This Is This

About a year ago I asked you for a favour when I said you should go out there and buy Teen Dance Ordinance by my friends A. It came out, and due to a forward looking and progressive restructure at their record company and an almost complete lack of promotion, the band were dropped.

So I’d like to put the This Is This kiss of death on Ben Taylor, whose single Nothing That I Can Do is released in the UK today. Ben’s warm, honest tenor is reminiscent of his dad James, his songs lean lyrically towards his mother Carly Simon, there’s hip-hop phrasing in there, but it’s folk-tinged loveliness all the way.

He’s touring in the UK and this is his second album. Six months ago he was playing fish restaurants to a small handful of eager diners, and if that doesn’t tell you there’s no justice in the world, then I’m not a newsman.

Radio Two love him, the critics love it and god damn it to Betsy, I love him. There, I said it.

It’s out there, so buy the single. Come on - less than a pound and downloads now count towards the charts where he belongs.

I’d say the first album, Famous Among The Barns, is a better introduction than the new one, called Another Run Around The Sun, but essential tracks running across these include No More Running Away, Island, Just Like Everyone Else, Rain, Safe Enough To Wake Up, Think A Man Would Know and Someday Soon.

I remember he wrote to me once. “Cliff,” he said, “Thanks for telling people about the gig. I can’t wait to play the UK,” he said. True story.

Check out the Rogers and Hart masterpiece Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered here - (not ripped off, this is on his music page here, but the streaming’s a little dicey on the official site). It’s a little rough around the edges because it’s just a demo, but you’ll get the idea.

Nothing That I Can Do - on You Tube

Also on This Is This
“If you kill me,” he said, “you will only make me stronger. Others will come.”
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This entry was posted on Monday, March 12th, 2007 at 8:22 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed, or you can skip to the end and leave a comment yourself.