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A Cellar Full Of Motown, Volume 4

Various Artist.

I am not an expert on Motown but I have heard quite a bit over the years, I would like to recommend this series of old Tamla tracks, all of which I have never heard before. I have had the first 3 volumes of this series for quite a while and all of them are good. The one I am reviewing is the latest. They all come as a 2 CD set with 25 tracks on each disc. All of them are good value with the early ones selling for a s little as £3.99 on Amazon. This one sells for £7.47 and is much the same as the rest of them. There are some of the well known Tamla acts such as Marvyn Gaye, The Temptations, Brenda Holloway and many of the other marquee acts from Detroit, but more interestingly for me are the band and a atrits that I have never heard of before such as the Versatones, the Blackberries, The Utopians and many others. Probably real soul buffs will pull there noses up and say fancy not knowing them but that’s what’s good about these CD’s, is finding out new music for me. The sound and feel of the CD is very much a classic Motown vibe, stuff you can click your fingers to and pretend to dance to (in my case) or enjoy a good smooch.

Out of the acts I have never heard off, I love Debbie Deans “You gave me love to live for” Ivy Joe Hunters “Only a lonely man would know” a real good dancer and the upbeat funky track from the Utopians “Whole lot of shaking in my heart” is a killer.

Of the better known acts Tammi Tyrells atmospheric ballad ”Don’t let lonely tonight” takes some beating as does The Vandellas “Miss Lonely heart” a typical Motown sound track.

With good liner notes this series takes some beating and for not a lot of money you can be the proud owner of 200 prime tracks. Looking forward to Volume 5.

Duncan October 2011

Charles Bradley No time for dreaming

I am always happy when I find a new artist that I have never heard before. This is one of those times. The artist is Charles Bradley supported by the excellent Menahan Street Band. I got into this CD by accident, I was looking at Sharon Jones stuff on Youtube and happened to see Mr Bradley associated with her, I clicked on and heard my first track of his, the super soulfull “the world is going up in flames.” I looked on Amazon and decided to take a punt on this album and can say truthfully that I can’t have been more happy. Charles is 62 and you can hear in his voice that there is lots of experience of life. He sounds raw and smooth at the same, if you know what I mean. The band are good as well, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were the Daptones by another name. They play good late 60’s soul but with a modern feel to it. The tracks go from mostly slow tempo soul to the odd more up tempo song such as “golden rule,” there is not a duff one on the disc. Favourites of mine are the deep soul “lovin’ you baby,” another screamer and baller “how long” and the grooved out chill out instrumental “since our last goodbye.”

I recommend people to try this CD, if you like your soul from the Hi or Stax stable you will love this.

Duncan, March 2011.

http://thecharlesbradley.com/

Crate Diggin Fever - Various Artist’s

My latest buy from Amazon and another one from the Backbeats catalogue. I can’t speak to highly enough of this series. And for £3.99 you get 20 odd tracks on each CD, nearly mostly good tracks, a lot you haven’t heard before from artist that you don’t know, always soul or dance music.

Anyway this CD calls it’s self the cult of rarity, I am not sure about that as I do know quite a few of the tracks and actually some of them. But anyway it’s a fantastic CD. It’s more of cross between soul and funk and I haven’t looked but I think that most of the songs are 70’s. There are a few you will know like Jean Carn’s “don’t let it go to your head,” AWB’s “Work to do, ” & Laura Lee’s “Crumbs of the table” and a few others, but there are also Artist that I know but can’t remember hearing the tracks before, such as the wonderful Al Green’s “Love ritual” and Satisfaction Unlimited “ Seeing you through the eyes of a blind man”. Better than this there are artist’s who I have never heard of like The Futures “Ain’t no time fa nothing” a great track and “sitting on a time bomb” by Honey Cone, a sultry piece of dirty funk in a breathy voice, excellent. At 21 tracks, it works out to 19p a track, a bargain.

Duncan, March 2011.

Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings
I Learned The Hard Way

Another great souly album from the girl who is putting soul back into modern music. The CD starts with a slow tempo song “The game gets old”. From here the album only gets better and better. The style is very reminiscent of late 60’s early 70’s proper soul. This is the third of their albums that I own and I think that this is probably the best and most polished to date. The first one I have Dap Dipping is more funky, 100 days 100 nights gets more soulful and then this leads to this one. I have the missing album on order Naturally. Sharon sings about lost lovers and unrequited love and this is definitely an album that once you start it, you play to the end without skipping tracks. My favourites are “Window Shopping” a tale of a chap who has missed out on the best bird around. It has a great vibe to it, plenty of horns and an underlying Hammond organ. The more up-tempo “She ain’t a child no more” certainly gets the toes tapping. The last track reminds me of my mother in law who cant stand me, a blues/gospel song “Mama don’t like my man. ” The band are actually superb as well, if you like Stax or Hi as record labels , you will like this. Really I could write about each track as though it was the best thing I have heard so if you like great soul music, buy it. I bought my copy of Amazon for £8.02 including postage, in HMV they wanted £15, perhaps that is why they are going out of buisness.
Sharon Jones is playing the Barbican on July the 6th, so with a bit of luck I will get to see her this year.
Duncan, February 2011

Gimme That Beat

70’s sophisticated Funk

Various Artist’s

Another great cheap CD from Amazon. I don’t know how HMV stay in business as this CD is £4.99 in the Chelmsford shop, but from Amazon it’s only £3.99 inc p&p. I know it’s only a quid but I do buy quite a few CD’s. Anyway this is from the wonderful BACKBEATS people. They specialise in soul, funk and dance music. I have a few more albums from this series which have included one featuring deep soul from the 60’s with the other titles dealing with more up tempo 70’s soul. This one is a funk album featuring well known acts like Anne Peebles, Holland & Dozier Chairmen of the Board & AWB. Saying that there are only 3 tracks that I know by the original artists on here. There is a great Hammond organ fueled version of Shaft by Gregory James Edition, I have never heard of them, I probably should have, but that is what is good about CD’s like this, they open your mind to new groups. Another group I haven’t heard of either is the Smith Connection, they do a good funk track which would have been topical a couple of weeks ago and I could have used as a vinyl of the month, for the reporters from the News of the World, “I’m buggin’ on your phone” Another gritty funk track by the El Dorados also stands out “Loose Booty.” Cant recommend these CD’s highly enough.

Duncan, March 2011

Beginners Guide to Rhythm & Blues

Various Artists

I thought I knew a little bit about RnB, but obviously I don’t. I bought this triple CD of those wonderful people at Amazon for £4.99 free postage. As this is a beginners guide there are a lot of artists that I know and a lot of tracks as well. The good thing there are a lot that I don’t. The CD is in three discs with the first one called Rhythm n blues. There is a lot of what you would expect on this one. It starts off with John Lee Hookers “Boom Boom” and has a lot of stuff from about the same time frame. There is Elmore James, Jimmy Reed, Buster Brown but there are tracks also from Betty Everett and Wade Flemons who I have only heard in singing more soulfully. My favourite track from this disc is the harmonica driven “I wish you would” by Billy Boy Arnold. Disc Two is called digging deeper. This has well known acts, less known music. This has RnB to soul. There are some great tracks on here, Gene Allisons soulful cry “You can make it if you try” followed straight away with another moody soul track, The Emeralds “I kneel at your throne”. There is also lots of Rhythm on this disc as well “Too many cooks” by Jesse Fortune and Gene Thompson and the Counts doing the well covered “you don’t love me”. There is also a bit of early funk from Banny Price “Monkey see, Monkey do” Disc Three is called into Soul and has all the usual suspects on there Betty Everett doing the obligatory “your no good” and “getting mighty crowded” There is also a track from Tamla’s greatest female singer on here Gladys Knight. There are the usual artist that you seem to get on these compilations Jerry Butler, Art Neville & Toussaint Mcall. There are a few that I have never heard of as well. A great piece of big city soul from someone called Harold Burrage “Master Key” I thoroughly recommend this CD and a fiver for 75 quality tracks, well you cant go wrong. The problem is that Amazon is a bit addictive and I seem to be buying at least two discs a week. Duncan, December 2010.

