MIRRORS and DOORS
Jean Paul De Roover
Indie
8.5-out-of-10
Jean Paul De Roover is one of those artists who really does need to be seen live to really appreciate what he does musically.
I was afforded that opportunity recently when De Roover appeared at 5th Avenue Cup & Saucer in Yorkton. The soloist really opened my eyes to what can be accomplished using the voice and a bit of modern tech as tools to create background sounds on the go.
De Roover uses an on-stage recording device to record little bits of vocal manipulation, hand claps, finger snaps, and single guitar string harmonics, which are then played back in a reoccurring loop as elements of the song.
Now the artist could simply pre-record the tracks and use the recording over and over, but by doing it as part of the stage show the audience is taken inside the process, given a look at the ingenuity of the process, whereby De Roover creates a more diverse sound than you would expect from just a guitar and voice.
The CD Mirrors and Doors, is a full disk of studio recorded music, with a full sound, De Roover's voice and guitar blending smoothly on every cut.
I Need You is the lead cut, and is the best of the bunch, which is saying something on an indie folk-rock disk which is actually very solid from start to finish. De Roover has some definite polish to his work, not unexpected from a performer who has toured cost-to-coast repeatedly.
The travels have allowed him to write some fine lyrics reflective of life and emotions.
Never, The Knife, and the title cuts are other memorable efforts here.
It is worth mentioning De Roover has an acappella EP Pitch Pipes, that will remind of efforts by The Nylons. Very good in that it truly shows the voice as a musical instrument in the background of each cut.
If you ever have a chance to see De Roover live take it, and in the meantime his disks are well worth searching out.
Check it out at www.jeanpaulderoover.com
- CALVIN DANIELS
SHE WAS A BOY
Yael Naim & David Donatien
Indie
7-out-of-10
Yael Naim and David Donatien are from France, although fear not She Was A Boy is in English, and yes that surprised me a little too.
Yael Naim has a beautiful, sort of natural, relaxed, vocal style. It really comes across as effortless, yet satisfying on the title cut, although on every song she does a nice, almost sweet job.
The music is acoustic folk-pop, and in that vein the lyrics are often life and circumstance reflective.
Since the genre is rather broad it is not a surprise, or out of place that a song such as Never Change is actually quite bluesy.
Naim is the creative force behind the CD too, have composed and written every cut except Go to the River, where Donatien takes the writing lead. Donatien's work is one of the most solidly pop efforts on the CD.
That said Stupid Goal is fully pop too.
In general terms this is a bit more to the pop side of things than I generally like, although Naim's vocal style does soften that a bit.
A bit of an acquired taste, yet one worth giving a listen to. Check Naim out at www.yaelweb.com , and go from there.
- CALVIN DANIELS
Past reviews are archived online at http://calmardan.blogspot.com/
