Uncut Magazine Take 28 September 1999

Uncut Take 28 September 1999

I was in the city several weeks back and had enough time to pop into Penny Lane Records to have a browse. I found a pile of Uncut Magazines amongst which I found about a dozen which I didn't have and this issue is the earliest one they had. After reading through the issue I have loaded into iTunes and the iPod albums buy the following artists who were either profiled, interviewed, reviewed or mentioned in some way within this issue: The Beatles, The Clash, The Ramones, The Beach Boys, Blue Oyster Cult, Jimi Hendrix, Madder Rose, Kim Fowley, Nick Drake, KUKL, Al Green, Roxy Music, Air and  Bob Marley. 

The following Movies were mentioned in this issue and I either have them on DVD or they looked interesting enough for me to check them out: Eyes Wide Shut, Go, Felica's Journey, Yellow Submarine, Another day In Paradise, All about My Mother, South Park, The 13th Warrior, Chance of Coincidence, Seven, Escape From New York, Henry Fool,  Place Vendome, A Kind of Hush, The Dream Life Of Angels, Heavens Burning, Crash and Boogie Nights.

 So Lets Start off with this issues free CD, another selection of interesting music to keep us entertained, plenty of good stuff on this one with a couple of highlights including the excellent "Jolene", a song we all know well I am sure, and one that I have come to appreciate much more lately due to the excellent guitar melodies. Dolly's singing is great but the songs lyrical content is the songs weakness. Anyway, this set kicks off with a very good Dylanesque track from Douglas September, keeping up the Uncut habit of giving us good Americana. Kelly Joe Phelps continues the Americana with this nice folksy track. Things get a lot more grungy with the dirty blues of John Spencer although this song has a string section.Some early Brit-pop from Pulp is ok but I'm not gonna rush out and buy any of their music on the strength of this song. The Richard Thompson track enhances the quality of this collection but the live

Blondie track cancels it out as the next song. The set rolls along nicely with some older tracks and a more recent rocker until we get to a magnificent live version of Joy division's Wilderness. Our next highlight, following a nice folksy Gospel number by Dan Pen is the aforementioned "Jolene" Followed shortly by one of the Ramones better songs of 60s inspired punk pop.The Charlie Parker track is a wonderful piece of early be-bop Jazz adding to the

eclectic nature of this collection. A couple of nondescript but listenable songs  take us to the fairly horrible "Blue Moon" sung by two actors who can't sing all that well. The final 9 minute epic psychedelic poem by Kim Fowley trying to be a weird Jim Morrison is not all that impressive although it starts off well enough before degenerating into some uncool strangeness.


Bob Marley - African Herbsman (Jamaica 1973)

I chose this particular one from my collection as this issue reviewed another compilation of very early rare Wailers tracks from the mid 60s, which I do not have and seeing as this set is also a compilation, I loaded it into Itunes for consideration. A mix of both live and studio tracks from Bobs earlier days and as much as I like Bobs music and there are plenty of great songs on this set, I like the "Legend"comp much more and have some of the other essential tracks on Bobs proper albums. I think there may be a track or two not available elsewhere but this set is would appeal more to serious fans than casual consumers like myself. I won't keep my copy of this set but can rate it 3/5.
Blue Oyster Cult - Agents Of Fortune (USA 1976)

This album was rated 3 stars for the reissue in this issue of Uncut. B.O.C's most popular and well known album due to the inclusion of their big hit "Don't Fear the Reaper". This particular album of light weight metal or more MOR if you like isn't one of the best albums I have heard from this outfit and although there are some good guitar moments on this set, I find it quite under whelming, especially in the area of production. I hear some merit in the well crafted songs and can appreciate why many have enjoyed it but I won't miss it after I delete it off my hard drive.2/5

The Residents - Animal Lover (USA 2005)

