Various Artists from Modern Urban Jazz - Works.

Various Artists from Modern Urban Jazz - Works (Modern Urban Jazz).
This time we are doing electronic music again because I am doing a various artist compilation called Works that has been done by a electronic music label called Modern Urban Jazz. I have reviewed Modern Urban Jazz stuff before and I liked it and I was pleased that they sent me this one too. One thing that is interesting is that this compilation is for Modern Urban Jazz's Birthday because they have been going for 18 years so the music off it is tracks from when they started in 1995 and loads of stuff from then up to now. I thought it was interesting it was Modern Urban Jazz's birthday because my birthday is coming up soon and I will be 70 on the 7th of January and we are going to have a big birthday party here at The Gate with two bands playing and all my friends coming. I am looking forward to the party very much though I am a bit worried about getting to 70 because it means that I might die soon but I don't suppose dying will be too bad because I won't know nothing about it because I'll be dead.
                The sort of music that Modern Urban Jazz do is very good party music because it is electronic music that they play in the dance clubs called Drum and Bass. I never been to a club playing this sort of music because I've never asked anyone to take me but I have seen these sorts of clubs that play electronic music on the television and they always look like fun.
                 The first song on Works is by someone called Icons and it is called Time Undefined and I thought this was a quite spooky one because it made me think of wolves coming out at night and then after that there was another one that sounds a bit faster but which also sounds a bit spooky and the noises in it behind the fast drums made me think of ghosts. The thing that find interesting about this music is that it has the fast drums on all of the songs but slow music on top. The drums on it sound like fast drumming like you might hear in Africa or Trinidad only electronic.
                Next is one by Paranoid Society that starts off with slow robot noises and then goes all fast and it made of an old film called Them! about giant mutant ants; I think it made me think of ants because of the way the drums are. I liked this one very much.

A poster for the film Them!

                After that there is nice one by Justice which is another name for Tony who runs MJazz and who sends me the music. I would like to thank him here for sending me it and to say that I think he makes very good, fun music.
                The next one after Tony's one is called Divers by somebody called Seeka and this one sounds a bit less electronic than the old ones and it reminded me of James Brown's music a bit, only faster and without the singing. There is a nice quiet bit in the middle of this one where the drums stop and you can hear people diving into a pool and I liked this very much indeed because I thought this was an interesting sound to put into some music.
                For all the other songs after this we listened to them in our last time doing record reviews at The Gate on the day before Christmas and me and Arlo (who helps me with the record reviews) had mince pies and coffee and turned the music up and we thought about why this label was called Modern Urban Jazz and who this music might be for. When I learnt that urban means things in cities then I was thinking about London and how busy it with all different things in it and I thought this made sense and so I thought that Modern Urban Jazz must mean funky jazz music for everyone in the city because I think that this music is not just for listening to in clubs because you could listen to it in the care if you were a couple driving around or you could listen to it at home because even though it is fast music it is still quite relaxing because of the slower instruments. I very much enjoyed listening to this record on the last record review of the year and would like to thank Tony again for sending it to me and to wish him and anybody reading this a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. I would give this record 10 out of 10.

A Christmas thumbs up to MJazz and everybody else.

Das Weiße Pferd - Inland Empire.

Das Weiße Pferd - Inland Empire (Echokammer).
This time I am record reviewing a record from some friends of mine from Munich, Germany. I know Das Weiße Pferd because I reviewed their last record ages back when I first started my reviews so I am pleased to be doing another one and very happy that Pico from the band sent it to me - I have been listening to it at home and enjoying it very much and I am looking forward to reviewing it.
        Because Das Weiße Pferd are a German band they mostly sing in German so if you are English like me and can't speak German you can't understand the words but I don't think that matters because it's still good to listen to because it's good to hear different languages and music from different countries. I have listened to lots of different music from all over the world in my record reviews and I think it is a good thing to listen to different music from everywhere because then you can learn something about different countries and hear what different languages sound like. I do know a bit of German actually, I know; Nein, Guten Morgen and Auf Wiedersehen and a few other words so I am going to listen out for those words and see if I can learn any new words.
            The first song is not in German though because it is in Spanish, I think this is ok because I like to hear all different languages from everywhere. This song starts off quite quiet with soft singing but more instruments start coming in and it reminded me of folk music a bit played by lots of different people on lots of different instruments, I liked this one because it sounds very happy so I thought that was a good way to start the record.
            The next song is not in Spanish because it is in German and it Blaue Magie which we looked up and that means Blue Magic. I've never heard of blue magic before because i've only heard of black magic like voodoo and white magic which is magic that's good but it made me think of waves in the sea which are quite magical really. Here is a poem that I wrote because of this song;

Blue Magic.

Blue magic is the sea,

that's what it means to me,

Blue magic is very good

I have a cup of tea…

At the cafe on the beach.

That is me,

By the sea.

And then I got Seb, who works here at The Gate and is German to translate it to for me so the band could read it;

Blaue Magie.

Blaue Magie ist das Meer,

das ist, was es für mich bedeutet,

Blaue Magie ist sehr gut

Ich trinke eine Tasse Tee...

Im Café am Strand.

Das bin ich,

Am Meer.

