Gaggle - From The Mouth Of The Cave (WorkIt Media)
It doesn't come often, not often enough anyway, where it's possible
to enjoy a band or musician(s) for being individual and groundbreaking
and Gaggle finally get the chance to prove their abilities
to a greater audience.
From the gloomy procession of "The Cave", the ethereal sounding
"Lullaby", and the poppier influenced "Hello Spider" the unique
vocal sound remains throughout whilst surprising the listener at
the same time not knowing what to expect.
The cynical amongst listeners may dismiss the outfit as a novelty
act, which is fair enough. At least they stand out amongst a crowd
where you have to look that extra harder to find memorable and exciting
music.
And when it's found, the end results are very rewarding.
How Sweet The Sound - The Amazing Grace Story (BBC Radio 2,
May 2012)
A bit late on to this one, but worth the wait.
Soul and gospel singer Candi Stayton (just to remind myself the correct
way of pronouncing her surname) guides the listener through a history
of the religious song and it's evolution over the last 200 years.
Very well researched, brilliant interviews, and an engaging listen as a
whole providing a well thought chronological insight to the song
or hymn depending on how you perceive it.
The stories in the programme include those not just of the evolution
itself, but the different interpretations ranging from the well-arranged accapella rendition by Judy Collins, to the early gospel version by Sam Cooke
and the soul-stirrers.
Best of all, the programme goes deeper into the verses and explains
their importance to the song as a whole in a way that's far more
effective in audio than if this documentary was to be shown on BBC Four
for example.
I'd say it's worth listening to it for the Blind Boys Of Alabama version
towards the end.
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