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T PageContents: Talk Talk, Talking Heads, James Taylor, Teenage Fanclub, Third Day, Richard Thompson, Andy Thornton, Glenn Tilbrook, Tom Tom Club, Toto, Trinity RootsTalk Talk have their own pageTalking Heads have their own pageJames Taylor has his own pageTeenage FanclubFour Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty Six Seconds - a Short Cut to Teenage Fanclub(2002)In 1989, Raymond McGinley's neighbour died. In her will, she bequeathed the young Scottish guitarist a washing machine and a refrigerator. Raymond sold these and used the proceeds to finance demos with his newly formed band, Teenage Fanclub, who were yet to play a live show. McGinley, singer/guitarist Normal Blake and singer/bassist Gerard Love, who make up the nucleus of the group, recorded demos for A Catholic Eduction, the first album in a vaguely wayward but largely satisfactory career. Because they're almost determinedly retro, it's difficult to label Teenage Fanclub as significant as nineties contemporaries like Radiohead, but in terms of the basic components of melody and harmony the band have few rivals from their era; even Oasis declared them the second best band in the world. While the influence from the Big Star/Beatles axis is well documented, the less conventional Sonic Youth also informs the group's sound, and the heavy guitar layers are more complex than traditional power pop. This collection takes in highlights of their career between 1990 and 2002; I haven't heard any of the group's studio albums, but this flows extremely well as a compilation and at precisely 4766 seconds long it's pretty good value for money too. Classics include 'The Concept' (the first track on 1991's Bandwagonesque, which Spin infamously named as album of the year ahead of Nevermind) with its opening line "She wears denim wherever she goes/Says she's gonna get some records by the Status Quo", Love's anthemic 'Sparky's Dream' and Blake's stuttering 'Neil Jung'. Of the three new songs, Blake's 'Did I Say' is a terrific hard driving yet lilting ballad. It's hard to point out too may low points; although McGinley's writing is generally less accomplished that his bandmates', he still contributes the excellent 'My Uptight Life'. This collection doesn't quite feel five star quality; maybe the songs haven't quite become institutionalised yet, or the group don't feel quite significant enough in the overall schematic of rock and roll. Still, I'm not always in the mood for idiosyncratic groundbreakers like Pere Ubu or Captain Beefheart, but I'm always happy to hear Teenage Fanclub. 
 Third DayOfferings(2000)Christian music press likes to describe Third Day front man Mac Powell's voice as Hootie-ish. This is unfortunate because, although most Christian music is a level below the best secular music, one band that Christian bands can hope to eclipse effortlessly is the endlessly mediocre Hootie and the Blowfish. And one Christian band that can effortlessly blow Hootie and his Blowfish out of the water is Third Day. Third Day have two major assets that separate them from a merely functional worship band. Firstly, with a solid rhythm section and a triple guitar attack, they have arguably more instrumental firepower than any other Christian group. Third Day also manipulate dynamics well, dropping out to just Powell and his acoustic guitar when they want an intimate sound. As a country tinged southern band they can also dollop out big lashings of harmonies. Secondly, while I have been lamenting the lack of truly affecting worship lyrics, Powell has been busy personalising his worship experience. The standout song from this perspective is 'Thief', which tells the story of the redemption of one of the criminals who was crucified alongside Jesus. As Powell places himself in the persona of the criminal, 'Thief' is deeply affecting: "They don't believe that he is the Messiah/But somehow, I know it's true." And even when the lyrics are at their most repetitive (the cover of Michael W. Smith's 'Agnus Dei'), Third Day has the intensity and the songs have enough hooks to keep them interesting. While I was initially suspicious of Third Day, I have grown to fond affection remarkably rapidly. Offerings is half live and half studio recordings, a weird format which works because the songs have a common thread of worshipfulness. The live songs run through some of Third Day's best known tracks like 'Your Love Oh Lord' and 'Love Song' while, apart from the crap cover of Bob Dylan's crap 'Saved', the new studio tracks are on the same high level. Highlights of Offerings include the rollicking 'These Thousand Hills', the catchy 'Agnus Dei/Worthy', the emotive 'Thief' and the gentle 'All The Heavens'. Based on this album, secular critics should be referring to the Blowfish' voice as Third Day-ish.
