Album Results
Katie Melua
Call Off The Search: + two new tracks
Genre:
ROCK/POP
Label:
Dramatico Entertainment Limted
Release date: 2003
Album Reviews
English listeners went mad for Katie Melua with the release of her debut album there in late 2003. Issued domestically in June 2004, Call Off the Search posits the lovely Melua pristinely in between pop, adult contemporary, and traditional American musical forms, with savvy marketing handling the finishing touches. (Think Norah Jones.) It's a comfortable, lightly melodic affair that drinks red wine safely in the middle of the road. Raised in Soviet Georgia and the United Kingdom, Melua has a beguiling accent that colors the ends of her phrases, adding character to her velvety, if occasionally only satisfactory singing voice. She has a nice time with the understated R&B sashay of John Mayall's "Crawling Up a Hill," as well as Mike Batt's "My Aphrodisiac Is You," which is spiced up with barrelhouse piano, muted trumpet, and sly references to opium and the Kama Sutra. The singer's own "Belfast (Penguins and Cats)" opens nicely with a few measures of solo acoustic guitar before it's joined by the orchestral maneuvers that sweep through the majority of Call Off the Search's after-dark cabaret. (Melua also penned a dedication to Eva Cassidy, who she's been compared to vocally.) While the instrumentation is never overbearing, a stoic version of Randy Newman's "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" and a couple of late-album pop vocal entries do dawdle a bit in the soft-focus halo that hovers over Search's more easygoing stretches. These selections are perfectly capable, yet pretty obvious, as if the decision was made to sprinkle Melua's debut equally with safety and variety, in case a particular style didn't stick. Still, despite a few detours down easy street, Call Off the Search is a promising debut, and comfortable like the first drink of the evening. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide
Track Listing
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The Holy Pictures David Holmes |
| Four years in the making, since venturing into the rugged rock-jazz-blues arena with The Free Association; to prepare his fourth proper album David Holmes has put aside Hollywood commitments that began as the soundtrack composer for Steven Sorderbergh movies and has nearly become Holmes main activity as forthcoming soundtracks for the Bobby Sands biopic "Hunger" and "Five Minutes of Heaven" undeniably prove. "The holy pictures" is named after the pub his father was a regular of and conceived as a tribute to the city of Belfast and its people. On it our favourite North Irish DJ gives another lecture on eclecticism and takes a 180 degree turn towards the trendy road where shoegazing and krautrock meet. Next to his cinematic instrumentals, the main surprise here is Holmes singing for the first time, in a not too different manner to Jesus & Mary Chain's Jim Reid. Best example is the first single "I heard wonders", helped by Martin Rev, one half of 70s icons Suicide. Other highlights include the closing track "The Ballad Of Jack and Sarah" dedicated to his parents. Altogether, is a beautiful and rewarding record; his most personal to date. | |
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