This one sounds to me a bit like The Beatles I think but then at the end it goes a bit madder than The Beatles go, I liked this one too and thought it would be a nice one to dance to at a disco.
              After Blaue Magie there is a song called In which starts off with nice soft guitar but then Pico starts singing Hey Now, Hey Now, Hey Now and the song starts up and it is a very happy sounding song and I think this band are a happy sounding band in most of their songs really and that this is a good thing.
               Next up is a very calm song and this time it is sung in both English and German and it sounded to me like a relationship song and I thought it was very nice and after that was a song that sounded like Russian to me at first but then started to sound more like Middle Eastern music but then started to sound like Hare Krishna music and then the singing starts and this sounds like a choir singing and then there is Robot singing and then singing that sounds a bit devilish, there are lots of different things to listen to in this song and I especially liked a saxophone bit that is in it. This is a very good song indeed.
              The next song is a sadder sounding song than the others and I thought it sounded like the sort of song you would sing if your girlfriend or your wife had left you so maybe it is about that. It sounds like one of them sort of songs anyway but then it does get a bit happier sounding near the end so maybe the person in the song's girlfriend has come back - I like making up stories about music when I hear it and I think it is a good thing to do when you listen to music.
               After this is a song called Perdido which has a line in it which goes You are a Refrain and I think I have heard it before somewhere but I'm not sure where but maybe it is a sixties song because it sounds a bit like it could be.
                 The next song is a soft, happy sounding song that I think would be a good song for children. I think children would like it because of how happy it sounds and because some of the sounds in the background of the song sound like children's toys, I liked this one a lot.    
                 Die hitze im zimmer is next and this one sounded to me a bit like a drinking song and when I was listening to it I was imagining one of the beer halls that they have in Germany that I've seen picture of. I've never seen a real German beer hall though because I've never been to Germany but I would like to go one day. If I did go I would go to one of them halls and drink a big glass of beer and I would like to go to St. Paul's in Hamburg because I've heard it's like Soho in London and Soho is my favourite place. I would also like to go to Munich and meet Fedi and all the people in the band and my other German friends who have sent me records. I liked this song because it made me think of going to Germany and I think I might ask the staff in my house if I can go there next year for my holiday.
                  The next song is quite a rocky one that reminded me of David Bowie that I think would be good to dance to and after that is the last song which starts of as quite a slow, moody song that is but then it gets bigger and sounds a bit like a drinking song again, I enjoyed this one and thought it was a good way to end the record.
                  Overall i would say that this is a good record with lots of different things to listen to in it and I enjoyed listening to it very much and I would like to thank Fedi for sending it to me and for liking my reviews. I would give this record 10 out of 10.     

Sly & The Family Drone - Unnecessary Woe.

Sly & The Family Drone - Unnecessary Woe (Self-Released).
This time I am reviewing a record by Sly & the Family Drone which is coming out soon. At first I thought it was a Sly & the Family Stone record when Arlo (who helps me write these reviews) gave it to me and I like Sly & the Family Stone because they did Dance to the Music and that is a very good song that I like very much - It isn't Sly and The Family Stone though it is a band called Sly & the Family Drone and I thought this was a bit funny because I didn't think you were allowed to do that.
         The reason that Sly & the Family Drone are called Sly & the Family Drone is because they are a drone band. I have reviewed some drone music before and when I did I had to learn a bit about it because I'd never really heard any before. What I learnt is that there is all sorts of drone music from all over the world and what it is is music that  sounds more like sounds that are stretched out than normal music does. I quite like it but I think it is a bit of weird type of music and I think that's because you don't really hear it too much so I'm not used to it.
         The first song on the CD that Sly & the Family Drone sent me is called Handed Cack and I thought this was quite funny because cack is another word for poo. The song starts quite quiet and it reminded me a bit of when it's early in the morning and not a lot's happening but then things start to happen a bit more - I was thinking of maybe a factory just opening and people getting things ready to work; there are clanking noises like machines starting up so that is what made me think of this. The noises start getting louder and there are more and more of them so then I started thinking of the men in the factory starting to work and getting busier, as well as noises like machines there was noises a bit like alarms and things like that.

Our kettle at the gate which we
put a sticker on that the band
sent us with the CD.

             This song goes into another one without their being any gaps and things get all quiet again so it made me think of packing up time but then some drums start and it doesn't really sound like that any more because it reminded me of a marching band marching, there are other noises in the back like bit wind blowing and this made me think of a marching band walking though empty streets at night, maybe in a snowstorm or something. I imagined them marching and marching as the storm gets worse because the background noises got all bigger and I tried to imagine where they were marching to and I thought of them marching to London but finding it empty because everybody has had to leave because of the storm which the men get stuck in. I liked making up a story in my head to go with this music and I think this is a good way to listen to music because music should make you think of things. At the end of this tune the drums get much faster and in the story in my head I thought this was because the storm was getting worse and there is no escape from it. I think this is a very good story to go with this song and I think other people would see what I mean if they listened to it or they could make up their own stories if they wanted.
            After this one is the third and last one which is called A Man that Could Look No Way but Downwards, with a Muck-Rake in his Hand and as well as having a long title it is also a very long song because it is nearly twenty minutes long. At the beginning it sounds a bit funny and weird like the band are testing out their things and there are noises like a drum kit being dragged about and other weird noises that I couldn't really work out what they sounded like - there are lots of different noises in this and like the other songs it gets noisier as it goes along with more different noises being added. I think what this most sounds like is when a band is getting their things together when they go to do a concert. It all gets very noisy after a long bit and there starts being a lot of shouting in it so I started thinking it sounded like the concert that Sly & the Family Drone were having was going wrong so they were getting frustrated shouting at each other and then after that it all starts to sound a bit more like a band playing normally, I thought this was very interesting and I enjoyed it and me and Arlo were bobbing our heads to the drums because It's that sort of music. I thought this was a good way to end the record.
              Overall I would say that this was a very interesting record that people would like if they like music that is weird and that can get a bit noisy. I would like to thank the people from the band for sending it to me because I have enjoyed listening to it very much. I would give this record 10 out of 10.
       

Damenkapelle - Damenkapelle EP.

Damenkapelle - Damenkapelle EP (Damenkapelle).

This time I am record reviewing a record that was sent to me by my friend Anna who is a lady from Munich, Germany that I met when she came here to The Gate to do an episode of Video Drama. Video Drama is a group we do here where we make films about all different types of things, they are very good films and very funny and I enjoy my part as the narrator very much. You can see the episode with Anna in it below, it is a very funny one about the smoking ban. The reason Anna sent me this record is because it is a record of a band she is in and I was very pleased she sent it to me because I like her band very much - I have reviewed a record of theirs before and liked it a lot so I pleased to have this one and I hope I do a good job of reviewing it.

            Damenkapelle are a group of 8 girls who are all also from Munich and I think it's good to have a band that is only women because there are lots of bands with men in them so I nice to listen to something different sometimes. I think Damenkapelle are a very good band not just because they are girls though but also because there are lots of interesting things in their songs.

