Posts Tagged ‘kongos

23
Jan
13

Treefiddy Review: Gerald Clark – Black Water

main-6The Down Lizzo:

Remember near the end of last year when I posted that badass stop-motion video for the track “Black Water” by Gerald Clark and wrote about how badly I needed that album in my life?

Well my prayers were answered pretty much the next day and before I knew it I was knocking back some smoky Double Black and tearing it up to this gritty, gutsy, killer blues album.

Black Water is how the blues were made to be played. It’s honest, unrepentant, wild and free and I loved every minute of it.

Take equal parts of Albert Frost and Dan Patlansky, throw in some Ray La Montagne for good measure and mix it up in a giant, bubbling cauldron of 12-bar blues and you’ve got Gerald Clark.

With a whisky-soaked voice that sounds like it’s straight from the Deep South and an arsenal of soaring, foot-stomping monster blues riffs, Gerald’s packing more than just an ace or two up his sleeve on Black Water, and he ain’t afraid to use ‘em.

 

Sick Tracks:

The album’s title track Black Water really is something else. It’s thumping, driving bass beats reminded me a little of the Kongos track “I’m Only Joking” and creates this perfect, sinister accompaniment to Gerald’s virtuoso slide-guitar.

It’s shit-kicking blues at it’s very best. A song about the bad ways of beautiful women. Sheer poetry I tells ya.

The album’s opening track “It Ain’t You” is a perfect taste of what to expect on the album. It plays out slow and steady as Gerald eases you into a world of unrequited lust, sin, vice, virtue and everything inbetween.

His vocals on “It Ain’t You” are a thing of wonder. He belts them out gritty as a rusted old freight-train on a one-way track to either salvation or damnation. Either way, it’ll get you hooked right from the get-go.

 

 

“Ain’t Going To Heaven” is also a great track. Gerald shifts gears on this one, going for a lighter, livelier, easy-breezy melody. I had a good chuckle at the chorous where Gerald sings “No I ain’t going to heaven / It’s the only place I’ll have to face her”. Hahaha! What a badass.

It’s not all hellfire and dirty, gritty, foot-stomping blues though. Gerald also lays down some sweeter melodies in quieter, more introspective tracks like the instrumental “Late Night Blues” and the light-hearted “Marry Me”, proving beyond a doubt that this man has some serious songwriting chops.

Should You Give A Shit?

Oh hells yeah you should give a shit! Goddamn! You should give two shits! Black Water has it all and whether you’re into heartfelt, badass blues or not, you’ll find a good couple of tracks on this album that will speak to you in one way or another.

To give you a taste of how sick this album is, here’s “Ain’t Going To Heaven” to sink your teeth into.

Dig it:

 

 

Head on down to Gerald’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/geraldjamesclark) to stream more of his tracks or visit www.geraldclark.co.za to order his album.

Final Verdict: 8/10

-ST

25
Sep
12

Rocking The Daisies Must-See Bands (Part 2)

KongosNow that I’ve recovered from the “IDFFLT” state that I found myself in last week, it’s time to get things back on track with my second Rocking The Daisies Must-See Bands post.

Originally I was going to break this festival down stage by stage until I realised how much work that would be on my part.

Instead, I decided to go day by day rather, a much less painful option.

So the first post pretty much covers everything for Thursday as there’s only going to be one stage up and running. Come Friday however, the festival will start coming alive and when it does, these are the bands you need to check out.

One more disclaimer before I start though – all the bands I’m recommending are playing on the main stage.

Yes, I know how lame that is, most people will just go to the main stage by default so I probably don’t need to big up any of the bands playing there, but holyfuckingshit, I’m writing this post on a machine that crawls like a goddamned dying snail, it’s already taken me THREE FUCKING HOURS just to find the videos below.

 

 

As much as I’d love to give other bands and artists from the Beach Bar Stage, the Nu World Beat Barn and the Electro Stage some love, that will literally take me another ten hours at the very least.

If ANYONE reading this knows other sick bands and artists performing on the Friday, drop a video link in the comments section below and if I get enough, I’ll write a follow-up post to this one.

Moving on, Friday kicks off at 1pm on the main stage with the Black Handed Kites. This band will make for a perfect, chilled start to the day with their acoustic guitar / banjo folky vibes. Check out their video for “Up”.

 

 

The next band I’d keep an eye out for on the main stage is Beatenberg, who are stepping up to do their thang at 3.10pm.

They’ve got a nice acoustic pop vibe, easy listening kinda stuffs to zone out to and get lost in. Really liked the sound of their track “Scorpionfish”, check it:

 

 

Anyone planning to indulge in some shrooms or anything else of a hallucinogenic nature should probably give the main stage a wide berth at around 5.20pm when The Brother Moves On take to the stage.

Or not. Depending on what you can handle…

These guys are like the Mars Volta of African music. Massively experimental, they won’t be everyone’s cuppa tea but I’ll definitely make an effort to see these guys. Should be pretty entertaining to watch if nothing else.

 

 

Of all the bands playing the main stage on the Friday, the first one to really make me sit up and listen when I was researching this piece was Machineri, who are up at 6.25pm.

From the couple of tracks of theirs I’ve managed to dig up, I like what I’m hearing. The guitarist Andre Geldenhuys is on a whole other level and the vocalist Sannie Fox has a Jefferson Airplane / Janis Joplin vocal tone that is all kinds of sexy.

 

 

Once Machineri have melted a few faces, I’d strongly recommend EVERYONE AT THE FESTIVAL heads to the Lemon Tree Theatre to watch Dylan Skews do the funniest stand-up you’re likely to see the entire weekend.

I watched this man at Synergy and literally cried laughing. Here’s a clip I dug up of some of his material from last year:

 

 

After that, I’d grab a bite to eat, smash a few tequilas and get ready for Friday’s big acts, starting with Isochronous, (who recently shortened their name to ISO), who are up at 9.40pm.

They wrote a pretty mesmerising, almost ethereal kind of indie which balances nicely with the Ben Gibbard / Death Cab For Cutie vocals.

Here’s a taste:

 

 

Last up is a band that I will personally kick you in the shin if you even think about missing.

Kongos are up at 11pm and they are going to blow everyone the fuck away. You can pretty much take that to the bank.

Here’s their video for “I’m Only Joking” if you don’t believe me.

 

 

Love those Queens Of The Stone Age / robot rock vibes. That relentless, driving bassline sounds like something stolen straight from Song For The Deaf, beyatiful.

If you’ve still got any strength left in you after that, I think it’ll be worth staying to watch BEAST, Inge Bergman’s new band.

I loved Lark, so even though I haven’t been able to find any of BEAST’s material to show you guys, I have high hopes for this band.

So that’s Friday for ya, anyone have any other suggestions of bands to watch, don’t be shy Winking smile

-ST