Hello ... Hello ... my old friends ... It's great to see you once again! Regular visitors to ELOBF will [hopefully!] remember my post on 9th November entitled: REVIEW: TAPE RECORDERS CHANGED EVERYTHING where I took a look at the new album by Peter Hackett [a.k.a. 'Cult Of Wedge'], who is a local performer, songwriter and producer heavily influenced by Jeff Lynne and [naturally] by extension ELO - especially if you have a listen to his new seasonal release: "Christmas On The Moon".
Now, one of the artistes that Pete Hackett produces is a superb singer songstress from Prescott near Liverpool whose name is Maxine 'Maxi' Dunn. Her first CD self-release in 2009 was the 14-track: "Welcome To Soonville" [WTS] which was followed in 2011 by the 12-track offering: "The Neglected Gambit" [TNG].
"Welcome To Soonville" is a collection of songs from Maxi that is part-produced by Pete Hackett [9 songs] and it ably demonstrates the full remit of Maxi Dunn's crystal clear voice and impressive song construction. Tracks such as the strong opener: "How Was I To Know" and sure fire foot tapper: "Always Be My Friend" are held in tension by the title track and a fine collection of songs of differing styles with the same theme of introspective regret and tentative forward steps.
And "The Neglected Gamble" is a progression from WTS that displays the same smouldering back glance, lyrically, of romantic angst but is a little more jolly and positive of yet future days. It is this second CD where the partnership between Maxi and Peter comes into its own. The 'big sound' of Mr. Hackett's ELO influenced production values and from the rock fuelled title track to musical gems such as: "Why Do I Want You?"; "Make It Better"; "You Took The Sunshine From My Heart"; "Weather Warning" and "Winter Ghost". On this CD you can hear flamenco in one song; Blues on the next and then a Beatlesque ditty after that! The layered backing vocals, for me, give away the influences of the producer - and beautifully support the song construction.
Folks that know me know that after ELO; I am a huge fan of ABC and Martin Fry too. Some of the bittersweet lovelorn angst of the songs on these two [2] Maxi Dunn albums really take me back to the heady days of 'The Lexicon Of Love' in 1982 with their tales of heart wrenching broken promises. It's a tremendous piece of work in the opinion of this particular writer and listener.
The CD versions of "Welcome To Soonville" and "The Neglected Gamble" are available direct from the official Maxi Dunn web site [see below]. You can also download some or all of her albums from: amazon.co.uk or iTunes.com:
ELOBF is proud to endorse; support and recommend independent artistes: Maxi Dunn [and Peter Hackett] who ply their trade from the musical heartlands of 'The Beatles' and ELO respectively.
Until next "Time" in the ELO [and related] universe ... KJS ... 18-Dec-2011
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