SELD-TITLEDJEAN BOOTSIndie6-out-of-10
All right I'm going to start this week's review with a little beef about some CDS and suggestion to artists.Jean Boots (aka Jeanette Stewart) has a CD with a really nice CD cover, a painted piece of a girl and a dog. The trouble is there is nothing on the cover which suggests the CD title, or artist.
But put this CD into a store, and a casual music shopper can't pick it up, read the name and go 'oh yes Bill was talking about this artist the other day'. When you're trying to carve out a niche, don't create barriers to finding your music.
Now back to Jean Boots' CD. Once you open the package you will find a six-song effort by this Saskatchewan singer/songwriter, who performed live in Yorkton recently at 5th Avenue Cup & Saucer.The lyrics on this pop-folkish CD are quite good. A listener wants to take the time to really get into the words of the songs here.
Vocally, Jean Boots seems to be finding her way on that side of the CD equation. There is a tentativeness here which at times seems to hold the music back. At times she lets it go, and the songs soar, but at other times she seems to pull back, and hides her voice away. It's as if there is still some fear in just trusting her own voice.
Wishing Well is best vocally here, although I like the lyrics to Postcard and Hopeless.
On a follow-up CD Jean Boots just needs to let it all out. It will help the finished product.Still this is a simply produced, sweet musical endeavour which is worth a listen.
Check her out at www.myspace.com/jeansboots- CALVIN DANIELS
LIFE. LOVE. MUSIC.Shane PhilipIndie7.5-out-of-10
All right I'll admit it, when I saw that Shane Philip was noted because of his use of the didgeridoo in his music, I was immediately intrigued, and curious.
Musicians who are willing to walk slightly different musical paths in this world are always of interest, and generally to be applauded from my perspective.
So when Sacred, the CD's second song started with a somewhat eerie didgeridoo segment, I was hooked.
It might be with some obvious hyperbole but Philip's bio on his website at www.shanephilip.com gives you a sense of his music. "Swelling in primordial pulses and wholloping whoops, the tacit tones of Shane Philip's didgeridoo hold the power to still listeners into silence or encourage audiences to rise up in a tribal swell of intoxicating spirit," it states.
However, as much as I love the didgeridoo work here, Philip sometimes misses the mark on the overall song. January 28 is an example where he simply took the entire lyrics and rolled it in the sugar bowl to the point of 小蓝视频 overly sweet.
In general terms Philip keeps things very upbeat here. He has a rather sunny outlook on life, which can run a bit counter to a curmudgeon like myself.
In that respect there is sort of a taste here for everybody, but maybe the overall effort isn't quite tilted one way enough to completely satisfy the sugar fans, or those liking their music a tad darker.The CD is one I have to suggest people give a listen, although a point of the rating belongs to the didgeridoo rather than the overall impact of the music.
- CALVIN DANIELS
Past reviews are archived online at http://calmardan.blogspot.com/
