Anthony David’s ‘Red Clay Chronicles’ was one of last year’s strongest indie soul sets and the affable Georgian won many friends during his mini tour here at the back end of 2006. ‘Chronicles’, of course, was Anthony’s debut. His first full LP was this one – ‘3 Chords And The Truth’ which was never released in Europe – indeed even those trying to track it down from the States encountered some problems. Now the Dome people have rectified the situation by giving the gentle 15 tracker a full UK release. The set was originally recorded back in 2004 and in some ways it’s different to last year’s attention grabber. For a start, it’s much gentler (not that ‘Red Clay Chronicles’ was mightily robust). This one has a gentle folk-soul feel to it and it would be easy to make comparisons with Terry Callier and Bill Withers. Like them, David’s style is intimate – almost conversational – an atmosphere boosted by a largely acoustic approach to the instrumentation. The opener, ‘Yes’ is possibly the brightest track (echoes of his pal India Airie) though ‘Spittin’ Game’ has it own bluesy appeal. Interestingly they’re the two tracks that have been chosen to be remixed and fleshed out. ‘Spittin’ Game’ becomes almost funky (echoes of Withers' ‘Use Me’) but I don’t think that the Salah Ananse remix of ‘Yes’ improves on the original. There’s one brand new track too. ‘Miss U’ is loose and lithe and features slinky harmony work from Slick.
Showing posts with label Dome. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dome. Show all posts
Thursday, 5 February 2009
Anthony David - 3 Chords And The Truth - Dome
Anthony David’s ‘Red Clay Chronicles’ was one of last year’s strongest indie soul sets and the affable Georgian won many friends during his mini tour here at the back end of 2006. ‘Chronicles’, of course, was Anthony’s debut. His first full LP was this one – ‘3 Chords And The Truth’ which was never released in Europe – indeed even those trying to track it down from the States encountered some problems. Now the Dome people have rectified the situation by giving the gentle 15 tracker a full UK release. The set was originally recorded back in 2004 and in some ways it’s different to last year’s attention grabber. For a start, it’s much gentler (not that ‘Red Clay Chronicles’ was mightily robust). This one has a gentle folk-soul feel to it and it would be easy to make comparisons with Terry Callier and Bill Withers. Like them, David’s style is intimate – almost conversational – an atmosphere boosted by a largely acoustic approach to the instrumentation. The opener, ‘Yes’ is possibly the brightest track (echoes of his pal India Airie) though ‘Spittin’ Game’ has it own bluesy appeal. Interestingly they’re the two tracks that have been chosen to be remixed and fleshed out. ‘Spittin’ Game’ becomes almost funky (echoes of Withers' ‘Use Me’) but I don’t think that the Salah Ananse remix of ‘Yes’ improves on the original. There’s one brand new track too. ‘Miss U’ is loose and lithe and features slinky harmony work from Slick.
Donnie - The Daily News - Dome
Donnie burst through with ‘The Colored Section’ and though the album was a steady seller, no one pretended it was an easy lesson. Back now with ‘The Daily News’, the listenings even harder. With song titles like ‘9/11’, ‘Suicide’ and ‘The Atlanta Child Murders’ you wouldn’t expect an easy ride would you? Well you don’t get one. Donnie’s lyrics throughout are edgy, provocative and even aggressive (have a listen to the ‘hidden’ track ‘Blue Eyed Soul’); the melodies often seem at odds with the sentiment – but that only adds to the tension while Steve Harvey’s production is right on the edge – innovative and challenging. Put it all together and you’ve got real modern soul – many miles away from the cheery sound we’ve come to expect from the Dome label. Musically ‘The Daily News’ is hard to pigeon-hole. Like all great soul, here you’ll find elements of jazz. blues, gospel, hip hop and old school soul. In places (like ‘Suicide’ and ‘Mason-Dixon Line’) you’ll be reminded of Stevie Wonder at his peak. Indeed if this was a Stevie album it would be hailed over the place – as it, because Donnie’s not a major player, the big media outlets choose to ignore him –but that’s another story. Highlights? Well there’s plenty and what you choose will depend on your mood at the time. I like ‘9/11 – with a pretty melody it makes the point that no matter your beliefs, the events of that day affected us all; the harmonica work on ‘If I Were You’ is a delight – it comes with a great radio friendly re-mix too – but like I said will it ever get played? Doubt it – but that’s the mainstream’s loss. Soul people can savour the secret.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