There was a live concert review of the Residents in this issue and so I dug out this album from the deep dark recesses of my hard drive, I have tried for years to get into the Residents, they have had plenty of exposure in the press over the years and my curiosity is always aroused when I read about them. This will be the last album I will ever listen to from them. Musically, there is a lot happening on this album and plenty of different styles mashed into this strange concoction, but the silly voices used to "sing?" these songs is bloody annoying and really distracts from the music not to mention the contents of the lyrics is pretty off putting. You would think these guys would have grown up a bit by now after being together for 30 years.Rating 1/5
Kim Fowley - Bad news From The Underground (USA 2005)

With a long winded track from Kim on the free CD, I decided to drag this CD out which was one of the 25 CDs I purchased very cheaply from the Bomp Records online store late last year. The album starts of well with the excellent "Face On The Factory Floor", which I knew from the "Straight Outta Burbank" compilation. The rest of this set degenerates into Kim's pseudo Jim Morrison poetry to some uninteresting background music. Sounds like he was still stuck in the 60s on some never ending acid trip. Avoid this rubbish. 1/5.


The Ramones - Hey! Ho! Lets Go! (USA 1999)

This has been a good exercise in clearing out some of the music I have collected on CD and in digital format that just isn't all that essential for me to keep, as I have so much music that I don't need to spend any more time on these releases. This Anthology was reviewed in this issue as well as a covering article. I had heard quite a few Ramones songs over the years via many punk compilations and I do enjoy most of those early songs. I picked up this double CD set quite some time ago but had never bothered to give it too much attention and now after having  it on Itunes for the last few weeks I can safely say that  overall, apart from some of the early tracks, I really don't get into the Ramones all that much. Their 60s pop  inspired punk bubblegum blitzkrieg really wears thin very quickly and it is  amazing they had a career with this music as long as they did. Rating 2/5.
Al Green - Call Me (USA 1973)

Found this on on my hard drive after Uncut reviewed a couple of other reissues from Al green in this issue. I'm not a big soul/R'N'B fan but some of the best artists in this style are immensely powerful singers/musicians and Al Green is no exception. Several songs from this classic were familiar to me from various funk comps I have, but on casual listening on the Ipod over the last few weeks, I was gonna let this one go as I wasn't all that inspired. After some closer inspections, this soulful funky music impresses considerably and gets the thumbs up to stay in my collection. 3.5/5

The Beach Boys  - Pet Sounds (USA 1966)

I dug this one out of the CD rack as there was a review of  the reissue of this album and of course Uncut gave it the predictable 5 stars. I actually have the copy of the one they reviewed as it has the original album in both stereo and mono on the disc.
I originally brought this album, finally, on the strength of all the reviews I had read and the fact that it was almost as highly regarded as Sergeant Pepper and so I had to check it out, as much as I didn't actually like the beach boys Music.
Suffice to say that I don't really like this one too much either. Sure there is much more experimentalism and creativity going on here than from earlier Beach boys music but I still don't like it much and to me it doesn't come anywhere near anything The Beatles produced.

Caroline No is the only really half decent song here and I can live without that to so although I can appreciate what some of the fuss was about, I will have to give this a Roddus Rating of 2/5.






The 13th Warrior - John McTiernan Director (USA 1999)

This Medieval action flick got a surprising 5 star rating for the theatrical release in this issue. A vastly generous rating for this pointless exercise in Viking macho posturing and  mindless violence. I usually enjoy these historical  sword movies but this one just had such a weak plot and wasn't based on any particular historical event, just a bunch of Vikings going to rescue a village being attacked by another tribe of savages for no apparent reason. mildly entertaining but quite pointless.Rating 2/5.
All About My Mother - Pedro Almodovar Director (Spain 1999)

Another movie reviewed for its theatrical release and given four stars in this issue. I am a bit out of touch with foreign language films but this one is a good place to dive back in. This film received an Academy Award for best foreign language film and I guess it deserved it. I did enjoy this all female drama and the colour of the sets and the characters in these types of film are refreshing. A drama/dark comedy that kept me interested throughout but with one glaring piece that was quite central to the story and that is why would a Nun(Penelope Cruz) get herself pregnant to an HIV positive Transsexual heroin addict?  That aside, a very good movie and I can happily rate it the same as uncut with 4/5.