The Damenkapelle Girls

       The first song on this new Damenkapeele record is called boredom, so it must be about boredom - I don't really get bored because i've got plenty of entertainment; I listen to my records and CDs and play DVDs and I come to the Gate and do my things there and then at weekends I go out on a Saturday to Soho and on a Sunday I go to church and my favourite coffee shop on Shepherds Bush Green so I'm never really bored. I don't think I'd like it if i was bored though but I think it's okay for Damenkepelle to want to be bored, maybe it's because they are too busy or something and want a rest. I also think the song is about not wanting to work because that's what the singer sings (she is a good singer who sings well) so maybe it's about not having a job too, some people don't want to work and so they go on social security and are bored at home and I think that's okay really.
         The next song is called Panties and it starts of with a noisy guitar sound and then the girls start singing P-P-P-P-Panties from Hell which is a funny thing to sing I think and I wasn't too sure what it  meant so we asked some of the other people at The Gate and Labake said were bad knickers that didn't fit so were painful but you're not allowed to take them back to the shop because they are knickers, Mary said they probably couldn't talk which I didn't understand but Mary says funny things, Shivesh said it was just a song but might mean something like pants on fire. I think it probably means that it's something to do with the Devil. I think the Devil is alright but some people don't like him. The song is a good one to dance; it is a good rocky song that I liked a lot.
             After that on the other side of the record is a song called Sturmblut which we found out means bloodstorm in English which I thought sounded a bit like the name of a horror film and I quite liked it because of that because I quite like horror films. This one starts off with a noise like wind and then it does sound a bit like music from a horror film because it has an organ in it which sounds a bit spooky and the voices are too. It's quite a slow song but it goes a bit faster and a bit mad and there's a flute in it and stuff. I thought this was a very good song for halloween maybe.
             The next one is called Ha Ha and this starts off with organ too but it's not spooky sounding like the last one though because it's sounds a bit more like fairground music. I especially liked the chorus on this one because it had girls in the background singing ha ha ha ha and I thought this sounded very good. This is quite a slow song but not in a bad way, it's a very good song I thought and a nice way to end the record.
                Overall then I would say that this was a very good record to listen to because it is a fun record with lots of surprises in it and I think everybody who has never heard a good girl group before should listen to it and I am very pleased that I have it to listen to. I would give this record 10 out of 10.    

Franz Ferdinand - Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action.

Franz Ferdinand - Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action (Domino)
This time I am going to be talking to and record reviewing the new record by a friend of mine called Nick and his band Franz Ferdinand. I know Nick because he has come to a few of our parties here at the Gate and has even joined in with some of the concerts we've had playing the keyboards - One time I was going to sing with him but I fell over at the theatre and had to go to the hospital so I missed it which was a shame. Even though I've known Nick for a while I had never heard his band before so I was very pleased to be doing this review and I thought it was very nice of him to send the CD of the record to me and to agree to answer my questions too.

Pete and Nick share a joke at a Gate show.

When we were doing the questions I thought it was only going to be him answering but I was very pleased that his friend Alex (who is the singer in Franz Ferdinand) sent me back some answers too. So here are the questions that I sent to Nick and the answers that he and his friend Alex sent back for everyone to read:

Dear Nick (and Alex),

Hope you are well, thank you for sending me your CD and agreeing to answer some questions.
Alex: You're welcome. I hope you don't mind me joining Nick to answer your questions too.
Nick: It is an absolute pleasure.
I just read through the questions and I'm excited and nervous at the same time. They are very good questions. What will I answer I wonder?

I am enjoying listening to your music a lot, I think it is very good indeed. What do you like about it?
Alex: Glad you're enjoying it! I like the tunes and the way it makes me feel. I reckon our music puts you in a good mood. Well, this record does, anyway.
Nick: I like that it makes me feel good when I play it. I like that you can shake your bodybits to most of the songs but that you can also listen to it just for the listening experience!

What other different kinds of music do you like? I like sixties and seventies music mostly, do you like sixties and seventies music?

Alex: I love a lot of music from the 60's and 70's too. I like Neil Young very much and Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac. I also like Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. I like some music from other decades too, like The Minutemen, The Violent Femmes, Lady GaGa and Snoop Dogg.
Nick: I must say I like 60's and 70's music a lot as well. 
         I grew up looking up to my brother for music and he always listened to hardcore music from California from the 80's. I like that as well but when I really really started loving music myself was when I heard the Beatles, David Bowie and Led Zeppelin for the first time with my friends.
          I like classical music as well. and also film music. I suppose because in Bavaria where I grew up there was a weird sense that listening to classical music felt like fighting the system. That's what it always had to feel like when i was growing up. No one else was allowed to listen to the same thing.
I loved nirvana for about a week but then everyone at school started listening to them and I gave up on them. I hope I've got over that now, so I even listen to the radio sometimes now.

You are a well known person, what's that like?
Alex: I could never imagine what it would be like, but the great surprise is that it feels pretty much exactly the same as it did before. It's like when you have a birthday; When I was a kid, adults would say to me "what does it feel like to be seven?" and I'd think "Exactly the same as it did to be six yesterday."
         Sometimes people want to talk to you because of the music you make. For the most part, that is very nice, but sometimes you'd rather talk about anything other than yourself.
Nick: I'm not that well known. I feel quite normal but I had to practise my signature at some point. it's awkward taking photos with people sometimes. I like being on stage though, it's a great feeling of living; no more stupid thoughts, just being. I like that a lot.

If I was well known I would have lots of parties and invite all my friends, is this what you do and if you could invite anyone to a party, anyone at all, who would it be?

Alex: I do that sometimes, but probably about the same amount as I did before I was well known. The best friends are the ones who don't care if you are well known or not. They are the people I like to invite to my parties. If I could invite anyone from any time I'd invite a writer whose books I like to read. Someone like Graham Greene, Dorothy Parker or Ernest Hemingway. I reckon Hemingway would probably try to start a fight though, so I'd have to keep an eye on him.
Nick: I do love a party. I have a party for special occasions of course. I would invite Freddy Mercury. Even the dead one. 


Your record is called Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action and I thought this must be about doing things that are good and not doing wrong things - what good things do you think people should do and what wrong things do you think they shouldn't do?

Alex: I think you understand the title well. I reckon you always know inside whether something is a good or a bad thing to do. One of the worst things people can do is to deliberately hurt another person for no reason other than spite. The best thing you can do is exactly the opposite: to help someone when it brings no benefit to yourself.
Nick: I think we can all have a nice time with each other. I don't like telling people what to do but I wish no one would start the smallest of personal wars or the biggest of global wars. I also think children should be excluded from any harm that could ever fall upon them.

That's it for my questions, is there anything else you'd like to say?
Alex: I just wanted to say thank you for your questions. They were original and I enjoyed answering them. I hope you continue to enjoy the music.
Nick: I'd like to say I'm very sorry it took so long to answer the questions.  There's been a lot going on but now I've got a few days off eating sausages and drinking beer in Bavaria. All the very best to everyone at the gate and thanks a lot for doing the review Peter, Nick.

