Afro Disco Beat - Tony Allen

Advantages: Catchy Music and Lyrics
Disadvantages: Immature Writing

...in a nightclub and excuses you may use. To be honest its pretty lame. I can imagine young teenagers finding this hilarious, even more frightnening it wouldnt suprise me if two years time i was in a club and saw these 13 year old girls sneaking into clubs and using this song as a guide. What a disastourous thought. As you have probably guessed i dont like this song. Track 3 - LDN This song is quite sweet. Another simple summery pick me up song. The lyrics for once i can actually relate to, it describes the underlying problems of somewhere that you might not notice in your everyday routine. But if you look properly you can spot. Another one of Allens more famous songs. Voice as usual is simple and not exciting, thank goodness for the catchy beats otherwise this album would be seriously rubbish. Track 4 - Everythings Just Wonderful WOW finally... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Summer beats and witty lyrics
Disadvantages: The 'Mockney' vocals can be a bit irritating

.../Reggae beat to it. I loved it when I first heard it for the original and witty lyrics and as I quite like the reagge/ska genre it was quite interesting to hear something fresh. It is apparently inspired by the depression Allen experienced after a relationship break up in her teens; the lyrics belie the perky tune they are sung to. Knock 'Em Out is a very Streets-ish about trying to get away from unwanted blokes in the pub, and girls that bother blokes by return. It is talking rather than singing and there are some amusing excuses given. LDN was actually released before Smile but as a limited edition 7" vinyl only which is why most people -myself included - don't know it. It is another reggae inspired track where Lily sings about the worst things about London and city life (crack whores and muggers) and then asks why she would want... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Great first album, original and fresh
Disadvantages: Last half of second album is terrible

...The Afro-Celt Sound System have made two succesful albums of enticing fusion between African and Celtic music. I hadn't heard about them before I listened to their first album, Sound Magic. Listening to it was literaly made me sit up and pay attention because I hadn't heard anything like it before. Of course I had heard sobre celtic lamemts and stylized cliched "Rainbow Nation" african beats (yuck in both cases) before, but the Afro-Celts succesfully blended the two into an upbeat album, filled with up-temp dance tracks and atmospheric mood music. There were on or two tracks with Celtic and African vocal just interweaving and sounding totally natural. There wasn't a single weak track on the first album. The second album, Release, was a slightly different affair. It sounded more stylized and better produced. The first half... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average off topic