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Blues Matters Live Review 2010
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In a growing generation of the younger set, the Blues has a safe future. The whole of this gig with ...In a growing generation of the younger set, the Blues has a safe future. The whole of this gig with Sandi and the rest of the musicians on that stage was stunning. It is difficult to point out one song that was not of merit. Though on a strict show-timing that night, it is fair to say, there might have been a lynching had an encore not been allowed. In fact, two where allowed because that crowd wasn’t going to move until its musical hunger for more, had been satiated.
Absolutely great gig!
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Blues In Britain Live Review 2010
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With her brand new album getting rave reviews Sandi Thom and her band were given a chance to showcas...With her brand new album getting rave reviews Sandi Thom and her band were given a chance to showcase some of the songs from the CD to a very large blues audience, as support to top blues guitarist Joe Bonamassa. With just thirty minutes to sell her music to the crowd she managed to do just that with some powerhouse vocals as well as some fine blues harp.
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The Guitarist "Merchants and Thieves" Review 2010
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Music history is peppered with stylistic reinvention, be it the radical new image, the musical about...Music history is peppered with stylistic reinvention, be it the radical new image, the musical about-face or the major line-up change. Chart-topping starlet Sandi Thom has chalked up two of the three for 2010, following her departure from Sony Records and setting up as an independent artist.
An album of Americana-tinged blues with a commanding vocal performance, a live band feel, toneful, tasteful guitars – all topped off with a guest appearance from no less than Joe Bonamassa…a timely opportunity that has helped focus her creative efforts and light a whole new fire in her guitar playing.
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Hot Press "Merchants and Thieves" Review 2010
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It seems there’s life in the (no so) old girl yet. Certainly, her third record Merchants And Thieves...It seems there’s life in the (no so) old girl yet. Certainly, her third record Merchants And Thieves is a bit of a revelation. ‘Maggie McCall’, ‘Heart Of Stone’, and the utterly mesmerizing ‘Gold Dust’, all push the right buttons, effortlessly proving her change of direction is a stroke of genius.
Sandi Thom has never sounded as vital as she does now.
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Live Review: Islington Academy, 2006
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Thom clearly has talent. Thom has been compared with a plethora of rock heavyweights, including Bob ...Thom clearly has talent. Thom has been compared with a plethora of rock heavyweights, including Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Carole King, Stevie Nicks, Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin. In fact, she has more in common with Alanis Morissette (angst), Eddie Reader (sprightliness), Kirsty MacColl (words) and Joni Mitchell (voice). While every new young female singer-songwriter from 1971 onwards has been compared with Mitchell, the majority are not fit to hold Joni's plectrum. Thom, however, does have huge potential.
Onstage, none of the material from her debut album, Smile... It Confuses People, an upbeat, uncomplicated hybrid of folk and soul, feels like filler. In the main, her lyrical observations are winsome and optimistic rather than sharp and edgy in the manner of, say, the perpetually cross Martha Wainwright. Her songs are replete with romantic imagery - "belle of the ball", "stardust" and "bumble bees, grazing knees" - and her insights are those of an artist in her infancy, and not fully formed. Nevertheless, her stand-out numbers, "Superman" (which she is unable to perform tonight due to a defunct keyboard) and "Time" have an exquisite, stripped-down quality which accentuate her impressive vocal range. "Time" is sumptuous, a Mary Hopkin-like lament about, ahem, the passing of time ("time catches everyone") which stands comparison with the best of Paul Simon's songbook and Dylan's "Bob Dylan's Dream".
This was an engaging 50 minutes or so from an unformed but precocious talent. Watch this webspace.
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Live Review: Axis Festival, 2007
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FEATURES
Features > Axis Festival: Sandi Thom review
Axis Festival: Sandi Thom review
by Gues...FEATURES
Features > Axis Festival: Sandi Thom review
Axis Festival: Sandi Thom review
by Guest Reviewer Bret Allen
The Axis Festival 2007 launched with Sandi Thom playing the Sugarmill and it certainly was an opening night to remember. Bret Allen takes in the Thom...
