My Mind Sedate

The Poets of Rhythm - daaaaamn!

Here is some more funk revival stuff:



This is basically a project made up of all these British acid jazz musos (like Incognito and Brand New Heavies etc). Monster players, but a whole album is a bit too much for me.

jackhammer

Well it's took over 8 months but I have finally found one of the albums of the year for me personally.

Hateful Abandon are a U.K based 2 piece that I don't know a hell a lot about unfortunately but then when the music is good who cares?

Where do I begin with this album? Let's talk about how it 'feels'. Like approaching armageddon with both glee and fear. Justin K Broadrick meets Jaz Coleman meets Robert Smith meets Hieronymous Bosch meets H.R Giger meets Nick Cave at his most deliciously dark. Intrigued or already fearing the foreboding imagery in your head? hopefully the latter as we move onto the music.

It's a Post Punk album, it's a Industrial album, it's a dark Gothic album, it's a Black Metal album without any of the vocal stylings and razor lightning riffs that so predominate the scene. It is Godflesh without the sampling. It is Joy Division's bastard son. It is astonishing, dark, deep and oppressive.

Not one track sounds like the other yet is cohesive. Both decidedly retro and utterly modern. How just two members can make such a vast aural landscape that encompasses so many genres is astounding. Simply stunning.

Posting a single song doesn't do the album justice as every song has different vocal styles so have two vids:




Hateful Abandon | Todestrieb Records - Independent Record Label and Mailorder for Underground Music

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jackhammer

I have to admit to have been swept up in the whole Post Rock sound a few years back but as time has gone on I have found 75% of the bands far too bland and formulaic to continue listening but every once in a while a band pops up that dares to sound that little bit different and take their influences from other areas of music other than the classic Post Rock sound of crescendos and ambient breakdowns.

Grails are such a band. Taking their influences from Psychedelia, Folk and Jazz they at least have a modicum of identity and appeal to many moods.

If you are looking for something a little different from instrumental bands then give this album a listen.

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jackhammer

When I listen to new bands I look for one of either 2 facets; are you good at what you do and/or can you make me interested in something a little different? Intrigue me. Don't make it predictable. I couldn't care less if you are not the most original band in the world as long as I don't turn the album off by track three.

Bats are from Ireland and delve into a mathy post hardcore that dips into those genres with glee yet never settles on one or another. We get intricate chord structures that fit into a Math Rock aesthetic but it also angry music.

I can be angry and have some intelligence. I can play and I can be intense too

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jackhammer

Who? Well let's post a list of some of the numerous projects he has been involved with both past and present with many being his own personal bands:

Napalm Death
Final
Head Of David
Techno Animal
God
Jesu
Greymachine
Pale Sketcher

with sounds ranging from Grindcore, Sludge, Heavy Hip Hop and Ambient to Shoegaze and Industrial.

He is from my neck of the woods (Birmingham U.K) and is an accomplished guitarist, programmer, vocalist, drummer and songwriter whose near 30 year career shows no signs of waning or experimentation.

Of course just being prolific is by no means the sole reason to appreciate an artist but when they have been involved in so many eclectic, influential and iconic bands his prowess shouldn't go unnoticed.

Not everything posted will all be to your tastes but hopefully you may find something here to tantalise your ears and get you searching his music out.

Random bands, random sounds:

1994 from the album 'Anatomy Of Addiction':


2007 from the album 'Conqueror':


2001 from the album 'Brotherhood Of The Bomb':


2009 from the album 'Disconnected':


2010 from the album 'Jesu: Pale Sketches Demixed':


1990 from the album 'Streetcleaner':

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jackhammer

It's been a while for obvious reasons since I posted in my journal but feel ready to post again.


I really feel that there are two types of Singer/Songwriters. The first is a half decent musician, commercially appealing (be it looks, young age etc) and quite safe. I don't like these artists. You can spot them a mile off. I don't doubt their sincerity but 90% of the time they are a marketable commodity who just happen to come along at the right time but I bet you a pound to a penny you will find their albums in bargain bins and charity shops within a couple of years with no particular track they have written having any longevity let alone classic status- Newton Faulkner, James Blunt, Sandi Thom to name just a few.

Then there are singer/songwriters that don't achieve commercial or constant critical success because they don't look right or play by the rules or prefer to keep a low profile and let the music do the talking because what they are singing about is not an idea of a particular experience but an ACTUAL experience and not what what they think should appeal to the masses.

I won't concentrate on the classic singer/songwriters here because if the heyday of those folk has long since past (and this is not a critique of their work more a comment on record company policy) they still sell records and amass fans each year.

I don't have some unique insight into music formula or have an opinion that HAS to be right but I really feel that when I listen to singer/songwriters I can see through the lies and bull**** and know when artist means what they say and write and play by their own rules and if they don't get more recognition then bollocks to it because it's music by their rules and not a suit or a big company telling them to do it this way or that.

I want to give a perfect example of this by the emergence of Ed Sheeran in the U.K with everyone falling all over themselves for this guy when there are other singer/songwriters here that have been doing similar things for years without recognition because they are not marketable.

Yes, yes I know how the music business works and I can't change it but it doesn't mean that I have to like it does it? When a guy at work brings in the new Ed Sheeran album and proclaims it as unique and heartfelt I quite honestly want to punch them in the face and force C,D's down their throat- this guy or that woman has been doing this better and for a lot longer but u haven't bothered looking have you?

