DVDfever.co.uk - Maria Taylor: LadyLuck CD reviewDVDfever.co.uk - Charts, News and Reviews of Blu-rays, DVDs, Games, CDs, Hardware, Laserdiscs, Cinema Films & more
For three years Maria Taylor fronted dream popsters Azure Ray with Orinda Fink until they called it a day in 2004. They released three albums – Azure Ray (2001) Burn And Shiver (2002) and Hold On Love (2004). They reformed for a one-off gig in LA on 30 November 2008.
Their music included elements of Americana folk, alternative country with intimate lyrics and a sparse sound.
Some of that formula surfaces here too, though the music is far more expansive in places.
Her hushed tones are an absolute delight almost comparable with Dido, though that’s where comparisons end.
Her move to LA from Nebraska , I believe, have brought some polished results fitting to the Californian soundscapes of astral folksters with an eye on a more commercial focus, without selling out.
Lady Luck shimmers along at a steady pace with jangly and wiry guitar solos, shuffling drum beats, loaded with sunny melodies and great harmonies.
She can swing from the melancholic shoe-gazing to cheerfully upbeat with consummate ease. Lady Luck is basically a ‘break up’ album without too much angst and bitterness, often associated with this type of theme.
It opens with 60s folk-like gem title track Lady Luck, a perky little number full of optimism.
Following this is the soft-rocker Time Lapse Lifeline, again a bouncy jaunt with several catchy hooks pondering the ‘perfect life’, texturised by sweeping string arrangements, good enough to make an introductory single, if you’ve not heard of her before now that is.
Next comes another potential single – It’s Time – with guitar licks befitting any stadium pop-rock song around at the moment. Further in, Green Butterfly is an out-and-out pop song with nifty rockabilly beats sure to get you in the dancing mood.
Despite all the previous gushing thrusts, Taylor does killer ballads such as the melancholic beauty of My Favourite..Love like no one else, using a more stripped-back approach with acoustic guitar and huge dollops of strings which allow her soul and warmth to explode to maximum effect- this is the jewel in the crown.
Broad Daylight is pretty dreary and sumptuous in equal measure, but once again she draws beauty from the sadness of the tale, with those strings doing all the tear-jerking work.
Among the many excellent moments on Lady Luck, it’s the intricate details of A Chance that shine through. Not only is it a classy song with pop elements, it’s the edgy and fuzzy guitars that make this a special track, and her voice is at its best here too – husky and distant, creating masses of atmosphere.
Closing an excellent album, the click-clocking country-tinged Cartoons And Forever Plans (a single) leaves us in no doubt Taylor remains as optimistic as she began Lady Luck: “…our love will never die..,” she confirms.
1. Lady Luck
2. Time Lapse Lifeline
3. It’s Time
4. My Favourite….Love
5. 100,000 Times
6. Green Butterfly
7. Broad Daylight
8. A Chance
9. Orchids
10. Cartoons And Forever Plans
DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2010.