More of wot I have heard…

Say I am You by The Weepies

The Weepies were another ‘recommendation’ in a similar vein to the other album I bought. They also have a similar sound and feel to them. Lovely.

‘Since they met in a Cambridge folk club 9 years ago, The Weepies have progressed from an indie duo playing house concerts, to ranks on the Billboard Charts. Though they now have sales in the hundreds of thousands, the Weepies have kept a surprisingly low profile; they haven’t toured at all since 2006.’


Goodnight by William Fitzsimmons

This was an album ‘recommended’ by a well known online retailer that I am glad I took a gamble on. It has a lovely gentle melancholic vibe that is very seductive.

‘William Fitzsimmons is one of the oddest people you will ever meet. Born the youngest child of two blind parents, William was raised in the outskirts of the steel city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Due to the family's inability to communicate through normal visual means, William's childhood home was filled with a myriad of sounds to replace what eyes could not see. The house was suffused with pianos, guitars, trombones, talking birds, classical records, family sing-a-longs, bedtime stories, and the bellowing of a pipe organ, which his father built into the house with his own hands. When his father's orchestral records were not resonating through the walls, his mother would educate him on the folk stylings of James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, and Simon & Garfunkel. By the completion of his youth and schooling, Fitzsimmons had become well-versed at a variety of instruments, at the minor expense of social standing, interactional skills, and a knowledge of proper shaving technique.’


ABCDEFG by Chumbawamba

This is another top album from these politically sensitive musicians and artists. You can let the beautiful sounds wash over you or allow yourself to be drawn into the deeper underling messages in the lyrics, either way it is equally rewording.

‘Seven letters to hint at what Chumbawamba have spent their adult lives doing: fashioning something weird, funny, eccentric and challenging from a seven-note Do-re-mi of possibilities. Or by another name, music.

This, the band’s 17th album, is another concept album (‘concept’ as in ‘idea’. Above all, ideas is what Chumbawamba thrive on), an album full of ideas specifically about music. Music both good and bad, music celebrated and music ridiculed.’


The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain

I defy anyone not to watch this group perform and come out smiling like a loon. We were not too sure what to expect, though the few interviews and performances on the radio gave us a clue to their gentle subversive nature. We saw them at the local halls and were captivated from the first note through to the last. So much that we bought one of their albums which has been on high rotation at home. If they appear near you (and they are tour extensively through the world) then make sure you go and see them – you won’t be disappointed (unless you were expecting a George Formby concert).

‘The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain is a group of all-singing, all-strumming Ukulele players, using instruments bought with loose change, which believes that all genres of music are available for reinterpretation, as long as they are played on the Ukulele.A concert by the Ukulele Orchestra is a funny, virtuosic, twanging, awesome, foot-stomping obituary of rock-n-roll and melodious light entertainment featuring only the “bonsai guitar” and a menagerie of voices in a collision of post-punk performance and toe-tapping oldies. There are no drums, pianos, backing tracks or banjos, no pitch shifters or electronic trickery. Only an astonishing revelation of the rich palette of orchestration afforded by ukuleles and singing (and a bit of whistling). Audiences have a good time with the Ukulele Orchestra. Going from Tchaikovsky to Nirvana via Otis Redding and Spaghetti Western soundtracks, the Orchestra takes us on “a world tour with only hand luggage” and gives the listener “One Plucking Thing After Another”.’


London Town by The Magic Theatre

From two of the original members of the indie band Ooberman comes a concept album with an intriguing story and wonderful ethereal tunes. Some tracks remind me of the delightful Black Box Recorder who also had a breathy female singer and are sadly no more a group.

The London Town album is very a lush and enveloping soundtrack to an entertaining story. The website has some interesting videos to accompany the tracks.

‘The album is a time-travel love story set in 1968 and 1888, where the young 60s hero falls through a hole in time in The Magic Theatre in the Old Victorian Steam fair, to find his one true love in 1880’s London’