Chris T-t

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Chris T-T - The Best Of... Album Review


Since 1999, Brighton based folk singer and songwriter Chris T-T has been entertaining crowds with pointed political barbs and left-wing social commentary set to accessible, often stripped back musical arrangements, slowly gaining a loyal, if not especially sizeable fanbase. All things end though and after 18 years, 10 studio albums Chris T-T is packing it all in. Acting as a template for most of the acts that his label Xtra Mile have signed in the past decade, T-T's influence is significant, and this Best Of showcases some of his more notable compositions.

Chris T-T - The Best Of... Album Review

Disc one is the more conventional best of side of the collection, offering a chronological whistle-stop tour of T-T's back catalogue. The early work on show is na

The second half of disc one offers some real gems however, such as the rousing The Huntsman Comes A-Marchin' and Preaching to the Converted, both protest songs from the Nine Red Songs LP, an album where T-T reached his peak as a lyricist and moved away from throwaway jams like the eyeroll inducing Eminem Is Gay. Musically a step forward came with 2008's Capital, here represented by the motoric beat and lengthy improvisational outro of (We Are) The King of England and the melancholy yet anthemic A Box to Hide In. Later cuts like Elephant in The Room and The Bear show T-T as an incredibly accomplished songwriter with a unique voice and a discerning taste in his arrangements. Perhaps some earlier cuts could have been shaved from this collection to allow room for some notable omissions from the later catalogue, such as Ankles, Tall Woman, Cutting A Long Bow or even This Gun Is Not a Gun.

Continue reading: Chris T-T - The Best Of... Album Review

Chris T-T - Nine Green Songs Album Review


It seems like wherever you are in the world right now, if you look at the news you'll find something happening in politics to bring on a full scale rage - there's a lot of it about. Chris T-T is one of Britain's foremost political folk musicians and since 1999 has been firing off his razor sharp liberal left leaning observations. Nine Green Songs is his remarkable tenth album and the spiritual successor to 2005's protest heavy Nine Red Songs.

Chris T-T - Nine Green Songs Album Review

The album kicks off with the rowdy, rabble-rousing #WorstGovernmentEver, which is a pure slice of accessible, obvious indie rock. There's a pretty sweet Blur-esque mid-section and Chris T-T doing his best to make sure David Cameron is best remembered for alleged relations with a pig rather than anything he did in office.

Next up is Love Me, I'm A Liberal, a cheap but charming pot shot with a tremendous set of lyrics which really speak for themselves, such as this: 'I cried when I saw that dead kid on the beach, the TV remote must have been somewhere out of reach, but I knew it was important, updated my status, come and have a listen to my refugee playlist.' A true slice of genius. Cutting A Longbow, a largely spoken word piece also features some unsettling, dramatic words and is a difficult, but compelling listen.

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Various Artists - Xtra Mile High Club Volume 5: Smokin' (Signed Vs Unsigned) Album Review


It is rare that we see record labels actually bother to put any effort at all into their compilations and samplers these days. Most of the time, labels will scrape together the bare minimum number of tunes by a couple of their flagship acts backed by six to ten cuts from their less well-known artists and chuck it up on their website with little to no fanfare or care for the quality of the product being sold. This is not so for Xtra Mile, the label that brought you Reuben and continues to back the incredible rise of Frank Turner. 'Xtra Mile High Club Volume 5' delivers a whopping 42 tracks for a fiver. That's right: whatever your taste in punk, indie or folk might be, with such a high volume of work on show here, you are bound to find something new to get into for the price of a couple of pints. Winner.

Xtra Mile High Club Volume 5: Smokin' (Signed Vs Unsigned) Album Review

This mammoth compilation kicks off with Against Me! at their thrilling, roaring best with 'Talking Transgender Dysphoria Blues'; a song packed to the gills with bite and venom from what is probably the most important punk album of the last ten years. It is a tough act to follow, but the quality on disc one is incredibly high.

You get more rock as Cheap Girls take on a Drive-By Truckers kind of sound on their contribution and recent signing 'Billy the Kid' turns in; an absolute emo gem. Arguably, the two most high profile acts on disc one also bring the guitars with Jamie Lenman putting in a grotesquely entertaining and terrifyingly heavy turn in the form of 'Shower of Scorn' from his 'Muscle Memory' album and Frank Turner slips back into a hardcore sound he has not experimented with since the end of 'Million Dead' on Mongol Horde's nautical 'Blistering Blue Barnacles'.

Continue reading: Various Artists - Xtra Mile High Club Volume 5: Smokin' (Signed Vs Unsigned) Album Review

Chris T-T, Love is Not Rescue Album Review


For those of you not in the know, Chris T-T has been crafting irresistible folk pop for the better part of the last decade now, and a couple of summers ago you may have seen him playing keyboards in Frank Turner's backing band.

Love is Not Rescue is Chris's seventh album, and fans of 2008's Capital album are in for a more sombre set of songs. The album opens up with the slow burning Nintendo, built on a repetitive piano melody, and Chris's sweet vocals.

This is an album full of highlights. Tall Woman is another melancholy piano ballad, with really sad lyrics. Chris is an unbelievably talented writer, and even if this is a slower and quieter affair than previous works, the stripped down nature of the songs really shows off this man's ability.

Elephant in the Room is another album highlight, and probably one of Chris T-T's best tracks. It is again sombre and downbeat, but the chorus hook is massive, the lyrics are darkly humorous and the guitar solo is haunting.

There are of course plenty of songs on offer here which aren't so downbeat, such as Market Square, which is a fun and cheeky plod through, with acoustic guitars and xylophones.

It has to be said that Chris isn't perhaps the best singer in the world, but his voice works perfectly on this album. He hits all the notes, and it has the perfect tone and delivery for what it is. The lyrics in places are nothing short of genius. The aforementioned Elephant in the Room is a prime example; mixing dark humour and contemporary references: 'I forgot to have a private life/put it on the internet and called it sharing.' Similarly, the album's final track Words Fail Me contains some brilliant couplets.

In short, if you've enjoyed Chris T-T's work in the past, Love is Not Rescue will be one of your Albums of 2010, and if you're new to his sound, it is well worth exploring further.

Ben Walton

3/5

Chris T-T, Capital Album review


Album review of Capital byChris T-T

Lets face it, the pseudonym Chris T-T is never going to do a recording artist any favours. Not only because it's an alias that instantly conjures up thoughts of a jewellery-clad teen rapper from Hackney, but...well, it's just a bit s**t isn't it?

Surprisingly, Chris T-T is not what you or I expected. Owing more to political pop rock than cringe-worthy British rap, Capital is a mixed bag - often jumping from one style to another (in both musical and vocal terms). Sadly, The simple backing tracks (and that is exactly what they are) offer very little in the way of character or originality. Vocally, it gets worse.Chris T.T's grating adolescent variables enough to make you consider turning your back on British music forever. Lyrically, Chris isn't afraid to shy away from political matters, but he also lacks imagination - his lyrics coming across as if a naïve thirteen-year-old boy wrote them.

They say "If you don't have anything new to say don't bother". A sentiment Extra Mile and Chris T.T should have perhaps considered before releasing this tedious, cheese-ridden nonsense.

Colin Burrill

1.5/5

Chris T-T, This Gun Is Not A Gun EP EP Review


Chris T-T
This Gun Is Not A Gun EP
EP Review

Continue reading: Chris T-T, This Gun Is Not A Gun EP EP Review

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