| Artist |
| Jan Peters |
| Title |
| These Waters |
| Format/Cat |
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| Label |
| CD Baby |
| Style |
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| Date of review |
| 27 Mach 2009 |
| Reviewer |
| Anya Haswell |
| Rating |
| 9/10 |
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Well now, it’s time for some life-affirming sounds all the way from the US of A, Bellingham, WA to be precise. Jan Peters has been playing music and cheering audiences for over 25 years with some pretty lovely creations. So go get your rocking chair, put it on your decked veranda – or maybe you’d prefer a hammock, gently swinging between the trees in this lovely spring sunshine, with the butterflies fluttering by. Take your pick, tune in to this channel when you’re ready.
‘Cold Seattle Morning’ is as sweet as a honey-covered crumpet, with a cinnamon toast aftertaste. It’s got some really pretty guitar picking too, it’s toe-tapping bliss, really… “I didn’t sleep last night” – well it’s worth staying up to listen to this in the early hours, it’s mellow and has a golden ambiance. ‘Call to All’ pushes away like a steam train, with a definite eco-awareness attached – so that would make that a bio-ethanol train then. It’s got that feel-good factor, like you’re doing something good for the planet just by playing the CD, so you can stop feeling guilty about those carbon emissions. Phew. Ohoooh, and I do like ‘Shaking Away’ – featuring such truisms as: “Now is the time for everyone to see/that everyone is related to a refugee. Anything that happens to one of us, happens to us all.” Yes! Get that Jim Davidson, and any NF types – go figure, that includes you. It’s all down to karma at the end of the day. Such a strong statement sung so sweetly, but would be equally good blown up on a poster, somewhere near Parliament.
Everything swings most pleasantly through ‘Drumming In The Night’ and ‘Little Lost One’, then BAM! It’s “Hasta La Vista baby” to numb sculls with ‘Primera Vista’ (the vista concerned could well be the U.S. government program established in 1964 to provide volunteers to work at improving the living conditions of persons in impoverished areas of the U.S., its possessions, and Puerto Rico.) But then again I could be wrong. ‘These Waters’, the title track, polishes things off to a buffed shining finish. What more can I say – for music that touches the soul, for any life moment that requires a certain amount of soul-searching or Deep Thought, this would be the perfect accompaniment.
Cos we’re all on the same side when the mushroom hits the sky, aren’t we?
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