Friday 27 June 2014

Album Review - 'Freedom Bound', Red Butler


Hello,

First off, I'd like to say thank you for the hugely positive response from my last post about Deafh, its been great to see so may people support the blog.

Today I will be talking about a young blues band that go by the name of Red Butler. An East Sussex based band that are made up of Jane Pearce (vocals), Alex Butler (guitar), Steve Eveleigh (bass) and Charlie Simpson (drums). This band have been one to look out for in the blues scene in the past year and now they have finally released their album.

The band have been vigorously touring Sussex and afar for gigs and festivals such as The Great British R&B Festival in Colne, which to me, for a band that have been together two years is a massive achievement to get into the blues scene so effectively and quickly. This is one of the reasons the album has been largely anticipated by many fans of the band.



The album 'Freedom Bound' is definitely a great blues/rock album which has been produced very well. Everything in the album seems to be in its right place. They have left one of their strongest songs 'Freedom Bound' till last on the album which is a great move as most albums tend to whither a little bit towards the end of an record. Not this one though, its ends with a very emotional and powerful song, not to say the least about the guitar solo! Oooo...that killer guitar solo!

If you enjoy guitar solos, then this is record is loaded with them! Alex Butler is the man with the riffs. He created them himself and is an exceptionally talented guitarist. The range of the musicality in the album keeps the momentum going with up-tempo songs such as "Danger Zone" and "Young and Free". Then can take it right down with the very emotional "River of Smoke" which is one of my personal favourites just for the raw emotion of the song, also Jane's singing in this song is off the scale. 



The song "Hoodoo" demonstrates Alex's guitar skills with some impressive slide work. Its very difficult to create some of the notes he plays in this track, including towards the end, but it creates a great delta blues vibe for the album. I also enjoy listening to how solid the bass and drums are together, locked in tight, keeping that train rolling.

Each song on the album has been extensively worked on for the past year or so and it really shows that they have put a lot of time and energy into this album and the songs they have created. When I hear the songs and think that they are mostly all original, I think that this band are very creative and have a great career ahead of them! So keep an eye out for them at one of their gigs or through their social pages (links below). 

The songs to check out on this album if you haven't got time to listen to the whole song are "Danger Zone", "River of Smoke", "Freedom Bound" and "Young and Free". I'm looking forward to seeing what the band has to offer in the next few years, they deserve it for the effort they put in too! Keep an eye out for these guys! 

Thanks for reading and until next time!

Lewis 




Website: http://www.redbutlermusic.co.uk/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/redbutlermusic

Twitter: https://twitter.com/redbutlermusic

Instagram: http://instagram.com/REDBUTLERMUSIC



Saturday 21 June 2014

Single Review - "Bolo", Deafh

Hello!

Before I jump into this quite special review, I'd just like to say thank you to everyone who has viewed my blog since its started! The reason is because it now has over 1,000 views! That number still blows my mind, thank you again!

Now onto the review...this single was actually sent to me by the artist/company themselves, the first one! I was really chuffed when I saw the email, but I still needed to listen to the song. 

Needless to say I was really enjoying what I was listening to. Deafh is an R&B artist who is no stranger or amateur to the business for that matter. He has worked with the likes of S1 (Eminem, Kanye West and Adam Levine) and multi-platinum selling producer DJ Speedy (Jay-Z, Beyonce, Nicki Minaj) to name but a few! 

Usually this type of genre isn't my style or something I go out of my way to listen to, but this song caught my attention. The sound being produced was something original to what I have normally heard from this genre. Deafh has a harmonic flow in his rapping which is refreshing to hear. It reminds me of the old school R&B from the late 90's to early naughties with a 2014 twist on it. 

Its a really well produced song, elements constantly being added to keep it fresh and non-repetitive and Deafh has a great voice. Some of the overlapping on the lyrics can seem a bit too busy at times, but I see that this as a way to keep the song entertaining. 

