Hand Built By Robots - Newton Faulkner

Well, it's my 50th review, so I decided to mark the occasion by doing something a little different - my very first music review! Thanks to all those who have written quality reviews before, and given me ideas of how to proceed! I just hope I can do my chosen artist justice. I expect by now, at least 80% of the population have heard of Newton Faulkner, haven't they? Handmade guitar, surfydude with dreadlocks, deep soulful voice? No? Well let me enlighten ...
...the time of writing), singer/ songwriter from Surrey. His gorgeous rendition of Massive Attacks Teardrops (which I personally think is brilliant - not as good as the original granted, but still hauntingly beautiful just the same), is mainly responsible for bringing him into the public ear. For me, his track Dream Catch Me was what really drew me to finding more about him, perfectly melodic, romantic, and inspiring - and I soon downloaded his music. ...

watkins11 15.01.2009 (16.01.2009) · Read full review
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Review of Hand Built By Robots - Newton Faulkner

...listen to his amazing album Hand built by robots to find out why. Although you will first realise that the all the tracks are relatively short (the whole album is just 44mins long) the quality is excellent. You know what they say it’s not the size that counts!! Dream Catch me is Newton’s (first) recognised single and entered the charts last week at an amazing 6th place. (The album was number 3 ) The sound is unique as are all his songs. "Every time ...
...of the song are quite mysterious. With a tranquil and quite elegant backing track the lyrics are thoughtful, graceful and romantic. Also on the album is a cover version of Massive attack’s Teardrop, which is brilliantly done, and although massive attacks version is a classic Newton does the song Justice. I have to say my favourite two songs on the album are Uncomfortably slow, and straight towards the sun. Uncomfortably slow starts softly and builds ...

lynz_1981 12.08.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Hand Built By Robots - Newton Faulkner

Hand Built By Robots is Newton Faulkner's debut album. He smashed onto the commercial music scene in 2007 with his hit Dream Catch Me, and the album was just as successful. He is one of a breed of singer songwriters we have seen emerge over the past five years or so inculding James Blunt, James Morrison and Paolo Nutini that seem to have the edge when it comes to writing music. If you've heard Faulkner's music, then you'll know he is a balladier, ...
...dreadlocks making him instantly recognisable. The album doesn;t have a lot of variety about it, I have to say, but that does not mean that he is a one-trick pony. Faulkner's music is high in quality. The predominant sounds on the album are his guitar and voice, but the backing music lends itself well to the music, and it is obviously a well thought out album. A decent mix of sounds, but all along the same lines has meant that this is a successful ...

pmcds 24.06.2008 · Read full review
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Review of Hand Built By Robots - Newton Faulkner

I first heard of him from someone on Myspace who constantly went on about how his album was amazing and he was such a great guitarist. I disregarded this and thought it was just another fad of hers until one day I checked on the music section and saw he was featured. Out of curiosity I clicked onto his profile, and to be honest, I was a little dissapointed by what I heard. The first single released off the album - "Dream Catch Me", is sadly, probably ...
...you, but it definitely isn't the best. On further listening, my interest suddenly peaked. The song; "I need something" caught my ear instantly. All of a sudden it was more than just your standard acoustic folk rock sound, it was a brilliantly constructed piece of art with bouncing guitar and superbly controlled vocals. I instantly decided I needed to get this album and upon listening to the entirety of the tracklist, I was not dissapointed. This ...

hybridreality 18.11.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Hand Built By Robots - Newton Faulkner

Newton Faulkner is an English artist who specialises in vocals and playing the guitar. He is best known for his dreaklocked hair and distinctive style. According to Wikipedia, his main influences come from the likes of Eric Roche, Tom Waits, Jurassic 5, Massive Attack, Stevie Wonder, The Rolling Stones, James Brown,Prince, Mr Hudson, Green Day, George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, Primus and Led Zeppelin. His debut album Handbuilt by Robots was released ...
...in the UK album charts, remaining there for 2 consecutive weeks. When my friend leant me this CD months ago, I had never heard of the guy. I was doing some revision so thought I'd play the album in full at the same time as working. The first thing that struck me was how many genres this CD could fit in to - rock / soft rock / pop / folk / indie / blues / accoustic - it really seems to have something for everyone! It is a really relaxing, soothing ...

