I was given the opportunity by those lovely people at subba-cultcha to review the upcoming Pete Doherty solo album. I think the album is……… well you’ll have to click here to read my review to find out what I think won’t you?
“I’m a hot air balloon, I could go to space” November 18, 2016
Did you know what Pharrell William’s had in his mind for his modern classic “Happy”? I love the song but I never knew what his tune recipe was. Apparently he asked the mix engineer to make it sound like a combo of three distinct things;
- Tamla Motown
- “Hey Ya” by Outkast
- Phil Collins
Did he achieve that? Personally I think that he did, how about you?
“Everybody hazy shell-shocked and crazy screaming for the face at the window” November 16, 2016
Mick Jones was also a big Mott fan
Guy Steven’s is seen by many as some kind of rock evangelist. he had an incredibly broad R& B record collection and he was also the man who ran Chuck Berry’s UK fan club. He was also a bit of a bad boy who served eight months in Wormwood Scrubs for drug possession. It was during his incarceration that he formed the idea for his next master-plan. He had a vision of a band who could mix the Rolling Stones raunchiness with Bob Dylan’s electric folk take on life with a hint of the wild path taken by Jerry Lee Lewis. While he was in the infamous ‘The Scrubs’ he even thought of a name for this up to now mythical band. It would be called Mott The Hoople after the Willard Manus novel about a ‘Hoople’ (effectively an eccentric loser) called Norman Mott. On his release he met various future Mott members and the rest my friends is history!
“Sucking sickly sausage rolls”
Do you remember Whigfield’s dance floor classic (OK that was a little OTT) “Saturday Night”? Well the song was an absolute smash in 1994, but did you know that Whigfield was sued by Lindisfarne? Why did that happen I hear you say, well largely because the Geordie gang that was Lindisfarne felt that “Saturday Night” was a rip-off of their north east anthem “Fog On The Tyne”. Seriously? You’re having a laugh right? Nope it is absolutely true! The Lindisfarne boys lost as did the Equals who but together a similar legal challenge over their own “Rub A Dub Dub”. Are they even close to be similar? I will leave that for you to be the judge, but personally I think that the Equals have the best case although theirs and Whigfield’s songs are both a bit shite right?
“I’m a space invader”
It is a little while since I have posted about the Dame so I thought that I would now. Bowie used to draw out the shape of the guitar solos that he wanted the very sadly departed Mick Ronson to play. He said in the sleeve notes to the 2002 reissue of ‘Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars’ that the guitar solo in “Moonage Daydream” ‘started as a flat line that became a fat megaphone-type shape, and ended as sprays of disassociated and broken lines. “Moonage Daydream” also made it to number 24 in Classic Rock’s 100 Greatest Guitar Solos.
“Let me get the story straight you never gave me a break”
Regular readers will know that I am a fan of classic British punk band and now old men like me The Damned. In fact I even saw them play live recently. Anyway did you know that there is a link between Vanian, Sensible and the boys and Aussie legend Nick Cave? Well there is!
Are you familiar with the Damned’s 1985 album ‘Phantasmagoria’? Yes I know it was their major label debut (thank you MCA), but did you know that Nick Cave’s future wife Susie Black was on the cover? Well she was indeed! That was another ‘With Just A Hint Of Mayhem’ public service announcement. Obviously I took another opportunity to play Nick Cave’s magnificent “Into My Arms” for my beautiful wife Catherine a.k.a. Catwoman. In case you didn’t know, that is our song 🙂
“When I read the letter you wrote me, it made me mad, mad, mad”
OK so we all know that the for me classic album cover produced by Hipgnosis for Led Zeppelin’s 1974 ‘Houses Of The Holy’ has caused a degree of controversy. But frankly I find it all bloody poppycock. It was inspired by ‘Childhoods End’ the Arthur C Clarke classic sci-fi story and the shots were filmed on Northern Ireland’s Giant’s Causeway and Dunluce Castle.
Despite the number of children on the cover there were only two child models used; 7-year-old Samantha Gates and her little brother Stefan Gates. That is all very well known but did you know that young Stefan went on to be a cookery show presenter on the BBC? He was once asked if he knew what the cover of the album actually meant. He replied “I personally have no idea”. Actually neither do I, does anyone?
The Serenity Of Suffering – Korn November 11, 2016
I was delighted to have the opportunity to review the new album from the rather excellent metal gods known as Korn. Click here to read my review of the new album and thank you to those very nice people at subba-cultcha for making this happen! let me know what you think of the album.
Nag Champa – EP November 8, 2016
Nag Champa have just released their first EP and this Yorkshire based British band produce authentic sounding jazz. “Authentic” did I really say that? It translates as bloody good jazz music! I believe that they are all students at the Leeds College of Music. Back in the olden days as my eclectic music taste developed I was very much into jazz funk. As a result I explored the music of a lot of jazz artists; Norman Connors, Roy Ayers and Herbie Hancock to name but a few.
Nag Champa seem to draw their influences from a lot of jazz greats, including some of those that I have come across before. The opening track on the EP, “Slow Me Down” builds up to a very funky workout reminiscent of the Crusaders. Maya Kally’s vocals are both easy on the ear and soulful at the same time. The band are very tight, but I would like to see them play in a live setting to see how well that recorded excellence translates in the live setting. I do have it on good authority though that they are even better live.
Is there a strong market for jazz music these days? Of course there is and the success of likes of Gregory Porter and Jamie Cullum are proof of this. Nag Champa take on Stevie Wonder‘s “Superstition” on this EP and they pull it off brilliantly. They handle a cover just the way I believe covers should be handled, by making them very different from the original and they take the song in a new direction. “Daydreamer” has a nice dreamy feel of chilled but funky jazz and along with the previously mentioned “Slow Me Down” has lyrics written by singer Maya Kally. I also love the synth and keyboard wig out towards the end of this track which is very Herbie Hancockesque.
If you like jazz or jazz funk then I am sure that you will love Nag Champa. If you don’t see yourself as a jazz fan check them out anyway, I don’t think that you will be disappointed. For a first release this is an accomplished set of songs and performances which highlights great potential for bigger things in the future. Definitely a band to watch out for. Check them out on BandCamp (where you can buy the EP) and Facebook. Can we see them at Live In Leeds and the Apollo Festival in York next year please?
“I throw out any shit I want and no one trumps that card”
A US ELECTION SPECIAL POST!
Just in case we wake up to an orange bewigged world on Wednesday as Donald becomes US President I felt I had to run an appropriate post. America please vote sensibly tomorrow, please do not abstain. The fate of the world may rest on your vote, I hope that we can trust you to do the right thing. Look at it this way, it is not an election it is an IQ test. In case you need any help in passing that test let me tell you that the answer is NOT Donald Trump. The only good thing about Trump winning will be that it would make the UK referendum vote to leave Europe looking far less stupid, that is no good reason to vote for a lying, misogynist, racist, arrogant arsehole. Rant over!
Here are a few songs which fit the bill, the mood and sum up my thoughts on the orange skinned idiot that is Trumpzilla!
With Just A Hint Of Mayhem 