P-A-U-L

Gunshot Lullaby

This is the CD that I promised myself last year after seeing them at the Golden Fleece in 2009.They played St Anne’s this month, so for the princely sum of a tenner I bought it. It’s supposed to be blues rock, whatever that is, but what you get is good rock music, tinged with funky bass lines with just a little bit of blues. The songs are mainly about living in a rough part of Detroit with the last song called “behind the brothel.” a good song, funky, it could be a Temptations backing track from the 70’s and reminds you of Meadgate shops. One of the best tracks on the CD is “I ain’t giving you up,” a great track, lots of girl backing singers and great guitars at the end. “Martyred eyes” is another winner. To be truthful the whole album is good and has a lot more layers and depth than heir fantastic live act. “ I will never tell” is a great track and it is very hard to pin down who they sound like as there are a multitude of influences in the music. You can hear Country, Motown, Blues, Heavy rock in the songs, there are spacy guitar solo‘s such as “rattle snakes and butterflies” a bit of Eddie Hazel influence there, and full on rockers like “Detroit is on fire. A good CD and if you get a chance to see them live, do it, you wont be disappointed. I will deffo be looking out for them coming back to England next November.

Duncan, Oct 2010

Eli Paperboy Reed

Come and get it

Another modern soul gem, this from Eli Paperboy Reed and his band the True Loves, their latest CD offering. Anyone who has seen them on Jools Holland will know that this is blue eyed soul at its best. Starting with the first track, a happy bouncy song “Young Girl” to the last a full on Funk Shout and Screamer, reminiscent of James Brown “Explosion.” Between these two tracks is a plethora of typical 60’s soul, which could easily come from the Stax stable. It’s quite amazing that this is a 2010 release. My favourite tracks are the mid tempo “Come and get it” lots of screaming, “Time will tell” a nice slow one which at certain parts of it sound like Otis Redding, and of course the 100mph dancer “Explosion.” It’s all good really and it’s such a shame that he never performed at V this year. He also tries to do a good impersonation of one of the world’s best footballers on the cover of the CD.

I will be watching out for when he is next over here from America, for a chance to see him live.

Duncan, September 2010

Sharon Jones And The Dap-Kings Dap-Dippin

A slice of tasty funk with the incredible Sharon Jones, listening to it, it could come from 1969 to 1970 but is actualy Miss Jones and the Daptones first album from 2002. I became aware of this band when one their tracks was featured on a Mojo magazine CD had a modern soul collection on it. They were the stand-out outfit on a very good CD. My biggest regrets this year was not seeing them when they came over to London and played a gig at the Koko. I just had too much going on at that time. The album is full of rhythm and boasts a really tight horn section, resplendent of the JB’s. As well as Sharon, you have the Dap-Kings, an eight piece funk band. There is also a new dance that I have to learn on it “the Dap Dip” it even has the dance steps inside the CD booklet. The tracks go from the furious dancer “Got to be the way it is” to the more mellow “make it good to me.” My favourite is “Pick it up and lay it in the cut” a song that rolls along and gets you moving and tapping your feet. Every song is a winner and if you like your funk in a Lynn Collins groove then this is for you. As the CD liner say’s Sharon Jones, this sister is B-A-D! and for £7.47 from Amazon including postage a sure fire bargain. So as us Soulies say KTF, Duncan Sept 2010.

