Alex Houghton, "Happybody", MAPL 888-AH03, 2002

I first heard Alex Houghton while cruising the Internet about 4 years ago. I was looking for some good acoustic guitar music, and she fit the bill. Oh, and the CD was inexpensive through Canada with the favorable exchange rate. I liked her percussive style, keeping a strong bass beat while dancing in and out of melodic lines. Her latest effort Happybody, her third CD, continues to reveal her abilities as yet another indie artist who is finding her own superb voice without a label. Alex uses both steel and nylon stringed guitars on Happybody, weaving subtle textures through well-constructed melodies. I usually am pretty reserved about orchestration with acoustic guitar, but she uses it well, and the strings artistically enhance her tunes. Particularly strong is Kevin Turcotte's trumpet on "Compression", a song which flushes film noir images of dark and lonely streets. Here Houghton's sparse classical lines play counterpoint to the strains of the horn. "Slow in 'C'" drives slowly and tenderly, while "The Getaway song" conjures images of a journey not fast, but steady toward its destination. The title cut makes you believe she really is happy body. "Happybody" has less complex playing than her earlier CD's. But she has a great sense of space in her songs, never forcing the tune. Alex Houghton isn't out to wow her listeners with flashy technique, but her music just keeps you listening.
©Kirk Albrecht

From minor7th.com, April 2002