Richard (and Linda) Thompson have their own pageAndy ThorntonSunflower Girl(2005)To be honest, I'd never heard of Scottish singer-songwriter Andy Thornton or his previous project Big Sur, until his record company sent me a review copy of Sunflower Girl, his third solo album. These songs were written in the year that followed Thornton's wife passing away from cancer at the age of 29. As you'd expect, based on such circumstances, Sunflower Girl is utterly sincere; to such an extent that it's either going to hit listeners right in the stomach, or become an easy target for mockery with its extreme honesty and openness. I'm probably not the most impartial judge, since right now I'm feeling emotionally raw enough that unexpectedly happy endings in movies make me cry, but most of these songs have the former effect to me. As much as Sunflower Girl is a lyrics focused album, it's arguably more of a triumph musically; Thornton has a tendency to occasionally lapse into overused metaphors about ships and rainbows, not a surprise when the subject matter is so direct, while most of his melodies are genuinely memorable and his stripped down arrangements suit the material perfectly. One frame of reference for Thornton is seventies folkie Roy Harper; Thornton's voice has a similar lilt, his lyrics share the same yearning romanticism, and if he's further from pure folk than Harper, his acoustic finger-picking still betrays a strong folk influence. Aged 47 when he recorded Sunflower Girl, Thornton has more in common with seasoned writers like John Martyn rather than the new generation of bed wetters like David Gray. Thornton handles most of the instrumentation himself, and recorded the songs in his home studio, and it sounds great; sometimes there's little more than acoustic guitar. Sunflower Girl's strongest songs include 'Under My Skin', with a jazzy feel and some of Thornton's most inventive lyrics ("She's a poppy field/When you thought you'd see wheat"). The opening 'Shake The Moon Down' is handicapped by awkward lyrics in crucial places (no matter how heartbroken you are, "tell me please - have you never been in love?" is never an acceptable line) but it's still agreeably memorable. 'Safely Home' ends the album beautifully, with an uplifting resolution and gorgeous, subtle orchestration. There are plenty of pretty acoustic melodies like 'That Girl' and 'He Does Not Deserve You', and the pretty 'Rosey (One More Time)'. On the negative side, the title track is somewhat overwrought, like David Gates trying his hand at emo, not surprising given the circumstances, and it's a credit to Thornton as a writer that he's able to capture a wider range of emotions than just the grief expressed on this song. Sharing in someone else's pain is sometimes the best way to soothe your own soul, and as an eloquent expression of difficult emotions Sunflower Girl is a success, where Thornton's music legitimately serves as a conduit for his emotions and as a window to his soul. If you'd like a copy of Sunflower Girl, visit http://www.evinsol.co.uk/dubious/ to order a copy.
Glenn TilbrookThe Incomplete Glenn Tilbrook(2001)The general perception is that Squeeze never quite returned to their former glories after their reformation in the mid 1980s, and by the late 1990s their albums were becoming increasingly uninteresting. It would have taken a brave man, therefore, to predict that Glenn Tilbrook's solo debut, released at the ripe old age of almost-45, would be an accomplished little pop fruitcake. While he was joined to the hip with humourous lyricist Christ Difford in Squeeze, Tilbrook was often straitjacketed as light-hearted and goofy. Writing his own lyrics, or collaborating with respected young songwriters like Aimee Mann and Ron Sexsmith, Tilbrook is free to be as soulful or plaintive as he wants. His solo debut, The Incomplete Glenn Tilbrook, often resembles Crowded House, although Tilbrook is even less edgy than cuddly Neil Finn. His statement of purpose is neatly encapsulated in standout track 'G.S.O.H. Essential'; "Considering the experience I'm pushing out the boat...I don't know if it will sink or sail majestically...I'm running a small shop/In the age of the global superstore." Later in the same track, he graciously concedes that "the Monkees weren't a real band but I still loved them...I suppose it's not such a big leap from them to S Club Seven," while he ends with a sly reference to Squeeze's first single ("You can take me now I'm yours"). Other standouts include a brace of gorgeous ballads: 'Other World' and 'You See Me' are both a little sappy but absolutely beautiful. These are balanced by less earnest efforts such as the vaguely avant-garde 'Interviewing Randy Newman', a personal apology from Tilbrook to Newman for an ill-fated interview ("Yes I was something less than a resounding success with Randy Newman"), and an ungraceful acceptance of aging on 'Up The Creek'. While Tilbrook's lyrics are dealing with superficially unimportant issues, they generally turn out interesting and revealing. Tilbrook and producer Andy Metcalfe handle most of the instruments competently, while Jools Holland's brother Chris pops in for an organ solo. Tilbrook's starry-eyed liner notes are charming, honouring his musicians with epithets like "on the Drums with usual aplomb is Simon Hanson." Every song has at least a memorable chorus, and often offer a lot more, while I haven't even mentioned delightful compositions like 'Observatory' or 'Parallel World'. After I've been raving uncontrollably about this album for a page, you may be asking why I gave The Incomplete Glenn Tilbrook four stars instead of five. The answer is, that while it is far better than I expected, it's still not as interesting or groundbreaking as 5 star albums like Revolver or Foxtrot. Yet for an almost-45 year old making an unpretensious little pop fruitcake, however, The Incomplete Glenn Tilbrook is as lovely and entertaining as can be expected. Early editions of The Incomplete Glenn Tilbrook come with a bonus disc of solo live performances from the album, which are pleasant but hardly essential. The most revelatory is 'Interviewing Randy Newman', performed on guitar, but the bonus disc would have been more valuable with some rarities, covers or Squeeze classics tossed in.