I thought the answers were all very interesting, especially where Alex says being well known feels just the same as not being. I would still like to be well known though especially for doing my record reviews because I like doing them very much. I also thought the answers to the question about the party were very interesting - If I had a party I would invite everybody from the Gate and I would invite loads of other people too, mostly though I would invite my mother and my father and my brother and my sister but unfortunately though my mother and father and brother have passed away and I don't know where my sister is any more.
             That was my interview, I hope everybody likes it and here now is my review of the Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action record, I hope everyone will like this too:

             The record when it starts off starts off with the song Right Action and this starts off with quiet music that sounds like a train going along the tracks but then the music starts off properly with a bit of a bang into a funky song that I think would be a good song to play at a disco for dancing to. I think that if I had to give this music a name I would call it Disco-Rock because it's a bit like a mix of disco and rock music. The singing on top of the music is quite good too and at one point I heard something about Saturday Night and Sunday Morning which is interesting because one of my favourite films is the Saturday Night and Sunday Morning film with Albert Finney in it. I don't think this song is about that film though because that would be too much of a coincidence. Here is the advert for the film for you to see what it's about:

  

           I think this song is about a relationship and the good things you should do in a relationship and here are some of the things I think would be good to do when you are in a relationship with somebody:

1. Make sure you have enough money to look after them properly.

2. Don't cheat on them because that's not nice.

3. Buy them presents at their birthday and at Christmas and on Valentines day.

4. Have children.

            I think if you were in a relationship and you did these things you would have a good relationship and be happy but I could be wrong cos I've never had a relationship really so I don't know much about them.

            The next song is called Evil Eye and it starts of with a scream and then the music is quite spooky so I think it is a song about horror things like. I liked this one because it has shouty voices in it and swearing so I thought it was a fun song that would be good for a Halloween party - we always have a Halloween party here at The Gate where we dress up and play horror music (I like to sing The Monster Mash) so maybe this year we can play this song. I liked this one a lot because I like horror stuff.

             The next one is a funky guitar tune called Love Illumination which reminded me a bit of a rock song mixed with fairground music because it has a keyboard bit in it that sounded to me a bit like fairground music. I liked this one a lot and thought it was a very good pop music song.

              The next one starts of kind of slower than the others but then it speeds up and sounds more like the others did and reminded me a bit of the pop music with guitars that they used to play at the parties we used to have at Leavesden Hospital when I lived there. Here is one of the songs that I really liked from them days by Slade because my mother bought it for me for Christmas one year - I used to like Slade a lot because they were a very good, fun group:

         After that one is one called Fresh Strawberries which reminded me a bit of The Beatles and I think this is because the singer, whose name is Alex, sounds a bit like Paul McCartney, but the song sounds a bit like a Beatles song too. I thought it was nice to be reminded of The Beatles because they

The EP Kelvin had.

are a band that I like very much. I first remember The Beatles from 1963 when I was 19 from when my brother Kelvin bought an EP with Please Please Me and Love Me Do on it - I have liked the Beatles ever since because they are a very good group.
          After Fresh Strawberries is a very fast song called Bullet, this one is very good and quite rocky and then after that is another fast one and I thought these were both good party songs because they are fast so good for dancing to and then after that one is a song called The Universe Expanded.
          The Universe Expanded is not as fast as those last two and starts off start quite calmly with soft singing like ballad singing so I think this must be another song about a relationship. When it carries on for a bit it turns out that it is about a relationship and I was right. I liked this one very much especially the chorus because when it's the chorus everything gets a bit louder and I thought this sounded very good.
               Brief Encounters is the next song but it's nothing to do with the film Brief Encounter I don't think. This one starts off with some space sounds on a keyboard and then turns into a nice song that reminded me a bit of reggae music but with normal singing instead of reggae singing. This one is a nice one that I enjoyed very much because I like reggae.
               The last song on this record is called Goodbye Lovers and Friends and it is another quite fast  song but it slows down on the chorus and is very interesting because of this and I thought it was a nice one to finish the record on because it is all about saying goodbye. And I would like to say goodbye to everyone who is reading this and to Nick and Alex and the rest of Franz Ferdinand who me and some of the people from The Gate have done this song for to say a big thank you:

                  So that is the end of my review, overall I thought this was a very nice pop rock album that I think would be very good for a party or for listening to at home and I think that Alex was right when he said it makes people feel good because it definitely made me feel happy listening to it and I am going to listen to this one a lot when I'm at home. I would give this record 10 out of 10.

Tradesman & Parly B - Dubplate Fashion.

Tradesman & Parly B - Dubplate Fashion (Reggae Roast).

An advert for one of Reggae Roast's shows.

This time we are doing some funky reggae music which was sent to me by Reggae Roast so that I could listen to it. Reggae Roast are from London and they are a group who do reggae shows like the one in the picture but they also do reggae records too like this one that I am going to review. I am very happy to to be reviewing this record because I like reggae music very much because it is very happy sounding music that is very good to listen to.

          The record is a very interesting one because it is a version of the music that Gregory Isaacs sang on for his song Rumours from 1988. I listened to some more Gregory Isaacs like Night Nurse and a song I really liked called Tribal War to do this review. I listened to the Rumours song too and I thought it was very relaxing and I think that this is because he has quite a calm lovely voice. Gregory Isaacs didn't write the music for this song though because he is just the singer singing over music made by a man called Augustus Clarke, I know this because to do this review we looked up about the Rumours music so we could learn all about it. It wasn't just Gregory Isaacs who sang on this music because lots of people sang their songs on this music because that is what they do in reggae. Here is lots of different versions of the original music with Gregory Isaacs and lots of other different people singing on it, I enjoyed listening to all these different songs:

            The record I am reviewing here is another, moderner, version of this tune and it is done by someone called Tradesman who is a reggae musician from Leeds and I thought this was interesting because he is not in Jamaica and this shows how reggae is not just a Jamaican thing now and is all over the world and I think this is because it is very good music that anyone can like if they want to.
            The first song on the record is this music then with somebody called Parly B singing over the top of it. I like reggae singing because it doesn't sound like English singing because it is a Jamaican type of singing where sometimes you can't understand what they are saying but I don't think this matters because it sounds good on the music. On this song I can't make out what he is saying at all but like I say this doesn't matter to me because I like how it sounds because it is a very funky way of singing and maybe I could ask one of the Jamaican guys who comes to the Gate to explain it to me - we have a few Jamaican people who come to the Gate because it is in Shepherds Bush and there are a lot of Jamaicans here. I enjoyed listening to this song very much and think it would be a good song both to relax to at home and to put on at a party for dancing because it is quite relaxing but I think you could dance to it too.