Yellow Submarine - George Dunning Director (UK 1968)

Surprisingly I'd never seen this film until now. Highlighted in this issue due to a limited cinematic re-release with a four page article.
The first thing i think of when I see the opening animations is Monty Python. It looks like Terry Gilliam was deeply influenced by this film. Secondly is what I believe to be a bit of Dr Seuss incorporated into this film. Overall I found the animations to be interesting and pretty trippy, as expected, but The Beatles characters were pretty boring and the story of very little interest. Sort of more like an extended music video. I was kind of glad when it finished. I would have liked this more when I was younger and took mind altering substances to enhance the psychedelic animations. Probably overrated due to it being associated with The Beatles. I have no desire to see this again. Rating 2/5.
The Beatles - Yellow Submarine (UK 1969)

This record was also mentioned, of course, in the article about the movie and was also scheduled for an expanded and remastered re issue. I have the CD version of the original vinyl release with the George Martin orchestral compositions.
This would easily be the worst of all the Beatles albums. That means that it is still far better than most but with only  6 Beatles originals and only two new for this soundtrack, well kinda unessential really. "Hey Bulldog" has been a favourite for many years though, but "All Together Now" is one of the Beatles weakest songs.
George Martin fills the second half of this disc with the orchestrated peices from the film and a quite interesting set it is.

 Plenty of styles embraced, from Carl Stalling cartoon music to nice romantic melodies to a bit of avant-garde. Ok, but again not essential. Overall rating 2.5/5








Seven - David Fincher Director (USA 1995)

The DVD release got four stars in this issue for this entertaining police/serial killer thriller movie. Great acting as you'd expect from this cast and  good filming. The killer was much more interesting than your usual killer with the twist at the end making for a suspenseful conclusion. Enjoyable and entertaining and gets my rating of 3.5/5.












Escape From New York - John Carpenter Director (USA 1981)

Five stars is a bit much for this dark action piece from Horror director John Carpenter. Uncut rated it for the DVD re-issue and I just happened to have a copy in my collection because I most probably picked it up dirt cheap at the warehouse. It isn't a too bad piece of escapism with an all star cast but the story is a bit weak and it seems a bit like an excuse for a bit of a shoot up and plenty of destruction. Nothing wrong with that now and it kept me amused. Food for thought though, early in the movie there is a plane hijacked by some terrorists and flown into a building in Manhattan Island, deja vu.
Rating 3/5.



South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut - Trey Parker Director (USA 1999)

I can't believe its been so long since this was released. I think I went to the movies to see this and Uncut also gave this 5 stars for it theatrical release review. I have the DVD of this and although there are a few giggles to be had here and there,I wasn't and still am not offended in any way by this movie, but I don't really enjoy it as much as i had previously. Maybe the film is dated a bit now or maybe I'm dated a bit now, although it's message still is relevant, the humour and other deliberately obscene dialogue don't really impress me all that much now. Rating 2.5/5.


K.U.K.L - The Eye (Iceland 1984)

I searched this out as I had recently read an interview with Bjork and after doing some research on All Music I found that Bjork had been pretty active before The Sugarcubes. Also I review this here in relation to this issue as there was a piece on Bjork in this months Sacred Cows column.
Fans of post punk/goth, especially the Cure may like this. Certainly not much to indicate they were from Iceland. A worthy collection but overall not too much here to get overly excited about.
Dark and brooding and there is a real familiarity about the music, but apart from the aforementioned Cure, I can't quite put a finger on it. Rating 3/5
Roxy Music - For Your Pleasure (UK 1972)

Roxy music have always been highly regarded and although I had been aware of some of their charting songs via radio play, I had never been inspired to own any of their albums. This second album album is regarded as their best, the last one before Brian Eno left the group. This was Uncuts album of the month along with the other first five Roxy albums that were being re-released on CD.Uncut gave it 5 stars. The album kicks off with the excellent"The Strand", my favourite Roxy track and I'm sure well known to most. Over the course of this album it is obvious why Roxy were so successful and it is also understandable why so may hold this arty glam/pop in high regard. This music is well crafted and well played and there is plenty here to keep one interested.

