UKBANDS.NET > Forum > FANS, BANDS & INDUSTRY FORUMS > REVIEWS & INTERVIEWS > 'T's UP ! review # 21 BILLY' BATES
| Posted by InfamousT on 16-9-2005 10:21 AM |
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'T's UP ! review # 21 BILLY' BATES BILLY BATES ....a busy day today, so i decide - whilst perusing my more than enormous wardrobe, to kit myself out in a rather more subdued fashion... and standing here in the hall of mirrors at "Moshin' Manor"... with the light of a thousand disco balls playing over my finely honed torso... resplendent in best 'Gay Klingon' regalia - vermilion kevlar tutu with diamanté sash and thigh-length outer skin kitten-heeled hob-nails... all topped off with an authentic Victorian seal-skin kagool, (just in case the weather turns inclement) ...i just have time to listen to one our representatives from north of the border, Billy Bates, as my pot of Thai green tea infuses... cue auto play.... BEAUTY CRAWLS ...within the short description on Billy's profile we find a truly eclectic list of influences, mentioning luminaries as diverse as Alan Holdworth, (not a name oft bandied in this day and age), to Bela Bartok... ...i am - to say the least - intrigued... ...as the song starts with a deftly played finger-picked intro, sounding really quite lush and upfront in the speakers - we aren't held in suspense for to long as after one quick revolution, the voice arrives and we are treated to something really quite spooky.... ...amongst the aforementioned list of influences is one, sadly missed, Jeff Buckley... and.... WOW ! ...this is like a message from beyond the grave... Billy's vocal delivery - the way he plays with the meter of the lyrics over the main guitar line.... the seamless flickering of intonation from plaintive murmur to husky drone via pleading falsetto is really quite a phenomenon to behold... ...the goosebumps are rising as i listen - spellbound - to to this undeniably talented musician weave the textures of his guitar effortlessly into a tapestry of sheer sonic delight. ...there's black magic afoot - i swear there is... ...from the sparkly main acoustic and the orchestral touches of distantly riverbed backing - played with the lightest and most delicate of touches... to the evocative spacious electric, offering the mearest touch of extra breadth to the arrangement, just when its needed... ...so good this, it's positively creepy... shaking myself out of my reverie, i just HAVE to move onto... TOKING ...now there's a surprise... ...more of the same... most excellent, and Billy seems to have pulled off a quite marvellous trick here - in getting me struggling to think up superlatives... i'm not gonna bang on here - i've already said it all... if you liked Buckley - you'll love this... but be warned, it is a rather unsettling experience, sounding, as it does, so close to that late, lamented and most talented of chaps... ...and, perhaps Billy - that is where the only real fault in your material lies... ...if only the rest of us could have such a problem! |
| Posted by CarlSeager on 16-9-2005 10:52 AM |
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Fantastic!!
Seags |
| Posted by InfamousT on 16-9-2005 11:01 AM |
| ...ain' it just Seags.... i mean - whoa! |
| Posted by InfamousT on 20-5-2008 8:41 AM |
| i liked him - wonder if he's still at it? |
| Posted by UKB Office on 23-5-2008 9:20 PM |
| here he is http://www.ukbands.net/profile.php?id=10796 |
| Posted by UKB Office on 18-10-2008 5:01 PM |
| Did you get the link T ? |