Good songs, variable sound quality
Nadyne Richmond | Mountain View, CA USA | 01/01/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Paul Kelly always writes strong songs. This five-song EP, with cuts taken from his upcoming 'Ways and Means' double-album, is proof of that. However, the sound quality of some of the tracks is not up to par.The title track is sparse, just Paul and his guitar. It is a sweet little love song, something he does very well. In this track, he tells his lover that 'only you can make this brain shut down'. 'Emotional' was originally released on his website with the longer title 'I Guess I Get a Little Emotional Sometimes'. It is a political song about the plight of refugees who were imprisoned at Woomera. It features Paul on guitar and Bruce Haynes on piano. The live version of 'Nobody's Baby Now', a cover of fellow Australian artist Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, was the song that I most wanted to hear. It is also the biggest disappointment. The cover itself is plantive and bittersweet, which Paul Kelly does so well. However, the sound quality is very poor. There is audible tape hiss throughout the track. I can only hope that we hear a better version of this (maybe a studio version?) sometime in the future.'Christmas Must Be Tonight' gives us what is only the second Christmas song ever to come from Paul Kelly. The first, 'How to Make Gravy', is a sad letter from a man in prison to his family. This one, a cover of The Band, is a completely different beast. 'Little Bit of Sugar' is also taken from the upcoming 'Ways and Means' album. Written with his nephew Dan Kelly, it is an energetic track. If you're not already a Paul Kelly fan, I wouldn't recommend starting with this EP. '... nothing but a dream' is an excellent introduction to his music, or you can wait for 'Ways and Means' to be released in February 2004. If you are a Paul Kelly fan, this is a good addition to his catalog. I wouldn't consider it essential, at least not with the sound quality issues. One caveat: this disc uses copy protection. Two of my CD players don't recognise the CD at all. It sometimes crashes my Windows 2000 computer."
