to start off with the predictable, as regular readers here know this blog is all just my random thoughts for the most part. this has come about, look you see, after starting it off as a fairly simply way to amuse friends and family around the world. i neither planned nor expected to find so many others all reading it. yes, there's a point.
i don't really set out to do much here beyond entertain myself, with it being admittedly really nice when it seems more than a few take the time to read. it's not normal for me to try and take any sort of advantage off of my dear readers, with one exception. i really like nothing more than being able to showcase and share some unknown pleasures in terms of music that hasn't got the backing of a massive record label to expose it to the world. sometimes this comes in the form of recorded music from dear friends, sometimes it's from people who have flatteringly got hold of me and asked me if i would mind having a listen. in the latter, the door is forever open.
which is all a long, potentially laboured and perhaps irrelevant introduction to the fact that here's a, for want of a better term, review of an album called This Is The Thing by someone called Marie Marx.
if you're asking who, fear not, for so did i when i saw her CD. we shall get to the latter part in a bit, but for now know that all, surely, is unknown to you before you know it.
i still really don't have much of an idea who she is, except of course for the fact that she made a record. that which i have pieced together suggests she is a native of the North East, like myself, and regularly performs in and around the region. perhaps you have seen her live, which would make you one up on me.
yes, review coming. how best to describe the music within the record? on the web i've seen folk and blues uttered, but i am not quite sure this does it justice. to me it's best said to be semi, or just slightly off, acoustic, for once in a while some electric instruments creep in. and, overall, it's a really very lovely album to have a listen to.
and Marie's singing style? i am reticent, if not reluctant, to do comparisons, for i believe all of us have our own voice in this world. Marie, indeed, certainly does. there is, however, only so much scope for that to carry weight in a written review. the best i can do, then, is to say that her voice - very pleasantly - falls somewhere between that bass sound of Adele and that higher pitch of Dido. in respect of the latter, i am very delighted to say it is with the distinct benefit of not sounding like it's sung through gritted teeth.
to be very honest about it i did get off to a somewhat shaky start with the record. the first two songs on it, You're All I Need and Leave Me Alone are, partially respectively, all about falling in love forever for the first time and falling out of love forever for the last time. they're really good songs, but i was sat listening thinking "you know what, maybe me as a gent somewhere in his 40s is not quite the target market for this music". but then came the rest of the album......
it would be fair to say i was solidly hooked as of track three, Where Do You Go. a lovely, more compelling than haunting melody, beautiful instrumentation and a really wonderful lyrical delivery. and then along comes the quirky, beautiful and engaging Just You And Me, and then, well, just a fantastic collection of songs.
provenance, as an aside, of my copy? as in how did i get this in the first place? Magic. no, not magic magic, but the Magic, my occasional co-pilot. we had reason to be at the celebrated and very well reviewed TP Coffee House (yes click the words in colour to visit their site) and they had some copies of the CD for sale. Magic, knowing that i both love music and love having things to write of here, kindly purchased me the copy that i have played a few times now, and that you can see the images of. nice one Magic, cheers.
since i would seem to be in a linking mood, how about a few links to Marie Marx, then? sure, as i am confident this would help you discover more of her music, should these words here have tilted your interest in that direction.
first off, i found this performance of Where Do You Go on that You Tube thing. go on, click and give it a listen. from my experience, if you like that one then you shall surely fare rather well with the rest. and no matter how you got on with that one, please do give Just You And Me a listen, your life will be all the better for it.
as for more on Marie Marx, here is the link to her official website, from where it seems you can purchase downloads of the songs. if you listen and like, please do - we really must get back into the habit of supporting and appreciating musicians financially, otherwise the world will fall silent. and yes, kids, indeed Marie is on facebook, if that's how you prefer to find things.
anyway, hopefully you give the music a try, and indeed it would be just great if you enjoyed it as much as i have, and shall continue to. beyond that, thanks as ever for reading.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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