A Certain Type of Person - The Great Bishop Robbery EP II By Michelle Dee

Next Page

I didn't go out today; instead I reached for the attractively packaged seven- track EP from Sheffield band A Certain Type of Person. They are a folk tinged five-piece with an eye for detail and unusual instrumentation including organs and vibraphones. At times the gentle acoustic sound is reminiscent of our own folk advocates Cowfish albeit with a more gravel laden Levellers style lead vocal. The songs are made up of highly listenable lyrical content with Danielle Maibaum's pure vocal quality adding pleasing second layer.

The band played Hull in April at the Sesh, Linnet and Lark but only as a three-piece. I am puzzled now as to why, they failed to capture my imagination in the same way then, as they have done today. The track Everybodys looking has a repetitive verse, chorus, verse, chorus structure, with intermittent sliding notes from Russell Calverley on said vibraphone.

Simple finger-picking and stronger strumming from the two guitars creates a firm platform for the subtle drums to keep the beat. I do hope the drummer really is called Ant Nettleship; it's a wonderfully earthy sounding name.

Holds no tune is a song for the single minded, contradictory rhythms and rhymes containing refrains such as -hair gets in your face, hair very much like me- lend a human but humorous touch. Having just checked their colourful website, it appears they are actually a trio masquerading as a five-piece and occasionally perform as a six piece, I think... The next track is a well constructed two-hander, creating a beautiful soft bed of lazy melancholic male fatalism cushioned with reassuring femininity. A song filled with warmth for friends and lovers; the sentiments of regret and wondering on Always are immediately recognizable.

This next one feels like, a rites of passage with childlike samples reminiscent of playtime at kindergarten. The childish sounds are juxtaposed with the now familiar rasping of Adam Myers's vocal and silvery distorted feedback noise plays around in the background. Backing vocals support Rob Lewchenko's dark bass line and an aura of desperate urgency. I am suddenly reminded of the strange cartoon imagery the band used on the Sesh screen; straggly silhouettes of trees lit by pale eerie moonlight.

The penultimate track starts with a crackling, hissing sound familiar to all vinyl lovers. Danielle's alluring voice skips as the needle slips into a minimalist song with all the different parts coming together somewhere in the middle of the piece. The lines fall over each other then a plaintive piano line rings out. Then, as surreptitiously as they came, the different parts recede into the background leaving Danielles' vocals simple and pure. The production qualities on track number six are reminiscent of a 1920s music hall radio programme. Whilst listening to this song the word lullaby formed in my mind, when I subsequently checked the track listing sure enough the song was indeed titled Lullaby.

Continued..... Next Page

Album Reviews - Foreign Sun Demo By Steve Rudd
	I first came to know of this Hull-based band back in 2000 when I was lucky enough to catch one of their gigs at the Hull Adelphi venue. Back then, I was stunned. Here and now, I'm gob smacked. Pretty soon after I saw the band, Foreign Sun seemed to disappear, but between then and now the band front man Rich Goldspink has been knuckling Read more...

Album Reviews - Love As Laughter - Laughter's Fifth (Sub-Pop) By Steve Rudd
	This Alternative American rock band is the brainchild of Sam Jayne, who has been releasing LAL-affiliated work since 1996, with this astonishingly brilliant 11-track LP being the band's fifth album. Laughter's Fifth was recorded in Sam's friend's basement over the course of five months in Delaware (that area in the USA that Wayne and Garth blatantly Read more...

Album Reviews - Steve Reed - I Have To Go By Nick Quantrill
	I Have To Go is the debut full-length release from Hull based singer-songwriter, Steve Reed. His debut release, And So On And So Forth was a promising, yet ultimately one-dimensional record that nevertheless showcased the potential of his considered approach to guitar pop. This new release sees significant steps Read more...

Album Reviews - David Wrench - The Atomic World of Tomorrow By Steve Rudd
	This ten-song-strong masterpiece of an LP is in a league of its own, as this David Wrench character proves to be something of an Alt-Pop-loving genius in his own right. Boldly opening with World War 4, this upbeat tune is literally out of this world and heaving with the chorus-based pop elements of Erasure and Duran Duran in their musical prime. Read more...

Album Reviews - Emma Rugg - Oceans / Depart EP By Steve Rudd
	Since Hull singer-songwriter Emma released her fabulous debut album Isolated Impression, her song writing style has changed somewhat, with this five-track EP being the perfect showcase for two brand new songs (in Oceans and Depart), along with appearances from her older tunes When I Looked At You and Prelude To The End Read more...

Singles Reviews - Chart Review 18th July 2005 with DJ Chris Plant
	Sorry I haven't done any chart reviews in a while. I've been busy with my American girlfriend. Well, we have a new Number One single this week. Just for a change it isn't a new release that has been hyped to the hills or a record bought in bulk by a small hardcore of fans that will struggle to appeal to a wider Read more...

Single Reviews - Morning Runner - Gone Up In Flames (Parlophone) By Steve Rudd
	Morning Runner are fast-becoming one of the nation's most exciting rock bands, and here they follow-up their fabulous Drawing Shapes EP with yet another masterpiece of a tune that is in truth an epic anthem. Their second single Gone Up In Flames is an upbeat and fast-paced pop-rock cut of staggering and mesmerising proportions, and their sublime and emotion-toiling sound might remind some folk of Terris. Read more...

Single Reviews - The Blue Van - Revelation of Love (TVT) By Steve Rudd
	It isn't every day that a quality rock band sails across the North Sea with such bold and ambitious intentions as Denmark outfit The Blue Van. This is their debut single which is taken from their Art Of Rolling album, with this tune being unflinchingly propelled by a rock hard angular guitar riff that attacks the senses like a sledgehammer to the groin. Read more...

Album Reviews - Ipanema - Me Me Me (Boss Tuneage Records) By Nick Quantrill
	Me Me Me is the debut mini-album from Hampshire based punk-rockers, Ipanema. Without falling wholly into the punk or rock camp, Ipanema are hammering out guitar heavy tunes that rock with the best of them, whilst still retaining an infectiously fresh melodic approach. The welding together of big guitar riffs with harmonies and up-lifting choruses maybe isn't that surprising Read more...

Single Reviews - Idlewild - El Capitan (EMI) By Steve Rudd
	Idlewild have been strutting their rock wares now for the best part of ten years, and yet their music is still constantly surprising and genuinely thrilling. This single release comes from the quintet's latest, and arguably greatest, album in Warnings/ Promises, and is even more of a sad, sad song than their Love Steals us From Loneliness anthem that has Read more...

Music, Bands - Tidy Mind Band Biog
	Tidy Mind are ... James Atkinson - Vocals/Rhythm Guitar. Lyle Jarvis - Lead Guitar. Rich titch Lovelock - Drums. little Mikey Goulding - Bass Guitar. Tidy Mind is a Psychedelic Blues-Rock band. The band came together when Lyle and James became friends a few years ago and started jamming occasionally, hoping that one day Read more...

Album Reviews - Screaming Tarts Compilation Album By Steve Rudd
	A genuinely thrilling compilation album can often be impossible to find, so this refreshing blast of largely Glam-garnished rock 'n' roll action is welcome relief indeed. Especially in this day and age when so many people still think that the pop-pouting Now releases are the ultimate be-all and end-all of compilation albums. This 17-track wonder, Read more...