DAMIEN RICE - 9 Review

I was first exposed to the unique talents of Damien Rice in October 2002. He was supporting Kathryn Williams at London's Old Vic and it was one of those rare occasions when within minutes of starting you knew you were listening to something special....full text The gradual success of Rice’s 2002 debut, "O", took him from cult status to over-exposure. Fortunately, it hasn’t blunted his songwriting. "9" is a delicate and sometimes bleak record, verging at times on the melodramatic, with Rice apparently exploring the entrails of a terrible romantic hurt....full text Not since the hitmaking heyday of James Taylor and Cat Stevens has pop music been so overrun by earnest young men with acoustic guitars. James Blunt, Ray LaMontagne, Iron & Wine, Cary Brothers, Joshua Radin, and whoever else happens to turn up on Zach Braff's movie soundtracks — all, with varying degrees of skill and insipidity, offer an update on the '70s folk-rock singer-songwriter, crooning confessions and plaints over strummed chords, self-pity etched in their quavers....full text