As The Veneer Of Dumpness Starts To Fade - Braun

Advantages: Relaxing
Disadvantages: R 'n' B

...Back in late '96 when the Spice Girls released "Wannabe", I was there to be a part of it all. The movie, the albums, the merchandise, it was all a part of my life. I had finally been allowed to have a teenybopper time in my life, but now I am a 15 year old, and the Spice Girls are not vey 'cool'. When I heard of this album, I had high hopes of them reviving the sound the Girls seemed to have mastered at the "Goodbye" single. The disc starts out with the high energy "Holler", a typically sexually charged dance tune easy to groove to and get heated up for the rest of the album. At the fadeout, the disc drops you right back into a near clone of the previous song. As "Tell me why" fades into "Let Love Lead the Way", the Spice Girls demonstrate their skill at writing ballads in stirring proportions before dumping you into the midsection... Read review

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Advantages: subtle
Disadvantages: maybe too subtle to begin with

...Veneer is a strange album. When I first heard it I was fairly non-plussed, it was all very nice but suited background listening rather than any particular attention. The only track that really stood out was ‘Heartbeats’ but only for its familarity due to its use in the Sony Bravia adverts. I didn’t even realise it was a cover by Swedish band ‘The Knives’. And it stayed that way for quite a while, until earlier this year when in the middle of a bad patch and with sleep becoming more than a struggle – I really discovered this album. José González has a strange heritage in as much as he is Swedish born by Argentine parents. The album was originally released in 2003 across Europe and didn’t reach the UK until Spring 2005, I believe it followed later in the year for the states. The sound/style is consistent throughout the album, well... Read review

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Advantages: Groovy 60's music
Disadvantages: -

.... The big, rumbling Butterfly epic In The Time Of Our Lives opens things up, all deep and meaningful, leading into the trippy, bottom-end stop-start delights of Soul Experience. The blissed out Lonely Boy is just pure honey dripping out of the speakers. Laugh at Doug Ingles lyrics "aaahmm suuuuuch...a loooneely booooooooy" but it's also clear he'd been listening to some Stax soul as well. This is just fabulous to drift off to. Filled With Fear, as the title suggests, starts off with all urgent pounding bass and gallops along very nicely indeed. More jiggy organ. Yes there are similarities with The Doors, but also with Jefferson Airplane and The 13th Floor Elevators as well. The strangely named Belda-Beast is over before you know it, barely two minutes, and it's more bouncy Doorisms on It Must Be Love, which lets Erik Braun... Read review

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