29 Mar 2024
UsernamePassword

Remember Me? | Join | Recover
Click here to sign in via social networking

Elliot Brown - Road To Destruction album review

28 Aug 2011 // A review by Alistar3000

At first I didn’t know what to make of Northland’s Elliot Brown.  His claims of alt-country put me off, not being a genre I usually get into too much.  But I came away from listening to the album impressed; by his songwriting and arranging, by the depth of his music, and by the experimentation and choices of instrumentation that aren’t usually associated with country music, alt or otherwise.

Right from the choice of opening track, the traditional Cruel Mother, appearing here as a duet with Hariet Ellis and accompanied only by a knitting needle (yes, you read that right, a knitting needle), it was clear that this was going to be something different.

Brown wrote about half the songs on the album, his second as a solo artist, with the rest being traditional tunes arranged by him or written by other country artists.  It’s perhaps a credit to his talents as a musician that it’s often difficult to tell the difference between his own compositions and those he has arranged.

His own songs tend towards themes of being down and out, or “general wretchedness”  in his own words, and have a blues philosophy behind many of them.

It’s a shame that Road to Destruction has been given such a low key release as it deserves more.  It’d be nice to see it repackaged professionally and marketed more widely, but Brown has a strong desire to give his music away, or have people pay what they want for it, meaning that without label backing it will always be a struggle to give his music the treatment it deserves.

Road To Destruction
View Track Listing
 

About Elliot Brown

Currently Elliot Brown (and The Candy Caps) is a 25 year-old solo recording artist based in Mangawai, Nortland. Influences include Hank Williams, Bill Monroe, Tom Paxton, Radio Head, the Pixies, Creedence Clearwater, Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and Kris Kristofferson, but don’t let his influence by these legends fool you into thinking you’ve heard anything like his craft before. Elliot Brown music fits within several genres, including Modern American Folk, Alternative and Classic Rock, and Modern Alternative Country.

Elliot is a primarily self-taught guitarist and vocalist, receiving his first guitar and lessons from his father at the age of six, and only a few lessons from a professional jazz/classical musician at the age of twelve. Studying a variety of the greatest artists of many disciplines, he has absorbed lessons in classical harmonies from artists such as Bach, vocal harmonies of Brian Wilson, with haunting lyrics inspired by a love of the work of Edgar Allen Poe. He attributes much of his passion to his love of folk and classic country artists, such as Bill Monroe and Hank Williams. Elliot Brown’s music captures the full spectrum of human emotion with his complex melodies and visual lyrics. His talent is self-evident, or as Kim Freiderich of Punk Globe says, “[Elliot is] a man with so much talent that it made me stop and drop what I was doing…I found myself listening to his songs one by one over and over… mesmerized with what I was hearing.” Kim goes on to point out; “You are not signed to a label, which I find quite funny since it’s been a long time since I have heard this much talent.” This is a common response to Elliot's magic. Paul Gallagher of Under the Radar and 95bFM who has played his music “religiously” says, “[He is] one of the more under-appreciated troubadours of New Zealand music, Elliot Brown has been a force of lyrical talent for as long as I have known him”; going on to add, “There has always been a mix of brutally earnest honesty within Elliot's music and a thematic blues folk aesthetic of an Dylan / Bo Diddley / Winston Churchill-speech quoting odyssey.”

Elliot’s debut album Delirium Tremens features 21 songs recorded over the last two years, with samplings from both The Stomps and Elliot Brown and the Candy Caps, recorded by Gundry Audio, and is available for sale at Amazon, download at iTunes and available for sample on his WebPages. Elliot is continuing to compose music, write lyrics and record tracks for his upcoming album, expected to be completed by January of 2011. Currently, Elliot is playing venues based in New Zealand, But with a solid fan base of 27,000 in the USA, is also planning a tour of the United States within the Year.