Thumbs up to Reggae Roast.

               After this one with the singing on it is another version called a dub version. We learnt all about dub in our music appreciation sessions here at The Gate and what it is is when you get a tune and put echoes and things in and put noises on top; in this one there was a sound like water bumbling and a noise like the noise electricity makes when there is a lot of it and I think it is very interesting how they do this because it changes how it sounds and it is very nice to listen to indeed. In this one there isn't much voice on it and what there is is changed too so it sounds a bit like they are underwater and I liked this because I thought it was a bit funny.
               After this one is Riddem version which is just what reggae people call their songs when they have no singing on, having instrumental versions on records is a good idea because they are interesting things to listen to and you can sing on them yourself if you want.
               The next song on this record is a remix version by somebody called Adam Prescott which starts off with whistling like you would hear in a Clint Eastwood western film like The Good, The Bad and the Ugly. It is a nice remix which sounds like the other version but a bit different and I liked it especially because of the whistling in it because I was reminded of western films and I like western films; my favourite is Chisum because John Wayne plays a very good part in it.
               The last song is a dub version of the remix and this is a very nice calm version with nice keyboard bits in it that I liked a lot and it also has the whistling in it too but it doesn't have the singing on it.
               Overall I thought this was a very interesting record and I liked hearing all the different versions of the same song because it is interesting to me that you can do so many things with just one tune. I would give this record 10 out of 10. 

Gunslingers - Massacre-Rock Deviant Inquisitors.

Gunslingers - Massacre-Rock Deviant Inquisitors (Riot Season)
This time I am record reviewing a record from Gunslingers who are a loud rock band with three people in it from france. The music from this Gunslingers record was sent to me from Andy from the record label Riot Season so I'd like to thank him for that and I hope he likes the review. I've done a few Riot Season reviews now of bands like Hey Colossus and Acid Mothers Temple and they are always really noisy rock bands because that's the sort of band that Riot Season deals with and I always enjoyed listening to them because I like noisy rock music so I am looking forward very much to doing this review.
             Gunslingers are a very noisy band indeed and on this record they do two songs (one on each side) called Massacre-Rock Deviant Inquisitors (part one) and Massacre-Rock Deviant Inquisitors (part two) and they are quite long songs because they are nearly ten minutes each. The record starts off on side one with a short quiet noise but then the guitars and drums get started and it gave me a bit of a shock cos everything started all at once really quickly. When I heard the name Gunslingers I thought of Cowboys and that made me think of Country and Western music like Dolly Parton and Hank Locklin but this isn't Country and Western at all because Country and Western isn't really noisy music and in Country and Western music you can work out what they are singing but on this music the voice sounds all weird like a person out of a cartoon like Woody Woodpecker  and you can't really make out what the words are because they are a bit fast but I think they are in English and not French because thought I heard the words I don't give a damn in it somewhere near the middle - I liked this way of singing though because it's a bit different and a bit funny.

Thumbs up to Gunslingers and to Andy.

               The music on this record is a bit different and funny too and I thought it sounded like 60's and 70's rock bands like The Who or Jimi Hendrix but a bit faster and a bit crazier; I think this is very crazy music indeed and that Gunslingers must be crazy people to make music like this but I think that's ok - The reason that I think this is crazy music is that all the way through it sounds like they are going a bit mad and making as much loud, fast noisy music as they can all at once.
                The other song on the other side is pretty much the same and it starts off all noisy and fast and rocky and then it stays that way all the way through till everything is over. I think this is ok though because it is very exciting music that moves about and it is also very rocking and I think it must have been a lot of fun to make this music and if I was ever in a band I think I'd like to be in a band like this.
                 Overall I think I would say that this is very good music by a very good, interesting band and I think everyone should listen to it because I bet they would like it because it doesn't really sound like other rock bands. You can hear what this record sounds like by watching the video below. I would give this record 10 out of 10.

 

Reckno Special - Part Two: 2 Reckno Reviews.

Goodiepal - Havet / Flower Farmer - Prunes (Reckno)
This time, after interviewing Chris from Reckno last time I am record reviewing new two tapes from the label. The first one i'm doing is a tape that has two different artists on it which is what you call a split; because it is split between two different artists who get a side of the tape each to do their music on. One of the interesting things about this is that the tape has two covers, one on each side, so you can turn it over to have the art that you like best - the cover that I liked best is the one for the Flower Farmer side of the tape because it has a nice cartoon picture on it of a woman with a blue face but I think the other side is nice too.

        The other side of the tape is the first one that I'm going to review and it is by a man called Goodiepal who is a Danish man with a funny moustache who's real name is Parl Kristian Bjørn Vester and when we looked him up on the computer it said he not only does music but he also does talks and writes books about music too and he rides around on his homemade bike which must be a quite special bike because he can use it to make electricity to fuel the things he makes music on - I'd quite like to see this bike as I can't really imagine what it looks like.
            There are two long songs by Goodiepal on this tape and I liked them both very much. When the first song started what it sounded like to me is that there is a man, maybe Goodiepal himself, who is sat on a beach early in the morning and the waves are crashing and he is ringing bells as he's watching them but then some drums start and I think these sounds like drums to wake people up, maybe because there is something bad coming. It goes quieter again then though after the drums and then there are sounds like women wailing and crying and it all sounds a bit spooky to me because there are some quite spooky sounds in there like a bell ringing occasionally and long noises which go on for a long time. I liked this one a lot because it made me think of old films where bad stuff happens like War of the Worlds from 1953 and I like old films like that so that's a good thing to be reminded of. Here is a video of the advert for War of the Worlds for you to look at:

              The next song starts of with  bells and waves like in the last one except this time there are lots more of them and there are long sounds again but this time not as long as in the last one. I kind of thought this sounded like the world has woken up after the bad stuff in the last song had happened and things are sort of okay again so things carry on as best they can - I liked this Goodiepal music very much, it reminded me a bit of classical music and a bit of science fiction music and I thought it was very interesting to listen too because it's quite strange and wonderful.

