Welcome to Vinyl Stylus, a blog about good music, and what makes music good.

Here, you'll find Rocks In The Attic - a disc by disc journey through my entire vinyl collection.

In a world full of TV talent shows, greatest hits CDs and manufactured pop, take a stroll through something that's good for your ears and good for your soul.

Friday, August 3, 2012

Rocks In The Attic #115: Whistler - ‘Whistler’ (1999)

Whistler are an acoustic trio, put together by ex-EMF guitarist Ian Dench.

I came across this band when they were supporting Wiiija labelmates Bis at a gig in Leeds. I then saw them a few nights later in Manchester, on the same tour and finally on the acoustic stage at Glastonbury that summer.

It’s definitely nice music - I don’t think anybody would disagree with that - but Kerry Shaw’s posh voice does grate on some tracks. Singing clearly and over-enunciating every word isn’t a great idea when you sound like you come from the privileged classes. The songwriting is very good on this album though, good enough in most cases to ignore Shaw’s vocals; and there’s a massive influence of Nick Cave on this LP, which is why I like it.

Hit: Don’t Jump In Front Of My Train

Hidden Gem: The End

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