MUSIC EVENTS, ALBUMS, & REVIEWS

Artist - Gemma Hayes
Album - Hollow of Morning
Label - Gemma Hayes

Having left a major label behind to start releasing albums on her own imprint, one might expect this record to have the sound of liberation. Her debut, Night On My Side, is one of the classics - it contained a wonderful combination of delicious electric rock and quieter acoustic tracks, with a simply gorgeous Irish voice to go with her great looks. The album gained real attention, but its follow-up, The Roads Don't Love You, forgot the great songs, despite aiming to be more radio-friendly. Here, the songs haven't quite been added back - they are definitely stronger, even if the album doesn't contain the standouts that the debut did. Instead, there is a more dreamy feel - the album is of a mood, rather than a collection of songs. That said, Out Of Our Hands, January 14th and At Constant Speed would all make great iPod additions. It is hard not to fall in love with Gemma Hayes' voice, whatever the setting. This may not be as all-over great as Night On My Side, but there aren't many albums around that are.

ACE Rating 7/10

When Simon and Garfunkel is stripped away from his career, Paul Simon still has a remarkable body of work. If as here, you include his less well-known earlier work, and his less well-known later work alongside the more obvious hits in the 36 tracks, you still have to leave behind some stunners. From Mother and Child Reunion, Me and Julio, 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover, to Still Crazy, the first disc is a wonderfully detailed set of sweet highlights. Always intelligent, literate, poetic and with a catholic taste in musical styles, the step he took with Graceland is all foretold in these tales. Graceland itself kicks off the second disc, a less familiar disc for most occasional Paul Simon fans, bridging his more creative last couple of decades, including Grammy winning song, Father and Daughter, all the way to his fantastic last disc, Surprise. There is no finer way to dip into one of the best songwriters of the past 30 years - the tracks are sequenced to make musical sense, rather than in strictly chronological order - one might expect no less from Paul Simon.

ACE Rating 8/10

When a band called Foxboro Hot Tubs released 6 tracks for free via Green Day's MySpace page, sounding suspiciously like a more garage 60s pop/ 70s punk version of Green Day, there was cause for rejoicing all 'round. Clearly, this is a band that loves making music - American Idiot will be followed up when they're good and ready. In the meantime, they're having the kind of fun with their pseudonym they had with the earlier, punkier albums, like Dookie or Nimrod (think King For A Day). With songs that would have graced any Kinks or Yardbirds album, and the energy and spirit of the Toy Dolls' Nellie The Elephant, this is a blast from start to finish. It's not all light stuff, either - some themes are reprised from American Idiot. It is genuinely refreshing to hear a band that is so clearly on top of their game do something for fun - with the addition of some nicely cheesy organ, the sound is clearly Green Day, but Green Day having a blast with short, sharp, sweet pop songs, in the best garage punk tradition. Essential.

ACE Rating 9/10