Anthony Reynolds - Life's Too Long 1995-2011

by Dixie Ernill

published: 28 / 1 / 2012

Anthony Reynolds - Life's Too Long 1995-2011

Label: Chaffinch Records
Format: CD X2

intro

Excellent double CD retrospective from Cardiff-based singer-songwriter and biographer Anthony Reynolds, which covers all aspects of his career from its start as front man with Jack to his current releases under his own name

Anthony Reynolds really should be a household name such is the consistantly high quality of his recorded output over the last sixteen years, but in keeping with a clutch of other criminally overlooked British songwriters including Roger Quigley (Quigley, At Swim Two Birds, the Montgolfier Brothers), Simon Rivers (The Last Party, the Bitter Springs) and Davey Woodward (The Brilliant Corners, Experimental Pop Band) he, despite one or two skirmishes with the limelight, remains a relatively unmined seam. The biggest clues to the sound and style of his music lie in the shape of the three published biographies he has written about the Walker Brothers, Jeff Buckley and Leonard Cohen respectively. It is no exaggeration to say that he is worthy of mentioning in the same breath of any of the aforemnetioned artists. This compilation opens the lid on every area of his recorded career that has seen him release music under a string of monikers - Jack, Jacques and Anthony before finally settling on his own. Such is the volume of music available to choose from (Reynolds has released seven albums and countless EPs and singles) it must have been difficult to whittle things down to just thirty tracks, as even a sixty track restrospective would still have left a few gems off the final set list. To assist the casual listener the tracks are roughly in chronological order starting with 4 Jack songs from the 'Pioneer Soundtracks' album that launched Reynolds career. They still sound fresh today with 'Wintercomessummer' in particular being a joy to hear again - I saw Jack play live back in 1995 when they had only released a couple of singles and have followed Reynolds career ever since. The songs from the follow-up LP 'The Jazz Age' including the timeless 'Cinematic' are great tracks as are the trio of Jacques numbers that make up the first disc of this set. The more dance-orientated songs from Jack third LP, 'The End of the Way It Has Always Been' that was released on the cool Les Disques Du Crepuscule record label feature heavily on the second disc along with a collection of more recent songs such as the truly stunning 'The Disappointed' from the 2007 'British Ballads' LP. A couple of live tracks including the beautiful 'Lolita Elle' originally released on 'The Jazz Age' are also here to make this a brilliant introduction to potential new fans or a tmely reminder to the enlightened as to the immense talent Anthony Reynolds is.

Track Listing:-

1 Filthy Names
2 Wintercomessummer
3 Biography Of A First Son
4 White Jazz
5 Cinematic
6 Fall In Love With Me Again
7 Morning Light
8 3 O'clock In The Morning
9 My World Versus Your World
10 Yuka's Life
11 I Don't Know Why I Want You
12 Disco-Cafe-Society
13 A Bachelor In London
14 Whilst High, I Had The Premonition
15 London Loves You
16 Blue Party
17 Beauty And Me
18 The Emperor Of New London
19 Sleepin' Makes Me Thirsty
20 Sometimes
21 Lolita Elle (Live In 2002)
22 Maybe My Love Doesn't Answer Anything In You Anymore
23 Winterpollen
24 Io Bevo
25 If July Were A Kingdom
26 I Know You Know
27 The Dissapointed
28 Life Is All There Is
29 Be My Next Ex-Girlfriend
30 Life's Too Long

Band Links:-

http://www.anthonyreynolds.net/
http://anthonyreynolds.bandcamp.com/
http://www.pledgemusic.com/artists/anthonyreynolds
https://twitter.com/AJFReynolds

Label Links:-

http://www.chaffinchrecords.com/
https://twitter.com/chaffinchrecord
https://www.facebook.com/ChaffinchRecords

interviews

Interview Part 1 (2011)

In the first part of a two part interview, Pennyblackmusic Bands Night headliner Anthony Reynolds, who will be releasing a double CD retrospective 'Life's Too Long' in April, chats to John Clarkson about his former band Jack's first two albums, 'Pioneer Soundtracks' and 'The Jazz Age'

Interview Part 2 (2011)

Interview (2010)

Interview (2007)