Word in Your Ear

Alfie

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 23, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Xl Recordings
• ASIN: B000063ITX
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #197,112 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. A Word In Your Ear

2. Cloudy Lemonade

3. Bends For 72 Miles

4. Halfway Home

5. Not Half

6. The Reverse Midas Touch

7. Summer Lanes

8. Me And Mine

9. Rain, Heaven, Hail

10. The Lighthouse Keeper

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The debut album from these British acoustic troubadours comprises 10 snug, cozy tracks of fluffy folksy ramble that wouldn't say boo to the proverbial goose, but somehow manages to blow all your preconceptions about winsome indie-pop out of the window. Ambling in on the heels of 2001's fine EP If You Happy with, You Need Do Nothing, A Word in Your Ear is certainly no radical update of the Alfie agenda. Let your ears relax around the florid "Cloudy Lemonade" and the gently rapped "The Reverse Midas Touch," which blend sleepy hip-hop shuffle into bluesy campfire strum, and you'll hear everything from the rural poetry of Nick Drake to the gutsy swagger of the Stone Roses standing proud at the heart of Alfie's design. Meanwhile, singer Lee Gordon's laconic drawl still sounds uncannily like Tim Burgess at three-quarters speed. For anyone awaiting the continuing adventures of Badly Drawn Boy with bated breath, A Word in Your Ear--with its beautiful subtlety, lack of bombast, and knowledge that sometimes less is more--is a must-have. --Louis Pattison

Product Description

2002 release on Twisted Nerve is a fusion of everything from baggy to folk to psychedelia. Alfie has shared the stage with Sigur Ros, Stereolab, Sonic Youth and Mogwai.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Different in Approach to the first album, but no less worthy, March 29, 2004

By	fetish_2000 (U.K.) - See all my reviews

Those looking at this review will most likely have sampled the first `Alife' album and are curious to investigate more of the Psychedic pop/rock band, that push their blend of Stylish, whimsical pop, with the catchiness of the best pop songs have to offer. But it should be noted that although the quality contained, is of a incredibly similar high standard as their debut album ("If You Happy With You Need Do Nothing"), the band have taken a different (although not a radical) approach to the second album and largely dispensed with the sound that prompted comparisons with `Baldy Drawn Boy/The Flaming lips/Mercury Rev', and handed in something akin to peak ear `Beach Boys' and `Gorky's Zygotic Mynci', with a little of the subtle intricacy of "Belle & Sebastian", insofar as these collection of admittedly great songs are far more radio friendly in approach to the previous album, and focus less on the playful freewheeling sound of before, and seemingly have more a produced sound to them, the feel more ambitious (and while I'm being honest, more accessible) then before. If this is sounding slightly negative, then please don't make this review think that this is any less worth than the previous album, as "A Word in You Ear", "The Reverse Midas Touch" & "Summer Lanes" are a worthy as anything the band have previously done, with less of the wacky style that ear marked the first album, but more of a consistently strong indie pop approach throughout, that doesn't shift as dynamically as the first album, but smoothes off the rough edges and makes for a more coherent listen throughout. And so to sum up.....this album is more than worth your time and money if you're a "Alfie" fan. It's more sun kissed than the previous album, and shows a band following up their astonishing debut with something different enough to avoid accusations of the second album being more of the same. If your new to Alife, then pick up the first album, and if it manages to win you over.....leads beautifully onto this second helping of British Psychedelic pop.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars alfie einstein :), May 29, 2002

By	Romen Painter (st. louis, mo, usa) - See all my reviews

Alfie is another british band with an unexplainable amount of talent. Unexplainable because it seems most british groups are ingenious in their own way. Where did they get it from? Who knows? But i do know that us rebels over here in the beautiful u.s., took only a bit of that musical ingenuity when crossing the big pond back in the day. Okay, all gawking aside, i must admit that alfie's lead singer reminds me slightly of the lead singer of "they might be giants". That's a good thing if you like (or can tolerate) "they might be giants". Luckily i grew up listening to my sisters collection of music, and t.m.b.g. happened to be in the mix. So alfie, like you might expect, is ingenious (on tracks 2 & 3 inparticular) and a bit quirky (especially the vocals(all tracks)). But don't buy this album because you want good, strange music, buy it because it's good, mellow music with great instrumentation and a unique sound.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good, March 19, 2003

By A Customer

Bands along the same vein (in my musical taste):
Elliott Smith
Badly Drawn Boy (Hour of the Bewilderbeast)

If you like them, you'll probably dig alfie. If you like alfie and haven't heard of them - go check them out! I tend to prefer alfie over other Britpop bands like Coldplay and The Doves because their music is a little more complex (not just chord strumming in 4/4 over and over). Their chord progressions are pretty creative. Give them a shot!