Martin Newell has been writing '60s-influenced jangly pop gems for decades, and this is maybe the best example. It's a mid-tempo affair with a good beat and ringing guitars sounding like the Beatles' "Rain". Other faves: "Goodbye Dreaming Fields" and "She Rings the Changes". The CD is a compilation of his work, and includes a number of tracks by his '80s band the Cleaners From Venus, notably the protest classic "Living With Victoria Grey".
available on CD - The Wayward Genius of Martin Newell (Cherry Red)
A girl-group classic! It has a very interesting rhythm, which guitars, bass, piano, drum fills, and backing vocals all help to construct ... and then it changes completely within the bridge! The sound is lush, the lead vocal great and soulful. Even in its own genre this is a standout, so why it didn't become a hit is beyond me.
Lush, languid progressive new wave with synthesizers, from Vancouver, that seemed to arrive out of the blue in '82. They have a number of other good songs, my personal favourites are "Just Like You" and "Alien Time".
from Worlds Away available on CD - Worlds Away & Back (EMI)
27 Feb 03 ·Colinator: You like 'Just Like You', and so do I, so here are the lyrics:
Just Like You
She closed her eyes and spoke to me
Said 'If you could have seen the things that I have seen'
I've walked the desert of lost souls
Well the moon was late for me last night
But the dawn and I are still alive
She said 'Tell me things I want to hear
Now you're safe and sound and the coast is clear'
I saw her body move with her blue dress on
While the sun cut through venetian blinds
I was her last frontier when she said 'You're mine'
Chorus
We'll love until tomarrow
Chained to your heart I'll follow
And what you ask I'll do
Today I'm just like you
On razor edge you're falling
You're new ice age is calling
I know just what this means
Today you're just like me
I think I've gone too far this time
And I feel that I should change my point of view
Time fades like shadows in the sun
While I stand outside in the pouring rain
If I had the chance I'd do it all again
PS-There are some beggining lyrics not shown that appear only in the remix version, available on the compilation 'Worlds Away and Back'.
This wonderful record is the closest I've heard to an American Nick Drake. Very short and jazzy, acoustic guitar, vibraphone, impeccable white soul vocals... what more do you need? Good if you like Tim Buckley. That someone could be this good on their debut album is little short of incredible. Heroin victim Hardin's second album is even better.
from Tim Hardin available on CD - Tim Hardin 1/2 (Repertoire)
A majestic, dark, and glorious song. It has a horn in the background through most of it, and lovely strings interjecting at appropriate places. Actually it reminds me of Gary Puckett and the Union Gap's '67 classic "Woman Woman" crossed with the Walker Brothers. The weakness is in the lyrics, which weren't Rialto's strong point, but with music this wonderful, I for one can overlook that ...
