专辑介绍：Naming your band after a remote island may seem like a statement of outsider status, but as Oxford’s Stornoway have proved over the last couple of years, their accessibly folkish pop music makes them very much a band of the people. Their emergence is also a pleasing re-assertion of the possibility of a band achieving mainstream popular appeal while putting substance above style, and, after a string of record deal offers, the band have signed with the excellent 4AD for their debut album release.
Anyone expecting the band to re-record their by-now familiar songs for this album may be surprised to learn that most of these songs are in fact the original recordings, captured on the band’s trusty eight-track over the last couple of years. In fact, the album will be instantly familiar to the band’s long term admirers, with previous favourites “Zorbing”, “We Are the Battery Human”, “Fuel Up” and “On the Rocks” all present and correct, although former single “Unfaithful” doesn’t make the cut.
Opener “Zorbing” leads off the album, its insistent bass-driven melody the grounding for the crystal clarity of Brian Briggs’s lovely vocals. It is, if you like, classic Stornoway, simple, elegantly done, melodious and unfussy. Much of the band’s appeal lies in this unpretentious approach, allied to some undeniable songwriting gifts. Unlike their nearest bedfellows (in terms of career arc and mainstream appeal as much as musicality) Mumford and Sons, this is nearer to pure pop than folk music. However, just like Mumford, the band has a vocalist of real appeal and a gift for writing potential hit songs. In eschewing the temptation to follow trend or attempt to be the hippest band on the block, Stornoway have landed a charmingly straightforward pop album. While Briggs’s lyrics are by no means life changingly poetic, they are somehow in perfect keeping with the album’s rather innocent allure. Songs like “Fuel Up” and “The End of the Movie” perfectly chronicle the heartaches of growing up, wistful and romantic, and rather old fashioned. While “Fuel Up” suffers from some slightly over fussy production, the song remains a little gem. Elsewhere, “Here Comes the Blackout” is still a beautiful little ditty, and “The Coldharbour Road” is a perfect example of the band’s ability to fuse a rustic sound seamlessly with a delightful melody. Meanwhile, semi-geekish curiosities lie within the music, hinting at the homemade nature of the original recordings. Sounds of food being chopped, random bells, it’s all there. There is even a morse code message hidden in the lovely “I Saw You Blink”. Those crazy scientist-musicians, eh??
Naysayers will doubtless find reasons not to enjoy Stornoway. Viewed with a cynical eye the band could probably appear bland, but we hold no truck with such snobbery. The spirit of independent music making is alive and well in these Oxford gents, who have won admirers with old fashioned endeavour and by sticking to their vision. Let’s hope they win the accolades they deserve and become another of the bands bringing guitar music back to the charts in 2010. Review by lazybrighton.co.uk
disc 1
| 01 | Zorbing | 2260 | |||
| 02 | I Saw You Blink | 4491 | |||
| 03 | Fuel Up | 363 | |||
| 04 | Coldharbour Road, The | 153 | |||
| 05 | Boats And Trains | 216 | |||
| 06 | We Are The Battery Human | 106 | |||
| 07 | Here Comes The Blackout | 158 | |||
| 08 | Watching Birds | 102 | |||
| 09 | On The Rocks | 74 | |||
| 10 | End Of The Movie, The | 233 | |||
| 11 | Long Distance Lullaby | 73 |
我来说两句
8条简评
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2011-10-29 14:37太嘹亮的感觉，抓耳 -
2011-10-19 18:36好听的另类民谣~~有清新舒缓的民谣风格作品，也有像Watching Birds这样俨然indie rock的调调~~总体感觉很特别 -
2011-05-30 20:45so beautifull!!!!!!!!!!!! -
2011-05-30 20:45so beautiful!!!!!!!
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2011-03-29 16:31不错~~~~~~~ -
2011-02-20 22:51民谣 -
2010-08-21 23:35我被迷住了。简单、优美、动听 -
2010-07-31 11:25我是沙发么？？是在水手音乐上听到的~~~~
很不错
- 试听
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