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Send your CDs to us for review and possible air play, email for details Artist: Greg Kiss And The Feral Cats Title: Hope A CD from the lead singer of 4ft Pimp, who if you read my reviews you will know I like very much. This album has a lot of the Pimps hard rock tinges but also is more mellow in places using a variety of musical influences, from the rocking "Tripped and Fell" (Typical Pimp) to the Country styled "This Time." There is a great diversity of music on here acoustic tracks such as "The five of Diamonds" and the spooky "Something isn’t Right." This is a superb CD which I can’t recommend highly enough. Great song writing and playing, Greg has a good rock and roll voice and has surrounded himself with some great musicians. The whole LP is good but stand out tracks for me are "Sickened," "Something isn’t right," The atmospheric "Little" and my favourite the title track "Hope." This is how a good record should be, slow starting with a fast bit in the middle. I may not be a muso but I know what I like and this it. Duncan May 2008 |
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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 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
Bloom - Shoulder To Cry On
This single is called “Shoulder to Cry On. “ It has another two tracks on it: “Doctor” and Falling,” but they are not as involving as the actual single. It was inspired by a story about a man that was to busy to go to his own wife’s funeral and the band believes it sums up all that is wrong with society today, the rush of getting things done, the “endless procession of tasks.” Over this loose base the lyrics are surprisingly personal; they invite the listener in again and again. The lyrics alone give it playback somehow filling together to make a great wall of harmony. It is sung with real feeling, the over tune is meaningful and compliments the singing, whilst the base and drums just solidify this approach without directing your listening away from it. Whilst saying the single is the strongest of the 3 tracks, as it should be being the title track. My favourite is the second song “Doctor.” It is slightly downcast, whilst uplifting in the chorus.” The undertones link very nicely with the main melody and as the band quite rightly states; they open into a “classic rock anthem chorus sufficiently. It moves into an instrumental that adds more tune and depth to the chorus but this is not as good as another verse would have been, in my opinion. That is probably why it is not strong enough to be the title track but it is by no means just a boring filler. The Third and final track “falling” sounds like a rock/dance tune,. I don’t know if this is the desire effect but it is good and listenable none the less. The lyrics are sung in a playful manner that symbolise the whole vibe given off by the song; the band having a laugh, and it is infectious. An original “feel good” song. This single is therefore very good, this band has potential and with two listenable songs and a suitably good title track they could go on to do good things. The songs were recorded live to “get the right vibe” so the band are able to put a show on as well. A good debut by a potentially successful band.
Jake 14/03/2006
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.
Ash 2006-03-12
Title: Simple Pleasures Drastic Measures
Artist: 4ft Pimp
A new eagerly awaited EP from 4ft Pimp. The more I hear their music, the more I like them. Out of all the bands that we have sent to us, to review and play on the radio station, this is one of the only groups that I keep on my IPOD. They play very powerful hard rock which seems to have its own unique sound. This is demonstrated on the first track "Great Aunt Anaconda". A grand track which has great guitar riffs and what I think every good rock band should have keyboards. The second track "No Ball Games" just as good as the first and reminds me in the latter stages a bit of Deep Purple with the guitar and organ battling together. The final track is one I have heard before "Shotgun Paradise". This is a speeded up version and is guaranteed to have you shaking your hair (if I had any left). The only problem if this describes sunny Southend, it’s changed a lot since those halcyon days at Zero 6 on a Saturday night in my youth. All in all another great slice of Seaside Rock played well with conviction and humour, very highly recommended BUY IT. Duncan, Feb 2006
Artist: ZHAIN Title: ARCHIVE
