Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
McNifficent, 31 May 2006
First time I saw McNiff play was supporting Davey Graham at a 12 bar gig several years ago. I was sat with Davey who nodded in approval and told me "he reminds me of a young Ralph McTell", not something I could entirely agree with, but I wasn't going to argue with the man. Fact was McNiff's guitar style reminded me of Davey's in its character, its rhythm, the way he plucked and beat the strings, masterfully teasing the tune and rhythm out of his battered guitar, it was magical to watch. Reminiscent in its intimacy and rendition of Davey's unofficially recorded "After Hours" - recorded in someone's room after a gig at Hull university in 1967. McNiff's early performances, delivered from the relative safety of a chair mid stage added so much tension as he wrung the sound out of his guitar and beat his foot on stage keeping time with his picking, bringing him close to falling from his chair on occasion, your heart in your mouth, amazed at the music and willing him to make it to the end of the song without falling off. That tension added to his appeal.
I'm pretty tired of reading reviews comparing this guy to Dylan, it's just such an easy thing to say, and smacks of journalistic laziness to me. Sure his voice may have a similar timbre, but if you've ever heard McNiff speak you'll know it's not affected or derivative, it's more of a coincidence, but an easy thing for people to latch on to. Who's going to be offended being likened to Dylan anyway, but the danger in saying that is that he's just lumped in with the myriad of imitators and you miss what he really has to offer. Take him out of the Dylan shadow, make some space for him and you'll be rewarded with what you find.
Bought his first album straight after watching that 12 bar performance and have followed his progress ever since, amazed that he's still so underground. Starting as a fan of Off the Rails - his most English album full of beautifully crafted, finger-picked, delicate tracks, it could easily be a soundtrack to an indie film, with all its beautiful, quirky, poetic lyricism, it creates a stillness in you when you listen to it and conjures up romantic ideas of England, London in particular that make you feel homesick and nostalgic for a time and scene that may never even have existed. Nobody's Son, his second album - where his sound becomes more confident, a bit more country, though as always, retaining his loyalty to his English musical roots. Danny and Julian Wilson of Grand Drive and Andy from the Hankdogs lent their skills as his backing band for this album. "I Remember You" off this album won him airplay on Captain America's show and a number one positioning on the Americana UK playlist, with the album also being voted album of the year by them.
This new album Another Man is yet another leap forward for him, he's grown, he's more confident, the sound is bigger, but the detail and the finer qualities have not been sacrificed, we get more timeless compositions, characters and scenarios with a very literary appeal. But now the compositions are bigger, more sweeping, bolder, there are swells and falls, delicate opening lines leading to great thumped out choruses such as on Berries: "gotta leave the one you love.....you're nothing til you've left someone you love". There's a lot to like on this album, he's moving in a new direction but keeping that magical McNiff world that he inhabits, and good reviews for it in Mojo and Uncut may just finally start getting him the recognition he deserves.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Classic Songwriting, 30 May 2006
I bought the previous album on the strength of the musicians involved and it became one of my favourite's of 2003. Another Man is another great leap forward. A slightly more stripped back sound brings Jason's excellent guitar picking to the fore and the writing is as strong as ever. If you like pastoral, English songwriting with a folk / country feel then dive in, you will not be disappointed
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
another man, 28 May 2006
For some reason Jason McNiff would appear to be England's least known musical treasure, despite extensive touring and rave reviews of his albums.
His first album (Off the rails) was released on Snowstorm in 2000. It showed an obviously very gifted songwriter acquainting himself with recording the fruits of his writing. The result was very hit and occasionally miss, with some brilliant tracks (the title track for instance) and some that could have done with some more work in the studio, but still well above average.
The second album (Nobody's Son; Snowstorm 2003) was brilliant from first till last. Very much in the Americana vein of music. Americana magazine proclaimed it `Album of the year' Mysterious lyrics that kept intriguing and easy-on-the-ear flowing melodies. An album that in that style would be very difficult to champion.
Another three years later sees McNiff subtly changing style, releasing a quite different product all over again. Musically closer to Off the rails than Nobody's Son. It would appear that he has made a concerted effort to rid himself of the Americana mantle that he donned on Nobody's Son. To some extent this is done at the expense of the strong melodies that were such a feature of Nobody's Son.
The arrangements are quite stark, mostly just Jason on guitar; Graham Knight on bass and harmony vocals and Steve Brookes on drums. These musicians have been backing him on the road for the last few years and are a very tight unit. What keeps one fascinated by McNiff, live and on record, is his unpredictability. Never the same twice. He is a brilliant guitarist and follows the path his guitar takes him, leading to territories that are reminiscent of diverse acts such as CSN, the Grateful Dead and Dylan.
On first listening Another Man seems harmless and easy on the ear, but on closer inspection it proves to be a most complex product where your attention gets pulled from lyrics to music and back again.
The production is stark leaving the music to speak for itself, is perfect. The sound near perfect and McNiff's professionalism impressive. He is a most gifted singer and, as mentioned guitarist. Both qualities seem to be kept under close control, which always makes you want for more.
Every time you play the album you discover something else. There are albums, however good, that once played a couple of times in a row make you wish for dramatic change. This album, however, can be played time and time again without ever becoming boring, which is a not insignificant achievement. There always seems to be something else that you have not noticed before, such as a line in the lyrics.
It is very difficult to pinpoint outstanding tracks as the album really comes across as a unit, but in this reviewer's point of view Hills of Rome and Broken Down might just shade it but the next time it may be Berries and In our time or Delia and the title track the time after that. It is that kind of an album.
In `Pilgrims' (a track that has changed rather dramatically since he first played it), Jason sings `We like you cos you know how to drink the water of these times'. The thing about McNiff is that he does not seem to be drinking the water of any particular time, but that of all time and the result is a truly timeless masterpiece.
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