The Prisoners - A Taste of Pink

Looking through Youtube the other night I was looking at the mod revival bands. It’s not a genre I have taken a lot of notice of before. You can remember the ones who charted like Secret Affair and the Merton Parkas, ok but a bit poppy. I probably missed them because when the second mod craze came about I was just that little bit to old. A shame as I think out of all the youth movements, mods were the best. It shows really as when talking to people who were mods they are all 2 to 5 years younger than me, not many my age. Anyway I was amazed to find a great catalogue of music that was completely to my music taste. One of the bands who stood out, were The Prisoners. Apparently they are part of the Medway sound from the toilet of England, as us Essex boys say, Kent. The Prisoners play raw 60’s garage, punk, psych tunes. The original album came out in 1982 and is worth a healthy £30 in the Record Collector book. The original tracks from the album are all in the 2 to 3 minute bracket. Good songs don’t have to be long. There are also another 9 bonus tracks to accompany the original 12. The tracks vary from “Threw away my heart” a great pop song to an organ driven instrumental wig out “Come to the mushroom.” I particularly liked “Till the morning light” but to be truthful I don’t think there is a bad track on this CD. The songs are all guitar, organ driven and if you like fuzz guitar soaked songs from the great underground bands of the 60’s then this for you. I bought the CD from Amazon for the princely sum of £7.99 including postage and package. As I said I am really pleased to find another type of music to hopefully collect, but seeing some of the prices of the vinyl of the mod revival bands, I will have to do some more overtime to afford them.

Duncan, Sept 2010.

Steve Foster Pilkington

She wants to be a Wag

What’s happenend? Steve’s gone all electronic on us. This track he sent us in 2007 has had a makeover. The chirpy reggae beat has gone to be replaced with a more darker sound. It still has the same humour but seems a bigger sound. I wasn’t sure if I liked it but after a couple of plays it grows on you. It tells how girls like to make their way through life through the cult of celebrity. Perhaps that’s why it has a more sinister overtone, because with X factor, Britains got talent, Big Brother and wags going to South Africa as Mother Theresas, the problem is getting worse and we seemed to be surrounded by plastic C list celebs who just about get their 15 minutes of fame before the next big thing comes along. The good news is that Steve is going to release a single every month for a year so we should enjoy his wit on a few more songs.

Duncan June 10

Mississippi Heat – Hattiesburg Blues

We were recently sent this album by Pierre Lacocque who is the main man behind the Band, obviously trying to widen their appeal to the good folks of Essex.

Mississippi Heat are a nucleus of five with various Special Guests augmenting on each track; what I found unusual for a Blues album is the Latin influence on some of the Tracks. I thought I was hearing things, so I checked out some of their blurb and I wasn’t mistaken: “Delmark Records Press Release reads:"Fantastic harp player/bandleader Pierre Lacocque and Mississippi Heat return with their 2nd release on Delmark; HATTIESBURG BLUES (DE 795) is a new ambitious studio CD, featuring their lead vocalist Inetta Visor, and Chicago blues guitar legends Lurrie Bell and Carl Weathersby. The Chicago Horns and latin percussionist Ruben Alvarez will also add significantly to this varied disc of many new original compositions." Hattiesburg is a city located in the south of the state of Mississippi. Quotes from our Manager about this recording: "HATTIESBURG BLUES is about how a music evolved from its African roots to the Delta of Mississippi and to the North in Chicago, and how it developed through other routes such as Cuba and South America. Yes, this is a beautiful combination of Chicago Blues and Latin rhythms. Add the hauntingly beautiful sounds of the harmonica of band leader Pierre Lacocque and the powerful and expressive voice of Inetta Visor and here is finally a CD that is an experience in listening from beginning to end.”

I can’t really add much more. I think the album works and I enjoy listening to it, thumbs up guys. I see this album was first released in 2008 and I understand a new album is imminent, would be worth checking out and seeing what they come up with this time.

Ash 12/04/10.

Artist - 22^nd Century

CD – The 22^nd Century

The first track from this Canadian Band from Vancouver is called 509 and it reminded me of our Punk rock days in 77 – 78 when bands like The Clash, Undertones, Generation X, Buzzcocks played our local venue. It was a very good raw punk sound with a modern sound that kids of today would just love. . Let It Be was more of a slower rock track with some excellent guitar work the song grew on you as it progressed.

The CD is of excellent quality throughout with no duff tracks, Stevie Guide is catchy tune that could easily become one of the band anthems, would go down well live as I'm sure it does.

