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Enya: And Winter Came…

November 28, 2008 /

Actual conversation between two Bullz-Eye staffers:

Writer #1: Isn’t Enya’s new album a holiday album?
Writer #2: Aren’t they all holiday albums?

It was only meant as a joke, of course, but there is a kernel of truth there as well. There is nothing on And Winter Came… that sounds any more or less Christmas-y than any of her other albums (save for the album’s closer, a version of “Silent Night” done in Irish), but Enya’s soundscapes do have a certain coldness to them that make them ideal wintertime listening. You’ve heard a few of these songs before in various incarnations – this album’s instrumental title track is a direct descendant to the instrumental title tracks on Watermark and Shepherd Moons – but a couple songs, namely “Trains and Winter Rains” and “My! My! Time Flies,” boast chord progressions and arrangements that suggest Enya’s a closet power pop fan, of all things. Heck, the latter song even has an honest to goodness guitar solo. It’s tempting to put Enya down for making the same album over and over, but it works, damn it. (Reprise)

Click to buy And Winter Came…

Ambient, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, New Age, Pop

Guggenheim Grotto: Happy the Man

November 28, 2008 /

Their odd, ill-defined moniker aside, Guggenheim Grotto are a deeply emotive trio, hailing from Ireland but obviously adept at capturing universal sentiments, particularly when it comes to matters of the heart. On this, their sophomore set, the group opts for gentle, dreamy melodies that reside midway between the arched anthems of Coldplay and the contemplative designs of the Beautiful South, capped by soaring refrains coupled with a distinct sense of wistful yearning. That’s especially true of “Her Beautiful Ideas,” perhaps the most torrid song about severed romance in recent memory, and “Sunshine Makes Me High,” which regales in sublime inspiration. Likewise, “Oh Nikita” glides on supple rhythms and a bittersweet plea, while “Just Not Just” provides a breezy lesson in unrequited love. Indeed, there’s a profound sense of desire that permeates the set as a whole, a hope for a passionate connection that remains just out of reach. “What has love in store for me,” they ask plaintively on the guardedly hopeful “Lost Forever And?,” a song that surmises the answer but reaches no definitive conclusion. Its title to the contrary, Happy the Man finds bliss an elusive ideal and optimism all the more difficult to cling to. (United for Opportunity)

Guggenheim Grotto MySpace page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Emo, Folk, Rock

Zealousy: Complications

November 28, 2008 /

Zealousy is another one of those groups that wants to marry dark theatrics to their pop tunes. That’s fine and all, but this has been done much better before with far greater appeal (think Fuji Minx, for instance). Vocalist Amarie Darvai hits all the notes effortlessly, but there’s something about the mix of opener “Girl on the Edge” that pushes everything into distortionland. The rest of the group plays facelessly behind her, which is fine because you get the feeling this is all really her show. “So I Am” tries to play it off strong-willed and tough, but really doesn’t have claws as long as it likes to think it does. When the band tries for somewhat lighter moments, such as on “Drop,” Darvai’s performance just overshadows the rest of the group. She could stand to hold back just a little at times. A song like “Chemical Imbalance” plays out as annoyingly as you might expect from a group like this. My advice is for Zealousy to find a better producer, and perhaps musicians who don’t constantly take the piss from Amarie’s delivery on every song. It’s okay to be heard as well, you know. Otherwise, these guys are just treading the average waters with a nondescript sound. Ho hum. (self-released)

Zealousy MySpace page

CD QuickTakes, Pop, Rock

Jimmy Wayne: Do You Believe Me Now?

November 28, 2008 /

Every once in a while, some country artist and/or songwriter takes a chance on a song that doesn’t sound like everything else they release. Jimmy Wayne’s “Do You Believe Me Now?” the title track to his latest, and second album, is that song – essentially a great pop song sung with a twangy vocal and a lyrical theme that is left of center (guy sees the way other guy is looking at his girl, and fast-forwards to when he is the odd man out and the other guy has his girl now). Well, that, and the track is as catchy as anything you’ll ever hear. Read his bio, and you won’t help but feel for the guy, who once saw his stepfather shoot (and paralyze) his stepbrother’s wife and then attempt to kill Jimmy too when he was 15. But mostly this is a new country artist (who co-writes most of his material) armed with a solid album of hooky songs that reflect the variety of music his foster parents listened to – Hall & Oates, Alan Jackson, Iron Maiden among them. Other standouts are the breezy “I Will” and sultry semi-ballad “One on One.” With the title track recently hitting #1 on the country charts, the sky is the limit for Jimmy Wayne, and gives hope to some of the lesser-known but promising songwriting talent on Music Row. (Valory Music Co.)

Jimmy Wayne MySpace Page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Country, Pop, Rock

Listing Ship: A Hull Full of Oil and Bone

November 26, 2008 /

Listing Ship specializes in writing nautically-themed folk songs and sea shanties. Sure, the audience for that may small, but specializing in a modernized version of a defunct musical genre worked well enough for the Dresden Dolls, so there’s no reason to knock it this time around. The level of nautical influence varies from track to track on A Hull Full of Oil and Bone. Some songs are traditional folk ballads, while others, like the crazy title track, sound like something you’d hear on Captain Ahab’s iPod (between Mastodon cuts) . It’s all a bit overpowering in its weirdness, but Listing Ship never take themselves too seriously, and that’s what saves them. Their cleverness is most abound in the perverse romantic ballad “Coal-Hearted Woman,” which begins as a Irish folk song between two lovers, before dropping the wonderfully obscene line “I’d like to sink my shaft in your soft Virginia hills,” followed by a chorus of “let me come inside.” Damn these are some nasty mother folkers! In case you haven’t already figured it out A Hull full of Oil and Bone isn’t for everyone, and unless you celebrate National Talk Like a Pirate Day or attend Renaissance festivals, it probably isn’t going to be your thing. However, this is your thing, then you’ve probably just found your new favorite band. (Listing Ship 2008)

Listing Ship MySpace Page

CD Reviews, Folk

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