New Ear Candy
Recent Albums New to The Ebbers CD Library
It's been a busy month for new CDs this month. Here's a few that I've actually gone out and bought and not, erm, heard elsewhere.
Tori Amos - American Doll Posse
A magnificent (well, I would say that, right?) new album from the present Mrs Hawley. It's a lot more immediate that 2005's "The Beekeeper" and, dare I say it, almost heavier in parts than anything before. It seems that the presence of a guitar player in the band line-up again has rocked it up a little bit.
The songs are varied in style in this one and don't seem to follow the pattern of the last record with every song having another song on it which sounds similar. On thing that comes from this is that, even though it's another long album, it doesn't seem to play as long as "The Beekeeper" could on some plays.
I'm looking forward to living with this album a little more and really looking forward to hearing the songs live in July. I'm wondering if we'll get a show of costume changes and all that since Amos portays four different characters based on the different sides of her personality (well prog!). We'll see.
Rush - Snakes and Arrows
Good stuff this one. People have said it's an improvement on the "Vapor Trails" and I'd agree. It's got all the best bits of Rush's albums from the last twenty years and is a great listen. There are parts of this album which reminded me of the better bits of "Presto", which I always had a soft spot for, which is good.
There are a good selection of songs and even though there are three instrumentals, it never seems that the ideas are running out after over thirty years of working. Again, it'll be great to hear this stuff live this year.
Marillion - Somewhere Else
Aylesbury's finest's new album is not quite up to the standard of "Marbles", but then again "Marbles" was the album of the year a while back and it was always going to be a bugger to follow. Still, it's a great collection of music and a solid piece of work that I've been listening to all month, so it's all good.
The album starts strongly and all moods are covered here. The stand-out track for me is the closing "Faith" which reminded me a little of Muse. There doesn't seem to be many moments like "Invisible Man" or "Ocean Cloud" on this album and they've kept the songs reasonably economical.
It's always good to get a new album from Marillion and see what they've come up with for us to chew on.
Maria McKee - Late December
I think that we have a definite contender for "Album of the Year" here, ladies and gents. This is a stirling collection of tunes which rattle along at a fine old pace and leave the listener wanting to hear it again as the final notes close the album. On this album, we finally get a studio version of "A Good Heart" which is a great tune and this is made sweeter when you realise that it's not the best tune on the album.
All moods are covered here and the performances are all great. McKee's voice is a fine instrument and it's never sounded better than on this album. Go get it today and realise that she's not just "the bird who sang "Show me Heaven" a few years back."
Excellent.
Slayer - Christ Illusion
SLLLLLLLAAYEERRRRRRRRRRRRR! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGH! Furious stuff and easily the best thing they've put out for a long while. This is 38 minutes of great thrash from the master which puts the work of younger bands to shame.
Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero
It seems that Mr Reznor is getting faster at recording albums these days. This one is a concept album set a few years into the future, which is very prog, thus I like it. The music is still totally NIN, so you know what it's going to sound like before you hear it.
The coolest thing about this CD is the fact that the face of the CD is heat-sensitive and changes colour when it gets warm...
M.C. Hansen - Bogrough Junction
I got this CD from the man himself when I saw him the other week supporting Madeliene Peyroux (review elsewhere). It's a great collection of laid-back tunes played with his band in Denmark. It's a refreshing album of pleasant, jazzy and folky songs which never get tiring to hear.
Porcupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet
Another fine slice of 21st century prog from Steve Wilson and chums. This is a definate progression from the excellent "Deadwing" and since Wilson has been recording more "song-based" tunes with the Blackfield project, there are no songs like "Lazarus" on the new album as such which leaves the album free to plot it's experimental course (Did you get that?).
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© 2006 Graham T. Ebbrell