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Public Face, Private Face Quiet City Marineville Music, 2001 Reviewed by Aaron Blanton
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Quiet City is Nigel Thomas. On Quiet City's debut album, Public Face, Private Face, Thomas wrote and arranged all 13 tracks, he produced the album, he mixed and mastered every song but one -- which he co-mixed and mastered. And while his is not the only voice on the album, perhaps it should be, as those tracks featuring his vocals are the strongest on the CD. To get a bit of understanding of the type of music Quiet City is making, it's important to look at Thomas' resume. Thomas was the first timpani/percussion scholar at London's Royal College of Music. He has worked with the Scottish Alt/Pop trio, The Blue Nile, for 19 years and is largely considered to be a secondary band member, having worked on A Walk Across The Rooftops, Hats and Peace At Last as well as being a part of all of the band's live performances. On the other side of the musical scale, Thomas was a principal percussionist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra from 1981 to 1988 and from 1990 to 1992. From 1988 to 1990 he was a principal percussionist with the London Symphony Orchestra. And -- somewhere in between and showing him for the all rounder he is -- Thomas has done session work with Rickie Lee Jones, Rod Stewart, Marc Almond and Joe Cocker, among others. As well, he contributed to the soundtracks of The Mission, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Lord of the Flies, Naked Lunch, The Fly, A Kiss Before Dying, Dark Crystal, there's more, but you get the idea. Since Blue Nile-niks Paul Buchanan, Paul Joseph Moore and engineer Calum Malcolm make more than passing appearances here, it might be tempting to call Public Face, Private Face a Blue Nile side project. That would be incorrect. This is Thomas' pop/orchestral face we're seeing. And since there are string orchestra credits on the album, it might seem safe to assume the album is of an orchestral nature. That would also be incorrect. It's difficult, in fact, to make any suppositions about Public Face, Private Face based on what you know about Thomas. Think epic and you've got a leg up. Think wildly varied and you're part way there, as well. While some tracks own a brassy jazz edge, others seem
more pop-influenced. Others still force you to keep Thomas'
classical background in mind. The resulting album seems to
play like a piece of Thomas' own heart, with all aspects of
his musical career represented together, side-by-side. Not a
side project, then, but a heart project. I have a
feeling that isn't far from the mark. | May 2002 |
Tracks 1: Pocket
Juice
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