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Album Reviews
According to her bio, Minnie Driver was a singer long before she ever became an actress. Accordingly, Everything I've Got in My Pocket, her first album, contains ten Driver originals and a cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Hungry Heart." The project began as an exhortation by producer Marc "Doc" Dauer, who had heard Driver's songs accompanied by her self-admitted "mangled" guitar playing. Dauer plays guitar and leads a band that includes multi-instrumentalist Rami Jaffee. As for the material, it's pleasant and the songs are ably written, and Driver can sing to boot. She writes all over the map, from the gently textured Americana of "Fast As You Can" to the suburban country-flavored "Home" to the lush folksy pop of "Invisible Girl," which feels like some slick teahouse session between Aimee Mann and Avril Lavigne. There's nothing wrong with anything here: it's pleasant, breezy, and gentle. But records come out like this every single day. These songs possess no edge -- nothing to distinguish them whatsoever other than that they were recorded by a famous actress. In addition, the Springsteen cover is an utter throwaway; she adds nothing to the song, and in fact drains the emotion from it. What does stand out is Dauer's fine, sympathetic production and his nuanced attention to detail, giving the record some weight and dimension. For the record, Driver is a developing songwriter, someone who is growing into her material and finding her way into her craft. But to be honest, anyone else would never get the chance to record a second record because there is not enough here to make this collection of songs notable. Celebrity has its privilege; should Driver go further, sharpening and developing her skills, it will have served her well. For now, though, she shouldn't quit her day job, because at this moment in time this is a curiosity piece and little more. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
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Love On The Line Crazy P |
| Despite being the passion of bearded, crate digging record geeks and bit-part 'Simpsons' characters alike, Disco has somehow risen to be become the coolest sound in club land in the past three years. Whether it's the dreamy Balearic works of Scandinavians Lindstrom and Todd Terje, The New York Punk Funk of LCD Soundsytem and Hercules & Love Affair or the rehashing of long forgotten Boogie gems via the currently burgeoning disco re-edits scene, the influence of Disco is once again making itself felt. One group that's been providing Disco beats before they were the toast of Hoxton is Nottingham based Crazy P who have been revisiting the 70's sounds of Philadelphia and NYC since 1996. Now with their latest single 'Love On The Line' Crazy P look to build on the success of their previous work which earned them a seemingly permanent slot on Pete Tong’s show and a major following in Australia – despite being largely overlooked on home turf. 'Love On The Line's' musical features could have been prised wholesale from any New York club circa 1979. Bubbling live bass, D-Train-esque keyboard stabs, lush sweeping strings and jangling Nile Rodgers guitar are all staples but it is the modern electronic twists that Crazy P apply that stop this becoming simply a pastiche. Though perhaps not quite up there with their very best work, 'Love On The Line' still does enough to show that Crazy P should be among the main disco contenders, and certainly a firm fixture on the festival circuit for 2009. | |
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