Posts Tagged Covers
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August 9, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
Nikka Costa: Nikka & Strings – Underneath and in Between
Nikka Costa Nikka & Strings: Underneath and in Between Go Funk Yourself Records Inc/Metropolis Recordings The soul, blues and pop sound of Nikka Costa has been sorely missed across the last half-decade. Here with not quite a new album but new renditions of old favourites (from her pen as well as some standards) we have […]Archive
July 18, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
Joan Osborne: Songs of Bob Dylan
Joan Osborne Songs of Bob Dylan WOMANLY HIP RECORDS People have often voiced an opinion around the likes of Dylan and Leonard Cohen – Lou Reed and Neil Young too, perhaps – that they like the songs, just not when the writer in question is singing them. But that would surely miss the point. Yes, […]Archive
June 17, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 398
Bob Dylan, Triplicate (2017) I am enjoying Bob Dylan’s roll through the standards, serving up evergreens whenever/however he feels like it – this time a triple album, three separate 30-minute, 10-song mood-pieces. I’m still digesting this one in fact – hence the move to the LP, an easier way to take it all in in […]Archive
May 15, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
John Oates: Arkansas
John Oates Arkansas PS Records One of the strangest things you’ll hear – or hear about – in music this year is John Oates doing a country album. Yes, he of Hall & Oates, the Maneater/She’s Gone co-creator. There’s nothing on this album that sounds like anything he did with Daryl Hall. And there’s no […]Archive
May 10, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
Van Morrison and Joey DeFrancesco: You’re Driving Me Crazy
Van Morrison and Joey DeFrancesco You’re Driving Me Crazy Sony Legacy Van Morrison is sure making up for some recent lost time. He took four years off there – though no one probably noticed. And when he returned – in 2016 – it was with his strongest collection in 20+ years. That was no fluke […]Archive
May 1, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
Luna: A Sentimental Education
Luna A Sentimental Education Double Feature When Luna reformed we were treated to a spectacular show – and now the band’s return to recording, roughly a decade and a half after its last official release sees this charming set of record-collection pop and rock covers. Often there can be an underwhelming feeling attached to a […]Archive
April 30, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
John Beasley: MONK’estra, Vol. 2
John Beasley presents… MONK’estra, Vol. 2 Mack Avenue/Southbound You can almost hear the gnashing of the teeth of purists – Why do this to Monk? – but though Volume 2 of Beasley’s reworkings of Monk tunes for his own big band is the inevitable mixed bag (opening with Dontae Winslow’s rap on Brake’s Sake is […]Archive
April 25, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
RNZ Reviews: April 2018
Once a month or so I have a chat on RNZ on their Afternoons show with Jesse Mulligan. These things start – randomly and stop in much the same way. I hope to keep doing this. For a while at least. I think I started in December of 2015, so a couple of years into […]Archive
April 16, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
The Hankering To Hear The Original: The Hunt, The Journey…
If you’re a record store tragic then you probably have “a list” – I mean the sort of list (mythical, in your head – at best) where you hope to find the album when and where you’re looking. It would be too easy (and boring) to just click the link and have it delivered – […]Archive
April 15, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
Bettye LaVette: Things Have Changed
Bettye LaVette Things Have Changed Verve Bettye LaVette’s had one hell of a comeback – or an arrival; barely anyone knew about her before, and if they did it was more about her struggles than her music – she’s also got one hell of a colourful backstory and though there was some great music early […]Archive
March 19, 2018 by Simon Sweetman