Tracy Grammer Book Of Sparrows Grammer Music [EP] ***1/2 Wistful, some times delicate as the finest china, and on other occasions strong as iron, Tracy Grammer walks where many would fear to tread as she wears her heart on her sleeve We may only have seven songs, but with Tom Russell’s Blue Wing (as recorded by among others, Johnny […]

The Coasters There’s A Riot Goin’ On: The Coasters on Atco (Rhino / Atco 1740 * * * * The three greatest black groups of the rock ‘n’ roll era provided record buyers with wildly diverse musical styles. You could go for the smooth, sophisticated doo-wop of The Platters, The Drifters’ string-driven melodic pop or – and this was […]

Steve Smith This Town *** Player friendly album, mixing the old with the new Recognise the name? I couldn’t believe it either. It seemed good practise to conduct a little bit of research on the artist before I sat down to organise my thoughts on the record: THIS TOWN by Mr Steve Smith of Dirty Vegas fame. If unfamiliar, […]

Stefanie Fix Crooked Smile Hand to Mouth Recordings ** New direction for New York songstress Stefanie Fix is a New York singer/songwriter who is winning plenty of new fans: comparisons have been drawn between her distinctive voice and that of Kate Bush and Melissa Etheridge, and her lyrics resonate with a rare emotional intelligence. Her 1996 debut album, FOOTPRINTS IN THE […]

Showaddywaddy The Sun Album (I Betcha Gonna Like It) Voiceprint-WADDYVPICDS * * * * Slick back your hair, don your bootlace tie and brothel creepers, and put this CD on full blast and have FUN!! 1970’s rock ‘n’ roll chart toppers Showaddywaddy, still fronted by lead singer Dave Bartram, have just released a brand new album of songs from the […]

Sandrine Dark Fades Into Light Nettwerk Productions: 307812 *** The strangely named Sandrine is a native of Sydney, Australia who now resides in New York State. She burst to prominence in 1994 with an album called TRIGGER and a record label hell bent on turning her into some kind of pop princess. TRIGGER’s glossy production and an ill-fated attempt […]

Randy Weeks Sugarfinger Own Label *** ½ West Coast musician / singer-songwriter may currently reside in Austin, Tx, but SUGARFINGER, his third solo album was still made where the beaches are golden and the sun, ever warm… It is a long, long time since Randy Weeks was making waves on America’s West Coast with Jeff Rymes in the band, The […]

Radar Bros Auditorium * * * A great album from a band that are happy being sad… Perhaps the greatest compliment you can pay to the Radar Bros’ AUDITORIUM is that at the end of it you’re no further forward in discovering just where the band fits in to the grand musical scheme of things. The Radar Bros began the […]

Phosphorescent Pride Dead Oceans DOC005 **** Phosphorescent is one man, the Alabama born Mathew Houack, now based in Brooklyn, who’s crisp, fragile vocals and delicate American folk comes backed by a sea of friendly voices. It’s these that sets his music apart from his acoustic guitar clad contemporaries; voices layered to sound like ancient forest spirits or ghosts of […]

Phil Harding The Story of Beginners WB Records – Cat No WBCD002 *** Brave attempt by long serving backroom boy to step into the limelight Phil Harding started in the music industry aged 16 at the Marquee Studios in 1973 where he worked with some of the top producers in the world as they recorded the great albums of the […]