Album Reviews

[vgonis]

I was thinking that all this time, the UK press that I often read is not very favourable towards MK. They usually write a small piece that is so generic that  could be describing any  artist and release, and more often than I like to see, they have the axe on the table and just let you know indirectly,  that they are too kind to be using it.
In Greece as well, the press people, are not very fond of MK. There is actually no music press in Greece anymore, at least not like Uncut, Mojo, etc. Everything went bust after 2010. But the journalists that survived and kept on writing on blogs, fanzines and newspaper music columns, are of a generation that consider MK and the likes, (Phil Collins, Eric Clapton, etc) too unfashionable because these journalists seem to think that  punk, new wave, post rock and the currents that come from those music genres, are the genuine ones and every other musician that kept on doing the rock thing, is a dinosaur, but of the boring kind. Imagine that! For example Nirvana are already more than 35 years old and yet they consider them the high point of music of the last 50 years. If this isn't shortsightedness, I don't know what is.
I have written a couple of times to Uncut to complain about the way they handle the reviews when it comes to MK and DS, because i find insulting to see them award 9/10 to albums  that are forgotten the very next day and influence nobody at all, let alone have minimum sales and even fewer fans,  just because they have journalists that have this mentality to promote things just because they sound new, forgetting that they should also sound good. I am tired of trying these albums and being deeply disappointed by their lack of quality.   I even wondered if there is no journalist in those magazines,  that actually like MK, in order to give them the albums to review, instead of giving them to know it all snobs.

Sorry for the nagging.

[dustyvalentino]

It seems to be a lot better with this album though.

[Banjo99uk]

popularity breeds contempt. DS suffered from that after BIA. If MK died in a fireball after their first album he would be the coolest cat in town. It’s all a load of bollocks. If you’re ever in the UK, take a stroll around Brighton and you’ll see the biggest load of pretentious crap all around you. Just make sure you have pink hair and dungarees though. Otherwise you’ll stand out.

[goon525]

This review from US high end audio magazine The Absolute Sound, by Greg Cahill.

f0118-03f0118-04
Mark Knopfler: One Deep River. Blue Note/EMI.
The rock troubadour returns. Mark Knopfler got a lot of press earlier this year after auctioning axes from his prized guitar collection for a stunning $11 million. Now he's reunited with his ace band (and producer Guy Fletcher). One Deep River has the same sort of richly rendered Americana musings that marked such other solo albums as 2000's Sailing to Philadelphia. Closer to home, One Deep River finds the restive Brit inspired by crossing the Tyne River in Newcastle, England, near his childhood home. The cinematic lyrics buoy nostalgic tales of railroads (“Before My Train Comes”), restless souls (“One Deep River”), soul-sucking work (“Black Tie Jobs”), and Nashville bar bands (“Ahead of the Game”). The pace is unhurried, the mood wistful. The trademark sonics straddle the stratosphere. At times, Knopfler casts an eerie spell, as on the Celtic-tinged blue-collar soliloquy “Sweeter Than Rain.” But he also cuts loose—the snarling “Scavenger Yard” opens with a high-energy guitar barrage and speaks of a marginal life on “the killing floor.” And he dishes a funky blues shuffle on “Two Pairs of Hands,” a nod to the late J.J. Cale. Just be glad Knopfler didn't auction all of his guitars. GC

[Robson]

This review from US high end audio magazine The Absolute Sound, by Greg Cahill.

f0118-03f0118-04
Mark Knopfler: One Deep River. Blue Note/EMI.
The rock troubadour returns. Mark Knopfler got a lot of press earlier this year after auctioning axes from his prized guitar collection for a stunning $11 million. Now he's reunited with his ace band (and producer Guy Fletcher). One Deep River has the same sort of richly rendered Americana musings that marked such other solo albums as 2000's Sailing to Philadelphia. Closer to home, One Deep River finds the restive Brit inspired by crossing the Tyne River in Newcastle, England, near his childhood home. The cinematic lyrics buoy nostalgic tales of railroads (“Before My Train Comes”), restless souls (“One Deep River”), soul-sucking work (“Black Tie Jobs”), and Nashville bar bands (“Ahead of the Game”). The pace is unhurried, the mood wistful. The trademark sonics straddle the stratosphere. At times, Knopfler casts an eerie spell, as on the Celtic-tinged blue-collar soliloquy “Sweeter Than Rain.” But he also cuts loose—the snarling “Scavenger Yard” opens with a high-energy guitar barrage and speaks of a marginal life on “the killing floor.” And he dishes a funky blues shuffle on “Two Pairs of Hands,” a nod to the late J.J. Cale. Just be glad Knopfler didn't auction all of his guitars. GC

soul-sucking work...(Black Tie Jobs)

Nice review.  Thank you

[goon525]

I should have added the marks; 4/5 for music, 4.5/5 for recording.

[vgonis]

popularity breeds contempt. DS suffered from that after BIA. If MK died in a fireball after their first album he would be the coolest cat in town. It’s all a load of bollocks. If you’re ever in the UK, take a stroll around Brighton and you’ll see the biggest load of pretentious crap all around you. Just make sure you have pink hair and dungarees though. Otherwise you’ll stand out.

This made me laugh. I will stick to my regular trousers and colour of hair, which is indecisive  at the moment, because if I change them, the woke police will be all over me. 
I guess you are right about popularity. Yet, somehow it seems that some of the popular musicians are spared of the negative treatment. Maybe it has also something to do with the economy of the business or the enormity of the fans? I don't know. I guess it is difficult to come up with a statistical analysis of  the sales and group dynamics of each musical act.

