MIKE REINSTEIN – A Long March Home (Irregular IRR096)

A Long March HomeThere are some record labels that just inspire confidence. Irregular is one such and so I seized hold of this album, Mike’s second, sight unseen. It doesn’t disappoint.

Mike Reinstein is a music teacher and veteran performer with a gift for song-writing, particularly lyrics that make you think and then listen and think again. The first track, ‘Cheap At Twice The Price’, is typical. It begins with pride in a new pair of shoes to the man who made the shoes for “a bowl of rice” and to the man who harvested the cotton for your cheap shirt – and mine, too.

There are some fine musicians supporting Mike, notably Mick O’Connor whose guitar breaks are expertly judged and the trumpet and trombone of Rob Heasman and Tim Wade. Matthew Bright plays flute and Mike’s wife, novelist Reina James, plays keyboards. The songs are at the heart of the record, though, and the band adds atmosphere and texture without intruding.

The second song, ‘America Says’, tells of a soldier coming home from one of the recent conflicts to a hero’s welcome, all the time concealing a nasty secret that is never actually revealed. It’s a very clever piece of writing. It’s paired with ‘Warface’, the story of a British lad who joined the army because there was no work. He comes home mentally scarred, watchful and paranoid. Later, ‘On Cable Street’ uses the famous battle as a warning to the fascists who are still with us and that is matched by ‘Gefehlt Mir Mein Heym (I Love My Home)’ which tells of people who keep a suitcase in the hall, just in case.

It’s not all serious: ‘A Watchman For Your Heart’ is that rare beast, a funny love song, while ‘Advice’ imagines God giving Bush and Blair the benefit of his wisdom in answer to their prayers – all to the backing of lounge-jazz piano. Inspired. This is music with heart, wit and imagination – exactly what I hoped for and expected.

Dai Jeffries

Artist’s website: www.mikereinstein.co.uk

A live version of ‘Advice’ on guitar: