View Poll Results: Please give the album a score out of ten

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Thread: Album Club - Week 116: 22.10.2013: Alela Diane - To Be Still

  1. #1
    Join Date: Feb 2013

    Location: Land of the Lilac Curtains, UK

    Posts: 286
    I'm Curator.

    Default Album Club - Week 116: 22.10.2013: Alela Diane - To Be Still

    This week we have the first offering from another new member of Album Club - this one's from Dave (jollyfix)
    Thanks Dave!



    Alela Diane - To Be Still (2009)





    To Be Still, her second release. I have found myself listening to this again recently. When i first bought the CD, there were a few tracks i liked, but after a short time, i liked the whole CD.
    Like her contemporaries ( Mariee Sioux, Marissa Nadler, alina Hardin etc), i tend to play her recordings when i fancy something different from 'up tempo' type of music.

    Alela Diane Wikipage
    Album review


  2. #2
    synsei Guest

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    I listened to this last night and came away with very mixed feelings. Miss Diane has an interesting voice which I enjoyed very much, there were also other elements on this album which I enjoyed in isolation, however as a whole it has a somewhat muddled and inconsistent quality. To use a metaphor, it was like being served a gourmet meal which has been prepared with the finest ingredients by someone who has never cooked before. There are points on this album where the individual musicians seem to be doing their own thing and are completely oblivious to what is going on around them. There's one track, and I forget which now, where the drummer is completely out of step with the tracks natural rhythm, and it was at this point that I decided enough was enough. Another curious thing is that from the outset the band appear to have been squashed between the centre point in the sounstage and the right hand speaker, with the occasional strummed guitar or tomtom popping out to say 'HOWDY!!!' from the left speaker. This just added to the unsettling experience for me. As a result I have given this a score of 4/10 and offer this wee bit of advice to the sound engineer concerned; "Stay off the Jack Daniels until you have finished the job!"
    Last edited by synsei; 22-10-2013 at 21:28.

  3. #3
    Join Date: Feb 2008

    Location: Berkshire

    Posts: 2,739
    I'm Paul.

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    Thanks for introducing this album Dave but I am not a fan I am afraid. Her voice just grates on me so therefore I am afraid I give it a 3/10.

    Paul.
    Streamer: NovaFidelity X40, Turntable: Rega RP3, Arm: Rega RB303, Cartridge: Audio Technica AT120E, Amp: Belles Aria, Loudspeakers: Quadral Aurum Montan VIII, Rack: Creaktiv Trend 1, Cables: Beresford, Chord, Coherent, MCRU, Rega, TCI.

  4. #4
    Audio Al is offline Pishanto Specialist & Super-Daftee
    Join Date: May 2012

    Location: Dagenham Essex

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    I'm Allen.

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    Not for me either sorry

    sounds like it needs winding up to speed and the yodel in the voice

    I also gave it 3
    [

  5. #5
    Join Date: May 2008

    Location: Cricklewood

    Posts: 9,074
    I'm ILOB.

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    I am with Paul on this around the vocals but I give it another listen before voting
    Thanks for sharing
    Loves anything from Pain of Salvation to Jeff Buckley to Django to Sarasate to Surinder Sandhu to Shawn Lane to Nick Drake to Rush to Beth Hart to Kate Bush to Rodrigo Y Gabriela to The Hellecasters to Dark Sanctury to Ben Harper to Karicus to Dream Theater to Zero Hour to Al DiMeola to Larry Carlton to Derek Trucks to Govt Mule to?

    Humour: One of the few things worth taking seriously

  6. #6
    Join Date: Mar 2012

    Location: London and Somerset

    Posts: 2,097
    I'm Dave.

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    Interesting comments about her voice, some of my mates have said the same thing, but some like her voice. Looks like she has that Marmite quality. I have to say fall into the like camp, and as i have said it did take me a while to get into this LP. There were a few tracks i liked, most i didn't, but after some time i liked them all.
    I have never really thought about the mix of the record and will pay more attention to it on the next play.
    Kraken, Saturn, Emotion, Flying V Rocket, Planets.

  7. #7
    Join Date: Nov 2010

    Location: Cheshire

    Posts: 1,180
    I'm Barry.

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    Anybody who has noted my comments and voting on female artists will be expecting the normal negative post and 0-2/10 score, some of the zero's would have been negative integers btw.
    But here in this album I hear a voice I like in fact its quite addictive*, and that is before I have got to know the tunes. There is something of a hippy dreamy English folk vibe going on, I just know when something grabs me and this does and I'm going to give it 8/10
    I might even buy it


    edit * hypnotic was the word

  8. #8
    Join Date: Feb 2011

    Location: South Wales

    Posts: 7,487
    I'm the'greatunwashed'.

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    I really like Alela and have her latest album (About Farewell), but I'm not that familiar with this one, but I'm sure it will be to my liking.

    This is from the album I have and how I discovered her, I think its wonderful. Good choice Dave and I'll vote after hearing it a few times.
    I do find some of the comments here amusing too . . . X-Factor this isn't, this is real singer/songwriting

    "People will hear what you tell them to hear" - Thomas Edison

  9. #9
    Join Date: Mar 2012

    Location: London and Somerset

    Posts: 2,097
    I'm Dave.

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    I have not heard ' About Farewell ' yet, but i have her other LPs. The others i like and find them all to be different to each other, 'To Be Still' has a country feel, due to the slide guitar amongst other things, the Pirates Gospel very raw sounding but some great songs. Her last release ' To Begin', more of a band, rather than just her and her family.Some great songs on that LP too, but i find the opening of the title track ( to begin) very similar to Supertramps 'dreamer'.



    enough of her other stuff, back on track with 'To Be Still'.......
    Kraken, Saturn, Emotion, Flying V Rocket, Planets.

  10. #10
    Join Date: Dec 2012

    Location: Auld Reekie

    Posts: 483
    I'm Lawrence.

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    I'm not familiar with this artist, but I have been listening to the album this evening and really enjoying it. In fact I am on my second way through.

    Tatted Lace is playing at the moment - I love the way it is so effortless and unpretentious. I find the vocals very appealing and enjoy the timbre of AD's voice. I've not been put off by the recording, but that might be due to the fact that I have the volume quite low the vocals and lead guitar are shining through.

    This is a nice discovery for me and I'll definitely give some of the other albums a go.

    I voted 9/10. Thank you for sharing.

    Lawrence

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