I good easily imagine myself at the front of a live gig jumping around in the Mosh pit as the band play tracks like Nightmare On 6^th Avenue a high energy song.

The band are Tom Plommer – Vocals & Guitar, Duane Chaos – Vocals, Bass, Didgeridu, Guitar, and Glen Gaupholm on Drums. CD produced by John Webster that must mean this band are going places and I would love to see them progress and playing major festivals in a couple of years time.

I would recommend this CD , to find out more go to bands web site at

http://22ndcenturyofficial.com/

Maurice March 2010

Artist: Racecar Album: Dance Like A Ghost Home: Santa Fe, NM Genre: Alt/Rock

Quote: “Keep an eye on Racecar. Chances are you'll see a lot more of them”.

By Joe Wallace, Indie-Music, April, 2009

On Racecar's Dance Like A Ghost CD, the band proves they know how to write and produce a solid record - all the right elements are there. Expertly recorded and mixed, this is a great demonstration of what the band knows how to do in the studio.

Racecar depends heavily on electric guitar crunch, but in spite of the opening track, "Kisses In The Morning," the six-string isn't over utilized. In fact, Dance Like A Ghost works best when the axe is mixed further back into the proceedings. Unlike many of Racecar's contemporaries, you can actually hear the keyboards they enhance their songs with - especially on the title track.

Dance Like A Ghost is marred by an overuse of that Cher-inspired auto-tune function found on many, many tracks released since 2000. Gents, I suggest you leave that effect to the boy bands. Seriously - you're better without it.

The band finds its legs again on "Make It Happen," going into The Church territory, circa Gold Afternoon Fix or Starfish. This is what the band is really good at - moody tracks without any obligation to shift into major-chord good-time rock and roll. "Just This Once" also works well in this vein. Some of the other tracks, like the previously mentioned "Kisses In The Morning" sound like the band is just biding their time until they can get to their favorite cuts - the moody ones.

If that's the case, Racecar needs to give in to their urges to dispose of the upbeat tracks and get down to business with the good stuff. This group has plenty going for it, and while Dance Like A Ghost is an uneven listen in places, the good work on this record is a sign of things to come. Keep an eye on Racecar, chances are you'll see a lot more of them.

www.dancelikeaghost.com

-Racecar
http://www.reverbnation.com/racecar?eid=1736820_371984

SHE CRAVES Come Around EP
Already Gone, Need Me, Don't Say and Broken

Picture the scene I had got home from work after another hard day to
be met by my children excitedly telling me that Harry HILL, had sent
me another CD to reveiw and it was brilliant. My heart sank my
daughter listens to someone who sounds like Pinky and Perky, and my
boys are still into the Simpsons and Dr Who. Never the less I sat
down to take my punishment.

I first read the blurb they sent out to find SHE CRAVES are a band
from Austin Texas who ethics in life are to produce music people can
sing along to and a high energy live show.

Well I have got to say that I was pleasently surprised, in fact more
then that I really enjoyed it. The music is guitar based with a
strong beat pounding from drum and bass, it is all held together by
the strong vocals of Christine Ely. My favourite track is number 4
Broken, to me it has a number of influences, the introduction reminds
of the opening bars to Pretty Vacant, with the vocals of the great
fergal Sharkey, and towards the end a guitar rift that wouldn't be
out of place played by the Edge. Still if you have to have influences
aim high

If I have a criticism the first 2 tracks Already Gone and Need Me are
a bit samey but still good. Do yourself a favour and check themout on
their Myspace website, certainly worth a listen.

They have met their first goal of wanting to create music to enjoy
and sing along to, and I have no doubt they would have reached their
second goal of producing an exciting live act. My only problem is my
children now want to go to Texas to see them live, unfortunately
Chelmsfordrocks budget won't stretch that far and they will have to
wait till they play London.
Colin May 2007

Dead Rock West – Honey and Salt
Well, this is described as ‘a gritty passage through the plush valleys and desert landscapes of human emotion, constantly urging listeners to take the journey.’ Pretty impressive, huh? Bit too wordy for me, but I think I know and agree with what the writer means.
Dead Rock West was founded by the two vocalists, one male the other not. The guy, Frank Lee (pun or mischievous parents?) Drennen co/wrote eleven of the twelve tracks and takes guitar duties. I like the dual vocals and it works well on this album. The first track really impresses me – it’s a really catchy song and could easily be mistaken for a Beautiful South composition; and I note it has recently been aired by Bob Harris on Radio 2, well done DRW!
The remaining tracks offer a variety of styles, some motor along, some are country ballads, some are country rockers and the rest are ‘just’ good hooky pop songs , and they are really well produced. The album was mixed in Nashville by some guy I’ve never heard of but he has worked with Tom Petty, Steve Earle, and George Harrison among others….. So I guess he is pretty famous (got a Grammy as well!) and I know diddly.
As an aside, the packaging for this album is first class; gatefold sleeve, nice booklet. A lot of care has been taken over this product and I hope it gets the recognition it deserves.
I think the Band are trying to break into the UK market so I hope we will see and hear more of them very soon. Check out Dates etc on their website http://www.deadrockwest.com and meanwhile get the album and have a good time y’all.
Ash April 2007

The Hedrons – One More Won’t Kill Us

Our friends at Gorgeous PR have sent me 4 albums to have a listen to, so I should be adding more reviews over the coming weeks. To start with, I want to share The Hedrons with you.
What intrigues me about them is that they are from Glasgow but the album has been sent to us from LA because they have been touring over there with The Scanners – International (super) stars already!
The band is a standard four piece – but they perhaps stand out from the crowd because they are all female (and yes, young and pretty!); more significantly, they make a damn good racket. Their reviews have already put them in the same bracket as Joan Jett, Patti Smith, Penetration, in fact any of the premier female rockers over the last thirty years and I must admit, I could easily imagine Pauline (Penetration) singing some of these songs.
The album contains the bands first three singles; all have achieved top five placings in the UK indie singles charts so you can appreciate there are some strong songs here. The pace of the songs is unrelenting, you charge from one rocker to another, singer Tippi has a strong set of lungs and is supported by some good sing-along backing vocals. The guitar work is good and the drums are powerful – it is reminiscent of the early punk days.
It looks like the band is constantly touring, in the UK, USA and now Japan is lined up. If you get a chance, see them – I will certainly look out for them because I reckon these songs will be great live. In the meantime, grab the album and have a good time because this is the loudest, brashest album I have heard this year.
www.myspace.com/thehedrons
Ash April 2007

Artist: Random Allies
Title: Thunder Run
A great slice of rock music with mainly up-tempo foot tappers which you naturally nod your head too. All the songs seem to be about girls and good times so I think we should all be thinking about booking our holidays to Toronto this year. The music is well written and crafted by Walter Lasky and Ted Bonis. Unusually for the CD’s we get, all the lyrics were in the CD case, I wish more bands would do this.
They have a very tight band and the top tracks for me are "Fireball," the lewd "Have some fun," "Lucky lady." Another good one is "Break the fall," a story of how a good woman can get you back on the straight and narrow. The CD finishes with the slower and atmospheric "Wild Horses." I enjoyed this one a lot and always think it’s a shame that many of these bands will never get the rewards they deserve.
To get this CD go to www.cdbaby.com/randomallies & for more info email randomallies@aol.com
Duncan
March 07

Artist: Billy Skinner
Title: "Tomorrows Sun"
Billy is an American who has travelled quite a bit, even to Germany who started musically quite late. He produces very good rock music which is very enjoyable. On this album there are rockers, ballads and thought provoking songs. There is a heavy influence of good old southern rock in the music which is complimented by Billy’s voice.
Stand out tracks to me are "What really matters," "You done me wrong," "Shadows in the night," "Raindrops in a river," and the anti war song "Mama’s sons." This all finishes with a great slow track "The flame within," but to be truthful I don’t think there is one duff track on here. As I have said there is a great mixture in here and the best compliment I can pay this album is that I am still playing it.
To find out more about Billy go to www.tomorrowssun.com

