JUNE 2004 PLAY LIST
1) BOBBY
STRANGE “Reach Deeper” 4 track CD EP Rising Records
The
title says it all really. Rarely has an album been so imbued with naked emotion
as Bobby’s 4 track debut CD.
“Find It Yourself” is the kind of plaintive
love song that given enough airplay could launch this
The following “Without it Within”
is a more muscular band arrangement, complete with up in the mix, back up
singers and a killer hook. But as with all Bobby’s work, it’s the lyrics that
are crucial. He offers simple philosophy of “Life on the road, without a map of
where to go’ etc., but his unique mix of croaking voice, effective phrasing and
ironic humour as on “Shut Up & Sing” all hit base.
In a world or formulaic radio airplay, and vacuous
singer song writers with little or no gravitas, Bobby Strange is a self deprecating
performer whose, awkward style is nearly a brilliant as Randy Newman. He has
the songs, the voice, the off kilter style, and this wonderful 4 track intro.
The closing opus “You’d Better Think Again", sits nicely on a John Lennon
style piano line, topped by some biting lyrics every
bit as sharp as the late great Liverpudlian.
Bobby Strange: a strange name, a rare talent,
and one to watch.
Here are some audio clips from Reach Deeper: |
Broadband (CD quality) |
Dial-Up (AM radio) |
| Find It Yourself |  |
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| Without It Within | |
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| You'd Better Think Again | |
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2) LOSERVILLE
“Welcome To Loserville” Loserville
And
so we go to a slice of fine
Hailing from Hassleholm,
the band appears to have made it to the States, via the university town of
But the core trio apart, this is a real band
with their own style, albeit with a derivative Roots Rock sweep of Americana
that will appeal to all those of a certain age who remember bands from little over
a decade ago such as The Long Ryders, or on the
international stage Tom Petty.
For make no mistake this album is crammed full
of anthems such as the beefy riffed “Ordinary Man”,
and the suitably titled “Everything is Everything”.
There are some numbers of sweeping melodies, insinuating riffs and even if it
does occasionally get a little frenetic in a post punk way, as on “Let’s Get
Drunk” - which might have been written for Jason & The Scorchers – it’s all
nothing less than inspiring. The up tempo rocker “Camel Dance” offers a more
commercial bent, but this is a band that rarely strays from its unique course.
Loserville have already ingratiated themselves
with Nashville and have hit the East Coast from Boston to New York, and while
many US bands such as Slobberbone continue to aspire,
“Welcome To Loserville” suggests Loserville
already have it all, right down to the David Lynch style narratives of “Angelina
Boulevard” and “Bullitts”.
A much
bigger audience awaits this band with great songs, no little swagger and oodles
of road imagery and vocalist who even manages to roll his “rrr’s”
in a southern drawl. Swedish Roots Rock never sounded so good.
Here are some audio clips: |
Broadband (CD quality) |
Dial-Up (AM radio) |
| Everything Is Everything | |
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| Camel Dance | |
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3) ROADHOUSE
“
Roadhouse
is by no means the first quality band to have been overlooked by the national
media because they are “too available”. But the chances are there can be few
bands who have recorded a handful of quality albums with such excellent self
penned material.
Perhaps the problem such as it is resides in
the fact that the band hails from
Certainly the title track of the album and the
following anthem feel of “Slip Away” are surely the stuff of American FM radio
– but perhaps US radio as it used to be. Why else would the likes of Steve
Earl, Tony Joe White etc be such regular visitors to
Gary Boner’s songs are simply superb, full of
feel, searing melodies, replete with Jules Fothergill’s mighty toned guitar and
Roger Hunt’s crisp percussive patterns. “Lost Along The
Way” is more of the same, albeit, Fothergill gets a co write credit, but there
is also a great hook, some heavy duty riffs, and a fiery Boner guitar break.
For the rest, “Long Way Home” is a rousing work
out, and “Lost In Pain” is a vitriolic rocker featuring
a fine vocal performance by Lorna Reilly and features another impressive guitar
break. “Couldn’t Get To Sleep is almost in the realms of String Driven Thing
meets early Jefferson Airplane, with some telling doubled up vocal lines,
with Lorna Reilly’s climactic vocals adding to the tension This song alone
could have come from any of the revered West Coast bands, or for that matter
given the slow burning guitar break, with Skynyrd
overtones, perhaps from the South. This is simply as good as it gets, topping
their previous “Preacher Man” anthem. The closing “Killing Tile” is a modicum
of restraint, and nicely tops and tails a superb effort.
If nothing else, this album demonstrates three
things, namely Roadhouse are a fine working band, with an excellent album with
a wealth of material that puts them way ahead of any of their contemporaries.
Here are some audio clips from No Place To Hide: |
Broadband (CD quality) |
Dial-Up (AM radio) |
| Lost Along The Way | |
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| Couldn't Get To Sleep | |
|
4)
NOEL McCALLA “Akustic” Irma
On which the Manfred Mann’s Earth band and former
Moon vocalist goes back to his roots and applies his soaring voice to some very
personalise lyrics.
