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| Track list: 1. Tricks 2. Me And St. Jude 3. World In Denial 4. Love And Love And That Sort Of Thing 5. Josefs Train 6. Blue Shadow 7. Wild And Beautiful 8. Looking Out For You 9. Giddy Thing 10. Broken Moon 11. One For The Ditch Running time: 39 minutes Released: 2002 |
Nigel Stonier is only in my record collection because of Thea Gilmore. As her husband, and regular part of her backing band, Stonier has had a big hand in Gilmore's career, at one point during which she was my favourite artist. I've grown away a little - still preferring her earlier, younger, work to more recent releases. This album is contemporary of Rules for Jokers and Loft Music - the latter of which sees Gilmore covering Josef's Train. On this disc she provides backing and Stonier is thrust forward, a position that doesn't always suit him. However it opens strongly - Tricks is one of those tunes that if a shuffle takes me close, and I'm sat in a position to intercept, I inevitably end up having to put on. It's also our opening number.
Thrumming bassy chords and a guitar more stricken than strummed, my love for this song comes from the lyrics as much as its catchy sparse composition. A clever, but sad, song about the end of a relationship it kicks most such ditties into touch. I'm a sucker for the long lonely notes it ends on, too. If I was being trite about things I'd stop the listen now, call this a favourite and be done, but there are 10 other tracks here that I rarely give any time at all to get through first. The first of those is pedestrian - slow, and staid. No catchy riff here, no clever lines to excuse it. It is better in full flow than when it is building, but Me and St. Jude don't get on fantastically.
World in Denial sounds like it could have come from Rules for Jokers; the guitar work is very reminiscent of... one of Gilmore's tracks I can't remember by name right now. It is a little brighter in tone, a little livelier, and a bit more palatable for it, a catchiness to the cadence keeps me engaged through the song, even as the horns that back the chorus cause me to raise an eyebrow. They sound out of place somehow, maybe synthesized? We then devolve into happy-clappy folk rock for a rather forgettable track, notable just for some long modulated notes that give it a sense of Americana, even as the feel of the track (and the vocal in particular) are very, very British. The funny thing is, I can't see myself getting rid of any of these tracks - even though listening to them I don't think too much of them; this disc has some kind of appeal all the same.
I prefer Gilmore's cover of Josef's Train, but I do like the song. A rail song, a solo journey, there's a beauty in the picture it paints; I just think that picture is prettier in a simpler arrangement and with a female voice - a little bit of vulnerability, or rather of less solidity perhaps. Here there's a bit too much depth with strings - tight ones at that - and the jangling guitar part is a bit too strong. Stonier's voice is not ill-suited to the number though. He is not a natural front man, giving the impression of being a little awkward about the attention, whilst clearly being an accomplished, if not an outstanding, musician. His songs betray that a little, nothing too ambitious please. That means that where the lyrics don't pick him up and carry him through, the songs tend to the repetitive and safe. Pleasant enough I guess but not exciting.
The title for the album comes from Wild and Beautiful. This also has the feel of a Thea Gilmore song - just that little bit safe musically but interesting lyrically and so engaging enough to carry through for the duration of a pop song. If I simply applied the criterion "would I ever choose to listen to this?" to these songs I think only a few would be kept but again in considering it I feel an emotional attachment that makes that difficult. Aren't humans odd? Looking Out For You would be one of the keepers, just peppy enough to keep ticking, drums and guitar sync well and the harmonisation on the chorus works as well as you would expect from a practiced couple. It's a distant third behind Tricks and Josef's Train, but a nice song in its own right.
The last three tracks spark little or no memory from reading the names, and little if any more from hearing the first strains in the case of Giddy Thing, which is a horrible song title. Giddy is an awkward word (and awkward describes itself well, too!), and using "thing" about the object of your affection - for this is a love song - is staggeringly odd. I have had a poor day, of feeling everything I touched turned to poop. This has been a salvation of my evening - turning that frustration into a more positive direction. It would have been nice to have something to rave about, rather than be lukewarm as I have here, but still. The evening has still beaten the day - England even beat Germany. What next, flying pigs? Broken Moon is more recognisible once I hear the first strains. I can imagine it being a decent live song, but I find it too formulaic on record, and then we are into the closer.
