Josef Herman: Warsaw, Brussels, Glasgow, London, 1938-1944
Josef Herman's early, cathartic work should not be missed
Red Army Faction Blues
Red Army Faction Blues persuasively blends fact and fiction in its account of Germany's turbulent times from the '60s to the '80s, writes Paul Simon
Josef Herman: Warsaw, Brussels, Glasgow, London, 1938-1944
Josef Herman's early, cathartic work should not be missed
Robinson
England's Bleeding (Palawan Productions)
Sunday 07 March 2010
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EmailIn Andy Robinson's vision of England, children are pregnant and drunk, people work for peanuts and fathers are useless scraps of junk.
But it would be misleading to imply that the Worcester singer's debut album was a splenetic state-of-the-nation address.
The best of these 12 tracks examine universal matters through the wry lens of the personal.
The multi-instrumentalist seeks to "plagiarise your thoughts," as he sings on In A Whisper and create an immediacy through his literate lyrics and instrumentation.
Referencing abounds in the nod to the folk blues of Jack Johnson and Ryan Adams along with gypsy folk and Brit-folkers Mumford & Sons.
It's this familiarity that nonetheless stalls the album.
England's Bleeding is undeniably urbane and well constructed.
But there's a sense that Robinson has yet to find a distinctive musical identity as strong as his lyrical themes.
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