@dusty
Just got hold of the latest Uncut and it seems you are right.

[stratmad]

popularity breeds contempt. DS suffered from that after BIA. If MK died in a fireball after their first album he would be the coolest cat in town. It’s all a load of bollocks. If you’re ever in the UK, take a stroll around Brighton and you’ll see the biggest load of pretentious crap all around you. Just make sure you have pink hair and dungarees though. Otherwise you’ll stand out.

This made me laugh. I will stick to my regular trousers and colour of hair, which is indecisive  at the moment, because if I change them, the woke police will be all over me. 
I guess you are right about popularity. Yet, somehow it seems that some of the popular musicians are spared of the negative treatment. Maybe it has also something to do with the economy of the business or the enormity of the fans? I don't know. I guess it is difficult to come up with a statistical analysis of  the sales and group dynamics of each musical act.

@dusty
Just got hold of the latest Uncut and it seems you are right.

I'm not sure about the popularity factor... some acts are unpopular with the press _because_ they are popular with a lot of people, which was the case with DS from about 1985 onwards. Others are hugely popular with the press and with the people, and some "special" cases are revered by the press, although no one else can stand them or cares about them.
These days, I think that "our" heroes, the likes of MK, Gilmour, Van, Santana etc. have simply reached a status, and a lifetime of record sales figures to match, where they are in a league of their own. And they all seem to be getting better with age, if that is in any way possible, so there's no point in negative treatment.
Besides, I think the age factor plays a big role. They're all well into their seventies or even eighties, so maybe there's finally a little respect - especially since the critics have also grown old(er) ;-)

[vgonis]

I really can't tell. Maybe it is something we can not express with words. Good work will always be hard to knock down, but indifferent work is easy to do.
But if there is an old guard, like the ones you mention, and a new guard, like Arctic Monkeys (who are around for more than 20 years, so are they still considered new?) or whoever wishes to be included there,
I guess the most important factor is the generation gap. The vast majority of youth wants to listen to people they consider of their age. I see people buying Tyler the Creator, Kenrick Lamar, Franc Ocean, Taylor Swift etc and I just don't understand the music.  Maybe it is that we are growing older, together with the critics. Old wine anybody?

[mkdsone]

Belgian weekly magazine "Humo" is a little late with their review, but the critical Mr Didden is highly positive about "One Deep river", so I wanted to share his words here (translated from Dutch with Deeple)

MARC DIDDEN JUNE 3, 2024  (Score : 4 stars out of 5)
1978 was a weird year for records. Punk had lost its breath a bit. Monsters like Elton John, Jethro Tull and Wings filled the shelves "for adults" with records that were certainly not among their best work. 'Grease' was ubiquitous, and every now and then among all that garbage was a gem: Elvis Costello's 'This Year's Model,' for example. Or Warren Zevon's "Excitable Boy". Not to mention the completely out-of-print 'Dire Straits' by the British group of the same name, which included the eternal bellow 'Sultans of Swing' . Palefarts who connected country sounds with drawling licks they borrowed from both J.J. Cale and some modern blues gods. Songwriting that was openly indebted to Dylan, but equally indebted to the exquisite British folk rock practiced by bands like Fairport Convention and Pentangle, spiced with a twang here and there that could have come from either The Shadows or Duane Eddy.
Dire Straits was a great group from the start. They provided a small series of excellent LPs. The solo work of group leader, singer, solo guitarist, lyricist and composer Mark Knopfler is also always of a high standard. His movie soundtracks are highly regarded by connoisseurs.

The other day Knopfler announced he would no longer be performing live, but from his spacious home studio he continues to provide his fans with goodies. Earlier this year there was (on Record Store Day only) the ep 'The Boy.' Now there is the memoir 'One Deep River,' in which the estimable London boy looks back on life up north when Mark was a younger Mark. For twenty songs (or 25, if you buy the deluxe version), the stringmaster muses through short stories called "Smart Money," "Black Tie Jobs" or "This One's Not Going to End Well.

Sit back, light a pipe, pour some Talisker into a glass and enjoy!

[dmg]

Sit back, light a pipe, pour some Talisker into a glass and enjoy!

The final paragraph is supposed to be a summation.  Pipe and slippers album then.

[vgonis]

Or perhaps  a general suggestion to enjoy pipe smoking and Talisker, even without music. I wonder if this journalist is getting paid for placement.
Maybe I missed MK, but the latest album and The Boy, are by far the most listened records by MK, since Shangri La. And I don't even smoke, let alone drink such expensive drinks.

[stratmad]

... "spacious home studio". 

[dustyvalentino]

Sit back, light a pipe, pour some Talisker into a glass and enjoy!

The final paragraph is supposed to be a summation.  Pipe and slippers album then.

Which is fine. You need different music for different moods. I used to put DS on to fall asleep to as a teenager.

I don't really drink much anymore but Talisker is a nice whisky. Quite an acquired taste though with its peaty nature, not for everyone!

[Rail King]

Sit back, light a pipe, pour some Talisker into a glass and enjoy!

The final paragraph is supposed to be a summation.  Pipe and slippers album then.

Which is fine. You need different music for different moods. I used to put DS on to fall asleep to as a teenager.

I don't really drink much anymore but Talisker is a nice whisky. Quite an acquired taste though with its peaty nature, not for everyone!

I personally do like Talisker (precisely because of its peaty nature), but if you don't, maybe what you're gonna need is a cold, crisp, dry white wine.