Cold Mountain - Michael Garrick Trio

Advantages: Good quality British jazz, played with energy, style & originality
Disadvantages: None I can find, apart from the CD's short length.

...? There is a very spontaneous "first take" feel about all of this CD, a real energy. I suspect the Trio just rehearsed a lot, then went in the studio and banged down the tracks, live, with no retakes. And I also think (this being 1964) that there are little or no overdubs on the tracks either. Another thing is that, although this is very much Mr. Garrick's show (it's his Trio after all) and it is obvious that the piano is the lead instrument here, it doesn't dominate and is mixed well with the percussion and double-bass. Not an easy line to walk musically, but Michael Garrick manages very well. The audio quality is brilliant, in fact, to say it was remastered straight from an unplayed 1964 vinyl copy, (the original master tapes having long gone) I'd say it was exceptional. The liner notes apologise for this and say sound quality may suffer because of it... Read review

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Advantages: Original-CHEAP!!!
Disadvantages: Possibly too wierd....

...to "Lovely Head" than any other track and sticks out as being slightly more main stream than the rest. The sorts of sounds produced are more like pop music yet the melodies are still very much hers. The meaning I have deduced from this track is that the 'Utopia' is the glorious feeling she feels when she is with her lover. There is a good use of crescendo before chorus that sets off the main riff brilliantly. The album ends with one of her more stereotypical tracks: "Horse Tears". The opening lines of "Night has fallen, mute and cold, my horse is crying" throws you back into Matterhorn winter time. The album leaflet shows pictures of the Matterhorn and a bungalow and I can only assume that a part of her life is very much linked to this mountain. There is a picture of her walking towards the mountain with her walking boots and ruck... Read review

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Advantages: Some Brilliant Tracks, Relaxing...
Disadvantages: Some Not So Great Tracks...

...---------------------------------------------------------- Omni Trio - Even Angels Cast Shadows ---------------------------------------------------------- It was around May this year when I found this album on iTunes. I had just been going through different phases of music genres, Rock, Hip-Hop,Pop,R&B, but I didn't take to them too much. I prefer more relaxing music, not classical but just more of a Drum and Bass type genre to give me that tingle up my spine like some music does... I began to get into Drum and Bass more as the music is just so much different to the other genres. There are hardly any lyrics and just some sweet sounds to listen to. I really took to Drum and Bass and that is when I started to look for Drum and Bass albums and songs from iTunes and stores... I couldn't find any in nearby shops or even when I... Read review

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