| Ian Kelly – Diamonds & Plastic (2011) |
Ian Kelly – Diamonds & Plastic
Location: Montréal, Canada
Release date: May 24, 2011
Total length: 55:06
Record Label: Audiogram
Charts & Awards: 2011 / Diamonds & Plastic / Top Canadian Albums / #8
About this product:
Ian Kelly nous présente Diamonds & Plastic. Déjà un troisième album en carrière! On y retrouve le son folk des précédents albums, auquel s'ajoute parfois la magnificence d'un ensemble de cordes. Fidèle à ses valeurs, Ian Kelly explore les zones troubles de la nature humaine prise au piège de la société industrielle. Réalisé et arrangé par l'auteur-compositeur-interprète, Diamonds & Plastic puise à même les racines de l'artiste, dont la conscience environnementale est toujours omniprésente. ---------- Ian Kelly presents Diamonds & Plastic, already a third album in career! You will still find the Folk sound of previous albums, sometimes juxtaposed with the magnificence of a string ensemble. Faithful to its values, Ian Kelly explores the troubled zones of human nature stuck in our industrial society. Produced and arranged by the singer-songwriter himself, Diamonds & Plastic draws on the artist?s roots, whose environmental awareness is still omnipresent.
Taken from: http://www.archambault.ca/diamonds-plastic-ACH002870495-en-pr
Album tracks:
01. I Would Have You 03:34
02. Parliament 03:39
03. What You Like 05:16
04. Your Garden 04:24
05. Drinking Alone 03:56
06. Happiness 05:17
07. Little Words 03:00
08. Made Up My Mind 03:56
09. At All Costs 03:31
10. Workday 03:42
11. We'll Meet Again 04:10
12. White Wedding 03:49
13. The Industrial Way 06:52
Review by Jon O'Brien
Montreal singer/songwriter Ian Kelly’s previous album, Speak Your Mind, took over three years to reach gold status in his native Canada, a rather appropriate slow-burning state of affairs for an artist whose downbeat and introspective acoustic sound takes some time to make any kind of impression. With Kelly eschewing the D.I.Y. approach of his sleeper hit in favor of recording with a full band at a rented cottage near his Laurentian home, Diamonds & Plastic may bring some extra guests to the party, but it’s still more likely to induce a hazy slumber than a debauched passing out. Opening track “I Would Have You” is a slightly jaunty number reminiscent of the beachside pop of Jack Johnson, as is the Hawaiian campfire singalong of “Made Up My Mind,” while “Drinking Alone” is a banjo-plucking midtempo tune surprisingly nowhere near as somber as one might expect. But the majority of its 13 tracks suggests Kelly still has the weight of the world on his shoulders as he melancholically croons through the hazy Americana of “The Industrial Way,” the string-soaked Beatlesque “Workday,” and the politically charged piano rock of “Parliament” in a manner that makes Morrissey seem positively cheerful. Kelly also doesn’t seem very happy to relinquish many duties, either, as simple stripped-back ballads like “Your Garden” and “Little Words” fail to make use of his regular touring band, which is only really allowed to let rip on the brooding folk-pop cover version of Billy Idol’s “White Wedding” and the eerie theremin-led alt-country of “At All Costs.” Maintaining his wistful and contemplative nature, Diamonds & Plastic isn’t exactly a huge departure from its predecessor, which suggests that Kelly should make room for a third gold certification somewhere around 2014.
By André Péloquin – May 26, 2011
Almost three years after Speak Your Mind, a second album that went gold this March and gathered two ADISQ nominations, local folk-pop minstrel Ian Kelly follows it up with the aptly titled Diamonds & Plastic. "Diamonds" because I Would Have You, the album’s opening track, and Drinking Alone have this lively folk flavour that fans of Jack Johnson, Jason Mraz and other quality campfire favourites should enjoy. "Plastic" because songs like Parliament and Happiness seem tailor-made for radio airplay and will enamour admirers of Ben Folds or Coldplay’s early work. While Kelly is an accomplished singer and musician, the polished production seems to muddle the final result and takes away the honesty behind some tunes. Diamonds & Plastic remains an enjoyable CD, but it’s still a bit frustrating to shift between great folk mineral and glossy polymer every time the song changes.
Taken from: http://hour.ca/2011/05/26/diamonds-plastic/
Members: Ian Kelly, Sandy Belfort, Didace Grondin-Brouillette, Mark Nelson, Maurice Williams
Web: http://www.iankellysmusic.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/iankellysmusic
Radio 3 CBC: http://radio3.cbc.ca/bands/Ian-Kelly
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/iankellysmusic?v=info
