for people who can't read

Introducing Joss Stone | Joss Stone
Virgin Records | March 3rd

Review by Tarang Chawla

Website
Virgin Records
Buy

Sounds like … the awkward silence that ensues when you can’t remember the name of the person who was just introduced to you.

Introducing Joss Stone showcases a nineteen-year old Brit with a huge voice whose songwriting prowess leaves something to be desired. As her third studio album it poses the question: Why introduce yourself now? According to Stone, her two previous efforts (2003’s debut Soul Sessions, and 2004’s Mind, Body & Soul) didn’t reveal the ‘real her’, yet given the freedom Stone purports to assert on Introducing it falls short of the nuanced, independent performance she is striving to achieve.

Introducing begins with a speech by former English Footballer Vinnie Jones that sounds decidedly irrelevant – less like a definition and more like an outtake from Snatch as he explains that ‘it takes balls to change’. Aside from the fact that Jones is starting to sound like a parody of himself, one other small detail becomes clearer and clearer as the album progresses - Joss Stone definitely lacks balls, and not much has changed.

While Stone’s voice packs a hefty punch, her natural talent is not enough to get her through 14 tracks. Introducing sounds like one long song with the occasional big-name collaboration. While these cameos provide this pop R&B record with some critical clout, at best the inclusion of Common and Lauryn Hill seems like an all-too-obvious marketing tactic.

There can be no disputing Stone’s ability to carry a tune but on Introducing it appears she amalgamates her influences with an overzealous approach to production and attempts to make up for constantly holding back with a new crimson red hair ‘do and flamboyant cover art. It’s not ‘nice to meet you’ with Introducing, rather a perplexed, ‘You’ve changed, man!’

5 out of 10

Stepfords Live | The Stepfords
No Label | 1998

Review by Jen Jewel Brown



Website

Sounds like … the best little barroom in hell.

The sexy outlaw music of The Stepfords, a tamale-hot unsigned New York/Sydney band who scored the recent national Tony Joe White tour supports, is currently only available through MySpace. That’s something to raise a glass to, while it lasts.

Online phenomenon MySpace is a shark cage against the jaws of the few remaining multinational record companies, those amorphous mega-monsters prowling the economic rationalist deep as they consume each other mindlessly, year after year.

At least at http://www.myspace.com/thestepfords there are friends, free samples of three indie releases and the ability to contact the band direct to mail order this LP Stepfords Live, first album Gas, Food & You or the new four-track EP View From the Floor (2007) via the band’s own label Sway Records.

The Stepfords are the wicked, wicked ways of New York singer Monica McMahon, backed by Sydney-siders Jim Bowman (ex-Ed Kuepper) and Jon Schofield (ex Paul Kelly & the Messengers) on guitars, Clyde Bramley (Hoodoo Gurus) on bass and Iain Shedden (ex Saints) on drums. With this line-up you get a nice touch of garage dirtying up a set of very classy band-written originals.

With the moody “I Can See Hell from Here”, the kick-arse “Cocktail Dress” plus “Black Tears”, “Devil’s Lullaby” and seven other melodic yet gritty tracks, Stepfords Live was recorded at Sydney’s legendary Hopetoun Hotel in 1997, swiftly becoming a collector’s item. The band took a long break while other projects called and the iconic McMahon headed back to New York. The Stepfords’ first appearance on MySpace in June 2006, combined with some rare but dynamic gigs, brought a resurgence of attention. Schofield heads to the Lower East Side shortly to do some songwriting with McMahon. Watch out for a new album down the track.

8 out of 10