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Melody James


Country of origin:

Australia

Type of music generally:

Split between pop and folk, with the pop predominating somewhat.

Status:

Most recent release, blue dawn rising (2000)

See also:

Currently no web presence (01/09)

Comparisons:

None immediately obvious to me. (mapravat@prairienet.org)

Covers/own material:

Mostly own, occasional co-writing

General comments:

See album comments below.

Recommended first album:

blue dawn rising is her debut cd

Recordings:

blue dawn rising (2000)

blue dawn rising

Release info:

2000—Tall Poppet Records—TPR 201 DAD

Availability:

Unknown

Ecto priority:

Low, I think, at this point. Hopefully it will rise over time. (mapravat@prairienet.org)

Group members:

Melody James—vocals, backing vocals, tin whistle

Guest artists:

Hans Meinig—guitars, bass, piano, vocals, percussion, claps, guitar synthesiser
Aaron Wales, Steve Lane—backing vocals on 1 track
Colin Thompson—drums on 4 tracks
Chris Zelno, ting on 1 track
Ruby James—bells on 1 track

Produced by:

Melody James and Hans Meinig

Comments:

Before there was a Tori Amos, there was a Y Kant Tori Read. To me, this album illustrates why it's important to remember things like that. Not every superb artist had a superb first album. James' first album is actually much better than Tori's was (which, in turn, was not quite as bad as many people think); but she still has some distance to go before she reaches the A-list.
     This album is very pleasant listening. But I found much of the music rather bland, and I didn't detect a lot of intellectual depth in most of the lyrics. For all that, James strikes me as an artist with potential, an artist still on the learning curve. I saw sparks of imagination in the lyrics of the "Clouds" track; and the music for "Live With Me and Be My Love" and the Celtic-flavored "Health" are very nice indeed.
     James should be encouraged to keep at it. Her artistic development will be worth tracking. Here's hoping for a favorable report in the long run. (mapravat@prairienet.org)


Thanks to Mitch Pravatiner for work on this entry.

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DISCLAIMER: Comments and reviews in the Ectophiles' Guide are excerpted from the ecto mailing list or volunteered by members of the list. They are the opinions of music enthusiasts, not professional music critics.

Entry last updated 2009-01-16 21:04:12.
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