Kevin Bryan’s record reviews
Soupedup instrumentation and arrangements lend added impetus to fine tracks such as “Shine On Silver Sun” and “Hero & Heroine” itself but Cousins’ always rather pained vocals have withstood the passage of time much less happily,and the entire package suffers a little as a result.
“Latest & Greatest Driving Rock Anthems” (Union Square Music)Union Square’s latest 3CD set serves up a deliciously varied menu of rock and pop gems designed to help those long and tedious car journeys to slip by a little more painlessly . The musical content of this remarkably inexpensive anthology is certainly nothing if not eclectic, with a grand total of sixty tracks including contributions from such unlikely bedfellows as Lynyrd Skynyrd, Madness, Patti Smith and sixties hitmakers The Nashville Teens of “Tobacco Road” fame to name but a few .
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Hide AdGraham Parker & The Figgs, “Live at the FTC” (Wienerworld WNRD 2586) Graham Parker may seem to have slipped out of the public eye since relocating to the U.S.of A. in the early nineties, but this intense performer has actually turned out a string of excellent albums since making the momentous move. This fine live set was captured for posterity in 2010 as he hit the road to promote his latest album,”Imaginary Television,” and found Parker regaling his audience in Fairfield, Connecticut with a typically gritty and heartwarming show featuring a blend of new material and tried and tested crowd pleasers such as “White Honey,” “Life Gets Better” and the vitriolic “Mercury Poisoning.”