For me, although there are some interesting experiments going on within these songs, and I can appreciate the quality of this record, I still don't really connect with it in a way that I want to come back and listen to it again and again. A quality album but just not my cup of tea. Rating 2.5/5




Madder Rose - Hello June Fool (USA 1999)

This was the last album from this New York group playing a nice blend of indie rock/pop. Nice poppy female vocals and some electronics mixed in also gives it a bit of a Portishead feel. Uncut gave this release 4 stars and although it is a pleasant enough set and the Portisheadisms make it more attractive to my tastes, overall, I'm not greatly inspired by this album and don't feel the urge to give it too much more attention. Rating 2.5/5.



Air - Moon Safari (France 1998)

Uncut reviewed a compilation of earlier music from this outfit and gave it a 5 star rating. This is another highly rated debut and I had read about it over the years and knew I had a copy somewhere on my hard drive. This partially instrumental Electronic pop jazzy French music starts off well with the quite jazzy " La Femme d'Argent" and reminds me of a jazzier Lemon Jelly. The more pop orientated vocal songs can get a bit easy listening in places and I wasn't all that impressed as I had them playing on the Ipod at work today. There are a few interesting snippets mainly in the form of the instrumental tracks but mostly I just didn't connect with this. It is good enough for me to appreciate the reputation this album has but its' not for me. rating 2.5/5.

Boogie Nights - Paul Thomas Anderson Director (USA 1997) 

This dark serious comedy was reissued on DVD and reviewed with 5 stars by Uncut. I vaguely remember going to the movies to see it back when it came out and I thought I might revisit it again after seeing the review. Plenty of swearing, nudity, sex, drugs and violence in this story of a bunch of losers in the porn industry back in the late 70s-early 80s. A mildly entertaining morality tale of sorts but I don't feel this movie gave us nearly as deep an insight into the negatives of the porn industry as it could have. As a drama, it was a bit lame, as a comedy it had a few giggles but I thought this film was a bit light weight in dealing with the subject. A stellar cast all put in great performances and the soundtrack was excellent. Still not a film I will revisit. 2.5/5





Nick Drake - Pink Moon (UK1972)

I have been trying to find the piece in this issue of Uncut that prompted me to dig up this record from my hard drive, but a quick flick through this issue draws a blank but I'll comment any way as I took the trouble to listen to it. This album is another of those legendary records that Uncut and many others regard highly although not necessarily a lot of people have heard it. A laid back folk album with Nick singing with a sweet smooth husky whisper. A direct forbearer of Jack Johnson and his mate Donovan Frankenreiter. A quality effort and I understand the fuss but I really don't Like either Jack or Donovan's music and although Nick is far superior, I personally don't really connect with this after several listens.2.5/5.
Jimi Hendrix - Live at Woodstock 

This double disc CD of  Jimi's full set from the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival in 1969 was reviewed in this issue of Uncut and was given 5 stars. I have most of Jimi's more important live  records and this one is up there with Monterey and Winterland and Jimi almost never disappoints. Plenty of the best guitar pyrotechnics ever committed to tape and what more can one say about this music except  play very loud and enjoy the greatest guitarist ever. Rating  5/5 .




Eyes Wide Shut - Stanley Kubrick Director (USA 1999)

I watched Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut and survived. This movie was sort of previewed in this issue as it was due for release in the UK soon after. A slow ponderous sexual psycho drama with plenty of nudity from Kidman(which no doubt got plenty of bums on seats to start with) and impressive sets but this strange movie seemed a bit aimless and the slowness of the unfolding of the story was almost sleep inducing at times. Quite bizarre and sometimes seemed like just an excuse for tits and sex on screen, a big piece of self indulgent from Kubrick but some fine acting from Kidman and Cruise. I certainly won't be wanting to view this again .Rating 2/5.






