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ARTIST
TITLE
Standards Vol. VI
FORMAT
LP
LABEL
CATALOG #
KK 129LP
KK 129LP
GENRE
RELEASE DATE
8/11/2023
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LP version. Edition of 300. A kind of hush pervades throughout Standards Vol. VI, the latest release by The National Jazz Trio of Scotland, the ironically named project helmed by Falkirk's musical polymath, Bill Wells, that is neither a trio, nor a jazz band. If this collection of ten covers probably comes closest to the latter in its late-night renditions of actual standards, the presence of long-term NJToS member and collaborator Aby Vulliamy as the record's lone vocalist adds to its solitary air. Vulliamy played viola on Everything's Getting Older, Wells's 2011 collaboration with Arab Strap vocalist Aidan Moffat. Wells went on to play melodica on Vulliamy's solo record, Spin Cycle (KK 108CD/LP, 2018). With the intent of producing the saddest heartbreak record ever made, Wells sourced a back catalog of miniature epics, reinterpreting each tale of everyday yearning to make a canon of melancholy loungecore designed for nights in alone, if not always lonely. Beyond the concept of isolation behind Standards Vol. VI, practical concerns added to the affair, with Wells recording backing tracks at home in Glasgow, while Vulliamy added her voice from her home in Yorkshire. Shades of Margo Guryan and Claudine Longet abound in Vulliamy's delivery over Wells's woozy, low-slung guitar and piano, with samples culled from a session with Teenage Fanclub's Norman Blake. Little electronic percussive clicks and hisses lend things an even more otherworldly air on a record bookended by opener, Donovan's proto hippy classic, "Catch The Wind", and Dixieland miniature, "Careless Love". The eight points in between take in a first half led by The Beatles' normally jaunty "We Can Work It Out", flipping the loveable perky optimism for something more soul searching. This is followed by "I Wish You Love", Albert Beach's English language version of French songwriter Charles Trenet's evergreen, "Que reste-t-il de nos amours". The Bee Gees lost classic, "To Love Somebody", is next, with more impossible to answer questions coming in "Why Can't I?" The latter is a Rodgers and Hart composition that first appeared in the duo's 1930 Broadway musical, Spring is Here. The second half of Standards Vol. VI leads with the much-covered evocation from the 1964 hit musical, Fiddler on the Roof. This is followed by Billy Rose and Dave Dreyer's showbiz staple, "Me and My Shadow". While made famous by showbiz double acts ranging from Frank and Sammy to Robbie and Jonathan, here it flies decidedly solo. Johnny Mercer and Hoagy Carmichael's "Skylark" comes next, a song inspired by Mercer's yearning for Judy Garland. The most downbeat take on Bacharach and David's "The Look of Love" comes next, ushering in the short farewell of "Careless Love".
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