One for the Ditch is clearly a closing track - its a come-down song, suppressed, soporific, apologetic. A road song in the "one for the" sense. These types of songs work to phase you out quite well, though here Stonier moves past what his singing voice can really handle in places. When the ode to the drunks fades out I am ready to down tools and to bed. I still steadfastly refuse to cull here; I still can't put my finger on why.
Thrumming bassy chords and a guitar more stricken than strummed, my love for this song comes from the lyrics as much as its catchy sparse composition. A clever, but sad, song about the end of a relationship it kicks most such ditties into touch. I'm a sucker for the long lonely notes it ends on, too. If I was being trite about things I'd stop the listen now, call this a favourite and be done, but there are 10 other tracks here that I rarely give any time at all to get through first. The first of those is pedestrian - slow, and staid. No catchy riff here, no clever lines to excuse it. It is better in full flow than when it is building, but Me and St. Jude don't get on fantastically.
World in Denial sounds like it could have come from Rules for Jokers; the guitar work is very reminiscent of... one of Gilmore's tracks I can't remember by name right now. It is a little brighter in tone, a little livelier, and a bit more palatable for it, a catchiness to the cadence keeps me engaged through the song, even as the horns that back the chorus cause me to raise an eyebrow. They sound out of place somehow, maybe synthesized? We then devolve into happy-clappy folk rock for a rather forgettable track, notable just for some long modulated notes that give it a sense of Americana, even as the feel of the track (and the vocal in particular) are very, very British. The funny thing is, I can't see myself getting rid of any of these tracks - even though listening to them I don't think too much of them; this disc has some kind of appeal all the same.
I prefer Gilmore's cover of Josef's Train, but I do like the song. A rail song, a solo journey, there's a beauty in the picture it paints; I just think that picture is prettier in a simpler arrangement and with a female voice - a little bit of vulnerability, or rather of less solidity perhaps. Here there's a bit too much depth with strings - tight ones at that - and the jangling guitar part is a bit too strong. Stonier's voice is not ill-suited to the number though. He is not a natural front man, giving the impression of being a little awkward about the attention, whilst clearly being an accomplished, if not an outstanding, musician. His songs betray that a little, nothing too ambitious please. That means that where the lyrics don't pick him up and carry him through, the songs tend to the repetitive and safe. Pleasant enough I guess but not exciting.
The title for the album comes from Wild and Beautiful. This also has the feel of a Thea Gilmore song - just that little bit safe musically but interesting lyrically and so engaging enough to carry through for the duration of a pop song. If I simply applied the criterion "would I ever choose to listen to this?" to these songs I think only a few would be kept but again in considering it I feel an emotional attachment that makes that difficult. Aren't humans odd? Looking Out For You would be one of the keepers, just peppy enough to keep ticking, drums and guitar sync well and the harmonisation on the chorus works as well as you would expect from a practiced couple. It's a distant third behind Tricks and Josef's Train, but a nice song in its own right.
The last three tracks spark little or no memory from reading the names, and little if any more from hearing the first strains in the case of Giddy Thing, which is a horrible song title. Giddy is an awkward word (and awkward describes itself well, too!), and using "thing" about the object of your affection - for this is a love song - is staggeringly odd. I have had a poor day, of feeling everything I touched turned to poop. This has been a salvation of my evening - turning that frustration into a more positive direction. It would have been nice to have something to rave about, rather than be lukewarm as I have here, but still. The evening has still beaten the day - England even beat Germany. What next, flying pigs? Broken Moon is more recognisible once I hear the first strains. I can imagine it being a decent live song, but I find it too formulaic on record, and then we are into the closer.
One for the Ditch is clearly a closing track - its a come-down song, suppressed, soporific, apologetic. A road song in the "one for the" sense. These types of songs work to phase you out quite well, though here Stonier moves past what his singing voice can really handle in places. When the ode to the drunks fades out I am ready to down tools and to bed. I still steadfastly refuse to cull here; I still can't put my finger on why.
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