How does it compare to the artist's other releases
Not applicable
Value for Money
Excellent
Advantages:
Great sound and fantastic lyrics - a beautiful album .
Disadvantages:
Too short ! ! ! You'll wish it was twice as long and you'll put it on repeat !
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
*******Your Big Day - John Egdell*******
This is a first album for the Newcastle based singer song-writer. After hearing him play live, and buying a copy of his album, I can't help but write favourably of this greatly inspirational artist. He does with music what I try to do with paint and canvas, and he does it with a quiet grace that is not often evident in the up-and-coming music scene. I hope I do his work justice in this review!
***The Artist***
John Egdell is a man of much talent. Born in Gateshead, he has spent much of his life fiddling about with music, and guitars in general, though as far as I know, there's not much by way of musical instruments he can't play. Give him a shaky-egg and he'll blooming shake it and by god there'll be rhythm and blues somewhere in the noise it makes!
Quite simply, he is a gentleman of incredible talent, a quiet musician who thinks deeply about things, writes about them, and then sings, in the quietest voice, so that the words he has written fall around you like a lullaby. Beautiful! Indeed, NME described his music as "gloriously lo-fi lullabys", and you know what? They're right.
John's unique philosophy on music making is as simple and unpretentious as the man himself. He has a Jackson Pollock-esque way of making music. There's a belief in there I think that the act of creating , the actual moment of making the sound he records is what it's all about, the real art form if you like.
John says:
"I want a record of the event of an instrument being played or a song being sung- if the record includes imperfections, then that's fine, because that's what happened in the moment."
He records in his living room, in a bright yellow Balamory Homage of a house in Newcastle, and what I love is that he doesn't do that whole record, re-record thing that so many artists do in search of "the perfect track" - I love it when you can hear the voice of the song having a giggle at the end of a track - it makes it more real, if that makes sense. More accessible. And lets you know that the person who made the song was having a good time, and that they're not afraid to have people hear the dodgy bits as well as the good bits. Because sometimes the dodgy bits are the best bits, when you look back, because they change the path of the good bits for the better. You know?
As a listener, that's something that's really important to me. I really get that whole idea that the act of creating something, with all its little mistakes and great triumphs is what should be recorded and upheld and honoured. And you really do get that when you're listening to John's music.
I could probably write for hours about John's music, I think. In terms as simple as the album itself, his songs are short, soft edged, and full to the brim with expression. John is the type of writer who will use a single word or phrase perfectly and who doesn't clutter up his songs with unnecessary chatter - why use fourteen words, when one will do just fine.
As far as the lyrics and music itself is concerned, John is a craftsman in his field. He expresses himself with a pure clarity which is not akin to anyone I've listened to or read before. There is a realism, that's the hard core of something quite poetic, and I have to say the way he chooses to turn his words into music clears a path through everything I've ever heard before.
If you like to listen to music that really means something, this is an album for you. Its not fast, for the most part, and acoustic and electric guitars plays a large part in the background sound, along with the flute, clarinet, melodica, glockenspiel, drums and percussion, but the gentle pace pulls you in and somehow you get caught up, and you hit repeat, and find that there are lyrics to follow you around like stray dogs all day. And not smelly ones either!
There are sixteen tracks on the album, and they are all brilliant!
1) Come Home (2:07) This is a beautifully slow song, with a gentle acoustic guitar as accompiment, and you really feel the emotion as he sings about missing the girl he loves.
2) Me And You (1:10) This is very short (which is saying something as the longest song on the album is just over three minutes long!) but its understated and insightful.
3) I'm Sorry (3:10) I love this one - the rhythm and the way the guitars kind of harmonize in the background. Lush! It's an apology and its beautiful!
4) It Doesn't Matter Anymore (3:24) This one is one of the faster songs on the album, a cover of a Buddy Holly song I think, with wonderful harmonies by Jennie Redmond of Jennie and The Betts.
5) Shake Your Hair (2:34) I would say this has got to be the fastest song on the album, with a slow start that builds up crescendo-like to some great, sunny, funny, happy lyrics that are guaranteed to make you smile. "you shake your hair, like a dog, you make me laugh, I sing you songs, it's easy" Wow. Brilliant!
6) Sorry For Calling So Late (1:51) Another very short song, this has a teardrop glockenspiel effect through it which is perfect for the song.
