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| Antiqcool CD Review |
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By
Moose |
| Two full length CD's to review
here, 2007's Digging For Gold, and the brand new release Songs Of
Hope And Despair.
Last years collection of 14 songs is chock
full of simple chilled out grooves, jazzy guitar refrains and
multi-tracked vocals - the sort of thing that would be perfect while
lazing by a pool with a jug of Pimms just trying to forget about
work/debt/war (delete as appropriate…..). There's a distinct 60's
feel to the vocals on occasions, reminding me from time to time of
early period Pink Floyd, or perhaps very early Genesis - but with
the dramatic keyboards and pounding drums removed.
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| The guitars drift
into Dave Gilmore territory on more than one occasion, while there
are a couple of tracks on which Andy Summers-esq arpeggio type runs
pop out as well - and that's before the Police-like reggae of
Getting On Back To You kicks in. The material has a very personal
feel, with themes generally having a very uplifting quality to them,
if perhaps lacking a little in the "excitement" department. |
Songs Of Hope And Despair shifts the focus slightly to the vocals,
with a more pronounced harmony to most of the lead parts. There's
definitely a Beach Boys influence in there somewhere - especially on
Vows Were Made Of Glass, with a couple of the backing vocal
arrangements reminding me of Good Vibrations, but again minus the
excitement or energy the boys from the West Coast of the USA managed
to produce. The Mamas & The Papas increasingly popped into my head
too - you know, California Dreaming?? Pearl has a slightly more
modern pop feel to it, while I'm Getting Love also departs slightly
from the nearly horizontal laid back stuff that makes up the
majority of the 13 songs on offer. |
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| At the end of an
extended listen I'm left kinda feeling that the main Antiqcool man
Pete could do with a couple of not quite like minded muso's to
collaborate with - someone that could inject a touch of variation to
the material, and perhaps a shift of gear or two now and again.
Don't get me wrong, there's some quality writing going on here, and
the performance and recording can't be faulted either. It just all
feels a bit too self indulgent, which I know probably sounds more of
a criticism than I'm really intending.
If songs to chill out to are your bag, check out either of these
CD's. If you need your music to get your heart
racing, as I generally do, then look elsewhere……..
Moose.
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