Duncan
March 07

Album Name: Prophecies
Artist: Tarsha
Website: http://www.tarsharock.com/
I hadn’t heard of Tarsha before, and if you haven’t I will briefly summarise to say that prior to this album the most public highlight of his career had been to front ex Guns N Roses member Steven Adler’s Band. However the publicity supplied with this album also shows that Tarsha has previously picked up a number of U.S. song writing awards for his work and also won a Male Vocalist of The Year award in 2003.
So, onto Prophecies. This looks to have been a labour of love as Tarsha wrote all the songs, played all the instruments and even produced the album. You can’t knock the guy; he is undoubtedly talented and has written some really good songs. Most notable for me is the opening track ‘Dirty’. Tarsha says the song has picked up a lot of airplay and it is obvious to hear why, it is a simple rocker that has a very catchy chorus that you can’t shift from your head; I love it and it deserves the attention it has been getting around the world.
The rest of the album isn’t quite so immediate for me but is no less enjoyable after a few plays. The album has a fair share of rockers and a few ballads, like Ten Stars Away. However as the Album progresses Tarsha moves away from standard Rock fare and questions the meaning of Faith / Religion / Spirituality on songs like ‘Why Fight’, Cynical Christ’ and ‘Apostle’. These songs are packed with lyrics, so much so that it is difficult to read the lyric page on the album because the font had to be reduced to such a degree to fit them all in (shame really because I wanted to read them but lost patience when I was laughed at for squinting)!

Ash’s rating 8/10.

VDELLI 'Live at the Ocean Indian Hotel'
CDs can be ordered direct from www.vdelli.com

This is the first CD Maurice has sent me since my critical reveiw of ZHAIN single CD, I was starting to think that he no longer trusted me. So when he gave me the envelope I was quite excited, I looked inside my heart sank, it was a live album and double at that. I'm not a great lover of Live albums, you watch your favourite band they are never has polished has you expect, and you don't have the alcohol inside you to balance it out, thats my normal experience with live albums. The odvious exception to that is Live at the Marquee 9 below 0, an absolute classic and must buy for any music fan. When I got home things got worse as my wife said, 'An Australian band they will be s

So driving upto Manchester on Monday, I put the second CD into Duncan's player in the car and sat back ready to throw it out of the window. I have got to say that I was more then plesently surprised in fact I really enjoyed it, except for the crowd noise between tracks you would struggle to know it was a live album, it fairly fizzed along. It is a good mixture of their own tracks and cover versions. It started with one of their own, 'Man in the mirror' this was a really good blusey number which showed off the odvious talents of Michael VDELLI. This was quickly followed by the first cover, the Dylan track 'All along the Watchtower', although better known by Jimi HENDRIX. What I liked about the cover versions were they were not just a straight lift of the originals, as in this case it was a more up tempo version, and VDELLI put their mark on it.
This CD flew by and my favourite tracks being 'Skitzoid', one of their own and the ZZ Top song 'La Grange', again played slightly faster.
When I got home I played both CD's all through and took a bit more time listening to them. the first CD had more cover versions but again all with VDELLI's stamp on them. My favourites on this Cd were the James Taylor song, 'Fire and Rain', Stevie Ray VAUGHAN track 'Couldn't stand the weather' and their own, 'Hot Muffins'.
All n all a great double CD set although has a word of caution there were two tracks I didn't particularly like, James BROWN's 'I feel good', again done in their own style, the problem is for me, if it ain't broke don't fix it, and you can't improve on perfection. And another HENDRIX's track, 'Voodoo Chile' it went on to long and I got bored, I would imagine it is the bands finale at a live show, so prehaps can be forgiven.

