Hear The Track Here

David Katsikas alias Largo is an American musician I have reviewed a few times and liked very much what he has been doing, although my first listen to Let It Rain wasn't exactly complimentary. More to do with my intense dislike for rock ballads which this instantly put me in mind of, than anything Largo was doing wrong. He is, in fact, a very competent musician whose rock treatments - although distinctly American in sound - have always entertained me if not totally won me over. His last two tracks, for example, both recieved a Must Have rating from me because of the quality and presentation of the songs.

A musicians musician.

Now don't be asking me where you can hear this li'l beauty because I'm farged if if I know. I downloaded it when the list was first closed at the beginning of the month and he may well have said where it can be obtained but I just can't be bothered to root all that out - so you'll have to do it instead. About time you did something useful to earn your keep, I say. Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, the phantom track. Now doubt that Largo will be along to leave an URL of some kind, but in the meantime would you want to hear it?

As I say, I have in-built intolerance for rock ballads so I'm probably not the best person to ask. However, from a purely technical point of view, this track is well up the usual standards I have come to expect from this artist. Coming in at just under three minutes though, Let it Rain isn't going to be a hard listen whatever you may think about the genre. Largo is one Soundlick musician who can be relied on to make a listenable, entertaining track and Let It Rain is certainly that. Having lived with this track for a while, I have to admit that I did get to like it, despite my predjudice. It is, dare I say it, an excellent rock ballad.

Get your lighters at the ready. Highly Recommended Rock ballad.
Posted by Steve Gilmore at 10:34 PM 0 comments   
Labels: Free music mp3's, Unsigned music
Groyse Metsie - Mein Shtetala
Hear The Track Here

Last track up from Popspace this month is head honcho Chris Bishop's personal pick. If you follow these reviews, you will already know that this man has an incredible pair of ears - all his picks have been very, very tasty. Now if you are thinking that I have developed a bad case of dicks...dix...dikx.. that spelling problem some people have, I havent. Neither has the cat walked accross my keyboard. (Educational Ed: the term Gilmore is mangling is Dyslexia, a serious learning disability which should not be joked about. I'll spank him later) As our less parochial readers will have suspected, Groyse Metsie is an Isreali musician playing Jewish music he refers to as 'klezmer' along with more modern western instruments and electronica.

Sounds effective enough long before you put the needle on the record (as it were) but that is usually the case with Chris Bishop's picks anyway so nothing new there. Being a diehard World music fan I admit I was seriously looking forward to hearing this track, and it didn't let me down but there again I never expected it to. Similar, but in the vaguest way, to the way stringed instruments are treated in the Greek tradition, the musical style was instantly familiar although I suspect that people who don't really get this whole World music thing would be scratching their heads in bewilderment - and not just because the song is sung entirely in Hebrew either.

I am a very keen fan of the world music genre and I admit to some surprise that Mein Shtetala is billed as Freestyle whereas it's definitely world music through and through. Just something that may confuse listeners even more, but with the short attention span prevalent on the internet, every little helps when you are trying to attract an audience. People do tend to be swayed by labels after all, and in the case of Mein Shtetala that would be a real shame. Even though I understand not one word of Hebrew, I could have cared less. The clarity of the mix and the style of music more than made up for it, although after a while I felt the bass was a bit under-represented. That only becomes evident after you've heard it a few times and I've almost worn this bad boy out...

MUST HAVE World music. Traditional Hebrew song brought bang up to date.

Posted by Steve Gilmore at 10:31 PM 0 comments   
Labels: Free music mp3's, Unsigned music

This is about the fourth or fifth Largo track to come my way this year, and believe me this is no hardship either to listen to or review. At least two of his previous tracks recieved a Must Have rating from me and if you are presently thinking that is pretty normal because I always seem to like the older musicians around, you would be right. There is nothing better, to my ears, than a seasoned, experienced musician; the quality of the music always speaks fror itself. Again if you think I am trying to justify my enormous bias, I would say yes but I would also point you to other reviewers who have given equally glowing reviews of his work. Oh and btw, one of those Must Have tracks was a ballad and if that fact doesn't stop your whinging and moaning maybe this fist in your face will do the job...

Now, where was I...?

Ah yes experience. Even the most cursory listen to this track will show you that This Morning is a finely crafted peice of music, whatever your own personal taste. So, to my eternal shame and the second time this artist has inflicted this on me, I have spent the past few days cavorting around the place accompanied by a willowy weepie - yet another ballad. Not just a ballad mind, a ballad about lurve and if that isn't poison to me from the get go it has to be a very special artist indeed to turn my philistine heart.

Take, for example, ol' Four Eyes (Ed: I think he is referring to Elton John) of which this track most strongly reminds me; a classic songwriter whose touch with a ballad is nothing short of miraculous; nobody else could have carried off that whole Candle In the Wind thing. The reason I wax lyrical about Reg (Ed: Elton again, his real name this time) is because he is a song craftsman, as is Largo. The arrangement, performance and production on this track is absolutely spot on and even though I am dragged kicking and screaming to the verdict it simply has to be said that this is a beautiful peice of work by anyones light.

MUST HAVE ballad (curse that man!, My rep is ruined forever)
Posted by Steve Gilmore at 12:53 AM 0 comments   
Labels: Free music mp3's, Unsigned music