I am ranting a little too much here so to get back to the original idea of the thread, why are those who REALLY put everything into their music - their experiences, their heartaches, their heart passed over so many times?

Of course the last few months of my life have clouded my judgment in what is more heartfelt and sincere than another artist but this is my journal and it is a place to express myself whether right or wrong.

We need some tunes. No background, just check them out and hopefully you may find one or two artists that REALLY get you.






and yes I will have to plug my faves:

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Trollheart

First of all, may I offer a very warm welcome back! The place has not been the same without your insightful, occasionally passionate-to-the-point-of-apoplexy posts. Good to see you've recovered from the events of the last few terrible months at least enough to join us all again. Of course it will take a very long time before the wounds heal in any real or recognisable way, but at least the process has begun, and as you have noted yourself on many occasions, music is a great healer.

As for singer/songwriters (I see you dissed my mate Blunty there: he really is more than just a pretty face, but let that slide) I could suggest the ultimate, in my opinion, honest maverick who gives the charts two fingers and then just downs another whisky and plays the piano, creating music few people on this planet can rival: yeah, Tom Waits. An original if ever there was one, and a real example of someone gaining a following not because of record company recognition or marketing, but almost in spite of the lack of it.

I would recommend you perhaps check out Justin Townes Earle, son of Steve. Of course, there's hype because of his lineage, but rather than imitate his famous dad he's carved his own path, plays his own music and seems to be doing quite well. I think honesty is the key here; this guy did not want to be a carbon copy of his old man, yet you can see where he has learned from him, and put that knowledge to good use.


Also worth checking out is Joseph Arthur, who not only writes his own music and plays all his own instruments, but publishes his music too, on his own label. Definitely worth a listen; see my review a few months ago.



And though he's been around a long time, someone else I feel doesn't get the recognition he so deserves is Matt Johnson. A real visionary, another maverick who doesnt let anyone tell him what he should, or should not, be writing about, and for whom no topic is off limits.



Once again, welcome back man: you've been away too long!

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

jackhammer

I went to see the Jazz vocalist Melody Gardot yesterday for a number of reasons: She is a big player on the Jazz scene and for her to play locally was an opportunity not to be missed (a 25 min walk to the gig), she literally has the voice of an angel, I have never attended a Jazz concert and I wanted to experience music on a much more intimate level than I usually do.

She certainly didn't disappoint me. The band were sublime, she was vocally superb and utterly charismatic (at one point she asked if there was a young man around who wanted to come on the stage and she said he could come any way he wanted - saucy!). She is as mad as a box of frogs and the music was deliciously progressive touching on Trad. Jazz, Latin, Salsa, Blues and singer/songwriter tradition.

Melody is partially disabled due to a car accident when she was 19 and whilst this would hamper many people, she made no mention of it or used it as a gimmick for her music and when she played the song 'Baby, I'm A Fool' sat down with a guitar and light percussion she meant every damn word and it sent a shiver down my spine.

I just want to thank her for a fantastic night that made me feel truly alive for the first time in a few months and for making me look at life in the most positive aspect I have done for ages especially over the last month or so when I have been questioning life; everyone, everything and my place in it.

Bitch didn't play Love Me Like A River Does but I will forgive you for this:


The show was recorded and is available from Monday on the BBC website BTW.
BBC - BBC Radio 2 Programmes - Melody Gardot at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival

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jackhammer

There has always been a tradition of one man bands stretching back years and the initial fascination is always how do they do it or an appreciation of their talent but on closer inspection I have been cynical enough to find faults in their delivery, song writing skills or arrangements to ultimately dismiss them despite their talent but I have recently found one guy who not only plays the one man band role perfectly but also could be an amazing solo artist in his own right.

His name is Bernhoft and he is an exceptional talent. A gifted guitarist and vocalist but also a guy who understands songwriting craft and song composition. It is all very well understanding utilising today's technology regarding samplers and echo pedals but to use them to create more than a just cheap gimmick requires someone who understands and can play music at the basic level we still crave for.

Here is Bernhoft:

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jackhammer

Nearly 18 months that I have posted in here? Well here is a list of my faves from this year, no vids or linkage. There is everything here from singer/songwriters to prog, metal, hip hop, rock and reggae. I am not here to spoonfeed you or coax you into bed or a cracking night out, I give u a list and you find. If I was famous you would be all over this list like a rash so pretend I am famous. In no order.

Datsik - Let It Burn
Laura Marling - Once I Was An Eagle
New Model Army - Between Dog And Wolf
Congo Natty - Jungle Revolution
Tesseract - Altered State
Steven Wilson - The Raven That Refused To Sing
Death Angel - The Dream Calls For Blood
Motorhead - Aftershock
Stereophonics - Graffiti On The Train
Clutch - Earth Rocker
Black Sabbath - 13
Riverside - Shrine Of New Generation Slaves
British Sea Power - Machineries Of Joy
Newsted - Heavy Metal Music
Dreadzone - Escapades
Fat Freddys Drop - Blackbird
The Child Of Lov - S/T
Fort Knox Five - 10 Years Of
Ghostpoet - Some Say I So I Say Light
Phaeleh - Tides

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