7) Not The Kind Of Boy Who (2:28) I really like this, it has such a simple melody that has the ability to stay in your mind for ages. The words are perfect, achingly heartfelt, accepting, and I can guarantee you'll be singing it while you're waiting for the kettle to boil in the staff canteen, or under your breath at the bus stop on the way home. "its always too much but it's never enough…and I'm lost in the sea, I'm screaming out for someone to save me for someone to pull me out…"
8)Sleeping On Her Floor This one has a chorus but you know what? It's a great one! This song has a more relaxed-faster rhythm to it. Almost a bluesy kind of rhythm. Oh and a hint of singing in the rain too…genius!!!
9) Goodbye (2:06) This is such a sad song, you almost feel like maybe he's crying as he sings. This is guitar and piano based, with clarinet and flute creating this gorgeous harmony that hangs in the air in the most melancholy way. Fantastic.
10) He Didn't Want You To Go (1:32) Fast(er), toe-tapping, another one to make you smile.
11) Easier Than Love (2:13) This is probably my favourite song on the album, though to be fair, every song I hear, every time I hear it, feels like my favourite. It's one of those albums. But if I'm honest, this has to be the one. The lyrics are beautiful, simple, truthful and the melody is gorgeous. "Please give me something that's easier than love…" It's hard alright, but always worth it, and there's an upbeat to this song which whispers that hidden gem of knowledge that the things you have to work at are usually the ones that end up meaning the most to you.
12) Claire Again Part 2 (3:00) Slow, sad, and with a wonderful guitar version of Starry starry night at the end. See if you can't hear it too!!
13) A Little Less (2:08) This is an instrumental, the only one on the album, and it's very melodic, very soft, and perhaps the one with the greatest lullaby quality to it on the whole album.
14) I Wish I Was More Like You (2:50) This one has quite a long introduction, but bear with it, the lyrics will blow you away, as will John's breathy, ultra-quiet delivery.
15) I Like You (1:25) Oh, this is another great one - can I change my favourite or is it too late? "I like your shoes, I like your coat, the phone you use when you're on the phone" Oh its great. One of those songs that builds up through its one and a quarter minutes and then just drops you with a clatter into the realisation of what you've heard, so you have to press repeat just to hear it all again!
16) Claire Again Part 1 (2:43) The last song on the album, and a wise choice of placement I think, as it's what I would call a happy-clappy song that takes you along for the ride. It does actually have clapping in it, but its so understated you really don't notice unless you really are listening for it.
If you can, get yourself to Newcastle and see John play live, or listen to his stuff on MySpace.com. He has recently been touring with Kathryn Williams, whose record label CAW he has been signed to for some time now. A night at one of John's gigs is good fun, he involves his audience, talks to and with and when he starts to sing, you know for sure that what he has is a passion for what he does, that he's having fun, and that he's almost reverent about his music, his songs, and the sharing of them with his audience. John is one of the few artists I've seen live whose presence on a stage silences the whole room in anticipation. It's quite something to see. Check out his website for details of gigs, and get yourself to one. You'll wish you had heard of him sooner.
You can pick up John's album at any HMV store, or online at www.HMV.com. If you're in the Newcastle area, try Windows in the centre of town, or there's a little record shop on High Bridge which stocks it. Alternatively you can buy it on AMAZON, for the pricely sum of £9.99.
This is a beautiful album, written with grace and performed with a understated confidence, a gentle voice, and great acoustic guitar.
Uncomplicated by all that dodgy chorus/verse/chorus malarkey, this is an album where each song is individual and unique, and yet flows quietly into the next, so that you can be playing the album on repeat and not notice when it begins or when it ends.
If you only buy one album from a Newcastle based singer-songwriter this year, make it this one. You won't regret it.
RECOMMENDED.
This review has already been posted on www.Dooyoo.co.uk, where I write as Katestuartuk. This is my first review for Ciao.
Thankyou for reading, Kate x
More details
How does it rate alongside the competition
Outstanding
Cover / Inlay Design and Content
Outstanding
Evaluate this review
How helpful would this review be to someone making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
This product has not yet been reviewed. 
![River Is Wide, The [Remastered] - Forum (The)](http://images.ciao.com/iuk/images/products/small/251/River_Is_Wide_The_Remastered_Forum_The__6006251.jpg)