        The next side of the tape is by somebody called Flower Farmer who I couldn't find out much except his real name is Florian Yarrow and that he makes "radical computer music". I thought that his surname is Yarrow is quite interesting because the housing association that runs the house I live in and that pays for The Gate where I write these reviews is called Yarrow Housing which is a bit of a coincidence.
         The music on this side starts off with a song called Eight Story Pool Ball and it starts off with what sounds like a keyboard playing quite slow but then it starts going all fast when the drums come in and it is very strange indeed and then after a bit it goes even faster and even weirder. It's not what I'm used too at all this music and it made me think of a disco for weird people who dance all strange and when you talk to them they talk all strange too, I don't know where these people would come from though; maybe Mars and maybe this is Martian music for Martian people. Here is a story I made up for this song:
           I was walking down the road and a girl run up to me and she said she was from mars and was being chased by the police so I told her that I would look after her and we escaped from the police and went to the strange Martian nightclub and she liked it there and we talked to the other Martians and had a good time.
            The next song on the Flower Farmer side of the tape is called Ice Cream Eraser which is a bit of a funny name for a song and I don't really know what it means. This one is a bit slower than the last one and reminded me of the horses going round on the carousel at a fairground. I always go to the fair when it comes to Shepherds Bush Green and go on a few of the less scary rides because I'm not really keen on the bigger rides where you go too fast or go upside down because I reckon i'm a bit old for the types of rides.
            After Ice Cream Eraser is the next song which is called Kaleidomotive and I thought this sounded a bit like the other ones if they were going a bit wrong but I think it's supposed to sound like that. I thought this one was funny and it had lots daft sounds in it that made me laugh that I liked a lot.
            Next up is one called Ocean Glow which is quite slow and I thought sounds a bit like bagpipes played over dripping water and pots and pans being hit. I liked this one a lot because it reminded me of my Grandfather who was a Scotsman. 
            The last tune on the tape starts off with music that sounds a bit like the music we do here on a monday when we do musical improvisation. It's quite a calm sounding tune compared to some of the rest of the Flower Farmer tunes (though it gets a bit less calm at the end) and my favourite bit in it is a noise that runs all the way through which sounded to me a bit like a small dog whimpering.
            Overall I would say this was a very interesting tape with two very interesting and very different artists on it and I enjoyed it very much and think other people should give it a go because I think they would find it very interesting too. I would give this tape 10 out of 10.

Our Love Will Destroy The Earth - Jet Plane Joy (Reckno)
The second tape I am reviewing is by just one musician called Campbell Kneale from New Zealand. Campbell Kneale has made lots of different music using different names and on this tape he is calling himself Our Love Will Destroy the Earth but we listened to some other stuff by him where he uses different names so I could learn more about him.
            The first song I listened to is from an old Various Artists CD thing called Two Ducks on a Truck which had Cambell Kneale on it as Birchville Cat Motel. The song I heard from this sounds like a snowstorm and is something called a drone song and I quite liked it.
           The reason why I know it is called a drone song is that we did a Music Appreciation Session where we listened to some Droney music; we listened to some old Indian music and we listened to some Didgeridoo and Alphorn and some modern classical music and some electronic music too. Also as part of this we listened to some Black Boned Angel which is another Campbell Kneale thing and it sounds like  really slow heavy metal so we played it really loud. We all liked the Black Boned Angel record except Ashley who said it wasn't really his thing.
           On the tape that I am reviewing now though Campbell Kneale is not called Birchville Cat Motel or Black Boned Angel because he is called Our Love Will Destroy The Earth and it doesn't really sound like the other things by Campbell Kneale that I've heard at all because it is a lot noisier.
             The first song on this tape then is called Glittery Skin and it starts off with a load of noise where you can't make out what anything is but I think there is a voice in there but I can't work out what it's saying. After a bit of this there are some big guitars that start and then stop and it goes all quiet and there is quiet noise like birdsong and then next song starts and it is guitars and noise again and sounds to me like a huge band playing loads of guitars at a big concert. I thought this was very interesting indeed to listen to but some of the people at the Gate had to leave the room because they thought it was too noisy.
              The next song is called Jet Plane Joy and this is very different from the last song though it does have big guitars too, this time though there is rock drumming in it and the guitars are rock guitars too and they play the same thing over and over and it is very, very rocking indeed and reminded me of punk or heavy metal music a bit and I think this is a good thing because I like punk and heavy metal.
               On the other side of the tape is the next song and this is starts off with noise like a radio not tuned in properly and then there is heavy guitars again and drums and I think maybe vocals but it is all a bit muddy sounding so you have to listen close to hear them. I thought this sounded like a rock concert again and I was thinking it was maybe a concert where things go a bit wrong cos it goes all funny sounding. The next song sounds a bit like this too and there are lots of sounds in there all mixed up in what sounds like a big tunnel. This makes it sound quite weird and very different and I liked it a lot.
               The next song is the last song on the tape and is called Skinny Glitter and is a bit quieter than the others to start with but soon gets louder, it's still a bit calmer than the others I thought though and there is a voice I could hear all mixed up in there that I thought sounded like an angel singing. I thought this was a nice way to finish the tape because I like angels.
              Overall I would say I enjoyed this tape a lot even though it was very noisy and I'm going to take it home and listen to it more. I very much enjoyed learning about Campbell Kneale and listening to this tape very much so I am going to give this tape 10 out of 10 too.

Reckno Special - Part One: An Interview with Chris who runs Reckno.

This time I am not reviewing a record because I am doing an interview instead with Chris from Reckno, which is a record label which puts out tapes. Chris sent me some more tapes to listen to which I will review next time and he also agreed to answer some questions which I thought was very nice of him. Here are the questions that I wrote and his answers, I hope you all enjoy it.

Hello this is Peter, thank you for sending me some tapes and for agreeing to answer some questions. Here are the questions I have written for you.

