The White Album Recovered - No. 0000001

Various Artists


The White Album Recovered - No. 0000001 - Front Cover	The White Album Recovered - No. 0000001 - The C.D.

Label Mojo

Catalogue No. MOJO SEP08

Release Date 4th August 2008 (Mojo September 2008 edition)

Total Time 52:29

My Comments: A free C.D. given away with the September 2008 edition of Mojo (edition 178).
When I saw one of my favourite albums of all time had been completely re-done with a whole bunch of artists I had hardly heard of my expectations were not good. In fact I thought, "Oh no, what has my favourite magazine gone and done now".
But, as always, I gave it a chance. I took this months free c.d. slung it on the stereo, sat back and was more than pleasantly surprised.
Admittedly, I was not hooked right away and found the first track going someway to confirming my initial doubts, but once I got further into the c.d. I got it.
I was astounded how fantastic this cover album was to listen to as a complete entity. A real shock.
Stand out tracks for me included: Glass Onion, Martha My Dear, the gaelic Blackbird, an excellent extended piano backed I Will and finally a wonderful version of Julia which really works well with the female lead vocal and subtle backing track. All evocative stuff and with a few oddball surprises in-between this is what Mojo does best.
Even the more bizarre cuts, such as While My Guitar Gently Weeps have an eerie rustic charm that could have come from a ritual scene of The Wicker Man. Which is not a bad thing.
Once again Mojo, thank you for an entirely different concept and the rewarding sounds within. Keep them coming. Finally, during I'm So Tired is Phil Campbell singing, "this Mojo is doing me harm" ? ... definitely not.
Click here to see The White Album Recovered - No. 0000002

Mojo's Comments: MOJO celebrates the White Album by presenting a two-disc tribute featuring hand-picked contemporary artists. The aim of MOJO's The White Album Recovered is to remain faithful to the spirit of the original while amplifying it's dream-like qualities via an acoustic edge. The result is a stunning tapestry of sound, colour and creativity. It might just blow your mind ....

The C.D.

No	Tracklisting	Artist	Mojo Comments	Time
1	Back In The U.S.S.R.	Liz Green	One of Mojo's "Mid-Term Report" stars, Wirral born Liz, the cracked blues maven, delivers a fittingly adventurous take.	3:19
2	Dear Prudence	Lau	Winners of the Best Group Award at the BBC2 Folk awards, Lau consists of Kris Drever, Martin Green and Aidan O'Rourke.	4:28
3	Glass Onion	Big Linda	A London based four-piece that deliver this take with menace and poise in equal measure, not to mention a taut Gilmouresque guitar solo. This is fantastic !	3:33
4	Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da	Gabriella Cilmi	16 year old Gabriella from Australia was in our top ten singles chart in July 2008 with "Sweet About Me" and has enjoyed worldwide chart action.	2:03
5	Wild Honey Pie	The Suppliers	Dawn Kinnard's backing band - Nikolaj Juel, Kristoffer Sonne, Nikolaj Torp and Dyre Gormsen.	0:54
6	The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill	Dawn Kinnard & Ron Sexsmith with The Suppliers	Pennsylvannian chanteuse joins a haunted Sexsmith.	3:35
7	While My Guitar Gently Weeps	Virgin Passages	Staffordshire-spawned and now London based sextet reinvent this key track. Out goes George's reflective tune and Clapton's guitar, instead they focus on the first line and transform it into a hypnotic meditation chant that evoke the sense of the transcendental.	5:43
8	Happiness Is A Warm Gun	Aidan Smith	From Manchester's acoustic scene Aidan's cover fits between the mundane and the brutal.	2:39
9	Martha My Dear	Vashti Bunyan & Max Richter	60's folk siren Bunyan and German contemporary composer Richter create an ethereal dreamscape.	2:45
10	I'm So Tired	Phil Campbell	Glasgow's Phil Campbell was signed to Warners by the time he was 18, then moved to EMI at 20 and promptly blew his healthy advance. An appropriate track then for his over excesses.	2:08
11	Blackbird	Julie Fowlis	By BBC Radio 2's Folk Singer of the Year, Mojo believes this to be the first Gaelic reinterpretation of this much-covered track.	2:40
12	Piggies	Pumajaw	Pinkie Maclure and John Wills are this feral folk duo whose take here amplifies their knack for the unsettling.	2:53
13	Rocky Raccoon	Johnny Flynn	25 year old rising nu-folk poster star Flynn accentuates the loose country feel and transforms it into a good time banjo-and-fiddle hoedown.	3:14
14	Don't Pass Me By	Field Music	The Sunderland collective cheekily take Ringo's tune and weld it to 1969 classic Don't Let Me Down along with a final Ob-La-Di flurry creating a melodically lush mash-up.	4:06
15	Why Don't We Do It In The Road ?	Babel	Bristol free-range folkers add a dash of country hewn charm to this skiffle styled street romp.	1:39
16	I Will	Joan As Police Woman (featuring Violet)	From Maine, 38 year old Joan Wasser, transforms this Macca classic into an atmospheric hymnal piece.	3:42
17	Julia	A Girl Called Eddy	Erin Moran (Eddy) whose voice was described as "one of the flat out coolest voices I've heard", brings disc one to a celestial end.	3:04

Label	Mojo
Catalogue No.	MOJO SEP08
Release Date	4th August 2008 (Mojo September 2008 edition)
Total Time	52:29
My Comments:	A free C.D. given away with the September 2008 edition of Mojo (edition 178). When I saw one of my favourite albums of all time had been completely re-done with a whole bunch of artists I had hardly heard of my expectations were not good. In fact I thought, "Oh no, what has my favourite magazine gone and done now". But, as always, I gave it a chance. I took this months free c.d. slung it on the stereo, sat back and was more than pleasantly surprised. Admittedly, I was not hooked right away and found the first track going someway to confirming my initial doubts, but once I got further into the c.d. I got it. I was astounded how fantastic this cover album was to listen to as a complete entity. A real shock. Stand out tracks for me included: Glass Onion, Martha My Dear, the gaelic Blackbird, an excellent extended piano backed I Will and finally a wonderful version of Julia which really works well with the female lead vocal and subtle backing track. All evocative stuff and with a few oddball surprises in-between this is what Mojo does best. Even the more bizarre cuts, such as While My Guitar Gently Weeps have an eerie rustic charm that could have come from a ritual scene of The Wicker Man. Which is not a bad thing. Once again Mojo, thank you for an entirely different concept and the rewarding sounds within. Keep them coming. Finally, during I'm So Tired is Phil Campbell singing, "this Mojo is doing me harm" ? ... definitely not. Click here to see The White Album Recovered - No. 0000002
Mojo's Comments:	MOJO celebrates the White Album by presenting a two-disc tribute featuring hand-picked contemporary artists. The aim of MOJO's The White Album Recovered is to remain faithful to the spirit of the original while amplifying it's dream-like qualities via an acoustic edge. The result is a stunning tapestry of sound, colour and creativity. It might just blow your mind ....