Cabin Essence Blog

A while back I reviewed Adam Marsland and his band’s live concert of Dennis and Carl songs. Now he has recently (August 18) released this double CD of original songs, called Go West, and like the State of California, where the band hails, this record has great ambition and variety.

Backed with an ace band, the record moves stylistically from straight rock workouts (Cut And Run, This Is Hard), 8os synthpop pastiched (I Don’t Wanna Dance With You) and radio-friendly classic rock songs such as Burn Down The World.  For me (and remember I’m a softie at heart), the highlights are where the classic Californian spirit of heartache and harmony are invoked on songs like the title track, Fade Away, Grateful For The Rain, My Pain and Trains (how can you not love a song about Trains!)

This is a big project, but like the songs of Dennis and Carl, Adam Marsland and his band have pulled it off.  You can get it  here  at Amazon.

Maxi Dunn has been writing songs since she was fourteen and joined her first band in 1990. However, Welcome To Soonville is her first full-length album, and it has certainly been worth the wait. Prompted by a tumultous year of personal events, Maxi found the inspiration to complete what feels like a very personal set of songs, and this makes the package a lot more powerful. 

Using musical support from Midlands producer and musician Pete Hackett and also Spanish Producers and power pop duo Cokeroque, the album has a very full pop-oriented sound. Maxi’s vocals are powerful and match the full pop sound. Standouts include the rollicking opener How Was I To Know?, the pop-friendly High As A Kite and the epic title track which builds from a gentle acoustic trickle to an epic orchestral rush examining mixed emotions of hope and dashed expectations.

You can read more about Maxi and the album at her website, and the album is available for pre-orders now with a signed photograph.  It will be available on ITunes and Amazon from October 12, and I recommend you go out and get this – you’ll be getting great music and supporting an independent artist who has realised her dreams of putting together a special debut.

Anny Celsi is part of the extended family of Los Angeles musicians with extensive links to Brian Wilson. Indeed, her latest album is produced by Nelson Bragg, and Anny and Nelson have been touring Europe together. I reviewed her first album a few years back, and she has now released her second full-length album, Tangle-Free World.

The new album is a winner and should appeal to a wide range of fans – it should be essential listening for Brian Wilson fans as well fans of Nelson Bragg’s smooth Day Into Night.  There is a lot of variety on the album, but also a lot of care on each track- some highlights include the classic country pop of First Love Freezes, the soulfully brilliant Now You Can Hurt Me, and the wonderful pop sounds of Own Sweet Time. Nelson Bragg shares vocals on the cover of Lee Hazelwood’s Some Velvet Morning, while the other cover Sally Go Round The Roses features Evie Sands. My personal favorite is the aching closer Paper Umbrella which is really lovely and deserves a lot more exposure.

Nelson Bragg brings in some of the smooth West Coast production touches of his own solo, but there is also a great sense of the Wrecking Crew sound of Brian Wilson’s most famous works. Overall, there is genuine quality here and it comes with my highest recommendation. You can get it at the German website www.taxim.com and there will be a USA release on 25 September 2009.

You have already probably noticed that I have been more excited about the upcoming Prefab Sprout album, Let’s Change The World With Music, than anything since Brian Wilson’s SMiLE and That Lucky Old Sun. And I’ve already alluded to the connections with SMiLE that go beyond the liner notes on the Prefab album basically being an essay on SMiLE. So I’ve building myself up for this,  and I’m happy to report that the new album is simply brilliant.

Although the wait hasn’t been anything as long as SMiLE, the album has been sitting in the vaults since 1993 -basically the reason for the non-release was probably a mixture of Paddy McAloon’s own lack of confidence combined with the record company baulking at an album with seemingly too much spiritual content for the cynical world of 1993.

So it has finally been released in 2009, and this world today badly needs an album about the redemptive power of music. The basis hypothesis of this album is that music is God’s voice and the vehicle to find redemption in the madness of daily life on a mixed-up planet. The core of the album is four outstanding tracks, each with “music” in the title.  Let There Be Music sets the agenda, basically establishing music as God’s gift to a mixed-up world; it is a melodic piece but with house and hip-hop influences that indicate McAloon’s openness to many influences. I Love Music speaks for itself and has an insistent, wonderful rhythym and many surprising touches. Music Is  A Princess is simply gorgeous, while Sweet Gospel Music combines a catchy backing track with a melody that can only be described as transcendental.

There is a lot more; Earth:The Story So Far and Ride are the most specifically religious songs on the album, and take the musical redemption theme further to contemplate the deeper mysteries of life. But if you feared any sort of hellfire and brimstone preaching, these are thoughtful tracks with an inclusive theology and asking more questions than answers.

God Watch Over You is another catchy but deep song with a universal sentiment, while Last Of The Great Romantics and Meet The New Mozart both hint at the unappreciated outsider genius. Falling In Love is another track with a universal theme that we can all appreciate, while the closing Angel Of Love is aching and tender. This is truly one album with no dud tracks.

The album is actually the 1992 demos with a bit of modern tweaking, but the arrangements are very full -if there is one quibble  some may have, it may be the lack of real instrumentation, but this is very minor as the overall sense is that this is a now a fully-realised project.

McAloon laments in the liner notes that there is no Good Vibrations on the album. He is right in that there will almost certainly be no worldwide smashes on the album, but the album does have songs that should be standards in any era, and he has enriched music itself with this album – a worthy compliment to this tribute to the muse of music.

You can get a lot more info at the best Prefab fan site out there and grab your copy at Amazon. But don’t miss out on this – if it doesn’t change your life, it will be at least be a solace and companion that won’t let you down.