mR. hYDE'S wILD rIDE

mR. hYDE'S wILD rIDE – Piney Gir

Year Released: 2015

Label: Damaged Goods Records / Greyday Records

Year Bought: 2024

Piney Gir is an American singer/songwriter who has lived in London for many a year. She's been in the backing bands of Noel Gallagher and Gaz Coombes, and over the years has produced one hell of a back catalogue.

'mR. hYDE'S wILD rIDE' is her sixth album, and fully embraces Piney's chameleonic tendencies.

A student of 60s beat pop, the influence of the Beatles is writ large over the album. Opener 'Gold Rules' has a great chorus melody, and the sense of joy embodied in the song runs through much of the record.

The second half of the album has some more experimentation with instruments and production, meaning you never really know what's coming.

'Mouse of a Ghost' has Graham Coxon level of guitar buzzing going on, while 'Yai Yai' starts off subdued before building into a real garage-indie stomper.

I know Piney a little bit so can't really give an impartial rating, but I will say that I've only become aware of her music recently and honestly, there is so much fantastic stuff. She is prolific, is a fantastic musician and works with great people. Discovering her music has been like finding a treasure box of pop gems.

You should definitely check her out.

Comments

Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand

Year Released: 2004 Label: Domino Year Bought: 2004 January 2004. I'd just quit uni. Was back at the family home in Bishop's Stortford. The place I'd been so desperate to get away from, and I was back and already bored. And then things got a bit less boring. I remember this so clearly. I was having a shower and the radio was on, and on came 'Take Me Out'. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. At first I thought it must be an old tune that had passed me by, but no, it was announced as a new song by a band called Franz Ferdinand. It sounded glorious. It sounded interesting. After the staleness of the post-Britpop years, and beigeness of Coldplay, Travis et al, there was actually a British band doing something interesting. I loved it, and when the album came out the next month, I gobbled it up with glee. Listening back now, and I still love it. The hushed opening of 'Jacqueline', the sleaze of 'The Dark of the Matinee', the homoeroticism of 'M...

The Best of David Bowie 1969/1974 – David Bowie

Year Released: 1997 Label: EMI Year Bought: 1999 My love of Bowie started as a wind up. There was a rumour round our school that one of the French teachers used to go out with Bowie, so as part of my ambition to be a cocky little shit I decided to try to sneak some Bowie song titles into our lessons. "I don't understand how this verb ch-ch-ch-changes, Miss" – that sort of thing. It turned out that not only had she dated him, she was still friends with him, and even had side-of-the-stage tickets when he played Glastonbury in 2000. She might still be the coolest person I've ever known. In my bid to learn some more Bowie tunes I dug out my mum's old vinyls and fell in love with 'Hunky Dory'. For Christmas 1999, my mum got me 2 CDs, this one, which covers 1969/74, and the next one which goes up to 1979. That Christmas, I had them both on repeat as I played FIFA 2000 on the PC (which had a picture of pre-Judas Sol Campbell on the cover). This compilation reall...

Eye To The Telescope – KT Tunstall

Year Released: 2004 Label: Relentless Year Bought: No Idea I'm not sure why I have this record. I have no record of buying it. I've never listened to it. But then I do own two Dido albums so it's not exactly out of character of me to have it. I've always thought KT Tunstall was a pretty cool person. She's clearly talented. But this album, I just can't really connect with it. There's some good tunes on here. 'Black Horse and the Cherry Tree' is great, as is 'Suddenly I See'. 'Another Place To Fall' hints at some darker tones, and 'Under The Weather' builds nicely. But overall it's just all a bit safe. I vaguely remember reading an interview with Tunstall a few years after this came out in which she said the original mix was a lot more rough and bluesy, but the label wanted it more polished. You can definitely hear how this album could have been scuffed up. 'Stopping The Love' is a good example of that. It's a mi...

All The Records I've Ever Owned

Search This Blog