Jackinabox [Import]

Product Description
Japanese version includes the bonus track 'Where I've Been'. JackInABox is Turin Brake's follow up to the 2003's 180k selling album Ether Song, and the third of a recording career which also produced the 225k selling and Mercury Prize-nominated debut The Optimist LP. After recording Ether Song in LA, the band went back to the self-produced ethos of their debut, writing and recording the entirety of JackInABox at their own studio in Brixton. The result is JackInABox, a sunny and direct album, full of characteristically robust pop melodies and spine-tingling harmonies. EMI/Source. 2005.

Tracks:

They Can't Buy The Sunshine
Red Moon
Forever
Asleep With The Fireflies
Fishing For A Dream
Road To Nowhere
Over And Over
Last Clown
Above The Clouds
Building Wraps Round Me
JackInABox
Come And Go

From Amazon.co.uk

Frayed by the ocean-hopping promotional commitments required to stay apace of their accruing popularity, South London's Mercury Music Prize-nominated urban folk-pop duo Turin Brakes took stock and hunkered down in their Brixton studio bolt hole to record their third album JackInABox. Wagons duly circled, one might have anticipated a portfolio of dry, woebegone claustrophobia. However, what JackInABox actually tenders is the elixir of easy living, the lure of the open road and an emancipating two-fingered gesticulation in the prevailing direction of the sick city rat race. From the breezy, footloose opener "They Can't Buy The Sun" - imagine if The Eagles had listened to Loaded by The Velvet Underground - to the supple funky country acoustics of "Asleep With The Fireflies", JackInABox" is all open fields, the heavens above and sunsets in rear view mirrors. "Oh no, my world is on fire, someone fetch some water cos I think I'm going to burn" sings Olly Knights on the feverish title track, a magnetic aggregate of Pentangle's jazz-folk merry-go-round and The Notorious Byrd Brothers. "Forever" is mind balm for seekers of mellow, come-down reverie but - notwithstanding one or two ponderous pregnant pauses - JackInABox finds Turin Brakes with a reinvigorated spring in their step. --Kevin Maidment

Customer Reviews:

They Can Buy The Sunshine !!.......2006-06-27

The latest offering from this south London duo continues in the same vein as it's predessor 'Ether Song'. Perfect, quirky harmonies lie effortlessly over acoustic-driven melodies to give an intoxicating 'sun-drenched' feel, closer to California than to London. However, when I first listened to this album, I had mixed feelings, but I kept it on the car CD-player and it stayed there longer than expected. The opening track 'They Can't Buy the Sunshine', along with 'Fishing for a Dream' and the title track 'Jack In A Box', are as good as anything they have ever done, if not better. There are no fillers on the album as each song stands tall on their own merits...Turin Brakes will be proud of this one, and this CD should grace any eclectic CD collection worth it's salt....If you like Damien Rice, Jack Johnson etc..you will love this.

Not An Optimist About This One..........2006-03-22

It's all very well to look back at frivolous musical scenes of the past and laugh at their foibles (sports metal? Ha ha! Greebo? Very funny, now go away), but most critics would agree the Quiet Is The New Loud genre died soon after its fey outline appeared on the horizon. Desperately clambering for attention while UK rock music was at a low ebb in a post-OK Computer world of drudgery (remember kids, this was a time when the biggest chart artists included Macy Gray, The Corrs and Travis), the artists lumped into the Quiet Is The New Loud scene experienced brief exposure but ultimately little commercial success. Amongst the fairly forgotten names such as Alfie, I Am Kloot and Kings Of Convenience stood Turin Brakes, a London duo that managed to take their trembling acoustic works to the masses via albums The Optimist LP and Ether Song. While Ether Song hinted at a prospective move towards powered amps and rock riffs, for their third album JackInABox, the Turin Brakes song remains the same. They Can't Buy The Sunshine opens the album with a nod to 1970s MOR Americana, with easy sounds of Forever and Over And Over continuing the trend with nice, but ultimately uninspiring, melodies. Red Moon and Asleep With The Fireflies are upbeat but unexplosive, while Fishing For A Dream finds Olly Knights wincingly singing about wining and dining his gal in a celebrity world. While he doesn't have a natural voice, when vocally backed by partner Gale Paridjanian there is an accommodating Cat Stevens element to Knights' style. Highlights on JackInABox include the title track (which features a rush of congos and a bout of slide guitar) and the closing sounds of Come And Go, but ultimately Turin Brakes aren't making a great leap forward on this effort. While garage rock revolutions continue unabated, Turin Brakes quietly go about their low-key business with their regular tenacity, Sadly, unlike the titular jester, there's no surprises within this package.

