Brandon Ambrose is a 23-year-old music artist from London. Based on his latest single “Keep Me Breathing” he is very much the tortured artist and most definitely for real. The lyrics deal with his own struggle with addiction and how he finally found redemption. These words are brutally honest and pull no punches. It is a magnificent track and will be played regularly by me in the coming months. Stylistically I sensed some Sam Fender, Jake Bugg, Just Jack and perhaps digging a bit deeper the Red Hot Chilli peppers too. While the subject is dark the song gets into your head via some great hooks and melodies
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I first saw Jah Wobble playing his thunderous bass in the early days of Public Image Ltd at the Rainbow in London on December 26th, 1978. While I have followed his music career and prolific output with great interest I am embarrassed to say that I have not witnessed him in a live environment since then. Well until this Pocklington show. what are more than 45 years among friends right? This was my first visit to the Pocklington Arts Centre and what an awesome venue it is! I had a tiny problem when getting there in that I wasn’t showing on the press list. The staff, and the band, sorted it out in a matter of minutes. The staff were interested and attentive all night and the band sent a message saying thy hoped that I would enjoy the show. Did I enjoy it? Just read on to find out, but regular readers probably already know the answer to that question.
There were two 1 hour sets scheduled with a break/ intermission between them. It is apparent from the off that Wobble is a really witty raconteur as he regaled us with some fabulous tales. If you want proof of just how good a raconteur he is, check out my review of his book here. This was to be his first gig wearing spectacles, he bought said eyewear using a “plan” and spoke about everything (cars, dentists, opticians, etc.) being on a “plan”. He floated an idea of a “plan” for Invaders of the Heart, Fifty grand, and then everything after that is free, seems like a good deal doesn’t it? In opening set 1 Wobble said that there would be no set list, just chaos, a very old-school punk attitude. There were many highlights during that first hour. “Becoming More Like God” was an inspiring, transcendental masterpiece. I love Jah Wobble’s take on older Public Image material. He makes the song “Public Image” his own and follows it with a dub version where the bass can be felt in your chest. Truly spectacular and it retains the sentiment of the original while being so far removed musically. The extended funky jazz jam at the end of “Visions Of You” was stunning. Another old PiL tune, “Poptones” got a stylish introduction with Wobble doing his best Laurence Olivier vibe with the “Now is the winter of our discontent” speech from William Shakespeare’s ‘Richard III’.
Set 2 was another collection of mountainous highlights. “Every Man Is An Island” is an exotic, eastern-flavoured, excursion into the magic of music with the best guitar solo of the night. “The Socialist” was predominantly a funky jazz groove, but with added metal chords. “Careering” veered and careered in a sublime psychedelic direction. In his time Wobble has covered some great film music, “Get Carter” is impeccable and feels cinematic in the way the band plays it. How could anyone not love the dubby version of the Harry J classic “The Liquidator”, that was perhaps one of the best points of the second set for me, but there was some amazing competition. The little skit with Wobble referring to the bass guitar as the lion and therefore the king of the jungle was marvellously entertaining. Then he introduced each member of the band and referred to their instrument’s position in the jungle musical hierarchy. The guitar is the meerkat, the drums are the elephant and the keys are the snake!
What genre are the Invaders of the Heart? Are they post-punk, jazz, funk, groove, spoken word, reggae, dub, punk, world, avant-garde? They are every one of those and so much more. I will definitely not be leaving it 40-plus years before I see John Wardle playing live again. I also plan on returning to the Pocklington Arts Centre very soon!
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Francesca Faye is a talented British singer-songwriter who appears to effortlessly fuse great cloud EDM music with a pop talent that would make the likes of Madonna envious. Her voice oozes soulful emotion on her new single “Come Alive”. The track builds slowly and then kicks up the gears to become an absolutely anthemic dance banger with hooks that refuse to leave you. Get your glow sticks ready people this could be huge. Finally, can we give Francesca Faye a shot at Eurovision, please?
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Everyone knows Napoleon Solo and Han Solo, right? A lot of people also know Joe Solo, the supremely talented folk-punk troubadour, raconteur, agitator, and educator. Although, until very recently I knew hardly anything about Joe Solo until Dan Lucas a.k.a. Boss Caine introduced me to him. I was lucky enough to interview Joe a few weeks ago, click here to check that out. Given all that I thought that I should review his current album ‘Sledgehammer Songs’ which is something like his 20th, yes that is how long it has taken me to find his fabulous music!
