Mac Review Cast

The amount of promotional music I get from various labels each month can be staggering. I get a great portion of them in relation to my job and then I also have a pretty nifty trading network with friends who also have jobs withing the music industry. As I have eluded to in earlier posts the number of promos I get that I would ever want to listen to more than once is limited to a percentile I placing between 1 and 3. Needless to say there is a lot of disappointing music out there and it can be depressing when you realize you have played 50 CDs in a month and only placed 2 or 3 of them in a pile to ever listen to again. The number of CDs that make it into my keep forever pile shrinks to an even smaller number.

The 10" for "The End of History" was delivered to me via mail and like many of my promos it sat around collecting dust in my office for ages. Not only does it take time to listen to everything I get but some days I skip listening to promos all together just because the ratio of me liking a new record is slim these days. I knew a tiny bit about Fionn Regan as I had read his one sheet but like many industry types, I have learned to never trust a piece of paper filled with a stranger's word no less when they compare his music to Nick Drake, Elliott Smith, and Damien Rice. Truthfully a debut release by a 20 something year old singer songwriter didn't scream LISTEN TO ME NOW!!!!

Much to my pleasant surprise the record was delicate, lovely, and made the hair on the back of my arm stand on end. When any of his songs pop up in my iTunes shuffle i I find myself immediately and wonderfully distracted. His songs literally and psychically call for me to sit up and take notice. Its embarrassing to admit that I am tempted to lean into my computer as if it would allow me to have a closer, more careful listen.

There are several surprises here. Not only do I love a new artist's record from start to finish but I am even willing to back up the words found on the one sheet. When Fionn gets compared to some to the best folk artists known to man, he has actually earned it.