For any occasion, an opening night needs to be memorable, well organised and have a great atmosphere. Stoke-on-Trent s Axis Festival succeeded with flying colours on Wednesday 02 May with a superb performance from Sandi Thom and guests at The Sugarmill in Hanley.
Mellow and entertained
Sandi Thom brought to the Sugarmill and the Axis Festival a great sense of community and well-being. A gig where people are enjoying the show together instead of jostling and shoving is always refreshing, and Sandi certainly seemed to keep the fans happy, mellow and entertained.
The Axis festival is bringing a host of music, performance and culture to the city between the 04 and 06 of May. Organisations like Love Music Hate Racism, City of Stoke-on-Trent and a host of local businesses are helping to put the city on the cultural map. Sandi's show must have reassured them that their time has been well invested, with a room full of people cheering and clapping.
A friend playing in your living room
Opening with 'Horse Power' and packing a mixture of instruments including a keyboard and harmonica, Sandi demonstrated a mixed, talented style to which her recorded music does not do justice.
Sandi bantered with the fans and has a humble charisma that, like her folk music, makes her gigs feel like a friend playing in your living room instead of a national star playing in a nightclub. Naturally, Sandi squeezed in the hit song 'I wish I was a punk rocker' as a finale, treating the already jubilant crowd and then rounding off with an encore of the more relaxed ditty, 'The pink and the lily'.
Supporting Sandi
Sandi was supported by two local acts, a solo acoustic and vocal set by Holly Reynolds and rock band My Dead Lovers. "Being asked to play the opening of the Axis festival on what was only our third gig in this band obviously meant a lot to us," said My Dead Lovers Guitarist Mark Eyden.
"Geographically Stoke's in a great location for live music, being not a million miles away from Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Birmingham or even London and I think this festival goes to prove it."
Young Holly also went down well with the crowd, performing a simple acoustic set with amazingly clear, strong and emotive vocals.
Sandi performed without any fault at The Sugarmill and is certainly an act to be marked for live shows with her intimate style. It is clear that the Axis festival has attracted both talented entertainment and a great crowd of music lovers to the city of Stoke-on-Trent.
last updated: 07/05/07
SEE ALSO
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Album Review: "Smile... It Confuses People"
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If you think that KT Tunstall is an outstanding talent, it's high-time you became better acquainted ...If you think that KT Tunstall is an outstanding talent, it's high-time you became better acquainted with Sandi Thom. Whilst KT is a truly incredible singer-songwriter, the Tooting-based Sandi somehow seems to be an even more extraordinary songwriter in a league of her own, armed with a cauldron of top melodies and a voice literally to die for.
This debut album might be being released on an independent label, and there might not be multi-million pound advertising campaigns on TV and/ or in magazines (yet) to promote the beauty, but the buzz around Sandi is fast-spreading like blazing wildfire, thanks in part to a series of gigs that she has recently performed from her very own humble basement of all places.
Weird, you might think... but the beauty part is that she's broadcast such mini-gigs via her webcam onto the internet, and as a result has been seen by over 300,000 people. Now that's what I call keeping the DIY spirit alive and kicking - and what an effect such transmissions have had.
To an extent, like The Arctic Monkeys were on My Space before they broke through into the big-time, Sandi Thom is the talk of internet-land, and it just proves once again that the best publicity of all is good old-fashioned word-of-mouth. If a singer or band has genuine talent, word soon gets around.
Sandi's debut album is a pleasure from start to finish, opened up by the crazily catchy When Horsepower Meant What It Said tune that's propelled by a crisp acoustic melody, kitsch backing harmonies and a chirpy chorus. Both Country music and Pure Pop elements are blissfully married together, as though Shania Twain has been listening to KT Tunstall's album on repeat-play before hitting the recording studio.
Former single release I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker is spine-chillingly original and an awesome showcase for her sensational voice and fascinating lyrics. Time and again throughout this album Sandi proves that there is no more devastatingly effective instrument than the human voice itself.
