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analysis w/e 14.5.11 |
DVDs out 9.5.11 |
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@ DVDfever Youtube |
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May 11 2011 
DVDfever co uk
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Local hero? Yes. Big star? No. Bathgate might be going down a storm in his native Ann Arbor in Washtenaw County, Michigan, but it looks like he’s destined to be a parochial artist. Trying to crack the UK market with an album like this is nigh on impossible. In the US, it may fair better, but I doubt it somehow. With the majority of the songs taking a sombre tone, coming across as kind of amateurish and uninspiring. There’s little here to grab the UK imagination, though you can never tell. Look what happened to Daniel Powter with single Bad Day. One minute I’m resigning the album to the virtual scrapheap, and next thing the single hits the top 10. Things are vastly different here though, with little, if any, opportunity of songs getting airplay, via the likes of BBC Radio 2, which has a big hand in breaking most US acts right now. One major drawback is Bathgate’s monotonous singing, plus the brooding and bleak template that’s sustained throughout. With Serpentine it bodes well, in a low key way, with hints of the masterful Ben Folds, as the keys clunk away in a tuneful manner, but things become very morose very quickly on The Last Parade,using a stripped back approach: voice and acoustic guitar, though mid-course it changes dramatically with a fuller sound only to cool off to the close.
Packing a punch, Every Wall You Own is more interesting to begin with but lacks the legs to make a significant track, though his voice becomes slightly more ‘folky’, and works better. Thankfully, despite the continuing melancholy, Madison House proves the best of the bunch while Bathgate plucks tunefully at his acoustic guitar and Brennan Andes adds sublime bass. Next two, Cold Fusion and A Flash Of Light pass by unnoticed, whereas Restless sparkles, bringing back memories of something from Beirut’s magnificent Flying Cup Club. Some cool brass and funky beats. By track 11, it’s all become a bit tiresome and predictable, and so, he finally goes out on a whimper with tedious Coda. Damien Rice does ‘depressing’ brilliantly. Chris Bathgate has a lot to learn from him. File under: Drab.
Weblinks:
myspace.com/chrisbathgate /
myspace.com/tangleduprecordings
The full list of tracks included are :
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B 37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier. PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
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Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2010.
