overlap

Rachel Mari Kimber - seems there's a lot of female singer-songwriter with an acoustic guitar in my life this week. Took me till the last song to work out who she reminded me of - it's Beth Orton. with a little bit of the pure clarity of a Sandy Denny or Kate Wolf. Well suited for this particular support slot, songs a little bit inwards-looking without disappearing through the eye of a navel six times a verse. Roddy Frame is underrated as far as I'm concerned, but like plenty of artists, he may well be known more for the odd atypical hit single than what is truly characteristic. 90 minutes of great songs with a delicate touch, and some serious riffing on Oblivious and in a couple of other places. Despite three six-string acoustics and one twelve-string, there's still ample opportunity for gags about the tuning up process, a sizeable helping of amusing moments and interesting anecdotes about where songs came from. Add to that a fantastically clear sound* and a well-behaved crowd, and you get a great night out, and home before midnight too! * so it turned out for the best I didn't take the handbag, and not just for sonic reasons

Labels: gigs, music, Roddy Frame