Although be warned for the sudden ending to the track, it was one of those moment where you think "Oh!? Is it over!?". It was a bit of a strange ending to such a enlightening song to the R&B business, but this shouldn't put you off.  

All in all, for a track that was sent to me, its a pretty decent tune. Like I said earlier, usually this type of music isn't my taste, but this song has a refreshing outlook to R&B. I'm looking forward to following Deafh to see what he comes up with next. 

If you have a song you want me to review, then click the 'contact me' link at the top of the page and email me! I'll give it a listen and let you know! Once again thank you for getting me over 1,000 views for this blog, incredible!

Until next time and thanks for reading!

Lewis


             https://twitter.com/Geodee__

Thursday 19 June 2014

Book Review - Scar Tissue by Anthony Kiedis

Hello!

Welcome to blog post number 16! Today I will be sharing with you something a little different to what I normally post about. I like to change things up a bit every now and again and so I thought a book review (still music related) would be great to tell you all about.

The book I am talking about today is the biography of Red Hot Chili Peppers singer Anthony Kiedis. He goes through his life as a child, teenager and musician. His journey is one that I think he lucky to still live, but his events make it one of the best biographies ive read to date.

I have read this book twice and the life events still shock me as to what he has done. A lot of this book does come across drugs and women, but you'd expect that with Anthony in his younger years. I don't want to give too muvh away,  but if you like the Red Hot Chili Peppers then you'll love this book. Its also showing the key events that happened to the band in the time they've been together such as Hillel Slovaks death, John leaving the band and coming back and how they managed to bounce back from nearly falling apart as a band. All those events from how Anthony saw them and portrayed it in his mind.




One thing that does get a little repetitive is the drug usage and rehabilitations that Anthony goes through. A lot of it is what he used during this tour and what he could deal for this tour. He'd get too drugged up to perform or write songs, so he gets help, gets off the drugs and then goes onto them again. Although this is his life and its quite harrowing to think the amount of times he put his body through all that, for the reader it does get a little repetitive.  

Reading this book you keep thinking to yourself "how are you still alive?", one example of this was when him and flea were younger (spolier alert), they loved jumping off roofs into pools and one day Anthony decided to go to the next level and go higher to 6 stories high. Jumped off, misjudged the landing and landed on bare concrete breaking his back and yet is still performing today as if he hadn't nearly snapped his back in two. Incredible. 



A lot of the stories are like this, you keep thinking "if this was anyone else,  they would be dead". So the life events keep the book going and there really isn't a dull moment. Again this is mostly for Chili fans as there are sections about the writing process with An thing going in to detail about why he wrote that particular song etc.

If you haven't read this book yet and have been on the fence, its a brilliant read and with summer knocking on our door its definitely a great read on holiday too.

If you enjoyed this blog, there is the email subscription to which you get an email when I post something new (so no spam dont worry) and you can follow me on various sites following the fancy buttons on the top right on the page. 

Thank you and until next time.

Lewis

Amazon book link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Scar-Tissue-Anthony-Kiedis/dp/0751535664/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1403173213&sr=8-1&keywords=scar+tissue

Sunday 15 June 2014

Album Review - 'State Of Mind', Raul Midon

Hello, 

Welcome to blog post number 15! Also happy fathers day to everyone in the UK too! 

Today I will be talking about a soul singer/songwriter from New Mexico called Raul Midon and his album 'State of Mind' (2005). He has released newer albums, but this is the album that I am most familiar with and I think is a brilliant soul album. 

The first thing you should know about Raul before I jump into his album is that he was born blind. He has an incredible guitar skill and uses his mouth as a trumpet which in words sounds a little strange, but when you hear it, it sounds like a real trumpet which is pretty awesome to hear. 

His vocal range is ridiculous, its definitely a treat to hear a soul singer with such a dynamic range. He has beaten all the typical stereotypes that come with being blind. The fact he's been told that he can't do this and he will never be able to do that. He's thrown that out the window and has showed everyone what he is capable of and I have massive respect for him for following his dream and passion.

