Album, Single and EP Reviews


 

 

  Halcyon EP by Canon Blue


Halcyon EP cover art

Artist: Canon Blue
Title: Halcyon EP
Catalogue Number: No catalogue number
Review Format: EP
Release Year: 2008



Canon Blue is an alias for singer song writer Daniel James and what we have here is mellow, almost ambient, electronica. Vocals are melded with repetitive but interesting rhythmic patterns and there is enough acoustic stuff to keep things - for want of a better word - organic. It's all listenable but these songs - and this is common with this genre - do not try unduly hard to grab your attention. Perhaps that is a deliberate move on the part of our Mr James as these songs, and especially "Ennui", seem to work better when listening on headphones.  "Avatar Furr" ploughs a similar furrow but "Kingfisher Sweet" is thankfully a bit more dynamic, sounding more like the main theme from a dramatic movie.

I still think the best of this type of music hails from Europe and especially from Eastern Europe (such as PNDC from Serbia, for example). This EP is nonetheless pleasing to listen to even if you wouldn't cross the bar to buy it a drink.

Available as a free download.


www.myspace.com/halyconblue
Reviewer:
Review Date: February 9 2009