Some of the songs are Pure Pop, such as Lonely Girl, which is the type of tune that could put a fair few Britney-styled Pop Princesses out of work given the emotion-driven integrity at its heart.
Little Remedy is another flawless melodic Pop number with a striking edge, before the heart-wrenching Castles gives way to the uber-cool Human Jukebox which hears Sandi sounding a little like Sheryl Crow in her sassier early days.
Smile... It Confuses People is ultimately a masterpiece in which there is a fine balance between all-out, deftly upbeat Pop-Rock tunes and slower, more subtle numbers that have something of a Folk-fangled twist in their tale. The upshot is that Sandi Thom is undeniably a huge star in the making, and I reckon that a year down the line - when it comes to the Brit Awards 2007 - Sandi might just be the first in line to pick up a number of coveted awards for her stunning services to music. So watch this space.
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Album Review: "Smile... It Confuses People"
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This is one of the few albums that I've heard this year that made me sit back and think "Wow". After...This is one of the few albums that I've heard this year that made me sit back and think "Wow". After falling briefly in love with "I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker (With Flowers In My Hair)", I heard Sandi's second and latest single "What If I'm Right?" and I couldn't get the song out of my head. I bought Sandi's album from EBay just to see if it was any good and was totally overwhelmed.
The album commences with "When Horsepower Meant What It Said", an up-tempo song with a country influence which leaks out of your CD Player and smacks you in the face. Sandi Thom sounds great on this track and the music is very well arranged. I've heard countless comparisons between this and "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" (KT Tunstall). If you've heard this too and it has got you very excited about the track, then please don't get your hopes up. This is a great song, but it does not even scratch the surface of Tunstall's track. Nevertheless, it's a great way to start the album and get you hooked.
Thom's debut single "I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker" follows. I think I would actually dub this as one of the worst songs out of the ten on the album - but that's probably because I've heard it so much that I feel like strangling Thom with the flowers in her hair every time I hear it. It is a great song, but people are sick and tired of it. I hope this doesn't put people off this album, because after hearing it for the 378965th time, it certainly didn't motivate me to rush off and buy the album.
Next is "Lonely Girl", which is set to be Thom's third single from the album, to be released on 20th of November. This song is fantastic and one of the highlights of the album. The chorus is very powerful and Thom's vocals just blow you away. This track is not particularly folk or country influenced, which shows that Thom is definitely not a one-trick pony. This is a powerful pop ballad which you just have to belt out when the chorus comes back. One of those songs that gives you that strange tied-knot feeling in your stomach when the chorus comes on, hopefully "Lonely Girl", when released, can make up for the relatively poor performance of "What If I'm Right" as a single. This track certainly has the potential to save the album and is a smart move from Thom to pull in more listeners.
"Sunset Borderline", the fourth track on the album, is one of the songs which didn't immediately grab my attention and make me fall in love with it. After numerous, listens, however, Sunset Borderline has become one of those songs that I play in my head when I'm bored on the bus. The problem with this track is it will seem very bland and tasteless to a lot of listeners - it's a lovely song, but it just doesn't grab you like the other songs on the CD do. This track is the hardest on the CD to review - I'm on the fence. The chorus is extremely catchy, but first you have to listen to this song a lot before you like it. I think that this track will be easily forgettable for a lot of people, and after one listen will skip past this song on the album and dismiss it as a weak point. I seem to be contradicting myself, the song is catchy but forgettable? This song is too hard to explain! *Feels embarassed*
One of the catchiest songs on the album, "Little Remedy" is one of the highlights of this CD. A good way of peaking your interest after it may have waned after "Sunset Borderline". Thom sounds great on this track and the music is well played and catchy. I think this song will be very popular, but not suitable as a single choice after "What If I'm Right?" (the two songs could be dubbed as too similar).