'State Of Mind' is a beautiful album of some display's of Raul's musical skills. The strongest song of the whole album is "State Of Mind". It demonstrates his huge vocal range which is at times impressive. Uses his trumpet with his mouth and the whole song flows nicely. That's one thing this album does is keep everything flowing through each song, you can hear that there has been a lot of thought in each song. 

He has also done some collaborations on this album with people such as Traincha, Jason Mraz and Stevie Wonder. A line up of collaborations of that calibre is definitely an attraction to give this album a listen. 


Stevie Wonder plays his harmonica and some backing vocals on a track called 'Expressions Of Love' which is a slow soft song that is played with a lot of delicate tone. The only down side to this song is that its quite a short song at only 2:50 which is a shame considering its such a major collaboration. Then again I'd rather it be a short and brilliant song, than a long and boring track. Then again, this is Stevie Wonder we're talking about here.

Each collaborated song is chosen really well. I think when Raul wrote the song, he knew exactly who to get to play for each song. The song 'Keep On Hoping' with Jason Mraz sounds like the perfect song for Jason to sing on. His voice is portrayed in this song really well, it sounds like a song on one of his older albums.


I think the collaborated songs are definitely stronger than the solo performances. Its not the fact they're bad or boring. I just feel like there is a lot more presented from the performances with other people. The only strong song from just himself is the song "State Of Mind". 

I hope you'll check this man's brilliant talent and keep the soul genre alive as its always ever been! If you enjoyed this post, there are others to check out of the right with the blog history and if you want to get updates of when I next post, subscribe via your email!

Thank you for reading and until next time. 

Lewis



Website: http://www.raulmidon.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RaulMidon

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/raulmidon

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/RaulMidonMusic

Wednesday 11 June 2014

Album Review - Half The City, St.Paul & The Broken Bones



Hello!

Welcome to post number 14! Today I shall be reviewing an album called 'Half The City' by a very cool soul band called St.Paul & The Broken Bones. Coming from Birmingham, Alabama this seven piece band were a real treat for me to find. If you enjoy this post then don't forget to subscribe via email to get updates for the next post! 

Now, you can find this album in the "10 Albums you must hear this month" section on Itunes. This is where I found this album and as I said before, I was pleasantly surprised by the find. I was looking through all ten of the albums and not much hope was lasting out for me, they all sounded the same. Then this album was one of the last ones for me to check out and it was like a blessing. 

The bands line up is as follows:

Paul Janeway (vocals), Jesse Phillips (bass) Browan Lollar (guitars, vocals), Allen Branstetter (trumpet), Andrew Lee (drums, percussion), Ben Griner (trombone, tuba), Al Gamble (keyboards).


This band is extremely talented in creating such a fresh and exciting tone for soul. On vocals is a man called Paul Janeway and this guy has got a voice! Boy has he got a voice! I had to take a step back and really think about what I was listening to. You can't get anymore soul than this man's voice, he was clearly meant to do this for a living. He puts so much energy and commitment to his voice its so refreshing to hear from a singer. 






You can really feel the emotion throughout every song, when the band raises the volume you can feel the energy run right through. Paul really loves to stretch his vocals to the very limits, some can take your breath away with the shear power. A great example of this power is the first track on the album called "I'm Torn Up". The notes Paul sings at the end are...just something else.

The album flows so nicely with some real funky songs mixed in with some 6/8 slow soul. They seem to love to take the listener on a rollercoaster with their sound. Taking it down to the bare minimum, then bringing the whole band in with Paul going all guns blazing with his voice, to finish the songs off with a small tone from the guitar. The song that displays this well is "Broken Bones and Pocket Change". 

Another thing this band does well is utilising every instrument. Making sure everyone can be heard on the album for the greater good of the sound. The track "Don't Mean A Thing" lets every section have its little moments with the horn section for the chorus'. Then the verses for the bass to be heard clearly and again, its all for the sound. The keyboard section in "Grass Is Greener" is shone through in this track more than any of the others. It's a seven piece band, this is how it should be done. 



