Hurray For The Riff Raff | With Just A Hint Of Mayhem

The Mayhem Monthly Top 20 Artist Chart – February 2022 March 1, 2022

Filed under: Mayhem Top 20 Chart — justwilliam1959 @ 1:17 pm
Tags: Alison Moyet, Arctic Monkeys, Black Acacias, Bob Dylan, Culture Club, David Bowie, Diamond Dogs, Dionne Warwick, Folk The System, Frank Turner, Glen Campbell, Gonora Sounds, Hawksley Workman, Heartsink, Hurray For The Riff Raff, Kate Bush, L.A.B., Nine Inch Nails, Obscurify, Paul Draper, Promethium, Skinner Brothers, Spotify, Suede, Tommyrot, Woke Up Dead

On the last Mayhem Top 20 post, I mentioned that I was changing how it would be published. Instead of waiting for Obscurify to tot up listens on a seemingly random date, I will now take a snapshot at the end of each month. So the Top 20 for February is the first of those. Many of you know that I am a keen user of a site called Obscurify. It claims to tell you how obscure your listening on Spotify is. Compared to the rest of the UK I achieved a level of 100% more obscure than other users in the UK. 100%, is that even possible? Either way, I am proud of it! Anyway, regular readers will know that it also lists my most obscure artists, (the top two of which have been there since I began doing these posts) which currently are;

Woke Up Dead (One of the two bands that have been ever-present in my obscure list and an excellent band to boot!)

Promethium (This metal bunch continue to fly the flag for great British rock and like Woke Up Dead have been ever-present in this obscure team)

Tommyrot – (One of York’s finest young bands, check out their new EP, ‘Turkey Vulture Of Drug Culture‘. They appear at number 23 in the extended chart)

Black Acacias -(I have no idea how I found this lot. Their album came out in 2008 and they have 4 monthly listeners on Spotify. There seems to be no information about them online, apart from the music on Spotify. If you were in Black Acacias or know anything about them please contact me. They appear at number 13 in this week’s chart)

Folk The System – (folky protest and frankly great songs, this lot make their second appearance in the obscure list. They appear at number 27 in the extended chart)

As for the February Top 20, only Dame David and Kate Bush remain from the last chart. Other classic artists include Suede, Arctic Monkeys, Glen Campbell, Alison Moyet, Culture Club, Bob Dylan Dionne Warwick, and Frank Turner. Bruno Skibbild makes his second appearance and there will be another post about him very soon. Nine Inch Nails crash in at number one, I have just read a great book about their album ‘The Downward Spiral’, lookout for a review of that on these pages sometime soon. The rest of the top five is The Skinner Brothers, Hawksley Workman, Heartsink, and the aforementioned Kate Bush. Four of the artists who feature in the February Top 20 are current contenders for my album of the year for 2022, can you guess who they are? Who knew that there was a band called Diamond Dogs? I didn’t until now. Gonora Sounds from Africa produce some of the most uplifting music that I have heard in a long while! Here is that all-important top 20. I would love to hear your thoughts on it.

1 Nine Inch Nails
2 The Skinner Brothers
3 Hawksley Workman
4 Heartsink
5 Kate Bush
6 David Bowie
7 Glen Campbell
8 Paul Draper
9 Bob Dylan
10 Alison Moyet
11 Gonora Sounds
12 Culture Club
13 Black Acacias
14 Dionne Warwick
15 L.A.B.
16 Diamond Dogs
17 Suede
18 Arctic Monkeys
19 Frank Turner
20 Hurray For The Riff Raff

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Hurray For The Riff Raff – The Crescent, York – Tuesday 15th August August 15, 2017

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 11:18 pm
Tags: Alex Golisti, Bruce Springsteen, Catherine Adamson, Catwoman, George Ezra, Hurray For The Riff Raff, Joe Coates, Pa'lante, Please Please You, The Crescent, The Navigator, Tom Waits, York

Having really loved Hurray For The Riff Raff‘s album ‘The Navigator’ on first hearing it earlier this year I was hoping to get the chance to see them live. Well that chance came around at a fabulous little venue, the Crescent, in my adopted home city of York. Were Hurray For The Riff Raff good? Well you will just have to read on to find out, but first let me tell you about the rather splendid support act, Alex Golisti. He played a great acoustic set including some of his own songs, one of which was an old banjo tune that he played on the guitar and had written his own lyrics for. He has a voice that at times shows similarities with both Tom Waits and George Ezra. He plays a style that evokes bluegrass and roots music with a modern twist. On top of all that he has a great self-deprecating sense of humour.

I was accompanied by my beautiful wife Catherine a.k.a. Catwoman this evening as she enjoyed ‘The navigator’ too. We were both very excited to be here and from the opening salvo of “Life To Save” and “Nothing’s Gonna Change That Girl” we were not disappointed. The energy shown by Alynda Lee Segarra and indeed the whole band never let up for the whole night. There were plenty of highlights notably for me the haunting rendition of “Fourteen Floors” with Alynda on keyboard. Then just when you think it couldn’t get better the band hit us with one of Segarra’s excellent protest songs, “Pa’ lante”. It has vision, power, heart, soul, deep emotion and an uplifting message. I understand that it is Spanish slang and that it means to “go ahead” or “go for it”. Alynda is very proud of her Puerto Rican roots and that shows on the current album and in her stage performance. The encore included a rousing cover of Springsteen’s “Dancing In The Dark” which had absolutely everyone on their feet. This is a band on top form and one who were really enjoying themselves. I will definitely be seeing them again! This was another great show from Please Please You, thank you Joe Coates.