Otis, My Man
Promo CD
Self-released

When I first started playing electric guitar when I was about 14, magazines teaching you how to play spilled from the racks of my local newsagent. Most magazines have cover CDs with demos of how to play chords, arpeggios and solos, and all of them sound dreadful. If there's anything guaranteed to put you off playing the guitar it's hearing the sound of how the idiots that write these magazines think the guitar should be played: all technique and no feeling; a hideous, processed sound where any ounce of creative expression is buried beneath a postured pretence of rock confidence.

Even though this promo CD by Otis, My Man sounds exactly like the kind of dross you'd get on the cover CD of a guitar mag, there's something about it that's oddly compelling, even though it's so bad it's funny. Despite coating these laughably simple, naive songs in a digital dirge of FX, you feel Michael Kinard - for he is Otis - emoting behind the songs. He's a nice bloke. He wants to play you some tunes he's written about how he's lonely. Aww. Shame they're not much cop. But thanks for the CD Mike - keep on keepin' on.

Copyright © 2003 Tim Clarke