news and things

Dear all;

Hi there! How are you all….

Sorry for the lack of up-dates recently, but as always with my life I have been pretty with things - mostly still looking for a new job, things are progressing with that nicely at the moment so am hopeful as I am always say!

Also - just to show the way things go with my website “Setting Sun” sometimes, I have had not one, not two BUT THREE interviews come in at once to me, which is amazing truth be told…

First one is a new interview with my old friends from Mercurine in relation to their excellent new album “Waiting for another Fall” (Read my review contained earlier on my blogspot) - Read their new interview here - http://www.geocities.com/aen1mpo/mera.html

The other two interviews are with two new friends, both girl led Punk / grunge led guitar rock bands, both of which are excellent and very different in their own way…

Check them both out -

The Violets - http://www.geocites.com/aen1mpo/violets.htm

The Swear - http://www.geocities.com/aen1mpo/swear.htm

Also - before I forget - I have also been checking out a few good general music websites for downloading… Have a look for yourself

http://fionasforum.com/Stairway/

ftp: 66.54.140.200 (which is a excellent ftp website for downloading Ryan Adams rarities)

Lastly, I am also going to post Chapter One from my forthcoming second book “Intermission” in a bit on “Setting Sun”

It can be found at - http://www.geocities.com/aen1mpo/inter.htm

I have this copyrighted so it is the property of me!

Hope you are well…

Andrew N

Mercurine (Album Review)

Album Review

Mercurine –
Waiting for another Fall
(Heats on Sticks)

To say this album came as a bit of a surprise is a bit of a understatement.

As regular visitors to "Setting Sun" will notice I interviewed Merurine orginally back in 2003 in relation to their "Music is Chemical" album which for a better word was a great mixture of almost Depeche Mode meets Evanscence, so when I put the new CD into my CD player I was expecting perhaps something similar.

....... Which couldn't be further away from the truth here

While on the new album, the synths are still in place, here they are much, much darker (aside from the first track “The Wish and the finale “Another Ending” – both of which seem like a prelude and a ending to the album and the darkness that exists in the middle off it) and backed up nicely by a increased use of live drumming, which allows Bryon and Mera to play around with distorted keyboards and Mera's vocals which on the first album sung almost like an angel, which now used to completely different effect and be it for a better word now sounds like more than the devil whispering, speaking and singing sometimes in the same breathe.

Take for example the second track “Bluemouse” – there is a real edge in this track that is far removed from the first album “Music is Chemical” and kind of reminds me of Curve in the way Toni Halliday from Curve sings vocals that are sometimes mixed low enough to make you listen to over and over to grasp the full meaning.

Used over and over on most of the tracks in the album, it gives you the sound much more of a album recorded pretty well recorded live (which is interesting as I know the band have certainly been playing more and more gigs since the 1st album) and a band that shows a band that is growing more and more comfortable with the technology they are using and not waiting for another fall…

Good stuff…

Holly Lerski (Gig Review)

Gig Review

Holly Lerski

- Starbucks Bar, Oxford Road –Sunday 13th February 2005

Sometimes when you go and see bands they can really surprise you sometimes when you least expect them to do so.

For example, I went once to go and see a Surf Guitar band called Man or Astroman? Who had all kinds of pictures scattered all over their singles and records of various Science fiction movies and what-ever and when I went to see them I spent a hour and a half watching three men dance around in Space Suits, which was completely and utterly mental.

Another good example was when I saw the excellent Rodrigo Y Gabriela at the end of last year. Although their records are good, watching them live was a completely ball game as the harmonies that came from the guitars was even more haunting live.

Holly Lerski who I saw recently live in concert certainly falls into the second category more than the 1st.

On record, her records are charming, polished radio Pop which although perhaps sit akin next according to some sources, Norah Jones and Katie Melia and that sort of ilk, for me carry more depth and certainly more passion and makes me think of the press releases which compared her to a spiritual cousin of Jeff Buckley, which is a pretty difficult comparison to live up if you think about it to yourself.

But to give Holly credit in particular with this set which was held on a Sunday afternoon in a local coffee bar (which is great if you love coffee but can be awkward if you hate the stuff like I do), she managed to pull this off to pretty good effect, proving like with Jeff Buckley, great songs can be transferred with complete different arrangements and still carry a heck of a impact.

Take for example, the second track on her current self released album “ Everyone’s Lonely” – On the CD it is a sweet little slice of Indie Pop I guess, but live, it was played out acoustically so beautifully it almost sounded like it was recorded that way, which is something even Jeff Buckley I guess himself would have been proud off, I guess.

The same also applying to cover versions like on her fairly recently released mini album “Greetings from LA”, where she tackled Cohen’s “Hallelujah” (also covered by Jeff Buckley oddly enough) but here she chose to play Ryan Adam’s “Wild Flowers” which I think would had him purring with delight if he had been sat among the small but emotionally involved crowd.

Excellent stuff all round – even she managed to keep several young children sitting behind me quiet, which is good going all round.

More Links...

Dear all;

Here are some more good music sites - well worth bookmarking...

http://chipsandcookies.blogspot.com/

http://www.brianamsterdam.com/briansradioblog/index.html

http://fionasforum.com/Stairway/

All are excellent in their own way!

Regards

Andrew N

Caroline Martin (Album Review)

Album Review

Caroline Martin
I had a hundred more reasons to stay by the fire
(Small dog Records – SDRCD02)



I just like this.

I just like the whispering almost P.J Harvey tones on this largely stripped down semi acoustic style album.

I just like this.

I just like the way the songs seem to work and develop at it's own pace, sometimes lasting under a minute - often going on for much, much more.

But that isn't just it, if you listen to the album more and more, you cannot but not be impressed by the literacy tones adapted within the song on songs like "my daddy's shotgun" or "Monn" - these are not just as much songs, but often stories rather than just songs so by the time the song have finished, you can almost seem some of the characters / people that are interplayed within the song.

Written and mostly recorded by just England’s Caroline Martin, her music is ideal for a cold, dark night looking out of your window and looking into the wilderness of the dark sky.

These are songs which are mostly songs which I think you have to be in the mood for, but that alone is not a bad thing as to listen to Caroline's album and songs it demands you listen to rather than just let it fade gently into the background.

Even on songs like "I die 2" which are clearly more personal based songs, the very way the song is written seems different from a lot of albums you hear just by the thought that clearly goes to the way the lyrics are expressed.

It is an album that demands to be listened not just played.

Powerful stuff indeed.

Horowtiz (Album Review)

Album Review


S/t
(Self Released)

Often when I am reviewing bands / singers etc I can listen to a CD usually a few times and quickly write a review of what I feel about the CD.

Not so Horowitz, Horowitz are one of those sorts of bands / projects etc which take repeated listening before you can begin to think up of a angle or a way you can write about them in relation to their sound etc.

Formed just below Birmingham, UK by a former member of The Mittens and Japhy Ryder (recently interviewed by Setting Sun) working in tandem with a member or two of the excellent Trilemma, Horowitz seems almost a merging of Trilemm's cinematic yearnings with The Mittens / Japhy Ryder lo fi indie pop with a healthy dose of humour threw into the mix.

Songs like "Audrey's Post It Notes" are a perfect example of their sound, which the first time I heard had me thinking “eh”, but then upon second and third listening made me realise the irony and the laid back ness that was there which is counter balanced nicely with more laid back tracks like “Eskimo” (which is also available on the excellent complitation CD “The Joy of Incompetence Vol 1” which for some reason made me think of a gentler version of “Hood”.

This is a interesting little 7 track mini album, which certainly bonds well for the future and could well prove to be a project / band to watch out for in the future – which considering I know the band are currently recording a new album at the moment I will certainly look forward to.

God only knows how they would do some of it live though…

Nice Stuff.