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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb, May 24, 2005
This is a strange sort of album. On first listen, I certainly wasn't unimpressed, but I can't say that it lived up to the enthusiastic recommendations that it gained from a few of my friends. On a further few listens, however, it grew on me. And it kept on growing. It is truly a superb album. Any newcomer to Bell X1 is likely to have been introduced to them through their minor hit, "Eve, the Apple of My Eye". So you will surely already be aware of the potential of the band (It's worth noting that the album version of that song is quite noticeably better than the single version). And I can promise you that "Music in Mouth" more than lives up to the promise of that song.
In a similar style to "Eve", the songs "I'll See Your Heart and I'll Raise You Mine" and "In Every Sunflower" bring a depth of emotion to the album that is rare amongst their contemporaries - particularly bands, as opposed to singer-songwriters. It's a difficult thing to pinpoint, but if anyone has seen Bell X1 live, it's pretty clear. The songs are genuine. They are tender, personal and vulnerable, but at the same time powerful. It's refreshing to see this, let's face it, exhausted commercial formula applied naturally (or, in another word, correctly) - for once.
But it's not just an album of soft ballads. In "Alphabet Soup" and "Snakes and Snakes", the band display a quirkyness, an intelligence, a personality and undeniably an ability to write catchy, upbeat - verging on rock n' roll - songs. True, there is the occasional track that doesn't quite meet the standards of the rest ("Daybreak", for example, seems a bit tame sandwiched between "Snakes" and "Eve"), but that takes little away from the album as a whole. Listen to each song on its own. Listen to the album as a whole. But most importantly, listen to it again. And again. It grew on me. It's still growing on me. Personally, I think it's the best album from anywhere in years. I don't know how it hasn't made a bigger splash, but don't let that put you off. You won't be disappointed.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Music In Mouth, April 1, 2006
Music In Mouth' is the new album from Dublin-based quartet Bell X1. The band are Paul Noonan, Brian Crosby, David Geraghty and Dominic Phillips, who have made music together in many guises since the early 90s. The album was recorded over the course of 2002 in a series of locations from Ridge Farm Studios in Surrey and The Fallout Shelter in London, to various houses in Dublin, Kilkenny and London. 'Music In Mouth' was recorded by Jamie Cullum (Tom McRae, Perry Blake). Notable guests on the record include Olli Kraus (Beth Orton) on cello and Margaret White (Sparklehorse) on vocals and violin.
While they're not overly keen to blow their own collective trumpet it is certainly true that repeated playing of `Music In Mouth' reveals its depths. Whether that's in the ingenious central idea of opening track 'Snakes And Snakes' (there are no ladders), or the equally satisfying picture that I'll see 'Your Heart' and 'Raise You Mine' conjures; whether it's the way the banjo sounds like an eastern instrument in 'Alphabet Soup', the simple elegiac qualities and atmosphere of 'Bound For Boston Hill', or the neo-folk jug band eroticism and exuberance in 'West Of Her Spine', these are songs that stick around and make their presence welcome. Put simply, 'Music In Mouth' should show the world that Bell X1 are a band that have something for everyone. Includes the single 'White Water Song'.
'And so the Irish invasion picks up pace, as Kildare's Bell X1 spring from the traps. More robust than the Thrills, closer to the finished article than the Basement, Bell X1 have been four years honing their sound. This is rock with gusto and drive and confidence and intent, Radiohead as Radiohead should sound now. It puts down a brave marker' - NME
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant, November 9, 2004
poignant, both lyrically and musically. 5/5 with no exceptions. the predecessor is titled 'neither am i' and is also 5/5 stars. excellent for fans of damien rice, death cab for cutie, tom mcrae, elliott smith....
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