Can you tell us a bit about your label like; When did you start it and why?
Reckno was started in 2009, back then it was the name of an occasional night of music that my friends and I put on for ourselves and our friends. Then between 2009-2012 we put out 3" CDRs by all sorts of good folk like: Sunshine Republic, MC Coc Oen, Vanessa Feltch, Human Costume, Delicate Hammers, Ape Centre, Andrew Perry, The SK5, True Swamp Neglect and Max Bellancourt. The C Powers/Yaaard tape came out in 2010, then the label lay dormant for a while. In 2012 I had been talking to some amazing artists and tape seemed like a really interesting format that suited the releases. So far there have been 11 tapes: Ananas Pyramidalis, Yaaard/C Powers split, Tuff Sherm, Blackpepper, Michael Tanner, Kinlaw, Joane Skyler, dtcpu, Yaaard (Kimberlin), Our Love Will Destroy The World and the Goodiepal/Flower Farmer split tape. There are 7 more planned which I'm really excited about. 
           The 'why?' part of the question is harder to answer. I just love music, especially unusual music that exists in it's own universe and articulates feelings beyond language. 

Why is it called Reckno? 
I think it's great looking word. My best friend, Mr. Barney Lyall thought it up. It doesn't really have any meaning so hopefully you won't get any preconceptions about the kind of music you might get, a bit of a blank slate. After having the name for ages we said that Reckno stood for 'recreational noise' and I suppose sometimes it does.

You only do tapes on your label, do you listen to tapes at home?
I do listen to tapes at home and when I wonder around with my walkman. I really like going for long walks really early in the morning with a small stack of tapes. 

Why do you like tapes?
The main reason is they sound great. The bass gets all warm and bouncy and sounds just gel together in a way I like. Plus I suppose there might be a bit of a nostalgia thing for me, I have lots of tapes that I bought as a young music fan because it was the cheapest format back then. I find some good stuff in second hand shops and car boot sales now. Like VHS, tapes seem to be considered almost worthless by the general public which means if you have the patience to dig around there is some great stuff just waiting. I really think that great music and film transcend format though, I'm happy watching a VHS tape on my portable TV. If the film is good, it'll be good in any format, same with music.

Do you think you will put CDs or records out ever or do you not like them?
I can't imagine putting out CDs right now but I do like them and have quite a few. As for records, hopefully by the end of the year the first Reckno vinyl will be out. I don't want to say too much now but it's going to be really, really special. I'll send you one when it's out.

I've listened to a few of your tapes now and they are all quite different, and all a bit strange, so how do you choose who to work with and who has been your favourite?
Thanks, I take that you find them different and strange as a massive compliment!
           I can't quite explain what I'm looking for but I know it when I hear it. My iiird eye opens and I feel really good.
          There's no set way I get to work with artists, some I've met or seen live and got talking or I've just admired them from afar and sent an email. A few have just sent links and it has evolved from there. I do listen to everything we get sent at the moment but I'm not sure how that's going to work in the future.
           Pick a favourite? That's tricky.
           The Ananas Pyramidalis tape is really beautiful, it sounds like a sunrise to me. Tuff Sherm aka Dro Carey is someone who I'm a bit fanatical about, I think everything he's done has been great and Canal Cloaking was no exception plus I'm really happy the first Tuff Sherm release came out on Reckno. Michael Tanner's tape has

really magical memories for me because I first played it in the middle of the night while on Holiday in Italy during a thunderstorm and it made me feel like I was floating. Kinlaw's Chorus+Mysticus took a long time to form and I heard snippets along the way but when I heard the finished version, it blew me away. Joane Skyler came right out of nowhere, I'd heard a few tracks but again wasn't prepared for how accomplished and perfect an album 'orz' was/is. I'm really excited about what Joane will come up with next.
          The Campbell Kneale cassette took about 3 or 4 years to come through but it was well worth the wait. I asked him, only half jokingly, for a hip hop album, obviously he ignored my request and gave me some guitar bliss instead. I keep going back to that one at the moment. dtcpu is a really odd one, it sounds like he can just plug into a strange zero dimension and pull great things out at will. Flower Farmer compositions and tones sound really original to me, I can't think of anything at all like it which is a massive achievement. Having Goodiepal release his first recording is an honour too, 'Havet' is brilliant. I'm really into his lectures and whole .....vibe.
            Like children, I think it would be unfair on the others to have a favourite. I love them all and I am very grateful to all the artists who have trusted me to present their work. I'm very proud of what has come out on the label so far.

I'm quite enjoying this summer because it's nice and hot are you enjoying the hot weather?
 Yeah. I love the hot weather. It's odd how the heat and sunshine can make familiar environments seem different. It feels like being in a different country at the moment and travel is always good, even if it's just in your mind.

Is there anything else you'd like to say?
Thanks for the Joane Skyler review, thanks for listening and thanks for thinking up interesting questions for me. Take care.

I thought this was a very good and interesting interview because it very nice to read all about Chris' label and all the different tapes that he has put out and I'd like to thank him for doing it and wish him very well for all the things he will do in the future. One thing I thought was especially interesting is where he says about Reckno being a made up word that his friend made up and if I had a tape label I would call it Makthing Tapes which would be a mix of Making and Things - I think I would be quite good at running a label because I would release allsorts just like Chris does.

             But that is the end of this part of my Reckno special and next time I will be doing reviews of the Our Love Will Destroy The World and the Goodiepal/Flower Farmer tapes that Chris talks about in the interview. I am looking forward to this and I hope you all are too.

Thanks to my friend Wayne for painting the Reckno letters.

Various Artists - Modernists 4 (and an interview with Tony from Modern Urban Jazz).

VariousArtists - Modernists 4 (Modern Urban Jazz)
This time I am reviewing a cassette tape that I was sent by Tony from Modern Urban Jazz who also agreed to answer some questions for me so I would like to thank him for both sending the tape and also for answering the questions. Here are the questions that I asked and the answers:

Can you tell me a bit about your label; things like how long have you been doing a record label and why did you start it? Why did you call it Modern Urban Jazz? Do you sell much or do you have to have another job as well?
I first started the record label back in 1995, so a fair few years ago now. I started it initially as somewhere that myself and other artists I was working with could release some of the more challenging or experimental drum and bass that we were making at the time, and it also let me have control of what I was releasing and how or when I wanted to release it. I called it Modern Urban Jazz because I felt the music that we were making was akin to jazz in its non-conformist and no rules approach. I like jazz and had always been influenced by it so it felt right to use the jazz name. The modern bit was all about bringing our own futuristic take on jazz, making it modern and the urban because well it's the music of the cities and towns it was being made in and listened to in. It just seemed to fit together as a name and summed up what the music was about. The releases we do on the label in the physical forms, the records, tapes, cd's etc are always in a limited amount and we release digitally as well. The label does make some money which we usually invest back into the next projects. I work in education as well and do mentoring and teaching with 11-16 year olds.

