Steve Gilmore Reviews: Amy Dixon Kolar - Woman, Sing

Hear The Track Here

Artist: Amy Dixon Kolar
Title: Woman, Sing

Amy is a lady that I met through the good offices of Soundclick Seniors and we got to talking - as you do - and before you know it her hand was in my pocket and a review was on her cards. Sneaky, these old folks, ya gotta watch 'em like a hawk. Amy is from the land of triple barrelled names (yes, American AGAIN...) where wives graft their husbands name onto their own before you can say 'shopping bill' or - in my case - refuse your name altogether. After all, my wife argued, wtf would want to be called Gilmore anyway....?

Except me, of course, but I have no excuse as usual.

So. Where was I? Oh yeah. Woman, Sing is a listen-only track so if you are on dialup, you could be SOOL (or shit out of luck for those anacronym'ly challenged). For those richer than Croessus, you should be forewarned that one of Amy's prime influences is Joni Mitchell who - I have to admit - I was never really into. It was the whiny voice wot did it. Not too much of the whiny about Amy's vocal work, she has one of those hoarse AND breathy voices that provokes prickles of tension to the hairs on neck. Vocally she reminds me of the UK's own Joan Armatrading, although stylistically she does indeed owe a lot to her Canadian heroine particularly in the self supporting backing vocals.

As good as her voice is, it's the studied guitar playing that first attracted my attention with this track. Like la belle Mitchell she has a sure and steady feel to her accompaniment, and some lovely fluid lines in the intro and outtro. It is fair to say that this certainly won't appeal to everyone, especially not amongst the krunk, gagga and lets-have-some-ho's routine, but for the other 99.95% it'll be a rare treat. I have to say, on my part, that I don't always like material like this. I find it all a bit too sugary, a tad coma inducing even but taken in small doses even I can take this once in a while - more for its quality than its content. There is no doubt that Amy is a dedicated, seasoned musician who knows what she wants and - on this score - she has succeeded perfectly.

Recommended for Valentines Day (Ed: That was yesterday, ya cheap ****!!)