The Clash - The Singles (UK 1991)

You were possibly wondering when I'd get to The Clash what with them being the cover stars for this issue. With no reissues reviewed and the article touching on a bit of a career overview, I decided to dig out my copy of "The Singles" which covers almost all of their career. I originally brought this compilation because it was dirt cheap and mainly  because of the totally bloody brilliant cover of  Sonny Curtis's "I Fought The Law". The other plus for me is to get probably the best of the early Clash as I don't have any of the early albums because for some reason I never really connected with them. With the aid of this compilation I have come to appreciate what classics those abrasive punk singles were and how fabulous they still sound today.

The rest of this set is much more familiar territory for me as I have the albums from this period and am intimately familiar with them in all their glory. A excellent set for the new or casual Clash fan and just chock full of some of the most enduring music to come out of the first punk wars. Rating 5/5.





Go - Doug Liman (USA 1999)

Uncut reviewed this movie with an impressive 5 stars and although mildly entertaining I did struggle to stay with it, especially at the beginning. Firstly this appears to be largely influenced By "Pulp Fiction" with its three separate stories that are  interconnected by the connections of the various characters in them. With some violence, drugs and sex giving this an R18 cert, along with some of the various young people doing some pretty stupid things, its doesn't kick ass like "Pulp..." and lacks the awesome dialogue of that movie. I  can only give it a rating of 2.5/5.

Felicia's Journey - Atom Egoyan (UK 1999)

This movie was highlighted as an upcoming theatrical release and after I sat through about 1/2 this slow moving thriller, I got bored and also a bit uncomfortable as to where the plot was going, but mostly it just didn't grab my interest and I knew fairly early on I was going to struggle with it. my rating 2/5.

Concord Dawn - The Enemy Within (New Zealand 2010)

An Uncle Roddus Album Review

1. Forever feat. Rikki Morris (5:05)

2. Kingdom Of Fear (5:58)

3. Move feat. Jdubs (5:09)

4. Burn At The Stake feat. Cern & Bulletproof (5:08)

5. One And Only feat. Rido (5:57)

6. The Enemy Within feat. Thomas Oliver (6:01)

7. The Sum Of All Things feat. Bulletproof (6:23)

8. Easy Life feat. Nina McSweeny (4:54)

9. The Space Between Us (4:33)

10.This Is All There Is (5:39)

11.Coda feat. Paul Mclaney (5:54)

Way back somewhere around 2003 I went to a concert with a couple of friends to see one of our local(NZ) popular rock acts. The first support act was a couple of dudes sitting behind desks apparently loaded with turntables and other pieces of electronic noise making equipment. They proceeded to make some rhythmic noises which I later found out to be known as Drum N' Bass. Now I had never heard this music before but some of the other gig goers seemed to know it and several were doing some strange form of body movements to the music. Any how I didn't think much more about it and enjoyed the rest of the concert by the local rock band. Not too long after I happened to be browsing the CD racks of a local department store when I actually came across a copy of the aforementioned  D N' B outfit on a reasonably priced CD and decided to take it home with me. The rest is history and I now own pretty much all of their releases, although I thought with the direction they were going with their last CD that I was loosing interest in following their career, therefore I hadn't known that they had released this their fifth album back in 2010 until I stumbled across it recently and thought I should check it out. Although there is still some poppy moments with the guest singers on the more commercial songs, it is good to see these guys are still capable of producing some great music, great rhythms that still make me want to shake my bootie and get the adrenalin flowing. Not nearly as powerful as their early releases which could send me into the stratosphere but I am still enjoying their music. This is not a genre I listen to much at all and from what I have heard, apart from Shapeshifter(Another local D N' B outfit), not many others can touch Concord Dawn. Saw them live on several occasions after that first experience and danced my ass off. This sounds shit hot up loud on the head phones but its damn hard to sit still to this in my chair. Rating 3.5/5

Foetus - Hide (USA 2010)

An Uncle Roddus Album review

1. Cosmetics (8:39)
2. Paper Slippers (5:33)
3. Stood Up (4:19)
4. Here Comes The Rain (4:34)
5. Oilfields (6:41)
6. Concrete (2:35)
7. The Ballad Of Sisyphus T. Jones (5:56)
8. Fortitudine Vincemus (0:47)
9. You're Trying To Break Me (8:32)
10.O Putrid Sun (For Yuko) (3:10)

