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  1. Hey now everyone. I haven't been on for ages, having a few personal troubles that've stopped me from doing things (medical and personal). I will do the two album reviews in the next week....apologies I'm so slack at this.
  2. Originally posted by drewhiggins:Hey now everyone. I haven't been on for ages, having a few personal troubles that've stopped me from doing things (medical and personal). I will do the two album reviews in the next week....apologies I'm so slack at this.
    BANNED FROM THE FORUM

    just kidding man, hope all is on the upswing. be well!
  3. OK, here we are. Very interesting choice from Olof. I have no idea who this guy is or what he's about, so I went into this expecting nothing. I listened to the album three times (well, my fourth listen is while I type this). There were elements throughout the album that instantly hit me, but at the same time, there were elements that really put me off. Sinkane has a good voice, really smooth. But as Sergio has already pointed out, his falsetto is not good and this is particularly noticeable in songs such as "Yacha" and "Hold Tight". I disliked the 80's computer game intro sound to "How We Be" and "Yacha". "How We Be" has a decent groove to it buts doesn't really kick the album off effectively. Perhaps the second tack, "New Name" would have been a better candidate? It's certainly a much better song. "Yacha" suffers from the falsetto, but is slightly redeemed by a Temptations flavour across the rest of the vocals. "Young Trouble" is rather forgettable.

    "Moonstruck " has a really cool laidback feel to it. I really enjoyed this one. From here on out, things get a little weird. We've got two songs that are set in Hawaii ("Mean Love" and "Galley Boys") and one that starts off like a fairground attraction ("Omdurman"). Oddly enough though, "Galley Boys" and "Omdurman" are both highlights of the album for me. There's no silly vocals on "Galley Boys", which is refreshing after "Mean Love" (a shame because the chorus is enjoyable in this one) and "Hold tight". I don't care much for "Son", nothing jumps out and grabs me, it just passes me by. Finally, "Omdurman". This is a really good closing song, the second half in particular with the singing in unison of the "Where if I'm to settle down..." part. As the album intro, Olof mentioned Sinkane blending elements of Sudanese pop with various other music. If this song is reflective of the Sudanese town of Omdurman and draws heavily on that Sudanese pop influence, then I need to explore some more Sudanese pop

    Overall, probably not something I will have the urge to revisit in full, however my top three below and "New Name" have enough about them to stop me from disregarding the album completely. It was an interesting listen though, good to have something different

    Top three:
    1. Moonstruck
    2. Omdurman
    3. Galley Boys
  4. Perhaps the second tack, "New Love" would have been a better candidate

    New Name maybe? I agree with everything else!
  5. Haha, yes
  6. Originally posted by LikeASong:
    Welll, I didn't expect this much but I'm SO GLAD it happened. Thanks for appreciating and loving the album, Stephen. Frank is virtually always on tour (he's played over 1600 shows already) so there are good chances you can attend one of his awesome shows soon. Keep your eyes peeled http://frank-turner.com/live-gigs/


    You're welcome! And I'll keep my eye out if I see anything show up near me
  7. Seems that I'm next. I'll post something up later, give us time for any last reviews
  8. I really like this record. It’s perhaps not the most engaging collections of songs ever put together, but I find it really nice when I want to relax for a while. I think the main thing that makes me enjoy this one is the rhythms. They’re quite different from what I usually get to hear. I also like his falsetto, which I guess might be important for the enjoyment of this album, since it appears quite a few times.

    How We Be - I think this is a really nice intro. It has a nice groove and does a good job of setting the overall relaxed mood of the record.
    New Name - Maybe my favorite song on the album. It has a sound of going somewhere, with that really nice bassline. I also really like those horns.
    Yacha - Cool intro. Another song with some nice rhytmic content.
    Young Trouble - Nice rhytms again, maybe not a standout, but still a nice tune.
    Moonstruck - One of the best songs on the album. Some more meaningful lyrics than some other songs may have. Also features some French, which is nice.
    Mean Love - Again a song with more of a story to tell. Really nice instrumentation, like most songs on the album. I guess the instrumentation is the main selling point of this album, because it’s really nice on pretty much every song.
    Hold Tight - An interesting bassline again, which the song kind of builds around. A good groovy song.
    Galley Boys - Some country influences in this one. Interesting. It seems Sinkane is one who will mix anything with everything if it suits him. To me that is one of the really appealing qualities of this album. A very nice relaxed song.
    Son - The lyrics finally get to take center stage. Sinkane deals with his roots, which are all over the world, on this one. He’s far away from where his family comes from, which has to be difficult. He also deals with the expectations of his parents, I guess they may have been demanding.
    Omdurman - A nice closer which sounds quite a lot like the rest of the album, but is a bit more upbeat with a psychadelic touch.
  9. Here's parts of an interview with Sinkane, or Ahmed Gallab, which is his actual name, not his stage/band name.

    [...]"I love touring. I'm at my happiest when I'm on tour," insists singer/multi-instrumentalist Ahmed Gallab. "It suits me. I've never really lived in one place for longer than four or five years, I like being on the move. I come from a pretty nomadic family, I guess."[...]

    [...] Ahmed was born in London but spent the first five years of his life living in Sudan with his parents and two younger sisters. His father, Abdullahi Gallab – a journalist and, later on, politician – was exiled from the country following an Islamist-led military coup of the state in 1989. The family were forced to swiftly relocate; an old friend reached out and the Gallabs moved to Utah. "I was the only black kid and only Muslim in my school in Provo, it was a homogenous Mormon culture. But I was the skateboarder who listened to punk, was into hardcore, the DIY scene." By the time Ahmed was in college in Ohio, where he studied strategic communications and Arabic, he began to feel even more of an outsider. "I learned a lot from [the DIY and hardcore] community but it was never really home. I got chastised by fellow African Americans. an Oreo cookie; it was, 'Oh you're black but you listen to white music?' I was considered weird, people didn't get me." Understating the experience, he simply adds, "It was trying".

