JOHN BOTICA - BETWEEN THE SHADOWS

Seemingly the spirit & sound of Johnny Cash lives on & though I’ve never listened to a great deal of Johnny Cash’s sound, I’m well enough aware when I hear something which has such a style to bring a great name like that to mind. There are quite a few tracks here which will spark the interest of anyone who is into country music but not the particularly cheesy style personified by people like Billy Ray Cyrus.

One of my favourite tracks here, ironically enough, is actually a track from back in 1969, called “Albatross”. The band pull this one off with a world class instrumental that’s outstanding. However, there are numerous other highlights, such as opener “City Of Sorrow” & the epic closing number “Rubber House”, while “Walk Upon The Sky” has a slightly different mood than much of the rest of the album for whatever reason. Certainly someone doing something very different to other Australian bands at the moment.

Between The Shadows is out now through Laughing Outlaw. hEARd rating 6.5/10

THE JOHN BUTLER TRIO - LIVING 2001--2002

Yes, this one has been around for quite some time. It’s not a bad effort either & as just about anyone who’s heard of The John Butler Trio, or just John Butler himself would know, they are the kings of the long windout on the majority of their songs, particularly in a live setting. As you’d expect, a live recording of this band does indeed feature lots of those long riffing playouts, covering not 1, but 2 CDs, with a bonus track besides.

There are some awesome moments here, from the venerable “Pickapart”, which is quite possibly the band’s best known moment, along with a very cool version of “Betterman”, though my all up favourite is “Take”, an awesome 10 minute epic that is one of the best things I’ve heard out of the band. The aforementioned bonus number is “Home Is Where The Heart Is”, which is relatively speaking at 3 minutes long, a snippet. It’s another example of just where the band are capable of taking you musically. Sure, there’s newer stuff around & you’ll likely find them out & about touring, but this is a great reminder of the band at their best.

Living 2001-2002 is out now through MGM. hEARd rating 8.5/10

JOHN CITIZEN - HOORAY FOR HOLLYWOOD

A band who have been around for quite some time now, John Citizen’s music is definitely out on it’s own & they excel on the songs provided on this single. There is no single style which really defines the sound of the band, but they are capable of producing some cool melodies & one track really stands out on this single as probably the best thing the band have come up with.

That particular track for me is “As Heard On Triple J”, which may or may not be a joke track, but one thing’s for sure, it simply works as a song, with great rock sensisibility. Likewise, “Runaway (Cristobel’s Comin’)” is one other such track. While still a cool track, the title number just doesn’t grab me in the same way as those others do, but if you’ve heard anything by the band before, you’ll be back for this one.

Hooray For Hollywood is out now through Jive Circus. hEARd rating 7.5/10

JOLIE HOLLAND - ESCONDIDA

Interesting sort of sound this with a real southern roots feel that's come out of the woods of Arkansaw or some other out of the way place in the US. The opening track here is "Sascha", while spruiked by some as revolutionary is the opener, but is in my opinion the one track which could easily have been left out of the tracklisting here, but then what do I know about anything. Jolie's voice is quite remarkable at times, reminding me of Norah Jones more than a little at times along this album.

The style here is minimalist, with the aforementioned old roots & club jazz feel on some tracks. A few odd tracks such as "Old Fashio0ned Morphine" & "Damn Shame" stand out, but the best on offer for me were "Do You?" & "Tiny Idyll / Lil Missy", on which Jolie's voice & the instrumentals just mesh so well. All in all, an album which will make you want to listen to it just to see what else you can find in amongst the gems here.

Escondida is out now through Shock. hEARd rating 7.5/10

JORDAN - EVERYBODY KNOWS

On a wing & a prayer, Jordan skates very close to the edge with this one & I'm certain that some Leonard Cohen fans will hate this with a passion, but others, or even non-Cohen fans will be able to appreciate this for what it is, a rather interesting curio in the Leonard Cohen appreciation museum some time down the track. For some reason, I had fully expected a pop interpretation of the classic, but Jordan takes an extremely different tack than I had expected.

The remaining couple of songs on the album are also a rather strange but pleasant blend of more traditional pop, interspersed with a somewhat darker feel, though it's not immediately obvious & will no doubt require some more listens to determine exactly what is going on in the background. "Work It Out" is the closer & is my eventual pick here, but you'll need to take a listen to what's on offer here to see where Jordan's coming from.

Everybody Knows is out now through Underworld Records. hEARd rating 7.5/10