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Showing posts with label My Little Hum. Show all posts
Showing posts with label My Little Hum. Show all posts

Monday, 13 January 2020

I Don't Hear A Single Albums Of The Year 2019 : 31 - 40





It's been difficult to get these choices down to 100. I'm also not a believer in saying one album is better than another. Most of the time you are comparing Apples To Oranges. I'm not a List person, I just think what's the point.

However, for the last couple of years I have compiled Best Of 2019, normally I just said what my favourite album of the year is. I've done it again, because these posts seem so popular and the aim of this Blog is to get exposure (and Sales) for the artists.

There is no meaning or judgement on an album that is Number 1, Number 100 or not on the list. Anything that I review on here, mention on Social Media or play on the Radio Show is as highly recommended.

I would also add that the Top 100 includes albums available as Download Only. To suggest that they are anything less than equal to a Physical release is patently nonsense and omits many wonderful albums.

I will compile a Top 20 of Reissues and Compilations combined after all this is complete. For each album, I've posted a song from it and a link to the review, where you can find further details on how to listen or buy the album.



31 Remo Drive - Natural, Everyday Degradation      IDHAS Review







32 Pastis - Circles       IDHAS Review







33 John Howard - Cut The Wire       IDHAS Review








34 My Little Hum - Pioneer       IDHAS Review







35 Louise Connell - Squall Echo Rale     IDHAS Review  







36 The Vapour Trails - See You In The Next World    IDHAS Review   







37 David Brookings And The Average Lookings - Scorpio Monologue       IDHAS Review







38 The Late Great - Temporary Love Songs       IDHAS Review








39 The Magic E's - Dead Star       IDHAS Review







40 The Lunar Laugh - Goodnight Noises Everywhere       IDHAS Review








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Thursday, 28 November 2019

My Little Hum - Pioneer



My Little Hum return with the follow up to their 2017 debut, Remembering Houses. You can read my review of the debut here. The comparisons with Susanna Hoffs are Sarah Cracknell are still relevant, as is the wonderful gentle Psych Pop.

However, I do have a problem with Pioneer being called sophomore. It's a really lazy term that denigrates the album and it's used too often. I know writers use it as a compliment to denote more of the same, but the album stands up in it's own right and there is more than enough here to show progression without losing what My Little Hum are good at.







I'm a long time Orange Peels fan, but what Allen Clapp brings to Production is impressive, a MLM project is truly a mark of quality. Clapp is again present here, as is Bob Vickers on Drums. There's even added violin from Jonathan Segal. It's like the album was gathering all my faves in the same room.

Yuri Jewett's vocals are as spot on as ever, melodic, sweetness personified, she could sing the Phone Book. However, it's when that Psych Pop kicks in that the album is at its best. The stand out is the magnificent November In New York, a song that seems like a Paisley Pop jangle until Dan Jewett lets loose in the second half with an incredible Guitar performance.







Contrast this with Runway Lights which is virtually Americana Psych with a superb Violin Break from Segal. Subway Song is splendid Jangle Pop, those St Etienne comparisons again ring true. One Of A Guy is like The Bangles doing an early version of The Move, the Bass Line is just ace.

Don't Build It Alone has had a lot of attention, rightly so. It is slightly Nick Cave, but the cover of Christopher Cross's Sailing is inspired, it has a torch song quality. Pioneer 10 ends the album beautifully, a moody, largely instrumental, that underlines the versatility of the duo.








Pioneer is an essential listen. Please don't throw it on the sophomore pile. It demands far more respect than that. You can listen to and buy the album here.


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Thursday, 5 October 2017

My Little Hum - Remembering Houses



My Little Hum are husband and wife duo Yuri and Dan Jewett. The San Franciscan duo's debut album is out on Allen Clapp's formidable Mystery Lawn Music label. Yuri's voice is sugar sweet. imagine Saint Etienne's Sarah Cracknell ditching the electrics.

There's plenty of interest away from the norm here, the guitar on Geography Lesson lends itself to a real psych pop strum, but the steel guitar takes it to another level. Take Care Of You is very Throwing Muses in a good way.






Take Care Of You is like Susanna Hoffs fronting The Church in a slower mode. Rise Over Run is all angular riffs, think Pretenders, with hints of Jangle. Very C86. Steep Ravine is very reminiscent of Susanna Hoffs solo album vibe.

There's also some real depth in the darker two part Alberta, a much moodier affair. There's some really interesting guitar work from Dan Jewett, very different to the songs that it aids. In fact, that's the great thing about Remembering Houses.







The vocals would normally grace a Girl Pop album with big choruses, yet are not used like that in any way. You'd expect to hear moody aching guitar and it's far more inventive, Johnny Marr like at times.

The solo at the end of Alberta II is refreshingly original gripping. There's also a cover of Buzzcocks' Ever Fallen In Love, a favourite song of mine forever. This style may wear a little thin in the UK with the number of TV Adverts doing this with similar songs, but elsewhere, this very different take will please many.






You can listen to and buy the album here.