Search - Syd Matters :: Whisper & a Sigh

Dual disc

alexander laurence | Los Angeles, CA | 07/21/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"
A few years ago I was listening to a lot of Nick Drake. Then I was listening

to some Neil Halstead and Badly Drawn Boy. Those are good albums to listen to

in late fall, or early winter. At that time I usually retreat to my cabin and

no one sees me for three months. I emerge later with a large beard. This is

one of those nice sounding folk records. It reminds me of a time; maybe most of

2002, when I was listening to and hanging out with bands like Alfie and

Gorky's Zygotic Mynci. Actually Euros Childs, of Gorky's, shows up on one track here

called "I Care." This record is pretty amazing sounding all the way through.

I think that Syd Matters is from France. I think that is where this record

was first released. But he sounds more like American and English roots guys of

the past thirty years. It is totally cool. This sort of stuff flies in the face

of fashion and means more twenty years down the line. "Flow Backwards"

almost sounds like The Divine Comedy. This record comes with a second disc called

"A Whisper and A Sigh" which is equally good. Syd Matters is a shock to the

system. It's not even what I expected. But it's pretty deep music.



"