Together with Brian Copsey
who appeared on Noel’s last album, this down home set has a distant connection
to the mighty “Push & Pull” album, in as much as its down to the wire
stuff. If you are used to Noel’s flighty vocals soaring over either a funky
back beat or a powerful rock anthem, then this is McCalla
“au naturel”. And he sounds no better than on the
simple but very effective voice and acoustic guitar of “Little Nicky Wonder”,
and what sounds like an accordion and percussive accompaniment on the plaintive
“Tracks of The Light”.
Noel contributes his own Afro chant “Hold On” to
great effect and adds another solo composition “Toy Gone”, which again
impresses with its gentle sway, and insistent rhythm and subtle voice.
For a man with a wide ranging CV from funky,
soul and rock, this is a gentle but splendid reminder that he can, compositionally
speaking, still tread his own path. “Akustic” is a
timely reminder of what a beautifully eclectic path it is.
5) MARY McBRIDE “Everything Seemed
Alright”
Coming
close to the
Hailing from Lafayette, Louisiana, but
ostensibly based in new York, Mary treads a careful musical path best described
as Roots rock, with her Rock roots style comprising Country, Blues and even
Pop.
On the opening aptly titled “Rev It Up” she
kicks out the jams in the company of guitarist Aaron Maxwell. Maxwell turns co
writer on the impressive tough rocker “Everything Seemed Alright”, and adds a
brief slide solo to the proceedings.
Only on the more acoustic efforts such as
“Going Down Fast” does her voice fall only slightly
short of what it should be…not that this is necessarily a criticism…..better a
passionate performer than a anodyne radio fodder. Mary adds a crackling emotive
vocal to the late night ballad “Bog Old Oak table.
But I suspect it’s on the up tempo rockers such
as “Boys” that both she and her potential cross over audience will be happiest,
for rocking is what Mary does best as this album nicely demonstrates.
Here are some audio clips: |
Broadband (CD quality) |
Dial-Up (AM radio) |
| Rev It Up | |
|
| Boys | |
|
7) MICKY
KEMP “Blue Fades To Black”
Americana
And listening to this album it comes as no
great surprise to quickly realise that Mick is both a considered song writer
and passionate singer. The opening brace of
“Sparks Fly” and “Last Goodbye” are concise to
the point of being almost Punky. But for all the
nervous energy and frisson there’s a fine song writer at work as demonstrated
on the John Fogarty style “I Ain’t Changin’”.
There’s almost a Springsteen urgency to blue collar
rock style of “
If the term
8) ROGER
ASKEW “Scarab Moon Voiceprint”
Such is the vast amount of albums on the
market, that no sooner do you come to enjoy an album such as this, when you
discover there is a new one in the pipeline by the artist concerned.
Be that as it may, it’s worth reflecting on
this fine album, rather than preview the three tracks I have from the new
album.
The opening “Coming Up From The
Silence” is absolutely stunning, with Roger’s gritty vocals offset by a mini
three voice backing choir. Charlie Hart adds a nice violin flourish on the
Chris Rae styled “Mahalu’s Dancing Shoes” and Roger
shows his true forte for aching ballads such as “Till Morning Comes”.
There’s a mix of superbly played Rootsy/AOL here that will please any Richard Thompson/John Martyn/Chris Rea fans. Roger Askew has a world weary voice
capable of bringing to life some thoughtful lyrics as on the almost melancholy
“Hearts On Fire”.
Having seen his trio live recently opening for
Albert Lee, much of this material sparked to life on stage, but as an album on
its own, there are some memorable songs, some great performances, and above all
a classy production.
9) JULIAN SAS “Light In The
Dark” Dureco
And so, let’s go back to Rock Blues
and the Dutch equivalent of Walter trout. For the lst
five years re late Reports have been coming back over the water that this fiery
player is as close as you can get to the late Rory Gallagher. On the evidence
of this album, Julian is a fiery player with his known tone, a sharp playing
style and penchant for deep down nasty slow blues. You can just imagine as you
listen to the live cuts such as “Country Jail Blues” and “Loving ground” that
here is a man who will tease out every nuance of every song. Just like Rory in
fact, his vocals are not great but hell, the guy smokes wit his guitar.
Perhaps the languid “Blues For J3” on which he comes closer to Roy Buchanan than any of
the usual Winter/Hooker/Gallagher references, best shows Julian’s talent for
delivering deeply felt rock blues. Happiest in a sultry meandering style that
allows him to make the notes count, Julian Sas is a
fine rock blues player, in fact perhaps only a few killer songs short of a
great album.
10)
PATTI SMITH “Trampin”
Quite simply
one of the albums of the year ……
“While “Trampin’” is just as uncompromising
as “Horses”, it is a lot more directly political, and hangs round two major
pieces The 12 minute opus“Radio Baghdad”
is an aural dissection of both current and historic events in the Middle East,
and the equally eloquent and passionate “Gandhi” acts as a counter weight
– an ode to a man of peace.
The album is full of tender moments, stark imagery and a closing gentle
title track duet with daughter Jesse on piano.
Undoubtedly one of the most significant albums of recent times, this is up there with a Dylan style come back, albeit with a more pressing subject matter than philosopher Bob.