The album finds Joe in great form channeling his anger and frustration with the world into song. The collection opens with “This Guitar Refuses To Apologise” which I believe Woody Guthrie would be proud of. “Raise Your Voices And Sing” featuring the People’s Chorus and “A Better Way” featuring the Commoners Choir are stunning and heartfelt songs that make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. The choir voices add a huge level of emotion to each of those tracks. There is a great ode to musical nostalgia called “On A 45” which is perhaps one of the best tunes ever written about the seven-inch 45 rpm record. Joe is supported by some great artists on some of these tunes. Jess Silk, Carol Hodge, and Boss Caine all feature on one song each while Rebekah Findlay appears on seven tracks! Carol adds some great keys and harmony vocals (along with Rebekah Findlay) to the gorgeous “Tie ‘Em To A Brick” a song about dealing with those darker feelings and how to move towards positivity. Boss Caine adds his “Barry White Of Country” (copyright Ginger Wildheart) style to the title track, another song that has support from Rebekah Findlay. All twelve tracks (fifteen if you add the three bonus tracks on the CD release) are perfect, but I still have a favourite, “The Last Miner” which features Rebekah Findlay and the Hatfield Brigade. It is a song about the sunset on the UK mining industry and doing everything possible to keep the sun and the spirit of those people alive. It is full of pathos, hope and so much emotion. The children’s choral voices at the end make it heavenly and ethereal. Get some Joe Solo in your life, you won’t regret it!
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The original publication of Jah Wobble’s memoirs, ‘Confessions Of A Geezer’ was in 2009. Sadly that release passed me by. But I am pleased to say that Mr Wobble a.k.a. John Wardle has extensively updated his work and retitled the book ‘Dark Luminosity: Memoirs of a Geezer, the expanded edition’. It is a fascinating tale of the life of a true Geezer. Wobble speaks extensively of growing up in the melting pot of east London, football, family, friends, and of course, music. I believe he is 100% honest throughout, sometimes brutally so, particularly with respect to his alcohol addiction. There is a kind of classic diarist element in how the book flows, like maybe a 21st-century Samuel Pepys. It strikes me that Wobble is incredibly loyal to people that he cares about and that is highly apparent when speaking of his wife Zin Lan and his children, and Tyson his sadly departed beloved Staffie. He is not afraid to reveal his emotions, particularly about his first marriage and the loss of many close friends. He also shows a blinding loyalty, like many long-suffering football fans, to his team, Tottenham.
The mythology around the four Johns (Wardle, Lydon, Ritchie, and Grey) is nicely put to bed, particularly in the lead-up to Wardle’s music career kicking off with the advent of PiL. The first time I ever heard Wobble’s monumental bass sound was in the opening to the iconic debut single from Public Image Ltd, the almost eponymously named “Public Image”. Wobble’s bass line explodes at the start of the track and provides the perfect bed to Levene’s tasty guitar work and Lydon’s angry, sneering vocal. One thing that is abundantly clear is that Wobble was never content to stick with that post-punk sound that he is so good at, he has branched out into almost every style of music imaginable; jazz, techno, trance, folk, classical, spoken-word, and world music styles that include input from China, Africa, Thailand, and Europe to name just a few. He has many influences and has been lucky enough to work with a huge number of musicians that he has respected and admired. I have trawled across his prolific output while reading the book, and while sometimes quantity doesn’t mean quality, it certainly does with the Jah Wobble back catalogue.
Wardle is an absolute master of sarcasm, mild cynicism, and wit and seems to be someone who really enjoys his life and knows his place on this ball of rock we all inhabit. He also sounds like a master wind-up merchant! His take on his experience with the suits and the business side of the music industry should be essential reading for any aspiring musician. Having moved to my adopted city, York, in the cold and desolate north from West London back in 2007 I can relate to Wardle’s move to the North West of the UK from East London. It feels like a wrong move until you actually do it and then it really couldn’t be more right. It is hard to pick out particular moments that are great, it is just a great read all the way. I do love the expanded elements though, that kind of update after 14 years is really interesting. One thing I learned that I never knew was that his son Charlie once played for my adopted home city’s football team York City! He signed for them back in 2016. Wobble is definitely one of my generation, born less than 5 months before me, and perhaps that is why I love his music and this book so much! Is there anyone who plays bass like Jah Wobble? Probably not. Is there anyone who has written such a wonderful, all-encompassing memoir? Again, possibly not. If you love an autobiography or memoir with honesty, compassion, humour, fabulous tales, and social history and you love music then you will love ‘Dark Luminosity: Memoirs of a Geezer, the expanded edition’
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Here is the Mayhem chart for April 2024. Regular readers know that the chart is based on my Spotify listening habits over the last month gathered together by obscurify.com. Apparently, my tastes are 99% more obscure than the rest of the UK! The chart remains contemporary-ish (but if a classic artist releases something new they might feature in the chart). However, the top three “Legacy” artists are David Bowie, the KLF, and Public Image Ltd. Obscurify also suggests the most obscure artists I have listened to and for March those are Liz Davinci, The Apocalypse Disco, and Kindelan. There is a top ten artists chart and a top 5 songs chart. There is the usual eclectic mix of artists, including just one that was in the top ten last month, Delilah Bon! Delilah is one of only two artists to feature in the artist chart and the song chart for April, the other is the Blackheart Orchestra. Delilah Bon has been in the artist charts for five consecutive months and after topping the March song chart with “Maverick” she sits at number two with her new single, “Finally See Me”. Joe Solo, who we interviewed recently, tops the artist chart and Everything After Midnight takes the top spot on the song chart with their cracking new single “Little Hints” So without further ado here are those charts in full! Click on the header of the song chart for the playlist on Spotify.
MAYHEM ARTIST CHART APRIL 2024
1 Joe Solo 2 Grace Potter 3 Ian Hunter 4 Frank Turner 5 English Teacher 6 Julia Othmer 7 The Blackheart Orchestra 8 Delilah Bon 9 Avalanche Party 10 Paraorchestra
1 Little Hints – Everything After Midnight 2 Finally See Me – Delilah Bon 3 Cinderhaze – Stumbleine 4 The Tide – The Blackheart Orchestra 5 Manoeuvres – Carol Hodge
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tiLLie’s latest single “pray t0 god” now has a rather stunning video to go with it. The video imagery plays with dark fairy tales intertwined with Game Of Thrones-style imagery. The video is entertaining, humourous, and highly original. On top of that the song is an absolutely banging tune which emphasises all of tiLLie‘s talents for razor sharp venomous lyrics and hooks that were crafted in pop heaven. This song contains venom and vengeance in every line. It is definitely one of the best tunes of 2024 so far! tiLLie says of the track “this song is about the internal battle that can happen after someone hurts u – when u start to wonder if you’ve become the villain urself from the hate ur holding. i still don’t have the answer but it felt so cathartic to make this one“. Lyrically it is angry and directs the passion, rage and fury so perfectly it would fly through the eye of a needle and not touch the sides. The perfect example of that lyrical vilence and soreness is encapsulated in “i hate that i have so much hate for you. i hate that i dream of the things that i do. like you falling from a perfect view choking on your favorite food. i think im being pretty nice, considering all the shit youve put us thru“. Get this track in your playlists now!
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Gregory Hoepffner has just released a new single from his forthcoming EP “Why Does Anyone?” He is now recording and releasing under his own “G.H. Francis” nome de plume. It is called “The Only Queer In The Van” and it documents his experience while coming out on tour with a rock band. Hoepffner has toured the world with a diverse range of bands and artists including Almeeva, Sure, Ghoster, Kid North, Time To Burn, and Kabbel. He has also performed with the man who invented the laser harp, Bernard Szajner. The song is a delightful track with some great guitar and some great Pet Shop Boys musical moments with a vocal performance reminiscent of Beck at his finest. The hooks are abundant and bring out the fine melodies and lyrics. The track is ethereal and anthemic with some gorgeous multi-tracked harmonies. I can imagine that Gregory’s experience of coming out in these circumstances was difficult, but that experience has helped give birth to a fabulous song!
