If you are an asshole with an opinion, you can write a music blog. It is often odd to me that people request that I review their albums. I have to wonder “have they read any of my reviews?” Because they are seldom flattering. I guess it comes down to any press is good press.
One such review request came from the Swedish based label Belpid Records. They were soliciting a recent release by Amy Madden called Discarded Angels. Not familiar with the label, or the artist, the description sounded interesting so I bit.
First the asshole’s opinion, some of the instrumentation seems out of place. This is not a blues album, and that is awesome because blues is trite and has had all the mystery sucked out of it, but despite the fact that it is not a blues album, it has blues guitar, and blues harmonica. Minus those parts, the music is interesting. With those parts, it becomes bland and leans toward un-imaginative. Like somebody said “if you do this, then you follow it with this and that is how you bake a cake, or how you build a song”
Discarded Angels by Amy Madden is not a pop album. It is personal, and heart felt. The lyrics are written like spoken word poetry. Telling a story perhaps not intended to be insightful about the author, but like all good art, glimpses of the creator shine through. Amy has something to say and she lays it out like Lou Reed, or Scott Walker. You may not know what she is talking about, but you get the idea that she clearly means it. She doesn’t dilute her medium with over production. Keeping the canvas simple, she delivers much stronger broad strokes stabbing at her story. This is the type of album that an artist can be proud of, but few people will ever buy.
I recommend track #6 “Kathy.”