I hadn't had any Foetus for quite a while and when I came across a copy of this in cyberspace I though I would check out what J.G.Thirlwell is up to nowadays. Had this on the iPod for several days and frankly finding it difficult to stay interested. Starts off with the bombastic semi operatic "Cosmetics" which reminded me of the semi classical shorts on J.G's Nail album from the early 80s. "Paper Slippers is a bit more of a pop song, with strings, although not one you'd likely hear on the radio and not one that I enjoy either. "Stood Up" is another slightly bombastic classical pop song, and J.G's singing is off-putting and not as evil as he use to sound. It takes till "Your Trying to Break Me" to get any thing more normally Foetus like, if there is such a thing. Some interesting moments, but I really am not inspired to give this any more of my attention.2/5.

X - Los Angeles - Wild Gift - Under The Big Black Sun - More Fun In The New World - Ain't Love Grand! (USA 1980-1985)

An Uncle Roddus Album Review

I had some time while in the city the other week to look at purchasing a couple of CDs from my wants list and a budget of about $40 which would get me a couple of discs if I could find them at The Warehouse. Looking for specific artists at The Warehouse is a pretty random thing and you have to want the more mainstream stuff to shop there, but sometimes some unusual stuff does turn up in their random ordering process. I hadn't even started to look for my wanted discs before I spotted a stand with a whole bunch of 5 CD box sets of reissued albums from mostly mainstream 70s and 80s Rock and Soul groups. They were selling for 20 bucks a set. I had to have a look  through the entire stand because the first set I spotted at the front was by the obscure German Fusion group Passport and I wasn't gonna pass that by. I was just as excited to also find this set from legendary Californian punk band X, their first 5 albums and an excellent bunch they are.

The first album was always gonna be a hard act to follow, being so perfect as it was but Wild Gift makes a very very good attempt at it with another 30 minute batch of songs of pretty much the same formula and nearing the same quality. I am not as familiar with this set as I am of the first album and so these tracks aren't as ingrained into my psyche as much but I get the feeling that further exposure to this country tinged punk album will result in more classics for my ears. Rating 4.5/5

After a two year break and bringing in a new producer on the last album of this set, 1985's Ain't Love Grand certainly has a different feel and ambience to it. This set sounds more polished and almost bordering on a light metal sound which is a bit of a shock and feels a bit of a sellout for X. Not that it has produced a bad album but by now the power of the bands writing is defiantly waning although there are still some good songs here and overall it is a good album. Rating 3/5

Album number four in four years and they were on a roll, the quality is starting to wane, but ever so slightly. Another great set of punk power pop which kicks of with the excellent political "The New World" and doesn't let up for 42 minutes of great Rock N' Roll. This all just goes to show what a magnificent band they were and their ain't nothing around to touch this today.Rating 4/5

Los Angeles is the Debut set from X and I think it is their best. They were a pretty obscure outfit over here back then and I remember hearing the wonderful title track from some compilation and maybe on student radio and they were like some awesome band from another planet, so far away and so obscure to my young ears. The next song I encountered much later was the totally brilliant "Johnny Hit and Run Pauline", a disturbing commentary on domestic violence and rape. This album is at the very pinnacle of the American punk scene of the time, with its great melodies, rockabilly undercurrents and intelligent song writing and great guitar from Billy Zoom. Another attribute of this group is the shared male /female vocals of Exene and John\ Doe, another indication of their country influence.Brilliant 5/5.

Considered by Allmusic to be their Masterpiece,  this third album certainly comes close. "Riding with Mary" is a standout  and I certainly do enjoy this almost as much as the Debut. Still sticking with the winning formula they have used on the previous albums again showcases the strength of X, their playing and their songwriting. 'Come back to Me" is a slower ballad like number with some steamy Jazz styled Saxophone showing their maturing craftsmanship. "The title track sounds a bit like early Blondie and also shows their more commercial side and indeed this music would sit well on today's Indie radio.Rating 4.5/5

Bruce Springsteen - Wrecking Ball (USA 2012)

An Uncle Roddus Album review

I am still not quite sure if I am going to buy this or not. Not because I am not sure on the quality, but mainly because I can't afford to buy every thing I would like and there are several albums on my list that I want more.

