░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░████████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░██████████████████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░███████████████████████████▓░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░██████████ ███████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░███████░ ████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░███████ ████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░███████ V E T E R A N S ██████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░██████ ██████████ █████████ ██████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░█████▓ ░░█████████ █████████ █████▓░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░█████ ░██████████ █████████ █████▒░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░█████ ░░█████████ █████████ █████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░█████ ░█████████ ████████ █████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░████ U R B A N ░░██████████████████ U N I T E D █████░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░█████ ████ ████ ░░████████████████ █████ █████ ████░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░█████ ░████ ████ ░████████████████ ░█████ █████ █████░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░████ ░████ ████ ░░██████████████ ░█████ █████ ████░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░████ ░████ ████ ░░████████████ ░█████ █████ ████░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░████▒ ░████ ████ ░████████████ ░█████ █████ ████░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░████ ░████ ████ ░░██████████ ░█████ █████ ████░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░████ ░██████████ ░█████████▓ ░███████████ ████░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░█████ ░█████████ ░░████████ ░█████████ ████░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░█████ ░███████ ░░██████ ░███████ ████░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░█████ ░██████ █████░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░███████ ░░████ ███████░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░████████ ░███ ████████░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░█████▓▓██ ░░██ ██▓▓█████░░░░░░ ░░░░░█████▓▓▓██ ╔══════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ██▓▓▓█████░░░░░ ░░░█████▓▓▓█▓██ ║ r e l e a s e i n f o ║ ██▓█▓▓▓█████░░░ ░░▓████▓▓███▓██ ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════╝ ██▓███▓▓█████░░ ░░████▓▓████▓██ ██▓████▓▓████░░ ░█████▓█████▓██ ▌Artist__│ Vic Flick ██▓█████▓█████░ ░████▓▓██▒██▓██ ▌Title___│ James Bond Now ██▓█████▓▓████░ ░████▓███▒██▓██ ▌Label___│ VF Recordings ██▓██▒███▓████░ ░████▓███▒██▓██ ▌Genre___│ Jazz ██▓██▒███▓████░ ░████▓███▒██▓██ ▌Format__│ Album ██▓██▒███▓████░ ░████▓███▒██▓██ ▌Year____│ 2000 ██▓██▒███▓████░ ░░████▓█████▓██ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀╝ ██▓█████▓████░░ ░░████▓█████▓██ ▌Time____│ 41:34 ██▓█████▓████░░ ░░░████▓████▓██ ▌Size____│ 101.22 MB ██▓████▓████░░░ ░░░░███▓▓███▓██ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀╝ ██▓███▓▓███░░░░ ░░░░░███▓▓▓█▓██ ▌Source__│ Web Store ██▓█▓▓▓███░░░░░ ░░░░░░████▓▓▓██ ▌Quality_│ 320 kbps ██▓▓▓████░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░██████ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀╝ ██████░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░███ ███░░░░░░░░░ ░░░ ░░ ╔═══════════════╗ ░░ ║ T R A C K S ║░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░ ╚═══════════════╝▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ░░ ░░ 01. Goldfinger 4:36 ░░ 02. Live And Let Die 3:47 ░░ 03. Diamonds Are Forever 3:39 ░░ 04. For Your Eyes Only 3:15 ░░ 05. Shaken Not Stirred 3:57 ░░ 06. From Russia With Love 4:56 ░░ 07. Nobody Does It Better 5:10 ░░ 08. Silken Cover 3:51 ░░ 09. The James Bond Theme 3:59 ░░ 10. Copacabinsky 4:24 ░░ ░░ ░░ ░░ ╔═══════════════╗ ░░ ║ N O T E S ║░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░ ╚═══════════════╝▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ░░ ░░ I always welcome the opportunity to hear how various artists interpret ░░ the oeuvre of Bond music, but am decidedly critical when doing so. First ░░ off, let me say that Vic Flick is incomparable as a guitarist - skillful ░░ and versatile, he has achieved a stylized sound that most guitar players ░░ can only dream of. This project, "James Bond Now" is a commendable idea, ░░ but the finished product is a bit lacking. The album's major downfall are ░░ the synthesized backing tracks - designed to complement Flick's guitar ░░ virtuosity, they unfortunately serve as a distraction more often than ░░ not. A more judicious selection of pre-set sounds would have yielded far ░░ better results. On the other hand, Flick's arrangements of the ░░ compositions are quite original and very entertaining. Even still, ░░ because of the dated synth sounds, much of the album flirts with muzak, ░░ rather than chic retro lounge or slick contemporary electronica. ░░ ░░ The intro to the opening track, "Goldfinger" immediately sets the tone, ░░ with Flick's masterful guitar twang working against the synth horns. ░░ "Live and Let Die" is reserved, by comparison, and the more simplified ░░ arrangement allows Flick's guitar to do most of the work. The dark, tense ░░ intro to "Diamonds Are Forever" is outstanding, and the rest of the piece ░░ follows suit. "For Your Eyes Only" comes off a bit schmaltzy, and Flick's ░░ understated plucking barely rescues the tune. Like "Diamonds", "From ░░ Russia With Love" has a dark, almost modern sound that works well given ░░ its sparseness. While the intro to "Nobody Does It Better" sounds like a ░░ player piano, Flick's own whispered spoken-word delivery of the lyrics ░░ works surprisingly well in the piece. Oddly enough, "The James Bond ░░ Theme", which I had expected to be an over-the-top number, is a bit ░░ disappointing. The arrangement is weak and Flick's playing is unusually ░░ laid back. ░░ ░░ Flick's three original compositions are hit and miss: "Shaken not ░░ Stirred" is a subtle but good variation on "The James Bond Theme"; ░░ "Silken Cover" has a lovely intro but then declines into Kenny G ░░ territory; while "Copacabinsky" evokes a Caribbean feel. ░░ ░░ This is an independent release that the artist pressed himself, and there ░░ are obviously many budgetary considerations involved, but I feel that ░░ Flick could have produced a much better album with additional assistance. ░░ Had he been able to enlist the aid of a small orchestra, or even ░░ additional traditional instrumentalists (most notably a brass section), ░░ the album would have benefited greatly. As a concept album, "James Bond ░░ Now" has its moments, but they are literally that - brief passages within ░░ the individual tracks that work well, rather than a consistently ░░ desirable overall sound. ░░ ░░ https://play.google.com/store/music/album?id=B4sd5yn4olf54mrnb2cw5gnencq ░░ ░░█ ░░███ ░█ ░░░░██ █▓█ ████░ ░░░░░██ y o o v e e y o o █████ █████ ░░░░░░██ g o t t h e ▒████░ ██▒▒██ ░░░░░░░█ ░ ██▓██ ▓█▒██ ░░░░░░░█ ███ ███ ███ ███ ███ ████ ▒▓███ ▒███ ░░░░░░░█ ░█ █░█ █░█ █░█ █░█ ░███████ ████░ ░███ ░░░░░░░█ ░███░███░█ █░███░███ █████████▒ █████ ██ ░░░░░░░█ ░█ ░█ █░█ █░█ ░░░█ ██████████████ █████ █ ░░░░░░██ ░█ ░█ █░█ █░█ ░█ ██████████████████ ████▓ ░░░░░██ ░█ ░█ █░█ █░█ ░█ ████████████████████▒ ░░░░██ ░█ ░█ █░█ █░█ ░█ ▓██████▒▒▒▒███████░ ░░░██ ░█ ░█ █░█ █░█ ░█ ▓█████▒███████████ ░░░█ ░█ ░█ █░█ █░█ ░█ █████▒▒░████████ ░░░█ ░█ ░█ █░█ █░█ ░█ ██▓██▒██▓███▒ ░░░█ ░█ ░█ █░█ █░█ ░░░█ ██████████ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ░░░█ ░█ ░█ █░███░█ ░███ ▒███████ /─────────────────────────\ ░░░██ ███ ░| shouts 2 all the groups |░ ░░░░██ ████ ░| putting out |░ ░░░░░██ █████ ░| quality music |░ ░░░░░░███ ████▒ \─────────────────────────/ ░░░░░░░▓▓█████████████▒ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