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DVDfever.co.uk – Dan Clews: Dan Clews CD reviewElly Roberts reviews
Weird Eye Records
- Released: November 2009
- Rating: 6/10
- Vote and comment on this album:View Comments
Twilight folktronica from The Garden Of England.
Produced by Sir George Martins Grammy-winning son Giles at the appropriate setting of Abbey Road (and Air Studios), Dan Clews association with the Martins will no doubt be a highly valued badge of honour.Former member of Swedish rockers Stars Above, Kents Clews has been a safe bet rather than an outrageous gamble.
Giles has clearly inherited his dads sense of capturing melodies like he did on many Beatles songs. Most of the songs fit the Radio 2 playlist criteria, but theres no defining killer song to grab you like the masterful balladeering of say Jack Savoretti, whos light years ahead of him, and still struggling to hit the big time with a batch of great songs to his name.As youd expect, songs melt into each other seamlessly and they often veer towards saccharine sweet, many of which could be considered Gilbert OSullivan in texture and style, especially the ambling ballad The Ripening Of Time.
Theres a clutch of mediocrity here in the form of songs such as Kings For Blood, I Am Invincible, but he shines on James Taylor-ish Day & Night and acoustic driven This Car.A bit of beef finally enters the beat-laden Move Too Fast, surely destined to be his debut single. Its the only one with a catchy hook, with Gilbert OSullivan casting a huge shadow over it again, while Sultry Man gives a big nod to Simon and Garfunkels early folk forays.
The verdict: Nice, but unremarkable.
Weblinks:danclews.com /myspace.com/danclews
The full list of tracks included are :
1. Lucid And Sincere
2. Day & Night
3. Out In The Garden
4. Move Too Fast
5. Sultry Man
6. The Ripening Of Time
7. Kings For Blood
8. I Am Invincible
9. This Car
10. Island In The BlueView the discussion thread.blog comments powered by Disqus= 0) {query += ‘url’ + i + ‘=’ + encodeURIComponent(links[i].href) + ‘&’;}}document.write(”);})();//]]]]>]]>
Elly Roberts passed away in 2011, but he was a man who was so passionate about all types of music and loved meeting his musical heroes, such as Mick Hucknall at a book signing at the Trafford Centre, Manchester in 2007.
A former teacher and also a music journalist, DJ and radio presenter on local community station Calon FM, plus appearances on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio 2, Elly started doing reviews for DVDfever.co.uk in 2004 and he did the majority of the CD and concerts reviews on the website.
I know also that he loved getting away for the summer to Spain and I hope that wherever he is now he is enjoying the hot sunshine and, as one of his friends has said on his Facebook page, that he is interviewing his musical heroes.