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Extract from PAN, Magazine of the British Flute Society Tales of Contentment Natural Signs: Hilary Ashe-Roy flute Alan Corbet piano/keyboards Phil Bond piano Paul Brook drums, percs., vocals Kevin Dempsey guitar Andy Thomson production, sound, arrangement Natural Signs 1998 Not knowing any better, I will rashly attempt to classify this album as �New Age swing� using a liberal mixture of real instruments and synthesised sound. It mixes in folk elements from Africa, the Celtic World, the Middle East, and fuses them with skill. There is something about the sound of a body of synthesised strings with slow vibrato that makes me think of staring into the green sunlit depths of San Francisco Bay. Quite nice, really, in mild doses, but I was utterly caught out by the mystery visitor on Track 3 (Dirty Weekend) - a real live saxophone or, hang on, was he real? I always thought I could spot the difference: There is no mistaking the reality of Alan Corbet�s piano or of Hilary Ashe-Roy�s redoubtable flute which features in many guises, all of them dazzling. Arrangements are slick, imaginative and spotlessly executed, largely thanks to Paul Brook�s efforts with the arrangement and Andy Thomson�s clever direction. Finding myself desperate for anything to criticise, there are just a couple of things: Track 7 which could have been nice, was spoilt by some weird and disruptive cabinet miking, and in Track 8 the general decibel level was unaccountably high. End of beef. This is a foot-tapping album with plenty of colour and variety. Submit to retail therapy. Don�t be without it, man. Richard Stagg, PAN, March 2000 |
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