Marc Carroll

Posted in All Wrongs Reversed - reviews on 20/10/2010

ALL WRONGS REVERSED

Minus Zero

Hot on the heels of the magnificent Ten Of Swords, this excellent 11- track round-up of non-LP songs, B-sides & demos superbly showcase Marc's range & talent. Very highly recommended.

Posted in All Wrongs Reversed - reviews on 20/10/2010

ALL WRONGS REVERSED

Fufkin (US)

Marc Carroll (whose Ten of Swords disc was mentioned in this column only two months ago) has wasted no time in releasing another primo assortment of pop tunes. His latest disc, All Wrongs Reversed, is a strong candidate for Top Ten honors in 2003. The opening track, "Mr. Wilson" (an homage to Brian Wilson), sounds like it could be an Adam Schmitt song. The "acoustic" version of "Crashpad Number" still has chiming 12-string riffs throughout its catchy melody. "Don't Let Them Get You Down" could pass for a mid tempo Teenage Fanclub song, and two of the three final tracks have an infectious Paisley Underground-inspired psych-pop flavor. From start to finish, this is one superb power pop album.

Posted in World On A Wire - reviews on 20/10/2010

World On A Wire

Uncut (4 Stars)

Artful sophomore from Dublin-born, Dylan-endorsed songsmith.

For the follow up to the mighty Ten Of Swords (discounting stop gap rarities compilation All Wrongs Reversed), Carroll has dampened the psych pop fizz for a slower dazzle. Where Ten Of Swords was a starburst trip from Carnaby Street to the Whiskey A Go Go, World On A Wire finds him in reflective, more painterly mode. There are strokes of Folk-Blues Dylan amid the subtler pastels, but it's the more layered arrangements that set these wonderful songs of personal faith aglow.

Posted in World On A Wire - reviews on 20/10/2010

World On A Wire

Mojo

Youngish veteran maybe finds that his specialist subject is emotional chaos.

London-based Irish songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Carroll played in unknown bands then, solo, delivered two albums of intelligent pop before discovering this rather convincing variant on himself. World On A Wire dwells in the measured melancholy of almost childlike piano, balanced by richly sorrowful cellos and (post-surfing) Beach Boys harmonies. His voice, subdued yet harnessing something of Bono's blend of innocence and experience, draws out some fetching melodies, none better than No Time At All which encapsulates his striking ability to make coherent music about inner confusion - raging frustration inextricably entwined in doubt and, ultimately, inertia. In tackling this tangled theme he gets the sound dead right. Clarity about chaos is a tall order.

Posted in World On A Wire - reviews on 20/10/2010

World On A Wire

The Irish Times

Marc Carroll has been waiting in the wings so long now he must surely feel more like a set designer than a main act. Each album release looks set to see him perched at the top of the food chain; each album release gets people like me in a right old lather; each album release sells zip. The truth is the guy is something of a genius; whereas before he has Big Star/Badfinger guitars swirling around collections of superlative pop/rock songs, with World On A Wire he has opted for strings of a more mellow nature and created a record of warmth, truth, beauty and something approximating a career best. If Bob Dylan raised on an aural diet of Brian Wilson rather than Woody Guthrie appeals to you, then prepare to be blown away. Is this the record to drag him out centre stage though? Could be, should be ...

Posted in World On A Wire - reviews on 20/10/2010

World On A Wire

HOT PRESS (Ireland)

The follow-up to his acclaimed Ten of Swords solo debut, World On A Wire sees the prodigiously talented Dubliner in a much more sombre mood. With piano and strings predominating, the jangly guitar pop has been largely replaced by a much more reflective, introspective sonic approach. In fact the starkness and barely-repressed anger pervading songs such as 'It Isn't Always Easy', 'No Time At All' and 'Love Over Gold' makes you wonder what kind of traumatic events might have inspired them (even the record company press release states bluntly that "this is not for the fainthearted"). That said it's not as downbeat as it might sound and fans of Cohen, Buckley, Cave and Cash should find plenty of resonance on this brave artistic statement. His songwriting style and ragged voice has been compared in the past to everyone from Dylan to Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, but Joe Strummer and Mott The Hoople's Ian Hunter spring more readily to mind here. Throughout World On A Wire Carroll refreshingly celebrates rather than conceals his influences; 'God's Wit' cleverly re-works the guitar intros from the Beatles' 'If I Needed Someone' and the Monkees' 'Last Train To Clarkesville' into a gorgeously realised folk song, 'In Agreement With Reality' boasts a 'Knocking On Heaven's Door' choir-like intro while 'Till These Bars Break' is underpinned by On The Beach-era Neil Young-style acoustic picking. 'Talk Again' is the nearest thing to an upbeat pop-song, though Carroll's lyrics again contrast sharply with the backdrop: "I'm lost, done in and I'm low so low, I can't find thoughts for today or face tomorrow." Heavy going it might be at times, but a little perseverance slowly but surely reaps its rewards.