Music from the yesterdays and today!

Michael Lindner has played in bands for over forty years and on his latest album 'Cocktail Napkin' he has mixed original tunes with some favourite songs of his from down the years. Including a number of covers of well known songs on an album can be a tough thing to do as everyone is a critic when they hear a familiar song, but Michael has selected four to put his spin on. 

Michael opens the album with the perennial 'odd' song, a cover of Love's version of  'My Little Red Book'. Michael goes for a faithful rendition and manages to retain the 'oddness' that was there in that particular arrangement of one of Bacharach and David's finest. He moves on with '96 Blues Per Minutes' which is a funky instrumental 12 bar blues, very straightforward and well executed. A cover of 'Endless Sleep' works pretty well, whilst 'Whirling' rattles along with a 'World Music' type groove, with lots of instruments weaving in and out of the piece that recals the work of The Afro Celt Sound System. '2000 Man' features some prominent accordian work which was Michael's first instrument, the song  has a snappy verse and some neat time changes without losing the listener. 'Conquistador' is another grooving instrumental that takes the listener off and away to another exotic place. 'Winterlude' is the album closer and is gentle and atmospheric guitar instrumental with an authentic fifties feel.

'Cocktail Napkin' is an album brim-full of ideas and they're put down on disc in Mr Lindner's own individual way. There are lots of textures and layers to his own music with a slightly maveric feel thrown in to keep you on your toes. His selection of covers are close to the originals but again there's a slightly manic quality to them, with the exception of 'My Little Red Book' which is manic anyway, so a straight reading of it get's the job done.

Reviewed by Kevin Wallbank