PURPLE - “Pursuit”

“How far will you go in the pursuit of happiness?” asks Ken Senior on the second track of the second Purple CD (His first ‘People Eater’ was released in 2000)
‘Pursuit of Happiness’, a lengthy evocation full of Ken’s trademark fluid guitar work, angelic vocals and clever keyboard embellishments, is one of five tracks (plus an atmospheric introduction with Dave Gilmour influenced layered echo guitar) that deal with pursuits of various kinds- none of them in the least trivial! This track is also reprised at the end as ‘Happiness Retrospective’.
‘Pursuit Of?’ is an impressive instrumental where the predominant influence is more classic Camel than Floyd and this is followed by the 4 part ‘Pursuit of the Enemy’, an intriguing sci-fi tale of someone being chased by men in grey coats who is revealed on ‘Pursuit of the Unknown’ as someone from another dimension.
For those unfamiliar with Ken, he is the bass player with Parallel or 90 Degrees who I first knew as a guitarist of some renown in his solo band Evolution and in collaborations with electronic music maestro Bjorn Lynne.
‘Pursuit’ is perhaps his most consistent CD so far and Ken’s humanity shines through in this warm and engaging music. Artists like Ken deserve your support and there is no better place to start getting acquainted with his music than this CD.
If you contact me I will be more than happy to give details of how to obtain a copy of this excellent self produced CD.
phil7jackson@madasafish.com or you can get through Zeitgeist Distro.
(Purr2)

(Phil Jackson)

Kwabena I (Dedicated To The Most High)

Now I'm probably the whitest man I know, and reggae has always been a bit of a closed door to me. Beyond an unhelathy hatred for UB40, and the worst come down of my life, lying in the mud, rain pouring down on me, with Black Uhuru playing too loudly, too near, it's a genre I generally let slide buy.

However, I have always admired anyone who is confident in their spirituality, and has no qualms about praising it in a positive manner. Hence gospel = good, Presbyterian = bad. Therefore, the opening track "I" is a powerful, responsive song of praise to god, and cannot be faulted by the unitiated. "Freeman", unsurprisingly, is about slavery. Frankly, get over it. A wrong was done. Hundreds of years ago. The people responsible are long dead. My surname shows that my ancestors were indentured bondsmen of the man who is currently the richest person in my country. However, I have my life to live, and it's too short to waste looking back on perceived injustices.

Rant over, this was an enjoyable sideways step, and the fact it was played more than once is the best recommendation I can give. I've no idea how you can buy this 3 track EP or the "Ancestral Vessel" album, as the only contact details are a telephone number. However, it is on BopTop Records / Unpopular Records, who are based in Manchester and the telephone number is 0161-256-0139

The Hitchers - What The Hey EP

Green Day, Blink 182, Sum 41, Bowling For Soup, The Hitchers. Why not? The title track of this 3 track EP is as poppy and sprightly as anything t'others have to offer. "Perfect World" follows the same track, reeling along in a slightly more mainstream rock manner. They prefer to think of themselves as a punk influenced 50s rock and roll combo, but for the purposes of laziness, I shall refrain from following that line.

Oddly enough, this EP isn't available from their website, which makes me go, hmmm, perhaps I'm not supposed to have this. Although "Perfect World" is on "Perfect World", which is kind of dull. But what the hey! See what I did there? Clever. They've got that whole nu-garage uniform vibe thing going, so ver kids will probably like the look, even if they are from Middlesborough. Perhaps they should fake a Swedush accent? Or a Noo Yoik one. Might work. Oh, and "The T-man Song" is actually punked up r'n'r, so maybe they're right and I'm wrong. Nah.

Super Massive Object - 2 track demo

We almost did a deal, but I won't hold that against them. And don't tell me I need freakinflash to view your website. Who do you think you are? Corporate rock whores dictating to me. I don't think so.

The 2 tracks here are "3 6 5" and "Spineless Bitch". "3 6 5" is a bit Skunk Anansie which is sooooo 1996. Fortunately, "Spineless Bitch" is a humungous rifftastic slab of heavy metal rock and roll topped off by a fine, fine vocal from Sharron. I'd compliment the guitarist as well, but the website just crashed on me, and I can't be bothered looking twice.

You can make a cheque for £2.50 made payable to Sharron Levy, and post it to: Super Massive Object, No 2B The Offquay Building, Foundry lane, Ouesburn, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 1LH UK. Dunno about furriners, you'd think with all this modern technology there would be a method for transcontinental trading, but what the hey!