For such an accomplished musician, DAVID OGILVY remains surprisingly keen to give homage to his singer-songwriter heroes through his music. On 'Heaven and Earth', Dylan gets covered again with a version of 'The Immigrant Song' (never far from being topical in Britain, but sharply so again, just now). It is Nick Drake who is most frequently brought to mind, however; David Ogilvy's style is so remarkably similar at times that you might feel his whole career is a tribute to Nick Drake's own, tragically brief, career.
Beautifully produced - from the cd sleeve to the backing vocals - and elegantly played, 'Heaven and Earth' sees the Nick Drake sound eliding firmly in the direction of JJ Cale territory; with those two in mind, you'll know that this is laid-back music for late in the evening, reflective and soothing. 'Last Night', an original song, is about as raucous as it gets, and sounds like one of JJ Cale's upbeat moments- that is, raucous in a restrained, 'let's not get too excited, chaps' sort of a way. 'Midnight Train' demonstates David's continuing ability to pull a neat tune, with a hummable hook, out of the hat and 'Last Pink Chip' is, really, about as close to JJ Cale as you can get without infringing copywright.
|
Elsewhere, a cover of 'Can't Get Used To Losing You' is a quiet delight; Yolanda Antonio's backing vocals become a wry commentary, where she plays the 'you' of the title. It's an original take on an old favourite and quite lovely. 'I Woke Up', another Ogilvy original , seems to take 70's era Paul Simon for a songwriting model - a fine enough thing to be trying, in my book. I hope I'm not making him sound like a pastichist, though, because that wouldn't be fair. It's just that he's unafraid to let his influences show, he's such a fan of all these guys...
Anyway, a good half of these songs show no such obvious debts and are just beautifully crafted David Ogilvy songs. The only dud track, for me, is the cover of 'Whole World (In His Hands)' which really doesn't benefit from the languid pace: it's a song of joy, if it's anything. Otherwise 'Heaven and Earth' is a mellow charmer, one to enjoy in the quiet moments of the day.
(www.nessmp3.com/music/biscuitsandgravy)
|