The English band I would compare them to are the Hamsters, but I prefer VDELLI for playing their own songs and putting a twist on classic songs.
I know Maurice is going to put the album on Chelmsford Rocks, listen out for them. I see on their website they describe themselves as
BLUES/ROCK/FUNK a good discription as they cover all styles well. They have residencies in Perth Australia, if your there well worth a look, I don't suppose they will be playing anywhere in Essex soon.

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Foster Pilkington
"She Wants To Be A Wag"
A bit more topical humour from Steve, perhaps what it shows is what is wrong with our youngsters of today. Makes me sound like an old git but how many girls think that they can have a living by marrying a footballer or a becoming a star of reality TV?
The track has a reggae feel to it and as all of the other stuff I have heard from Steve it’s always acoustic and original. I enjoyed it a lot and would recommend it.
Duncan March 2007

Artist: Foster-Pilkington

Title: If This Isn’t Good-What is?

A little two song CD which took me back over twenty years. I can remember seeing this bloke and enjoying his music in the Beehive at Great Baddow, back when the Falklands war was on. I recall two songs from then, one was about Cruise missiles and the other was about a check out girl from Tesco’s. Happy days back then.
The first song is an acoustic one "If this isn’t good-what is?" This is a very happy tune and even though it’s November and getting dark it made me feel warm, summery and in a good mood. Very up tempo and I like it.
The second track "Bonnie and the speculators" This is a song about what my wife Lee and me seem to be talking about more often nowadays. The seeming growth of flats and houses around the Chelmsford area. It’s not quite "Big Yellow Taxi" buts it’s not bad and is taken from his dogs point of view.
I really enjoyed this and I am ever so pleased that he is still writing and playing. He still has a little bit of social conscience and humour. If you are interested see www.myspace.com/fosterpilkington
Duncan November 2006
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ZHAIN

CD Single 'No Hay Cuchara'

It has been quite a while since Maurice has asked me to do a reveiw of a CD so it was nice to get back into the saddle. On seeing the cover my first impressions were that I had never heard of the band not unusual, but looking at the three guys I would either have to like the CD or be very diplomatic about what I said in case they found out where I lived.

The title track is 'NO HAY CUCHARA' this is written and sang in Spanish and it translates into English as 'THERE IS NO SPOON' unless it as lost something in translation. I have got to be honest I have always had a real problem with songs where the lyrics are in a foreign language unless its classical or opera where you are not supposed to know what it is about, it always reminds me of Eurovision of Plastic Bertrand. Unfortunately this was no different for me it never actually hit the right mark for me..

The two supporting tracks 'MORNING DEW' and 'DANGER ZONE' were better and moved along at a good pace and flowed, there style to me was a bit dated.In the case oft DANGER ZONE I found it just stopped when I wasn't expecting it to, there was lead up to the end of song.

I have since looked at both the website and Duncan's reveiw and whilst agreeing with Duncan that the band is tight and odviously extremely good at what they do, this music is odviously aimed at a certain audience which is not english 21st centuary, unless of cause you are an ageing rocker or like Sam TYLER in 'LIVE ON MARS' had an accident and been thrown back to the 70's.

col

The Great Kat Wagner’s War

The Great Kat is a Guitar Shredder, and reading the publicity blurb, she is acclaimed as the fastest in the world. I must confess I didn’t know what a Shredder was and now I’ve heard this CD, I still don’t really know, but if you can imagine a 45 being played at 78rpm you have the basic sound. The Great Kat plays guitar (very fast) and the violin (very, very fast) and on this disc, which runs at just over ten minutes she treats us to her metal / classical music crossover which also features her fearsome screaming and growling.

But the sound isn’t everything, there is also the look, and The Great Kat is a looker - big blonde and buxom - every publicity picture of her is a teenage boys dream. You can see her in action on her DVD “Extreme Guitar Shred”, but beware kids with titles like ‘Castration’, ‘Dominatrix’ and ‘Torture Chamber’, you shouldn’t watch if you are of a nervous disposition.

Whatever you may think of the Great Kat, you have to take notice and admire her brashness - this girl has balls and she can make that axe (and her men) wail.

http://www.greatkat.com/

Ash

2006-03-12