Rarely Seen Above Ground @ Andrews Lane

Rarely Seen Above Ground - You may well wonder why a solo project from the former drummer from Kilkenny band Blue Ghost demands your attention. You've got other things to do, people to see and starry Next Big Things to check out. You don't really have time for a bloody drummer from the Marble City. Sure, he could be the new Phil Collins for all you know.

The first track on Jeremy Hickey's lastest release as R.S.A.G. is called "Counting Down", and it lasts for just 2 minutes. You can spare 2 minutes, can't you? That's the same time you'd proably spend waiting for a bus or stuck in your car on the road into town. Yeah, you can spare it.

By the time Counting Down has finished pounding and pumping an exotic and mesmeric tattoo into your ears in the nicest and funkiest way possible, you'll be hankering to hear more.Tke your time you're going to be coming back to this album in the weeks ahead.

There are many elements which make Organic Sampler such a wow. Hickeys sense of scale and ambition is remarkable, and each track leaps out of its skin because the producer won't settle for the mundane. Here's someone who is determined to get what hears in his head down in disc.

His groves are extraordinary, a heavyweight percussive storm conducted by the lightest and finest of touches. Hickey's David Byrne-like yelp gives the album a touch of the Talking Heads, but there's nothing wrong with that.

Put all that together and you have tunes that are compelling, dramatic and exciting. Every track clicks into its stride, makes for the higher ground and hit's the target. Other albums may shout out their merits, but Hickey is one worth listening out for.

- Jim Carroll, excerpt from The Ticket, 25/10.2008

Category:

Music

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• rarely
• seen
• above
• ground
• andrews
• lane
• super
• extra
• bonus
• party
• rsag
• organic
• sampler