Mamas Gun - Routes To Riches

Mama's Gun - Routes To Riches

Every now and then, I'll find a band that just stops me in my tracks, makes me listen with all of my attention and focus, and makes me just instantly love what they do, many of these bands and artists I've shared with all of you here, and today, I share another with you, the UK band called Mama's Gun, taking their name from a recent album by the brilliant Eryka Badu, its hard to really garner where they fit in the world of music, but I do know that i love them and this album is just amazing, I've yet to find anyone thats not listened to it afew times through, which to me is a sign that a band or artist is amazing at what they do. What they do is a sort of retro style pop, where bands like The Magic Numbers, who i love immensely are all about the retro british pop style, Mama's Gun is all about the 1970s soul, funk, and general mid 1960s pop from both the world over, I hear alot of The Jackson Five and The Beatles in them, which though not a fan of the beatles so much, i find when others take their style and expand on it, is a lovely trip through the nuances of music's past that many for whatever reason see as hallowed ground. Taking risks and reworking what we see as classic, thats brave and so very made of win, most artists should do that.

The album itself, Routes To Riches opens with the song I find myself listening to more then anything else on the disc, the brilliant "House On A Hill" which is just a brilliant upbeat Jackson Five style pop love song that just blows me away whenever I hear it, I wanna just get up and party like its 1972 all over again and everyone's trying to be 10 year old Micheal Jackson, the party continues with "Rico" which is a brilliant fusion of Stevie Wonder and early Eagles music, its got enough rock for the rockers to like and enough funk that you could pop and lock like nobody's business to, its a great groove with a great flow and a great hook which a funk song must have, followed by an even better bridge thats just brilliant. From there our trip through the music spectrum takes us to "You Are The Music", which starts with a beautiful string arrangement and then drops you a very soulful Earth, Wind and Fire or maybe Ohio Players style uptempo ballad of love, you could really hear this on the soundtrack of any blaxploitation movie ever made and you wouldn't know its a group of British white guys, it switches tempo and feel at the bridge, and becomes gritty dirty funk for a verse, then back to original, its brilliant really. From there our next stop is, "Finger On It", an upbeat dance heavy funk track that you can almost hear George Clinton's influence in it with lines like "hotter then a hot potater hotter then sex in an elevator, shake your funky junk, shake your funky junk for me" its almost guaranteed to get you up out of your seat and moving around and singing around to it, brilliant dance track really. Next up in this party is "Pots Of Gold" a slowed down ballad that seems to almost smack of the influence of mostly forgotten but still a favorite of mine neo-soul singer Maxwell, which delighted me, Maxwell doesn't get enough love these days, it also drips of Marvin Gaye, which is just all sorts of win for a guy like me, who grew up to old Marvin Gaye records, its a beautifully romantic and meaningful song, one of my favorites on the disc really. Its followed by "Chasing Down Shadows" which is a great sweeping ballad that has a great retro late 1960s style british pop feel to it, which is great because though am eating up the retro funk and soul vibe with a spork, I was craving a change in style just to see what they'd do with other ideas, incredibly pleased by the result. Next stop on our tour is, "Phycho Territory" a great fast paced upbeat funk track you can totally see people getting their late 70s boogie on too, its fast paced and bouncy and just plain awesome no matter how you see it, its almost like the BeeGees came out of the past and gave them this track and showed them how to make it brilliant, by this point I'm completely lost in this wonderland of sound they've created for my ears, they follow this up with "Bitch" which is a great funk blues track with an INCREDIBLE guitar riff that leaves me in awe and makes me kind of think they went into the past and stole it from Bootsie Collins, its a thick and sexy straight up funk blues song, its kind of like if you mixed John Lee Hooker or Howlin Wolf with Parliament in a blender and mixed them till it was all liquid, with just afew thick chunks left for the guitar, totally brilliant. From there we go to "Lets Find A Way", a song that sounds like an uptempo Disco era BeeGee's song, or some other uptempo Ballad, you find yourself wanting to roller disco to this one, which is pretty awesome really, its great when music sends you back in time like that, shows a great power to it, next up is "Miracle" which has this great guitar arrangement and is like a total Marvin Gaye song, its just so damn brilliant, the soul falsetto, the upbeat Barry Gibb / Marvin Gaye style vocals and the whole funk dripping beats its just amazing, I find myself listening to it over and over and just living it more and more each time, and the bridge? i totally love it. Our journey ends with "Big Betty" a dirty, gritty, chunky as hell guitar driven funk rock track that sounds like something close to Stevie Wonder's Superstition or something very akin to it, with its brilliant rocky vocals, its untouchable guitar riffs and its overall sound that makes you feel like its a summer night in 1975 and its coming out the speakers of your home stereo at a backyard barbecue somewhere, it leaves you wanting to just loop the disc so you can hear it all again, because you aren't done with it blowing your mind into a million little shards yet.