This is not new music as they are remasters from the early seventies but they are new to me. Zhain are a three piece from England who have reformed and seem to be having some success in the US of A at the moment. The music they play was never released at the time but I am pretty sure if it had, it would be on ebay now with a three figure sum as a lost classic. The music can be described as 70’s rock in the blues rock boogie mould such as Savoy Brown, both bands even do a Temptations cover, Zhain’s is a speeded up version of "Get Ready." I don’t know why more rock bands do not cover soul classics as they crossover really well (as this one does). This is the only cover, all of the other songs are originals, written by the lead guitarist and singer, John Milner. The CD is exactly the kind of music that we like at Chelmsford Rocks. My stand out tracks are the fast rocker "T.R.D" which is short but powerful. "Streetwalker" which is riff driven, has a great guitar solo, with a driving bass backing it. The other one which was great was "Get Ready" as the Temptations were and still are my favourite ever band. All the other tracks are good as well. Summing up a great CD played by a very tight band, that hopefully will make it this time round. Duncan Feb 2006
Artist: Grant Lyle
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Another first, a review from a new country, Canada. What can I say, it’s very well sung and played rock music. The first track "Come alive" starts off with a great riff, reminds me a bit of the Stones. Grant has a great voice which is well suited to this kind of music, he also plays a mean guitar which is in evidence all through this 3 track disk. Track 2 "In deep" another good track and like the first one is uptempo and has you nodding your head and toe tapping. Super guitar playing and has a good feeling about it, Track 3 "It’s worth it." Slower than the others but still has that rock blues feeling to it. Summing up I enjoyed this little piece of Canadian culture and I am sure if you like Free, Rory Gallagher or other bluesy rock bands like these you will too. Check him out at http://grantlyle.com/ and as the last track says "it’s worth it." Duncan Feb 2006
Artist: Sharif
Title: Surrogate lovers.
A great press pack came with this CD with lots of info. I didn’t know what to expect and got a great album full of really good pop songs. They are well crafted, played and sung. It always amazes me at the amount of talent there is about and the difference between that and the awful stuff we hear on main stream radio in England. Most of the tracks are different and starts off with "You’re my girl" which has upbeat jangly guitars, not unlike the Byrds. Track 2 carries on at the same tempo. Track 3 "Simple ways" is a very good slower love song. All of the songs are different and there are a myriad of different styles. Even a Country and Western influenced "Sixty seconds" There are darker tracks such as the excellent "Respect." Harder tinge rock songs as "It’s on me" Sixties influenced "Pass the silence." This a really good album and there is even a hidden track at the end of the CD, an acoustic version of track 1 "You’re my Girl" Stand out tracks for me are "You’re my girl" "Respect" and "It’s on me" I highly recommend this album and will definitely listen to it again, if you like good pop songs with a little bit more class and catchier than your normal one, then you will too. CLICK HERE FOR SHARIF WEB SITEDuncan Feb 2006
JoshuaGabriel - 21st Century Blues
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Man, this guy has the blues - but at least they are of this century! This is a stunning 4 track EP by an artist based in New York who possesses a lot of angst but mixes with a twist of humour and delivers through a fuzzy electic guitar and a nasal vocal. Honest, it sounds much better than it reads (and it reads like I'm describing Dylan, who is an acknowledged influence). Our hero is quite a poet and I recommend going to his website, JoshuaGabriel.Com to check out his work. The MP3 section has what is apparantly one of his more famous songs, 'Welcome To The End Of The World', self explanatory title, and well worth a listen. Not content with expressing himself through music, JoshuaGabriel (no spaces for this man) is also an artist and there are some good examples of his work on his website. If he plays in the UK, I would be very interested to see more. Web Site http://www.joshuagabriel.com/ Ash. Feb 2006
Artist-ASUR
Title-A year of Wednesdays
This is the first album I have had from New Zealand. It’s made by just 2 people John Stevens and Brett Rogerson, I only mention this because the it sounds as though many more are involved. In the main the music is very gentle and relaxing. This is the kind of music you can put on late when you want to chill out. This is what we would call in the 70’s as a concept album as I don’t think any of the tracks on this CD would ever be released as singles. For me this is not a bad thing as most stuff in the charts is shit anyway and this definitely is not. The sound is mainly a mix of acoustic guitars and electronics. These 2 chaps have made an LP for themselves which is reflected by my favourite track "Precious Crush" with the verse of "Not for sale" repeated in it. Another track I enjoyed was the slightly angrier "Momentum". Summing up this album wont be everybody’s cup of tea, but I enjoyed it a lot and certainly will be playing it again and would not hesitate to listen to other music by this duo. To buy CD http://www.asur.co.nz/ "Give my compliments to the chef" Duncan Jan 2006
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