30 Apr 2024
Calico Brothers - Tone Magazine
05 Jul 2009 // A review by dubhappy
What is it about the sound quality of NZ-made recordings? Back in the '70s and '80s, we were decidedly inferior in recording, production, engineering. Suddenly, however, every other local album - even comparatively unheralded, comparatively low-budget ones like this Calico Brothers debut - sound gorgeous.
Perhaps it's a wave brought about by a decade or more of institutionalised learning of the recording crafts, or perhaps it's just that we're not COMPRESSING he hell out of recordings over here like they do for commercial rock albums in the States and England.
Whatever the reason, it's great, and for me, it makes listening to an album like this (one that doesn't fit stylistically into my preferred musical orbit) a pleasure.
Calico Brothers come from the Waitakeres, but their folksy, slightly country-ish sound sounds more remote than that. If you crossed one of the less favoured Flying Nun bands (Sneaky Feelings, for instance) with a Beatles influence via Crowded House, and added a touch of comfy country/folk, you could arrive at this very nice but thoroughly conservative music. (Conservative not in the political sense, you understand, but in the sense that there's not exactly a lot of risk taking or boundary-breaking going on here.)
The lineup is old-fashioned and rootsy (and includes banjo, mandolin, Hammond Organ and Wurlitzer) and the excellent production/engineering makes every instrument resonate.
Not an album I'd rush out and buy myself, perhaps, but there's quality in the songwriting, the arrangements, the recording. That's a recommendation.
http://www.tone.co.nz/Members/stereonerd/my-blogs/music-platters/calico-brothers-tell-it-to-the-sun-ode-rhythmethod
What is it about the sound quality of NZ-made recordings? Back in the '70s and '80s, we were decidedly inferior in recording, production, engineering. Suddenly, however, every other local album - even comparatively unheralded, comparatively low-budget ones like this Calico Brothers debut - sound gorgeous.Perhaps it's a wave brought about by a decade or more of institutionalised learning of the recording crafts, or perhaps it's just that we're not COMPRESSING he hell out of recordings over here like they do for commercial rock albums in the States and England.
Whatever the reason, it's great, and for me, it makes listening to an album like this (one that doesn't fit stylistically into my preferred musical orbit) a pleasure.
Calico Brothers come from the Waitakeres, but their folksy, slightly country-ish sound sounds more remote than that. If you crossed one of the less favoured Flying Nun bands (Sneaky Feelings, for instance) with a Beatles influence via Crowded House, and added a touch of comfy country/folk, you could arrive at this very nice but thoroughly conservative music. (Conservative not in the political sense, you understand, but in the sense that there's not exactly a lot of risk taking or boundary-breaking going on here.)
The lineup is old-fashioned and rootsy (and includes banjo, mandolin, Hammond Organ and Wurlitzer) and the excellent production/engineering makes every instrument resonate.
Not an album I'd rush out and buy myself, perhaps, but there's quality in the songwriting, the arrangements, the recording. That's a recommendation.
http://www.tone.co.nz/Members/stereonerd/my-blogs/music-platters/calico-brothers-tell-it-to-the-sun-ode-rhythmethod
About Calico Brothers
With great reviews, shows throughout New Zealand and the inclusion of the title track on the double-platinum selling ‘Outrageous Fortune’ soundtrack, February 2009 found the band in the studio with a bag full of new songs and other things.
A basement studio. A live set up. The warmth of Turkish rugs. Tracks laid down with a minimum of fuss. The session’s effortlessly soulful performances are the product of the Calico’s rapport and their respect for many musical traditions.
Visit the muzic.net.nz Profile for Calico Brothers
Other Reviews By dubhappy
Calico Brothers - NZ Herald
05 Jul 2009 // by dubhappy
Rating: * * * * Verdict: Shining debut from Auckland band of "brothers". We got the tests back and we know they're not really related.
Read More...
Calico Brothers - Bill's Music Forum
05 Jul 2009 // by dubhappy
"Tell It To The Sun" is the full-length debut album from New Zealand's Calico Brothers, who made quite a splash on the indie jangle-pop scene with their 2008 EP, "God Left Town". The band is true to its name - composed of three brothers, one cousin, and one friend, all of whom are strumming out some of the most harmonious acoustic pop this side of The Traveling Wilburys.
Read More...
Calico Brothers - Absolute Power Pop
05 Jul 2009 // by dubhappy
Calico Brothers-Tell it to the Sun. The New Zealand act which brought us one of 2008's top EPs makes their full length debut and picks up where they left off.
Read More...
Calico Brothers - Various
05 Jul 2009 // by dubhappy
In the farway land of Waitakere, New Zealand, the Calico Brothers broke into the modern music scene in 2008 with their debut EP, God Left Town. In the basement studio, Chet O'Connell (guitar), Jimmy Calico(bass) and Robbie Calico(drums) finished their debut full length "Tell It To The Sun.
Read More...
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