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June 16 - June 23, 2002 |
On the beat
The Excellent Ed
Originally Published: 2002-06-02
ED HARCOURT: In a strong contender for best show of the year honours, this young English singer/songwriter totally dazzled the crowd at his recent Horseshoe gig. The Anglo music press has been singing his praises for a while, but Ed's debut album, Here Be Monsters, hasn't received the recognition it deserves here. Its songs came to vivid life in performance, aided by the fine playing of his backing band. Stand-up bass, trumpet, accordion, xylophone and melodica all added sonic variety, while Harcourt played both piano and guitar. His style defies easy definition. He can move from a delicately beautiful ballad like "These Crimson Tears" to aggression to a weird romp like "Shanghai." At various times, his voice suggested TOM WAITS, JEFF BUCKLEY and THOM YORKE, but Harcourt is clearly a unique talent. He also has a charming onstage persona, and his "Go Leafs Go" comment went over well. Jumping up and down on his piano, JERRY LEE LEWIS style, during his encore showed his appreciation for the responsive audience. It's great news that he returns here on July 16, opening up for NEIL FINN at a Palais Royale show that should not be missed by lovers of intelligent pop music.
THE VINES: The power of press hype was reaffirmed when these Australian rockers made their local debut recently. It's more than a month until the release of their first album, Highly Evolved, but the music press has named them as "the next big thing," for this month, at least. That accounts for the front-page coverage in one local weekly and the packed house at Tequila Lounge. Did they live up to the fuss? Sadly, no. Things kicked off well with a rip through the album's title (and best) track, but later songs meandered stylistically, and were often just sloppy. Even worse, they weren't loud enough, a real sin for a rock band. Their trump card is singer Craig Nicholls, who possesses a great rock 'n roll scream that he uses a lot. That helps account for the NIRVANA comparisons The Vines get, but those are premature. These Vines definitely need some musical maturing. Meanwhile, far superior Australasian bands like YOU AM I, SHIHAD and POWDERFINGER (here at The Phoenix on June 1) keep getting ignored, unfairly.
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