Aaaaah... "Castles". Or, wait. Is this "Sunset Borderline"? *Checks track number* No, it's Castles. This track is very similar to Sunset Borderline, in my opinion, in the way that it doesn't particularly peak your interest after one or two listens. The two songs will be the two most skipped, I think. The main difference between the two is that this track is more powerful than Sunset Borderline and vocally Thom outstrips most of the rest of the album on this track. A great track with lovely lyrics, but I think this song may be listened to once by listeners and then never listened to again. You need to give this song a chance before you fall in love with it.
One of the biggest scandals of 2006 is the way "What If I'm Right?" flopped HARD. It's not even in the charts now, after not having even peaked in the top 20, I think I've seen the video on the music channels twice and I've never heard this song on the radio. After the roaring success of her debut single, I can't possibly imagine what Thom done wrong with this release.
Despite its lack of commercial success, What If I'm Right? is the number one highlight of this CD. It's fun, it's catchy, and I love it. This is the song that made me buy the CD - I saw it on the music channel, downloaded it and then thought "I think I'll get this CD". This song will be loved by all, I am sure. You can relate to this song and you will be playing this song in your head every time you're in a new relationship. Thom deserves a round of applause for this song.
Whilst What If I'm Right? is the definite highlight of the album, the eight track on the CD, "Superman" is my personal favourite. I fell in love with this song first listen. Thom seems to be experimenting with this song, moving slightly away from the country theme, and it definitely paid off. I can't believe how much I love this song - it is definitely one of my favourite songs of 2006. This track alone makes the whole album deserve five stars. Sad, catchy, beautiful and attention-grabbing, I have to say - bravo and thank you for this track, Miss Thom.
"Human Jukebox" is the most rock-orientated track on the album, but Thom mixes in a bit of her country-folk stlye. This is the song your nan will be dancing around her kitchen to while nobody's looking. This track proves that Thom can certainly appeal to all audiences. This song seems full to the brim with likeability, but this song is actually not one of my favourites.
Thom rounds her debut CD off perfectly with "Time". This track is amazing, one of my personal highlights. You can relate to this song and while at first it seems a little bland, the chorus is actually very catchy. I love the lyrics, simple as they are, and Thom sounds great. This song, strangely enough, got me thinking about my life and how time just passes me by as "the world goes round the sun". The song seems rubbish at first, I admit, but it soon develops into an unobvious surprisingly powerful tune which Thom should be proud of.
Overall, this CD is an absolute fantastic debut for an amazing new artist. This young woman is seriously talented. The scary thing is, Miss Thom could easily just fade into the 2006 country version of Amy Studt if her next album is rushed and not executed properly. Thom would be an absolute delight to work with and if she can pull off her sophomore album, her career will fly for years to come. Outstanding potential has been shown in this debut CD, but I almost feel as if she didn't quite reach its full. Hopefully, Thom will show the world what she really is capable of in her next CD. She has totally modernized country-folk music and brought a style of music back onto the table. The CD thouroughly deserves its five stars, and if you don't already own this CD, put it on your shopping list.
Well done and thank you, Alexandria "Sandi" Thom.
Summary: A must have for anybody - you'll fall in love with at least four or five songs on the CD.
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Album Review: "The Pink & The Lily"
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SANDI THOM: THE PINK & THE LILY **
THERE was something so pat about the overnight success of Sandi ...SANDI THOM: THE PINK & THE LILY **
THERE was something so pat about the overnight success of Sandi Thom two years ago that it became easy to dismiss her as a one-hit wonder. Her long-term musical fate remains to be seen but the Banff-bred, London-based singer/songwriter was ultimately not best served by a bogus rags-to-riches story (concerning the burgeoning online audience for a series of internet concerts she allegedly performed in her flat before she landed a record contract) which turned out to be a good old-fashioned publicity scam.
Unfortunately for Thom, you just cannot buy that kind of organic fan support. Regardless, her jolly summer singalong I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker… became a huge hit and her debut album Smile… It Confuses People sold a none-too-shabby million copies.
For her follow-up album, Thom has expressed a desire to "wipe the slate clean" but, in the interim, she has been lapped by young Amy MacDonald, who has a similar talent for marrying adolescent lyrical platitudes to infernally catchy tunes – although at least she has the excuse that she was a teenager at the time of composition.
