Live At The Village Vanguard - Gerry Mulligan

Advantages: Really nice music
Disadvantages: A few tracks arent as good as the others

...I was watching Classic FM TV one day and saw Simon Mulligan playing Band of Brothers and it really was absolutely amazing. However, at the end of the video it didnt say the name of the track or who performed it. It was so good though that I quickly went on the internet and found the name of the person playing it and realised that he had made a CD. I can't remember how much the CD cost but it wasnt any more than £10 and so I decided to buy it, after hearing only one of the tracks from it. The 'risk' I took when buying it though was one that was worth taking. This CD is a really good. It has a wide variety of music, with music from composers like J.S. Bach and Beethoven through ones like Shostakovich, Chopin and Walton to modern composers like Michael Kamen, Eric Clapton and Simon Mulligan himself. Although there are a few weaker... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: Musically excellent AND politicised!!!
Disadvantages: none spring to mind.

...that unerpins ADFs best work. The first single "Fortress Europe" has a similar rushed feel to it but is infinitely more enjoyable because of the vaguely Arabic vocal refrain weaving in and out of the background. Time and mainstream acceptance haven't dimmed the band's political zeal, at its most overt here on "19 Rebellions" which deals with the inhumane treatment of inmates in Brazilian prisons and which is reminiscent of The Pop Group in many ways. The stand out track and one that screams out to be released as a single is "1000 Mirrors" which manages to be both warming and haunting at the same time thanks to a caught-you-in-an-instant hookline and a characteristically peerless vocal performance from Sinead O'Connor (who incidentally is also on fine form while guesting on Massive Attack's "100th Window" album). We are living in times... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Mark Knopfler unplugged; playing his own songs to his own desires
Disadvantages: You may find it slow to get into

...In Arms (Live at Massey Hall, Toronto) There is also a CD-ROM element (track 5) which includes a video of track 1 above – Jimmy Nail sauntering on stage as if he had nothing better to do, hands thrust deep in pockets, to provide the backing choruses. There is also a short Biography file detailing Mark Knopfler’s current thoughts and ambitions. The album is described as a fusion of the music of his roots (Tyneside) and the music of the roots of the Southern Delta of the USA. THE RAGPICKER’S DREAM - Mark Knopfler (2002) Mercury 063293-2 £11.99 [POSTSCRIPT: Westoe: Old colliery village between Sunderland and South Shields in South Tyneside. For the really highbrow Geordie I am prepared to rename this review “Country and West Denton” although it doesn’t quite scan as well!!]... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful