What he said. Couldn't have put it better myself. Has been in continual play since I downloaded it. This and the latest by Roger Klug are so far my favorites for '09. On Aug 21, 2009, at 9:52 AM, J&J Giddings wrote: > I can't remember if anyone mentioned this yet. > Let me get my bearings... > This is the best pop album ever...about cricket. > Neil Hannon from Divine Comedy and Thomas Walsh from Pugwash, > formed The Duckworth-Lewis Method(a complicated set of rulings used > to score weather shortened cricket games), and have created a > fantastic pop album flowing with lyrical genius and some of the > most interesting and beautiful pop songs I've heard since Spilt Milk. > There's plenty of harmonies and such, but it's the melodies and the > performances that will have you hitting the play button over and over, > The very start of the album is called "The Coin Toss" and it's > gorgeous. I haven't heard a song as short with as much movement and > emotion. The Beatles and ELO > and Pilot and Queen and, ahhhhhhhhhhh. > "The Age of Revolution" hits next with a great Sparks-esque groove > over a 30's sounding orchestra loop. Great song about the everyday > man taking up his bat and pads to play cricket even though he's not > part of the rich and sophisticated crowd who'd been the games > players for years. > "Gentleman and Players" starts with beautiful harpsichord and has a > very Left Banke feel. Some of the most compelling chords through > the chorus bring a lump to my throat. Fantastic song. "Gentlemen > and players play Sunday afternoon/Gentlemen and players play- > April, May, and June." > "The Sweet Spot" is a rocker : Gary Glitter meets Wings. A sultry > womens voice sighs "that's the sweet spot, hit the sweet spot" and > over pounding drums and synth bass. Not my favorite song, but it's > not all bad. > "Jiggery Pokery" is a whimsical-turn-of-the-previous-century- > sounding song. Mostly a piano and vocal song it's clever lyrics are > sung from the perspective of a batter against a bowler(pitcher), > and how he's fooled into swinging at a swerving, spinning ball. > It's based on a real play from a 1993 Test match(five day game) > resulting in it being called the "Pitch of the Century". I had no > interest in the game, but after a near record repeated listening by > my daughter(near 4), I became curious and wiki'd cricket and this > game in particular. It's a fun song, apparently, or my daughter > wouldn't be so enthralled. > "Mason on the Boundary" brings to mind XTC, Beatles, ELO, and The > Pearlfishers. Great harmonies and melody. Nice chiming 12-string > Ric licks. > "Rain Stops Play"-a short, whimsical instrumental that paints a > picture of a beautiful sunny day filled with people jostling about > holding tall glasses of refreshment having to stop for a bit while > the rain passes. > "Meeting Mr. Miandad" is a song about a famed cricket player > calling to the singers to come out to Pakistan to play and hang > out. It's the only shuffle on the record and it's a great song. > Beatles, Queen, ELO...ahh, you get the idea. The video is VERY > Monty Python should one care to visit youtube and look it up. > "The Nightwatchman" and it's slinky "Brother Louis-esque" strings > at the end really get me grooving. It also shows off Neil Hannons > great vocal range which can reach both sweet falsetto backup's and > a very low baritone/bass. A tad gloomy, but still wonderful. > "Flatten the Hay" is gorgeous acoustic pop. I know this is a bit of > an obscure reference but if reminds me of "Worthless Heart" and > "Russian Hill" by > Jellyfish. So calming. Under the right circumstances I tear up with > this one. > "Test Match Special" is one of my faves and it's fuzz-octave guitar > lick is XTC heaven. It rocks and grooves and is filled with clever > lyrics and breaks. > A smattering of 80's keyboards adds a Bowie/Robert Palmer feel. Not > in a bad way. Fantastic song that will stick in my head forever. > "The End of The Over" cleverly uses another term from cricket > dictionary sang over a 6-count and layered over luscious chords. > The whole album begs to be played as it should: straight through. > Sure I have favorites, but honestly, this is the first album from > an unknown band > that I've purchased and fell in love with in a very long time. > Sorry for the length, but I felt you had to know. It would be > uncomfortable to not spread the word on this, my NUMBER ONE album > of 2009. > > > > > > > -- > BEGIN-ANTISPAM-VOTING-LINKS > ------------------------------------------------------ > > Teach CanIt if this mail (ID 13179383) is spam: > Spam: http://canit.sitedesignworks.com/b.php? > i=13179383&m=e3a958102d2d&c=s > Not spam: http://canit.sitedesignworks.com/b.php? > i=13179383&m=e3a958102d2d&c=n > Forget vote: http://canit.sitedesignworks.com/b.php? > i=13179383&m=e3a958102d2d&c=f > ------------------------------------------------------ > END-ANTISPAM-VOTING-LINKS -- BEGIN-ANTISPAM-VOTING-LINKS ------------------------------------------------------ Teach CanIt if this mail (ID 13180302) is spam: Spam: http://canit.sitedesignworks.com/b.php?i=13180302&m=5e5e6b9c7fb3&c=s Not spam: http://canit.sitedesignworks.com/b.php?i=13180302&m=5e5e6b9c7fb3&c=n Forget vote: http://canit.sitedesignworks.com/b.php?i=13180302&m=5e5e6b9c7fb3&c=f ------------------------------------------------------ END-ANTISPAM-VOTING-LINKS