The Peach Tree - I'm Sorry (The Turning)
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In real life I am a very agreeable chap, who pretty much takes people as they come. The same just can't be true of the internet and, like most people, I am quite cautious about what I say and do - but for one instance. When I am asked to review people's tracks, I don't believe in being agreeable or anything else, I believe in saying what you mean and meaning what you say. Angus Maiden (aka The Peach Tree) knows this about me, as he has found out a time or two that I will say what I think. It doesn't mean I don't find what Angus does rubbish, far from it. Some of his tracks I really like but we do have a bit of an up and down process going on. It may well, of course, have to do with my mood at the time of listening too, which is why I stretch the listening process over a couple of days to be sure of what I think.
I'm Sorry (The Turning) is this months Peach Tree track in which (and I quote) 'Our narrator further ruminates on the guilt of lust, and woes at the subsequent "turning" '. Now obviously it all means something and is part of (I think) an album (Lift The Black Veil), a concept album about vampires. Lets get the tension over right quick by stating that I do like this track although its not without its faults, as we have discussed previously. Part of that, I suspect, is the way Angus works in recording the sounds and obviously there isn't a lot that can be done about there. Certainly the later (pure electronica) section has more overall level consistency which IMHO mars the first part of the track.
The first section comes over as pure Syd Barrett/Robert Wyatt, 60's stoned out hippies, the vocal style in particular and I am bound to like that. Where it starts to suffer as the guitars get more energetic, something is compressing the beejeebus out of the sound, making the vocal kinda jerk out of the track. Small beer I know, but that stuff counts. In essence, I'm Sorry appears to be two tracks, and both have much to recommend them, one for the 60's vibe and one because it rocks right along with some splendid effected guitar riffs. An interesting combination for sure.
Excellent, if marred, mixture of lo-fi and hard-fi. Recommended.
LEt there be peace on the web
i like this review, and i thank you for it, although i've come to discover a few things about your writings that i will now criticise:
you have a very narrow field of what you consider good music, things that don't fit into your spectrum you consider wrong, when in fact they are perfectly valid avenues for many different styles. you like "classic rock", i've figured that out by now, and i don't make classic rock, i make music that challenges genre barriers and leans towards the side of art, of concepts. you really have to sit down and listen to one of my albums sometime, man. i mean, it's not that hard. if you are spending so much time reviewing singles that you don't have time for albums then i feel sorry for you. if you like the 70s, and rock n' roll, then it seems very strange to me that you don't review entire albums.
the other is that you write about yourself too much in relation to the music. this is self-explanatory. good reviews don't do that.
still, peace and respect
-angus
