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Album Details

• Artist: Joe Mannix
• Album: A Town By The Sea
• Label: Bongo Beat
• Year of Release: 2005
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: patchen on 2006-03-31

Recorded in an old church in Hamilton Ontario, but with his heart in Greenwich Village, songwriter Mannix backs up his reputation as a strong wordsmith and evocative with a melody.. "Waiting on a Song", "New World"; "New York City", and "Linda Turned 22" gently sway through memory and presence; "Another Place Another Time" and "A Lighter Shade of Blue" long for residence in a space that may serve to heal memory, or ease regret. The problem here is that while Mannix is an excellent songwriter worthy of his buzz, these songs evoke more often the songwriters he is often compared to rather than to the tunes as singular in their own right. Granted, the framework for these songs is familiar--a man with a guitar can only sound so different-but these songs are so well crafted and similar to what has come before that is feels like a cover record. Time will tell; in the meantime, buy this and search out the records of who it reminds you of.

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