Now the big question, Is this album for everyone? Oh hell yes it is, i mean come on, this is one of the best discs I've heard in YEARS, this thing blew me away from the very opening and continued to do so all the way to the very end, and left me wanting more, so ofcourse this disc is for everyone who wants to take a nice trip through the music spectrum and relive an era that alot of us wish music would get back to because of just how great it all was. So yeah, if you are a lover of music, if you're a lover of retro music, if you're a lover of fun loving good time music you can dance too and not feel embarrassed to play around your kids, parents or grandparents, all of which who more then likely will wanna get down with their funky selves to this, much to your horror at the image of that, even though it speaks to the beautiful feel and joy put into this. So yeah give it a listen, you'll love it as much as I do.


This is a brilliant accoustic version of their song "House On A Hill" which is by far my favorite song of theirs, so catchy, the album version is alot more funky though, but still love this version to death, wish it was on the disc really...



Artist: Mama's Gun
Album: Routes To Riches
Genre: Soul, Funk, Retro Pop, Britpop
Homepage: Mama's Gun's Homepage
Myspace: Mama's Gun on Myspace

Download: Download the Album here


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BC

Aloan - Pretty Freaks

Aloan - Pretty Freaks

There aren't many artists these days that actually make me excited when I hear a new song or that there is a new album coming soon, maybe I'm too picky, maybe I'm jaded, I don't really know, but what I do know is this, one of the few bands that actually do make my excited, is the phenomenal Swedish fusion band Aloan. Many of you will remember back in the early days of Surreal Sounds, I bought you their album "Better In Springtime" which to this day I am still raving about, and having recently acquired the rest of their musical catalog, which i will share with all of you, I felt first I should share their most recent album, the not so long ago released "Pretty Freaks". Which as I'm sure you can guess is a magnum opus in the art of fusion. It stays true to Aloan's constant commitment to their many flavors, showcasing their soul, jazz, hip hop and trip hop sounds, and adding little elements of rock and metal in there just to average things out for the masses. Its an amazing trip through the worlds of sound and sight, and truly worth a listen too, and more so, its been truly worth the wait its taken for them to release this album, even if the wait seemed like more years then it was.

The album starts with "Liquid Girl", an upbeat and rather funky mix of pop and retro 1960s style pop, its abit different for Aloan, but I love when a group or artist takes themselves out of their comfort zone and tries something new, it shows care and dedication to their craft, you don't get that much these days its lovely to see, the song is pretty catchy too, which always helps. Next is "Swinger" the first single released off the album, it follows the same fast paced late 60s pop guitar with traditional trip hop beats over blues style vocals and rap, its a great big loud song thats just so incredible, the booming chorus is incredible and Granite's rap is just so damn onpoint is actually makes me wonder why he's not more respected among rappers, brilliant song. Next is the downtempo "Whitehair Child", which is a touching and beautiful soul style ballad about love and innocence lost, its alot deeper then most of the songs Aloan does, I was very pleased by this actually, I love when artists open up as they progress musically, its so amazing when it happens. Next is, "Invisible" a catchy beat driven funky blues style song that is just incredible, its a great hook, a great beat, vocals that are just flawless, its just so right and a great almost midway in the album point, most artists don't take care in stuff of that nature, the whole caring what point in each album a song is thing is normally the last thing on an artists mind, I love that its at the forfront here. Next is possibly the greatest song on the album, the incredible trip through sound called "Kabuki" continuing that thick retro guitar style, added with some soul and funk elements and enough catchy lyrics and backing beats to make this just the most perfect song I've ever heard from Aloan, Kabuki is a catchy fast passed song that I personally just love to play loud while I'm driving or just moving about the house, Granite's flow is again a clinic on how to use rap effectively outside of the genre, this is the track you'll be playing over and over, and singing along to the background hook on. Next is the surreal "Into A Werewolf" which is haunting, catchy and beautiful all at once, its a great blend of styles and metaphor, which has always been par for the course with Aloan, I've found over the years their imagery is just as impressive as their music and lyric content. After that is "Pain And Sky", another slow and eerily sexy ballad, thick booming guitar and bass drums, with just enough electronica style backing to make it unique and distinctly their own, its a beautiful song about how no one is truly pure and clean anymore, I seriously love when they do this style stuff. Following that is "Wanna Be A Rocker", takes them back again to the retro pop style that they've been trying to keep with on this disc, the music itself is amazing and the vocals and lyrics are catchy and just so perfect, I wished there was more of Granite in it though, we're almost done the disc and there hasn't been the feature track of his yet, normally there are one or two, also, I completely LOVE the reference to The Matrix in this song, its just so delightful, retro style with a modern reference, just awesome. Next is "I Slowly", which is a nice electronica mixed with rock and blues song, it at first felt slightly out of place, but once it gets going it fits right in with the rest of the disc, I completely love how Granite's using his laid back deep voiced flow on this song, it so fits the song perfectly, its just this booming, beautiful and sexy gritty track, its like a gangster movie in trip hop fusion form. Next up is "Beat Of The Black Heart" which starts out with this incredible bass beat that leads to a sublime soul and rap song, its almost like a battle song really, which I gotta admit I been fiending for sense the last album, its just a perfect blend, and its catchy as all hell, with also helps, the acapella in the middle, totally brilliant. This is followed up with "Dragons Are Frail", a rather sexy blues trip hop song that just makes me wanna listen to it over and over again, I love when they use imagery and metaphor for things, its so unique and brilliant when they do it, this is a love song hidden behind the metaphor of a dragon and the lady of the lake and other medieval imagery, its just so out there and yet so awesome at the same time. And finally the last new song on the album is "Try Not To Forget" which starts out alot different then most Aloan songs, it has a distinct and unlike anything else they've done sound to its start, in a sense the closest thing to a simple guitar and vocal song you'll find on an Aloan album, its a sad song about remembering one's self no matter what they go through in life, and the questioning of how far you have to go before you lose who you are and who you feel you are. The album ends with a reworking of Swinger, which I feel is a pretty good way to end the disc honestly.