DaisyMarie 18.06.2008 · Read full review
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Review of Hand Built By Robots - Newton Faulkner

Having heard Newton's song 'I need something' on radio 1's Jo Wiley's show several months ago, I immediatly went to his myspace page and listened to some of his tracks. I was instantly spell bound with his intricate guitar riffs and haunting melodies and so moved straight over to i tunes to try and buy some of his stuff. At the time, only his EP was available so i promptly downloaded and instantly became addicted. Now a few months on i have downloaded ...
...by it's brilliance. What is even nicer is that the album has gone to number one, an amazing achievment, although not suprising once you have listened to it. Newton is vlearly an amazing new talent, not only in song writting, but also in his musicianship and in his voice. The album has a variety of tracks from the light hearted 'full fat' to the more serious 'dream catch me', but is also broken up with the most beautiful short instrcumental tracks ...

mussonanna 05.09.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Hand Built By Robots - Newton Faulkner

One of my favourite albums of the year, I got this one for christmas and I still listen to it. The vocals are very clear and beautiful, and having seen Newton Faulkner live recently, I can confirm that he is just as good live. Everyone will know the poppy Dream Catch Me from its chart success earlier in the year, but my favourite song on the album has to be People Should Smile More. After having quite a time of it over the last few years I think ...

fionad86 21.07.2008 · Read full review
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Review of Hand Built By Robots - Newton Faulkner

What this man can't do with a guitar is not worth knowing! Who would ever have thought you could use a guitar as your drum kit? Having bought the album and playing it non stop in the car for 3 weeks I had to see him in concert and he didn't dissapoint. This man even admitted on stage he pushes himself to his maximum ability so there may be bum notes but even on stage it sounds just as good as this CD. It's a shame artist feel the need to include ...

albam73 26.03.2008 · Read full review
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Review of Hand Built By Robots - Newton Faulkner

Browsing quickly through the selection in woolies i picked up the first c.d that took my fancy. My dad had told me the previous day that he was "a hippy that had a good single out". So I took it that as he was quite good. I was amazing at how every single track was one i could listen to over and over. It is a short album which is good for people who, like me, have a short attention span. It also has a good variety of music. There is even a song that ...

ShakeIt23 18.08.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Hand Built By Robots - Newton Faulkner

I saw the Advert for Newton Faulkner's album on TV. Straightaway, I listened to some of the songs on the internet, and I was hooked. It has a very acoustic/folk/indie sense and is great calming music for any mood. In my opinion, the best songs are "Dream catch me", "to the light" and "Gone in the morning". Each has very catchy melody and lyrics. Newton Faulkner has a great voice and his music is something fresh and something which everyone should ...

jennyyy21 21.10.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Hand Built By Robots - Newton Faulkner

After hearing Newtons cover of 'Teardrop' on a T.V. advert I instantly fell in love with his mellow voice and that distinctive guitar playing. I went out and bought 'Hand Built By Robots' a couple of days later. After just hearing 'To the light' (the first track on the album), I couldn't waite to hear the rest!! The album is one of the best I have bought for many years and I would highly recommend it to people of all ages. Newton has a great sound ...
...guitar as a drum aswell as a guitar make him truley unique. Being a guitarist myself I appreciated his work and unusual techniques more but I would seriously recommend this album to someone who is looking for something smoth, mellow, chilled, relaxed and exciteding at the same time. It is a must CD to add to anyones collection. I love it!!!! ...

mynameizjak 04.09.2008 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
Review of Hand Built By Robots - Newton Faulkner