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Elly Roberts reviews
Fat Cat Records
- July 2007
- Rating: 2/10
Big turn-off from Bristol-based combo Crescent.
Needless to say, Crescent are a very, very, very acquired taste.
Little Waves will definitely not make big waves on the general musicscene. Its the kind of album that begs the question – Why bother?
This drab, sombre, melancholic and sparse affair beggars belief. If thisoutfit think theyre going to make some kind of impact, they need to seriouslythink again. With a predominatly drone-like quality, that doesnt break out ofa snails pace, these weird wanderings seem to serve no purpose other than gratifyingself-indulgence.
Boredom sets in quite quickly. From the start actaully. Matt Jones sort of (hushed)singing does little to help matters. Clearly the ensemble of musicians are verycompetent, but the music (question mark) has little if any direction, few dynamics,power, or, even relevance to the casual listener.
By definition, its hard to find redeeming qualities. There are the odd, oddones. Title track Little Waves ebbs and flows aimlessly with the odd bitof F/X to make it interesting. Cup, has a Micha P. Hinson-like Americanaambience: huge hollow acoustic guitar and ghosting electric guitar.
Nearly Ready, a dire track, has some edgy brass sequences that lift thedowncast mood a tad. Dont ask me to describe waste of space Geese, butthankfully Hey, September has some nice moments, particularly the guitarwork.
Quirky Drift (F/X included) sees Jones actually trying to sing, amongstthe staccato beats, which are quite explosive at the mid-point, making it themost interesting of the bunch. Cacophonous Birds Came… isnt worth amention.
As if things couldnt get worse, Little Waves meanders out with a damp squib Our River, with Joness most weird take on singing.
Weblink:crescentmusic.net
The full list of tracks included are :
1. Little Waves
2. Cup
3. Nearly Ready
4. Geese
5. Hey, September
6. Come Into The Shade
7. Drift
8. Birds Came Out Of The Trumpet
9. Before
10. Our River
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.