While MacDonald's sleeper success buys her time to develop, it is likely that The Pink & The Lily is make-or-break for Thom. She comes out of the traps confidently. Lead single The Devil's Beat is another effortlessly infectious, mindless rootsy pop number in the vein of …Punk Rocker with the added tub-thumping verve of prime KT Tunstall. Its main virtue is that it doesn't care what anyone thinks, it just is. And it sounds perfectly pleasant drifting out of the radio if you don't think about it too hard.
That it is easily one of the best songs on the entire album is more of a problem, however. What else does she have as back-up? Thom is a capable enough tunesmith but her musical style is very old-fashioned, even anachronistic. The Pink & The Lily sounds like something Texas left behind 15 years ago, and Thom is happy to bolster that impression with her bizarre nostalgia for days of yore she has not actually lived through.
On Music In My Soul, she harks back to those good old days when she would sing along to Fleetwood Mac and The Eagles. "It was such a long time ago, I never want to let that go," she pines, as if there is some moratorium on listening to old records. Girl, you can sing along to Fleetwood Mac and The Eagles any time you want – now, how about giving the new Santogold album a spin?
Musically, it's a decent pastiche of her namechecked heroes with a strong chorus. Despite the flaws in its reasoning, it would make a good future single. There are a lot of people out there who like their universal sentiments as vague as possible.
However, the name-dropping nostalgia gets out of hand on The Last Picturehouse. The objection here is not so much that Thom reckons the cinema-going experience ain't what it used to be since Bette Davis and James Dean croaked – it is that she cannot surely, aged 26, be singing from her own experience.
Sure, she doesn't have to sing about herself. But she is no Ray Davies when it comes to the character sketches either. Saturday Night is a clichéd portrait of down-at-heel kids staring at the stars, living for the weekend, blah blah, while Success's Ladder is her hamfisted tale of an AWOL businessman, "Julian Sidebottom William Smyth", who is "tired of commuting, tired of computing".
Thom is a truly terrible lyricist – which won't surprise anyone who got a headache trying to make sense of her vision of punk rockers with flowers in their hair. Trite lines such as "it don't feel so good when the sun don't shine" fit well enough in an upbeat, unpretentious pop song such as The Devil's Beat or even a no-flies-on-me freewheeling ditty such as Shape I'm In ("I've got a little piece of heaven and that's what keeps me sane"). But it gets worse: I'm A Human Being celebrates unity in diversity, or thereabouts, namechecking hippies, punks, Stevie Wonder and The Rolling Stones along the way, before concluding that "I believe in love and I love being a human being". Even before she chucks in the reference to Beijing, comparisons to Katie Melua's risible Nine Million Bicycles would not be out of order.
However, her most cringeworthy piece of cod philosophy is saved for Beatbox. And here it is: "Your heart is just a beatbox for the song of your life." On the plus side, the song does feature some nice banjo.
Which brings me to the more positive note on which I'd like to end. Thom has a really good country voice, best showcased on the polished Wounded Hearts. This style suits her down to the ground and might be worth cultivating in future. Of course, she would probably have nothing to add to the country vernacular – but neither do established Nashville stars these days anyway.
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Live Review: The Point, Cardiff, 2008
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The Point allows for total intamacy with the artist and I was standing less than 5 feet away from he...The Point allows for total intamacy with the artist and I was standing less than 5 feet away from her. She was dressed in a short skirt, black top, cowboy boots and cowboy hat (she looked sexy as hell). From the minute she came on the stage she started interacting with crowd and this went on throughout the gig. Her first three songs were from her first album and included Borderline and Jukebox great songs and this allowed her to introduce her new stuff from her latest album. As a musician she also demonstrated her skill with the harmonica playing it several times through out the show. She was very animated and moved around the stage when not singing talking to her band. Half way through her set the band left the stage and left her on her own to do two accoustic tracks which had the audience spell bound. The band came back on to sing I wish I was a Punk Rocker which was played for majority of the time as a accoustic track.
supersonic
Gold Dust
