Romany Gilmour – Between Two Points

To dispense with the production, my copy is a good pressing, silent, flat, clean. Flawless and the price demands that.

I first heard Romany cover the song on the official video. The song then made a real impression on me when I saw Romany perform it live on Jools Holland. It was magical to see the interaction between her and her pappy. Romany’s voice, the harp plucking is celestial – so, too, of course is David's guitar, there are decades of emotional foundation in his playing. I sort of wondered why the song is headed by David’s name, big and bold to sell it / or did he do most of the work? But what work? The song is writ and Romany sings and plucks . . .

Between Two Points is by The Montgolfier Brothers; the song is on their debut album, Seventeen Stars, 1999. I prefer the original Montgolfier version, it’s got more of a quirky individuality to it (coming after the tail-end of the Brit Indie scene, it kind of harks back to it). It’s a poignant song and is directly of their experience, so it would take a lot for me to change my idea of it. That said, the Romany version is very strong, she has a lovely, pure voice and she does enough to claim her mark on the song. On the original, I think the starting beats to the main tune are some kind of glockenspiel (?), Romany understandably replaces it with her harp. Great.

I don’t like being negative, but I sort of agree with some of the below opinions. There is too much of either the same thing or not different enough. As for the Gentry remix, at first, I thought it was bland, not really taking off, just an echo of the original; the off tempo actually disturbed the song for me. On repeated plays I got to like it a bit more, in that the off tempo no longer irritated, but the remix still doesn’t take you anywhere. Or if you have to, it kind of works as a coda. I did like the bit with the lower voice coming in, it hints where the remix could have been developed to become more; but generally, the remix should have gone further and instead . . . is between two points: bland and good.

The result: the other three tracks water down a powerful song. I am fine with remixes and covers, when they offer something – a significantly new way of hearing a song or a strong singer’s impression of it. This RSD release leaves me with mixed feelings, somehow an opportunity for something really special was missed.

I like the album version of the song enough to want this physical single. But as the other tracks are more of an interference, I wish the Album Version had been treated its due respect (!). The purpose of a 12” is to record it at 45rpm, benefiting from finer detail and more resonant bass. With a lack of anything better, the Album Version should be on the A side with high quality 45rpm production. Hey! Wouldn’t it have been interesting to have the Montgolfier original on the B side!

Can't deny I'm disappointed and now regret purchasing. The packaging and audio quality are fine but the asking price is ridiculous given how little you get - the album version of the track you will undoubtedly already own, a so-so live version and then one incredibly dull club-style dubby remix - presented as two tracks by simply editing one version down. Poor value for money. Why weren't more remixes commissioned?

Great pressing; instrument separation and wide soundstage are absolutely exquisite. Cherry on the cake for me is the live version is from The Royal Albert Hall concert of the 15th October 2024 which I was fortunate enough to attend.

Paid 23$ cdn. For this release and couldn’t be happier, this ep is awesome looking and sounds even better than it looks, remixes are growing on me and the live track is something special, a must for any fan.

Was so excited to get this record only to be let down by quality control. The record has a dish warp the paper inner’s corner was bunched up against the record totally creased and folded across the writing. The record itself was noisy in between tracks even after vacuum cleaning and ultra sonic.

This is a cover from the band Low-Album Trust (Track 1 Amazing Grace)

Love the cover of this song on Gilmour’s album. So yes, this is a 12” with variations on the theme, but I truly dig the remixes. Pressing is flawless. Nice release!

Indeed quite expensive but still a great pressing, looking forward to a full live show release...

Very clean - lyrics are tight and bright - great contrast to music. 4/5 stars because for $19.99 USD we got 1 song (4 recordings) - expensive for a single I feel