Gramophone

Wow - no reviews in almost 10 years for this, one of my favourite albums of the 2000s? I have to put that right. I bought this CD in Paris and it was covered in (unsurprisingly when you think about it) French stickers with what I recall were, even to my poor linguist's eyes, rave 5 star reviews from the French music press. I recall thinking at the time that is was going to be European and dangerous - and it turned out to be from Birmingham (via New Zealand courtesy of vocalist Penny McConnell)! No matter - what you have here is a great mood music album - and, yes, also dangerous - comparison can be made with Blue Nile and Portishead maybe but really Gramophone made their very own music and very fine it is too with truly exceptional vocals. There was no follow up album and whilst band member David Picking has done some stuff since, I'm sad that even in this day and age I can't seem to find out what happened to Penny McConnell. Anyway at the time of writing it will set you back over £25 quid for the CD which I personally think is well worth it but the album is available for considerably less via download so if Amazon doesn't make it happen automatically, I'll post this review on the MP3 version as well.

Copy of CD review: I bought this CD in Paris and it was covered in (unsurprisingly when you think about it) French stickers with what I recall were, even to my poor linguist's eyes, rave 5 star reviews from the French music press. I recall thinking at the time that is was going to be European and dangerous - and it turned out to be from Birmingham (via New Zealand courtesy of vocalist Penny McConnell)! No matter - what you have here is a great mood music album - and, yes, also dangerous - comparison can be made with Blue Nile and Portishead maybe but really Gramophone made their very own music and very fine it is too with truly exceptional vocals. There was no follow up album and whilst band member David Picking has done some stuff since, I'm sad that even in this day and age I can't seem to find out what happened to Penny McConnell. Anyway at the time of writing it will set you back over £25 quid for the CD which I personally think is well worth it but the album is available for considerably less via download.

most moods you're in will suit this album - it's beautiful. the orchestration and production (band member's a producer - is that cheating? ;) is the best.there's nothing boring on here but then again there are no singles either - if you're looking for a catchy fix then this isn't it. i'm glad it's not - it'd ruin the fact that this album is one art piece that touches the soul! the lyrics are riddles but you get the feeling that the singer's an angry lass but it makes the music deeper with underlying moodiness - nice.i really hope that more people find out about this - it's not your typical marketable music so i hope the record industry realise what a gem they have here, otherwise it'd be such a waste!i really love the strings! just hope it's not a one off...

I didn't know anything about this Birmingham band until I saw a review in Muzik magazine late last year. That was enough to persuade me to give the album a go, and I'm glad I did - it's probably the best thing I've heard in the last 12 months!As Gramophone consists of two male studio boffins (Jon Cotton and David Picking) and one female singer/lyricist (Penny McConnell), I'm sure they'll get compared to the likes of Portishead and Goldfrapp, but in truth this album has both a wider scope and a more organic sound (lots of real instruments for a change!) than anything those two bands have done.Almost every track is a winner, but my favourites would be 'Home', a slow, dubby song with a great bassline over which McConnell delivers a spooky tale of infidelity, 'Hello Kitty', probably the most abrasive and experimental track, with a vocal which alternates between tender and terrifying, and 'Paper Boat', which by contrast is a simple, intimate song about a lost lover or relative, set to the barest of piano, bass and drums.Overall, this is a subtle, intelligent album which deserves to be heard, and fans of slightly off-centre artists such as Stina Nordenstam, Sparklehorse, Talk Talk or Tindersticks won't be disappointed. Buy it!

This album to me has quite a timeless feel, it's not a 'trendy' record at all but manages to combine lots of different elements into a beautiful whole. The singer's voice reminds me of Tori Amos at times, Suzanne Vega at others, but has her own style, and most of the lyrics are quite mysterious but the overall atmosphere is very moving. This would be great on a film soundtrack!