Reviews

WEEKLY REVIEWS FOR JUNE 20TH 2004

Review Index

I am also Assistant Editor & reviewer at MetalUK.

I also contribute reviews to getreadytorock

Recent reviews include
Rush - Chronicles (The Video Collection)
Deep Purple - The Early Years
Damageplan - New Found Power
Whitesnake - The Early Years

You will also find some reviews at spacerock.co.uk

The Rocker
New releases from;
Superczar - Pop Art
Various - Further Adventures of the Telepathic Explorers
When's The Future - Then
And many more....

 

New Reviews

Gnitch:Gnitch - Ahola Aloha Loaha

Well I suppose it is a niche market, producing Hawaiian swamp punk rock in Australia, which could be why this limited edition debut only runs to 100 copies, each hand printed by the band. In case you're wondering, mine is No 8.

You have to admire people who plough their own furrow and Anto Mack (guitar) and Ross Mack (drums) have certainly done just that. Imagine, if you will, one of those Italian spaghetti westerns made on the cheap after Clint Eastwood left (usually starring Lee Van Cleef). Well,this is the soundtrack it should have had. Highlights are the low strung "Hawaiian Hamstring" and the eerie "Gutwringer".

I've also got a soft spot for the rocking "abcadefghijklmnop", wherein Anto thrashes his El-Cheapo guitar (his words not mine) to shreds. All instrumental, never short of interesting, drop them an e-mail and see what else Unusual Music have to offer. Oh, and my apologies for the delay, but the unique packaging caused a misfile in the review order. (Translation - it literally slipped through the cracks:-)

mackanto@hotmail.com

The Psychedelic Breakfast - 3 from "Return of the Squirrel"

This is our third encounter with the PBs, and we have been previously impressed with their melange of psychedelic, blues, folk and rock, mixed together with some whimsy and mid Eastern influences. And it's nice to say they just keep on getting better.

Unlike the University College London who said "This is the worst record I have ever heard. Ever." Which sums up everything I've ever heard thought about students. Come the revolution they're on the list alongside clowns, mimes and poets. Fortunately, modern technology being what it is, you can take out one of each with a single bullet. I'm moist just thinking about it.

Of the three tracks on offer on this sampler, "Shiva Shanti" is the standout track, wherein they're starting to metamorphosise into Morrison Hotel era Doors. Which is fine in my book. Others have noticed a similarity to Kula Shaker, but they're nowhere near as fey, always having a bit of grit to their performance. Having a drummer and a percussionist lends an aura of jam band to the proceedings, but as an avowed lover of all things Widespread Panic, that's another button they're pushing properly.

Another remarkable effort from one of the UKs finest.

Keven Brennan’s Revival Tent

Ah! That's what it sounds like. I always wondered what it would be like to hear Funkadelic having sex with Frank Zappa, and now I know. Very messy, but wonderfully entertaining and inspirational.

And it is that the gospel vocals of the Water family on "Rebirth Of The Unknown (God Is So Good)? Why yes it is. Hose me down with a hosanna. Even if Keven seems to think that Jesus is a tortoise. Makes just as much sense as some other interpretations. And there's a pirate song! Complete with "Cause I'm a pirate, har!" chorus. Remarkable. But it's not all madness, there is some serious talent knocking about here, which makes it all the more fabulous. And "Sweet Moon Milk" is the dirties slice of New Orleans funk I've heard in a long while. Or is that just me?

The kind of record you want to be played at the cool party you never got invited to, now you can recreate the fun in your one room suicide flat. There's more than a hint of the carnival about it, which is where I presume the Revival Tent comes in. An alien concept to those of from the frozen northlands of Europe, but some well played 'fonk' makes even the coldestblooded animal tap his hooves.

Metaphor - Entertaining Thanatos

The follow up to their first CD, "Starfooted", Metaphor have returned with an invigorating blast of great progressive rock.

One of the first things that you notice is the attention to words. Too many prog bands spent so much time on the music that when it comes to lyrics, it's all faeries and fantasy, but a large round of applause to John Mabry, for making the stories fascinating.

For the scholars amongst you, Thanatos was the Greek god of Death. Not Hades. You heard me. Hades was the King of the Dead, but Thanatos was your actual god of Death. Which means we're spending a fair amount of time dealing with myths and legends here. So far, so prog. However, the concept here is much simpler than most. For this is an album about death. Whether it's through questioning Socrates about his final moments with a cup of hemlock in hand, right through to the closing "Wheel Of The World", when it all ends for all of us, or an interrogation of Krishna in "Yes & No".

Musically, it harks back to the glory days of Van Der Graaf Generator (1st incarnation and especially on "Galatea 3.3"), with hints of Gentle Giant and adose of Emerson, Lake & Palmer for good measure. The performances are flawless especially on the epic "Yes and No", which is 17:49 of musical nirvana.

An absolute delight, and an essential acquisition.

Steve Rudd - Four Sides To Square On

We made the mistake of saying some nice things about the "Acoustic Philososphy EP", and now the bugger's back with his second 4-track EP, chock full (well as chock full as a 4 track EP can be) of anti-war songs. Ever noticed how there's very few pro-war songs? And when there are, every namby pamby, left wing, liberal pinko, jumps on the bandwagon going 'bad music, bad music, bad music'. Gits. Freedom of speech is wonderful, along as you agree with them. Double gits.

Anyway, it's more of the same apart from Steve's new found keyboard direction, which means that "The New Year's Toast" is an absolute low down, angst ridden peach of a song. "Dead Beat Poet" is another goodie, Billy Bragg, if he'd ever written a goos song.

Nice work if folk tinged lo-fi punk pop is your hermaphrodite love potion. A bit like that mad anti-folk thing the Americans keep banging on about.

Basement 3 - Fuzzyland

Blimey, it's all change in Basement 3 world! Last time out we called them a Spin Doctors / King's X hybrid, with a clarinet. Well, no more. They've got a baritone saxophone this time! No, just kidding. This is radically different to "Rising". It also moves closer to the traditional concept of 'band' with featured drummer Mike Freitas and co-vocalist Heather Courtney.

This time around it seems like Kenny Schick has let in some of his reggae and dub influences, although, strange to say, the best track here is the simple, heartfelt and powerful ballad, "Fall". A truly awesome song. And it's an affection for the classic seventies singer / songwriter idiom that makes the largest impression here.

Although, a past in funk, folk, punk, reggae and ska makes Basement 3 such an eclectic and fascinating proposition. Despite the sounds apparently beingat odds with each other, it all meshes into a wonderful whole. Another tremendous bonus are the vocals of Heather Courtney alongside, and apart, from Kenny, adding a new dimension to some of the tracks's.

I'm going to go out on a limb here, and use the name Todd Rundgren. They share a similar affinity for the pursuit of perfection while retaining the central motif of the song being all. Whether it's on the gospel funk of "Mercy", the dark and compelling "Closer" or the simplistic beauty of the afore mentioned "Fall", this is an album to treasure and return to.