This set is the best thing I have heard from The Boss for a while and the whole thing is classic Bruce in his most rocking mode. Not much to else to say about this, as if you know  Bruce's music, you know what to expect and this lot won't let you down. Excellent. Rating 4.5/5

Scuba - Personality (UK 2012)

An Uncle Roddus Album Review

I thought I might check out this release after the positive review in Uncut and I do enjoy the occasional really good Electronic/dance/dubstep/drum n' bass record when I find them. The usual problem is that I very rarely find them. I guess overall I don't really connect with most of this sort of music as I find it gets way too repetitive and sometimes quite boring. Although this album isn't as bad as that and has some interesting sounds I still find it overall quite sterile and uninviting and this one doesn't really make my body  want to boogie much at all.Rating 2/5

Carolina Chocolate Drops - Leaving Eden (USA 2012)

An Uncle Roddus Album review

I am always interested in new interpretations of old time Americana and this album looked even more interesting in the fact that the musicians tackling this music are all of Afro-American extraction. A well recorded and played set with banjo, fiddle, jug and other old time instruments and pretty stripped back and authentic in places. This lot do a very good job of  this and deserve the attention they are getting. Again I won't be rushing out  to buy this one as I think the latest Nora Jones set with The Little Willies is better and I am looking forward to getting my hands on that CD soon. My rating for this though is 2.5/5

John Fox and The Math - Interplay (UK2011)

An Uncle Roddus Album Review

I know of John Foxx from his days as lead singer with Ultravox and also from his excellent "Metamatic" album from  way back in the early 80s. This album shows us that John is still playing the same style of 80s quirky electro pop, now with a bit of techno thrown in or is it that techno borrowed originally from the likes of John Foxx. Apart from the first track"Shatterproof", which I don't really like, the rest of this poppy Electronica is quite entertaining and  although I ain't gonna put this on my essential purchases list, I am finding it more enjoyable than I first though while listening on the iPod.Rating 2.5/5

Bon Ivor - Bon Ivor (USA 2011)

An Uncle Roddus Album Review

Got so much new music happening right now what with me buying uncut Magazine again and catching up with some recent releases and looking into a big list of albums I am listening to in respect to actually purchasing them. I have gathered quite a list of essential purchases over the last month and hopefully Mrs. Roddus will have one of them in her hot little hands when she gets home from the city later tonight. Unfortunately this album is not one of them. I had heard the debut album and I think I enjoyed it(haven't heard it for quite some time) and listening to this new set I haven't been able to really connect with it from casual listens on the iPod. Sitting here with the big stereo and it becomes clearer how much is actually happening on this album and with further listening I feel this could be a rewarding album in places. A pretty well crafted set of what I would label Americana and pretty laid back sounding, but not any thing that really grabs me and with so much other really good stuff getting  my attention I doubt I will want to give this too much more time. It is good enough to get a Rating of 3/5 though.

Ryan Adams - Ashes & Fire (USA 2011)

An Uncle Roddus Album review

This wonderful album came home from the city with Mrs. Roddus last week and has been on high rotation ever since. I haven't been up to date with Ryan's last couple of releases until now and didn't really connect all that much with "Easy Tiger" and am still waiting to get my hands on "III/IV" but this set, which only got 3 stars in Uncut, is, I believe, his strongest set for quite a while. Gone are the Cardinals and Ryan is back in business in Singer/Songwriter mode. A much more laid back affair and reminds me somewhat of the quieter moments on "Love Is Hell" but Ryan is a bit more upbeat and positive sounding nowadays. There are some lovely melodies here and I love the guitar break in "Do I Want" and if you're looking for some great Americana or alt-country or what ever you want to call it, well, it doesn't get much better than this.Rating 5/5.