"Live in the Basement" by Stylusboy
Review
It was only last week that I was telling you about the new Stylusboy single "This Is Where I Belong" which was released in advance of its parent EP "Live in the Basement" which in turn came out a few hours ago.
A six track collection which also includes live versions of "Out Upon the Ocean", "Keep You", "Embrace the View" , "Ride This Storm" and the Stylusboy classic "For the Souls of My Brothers" in addition to the aforementioned track, the larger set shares the virtues of the trail blazing song and I'll fairly shamelessly reprint some of my earlier comments since they hold true & I can't improve upon them: ".. there is a haunting element to his live performances which is difficult to capture in words ..... and the underground venue with its ambience serves to amplify this. Stylusboy works superbly with his performance style and the intimate nature of his music: you need to be enclosed with him & in proximity to him to get the most of out the opportunity & moment.". True last week, true today & pretty certain to be true for the rest of what hopefully will be a long career, though as I did say in my review of his last studio album, 'Routes', topping his recent compositions will be a challenge, though one I'm sure he'll rise to.
In fact, if you are new to Stylusboy's music, "Live in the Basement" might be a useful starting point: not only does it contain some of his very finest writing to date but if does really encapsulate his live performance skills & show you in a nutshell precisely why people appreciate his craft. I can only hope that the clinical situation permits live performances in the intimate setting where this works so effectively as soon as is safe. In the meantime Stylusboy has been live streaming quite a lot: please check out the videos on his pages & they should all also be on the "Hot Music Live Presents" Facebook page.