Great album.......2006-02-03

Turin Brakes seems to get a long way till their first album and i think they started to get out of depression and write songs about different things.This album contains 12 great songs and is a every penny worth item who likes urban folk pop. Nevertheless, i highly recommend this album to everyone who wants to see how 2 people can make such a great music!

PS:I hope you can find the 2 disc cd/dvd edition of this album and have a chance to see them live in the dvd for 2 songs

Jackinabox.......2005-09-20

Psych-folk is not exactly a new phenomena -- Turin Brakes has been doing it for four years now.

But this enchantingly mellow British duo add a catchier edge to their third album, "Jackinabox," without losing their heavy dose of spacey folk. It lacks the more uniform sound of their past work, but at least the boys are stretching their creative muscles.

The rock-ier vibe of the opening song signals a bit of a change, with a catchy hook and charmingly upbeat vibe. Despite its list of woes, guitarist/singer Ollie Knights sounds optimistic: "The credit card skyline rises high/crushing the sky and multiplies/they're buying up souls to fill their holes/but we know the one thing they don't know/they can't buy the sunshine..."

That rock sound continues, after a stretch of wavering lament -- expect roiling riffs over satiny blips and bleeps. Ollie Knight also gives his vocal abilities a stretch; his past efforts have been wistful and soft, but here he hardens his singing into a rougher, less dreamy sound. And it's actually very successful, although he sounds like a different singer.

But just because Turin Brakes is experimenting with rock doesn't mean that they've abandoned their past sound. Their dreamy psych-folk reenters after a few songs, and makes up a fair amount of the remaining music. They're even more polished than before, mingling the languid acoustic guitar with even more languid songwriting.

But even that gets a stretch with songs like the swirling, hazy title track, where Knights uneasily sings over a psych-folk rhythm. "My world is on fire/someone get some water/cause I think I'm gonna burn." That sense of unease carries through to the delicate finale, which seems uncertain of the world in general. Or is it their musical direction? It's as murky as their music.

It's certainly a credit to Turin Brakes that, like fellow Britpop band Travis, they can do both languid pop and energetic rock. Their rock'n'roll is a shade less engaging their their folkpop, merely because it's far less unusual. But Knights and bandmate Gale Paridjanian carry off their rock desires with energy and verve.

"Jackinabox" is split between rock and psych-folkpop, and so it's never quite even. But Knights and Paridjanian show that they still have what it takes, and they're not going to let it sit and stagnate.

I am amazed.......2005-07-22

This is a band that has been around a while. Most people know them because of
The Optimist LP. KCRW used to play their records to death. They had songs
that were performed on Top of The Pops. Strange for a band that more in common
with Simon and Garfunkel than any pop music. Based in Brixton, but their heart
remains in Southern California. Their inspirations lie in some records made in
the 1970s. The first song "They Can't Buy The Sunshine" exposes the British
fascination with good weather. There are ballads like "Forever" which are
splendid. Some fans of people like Damien Rice and West Indian Girl might like
what these guys have been doing for quite a while now. It's very moving acoustic
music made for the soul. This is probably the best overall record by Turin
Brakes.

