Cody ChesnuTT – LANDING ON A HUNDRED

Heralded by a full blown tower of 60’s/ 70’s soul in the Curtis/ Marvin tradition, Thats Still Mama, ‘Landing On A Hundred‘ (Out now), is Cody’s ChesnuTT’s first full album of new material in a decade. Cody performed two emotional one-man shows in London in September, previewing new material, including a headline date at The Jazz Cafe. He is set to return to the UK in March next year with his 9-piece band.

Universally acclaimed for his edgy, sprawling Shortlist Prize nominated 2002 debut, The Headphone Masterpiece, Cody ChesnuTT re-emerges as a soul troubadour whose frank, socially conscious songs, set the bar for what modern soul music can look and sound like: On every level – rhythm, song, subject matter, spirit – Landing On A Hundred delivers massively, it’s message upbeat even as it reflects upon troubled times.

Says Cody “This body of work is extremely meaningful to me – it represents the journey I have been on since I last released an album. Words cannot describe or express how excited I am about this music.”

Opener ‘Till I Met Thee’ shakes it’s mean little hips at you. This song finger-flicks itself into the room. Does a twirl. And smiles sweetly. Cody’s voice is bright moon happy and silver braided. The razzled, sumptuous atmosphere created by the arches of spanning vocals push the ‘Dead Man’ lyrics into the boudoir. And, then, of course, the persistent fingering vibrations will create a familiar tenderness in your under-loins. But you are left wondering at the religious implications. And feeling a bit guilty about yourself.

Ah-ha- ‘I’ve Been Life’ introduces the shtorking bass and tremulous guitar jangles into your life. These swish and rattle around this feverish track. Stroking and tickling you with their purring shenanigans. Cody prowls around this song like a syrupy cat hunting for the cream. Luxurious, sultry and smoother than a waxed bottom on the Posto Dois.

Silky tomfoolery and saggy vocals drawl deeply,  as they soulfully filter through the waxed curtain of the sounds on ‘That’s Still Mama’. It’s enough to make your snow globes itch and burn.

I don’t know ‘What Kind of Cool (Will We Think of Next)’  but it is probably in the form of this song. Soft as a coconut souffle and flimsy as a sno-cone foamball. Horns cradle the cool vocals, adding a touch of spice to the otherwise sweetmeat mix.

“You can follow the wind… follow your skin.” Says Cody but, he implores us,  ‘Don’t Follow Me’. This is feeble advice. You won’t be able to accept it. The song contains a wallowing bass note that gives you the heart-bumps.  And then ‘Everybody’s Brother’ opens up with a nostalgic horn sound (it’s a bit James Bondy.)  And Cody narrates a list of his bad points-  but then tells us triumphantly that he ‘Ain’t Turning Back’. Well, as a confessional there is not much contrition here. But none of us can turn back time. But where there’s a will, there’s a way.

And we all know that love is ‘More than a cheque book… and more than a Wedding Day’. Really, it is not so much of a revelation. But it is probably something she once said. So it needs to repeated back to her. A pleasant  twin-set of jazzy piano and sizzling sax helps to sell this next track.

‘Under The Spell of the Handout’ starkly sets out the ChesnuTT protest stall. Rock ‘n’ roll guitars and a stopgap rhythm is painted black-and-white onto the chalkboard.  Then ‘ Don’t Go The Other Way’ recreates the soul of the seventies. We know you do not want to wake the sleeping beasty.  But those drum crackles and swirls of sound will undoubtedly rouse your reminiscences …  out of their lingering yawns and cosy slumbers.

‘Chip’s Down (In No Landfill)’ begins with a piano piece for simpletons. It’s a classic case of vintage booty. When the chorus ascends into view, it is recognizable and gorgeous. This song is about losing it all. But somehow, that is quite liberating isn’t it? And we are not surprised that they had to sell off all his stuff, because (frankly) if he does not know where it all comes from, what’s the point in  having it? ‘Where Is All The Money Going?’ is the story of our times, though, and a tale for all of us in these days of triple-dip recession. We know where all the money is going though don’t we? It goes into the  fat-cat pockets and multi-national troughs. But where is it all coming from?  Perhaps it just goes round-and-round. Like this track. It ‘s exciting and uneven. It can be a bumpy ride at times.

‘Scroll Call’ completes this album of delights. It has an inherent tension that gnaws at your tops. And the rubber gasped thwackery of Cody’s drifting and chaotically grinning vocals starts doing things with your dainties.  And before you know it, Cody has dropped your unmentionables in the hall, and swanked off into the jazz-light. Just leaving the bridges he has built between you and your own feeble impotence.

You’d better listen to it all over again. Then you might feel better.

-© Neil_Mach November 2012 -

Link:

http://www.facebook.com/iamcodychesnutt
Cody ChesnuTT
Landing On A Hundred
Label: One Little Indian
Catalog Number: TPLP1171

Tree House Fire Rocket Album Review

Those loveable Guildford based reggae/ska /pop fellas  Tree House Fire have proudly produced an amazing debut album – available right now on Trench Foot Records.

The recording entitled Rocket! can be grabbed at their bandcamp site or using the links below.
After the band’s sensational show at The Hobgoblin, Staines at the weekend (Ant’s Birthday bash) – we got hold of a copy of Rocket!  And here’s what we thought:

With a whirlwind of a start to it,  this song pumps you up from the inside and it makes you grind. The first tiny taster-track grooves smoothly into the superb composition ‘Straza Grip’. With its boom-boom political references and a bass line that walks impulsively along-the-line. This accomplished song has more fire in its belly than a dragon that’s been force-fed a vindaloo.  ‘No more prophets to spread the world …’  Sings Sam (vocals / guitar) as those sinewy organ sounds swelter out.  This track simmers and bubbles beneath the Levantine sun. 

‘The Drop’ pulls no political punches either.  But that won’t stop you dancing.  The vibrations will shake your chitterlings  -  causing some sonic damage deep down in your Mondongos …

And then ‘Rabble’  flames up a joint of soothing sounds, so you can start to relax and unwind into some early shimmying, ready  for ‘Peoples Problems’.  This enjoyable ditty has lumpy low notes  – and these get pulled and prodded around by the band’s miracle bass player – Ant.  The cool voice runs along, growing in stature as it matures within the song.  And then, before you know it, it’s all over. It’s a bit like a night out with your mates really!

Title track ‘Rocket!’ has a traditional Reggae/Ska edge to it. Effective vocals create several notable moments, and the song-structure will certainly make you raise your arms and sway.  A memorable chorus will linger for ever, too.

Scratchy ‘Great Ocean Road’ (Featuring DJ Killer Tomato)  is a fast paced squawking scatter-gun of surprises. An addictive beat is gilded by those intrepid vocals that chatter out an alarming rate.

The track ‘Stack It Up High’ is the creation ”par excellence” of Tree House Fire.  A firm favourite at live shows, the bass play in this extraordinary piece is so utterly depraved that it  almost consumes you.

And ‘KMB ’ is the band’s party song.  It’s happy reggae. It has a whooping sing along chorus and oodles of plucky guitar sounds that keep moving behind an enormously bouncy bass and cheerfully inflatable vocals. It’s the kind of the song that you need to take your heels off for.  Sod it, take off your shirt too. ‘Cos you will be dancin’ along to this one. For ages.  I promise you. In fact, you will be “bouncing off the ceiling ..”  after listening to it.

– © Neil_Mach September 2012 –

Link:

http://www.facebook.com/treehousefire

The Peacocks – Don’t Ask - Album Review

The Peacocks – Don’t Ask

Straight out of Switzerland The Peacocks have been playing double bass driven punk rock since 1990. That is long before Australia’s band ‘The Living End’, had even formed. The comparisons with that band are justified though, rockabilly influenced punk trio with hard hitting, excellently observed and aware lyrics that have transcended genres.

Their new recording ‘Don’t Ask’ is a 14 track stomper of an album that is all that we have come to expect from The Peacocks – Explosive, rockabilly influenced, stand-up bass driven punk rock, addictive and as catchy as hell.

It deserves to be played LOUD!

We took a listen to the perfectly structured songs on the album (Release date:  05 Oct)  and here’s what we thought:

‘What I want’ has a thundering, galloping beat that will remind you of a jalopy careering down a flinty ridge. Sneering vocals have a perfumed arrogance about them. Cymbals shatter the dusty guitar lines, and then the arrangement is notched up a gear – before it cartwheels off the edge of a ferociously precipitous cliff face. My my !

‘Need A Break’  has a nasally gooey guitar line that gurgles and leaks out before the crystal clear voice breaks cover and goes for it. A rumbling rock ‘n’ roll beat keeps things brisk and business-like.

‘All I’ve Got Is What You See’ sounds like The Clash.  A punkish prickly vibe and bristling percussion- with drumming and bass as stiff as loo brushes. Solid chops of guitar and a mere hint of a back beat that adds a fruity Sixties flavour.

‘Don’t Pretend to Care When You Don’t Care’. The peat smoked vocals on this track sounds like Shane MacGowan – in fact this whole piece has an admirable Celtic punk/Folk punk sponginess to it. Claggy drums thump whilst sour whiskey soaked guitars lurk about looking for trouble.

‘Up and Down’ starts like a Johnny Cash song. A tenuous guitar leads us a-dance, then a ribald bass riff rubs you up the wrong way. Cheeky vocals are chanted out in a dingy bar room setting. A sing along chorus makes you feel all beery and glad.

‘How Did They Do That?’ Glistening guitars walk up and down a la ‘Shadows’.  Doing the walk. And you’ll do the walk with them. Chopping and incisive guitars perfectly suit the switchblade sharp and dangerously cutting voice. This is a scoffing disdainful protest song. Sung from the angry gut.

‘With You’ seems to follow on naturally from ‘How Did They Do That? ‘ Sending up the Eurythmics is fair. But the Jam-like chorus is a step too close to thievery.  This shaggily shambolic shakedown is one of the album’s weaker moments.

‘Nothing Left to Sing’ is a far stronger piece. A jaded ballroom twister. A howler and a spin-a-rounder. You can smell the sawdust as the guitars fizz and bubble. And the greasy vocals stir up and foment disorder on the dance floor, long before the bruisers have arrived. Watch out. Or you’ll end up being dragged in.

‘Shouldn’t Bring Up What I Can’t Put Down’. Treating us to all of the tricks in the punk book of musical wizardry, this final track sings and shines. Glorious guitars fizz and burn as the unselfish riffs pack everything they can into such a small space. Concentrated joy. In a rusty can.

– © Neil_Mach September 2012 –

Link:

http://www.facebook.com/thepeacocksofficial

Bleed Electric This Is My Masterpiece

Bleed Electric is the convergence of two talents -  Welsh based Music Producer and Media Specialist Chris Maguire aka Mug5 with imaginative wordsmith  & rapper/vocalist Silk (S-Tradamus).

Together Mug5 and Silk are an exciting melting pot of talent and freshness – and this makes Bleed Electric’s originality of sound unlike anything that has been heard before.

‘This Is My Masterpiece’  is a continuation of the last, and third Bleed Electric EP  ‘Let The Invasion Begin’. Fully realizing the future fresh sound of Bleed Electric, ‘This Is My Masterpiece’ is considered, by the band, to be their most masterful musical statement to date.

We had an early listen to ‘This Is My Masterpiece’ and here’s what we thought:

First track, ‘A New Reason’ has hoopy loopy spirals of sound that flow healthily around, and gush up to greet you. Then a bubbling beat jaggers and sizzles. Anxious voices seem to be rumbling in the background, long before their meeting with a sheer cliff of overpowering sound… and that’s when a basket of Eastern tones shake up the plot, as they connive to cut off the rap in full flight.

‘Accidental Genius’ – This hot and sweaty beat-fest vibrates along, all spread out and happy. And after a big blast of a horn, the sounds continue to flap, as they regurgitate the sound before them,  and shuffle manfully onwards. This throbbing track will free the latent fire that you have hidden so deeply in your knapsack.

‘Pragmatic’ has a lacerating rhythm and a voice so piercing that the primordial silence- when it comes – is comforting. The vocals bounce right up to spit you in the eye. And if that is not enough, the sluggardly womp
will fluster and befuddle your sweetmeats right up to the point of climax. You can take a ride on this one.

‘Angel Fly’ has a withering coat of sweat covering its tight skin.  Clarified vocals are intermittently smothered by an other-worldly intruder, and these cause the entire pace to be subtly suspended.  Then the whole piece turns into a paradise of enviably delicate, utopian sounds.

Title track ‘This Is My Masterpiece’ begins with a hollow fluttering. The inscribed words seem to be slightly floating, as if they are being drawn gently upwards into a hot sky. Then a corridor of relaxing sounds creates a flamboyant blanket of comfort whist  the all encompassing composition manifests itself as a creation of absolute control and total immersion.

Sit back and let Bleed Electric take you on a musical journey that you have never experienced before.

– © Neil_Mach August 2012 –

Link:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bleed-Electric/449669410202

Jay James Picton Album Review

We saw Jay James Picton performing at the Monto Water Rats in London last week, launching his debut album [ ‘Play It By Heart’ which is to be released on August 27].

The Welsh singer / songwriter has been very busy, in collaboration with the likes of Booker T Jones and John Legend, and working with Mike Peden and Malay to co-produce his album. The album has been described as a combination of blues and R & B. but it is, in essence, a slice of dark classic soul.

‘Another Man’ begins with a discordant crash, as if the bottom has fallen out of someone’s life. The extent of devastation, revealed in the voice of Jay James as he opens up his heart to you - will you tear your asunder. What a waste. Feel the pity. And the anxiety will fester in the pit of your stomach.

Respite comes mercifully quickly, because the opening track quickly segues into ‘Long May They Roll’ - not that any emotion stops there - because your senses will be kept boiling. The gently murmuring keyboards and the gurgling of guitars suit the impassioned vocals that weep and mourn so abundantly and so clearly. Yet the words have that fragile emotional quality that is hard to release and hard to forget. So no tears will come to be wasted ...

Then ‘Play It By Heart’ gently bobs along. Sweet accompaniment helps that fat, greasy, tobacco stained voice to exploit and manipulate your feelings. This song has a reasonably formulaic chorus - but is so expertly rendered that it will linger in your mind long after it is first played. ‘Nothing But You’ is a big bruising blues number. Evoking distant memories of smoky honky-tonk dance halls and squalid West Memphis gambling joints. The haunting trumpet emblazons those heartfelt vocals.

I imagine ‘Gravity’ is probably gonna be lifting Jay James up - rather than pulling him down. And this is another superbly crafted song, deftly preaching its sermon in a gently proficient verse and competent lyrical structures. The paths of sound in this song tend to twine and gradually merge, joining up in an accomplished and magnificent end-piece which cannot be easily forgotten.

‘You’re The Sea’ show-cases the extraordinary vocal range of Jay James Picton. And ‘Spiders’ is dark, moody and paranoically melancholy. You may be able to nuzzle up to this one, but the sadness penetrates irresistibly into your heart, obscuring any mood.

‘Heads vs Hearts’ explains the manifesto of Jay James Picton. You may be wanting to do something - or to act in a certain way- and you may even think you know how something’s going to turn out ... but in the end, it is your heart that will always dictate what is good for you - and it will come through for you if you allow it. And, if you don’t let your heart direct you and guide you - disaster will likely fall upon everything. In this song the singer stands to loose the woman he loves - and he may even loose his fraught mind in the process - just because he chooses to ignore his heart.

 Dappled song ‘Sunshine’ has a jazzy feel to it and is one of several songs that may remind you of work by Amy Winehouse. And if you think that comparisons with female blue-eyed soul singers are not relevant - think again. Picton’s voice easily reaches and even exceeds the highs and low attempted by the likes of Robert Palmer or Mick Hucknall.

The rhythm of ‘Someone That’s Real’ will also remind you of a female performer- in this case Emeli Sandé [Next to Me]. This song ignites the flame in your heart. And, as usual, the oozing passion exudes- like thick blood - from every open wound. Listening to this is like ripping out your heart - still beating- from your breast ... before wearing it proudly upon your sleeve.

The album concludes with ‘The Boy The Wants To Fly’. This sizzles with faded Americana - as that spirited and haunting voice lifts you ever upwards - and you realise that you can look down from the highest of highs. Enjoy the vision of a world spread out like a blanket below you.

Don’t doubt it. This boy will fly- and you had better hang on to his shirt-tails if you wanna go with him!

– © Neil_Mach August 2012 –

Link: http://www.facebook.com/jayjamespictonofficial