I have reviewed a few tapes recently and enjoyed them very much, why did you decide to release this on tape as well as CD and do you listen to tapes at home - if so can you tell me about them?
When you have a label, you find yourself in a position where you are able to release music that you like and you can release it in lots of different formats. Tapes really seem to be making a comeback at the moment and this really appeals to me because as a kid I used to have loads of tapes with different music on. A lot of it was hip hop and then house and the developing rave scene. I used to walk round taping stuff when i was young so I have always had a love of tape, and wanted to put one out. I still have many of those same tapes at home and lately I have been listening to a hip hop mix tape by DJ Premier from New York from the mid 90's , a tape by Bobby Womack and the Valentinos and another tape we did in collaboration with Rawtrachs, called Jump and accept the power, which we put out a while back.

Modernists 4 is a compilation with lots of different people on it, how did you find the people to go on it?  
When I put something together a project or an LP, things often happen quite organically or naturally. This LP is the 4th in the Modernists series and I wanted it to be more varied and different musically from the others we had released in the past. Rawtrachs has a track on there and I met him because he interviewed me for his fanzine, I found out he also did music so got him to do a track. I met Burlish as he had also been interviewed for the same fanzine and I also DJ-ed at his night in Birmingham and I liked the tracks he sent me. Critical resistance I met via twitter and soundcloud via the internet which is a really useful tool for artists getting in contact or being able to network with different people. We have people who we work with regularly like Jason oS from Canada, so it’s a nice blend of people we have stumbled across, established artists and my own work or collaborations like Just in from Michigan with Metro.

I'm a Londoner and like living in London because there's plenty of things to see and do so I never get bored. Where are you from and do you like it and if so why? 
I am from Luton, which is not far from you, and yes I don’t mind it, it’s my hometown and base. I don’t really get bored as I have a wife and two boys who keep me entertained in between doing music and running the label. But if I want to I can hop on a train or drive and be in London in about half an hour which is good because we do the mastering for our music in London, plus I like London as well so enjoy a visit to different record shops or pubs, to get some food or have a look about, I never get bored there either.

           I thought that was all very interesting because it is interesting to learn a little bit about how record labels work and I was surprised to learn that running a record label doesn't make you enough to live on. I think it's a shame that Tony doesn't make a living out of it but being a teacher is a good job to have, education is very important because if there were no teachers then children wouldn't be able to learn anything. I also thought it was interesting that Tony comes from Luton - I went to Luton once when I lived in Leavesden Hospital and we had a day trip to go all round the town and to the cinema where we saw Basic Instinct and I thought it was a very nice place and the people there were very friendly people.
            Another thing that I thought was interesting was how Tony talked about getting the different artists together to put on the tape. I've got a few compilations at home but they are mostly 50's and 60's rock and roll ones and not electronic music like this is, I think compilations are a good thing to have because they have a lot of different people on them and it is good to listen to different people.
             The person who starts off side one of the tape is the Burlish person that Tony talked about in his answers and his song starts off with electronic drums which sound a bit like fast marching drums and then over the top comes synthesiser bits which sound like long echoes in a tunnel and then there are bits which sound like a big bell being hit softly - I thought this was quite a relaxing tune even though the drums are quite fast and I thought it was a nice way to start the tape.
             After the Burlish tune is a tune by Icons called Time Undefined and this is another quite relaxing tune which I thought was perfect for a sunny day like today and would be nice to listen to in your garden having a drink and a sandwich and just taking it easy. I'm not in my garden though because I'm at The Gate doing record reviews but I don't mind being in here because I like doing the reviews.
              The next song on the tape Betamax Heard which is a funny name because I've not heard the word Betamax for ages because I don't think you can buy Betamax's anymore because they are out of date so I thought it was interesting that a person has called themselves after them. The music doesn't sound out of date though because it is electronic party music and it sounds modern to me because electronic music is quite new - when I was young the music at parties always used to be rock and roll because electronic music wasn't invented then. I like this song very much, it seems quite a happy and cheerful song  which I thought was another one which is perfect for the summer weather.
             Next up is a song by somebody called Rawtrachs which is another party tune with drums in it which reminded me of marching drummers and I thought of them parading down the street. I didn't think this one was as summery as the last two because  it's not as happy sounding but I still liked it a lot.
               After that tune is a song by Deep Blue and Justice and I liked this a lot too. Justice is the name that Tony who sent the tape uses when he's making music - I think he is very good at making music and have heard his music before when I reviewed a record of his before that I liked very much, this song is another one which sounds quite relaxed even though the drums are quite fast on it.
                The next song is called Cope by somebody called fume and this one I thought was great, it has a big, jazzy drumbeat and keyboard space sounds and I thought it sounded a bit like it could be the music for a space film about astronauts who go into orbit and come back and go to a jazz club; I think this would be a very good film indeed.
                 On the B-side of the tape it begins with a song by Milestone and it starts off with a lovely piano bit which goes over and over and then the drums come in and it gets very funky and different piano bits come in - I thought this was another nice relaxing tune which would be good to chill out too.
                  The next song has piano in it too but it is faster piano because this is a faster type of song. I liked this one because it had that nice Jazz singing in that just goes "ba ba baba ba" instead of having words.
                   After that song is a song by Consumer which is another one that made me think of space. It is quite a noisy one with metal clanking sounds for drums that made me think of the robot dancing that you used to see on the telly in the eighties. I used to enjoy seeing the robot dancing because it was a very different way of dancing and I also thought it was a bit funny so it was good to be reminded of it.
                  Next up is another one by Betamax heard and like his other one it another tune that would be good for a summer party maybe on a beach somewhere like Brighton or Southend - I'm going Southend this weekend but I don't think there will be any music there because I'm not going to a party there.
                 Then there is another song by Tony but this time with somebody called Metro which I thought was very good and quite spacey again and after that is the final song which is really nice because it is very mellow with a drumbeat that sounds a bit like a heartbeat and I thought this was a very nice way of ending the tape.
                    Overall I would say I enjoyed this tape a lot and I definitely think it is a good tape for the summer especially if you were going to have a party in your garden. Another reason that i liked it was because there are lots of different things to listen to on it and they are all very interesting and nice to listen to. I would give this tape 10 out of 10.