Average customer rating:

Jackinabox
Turin Brakes
Manufacturer: EMI Int'l
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B0009IE6QM
Release Date: 2005-06-06

Tracks:

Can't Buy The Sunshine
Red Moon
Forever
Asleep With The Fireflies
Fishing For A Dream
Road To Nowhere
Over & Over
Last Clown
Above The Clouds
Building Wraps Round Me
Jackinabox
Come & Go

Album Description

UK version with bonus DVD (PAL/Region 0) Featuring Track by track commentary of the album by the band, 'Fishing For A Dream' (Video) - including Director's commetary, Making of 'Fishing For Dream', Red Moon and JackInBox live from Bush Hall, London, April 2005. EMI UK 2005

Average customer rating:

Jackinabox
Turin Brakes
Manufacturer: Jvc Victor
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Adult Alternative | Pop | Styles | Music

Rock | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B000803FF4
Release Date: 2005-05-09

Album Description

Japanese version includes the bonus track 'Where I've Been'. JackInABox is Turin Brake's follow up to the 2003's 180k selling album Ether Song, and the third of a recording career which also produced the 225k selling and Mercury Prize-nominated debut The Optimist LP. After recording Ether Song in LA, the band went back to the self-produced ethos of their debut, writing and recording the entirety of JackInABox at their own studio in Brixton. The result is JackInABox, a sunny and direct album, full of characteristically robust pop melodies and spine-tingling harmonies. EMI/Source. 2005.

Average customer rating:

They can't buy the sunshine

Jackinabox

ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Rock | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B000A2H09M
Release Date: 2005-05-31

Album Description

Limited International pressing features a bonus DVD (NTSC / Region 0) that includes, track by track commentary by the band, 2 exclusive live audio-visual tracks recorded at Bush Hall, super 8 footage from the bands travels in the US cut to album tracks, Single video with the director's commentary along with hidden extras!. JackInABox is Turin Brake's follow up to the 2003's 180k selling album Ether Song, and the third of a recording career which also produced the 225k selling and Mercury Prize-nominated debut The Optimist LP. After recording Ether Song in LA, the band went back to the self-produced ethos of their debut, writing and recording the entirety of JackInABox at their own studio in Brixton. The result is JackInABox, a sunny and direct album, full of characteristically robust pop melodies and spine-tingling harmonies. EMI/Source. 2005.

Customer Reviews:

They can't buy the sunshine.......2005-09-09

Psych-folk is not exactly a new phenomena -- Turin Brakes has been doing it for four years now.

But this enchantingly mellow British duo add a catchier edge to their third album, "Jackinabox," without losing their heavy dose of spacey folk. It lacks the more uniform sound of their past work, but at least the boys are stretching their creative muscles.

The rock-ier vibe of the opening song signals a bit of a change, with a catchy hook and charmingly upbeat vibe. Despite its list of woes, guitarist/singer Ollie Knights sounds optimistic: "The credit card skyline rises high/crushing the sky and multiplies/they're buying up souls to fill their holes/but we know the one thing they don't know/they can't buy the sunshine..."

That rock sound continues, after a stretch of wavering lament -- expect roiling riffs over satiny blips and bleeps. Ollie Knight also gives his vocal abilities a stretch; his past efforts have been wistful and soft, but here he hardens his singing into a rougher, less dreamy sound. And it's actually very successful, although he sounds like a different singer.

But just because Turin Brakes is experimenting with rock doesn't mean that they've abandoned their past sound. Their dreamy psych-folk reenters after a few songs, and makes up a fair amount of the remaining music. They're even more polished than before, mingling the languid acoustic guitar with even more languid songwriting.

But even that gets a stretch with songs like the swirling, hazy title track, where Knights uneasily sings over a psych-folk rhythm. "My world is on fire/someone get some water/cause I think I'm gonna burn." That sense of unease carries through to the delicate finale, which seems uncertain of the world in general. Or is it their musical direction? It's as murky as their music.

Accompanying the CD is a bonus DVD with live songs, videos, commentary, and so forth. It's a good accompaniment to "Jackinabox," since it adds new dimensions to their songs and artistry. Not truly necessary, but it does serve to highlight it -- and the live stuff is excellent.

It's certainly a credit to Turin Brakes that, like fellow Britpop band Travis, they can do both languid pop and energetic rock. Their rock'n'roll is a shade less engaging their their folkpop, merely because it's far less unusual. But Knights and bandmate Gale Paridjanian carry off their rock desires with energy and verve.

"Jackinabox" is split between rock and psych-folkpop, and so it's never quite even. But Knights and Paridjanian show that they still have what it takes, and they're not going to let it sit and stagnate.

Rock Music:

Rock Music