Category: Music

Once upon a time an annoying dwarf with a piano called Jools Holland introduced “The Dog Himself” to us, the British public. At first glance it was just some bloke with dungarees, a beard and a guitar. But as soon as that dude began to play all of Mr. Holland’s “wonderful!” and “Superb!” guests that night became irrelevant.

Since that event in Seasick Steve‘s life he has been on the up and up. After the incredible, almost mainstream, success of his second album ‘Dog House Music‘ and numerous sell out gigs, he has gone from having a cult fan base to nation wide acceptance from critics and new fans alike.

The main tale told on with this release is focused on his days of travelling and finally coming to terms to settling down after a life of excess and adventure. Known as a traveller for a period of his life ‘Prospect Line‘ documents Steve’s time hopping trains and waiting on his free ride. The beautiful ballad ‘Walking Man‘ boasts the line “my name is Steve and I’m your stayin’ man”. Another indication that the once hard to pin down hobo is now ready to find a place and call it home.

Another recurring theme on this album is booze and lots of it. Songs like ‘Thunderbird‘ are a salute to the man’s days of drinking, drinking and drinking some more. “If you’re gonna sing a song about drinking wine…..you should drink some wine.” I think that says it all really. The man needs no excuse to enjoy a jug or two of cheap wine.

Seasick Steve is a fantastic raconteur. Every song on ‘I Started Out…‘ tells a story from his past. Even the most pointless of tales sound like good times. For example, the song ‘Chiggers’ is about a type of insect that bites you on the legs. Simple and pointless but it’s the way Steve sings and plays with such heart that makes an otherwise boring tale enjoyable.

Although the slightly polished nature of this Warner Bros. release smoothes the edges of his sound a little, Steve still manages to give you that raw, dirty, Mississippi feel to his music. Rather than sticking to the blues mould he progresses to more of a full band sound with Swedish drummer and tour mate Dan Magnusson. He is not the only dude joining Steve on this record. Nick Cave and his Grinderman posse jam on ‘Just Like A King‘ with fantastic results. Seasick has made a few friends on his journeys as of late.

Seasick Steve has lived the life so many blues and country musicians could only dream of for inspiration. A man who has had to contend with an abusive stepfather, a man who left home at thirteen, who has been locked up, homeless, suffered heart attacks and hobo’d his away across most states of the ol’ U.S of A. and that’s just scratching the surface. Seasick is a man who’s music you can believe. No bullshit gimmicks. Simply put, he’s an enigma of a dude with a gob full of stories him and his guitar are itching to tell you.

Tom Lindsey

Regardless of age, you would have heard or listened to an artist influenced by the Bomb the Bass sound. Back in the mish/mash of the late 80s Tim Simenon dropped the cut n’paste classic Beat Dis closely followed by the excellent ground breaking Enter The Dragon album.

If you are expecting another rehash of hiphop fused with crazy samples, this album will be a shock, that’s DJ Yoda’s game in 2008. If Enter the Dragon was your thing in the early 90s, its likely you, like Bomb the Bass, have moved on. Electronic music changes fast, from the likes of Massive Attack, Leftfield to the darker Unkle all injecting more feeling and a greater range of emotions in to their programming and delivery, this could be the next meaningful step forward solidifying a more tense, deep sound to the dance music genre.

The first cut off the album is “Smog“, instantly haunting, a nervous tone sets the vibe, Paul Conboy provides vocals and works himself in to the abyss of Simenons dark, despairing musical backdrop. “Butterfingers” keeps the dark, claustrophobic unease with Fujiya and Miyagis’ David Best eerily whispering through lyrics about playing Tetris on his eyelids, which somehow feels fitting to the soundscape. There are no shortage of nods back to his previous years either with a few Adamski style beeps and echoes now lurking as scars from his previous battles in the studio.

All the vocalists on Simenons latest creation are male, and include grunge journeyman Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees/QOTSA) oddly appearing on “Black River” which is marginally more organic and human than the clean beats that are present right through the album. Paul Conboy from APE pops up again to laces a few more tunes, including “So Special” which is the lead single from the album. Jon Spencer, (yes from The Blues Explosion) appears to finish the album off with the murky, very urgent Manga/Akira style beat on “Fuzz Box“.

This album is certainly a taste of the future, but will fit right in, and trump the current crop of bands such as MGMT and the other acts/producers that have salvaged their mini-moogs from the attic. The thing that sets this album apart is the greater levels of depth applied to the simplest of beats, Future Kaos is built on possibly one of the most solid musical foundations of the last 20 years. Delaying the album release for the last couple of years has only served to let peoples music tastes evolve enough to be ready for this album, as Simenon is undoubtedly light years ahead of most in the studio and with this release will leave many playing catchup all over again like it was ’88.

Philip Procter

Joel Grind IS Toxic Holocaust. The one man death metal mission. Many session musicians have fallen by the way side since the birth of Toxic Holocaust but it has been solely Mr. Grind cultivating this landscape of horror and killer riffs since the band’s inception in 1999.

The first impression you get from Joel Grind is that he knows his shit. He seems like the type who has been hiding in his “Mom’s” basement for years collecting black and death metal vinyl, shredding to himself and writing pen pal letters to Obituary before finally realising that he could do it all himself. After donning his bullet belt and leathers he set to work on making his third full length and relapse records debut ‘An Overdose of Death…‘ Which, I can tell you now, kicks seven shades of shit out of your ear drums.

On first listen it’s easy to write off Toxic Holocaust as a rip-off band. On closer inspection you realise that they are not a dodgy tribute act or covers band but simply students of the game. Their bludgeoning tracks, backed up by an equally vicious live performance, should silence all critics and nay sayers. Toxic Holocaust are young and blood-hungry. They have taken what made bands like Venom, Exodus, Slayer, Kill ’em all era Metallica and Testament so great and given a fresh take on it from a young, rabid perspective. It’s by no means original, but my god is it refreshing to hear such balls to the wall metal from the younger generations.

It’s hard not to head bang or wish you were watching this band live when you hear the record. From opening track ‘Wild Dogs‘ to the amazingly titled ‘Nuke The Cross‘ the Holocaust don’t give you time to breathe.

Pounding the skins on this LP is Zeke’s own Donny Paycheck who has the ability to produce a sound from his drums on par with a war zone. Believe me when I say, friendly fire this is not! The speed at which he plays is equally matched with Grind’s raspy and gargled vocals. On N.W.O.B.H.M-esq ‘Lord of The Wasteland‘ Grind sounds like he’s dining on a meal of broken glass and rusty needles. ‘Grave Lord’ is the one for the old school speed metallers and will certainly have you wishing you were witnessing the carnage live.

‘Future Shock‘ salutes the classic Motorhead sound where as, what is bound to become a pit classic, ‘War Is Hell‘ unleashes a barrage of killer licks and breakdowns. This album grips you from start to finish with absolutely no let up. It’s simply packed with brutal riffs and has no room for filler.

With so many bands these days churning out trash and death metal releases it has become increasingly harder to siv through the shit. Toxic Holocaust stand decapitated head and shoulders above the rest. ‘An Overdose Of Death…‘ is one of the best albums of this genre I have heard in while. I strongly suggest you strap on your gauntlets, dust off the studded biker jackets, bow down and submit yourself to the Gravelord.

Tom Lindsey