Sublime layers of acoustic folk guitar, complimented by flourishes of flute, hints of harmonica and polite percussion. Atop all of this is a voice, emotive and charming, singing melancholy, bittersweet stories of love, loss and hope.

13 MP3 Songs
FOLK: Alternative Folk, COUNTRY: Alt-Country



Details:
Simon M. Read is a Cardiff-based Plymouthian. This means he lives in Cardiff, the capital of Wales, but was born in Plymouth, England. In the former of these places he owns a studio, a guitar and various other instruments. He also owns a voice, which he has done for the majority of his life. He combined all of these things to make a CD which he has listened to a lot and now encourages other people to listen to as well.

If you read this very carefully, you may well notice that he is encouraging you to listen to it right now. Don't worry if you don't though. He is using subtle reverse psychological mind tricks verging on subliminal witchcraft.

People who have fallen for these subconscious messages have been impressed with what they have heard. Some have said that he sounds like Leonard Cohen; others have said he sounds like Iron & Wine. Some say his song-writing and lyricism is akin to that of Bob Dylan, others say his song-writing is six degrees of separation from Ryan Adams or Devendra Banhart. A critic once said that his songs sound like REM getting a piggyback from an acoustic Kurt Cobain. These were, he assumes, favourable comparisons.

Simon M. Read doesnât know whether they were fair or justified though. He just wanted to make a record that reminded him of the moments when breath had just been taken and the sun beats on your skin and everything, just for that brief second, seemed perfect.

He has asked me to ask you personally to come along and have a listen to some of the tracks, see what you think. If you like it, he would say that maybe you should buy a copy of the CD or just the songs you like from iTunes or some other digital download place.

By doing this you enter into a gentle circle with him. This is as opposed to a vicious circle. He will use your money, which hopefully you will have given because you like his music, to make sure he can make more music. Then you can garner more enjoyment from the new music. And the cycle goes on and on, ad infinitum until one or both of us dies or gets bored.