith, 10,000 Maniacs, Eddi Reader, Mary Black, Lonnie Donegan, Susannah Hoffs, Cat Power and many more. But the remarkable thing about this album is that it's not the best song - "Tell me what you see in me" is the next track and is just as good. Ok, and another remarkable thing is how timeless the album is. Last year we had a re-release of a Strawbs album and it sounded dated and one for the fans only; this on the other sounds like it could have been made yesterday, except that the Press would be raving about the exceptional new talent. The story behind the album is equally interesting, especially for those who've not heard of Denny before. Strawbs main man Dave Cousins met Denny at the Troubadour Club in Earls Court in late 1966 and was bewitched by "an angel singing". He went round to Denny's attic flat in Gloucester Place to rehearse and early demos found their way to Denmark; this album was recorded during the day in a cinema on a three-track sprocket tape machine. To help subsidise the trip the musicians played in Tivoli Gardens in the evenings. Cousins had difficulty getting the Copenhagen tapes placed with a record company and by the time anyone showed interest, Denny had moved on. Fairport Convention, who had recorded their first album in November 1967 with Judy Dyble as their female singer, invited her to join them in 1968. After the release of Fairport Convention's influential "Leige and leaf" album at the end of 1969, Denny embarked on a solo career, first as leader of her own band Fotheringay (for one album) and then as an artist in her own right. She was voted best female singer by readers of "Melody Maker" in 1971 and 1972, recorded a duet "The battle of evermore" with Robert Plant on Led Zepplin's fourth album in 1971 - younger rock fans must at least know her for that. She released a clutch of solo albums before her tragic death in 1978, aged 31. "All our own work" is all original material and it's got to be a must-buy for any music fan. We've got a cheap slipcase for the review copy but the one you're going to buy apparently comes with lavish notes and luxury tassels. It came out on 28th June on Witchwood Media with out-takes and demos, including three previously unreleased.
JMC

Gatecrasher 'Anthems:
Paul van Dyk 2010'

This treble album follows the success of the gold-selling smash hits "Gatecrasher trance anthems 1993-2009" and its follow-up "Gatecrasher club anthems 1993-2009". "Gatecrasher anthems: Paul van Dyk" sells two famous brand names in a single title. In this new collection, van Dyk takes clubbers (presumably some now ex clubbers with kids) back to the halcyon days of the trance revolution with tracks from just about everyone and every tune you ever wanted to hear: Moby, Underworld, Robert Miles, Café Del Mar, Planet Perfecto, Matt Darey and Motorcycle and of course van Dyk himself. The three CDs are mixed and compiled by van Dyk and there's a lot of classic tracks on here to turn up loud and annoy the neighbours or other road users. As well as the older classics, which include the review corner's ultimate favourite Nalin and Kane's "Beachball", there are up to date tracks from Filo and Perri, Guiseppi Ottaviani and Reverse, with current anthems from Faithless, Deadmau5, Armin van Buuren and Ferry Corsten. Groovy, as no one says nowadays.
JMC