    Both of his parents are college professors in the States, specialising in Middle Eastern politics and sociology, respectively. "My dad had to move to a whole new country and set up again in his 40s," he recalls. "I can't imagine what that life is like. It's only now, for the first time in my life, my parents are finally comfortable." Like most exiles, the Gallabs retained a fierce, romanticised pride for their Sudanese heritage and, with the exception of his dad, would summer for three months in Sudan every year when Ahmed was growing up. [...]
  10. And here we go:

    The Heavy - The House That Dirt Built


    Perhaps an obvious choice from me if you know me well enough. I almost picked it last time around, but decided to go for Modest Mouse instead. I discovered these guys back in 2010 when "Short Change Hero" was used as the intro for a TV show. I instantly knew that I had to check them out, so I got this album and was impressed from start to finish. In 2012 they released their third album, The Glorious Dead and that had just about the same impact on me. I saw them live in November 2012 in support of the third album and they blew me away. I cant wait to see them again once their fourth album arrives, everything they do just seems to be golden (in my opinion). Their musical style on Wiki is described as: a mix of guitar-heavy neo soul and rock using crunchy guitar, funky horns, and raspy James Brown-like vocals. What's not to like?

    Listen:
    Spotify
    YouTube
    musicmp3.ru

    Enjoy
  11. I'm in - always wanted to check them out properly. I only know Short Change and another catchy number you posted on the Listening topic a good while ago (according to youtube's thumbnails it might be How You Like Me Now, but I can't check it out now). I'm sure it's a good choice Can't wait to check it out - but my review might have to wait a bit as I'm going to be super busy in the upcoming days!
  12. Frank Turner - England Keep My Bones

    Eulogy - holy fuck. What an intro....goes from that nice calm procession sound to this all-out balls-to-the-wall kicker. AT LEAST I FUCKING TRIED!!! Wow.

    Peggy Sang The Blues - I like this one. Just a great sort of song to chill with. The drums in this; heavy and the sort of shouted vocals. Love this one. I hope the whole album continues like this; he's on to something good.

    I Still Believe - have we gone a bit quieter? It was rock and roll, and sure it was. Why do I get the feeling this album is sort of an ode to a whole bunch of folks, almost like a speech up in front of Buckingham Palace. Another rocker - and the audience chants are something else. Then he overdrives the guitar and HARMONICA COMES IN. FUCK YES. FFFUUUUCCKKK YES.

    Rivers - everything louder than everything else; well not for this one. Sort of a comedown from the other three loud tracks. Is this one autobiographical or what, reminds me of something a busker would come up with.

    I Am Disappeared - as already noted, it's about normal everyday life. While everyday life is mundane, if it wasn't for the fact this album is heavy, it's just not that exciting a song. Unfortunately. Not really one I can be bothered with hearing again unless listening to the whole album in a row. That said, the vocal shouts and piano at the end I like a lot, so there's one plus for ye.

    English Curse - what an interesting song. A capella; well not even a song, more a bit of written story. There's something about this; maybe the 'down-to-earthness' of it all is what appeals to me. Great interlude - angry, dark, deep and historic; brilliance.

    One Foot Before The Other - quiet start...least I thought it was going to be a quiet song; not so! I like there were two quiet songs in a row then brings up the album louder than before. Certainly interesting to predict an event that probably won't occur for a while, but why not...love the heavy guitars and drums, oh and the crowd chants again. Then we get the quiet electric guitar with the synths (at least I think they are) exploding into something else. FUCKING AWESOME.

    Short is If Ever I Stray, an apology to numerous folks. It's good but doesn't seem to hold my attention the way most other songs have; until it gets heavy, that is. Great song to sing along with.

    Wessex Boy - everything about where you came from molded into a song. What I like about this one it shows the album is 'live', that is it is how it was recorded. Beautiful instrumentation about how 'we' came to be. Or rather, how FT came to be. Growth, understanding, getting it and experiencing it. Genius.

    Nights Become Days - sad acoustic song about how someone was lost, or has departed. Almost bought tears to my eyes as it just has a beautiful sound and some truly poetic words. The strings and guitar; 'you can start fresh tomorrow'. How we all wish. How anyone wishes. Thank you.

    Redemption - a bit more light than the last song. To me, it sounds like how he's left it all behind and wants to be understood for what he chose to do. Starts off almost sorrowfully, getting heavier and heavier with the thought of 'understand it and I regret it'. Then he hits it with this line: 'But I know in the end redemption is mine and mine alone...' and that does it for me. Incredible.

    Atheism, eh? Glory Hallelujah. 'In all the wondrous things mere mortals can achieve', does it take the belief of a higher being to believe this....we're who we are and believing in that higher power doesn't mean you're any better or worse. Celebrate your belief (or non-belief). That's what this song does for me. 'We're all in this together'....no truer words spoken. Love how it takes off sonically with the happiness of this realisation and discovery. Brilliant ending.


    In summary: this is a piece OF ABSOLUTE MASTERY - incredible words, brilliant instrumentation and just everything, even with the two lesser (not bad by any means) songs. Brilliant. 9 out of 10. Clap your hands, alright.
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U2start is run by fans for fans. Help us reduce personal costs. Consider to make a donation to support us.
U2start is run by fans for fans. Help us reduce personal costs. Consider to make a donation to support us.
U2start is run by fans for fans. Help us reduce personal costs. Consider to make a donation to support us.