Now the big question, is this album for everyone? Well, i like to think that as long as you aren't someone thats pigeonholed into one form of music and nothing else, that Aloan is a great band for everyone, but I guess that comes down to personal taste, I would like to think that there is something for everyone, some pop, some rap, some blues, some rock, some electronica, some jazz and rock too. I like to call Aloan one of those groups that takes you on a tour of the music spectrum in the course of their albums, and i'd like to think in the future more groups and artists would move in this direction, it keeps music from getting stagnent and overflowed with sound alikes and boardroom created and marketed bands. So if you want to try something different, and new, and unlike most of what I'm sure you've heard out there in the world, give this album and the band Aloan a try, Ill be posting their other albums soon to combine with this one and their earlier effort "Better In Springtime" soon.

And if you aren't convinced by my review, here is a look at the video for Swinger..




Artist: Aloan
Album: Pretty Freaks
Genre: trip hop, blues, funk, rock, jazz, hip hop
Homepage: Aloan.ch
Myspace: Aloan On Myspace
Download: Album download here

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BC

Morning Train by Danial Lemma

Danial Lemma is hard to pin down, you wouldn't think a man that looks like Bob Marley would be able to sing like Marvin Gaye, let alone actually be good at sounding like Marvin. And though I am a fan of the late great Mr. Gaye, that is not my real reason for liking Danial, though that does play a never minor part in it. Danial has this way about him, he writes some incredable songs and he can play some flawless guitar, its really something lovely to find these days.

Sure, most would dismiss him as just an artist singing 1970s style soul music, but it goes way past that, Danial's content is as modern as can be, and his voice just compliments the music he writes so beautifully that I am amazed he's not been played on the radio. I guess being realitively known in his native sweden means he's not gonna make it stateside yet, though I wish he would, hell I'll buy anything by this guy. Its all a wonderufl mix of soul, jazz, blues, funk and rock, I love when you can't pin an artist down, and more so, when you can't pin down an artist that masters every genre they mix together, its just so amazing when done right. As a musican myself I know how hard that is. Though admittedly, i'm not on this guy's level.

Some of the must listen too tracks are "Run Tell John" a lovely murder ballad about getting ready to put right something that went wrong long before and prepairing incase they don't come home from it, this one stold out to me early because of how the vocals come through so clearly, and you wish them luck and want them to come back, if you close your eyes, you can see them saying their good byes and everything. "Morning Train" is a great track too about a somewhat doomed romance, the lyrics might not be the best, but the vocals and the arrangement make up for the lack there. "I used to love you" is really an uplifting song about looking back at a love and remembering just what it is that brought her to him in the first place, "You Won't See Me" is song about death that makes you happy and sad. "Loneliness" would have been a great album ender, though its not, the track simply moves me.

I doubt anyone that gives this a listen will be let down, mostly because there are so little uplifting albums made outside of the mainstream these days, not that I mind a sad album or 12, its just nice to find someone so down to earth and so uplifting at the same time. It really does remind of the likes of Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield and Donny Hathoway and the like, definately give it a look.


Artist: Danial Lemma
Album: Morning Train
Genre: Neo-Soul, Accoustic, Pop

Morning Train by Danial Lemma

By: BC