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DVDfever.co.uk – Richard Swift: The Atlantic Ocean CD reviewElly Roberts reviews
Secretly Indian Records
- Released: Jan 2009
- Rating: 8/10
- Vote and comment on this album:View Comments
After what can only called a strange album Music From The Films Of R/Swift, Oregon multi-instrumentalist Richard Swift finally plays it down the middle, with excellent results.
The Atlantic Ocean is a testament to his unique songwriting skills and musicianship. In the mould of say Harry Nilsson or Randy Newman, Swift has conjured-up some fine tunes, many of which would grace the BBC Radio 2 playlist.
Theres nothing grand going on here, but what hes created with a simple sound (and instruments), is top drawer, as he effectively straddles several genres and American songbooks.Atlantic Ocean owes its thrust and beat to Motowns Funk Brothers and 80s synth-pop, whereas closer Lady Luck draws on the falsetto box of Smokey Robinsons balladeering.Sandwiched between these two contrasting gems are playful excursions such as the bouncy foot-tapper The Original Thought with a quirky nod to music hall, a la Randy Newman, especially the vocal.
On Ballad Of Old Whats His Name, produced by Mark Ronson no less, hes secured the services of, now wait for it, Ryan Adams (gasp!), Ronson and (bigger gasp!) Sean Lennon, who knows a thing or two about timeless music. Collectively, their dreamy backups are a thing of beauty.
The strangest fusion of all happens on Bat Coma Motown.
He gets the beat going with a retro Motown rhythm sugared by brass and pinging banjo creating the oddest sound, but its the standout track by far. Then, as if all this genre-hopping wasnt enough, he plays a blinder by doing a slower 21st century equivalent of Lady Madonna A Song For Milton Feher.
The verdict Classy pop.
Weblink:richardswift.us
The full list of tracks included are :
1. The Atlantic Ocean
2. The Original Thought
3. Ballad Of Old Whats His Name
4. R.I.P.
5. Already Gone
6. Hallelujah, Goodnight!
7. The First Time
8. Bat Coma Motown
9. The End Of An Age
10. A Song For Milton Feher
11. Lady LuckView 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.