Monday Music Monkey Review

 Jan Smosarski - Red Lights EP

Hello my bitches I am back, sorry for the no post last week. I was listening to all this fantastic new music that I have been getting from artists and bands from twitter, man they are fantastic, I can't believe the talent from up and coming artist that are out there at the moment.
Which brings me to this guy his name is Jan Smosarski and his new EP "Red Lights" which I purchased online all by myself. It does mean that I burn it to CD upon purchase (this little monkey always pays for music to help support artists!) The CD then goes into my massive collection, anyway I digress let's get into the album shall we?
 The EP kicks off with the killer track and title track "Red Lights" man what can I say right from the amazing guitar intro and his voice so soulful and so just fucking beautiful, man this guy has an awesome voice, he has one of those voices you never tire of listening too. The song is brilliant and the song-writing is first class. I especially love how his voice really suits the paired back instruments, I would love to see him playing live as this song has so much emotion and soul, I love this song and it has been on heavy rotation since I bought it! (It is very catchy and you will find yourself singing it everywhere!)

We then move onto the the next track "You Were My Sun" what a song, it's a lament but what a lament it is, I love his voice in this song the lyrics and the way he makes the guitar seem to talk is superb! It starts with guitar that sets the mood for something quite passionate and when the vocals kick in they convey such an emotion that it pulls you into the song - a rare feat for any artist, but Jan Smosarski does it with such ease, what a legend! I love the ending in this song!

The last track on the EP is the track "Fly" man can it get any better! This song is unreal, I love it, the music and lyrics are awesome, and his voice, man this song is a killer song and one of my favourites, I especially love the guitar work, it compliments the song so perfectly and becomes a part of the song, in way that I haven't heard in a long-time, it reminded of Led Zeppelin! What a great way to end the EP.

All up I give this EP 4 and half shots of whiskey! The only fault I can find is that it's not long enough, I so wanted to hear more! I love this album it's the work of a truly accomplished singer, song-writer and true musician! I love how he can move you with words and music like only a true artist can! The production of this album is first -class, sometimes the greatest gift a singer can give us is to pair everything back so that everything shines and it is done to great effect on this EP, it's not what you put in, it's what you leave out that makes it fucking brilliant! 

I highly recommend you go and get this album I got it from here
you can check him out here
Till next week Peace out my bitches!

Monday Music Monkey Review

 

Tori Amos - Under The Pink

Hello my bitches, I am back for another week! I trust you all had a great weekend, I sure did. I am loving watching that new MTV Dance channel and eating Pork Crackles OMG the best but that's enough about me, today I am reviewing one of my guilty pleasures Tori Amos and my favourite album of hers Under The Pink. Under the Pink was Tori Amos's second album and was released in january 1994.
So let's get into it shall we.

The album kicks off with the track "Pretty Good Year" starts with an awesome piano intro and Tori's amazing voice, she has such a wonderful voice, one that can convey emotion so easily, which is a rare talent. towards the end of the song her voice becomes so powerful making this song the perfect start to the album.

We then move onto the next track "God" which is completely different, a real rock guitar song although it seems after the soft start that I put in another album, this song is most notable for its controversial lyrics like this line for example "God sometimes you just don't come through/do you need a woman to look after you?"Cue christians up in arms but what the hell, a good song is a good song. I do love this song, very intense. 

"Bells for Her" is the next track and it is a soft piano based song, like the first one, again i love the vocal ability that Tori Amos possesses, she can go from a soft whisper to a foghorn at a moments notice. This song is very hauntingly beautiful and compliments her amazing piano playing.

The next track is "Past the Mission" it launches straight into her singing, has a very pop feel to it at the start and then it seems to change immediately which makes it a bit schizophrenic moving from pop to piano based ballad, but it is just so Tori. The next song is "Baker Baker" and this is a soft and beautiful piano ballad with her soft and sensuous voice telling a beautiful story.

"The Wrong Band" is the next song and this is so cool, so different and has a real cabaret feel to it which is fucking awesome.I love it, something about it is makes it so seriously cool, I think it's the piano which gives it an almost carnival feel. The next track is "The Waitress" is a bit experimental with it's sound, the lyrics are first class, they tell an awesome story of a woman who hates on other women but is nice as fuck to men. love the sound, it goes from dirty to soft and beautiful in the the blink of an eye.

We then move onto "Cornflake Girl"  which is my all time favourite Tori Amos song, I love the start the instruments from the drums and piano, to the guitar are first class, the lyrics are potent, this is an amazing song the reason I love it is because its just so schizophrenic which I absolutely love! Why to the same old formula top 40 shit when you can do whatever the fuck you want because it's your fucking song, Go Tori!

We then move onto the track "Icicle" which is right up Redi 25's alley, a song about masturbating to the image of Christ, whatever turns you on I guess, the start of this song is so cool, just piano and nothing else, you actually think it's an instrumental, the lyrics kick in about the 2 minute mark worth persisting though just to hear the lyrics like this ''When my hand touches myself I can finally rest my head, and when they say 'take of his body' I think I'll take from mine instead.'' Cue christians up in arms.

"Cloud on My Tongue" is a softer more achingly beautiful song,so hauntingly beautiful, that voice of hers, really shines, I love it it's here that Tori's voice really sits well, this is Tori at her best. The next song is "Space Dog" which has an awesome drum beat intro and her voice again shines with that raw power she is known for, I love how it moves in an out of soft and sweet to loud and powerful.I still have no idea what this song is about though.

The last song is " Yes Anastasia" it is like a classic masterpiece full of subtle moments that move in and out lurching from soft to loud and raw. The song is a tale of tragedy and lament and clocking it at around nine minutes is epic but you know what it works and the piano playing makes it seem like it belongs in the past. Seriously cool song, especially when the strings kick in and give it a much needed boost, the lyrics paint a hauntingly beautiful picture of a tragic story.

All up I give this album 4 shots of whiskey out of 5, I do recommend this album and it should be in your collection. It's intense, playful, warm, fiery a real juxtapoz that just works,do yourself and your collection a favour and add it now, you won't be disappointed.That's it from me this week and until next Monday
Peace out my bitches!