Review - Djamel
self-titled independent CD
EP
It’s good to see an artist that you’ve
watched grow through demo tapes and appearances at cafes and dives to finally
come out as a serious performer on a CD. One such artist is Djamel, one of Sydney’s
hardest-working musicians, and his self-titled debut EP is both a culmination
of the work past and the work to come.
Taking A Train appeared on his first
limited-run demo-tape, and Thank You
has been heard unplugged on numerous live and acoustic radio sessions, but here
on CD they both benefit from the input of a producer and other technology. The
opener I Know It’s You has a
commercial familiarity to it that is not Djamel’s,
but is all his own at the same time. It’s
Time, the closer, is a folk-tinged track with a string section! The overall
mix is Lou
Reed and Iva
Davies on vocals over a slightly commercial flavour.
All of these tracks, but especially the
opener and closer, will work on radio if only they’d start looking beyond what
the record companies want them to play. The success of this CD will mean even
more work for Djamel but I’m sure he’s
not afraid of that««««¶