nzoa oct

CURRENT ISSUE

DONATE ADVERTISE SUBSCRIBE

Reviewed by Chris Dent

Micheil Reid: The Storm

Reviewed by Chris Dent

Micheil Reid: The Storm

This feels like it could be a late ’80s album, littered with subtle grooves and unobtrusive MIDI accompaniment. Home production has come a long way since then though and with the aid of modern software Micheil Reid has taken on a wide array of instruments – as well as the full gamut of roles through to mastering and even artwork design. Personally I am wary of this as this style of music creation can sometimes have tacky results, but for the main part he takes them in his stride, using the tools to create a soft electric aesthetic covering pop, gospel, blues, jazz and rock. To me that means this home producer understands the nature of the music, creating a believable soundscape across the 11 tracks, though it does include some limp keyboard auto-setting moments. It?s always nice to see NZ artists cover local musicians tracks and he features three tunes, written by Caitlin Smith, Brenda Liddiard and Mark Laurent – the evident link being sight impairment. Smith’s Nature Girl and Reid’s own Electric Liquid Gold are my favourites, the bass groovy with the other instruments adding further interest.

support nzm