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I was initially attracted by the whole concept of the Blackheart Orchestra given the myriad of ways in which they have been described online; acoustically electronic and a duo that sounds like an eight-piece band. I was even more intrigued to discover that this gig was to be a very intimate all-seated show. So, what was the Blackheart Orchestra like? Read on dear readers I need to tell you about the support act first. She is called Autumn Dawn Leader and yes that is her real name. Her music is impassioned, passionate, and emotional electronic folk. Musically, on some songs, I felt a hint of the more ambient elements of ‘Low’ period David Bowie (with Brian Eno). Her more classical piano sound on other songs made me think of Philip Glass. Vocally I felt that Autumn has some Siouxse and Kate Bush vibes. She is a truly original artist with some great songs. I loved the power displayed in “Seaweed Dreams” which, for me, was on a par with Kate Bush in her most “out there” moments. Autumn is also a life model and she has written a gorgeous song, “Living Art”, about that part of her life. “Radioactive” was described by Autumn as a nerdy love song, it certainly is, but it is also a very fine one. She switched to guitar for “What It Is”, a deep, dark ballad, on which the hurt and the anger were almost palpable. She closed with the multi-octave epic “Howl”. It is hard not to love Autumn Dawn Leader. I am now a fan!
The stage set up for the Blackheart orchestra looked like it was set for many more people than just multi-instrumentalists Chrissy Mostyn and Richard Pilkington and I can confirm that they have a sound that is so mighty and potent that they do sound like an eight-piece unit. Their sound is a weird and wonderful mix of Gothish, proggy, and folky electronica. Imagine if you will the Eurhythmics taking their sound back to nature, that is one way that the Blackheart Orchestra made me feel. They are in possession of some stunning songs and heavenly harmonies. There is a rich vein of prog rock running through what they do and apparently, the prog crowd has adopted them. The obvious comparison with Chrissy’s voice is probably Kate Bush, but in her phrasing and projection on some songs I picked up traces of Dolores O’Riordan. The huge range of sound the band hits the audience with is cinematic in scope, vision, and ambition. It is often haunting, always phenomenal, and if music can be described as physically beautiful, pulchritudinous! “A Dangerous Thing” is the perfect example of the band’s enormous soundscape. Why was “Under The Headlights” not a huge hit? It has everything that a perfect rock or pop song needs; hooks, gorgeous melody, and the musicianship and voices are off the scale. In a set full of highlights my favourite moments were “Astronaut” and the majestically epic “The Flood”. The melodic use of the bass guitar is stunning! I also loved the playing the guitar with a bow moment, in homage to the dark master himself, Jimmy Page. The Blackheart Orchestra is an unbelievably classy act, can someone offer them the chance to record a James Bond theme, please? Even their merch is delightfully tasteful. They might have run out of tea towels, but a dedicated fan (a really nice chap) has built a Blackheart Orchestra Bird Box, now that just adds to the magic of this band. If you have not heard them before, start listening now, that is an order!
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It is always an exciting night when a great York band plays at a fabulous local venue in their home city. This time it was Everything After Midnight at the wonderful Crescent in York. But before I tell you about Everything After Midnight I will tell you about the two support acts. First up it was Marnie Glum, known as Charlotte to her folks, she is most certainly not glum. She has a voice stolen from one of the Greek goddesses that entertained the deities of Olympus. Her voice is heavenly and has the pureness and clarity that few singers possess. She could harmonise perfectly with Karen Carpenter and Rumer. Marnie Glum is not just that gorgeous voice though, she is also an incredibly talented songwriter.
Rushbonds from Leeds were next to take the stage. They played some delightful soulful prog-jazz. Vocalist Robyn McLeod could make a living singing pop-styled blue-eyed soul songs but has chosen something far more challenging and so much more beautiful. They have an incredibly sparse drum set up and yet drummer Teruki Chan draws sounds and volume that would have impressed John Bonham. Nika Ticciati on keyboards and synth performed like a young Rick Wakeman or Keith Emerson. “Close But No Cigar” was my highlight of a set full of them. I love a band that defies being easily packaged into a genre box and Rushbonds cannot be pinned down to any one genre!
Finally, it was time to witness the obscenely talented Everything After Midnight. This band is always on fire but tonight it was on a super nova level. Steph gets better as a singer and frontwoman with every show and this gig showcased her at her most captivating and powerful best. I have watched this band grow into something special musically since I first saw them back in February 2022 when they supported Where’s Slater at the Victoria Vaults in York. They are still moving forward and despite how incredible they are I don’t think they have hit their peak. What do they sound like? Think Tori Amos and Wolf Alice backed at times by some really decent prog rock, but a band also well aware of what makes a great pop song. As far as lyrics go then Steph is the Priestess of poetry, her lyrics are not just clever, they are meaningful and add so much to the songs. The highlight for me was probably their new single “Little Hints”. This was a brilliant set which also featured a classy guest appearance from Louise of Pennine Suite. I love this band, and to cap it all they are all wonderful human beings!
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