Sundirtwater - Waifs (The)

Advantages: Aussie folk, blues, country if you like that sorta thing
Disadvantages: Don't play the UK enough

...I first heard the Waifs when they supported Billy Bragg on his UK tour. They are an excellent live band but their CDs are just as good, it's just a shame they don't get to tour here much (even less now there are baby waifs!). This was their debut album. They are difficult to categorise - folk, blues, country, Aussie accents but a clear American influence - they cite Bob Dylon as an early influence. The band consists of two Australian fisherman's daughters who, in 1992 bought a campervan and headed off around Australia singing to fund their travelling. They met up with Josh, third member of the band and the rest is history! They are all great songwriters and many of their songs are inspired by their life on the road. Their grandfather was American and you can hear a bluesy American influence in their sound. They all play... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: A full-barrelled onslaught of witty pop
Disadvantages: That it's self-indulgent hardly needs saying

...I don't know about you, but I'm the sort of person who will lay in bed at night, staring at the ceiling, and just before sliding into my slumbers will contemplate the great enigmas that beset mankind. Can we not all just live in peace, tolerance and understanding? Is there a God? Is this all there is, and after this comes merely an inky blackness? And most important of all, why has there never been an album of songs about cricket done by two Irish blokes? Well agonise about the latter no more, as Thomas Walsh and Neil Hannon have adopted the moniker of The Duckworth Lewis Method (the name given to the formula used to calculate by how many runs England would have lost a one-day international match if it hadn't been cut short by rain) and stepped into the breach. Or strode up to the crease. Or something...and provided a collection... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Highly varied
Disadvantages: A couple of tracks weren't as strong as the rest

...genre), but still manages to connect on a deeper level with their love for 'The Game'. With this thing which draws them together, they come with an incredibly strong Hip Hop track, switching from the direction of the rest of the album. Kanye offers the production with a clear sample of an '80s RB groove form Gil Scott Heron to give this one a retro feel. **Four Stars** 15. "Never Can Say Goodbye" (feat. Latoiya Williams) When I read that this one included samples of both Biggie's "Big Pppa" and the Isley Brothers' "Between The Sheets", I was excited as I expected to hear a nice and smooth track from Game, however, these were only little things which allowed Game to show his influences over the rests as he follow a similar delivery which Notorious B.I.G. did in "Big Poppa". Thsi track has lyrics whcih completely contrast from... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful