Anthony Reynolds - British Ballads

On paper, Anthony Reynolds comes across as a curmudgeonly old moan, berating our increasingly vacuous obsession with celebrity status and fly-by-night scenesters at the expense of the more important things in life; friends, books, alcohol. On record, things seem almost at a polar opposite, as if Reynolds' self-imposed exile from reality TV and nu-rave has helped him develop his own little domestic fantasy world a la Amelie. On the acoustic A Quiet Life, Reynolds enjoys another night home alone, "drinking, thinking, dreaming", where he is his own DJ, there are no rude shop assistants and Elvis is still alive. There are guest appearances from Dot Allison and Vashti Bunyan, though their presence is suitably understated. It's Reynolds' world after all and, while it may not have you packing away your glo-sticks or doing a Led Zeppelin with your television set, it's nice to know it's there when you've had your fill of Pete Doherty's antics. [Darren Carle]