The songs I recommend to you are "Call Me", "I'm Torn Up", "Its Midnight", "Let It Be So" and "Like A Mighty River". 

If you're looking for a soul band that has a refreshing and revitalising sound to them, then please go check this band out. The more I listen to this album, the more excited I get about how happy I am that I've finally found some new soul music to show off to all of you.

Thanks for reading and don't forget to follow me on the social networks linked at the top left!

Until next time.

Lewis :)







Website: http://stpaulandthebrokenbones.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/StP_BrokenBones

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/St.PaulandTheBrokenBones

Instagram: http://instagram.com/stpaulandthebrokenbones

Sunday 8 June 2014

Artist - Magic Drum Orchestra



Hello! 

Today I'll be telling you guys about a group that's a little bit different to the usual music that I like to share with you all. If you know what a samba beat is, you'll know roughly where I'm going with this, but don't worry if not, all will become clear. 

The group I am talking about is called 'Magic Drum Orchestra'. Now, I know you guys knew this from the title. I'm sure you're all dying to hear about their work and what they do that's different to everyone else. The orchestra is made up of 20 percussionists who all have a burning passion and love for drums. The group was formed in 2005 and come from Dorset, UK. I first heard about this group when I worked at Tru-Thoughts for my internship.

Before I start to tell you how a group of percussionists work, there is a reason I am doing this post on this band in the first place. I used to be part of something similar in my school years, it was a fantastic group called 'Spiritus' and we used to create similar Brazilian styled rhythms. When I first heard this band it took me back 2-3 years to when I was really enjoying playing samba. I hope you all can learn something from this magnificent type of music.

The group create obscure and quite creative beats with a drum that I never knew they could do. Surely though just having 20 drums all sound a bit messy and the same. The orchestra isn't just made up of drums. Let me give you the list of the instruments they use;

Caixa

  • Surdo 
  • Snare/Caixa
  • Timba
  • Repinique
  • Tamborim
  • Cowbells/agogo
  • Shaker/Chocalho
  • Whistle/Apito




I will leave you with some photos of some of the instruments throughout the post and I'll understand if you don't know what these specifically sound like or do. I'll leave a link at the end and you can hear all of those instruments above used in a 20 piece orchestra. A lot of these instruments are used for Brazilian drumming such as Samba or Batucada. 


Timba

You can see this type of drumming at any parade in a city. I used to perform in various parades in Brighton and London, we had to wear ear plugs because this type of music is VERY loud. All in the name for fun though, its something to get your feet tapping and your body shaking.








Repinique
Now here's a little lesson in the art of Brazilian drumming. First of is a 'leader', who posses the whistle and is at the front. Some people who have seen this type of band before live notice that the leader makes certain movements with their arms. This is to signal a break or a change in the rhythm from the main section, because the music is very loud you can't shout. So the next best thing is to make a different arm action for each different break, then the leader will count in and into the section you go. 






Surdo


Each instrument is given its own beat. The surdo is the beat of the rhythm, giving the low sounding pulse throughout with one at a higher pitch and one lower so its easy to distinguish and to count in the group. The Caixa and Repinique's have certain sticking patterns which are usually the main sections that you'll hear most. 








'Magic Drum Orchestra' album
The Magic Drum Orchestra show a fantastic example of all this in many different ways. Although you may think that music would get boring, they're musically talented in creating interesting breaks and uses of the instruments. 


They have even managed to do covers of famous songs with the percussion such as Snoop Dog's "Drop It Like Its Hot" and Cream's "Sunshine Of Your Love". With constant tempo changes and percussion dropping out and coming back in leaves you with no part of boredom. 








I hope you enjoyed this different type of blog, I understand this was more of a lesson in Brazilian drumming, but I felt like I wanted to share my knowledge and love for this type of music. Go to your local parade and see this all for yourself! I apologise in advance now if I get any of the information in the post wrong (sorry)!

