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Monday 25 February 2008

"This Is Who I Am" revisited - tracks 16 and 17

We now reach the end of our journey through Salem's debut album....

16. "Thank You" (3.19)

Being the well-mannered individual that he is, Salem brings the album to a close in a rather unique and touching way. "I gotta go I gotta go/I got nothing more to say/but I just wanna thank you all for listening". Since I first heard this track, it screamed "Steely Dan" at me, and still does, as Salem's vocals are strongly reminiscent of Donald Fagen.

17. "End" (3.32)

The album ends the way it started, with a short, spacey instrumental piece. If you keep listening you will find the hidden track at the end, a bluesy guitar jam which, again, is completely different from everything that's gone before.

The Ones That Got Away:

"Bright Side of Life": Yes, in case you wondered, Salem can do reggae too, and very well. Uptempo, happy and good-humoured and does what it says on the tin. This is part of the album track listing on iTunes and that's where I got it, however can't find it on the CD unless it's maybe part of the Opendisc thing, I don't know?

"Friend": I still don't understand why this track - from the "Dream Girl" EP - was left off the album, as it's a real treat. Twinkling keyboards, sweet vocals and minimal lyrics all go to make up a particular retro-flavoured delight.

2 comments:

The Lemur said...

Nice work you've got going on here about Salem. You're bound to deliver us the freshest news about Salem in the future, despite the fact that you don't actually live in Sweden, which is truly impressing. Indeed I have an ulterior motive with the compliment. I was wondering if you could possibly send me the mp3s of Bright Side Of Life and Friend because I actually haven't heard them yet! Would be very glad if you could send me zshare or yousendit links or something to my blogmail: thelemurblog@hotmail.com

Thanks in advance, keep up the good work!

Yours sincerely, The Lemur

Laura (EuropeCrazy) said...

Thanks again! It's difficult at the moment as there is no news about him at all, I had hoped that his music would have been released in Britain by now but that's not happening yet, and there is no news of any live shows either. Oh well - I will just have to be patient!!