Album review: Ruarri Joseph's Both Sides of the Coin

Sadly in Rouarri's case we still hear the noise of plasticky bed-sit recording equipment throughout this album - it really does sound terrible.

It is so guileless to plug-in an instrument when you can use a decent microphone. When will people learn?

The listener was deflated further by the unmusical arrangement of the songs and the abundant bad takes that might have been done again by a more serious musician.

Rouarri plays many of the instruments himself, but without much virtuosity.

He is clearly a great bloke and has a good voice, but too many of his songs are over-simplistic two-chord affairs that get your fingers tapping the skip-button instead of the tabletop.

The album has some good moments towards the end but as is so often the case, there's nothing to get your teeth into here, particularly if like the world and his wife, you too can strum a few chords.