Thanks for reading and don't forget to leave your email address for updates on my next post! I update on twitter when the next post will be so don't forget to follow me using my fancy buttons up the top right! 

Until next time!

Lewis :)






Website: http://www.magicdrumorchestra.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MagicDrumO

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/magicdrumorchestra

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKAgq5XpLaZ3a2hGxjEMQxQ



A shoutout to Alex Mann too, for all the years teaching me at Spiritus and being one of the coolest people I know.




Friday 6 June 2014

Review - Led Zeppelin II Remastered (Vinyl)



Hello!

The other day I purchased these gem of a reissued vinyl, so I thought it was too good not to review! This album, was Led Zeppelin II Remastered. I have recently got into vinyl since early 2014 and getting a beautiful vinyl player for my 21st fuelled this ever growing love for vinyl's. 

This album was released on the 2nd June 2014 along with Led Zeppelin I and III on CD and Vinyl. These reissues were packed with bonus' as well as the legendary songs from the band such as "Whole Lotta Love" and "Ramble On" on this album. These bonus' are rough copies of the songs, so if you're a massive fan, then you're going to want to hear these. 

The rough copies of the vocals with the band are heaven for the ears, at first, I thought they were going to be the odd note or lyric in difference, but some of the sections are completely different to the versions we all know and love. The photos I took are just examples of what to expect with the artwork inside for all you lovely lot. 



One song that stands out from the crowd is obviously "Whole Lotta Love". You try sing along to the version you know and you can see how much they have changed from this rough copy. The vocals are not as strong and rushed slightly, there are no "whole lotta loves" from the backing vocals as it only comes from the guitar. Robert Plant clearly hasn't figured all the lyrics out as he repeats in the second verse "baby you need love" 4 times. 




The bridge/psychedelic section is shorter with not much scratching from Jimmy's guitar and Robert hangs back on his vocals slightly. Though there is some nice cross-sticking on the drums which I think should have been kept for the final cut. It all sounds very spaced and not as psychedelic as the final version.  Coming out of that section there is no guitar solo either. 






All of this is just an example from one song from the 8 rough cuts available. You can see how much has actually changed for the final cut of the song and is actually a lot of fun spotting the difference. Its great to see how musically talent these four were to see what needed adding and what could stay because it sounded good already. 




Another track which is amazing to listen to on the rough cut is "Moby Dick". Its quite a sneaky tactic to how they made this awesome track.  They obviously told Bonham to just go nuts and see what we can create for his drum solo part and then cut it back to the original song when ever he stopped. You hear them stop for Bonham's part later, Bonham counts back in and does his 16th note fill to then go on and finish the song (you all know how it goes). Very sneaky, but clever too.

Beautiful detail to look like the original vinyl's

I really enjoyed listening to this album and all the little gems you can hear from the rough cuts. I think this was great move for Led Zeppelin. They're such an iconic British band and this could really spark a new love for them. I find that music in the charts today is at a very low standard to what was made back in the 50's - 70's (judge me all you like about that statement). 

Its great to see some brilliant music being brought into the new age of music with some extras so fans like myself can just love their music all over again. I'll leave a link for where you can get them from on Amazon. 


Thanks for reading and until next time!

Lewis :)











Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_6?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=led%20zeppelin%20vinyl&sprefix=led+ze%2Caps%2C1318


Tuesday 3 June 2014

My Favourite Artists - Beth Hart

Hello!

Apologies for being away for so long, my music uni has bombarded me with too many assignments! Although now they're all done, I can finally focus on this blog, which is a great thought so watch out for some more posts being uploaded!

Onto chapter 2 of the 'My Favourite Artists' series:

Today I'm going to be talking about a woman called Beth Hart, a blues/soul singer from Los  Angeles California. This girl knows how to belt a note out, but with such style and grace, its beautiful to watch. I have been lucky enough to see her twice live, once at The Roundhouse in Camden. This was definitely one of my favourite gigs to look back on and there are reasons which I will get to later on so stick around!

Firstly, I'd like to tell you a little bit about her back story as it is definitely one hell of a rollercoaster. Beth Hart had a promising career ahead of her in 1999 with a major label signing, a number 1 hit in New Zealand and a new album out called 'Screamin' For My Supper'. Thing were really looking up for her career, fame and fortune were only a hairs-breath away. 

Unfortunately, this ever increasing fame got to her mind and she started to turn heavily to drink and drugs. These habits were getting worse by the day due to the amount of stress she was put under by her label and the demand from her. In the end Atlanta kicked her off the label and she was barely left with anything to her name. Her tour manager Scott Guetzkow took her to five hospitals (not including rehabs) to try get her back into a fit state. 


When Beth finally came around and saw what she had lost, she was ready for redemption and fight back for her love of music. She started this off with marrying Scott in Vegas and she went on to release a new album in 2003. Her reputation in the business has sky rocketed since her rehabilitation and because she got into the situation of being at the very rock bottom. She never wants to go back there, so she always put 110% into every gig she does and she is ever so thankful for everyone giving her a second chance. 

Her voice is a very beautiful blend of a calm peaceful tone, to the very scratchy and bellowing highs which make her voice very...very unique. In her voice you can hear and tell there is heartbreak, torture and sorrow, but she uses this to her advantage to come out with one of the best voices I know today. Along with her incredibly talented band, this makes up one of the best shows around. 

She has collaborated with a lot of musicians from Joe Bonamassa  to Jeff Buckley and Buddy Guy. Her career has seen her become more popular than ever before with the blues scene creeping its way back into the more popular side of the business. I believe if it wasn't for Joe Bonamassa making an album with her, she wouldn't be where she is today. 

The album 'Don't Explain' is the perfect selection of songs to really understand the connection that both Hart and Bonamassa have. This album really looks at the limits that Hart can take her voice to. Sometimes its indescribable how she even manages to create the notes she does.The songs on this album that really shine for Hart are 'I'd Rather Go Blind', 'For My Friend", "I'll Take Care You Of You" and "Your Heart Is as Black as Night".

Another album they released recently was called "Seesaw". Another fantastic soul album by the two of them that has become an instant classic. With the likes of "Miss Lady", "Them There Eyes" and "Strange Fruit". 







Beth live is a very captivating and intense musician. She will let you know what she is feeling before a song, tell you a story, let you all into a secret about her life. She is very open about her feelings towards a song, she wants everyone to know why she wrote the song so you can understand her feelings. Her piano talent is outstanding, I never knew until I saw her at The Roundhouse how good she was on keys. She managed to play us a solo piece by herself with her singing a song about her sister. A lot of her songs are very moving, very personal that everyone in the room connects to.

The other musicians that are currently on tour with her are:

Jon Nichols - Guitar
PJ Barth - Guitar
Bob Marinelli - Bass
Bill Ransom - Drums

The drummer had been changed from the first time I saw Beth live in 2012 in London. Bill Ransom is a very different drummer to the last one I saw. He has a very powerful hand to himself, but is one hell of an entertainer. I really love watching drummers that have a lot to give and show it off. He even did a trick where he stopped the music halfway through, bounced his stick from his snare up high into the air and caught it to restart the music. That, was one of the coolest things ive seen live done by a drummer.




Her live shows are definitely one to see, energetic, entertaining and you always go away with a smile! I would urge all of you to at least check out her latest album 'Bang Bang Boom Boom'. I believe Beth Hart should be further in her career than where she is, but she is currently having the time of her life with all the touring she is doing. As well as Scott always being there for her for each and every gig because he's the tour manager still.

I hope this has shed some light on what you can expect from this beautifully brilliant blues/soul singer. She is one to watch for the future even at her young age of 42, she is still out there fighting for a place up with the big time. She always will be fighting to repay what she had failed to do in her earlier career.

Thanks for reading and until next time

Lewis :)




Website: http://bethhart.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/officialbethhart
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BethHart