JAMES WILLIAM HINDLE
self-titled (Badman)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

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There's a curiously pleasant melancholy running throughout the eight tracks of this disc, which Hindle traveled from Yorkshire, England to San Francisco to record. Maybe it's best explained simply by pointing out that he does a solo acoustic cover of the BeeGees "I Started A Joke" that can only be described as exquisite. When accompaniment appears among the eight tracks, it tends toward simple percussion and cellos, which are used more to enhance the mood than bulk up the sound.

That it's released on a label owned by Mark Kozelak of Red House Painters fame is yet another reliable pointer to the tone of the music. It's simple music, performed with finesse, resulting in an album that's simply fine.

Track List:

Down & Able * Remember My Markings * I Started A Joke * (Masks) * The List Of You & Me * Brooklyn Song * Sparky Marcus * Less Of Me

© 2002 - Shaun Dale