I edited my profile with Thomas Myspace Editor V4.4 (www.strikefile.com/myspace)hi i'm master solo, i have a record called heart welcome break out now and you can order it from the new Night owl recordings website. the songs on my player there are some songs on the website that aren't here. you can also download it from here Mail Order I enjoy a good chat so feel free to say hi anytime. hope you like the songs. love master solo xHere are some of the reviews of heart welcome breakunpeeled.net
MASTER SOLO: "Heart Welcome Break" (Night Owl Recordings)
RELEASED? Out now.
SOUNDS LIKE? Okay, we know that singer-songwriter has rarely been lower on the genre-esteem-o-meter, but Master Solo comes from a band and has people telling him the truth at the studio, so most of the baggage is lost and the clothes he's left standing up in are mostly from acceptable to ace range. "Yeah, yeah, yeah" you say, "What does, who does it sound like?" Fair question, but Master Solo doesn't oblige with sound-a-likey comfort sounds, so "Heart Welcome Break" puts you in mind of a hungover John Martyn just missing the newly matured Jarvis Cocker in a Japanese hotel bar, or a ruined Yorkshire Abbey.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Yes, it insinuates itself like water, in a wetsuit, something that's cold and inevitable, yet ends up warming.
WHERE IS IT? www.myspace.com/mastersolo
http://www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk
Master Solo: Heart Welcome Break
Reviewed By: Jamie Rowland
Label: Night Owl Recordings
Format: CD
Aside from having a name that sounds a bit like Mister Sulu (as if that wasn’t enough) Master Solo has quite a lot going for him, as is demonstrated by his debut album, 'Heart Welcome Break'.
Also known as Mark Jennings, Master Solo is one of the many musical acts coming from the seemingly undrainable well of talent that is Norwich. Like fellow East Anglians Rory McVicar and Tiger MCs, Master Solo produces folk/pop tracks largely built around acoustic guitar and drum machines, although this is not the case with every track.
The first half of 'Heart Welcome Break' is populated by slower, more downbeat tracks. They’re all great songs, but having them all clumped together at the beginning of the record makes getting to track 6 feel like a bit of a drag. The second half, in contrast, turns up the pace and feels like a much more upbeat affair, and is therefore somewhat more enjoyable to listen to.
Don’t get me wrong, 'Heart Welcome Break' is a great first record, and a nice variation of tone is always good on an album, but I think it makes an album much more manageable to a listener if you inject a bit of ‘oompf’ (for want of a better word) at more regular intervals.
Still, well worth getting hold of a copy of this debut, particularly if you’re into any of the other great acts of the Norwich ‘scene’.
isthismusic.com
Heart Welcome Break (night owl recordings)
Okay, this CD is covered in silly stickers and pictures of dogs so I’m concerned, yes. I cannot judge a singer on how his music is decorated, however, so I am relieved when I play the CD and it’s actually okay.
With warm, breathy vocals, almost like Aidan Moffat sans heavy Falkirk accent, it’s easy to identify Master Solo’s influences. In fact, a lot of Master Solo’s work is similar to Arab Strap; dance beats meet heartfelt folk, only the lyrics are littered with cutesy pet references rather than the word ‘cunt’. Either of those are fine with me.
The lyrics, thankfully, betray the “LOOK AT THIS, THIS IS WACKY†mentality of the PR blurb. I don’t think I’ve heard more anguish in a lyric this year than “I just need a good heartâ€, a shivering, melancholy attempt at a love song, with equally fragile looping drumbeats resonating behind.
As we progress through the record, we hear more frustrated accounts of love from a man who’s “crap at itâ€, stories of exhaustion and desperation, while guitar chords rattle along, as broken as a heart. Aww.
There’s more to this album than a man sitting with a guitar wondering what went wrong, however. There are electric guitars, there’s clattering of glockenspiels, squawking cellos… There’s no danger of samey-ness, which I’m aware isn’t a word. The Graham Coxon-esque “Woody Allen†is a particular highlight, with the confused crooning of “What went wrong?†providing an excellent summary of the album’s lyrical themes.
Don’t judge a solo EP by its cover and press release. If I had, I wouldn’t have given the beautifully dysfunctional world of Master Solo a proper listen, and it’s something I recommend doing.