Visit the muzic.net.nz Profile for Elliot Brown

Releases

Jingles 4
Year: 2015
Type: Album
Lies Your Momma Told Me
Year: 2014
Type: Album
Road To Destruction
Year: 2011
Type: Album
Delirium Tremens
Year: 2009
Type: Album

Other Reviews By Alistar3000

Primacy - Single Review: Shade Black
15 Oct 2015 // by Alistar3000
Auckland 5-piece Primacy are one of those bands that don’t try and hide their influences; their new single Shade Black is a healthy blend of all that was good about ‘90s rock, and that’s not a bad thing. Starting out with a Tool-like intro that soon gives way to a heavier, chugging riff, the song maintains a freshness and urgency throughout.
Read More...
Cairo Knife Fight - Album review: The Colossus
11 Jun 2015 // by Alistar3000
Having seen Cairo Knife Fight perform live many times over the past few years I’d always been under the assumption they were performing songs from a number of prior recordings. So I was a little surprised to discover that The Colossus was actually their first album (they do have a few EPs recorded), and more surprised to find that long time guitarist Aaron Tokona (AHoriBuzz) was no longer a key part of the band, and makes only a small appearance on the album – with that revelation I didn’t know what to expect when I pressed play.
Read More...
Mel Parsons - Album Review: Drylands
05 May 2015 // by Alistar3000
Back in 2011 I reviewed Mel Parsons' second album Red Grey Blue and enjoyed it – it had some well written songs, was well produced, and was easy to listen to. When I first popped in her latest album Drylands, I thought she’d taken a bit of a different path to the alt-country that dominated her first album.
Read More...
Album Review: Tahuna Breaks Live 10
02 Apr 2015 // by Alistar3000
It’s hard to believe that Tahuna Breaks is celebrating 10 years making music together, although they do seem to have always been around, and I guess if anyone’s going to be keeping a record of how long they’ve been making their brand of funkified reggae, it’d be them. To celebrate the occasion they’ve release Tahuna Breaks Live 10 – 10 tracks spanning their career, recorded live last year at a one-off concert to celebrate the milestone (so I guess the album should actually be called 10 + 6 months).
Read More...
State Of Mind - EP Review: Until The World Ends
12 Feb 2015 // by Alistar3000
Auckland drum and bass duo State of Mind are no strangers to collaboration, having worked with the likes of Tiki Taane and PNC to craft some big hitting tracks that achieved a lot of airplay. This time round they’re working with the trio from Black Sun Empire, hailing out of the Netherlands, produce the heavy hitting Until The World Ends EP together.
Read More...
Album Review: Latinaotearoa in Latinoamerica
09 Dec 2014 // by Alistar3000
When I started reading about the concept behind the second Latinaotearoa album it sounded like a good idea and I was quite excited to have a listen to it. If you’re not familiar with the story, Auckland musician Isaac Aesili (Solaa, Opensouls, Eru Dangerspiel, Funkommunity) teamed up once again with Venezualan singer Jennifer Zea, and Brazilian-born DJ Bobby Brazuka, to research and write a bunch of songs in Brazil, then record the album of Latin-influenced tunes in Brazil and Auckland with guest appearances by some great musicians (such as Raiza Biza, Julien Dyne, Riki Gooch and Miguel Fuentes) – what should, on paper, lead to some great experimentation and crossovers of styles.
Read More...
Beastwars Live at San Fran, Wellington 10/10/2014
21 Oct 2014 // by Alistar3000
I was finding it hard to believe that it’d been over 18 months since I last saw Beastwars play in Wellington as I stumbled on down to the newly refurbished San Fran in Wellington last week. I’m not sure why it’d taken me so long to go back to Wellington’s number one metal (or at least heavy rock) band, especially since they’d never disappointed me before.
Read More...
Into Orbit - Caverns Album Review
24 Aug 2014 // by Alistar3000
Wellington two piece noisemakers Into Orbit have an appropriate name for the kind of music they’ve created on their new album Caverns; it’s spacey feeling, often out there and is sure to take off. I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect from the album before listening to it (or even if I’d like it at all), but came away a devoted fan after having it on constant repeat for a couple of days while I explored everything it had to offer (I’m still not there yet, not even close).
Read More...
View All Articles By Alistar3000

NZ Top 10 Singles

  • WE CAN'T BE FRIENDS (WAIT FOR YOUR LOVE)
    Ariana Grande
  • BEAUTIFUL THINGS
    Benson Boone
  • END OF BEGINNING
    Djo
  • LOSE CONTROL
    Teddy Swims
  • TEXAS HOLD 'EM
    Beyonce
  • STICK SEASON
    Noah Kahan
  • PRAISE JAH IN THE MOONLIGHT
    YG Marley
  • CARNIVAL
    Kanye West And Ty Dolla $ign
  • SATURN
    SZA
  • LOVIN ON ME
    Jack Harlow
View the Full NZ Top 40...
muzic.net.nz Logo
100% New Zealand Music
All content on this website is copyright to muzic.net.nz and other respective rights holders. Redistribution of any material presented here without permission is prohibited.
Report a ProblemReport A Problem