Tom Tom Club can be found on the Talking Heads PageTotoToto IV(1982)It aroused horror among critics worldwide when it won the Grammy for album of the year, but Toto IV stands up well as an album of jazz inflected pop/rock, demonstrating the difference between being a critic's favourite (the group do stick to peddling vapid love songs) and being a muso's favourite (the group's playing is fluid and sophisticated). Formed by a bunch of studio musicians who figured they'd played on so many hit songs that they'd be capable of creating their own, the group surfaced with their 1977 breakthrough hit 'Hold The Line' (in the year that punk broke, which didn't endear critics to their bombastic and commercially oriented pop/rock) before languishing in obscurity until this record broke them into the big time. Toto followed up IV with a soundtrack for Dune, starring Sting, and a subsequent nosedive back into obscurity, despite a cult following in Japan and publicity with drummer Jeff Porcaro's overdose death attributed to garden pesticides. Yet their primary claim to fame holds up far better than most other pop music of their era; it's slickly produced, but it's not too treacly, and even the double synthesiser attack is mostly restrained and tasteful. Bookended by the ubiquitous 'Rosanna' (a lovelorn plea to actress Rosanna Arquette) and the even more ubiquitous 'Africa' (a piece of cosmic nonsense on a Yes-like scale: "as sure as the sun rises like Olympus above the Serengeti"), and filled by a pile of extremely competent pop songs that mostly could have been hits if necessary. 'I Won't Hold You Back' is open to criticism, and one level it certainly is an icky power ballad, but it's delivered nicely by guitarist Steve Lukather, whose more vulnerable tones contrast well with Bobby Kimball's manly bravado. The group also ride funky grooves like 'Make Believe', 'Good For You' and 'Waiting For Your Love', all with memorable choruses and inventive chord sequences. The album only ever loses momentum with the 'It's A Feeling', which turns into a mushy synth-fest, and 'We Made It' which dispenses with the melodies that make the rest of the album so great. Sure this album's soulless and meaningless, but it sure sounds great while it's on.
Past to Present 1977-1990(1990)Formed by a bunch of experienced session musicians in 1977, Toto have obvious strengths and weaknesses. The musicianship on this CD is outstanding, especially drummer Jeff Porcaro, constantly rescuing mediocre songs. However, Toto never have anything interesting to say. Past to Present includes hit songs 'Hold the Line', 'Rosanna' and Grammy winner 'Africa', as well as six other catchy and unprofound pop songs from their back catalogue, which are all pleasant enough. Regrettably, the four new songs on Past to Present all feature new singer Jean-Michel Byron, who comes across as a very inferior Michael Jackson with an even shallower political conscience. These new songs necessitate the listener has a remote control on hand, as 'Love has the Power' and 'Can't You Hear What I'm Saying' are particularly unlistenable, and are bad enough to spoil the whole album. If you really want a Toto album, Toto IV features the three most memorable songs from this compilation ('Africa', 'Rosanna' and 'I Won't Hold You Back') and even its weakest tracks are pretty much better than the majority of songs on here.
Trinity RootsHome, Land and Sea(2004)Many of New Zealand's sports stars are Polynesian in origin, so it was only a matter of time until we had some Polynesian music stars too. Really there's little to differentiate white New Zealand music from the rest of the world; there's an influential DIY low-budget band from Dunedin here and field recordings on Karekare beach there, but there's been very little that's intrinsically New Zealand musically. But Trinity Roots, a Wellington based trio, fuse reggae and soul into completely new territories while infusing a distinctly New Zealand atmosphere. Their minimalism and use of empty space on this record is pronounced and outstanding; there's not a note wasted, and the repetition and restrained atmosphere draw out the innate beauty of the songs. They also draw out the vocals: Trinity Roots' harmonies are outstanding, as are their individual voices. Art rock and reggae might not be a natural combination on paper, but in practice it works perfectly; the reggae elements give the music a natural warmth and authenticity, not to mention spirituality, even as the group explore more esoteric territory. Their first album garnered them nationwide attention, but Home, Land and Sea, their second record is truly exemplary - if there's a recent New Zealand album that deserves to break out and gain internationally recognition, it's this one. This record is comparable to something like My Bloody Valentine's Loveless, in that it's primarily a triumph in terms of sonic crafting, even over songcraft. Even if they're carefully crafted, it's not the individual songs that leave the impression; they just provide a structure for the group to exhibit their innate spirituality and prodigious abilities. Without ever feeling hurried, the album's nine songs gradually ebb and flow over an hour, among washes of gentle Fender Rhodes, gently strummed guitars and a fluid rhythm section, all minimally arranged for maximum effect. If there is a song that does stand out, it's the concluding title track - a straightforward tribute to New Zealand - it has a directness and grandiosity that makes it stand out, providing a climactic conclusion without abandoning the subtleties of the remainder of the record. A few more great individual pieces would elevate this record to even greater heights, but as a mood piece Home, Land and Sea is all but impeccable.
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Written 2001-2009, Graham Fyfe
