SCALA Different Guises CD Review
The third SCALA CD! As we arrive at SCALA's 10th birthday we should reflect on and appreciate just what an achievement that is. SCALA has given important opportunities for numerous local songwriters to find an audience. SCALA has nurtured, encouraged, assisted, inspired and promoted the songwriters and their songs.
If the first quantum leap in a songwriter's career is to perform their original works in public the second is to have some songs recorded and released. Many songwriters, for a whole host of reasons simply cannot record substantial quantities of their songs. Recording can be a daunting, expensive and time-consuming prospect and if you do get that far, how do you then release the recording? The annual SCALA compilation CD plays an important role here. As well as promoting the winning entries from the Songwriter's Event and the FOOM competitions, it also allows other songwriters and performers to submit material for inclusion. OK they still have to record it in a studio but if they are able to take that step then that material will be released and it will be able to attract an audience.
It's not just the songwriters, singers and musicians who get experience, exposure and the opportunity to develop.
The all-important producers also get the chance to test their ideas techniques and their studio's capibilities. SCALA CD's always start with a 'killer' opening track and SCALA Different Guises continues this tradition with the Danny Stevens' song Gotta Stop Beatin' My Head Against This Wall produced by Nick Love. Featuring the sultry, playful vocals of Dani Stratford, this classy track is underpinned by a groove of real funk which accentuates the deliciously late-night feel it conveys. That general style is also shown in other tracks, namely A Framed Kiss and This Game. The former written and performed by Janie Walker and Gerald Fitzgerald it a smooth, romantic example of adult pop, smoky and alluring. The production is lush with a mixture of keyboards, guitar and backing vocals ... very sensual. The latter is the closing track, Catherine Blanch and Peter Beeby's This Game performed by Feel so. This is a fine, adult, piano-centred ballad of a woman leaving an unsatisfactory relationship. It features some evocative, muted trumpet from Fruit's Mel Watson and it really adds to the song's atmospherics and poignancy. The second track, following the wonderful, funky, Gotta Stop .... changes direction and tells us that SCALA Different Guises is going to be an interesting musical adventure. The Barking Ants (great name) bring on classic guitar-based power pop/rock with Passion. There's real sledgehammer chords in the verses which precede a really catchy chorus. That particular musical genre is also heard in Blackman's Ballad by Ironhorse, DogWater's two tracks, Mary Laslett's TV's on and the pair by Andrea Dawson and the Gypsies. Blackman's Ballad has a sense of urgency in its drive and its lyrics depicting the wrongdoings of white colonial power. Touched by an Angel by Andrea Dawson and the Gypsies is strong, catchy pop-fock based on the classic guitar/ bass/ drums combination while the bands' other song Friends is an intriguing account of the hesitations and complications of two friends falling in love. DogWater's catchy pop-rock songs are Falling Down a moody rumination on modern pressures and I Need to Know a strong number about doubts arising in a relationship. Mary Laslett's TV's on is an appealing adult pop song about the disintergration of a relationship and the seeking of independence and power. Good acoustic-based music also features on SCALA Different Guises. Tin and Timbre perform In a Letter an infectious jaunty number which has some real bitterness and bite in the lyrics. John Denney's Before Sunrise, underpinned by acoustic guitar is an appealing romantic song of longing set in Europe and which features evocative lyrics. Jeb Cardwell's Small Change featuring just Jeb's vocals and guitar and Yuri Bannen's bass is a real highlight with tinges of funk, blues and jazz. Its intimate style is insistent and it really stays with you. Steve Ashley is no stranger to SCALA recordings and he pops up on SCALA Different Guises with the rollocking folky One Summer in Ireland. Yes the title says it all! This is a beautifully arranged song (a killer backing) which is steeped in affection and nostalgia. Folk veteran John Munro's Were You There? performed by the well known Colcannon also shows nostalgia and affection. It's a classic folk song which looks back longingly at the days of folk clubs and the characters of that scene and era. Politics comes to prominence with two songs which won't please the mean-spirited economic rationalists who unfortunately run this nation. Chris Henderson's I'm a Union Man performed by Creekwater is both an angry condemnation of corporate Australia and conservative governments and a proud and passionate exhortation of unionism (John Howard and Peter Reith please take note!) Vicki Bennett's melodic Accolades performed by her band Outskirts (another great name) is a heart-felt tribute to the late Aboriginal activist Rob Riley. It is at once moving, reflective, wistful and powerful. SCALA's two Nashville members Vicki and Ronni Gosset are fine writers and performers with a sophisticated adult-pop sound (with a dash of modern country!). Right This Wrong is a smooth, deliciously catchy song with plaintive lead guitar and tight harmonies highlighting. That leaves the utterly compelling and intriguing Albatross Wings by Bindi Blacher with its strong and enigmatic lyrics and 'alternative' pop style. It's insistent, hypnotic beat and sweeping vocals make this dynamic performance on of the real gems on SCALA Different Guises. SCALA Different Guises is a strong, valuable and vital collection of some of the best local music. In SCALA's 10th year of promoting, facilitating and encouraging Adelaide songwriters, this CD is a most worthy milestone.
Extracted from SCALA News # 60 November/December 1997
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