Koop – Koop Islands – K7 B000I2JKX8

Koop is two Swedish lads with fine taste in make-up and dresses and an ability to write songs that sound as though they come from another era. Think cocktails, cigarette holders and big-band arrangements with a touch of Euro-lounge and you’re there. Vocalists Yukimi Nagano and Ane Brun keep things cool and sophisticated and the songs are skilfully orchestrated. There are no great surprises and it’s a pretty short album, but with ten well-honed tracks, that’s a strength rather than a weakness. Mix a Martini, sit back and get hooked.

Jon Redfern - May Be Some Time - Reveal

Well, if the site's not dead yet, I'll tell you about Jon Redfern. The album came to me as result of a recommendation by Paul in Diverse Music. As he predicted, it's a grower. It's a quiet, acoustic album, with the music, rather than the voice, to the forefront. The combination of strings, guitar and saxophone works well and nearly every track has strong, lilting melody. At times, you could be listening to a string, or even a jazz ensemble. The songs themselves are pretty minimal and I suppose I'll forgive him for the line "I love the sun/It shines down on every one". After all, didn't Dylan get away with "can you cook and sew, make flowers grow"? That aside, nothing offends me, there's much to enjoy and it sounds fabulous on LP. My copy came with a free CD of the album. Oh for the day when they start giving away LPs with CDs.

Neil Young - Live at Massey Hall 1971

(I refuse to accept this site is dead. Yet.)

Review Caveat - I am a huge Neil Young fan. I've read his biography twice (which if you look at it you'll recognise as an achievement in itself) and have almost everything he's recorded. So when I say this album is the best thing I've heard in years, it's in that context. Recorded five years after he left Canada and between After the Goldrush and Harvest, he's at his peak introducing some of his greatest songs as "something I just wrote" and with equally laconic introductions to the rest. The quality of the recordings is great. It stands along Live at the Fillmore - the Crazy Horse archive album he released a year ago. Listen out for an acoustic Cowgirl in the Sand, Needle and the Damage Done and Old Man.