Samples are 8bit mono to save space
but still average over 400K so
beware before clicking!

Songs:

   1. Forever Now
   2. Ted Told Fred
   3. When April Sees Me
   4. Hey Man
   5. Saving Grace
   6. Filth
   7. Empty Smile
   8.  No No No
   9. Let Go
10. Pearl
11. That Don't Sit With Me

Music Review     

Because of my experience as a recording engineer/producer, I get a
unique opportunity to hear lots of new and different music.
The purpose of this section is not to review any particular project
I am working on (although they may appear here) but to offer one
person's opinion on what they happen to be listening to at the time.
I'm not a professional music critic - I don't get paid by anyone.
In fact most of the artists who I write on won't even know I did so.

Some of what appears here may not be marketed in your area.  If you
are interested in something that's not readily available, drop me an
e-mail and I'll do what I can to put you in touch with someone who can
help you obtain it.

Not all that I review will be new.  I dig everything which means that
I am likely to write about anything; old, new and in any genre.

In Review: Robert Frith: Pontune
                           TVel Records, 1998

Their first album sounded like an attempt to capture a Van Morrison sound.  And
it did a pretty good job of reaching that goal musically.  This second album seems
to pull from a variety of influences.  Anything from a rock-a-billy, Vince Gill sound
to Dire Straits meets Crowded House, using a deep chorused rock guitar mated with a cool hammond B3 organ. 

The album starts off OK with Forever Now.  I like the nice clean acoustic and the B3
organ sound.  It's a catchy tune but seems to lack any "magic".  The lyrics are
vaguely interesting, the guitar solo simple yet tasteful.  Robert has a knack for
writing good heartfelt songs but this opener doesn't seem to challenge that ability.

This is followed up by a quick stepping song - Ted Told Fred  that has lyrics that
force you to pay more attention than its predecessor.  He fires lines at you so fast
that you find yourself wanting to press that << button to see exactly what he said.
My only complaint about this tune is from a producer's view: the tune overall
suffers from too much compression.  The drums are very compressed but left back
in the mix - making them sound thin.  A bit more beef would have added more bite.

When April Sees Me is a nice walk with good harmony parts.  It's a simple upbeat
rock ballad like some old Firefall or Hall and Oats tunes.  A happy sort of hook in a
tune that seems to be about a loved one that has passed on but the first person of
the tune finds comfort in memories and their faith.  The overall feel of the tune is
warm and makes you want to cruise around at sunset with the top down. 

Hey Man is probably my favorite tune on the album.  I'm a sucker for a guitar that is
so deeply phased that it has that leslie sound.  Liken it to a John Hiatt sound,
if you will.  This tune has good bite and the guitar sound along with the beat make for
good hooks.  Lyrics like:"Hey man would you stop 'n listen, would stop-a kissin' on that
rear-end; Hey man would you stop and listen to me...", make for a very provocative
song that sticks with you.  It's also where I got the startup sound for this page on the site.

Saving Grace makes a slight turn into more of a western flavor.  This tune could
almost cross over into Country (as pop as what we call "Country" has become.) 
It kinda has a feel of Crowded House with a harmonica.  Filth is a cool tune that
also suffers from the "thin" sound.  An airplay candidate for sure, this tune has an
ass-kickin' 70's style guitar sound.  "Your just like a carnival, flash on the outside,
inside nothing but filth" makes for some interesting lyrics as well.  Empty Smile
mates that 70's style rock with the Crowded House B3 organ again.  It too is a catchy
tune.  No No No  starts off interesting but the guitar solo is so different sounding
that it's almost distracting. It's also a somewhat cliche tune but worth the listen.

Let Go is a good tune and has nice changes but the chorus seems to wimp out on
the rest of the tune.  Some effects on the vocals and some phat guitar shows that
the band can shift out of the Rock-a-Billy and into ZZ Top easily.  Pearl   seems to
pay homage to Janice Joplin.  A definite airplay tune that, as irony would have it
will cross nicely into Country.  As a matter of fact, if the Country bar DJs in my
area ever get a hold of this CD, my guess is it will become one of their favorites.
A Country tune about a Rock star...imagine that. 

That Don't Sit With Me is a reflective ballad that pines for "the good ol' days" and
sounds like the tune Robert plays after the show when everyone's gone.  Just him
and an acoustic guitar (presumably his.)  It's a fitting last tune.

Overall Pontune is a fine album that suffers only slightly from some minor  gotchas,
an occaisional disconnected emotional subject and some thin drums.   If this CD is
available in your area, I'd recommend you pick it up.  I understand from my wife - who
got me the CD from her friend, the keyboard player - that the band is being courted by
a label.  This, and Robert's first CD were apparently self produced and distributed. 
If a label does pick this one up, I hope they mass produce it as is.  A second attempt
of an album of this caliber would sound exactly as such - a second attempt.   The
emotion and chemistry of this release, I fear would be lost.  Besides, this album is
recorded well enough that it could be placed in stores today next to most other pop-
Folk or Rock-a-Billy and hold its own.  It's much better than the first album.   It sounds
like they hired a producer on this one.  As stated above, I have no liner notes so I
don't know if these are the same people as the first go-round or not but this time is
most definietely better.  The first album had well written songs with interesting
subject matter but was horribly compressed, the drums were almost non-existant
and the overall sound was virtually without bass.  Perhaps they learned something
from the first release and applied it on this one.  I like Robert's song style well
enough that I would be interested in producing or engineering his next project.  
But since I live in NC and he will probably never read this or know me...

If I must give a rating on a CD, I'd give Pontune a "B" on sound quality and an "A-" on
songwriting and performance.  If Robert Frith and his band are in your area, I'd
recommend going to see them live.  Based on this CD, it'd be worth the cover.

That's the unofficial scoop this month... so keep listening and So Long!

Press "Play", Be Quiet...