Alexi Murdoch - Time Without Consequence
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Free Music Notes for Time Without Consequence
Free Music Review: Such a sexy voice....
Hit: 4 Stars
I think Alexi Murdoch has such a sexy voice; soothing and stimulating at the same time. My husband finds this cd to be too repetitive, but my son and I love it.Free Music Review: Shameless Nick Drake ripoff, but still oddly compelling
Hit: 3 Stars
Every musician or band is, by definition, derivative and influenced by a band or musician who came before.
The best musicians and artists are derivative and influenced by someone else, but forge a sound uniquely their own. One example is Robyn Hitchcock, who is mostly influenced by John Lennon and Syd Barrett, but has crafted his own sound that sounds like no one else. Another example is Talking Heads, who forged their sound from Roxy Music, Brian Eno, and Velvet Underground, yet, again, developed their own sound, which in turn has become tremendously influential. Ryan Adams has channeled the Grateful Dead to great effect, yet retains his own identity. Cat Power/Chan Marshall melds Sinead O'Connor with Janis Joplin, yet, again, has carved out her own sound.
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!, on the other hand, are just so blatantly ripping Talking Heads, that they don't really have their own identity. As such, they're interesting for a few songs, but then you want to pull out your Talking Heads CDs and hear the real thing.
In spite of the fact that just about every one of Murdoch's songs sounds like Nick Drake, he still gets your attention, and he has the ability to pull you in. He'd be a lot more interesting, though, if he threw in some other influences, or at least took Nick Drake's sound and forged his own identity. As it stands, there's probably no one else out there who does as good a Nick Drake imitation, but while imitation is the highest form of flattery, you could never put Murdoch on an opening bill with Nick Drake if he were alive today, because he just sounds too much like him.
Good for Murdoch that he's got a fanbase who don't really mind the copycat sound, and maybe some like him precisely because he sounds like Drake. I suspect many of his fans aren't familiar with Drake.
This isn't intended as a negative review. As stated above, I will listen to him play KCRW, but it makes me want to pull out my Nick Drake CDs. There will never be another Nick Drake, in spite of people like Murdoch's best efforts.
Free Music Review: A slight Miss
Hit: 3 Stars
Alexi Murdoch is the kind of artist we all love to see arrive on the scene. A great talent with a somewhat unique spin on a folk-rock genre that has historically produced timeless albums. His first release (the 4 Song EP) created a huge amount of buzz and was a staple in my musical diet for over a year - a great release. I've listened to his new album now about 15 times... and there's something missing. I can't exactly put my finger on it. There are definitely a few songs that are fantastic. They grab you and suck you in to a whirl of acoustic guitars and droaning vocals. But most of the other songs don't hold it together quite as well after several plays. I find myself getting annoyed at the rather simplistic and repetitive chords/notes of most of the songs - in fact the "rather simplistic and repetitive" lyrics don't help.
I want to like this album... heck, I've been wanting to like this album for a long time (he took forever to release it!). But I find myself dissatisfied with the end product. It leaves me wondering if folks out there are wanting the same thing? Murdoch doesn't show me much here - he lacks the mastery of a great lyricist (like a Mark Mulcahy, say) and his guitar style is thin (some of his songs remind me of the repetitive droan of a Sterelab album... but his style doesn't suggest that he striving for that sound).
This album is worth buying if you are looking to pick up a few more noteworthy tracks... but I don't think it will stand-up to the test of time like albums release by so many of larger-than-life folk rock artists that grace our collections.
Here's hoping for a better sophomore effort.
Free Music Review: Pretty Solid, Not as good as reviewers are saying it is
Hit: 3 Stars
This is a pretty solid album and Alexi has a very cool chilled out style. My favorite track is "Dream About Flying". It almost kind of reminds my of the John Butler trio a bit. I think he sounds a little like Nick Drake as far as some of the guitar arrangements however I think he has his own thing going on. I also disagree with the Jose Gonzalez comparison in the review, I believe they are clearly different artists. Gonzalez has much more of a spanish style classical guitar approach. Overall I would say this album is a good purchase. Some of the songs kind of blend together in my opinion and I'm not sure it's as good as some of the reviewers are making it out to be though.Free Music Review: Great Voice, Needs Better Songs
Hit: 3 Stars
I got this as I loved the movie "Away We Go" and much of the soundtrack is music from Murdoch. Some of the music (mostly from the movie) is really impressive. Unfortunately, there are songs where he goes off into a ramble-singing style that some may say is well done, but it's not for me at all. One of his songs for instance, "Home", was just an odd screechy mess. Music does speak differently to different people, but for me, he's hit and miss.