Parisian Thoroughfare - Donald Byrd

Advantages: Melodies Waxing Lyrical.
Disadvantages: Smiley Tunes Can Give You Lockjaw.

...at the end the craving for more is quite hard to quell. Like the perfect summer day you don't want it to end. The album opens with the stunning 'I Need Direction', as close to a Byrds tune for the new millennium as you're likely to get. In Teenage Fanclub's hands this is not naked plagiarism, just a innovative slant on an old idea. 'Near You' is so powerful I get a lump in my throat every time I hear the line "I get near, but I never seem to reach you". 'Cul de Sac' has an underlying Gallic theme that almost beams you to a Parisian walkway. It floats like a cloud high above all the mundane chart fodder. 'My Uptight Life' got the nod from the Sunday Times critics suggesting that it was a hidden gem, worth the price of the album on its own. Who cares if the vocals are reminiscent of the Beautiful South's Paul Heaton. This is majestical stuff... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: music
Disadvantages: too short

...and Donald Byrd were cut. In the early seventies Vynilartists already scratched&moved such as Grandmaster Flash already mixed and even let tapes of Revox fly. The jazz always injected the HipHop the certain Flavor. Under the guidance of host Guru succeeds to the young musicians with the " volume 1 " from " Jazzmatazz " in my opinion a bridging of the generations. Page A: the Mentor Guru speaks the introduction, all participating musician are introduced. The jazz becomes motive, only one trumpet run, a loop becomes audible and simultaneous here to the mental origin of Jazzmatazz. " loungin " underlaid of fat Beats is able to blew your radio. Guru goes as a singer into action; as always self-confident and positively and its HipHop dream occurs. Jazzdinosaur Donald Byrd improvised at the trumpets and at the piano and supplies an outstanding... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Great songs
Disadvantages: A few songs are over-long

...Teenage Fanclub were the founders of to my mind one of the most implausible music scenes ever. That so many Scottish bands would aim to recreate the sound of late sixties San Francisco is quite amazing. As well as being influenced by Love and The Byrds to name but two the Fannies brought their own flavour to this album. The album started in what was soon to become a much-loved style. "The Concept" epitomises their sound, growling feedback-soaked guitars overlayed by celestial vocal melodies. The other stand-out song on the album "Is this music?" an instrumental will be well known to Match of the Day viewers. Often overshadowed by the giant mediocrity that is Oasis The Fannies were with Primal Scream one of the finest bands on the Creation label, and this is still theibest album to date.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful