Alpha Steppa Meets Alpha & Omega Pt III - Highest Grade EP

Alpha Steppa Meets Alpha & Omega Pt III - Highest Grade EP (Feat. Flex Zagazzow)(Steppa Records)

This time I am record reviewing a double 7 inch record by Alpha Steppa and Alpha and Omega with somebody called Flex Zagazzow doing the singing. The copy we are listening to at The Gate is very interesting because one of them is black and one of them is white and I have never seen a white record before. What is also interesting about these two records is that Alpha and Omega are Alpha Steppa's Dad and Auntie so it is very nice that they are all helping each other out in music and releasing records together and it reminds me a bit of the Carter Family or the Osmonds who were both families that made music. I think it's very nice for families to make music together because then they can look out for each other and share any money you get out together. 

            The first record I will review is the Alpha Steppa one which is the white record. Alpha Steppa is a dubstep/reggae artist from South West England who  has been around music all his life because his family have always made music so this must be why he is very good at it.

          The first song on the record is called Highest Grade. When the singer sings about Highest Grade he is talking about really good hash which is a drug that drug addicts smoke to get high - I've never got high myself but I think it's okay that other people do because it makes them feel better about things. The music behind the singing is electric reggae which means it is reggae music but not made with guitars or normal drums but is instead made on electronic instruments like synthesiser keyboards. This is a very funky way of making music and I have been listening to a lot of electronic music at the Gate and like it very much, I think this is a very good example of what you can do with electronic instruments. The next song on the other side of the record is called Highest Dub and it is nearly the same as the other song except it is a dub version. I didn't know what this meant so I asked my friend Leon who also comes to The Gate and who likes reggae a lot and he told me that dub is when you get just a normal reggae tune and make the drums and bass louder and add echoes and mix other sound effects in like sirens and clicks and noises from films and anything else you like and then you can play with the speed and make it crazy and that way you can make lots of different versions of the same song. I thought this was very interesting what he said and it made me understand this record a bit better. I liked this song too.     

            The second record is the Alpha and Omega one which is the black one. Alpha and Omega are a reggae duo (this means there are two of them) from London and Plymouth who have been making music since the mid-eighties and are still going well and making excellent music which is also reggae music made on synthesisers. The first song on this record is called Steppas Grade and is another version of Flex Zagazzow singing Highest Grade but this time with different music made by Alpha & Omega rather than Alpha Steppa and I though this was a really good version which made me tap my foot so it must be good. 

           On the B-side of the record the song is called Dub Grade and is another version of the same song again. The music on this one is interesting because it has really nice bass that goes wub wub wub and reminds me of someone blowing bubbles and also has lots of strange noises in it like little bells and birds singing - I think it's nice that there are sounds like birds on the song because birds make very nice music that is relaxing to listen to. I liked this one a lot too.

          Overall I would say that this is a very good pair of records that I enjoyed listening to very much. I think it is very interesting that all the songs are the same but a bit different because I am more used to hearing records where the songs are all different but I think it is good to have a lot of different versions of the same song because if it is a good song you may as well do it this way. I would give these records 10 out of 10.

Pete with Ben Alpha on his post-review visit to the Gate - Cheers Ben.

Kim Jannsen - Ancient Crime

Kim Jannsen - Ancient Crime (Snowstar Records)
This time I am reviewing Ancient Crime by Kim Jannsen who comes from the Netherlands. Ancient Crime is on the Snowstar Record Label (also from the Netherlands) who asked me to review it because I reviewed another of their records and they liked my review so they asked me to review another record on their label. I think it's very nice for them to ask me, I am very pleased to be asked and I hope that they like this review too because I will enjoy writing it.
             Ancient Crime is a concept record which means it is a record that sort of tells a story like David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust or Pink Floyd's The Wall. The story that this concept record tells is about things that happen one winter in an old school in a small village in North West England. I've never been to the North West of England but I imagine it's quite nice there because everybody I meet from the North West are always nice and friendly. I think it is very interesting that all of the songs on this record are about a school because I haven't heard many songs about school. I guess that this album is also about a crime that was committed in a school because it is called Ancient Crime - when I was very young and at school me and my friend Edward Harkiss went to the school when it was empty and we went through the other kids pockets in the cloakroom to see what they had but all the pockets were empty so we didn't get anything, I wouldn't do something like that now but I think it's ok that I did it then because I didn't know any better back then.
            The first song on the record is called Severn which I think must mean that this song is about the River Severn which is the longest river in Great Britain (it's even longer than the River Thames so it must be very long indeed because the Thames is very long), maybe the school that these songs are about is a school near the Severn I guess. Severn is a short instrumental played on violins and is very nice and a good way to start the record because It puts you in a good mood to listen to music in.
            The next song Tors is a lovely folk song and it starts off with just voice and guitar, Kim has a nice, light voice that I like the sound of but it is a bit mumbly so it's hard to make out some of the words especially when more instruments join in around the middle of the song. There are lots of other instruments like drums that sound like military drumming and what I think might be keyboards or maybe a flute or a recorder.  When there are more Instruments in this song near the end it reminds me of Irish or Scottish folk songs which is a good thing because Irish and Scottish folk songs are very good - my grandmother came from Limerik in Ireland but I never really knew her because I was two years old when she died but I've always been interested in Ireland and would like to visit Limerik one day. I liked this song a lot because there is a lot to listen to in it.
             The song after this is called Casket and is mostly Kim singing and some guitar with a little bit of drumming every now and then. I'm not really sure what this song is about but I thought I heard Kim sing about martians but i'm not sure what martians would be doing in a song about an old English school so i've probably misheard. I think this is a very pretty song and it reminded me of country and western music so after we listened to it at the gate we listened to a few old country songs that I like - here is one favourites by Hank Locklin that I used to listen to when I was about eighteen because my brother had the record and we used to listen to it sat round the radiogram:

A Dodo.

             The next tune is Le Dodo Ou L'amour Au Berceau which is French - I don't know French but we typed it into the internet and found out it means The Dodo or Love in the Cradle; a dodo is a big bird from mauritius that doesn't exist anymore because they were all eaten by sailors years ago so that's quite a strange thing to call a song. This song is a short instrumental played on a piano that I liked a lot.
           Next song is Pierpont: For The Beauty and it is a beautiful song I guess about beautiful things. This is a nice, simple sounding song sung with a guitar and no other instruments and then after that there is another short instrumental but this time it's done with a string quartet rather than a piano - this reminded me of a concert I saw at the ICA gallery over the road from St. James park where there was a man playing hungarian (I think) classical tunes on a violin. I liked this concert a lot because I could go to it because it was in the day time and I don't get out much at night except for my monday night at the pub. That said, I might but I might be going to see Yellowman soon with Arlo who helps me write these reviews and Leon who likes reggae but we're not sure if we can get tickets. 

            Next song is The Commons which is another lovely song which also has strings but Kim sings and plays guitar on this one as well. In this one I heard the words "when England sleeps" so I guess it's about the night time and maybe that's when the crime in the school happened because night time would be the best time to do a crime in a school.

             Holmes' Bonfire, 1666 is after this and I thought it might be about Sherlock Holmes because of the crime in the school but then we looked up 1666 on the internet and found this out:

          "Rear Admiral Robert Holmes led a raid on the Dutch island of Terschelling, destroying 150 merchant ships in the Vlie estuary, an act later referred to as Holmes's Bonfire." 

            So this isn't a song about Sherlock Holmes at all which is a shame but the story about Admiral Robert Holmes is interesting too.

            Next song is called Drift and it is a very slow, sad sounding song that I thought was very good but my favourite song on the record is the last song which is called Blyth Farjeon Choir and starts off with Kim Jansson singing just on his own but then a big church choir starts joining in until all you can hear at the end is a lovely big choir. I remember when I went to secondary school and we would all sing songs in the morning and I suppose we would have sounded a bit like a choir. The songs we used to sing were songs like All Things Bright and Beautiful which is about all the things God made and how they are all beautiful - some people don't believe in everything being beautiful and in God but I do and I like being religious because it makes me happy, I like all the stories in the Bible and I like all the songs you can sing at church especially All Things Bright and Beautiful because it is a very positive song. 

           Overall I would say that this is a good album that I think would be good to play after you've packed up from work and gone home and can put your feet up and relax. I would give this record 10 out of 10.

Swindle - Do The Jazz

Swindle - Do The Jazz (Deep Medi Music)

This time I am playing a twelve inch single of funky electronic music called Do The Jazz by a man called Swindle - I tried to find out more about Swindle to help with writing this but when we looked on the internet we couldn't find much so I will just get on with reviewing the music on the record:

           Do The Jazz is on the A-side of this record and it is a jazz song I suppose but not really like the jazz I've heard before. The jazz I've heard is mostly stuff like Acker Bilk and Kenny Borne and his Jazzmen who were both around in the sixties and this Swindle record doesn't sound like those at all. It does sound a bit like jazz but more modern jazz made on keyboards and computers and drum machines instead of real instruments though there are sounds like real instruments in the song too. I think electronic instruments are very good to listen to and that you can make very good music on them and that this song shows that this is true. At the beginning of the song you get a bit of guitar and a bit of clapping and a bit of keyboard and it is all quite quiet and relaxed but it gradually gets faster as the music heats up and more instruments and electronic noises join in until it all gets quite fast and very jazzy indeed. I thought this was a very good, very exciting song like I've never heard before and I don't think many other people would have either.
             On the other side of the record there are two songs and the first of these is called Under the Sun and this is also very good. I think this song is called Under the Sun because it would be a good song to play out in the garden on a hot day, maybe at a barbecue, because it would make you feel happy because it is very jovious music. I like to have barbecues at the house I live in and I usually get to choose the music so next time I think I will play this.

Pete watching this "very scary but
very good to look at" video.

             The second song on the B-side of the record is called If I was a Super Hero which I think is a great name for a song - if I was a super hero and had mystic powers I would use them to give everyone in the world freedom and make them feel happy but I'm not quite sure how I'd do it. The music on this song reminded me a bit of Jive Talkin' by the Bee-Gees but without the singing and more modern - I like the Bee-Gee's a lot so it was good to be reminded of them - I liked this song a lot because it is very funky indeed and I think it is a very good way to end the record.
              Overall then I would say that I thought this was a very, very good record that I enjoyed listening to very much. I think everybody who heard it would probably think so too especially people who like jazzy, funky records made on electronic instruments. I would give this record 10 out of 10.

Squarepusher - Ufabulum

Squarepusher - Ufabulum (Warp)
Squarepusher is a man called Tom Jenkinson who makes very interesting, happy and fast electronic night-club music that sometimes sounds a bit like jazz, he is an Essex boy who was born in the same year as my close friend Arlo who helps me do these record reviews which I thought was very interesting. When I looked it up it said that Squarepusher had been making music for 18 years and I have listened to some of his old stuff and think he is just as good as he used to be. I haven't heard much electronic music really except for a few things I have listened to for these reviews but I really like it when I have heard it so I am looking forward to reviewing this record very much.
          The version of the record we looked at comes in a nice, big, black box which has white dots on it that shine up in the dark and inside the box there is two records, a CD and a book so if you buy it you get a lot of things to look at and listen to which can only be a good thing. The real album Ufabulum is on the records and the CD is just an extra you get with the records so I will start by reviewing the music on the records and will get back to the CD later.
          The first song on the double album is called 4001 which could be the year a long time off in the future. I think things will be different in 4001 including people but I will probably be dead by then because I'm already fairly old - I don't think there will be any people from now who will be alive in the future but the sky and the land will still be here. The song is very fast, like a lot of Squarepusher's stuff that i've heard, with loads of drums and noises like an electric saw and noises which sound a bit like someone letting off wind - It is a good song and it reminded me a bit of seventies' television about space like Space 1999.
           After this one is Unreal Square and it starts off with a funny little tune that sounds to me a bit like an electronic budgerigar singing a kid's TV theme-tune from something like Scooby Doo, it is a nice little tune and a bit comical. After a bit of this tune the drums come in all fast and it sounds very good next to the funny tune and then it all goes even faster and a bit mad but that's a very a good thing because it makes the song more interesting and a lot of fun - I thought this one was a very brilliant lively song that a lot of people would like if they heard it especially young kids who I think would especially like it.

Leavesden, the long stay hospital
that was home to Pete from 1968 - 199(something). 

            The next song, which starts side B of the first record, is a bit slower but just as good and makes me think of the sort of music they play in the cinema before it goes dark and the film starts. It also reminded me a bit of Cars by Gary Newman which I first heard in the sheltered workshop of Leavesden Hospital when I lived there. It is good to be reminded of Cars because it brings back good memories of Leavesden, some people didn't like it in there but I thought it was alright and got on well there.
               The song after this is a song called Energy Wizard which sounds very similar to the last one but it's also very good so that's okay and after this is a song called Red in Blue which is a quiet tune without drums which sounds like like it is played on a church organ. I like the music in churches better than the talking so I quite liked this one and think it would be a nice song to relax to with a coffee and a cigarette.
              Red in blue was the last song on the first record and The Metallurgist is the start of the second one and it is back to the mad drums on this one. It starts though with a moody bit which reminds me of music at the end of the film about Marilyn Monroe Portrait of A Legend after Marilyn has died. I like this film a lot because tells you all about Marilyn's life and I liked Marilyn a lot. After this bit the drums start and there are a load of fast, mixed up noises like weird animals chattering in the jungle until it finishes and sounds a bit like the record is warping and wearing out but it isn't really it just sounds like it is. I like this one though it's a bit strange.
              The next tune is called Drax 2 and is a bit of a calmer tune in parts but is also fast in parts and I can imagine this one being good for boyfriends and girlfriends to dance to in the nightclubs. I've never been to nightclubs myself but I think they are a nice idea because lots of different people can mix together and dance and drink and have a good time - some people also take drugs that they get from drug pushers to make them high at nightclubs and I think this is ok and up to them.
              That one was the last song of the record side and on the other side of the record the first song is called Dark Steering. There are lots of noises like car noises on this one and it made me think of people taking a night ride in their car and speeding through tunnels and things while listening to the radio really loud.
                The next one is another really fast, noisy one that is very exciting and after that is the last song on the record which is not as noisy and is quite a happy little tune with lovely keyboard bits in it that  I thought was a nice way to end the record.


As well as the records though in the box you also get a CD which has another three songs on it which are all really good too especially the last song which made me think of a bull in a field just before it gets angry and charges or of boats coming in to port, there are non of the fast drums on this one buts that's ok because not every song needs fast drums - I liked this one a lot because it is very weird.

          Overall then I would say that this box would be a good thing to buy because it looks good and there is a lot of really excellent interesting music in it that is good to listen to. I would give this Squarepusher box 10 out of 10.

A Tribute to Robin Gibb.

I have been listening to this song because the man singing in it, Robin Gibb, has died aged 62 which is a terrible shame. I first heard of Robin Gibb in 1970 when I first heard Massachusetts by the world famous band he was in called the Bee Gees. Massachusetts is a nice song that I used to listen to with my brother on the radiogram because he had it on a record. That was before they had made many records but I think they were good even then before they started making disco songs. The disco records the Bee Gees made are very good records too though like Staying Alive and Jive Talkin' - I think all the records the Bee Gees made were good.
               Saved by the Bell though is my favourite Robin Gibb song and my brother had this one as well. This is very brilliant song that he did and even though it is a bit of a sad song it is a good record to listen to. They have Saved by the Bell on the Jukebox in the pub that I go to on a Sunday afternoon but I didn't know he had died yesterday so I will have to play it next Sunday when I go and I will remember Robin Gibb who was a very good singer and I think he will be missed by all the people who liked him which is probably millions of people. I will miss him too and so will all of us here at The Gate.
              So, so long and all the best Robin, from me and all of us at The Gate, we will all miss you, you were a very good singer and you made people happy.
               Yours Sincerely, Peter.

LogOut - Paper Plane Flight Recorder

LogOut - Paper Plane Flight Recorder (Inner Ear Records)
This time  I am going to listen to a record by a man called LogOut who says he comes from Whateverland, a suburb of the Universe but when I asked him if he was an alien from another planet he said he only lives there so i don't suppose he is an alien; I think he might really be from Greece because there is Greek writing on his website. Logout came across my reviews and liked them and asked me to review his record so that is what I am doing today.
                  The first song on the record then is called Departure and is just an ordinary acoustic guitar played over noises of an airport. The guitar playing is nice and light and this is a good way for the record to start and I liked it.
                  The next song is called Where it Goes and has more of the nice and light guitar playing but with singing this time in a high voice that reminded me a bit of old folk songs played ages ago in the forest around a campfire - This made me remember when I was a little boy about twelve and me and my friend used to build a fire on one of the bomb-sites and cook potatoes except we never used to sing songs we just used to talk about school and girls and things. Later on in the song is the sound of a plane taking off and marching drums and someone singing "Oooooooooooohhh" over and over - It is a very interesting song that I liked listening to very much.

            After Where it Goes is a song called Winter + Summer and it's about winter and summer meeting in a bar and falling in love and then falling out of love again because they are too different which is a very good idea for a song. On this one I think LogOut sounds like Lee Hazlewood who is an American singer with a deep voice who was world famous for singing duets with Nancy Sinatra. We have listened to Lee Hazlewood here at the Gate in our music group and one of my favourite songs that i've heard is We All Make The Flowers Grow which you can hear here:

          Next is a short song with no words but with the nice guitar, humming, military drumming like they do for the Queen and some wailing and after that is a song called In the Sea of Lonely Souls which i think is a song about a break-up - I think it's sad that relationships break up but it might be better to break up than fight all the time like some people do. This is a nice, sad song that i thought was very good to listen to.

           Elliott Days is next and seems to be about an unhappy holiday in Italy. I've never been to Italy but I don't think I'd be unhappy there, I'd travel around and go to Rome and see the Vatican and I'd go on a gondola in Venice and I'd have a nice time - I suppose somebody could be unhappy in Italy though if they didn't like doing those things.

Two thumbs up from Pete for LogOut 

        After this is a song called Song of the Selfless where LogOut sings in a high voice like a girls voice about life being his enemy. This must mean he thinks life is against him which is a shame - I don't think life is my enemy because I think I've got a good life and I enjoy it and I wish everybody liked life like I do because then they'd be more happier too; I think the world would be alright if everybody in it were happy.
            After Song of the Selfless is another short guitar song without any words, it is a nice bit of music but I wish it was longer because it was nice to listen to and has a nice change around in the middle. Next up after this is a song called Establishment which starts off with guitar and then LogOut starts singing about a woman and asking her not to do him harm. At the end of the song it all goes a bit Russian with lots of shouty la la la singing which made me laugh because I found it funny though also a bit sad; I liked this bit of the song a lot.
             The next song is In A Sunday Morning and it's about a miserable sunday morning. I think some people get fed up on sundays because they have to go to work on monday morning or because there is nothing to do on a sunday but I don't get miserable on a sunday because I keep myself occupied  by going to church and then afterwards going to the pub - I liked this one as well even though it's a bit miserable.
              An Inside Joke comes next and is a nice song with good guitar playing and then there is the last song called Landing which has two voices on in like a duet between a man and a woman. I think it a love song because they are singing about finding love in the end so I guess since this is the last song that this is a happy ending for the record which I think is very nice.
             Overall I would say this was a very good new folk record that I would be happy to recommend to all the people that read my reviews. I would give this record 10 out of 10.

Mungo's Hi-Fi - Hire and Removal Refix (ft. Eek-A-Mouse) / Kung Fu Know How (ft. Solo Banton & Ruben Da Silva)

Mungo's Hi-Fi - Hire and Removal Refix (ft. Eek-A-Mouse) / Kung Fu Know How (ft. Solo Banton & Ruben Da Silva) (Scrub-a-dub / Scotch Bonnet Records)

This time I am record reviewing a reggae 12 inch record from Mungo's Hi-fi. Mungo's Hi-Fi are from Glasgow in Scotland but this record doesn't really sound like Scottish music because it is funky electronic reggae music and mostly when I think of reggae I think of Jamaica. I think it's okay to make reggae music even if you are from Scotland though because it doesn't really matter where you come from as long as the music you make is good and this is a very good record. I don't really know so much about reggae music but we sometimes listen to it at The Gate and talk about it in our friday music group because some of the people who come to the Gate are reggae fans - we listen to lots of types of music at The Gate. What I do know about reggae though is that a lot of people who listen to it have dreadlocks and smoke hash which is alright I suppose. I was in a cafe once and this man asked me if I wanted to buy some hash for twenty pounds but I didn't buy it because I didn't have enough money - I think I would have done though if I had of had the money because I've never smoked hash before and it would be an experience.
            The first song on the Mungo's record that I am listening to is called Hire and Removal Refix and is a new version of a song that was first released in 1982 by reggae star Eek-A-Mouse. Eek-A-Mouse has a funny way of singing where he sings very peculiar words that don't mean anything like bonga bom bom bom, it is a very funny way of singing but I like it. Here is the original Eek-a-Mouse version of the song from 1982 that we listened to here so that I could learn more about it, we also listened to some other Eek-A-Mouse songs like Ganga Smuggling and Wa Do Dem and I thought they were very good indeed:

          The Mungo's Hi-Fi version of the song starts off pretty much the same at the beginning with the same music and the same singing but then it changes and a noisy bass comes in that you can feel in your stomach and drums come in that are not like the ones in the original at all because they are electronic and very fast. The best part of the record I think is the bass because it very different from what I have heard before; it is very hard and I like it a lot. I thought this song was very good to listen to and I think it would be good to play at one of the parties we have here because It would make everybody dance. Here is the song from the Mungo's Hi-Fi Soundcloud Site for you to listen to:

SCRUB006 A Mungo's Hi Fi ft Eek-A-Mouse - Hire and removal refix by mungoshifi

              On the other side of the record there are two versions of the same song and this time it's a singer called Solo Banton who does the singing and not Eek-A-Mouse. Solo Banton is from Shepherds Bush, West London but doesn't live here anymore because he now lives in Reading - I might have seen him or passed him by in Shepherds Bush when he was there because that's where I've lived mostly all my life and that's where I am now; I like Shepherds Bush because there are good people around and people treat me well.

Peter with his friend
Leon who likes reggae

            The song Solo Banton has made with Mungo's Hi-Fi  is called Kung Fu Know How and in it he sings about being a kung fu master (I don't know much about kung fu but I think it's chinese or japanese martial arts and defending yourself, I've seen films about it advertised at the cinema, I thought they looked interesting but I never saw a full one).  This is a very good song to listen to because I never heard any songs about Kung Fu before except for Kung Fu Fighting but I think this is a better song than Kung Fu Fighting because it is more reggae and you can't beat reggae - I still like kung fu fighting but I think this is about 10% better and my friend Leon who also comes to the Gate and likes reggae likes it a lot too; Leon knows a lot about Jamaican type music because his uncle used to run a record stall in Brixton and Leon used to help him out. I think overall that this is another good party song just like the other one and I think a lot of people would dance to this one too. You can listen to it here:

SCRUB006 AA1 Mungo's Hi Fi ft Solo Banton & Ruben Da Silva - Kung fu know how by mungoshifi 

          The last song on the record is another version of Kung Fu Know How called the Drunken Dub version and it is different from the other version because it sounds a bit slower and doesn't have as much singing in it. There are lots of funny noises in it too which makes it sound a bit magical and i think this is a nice way to make music because it makes you feel good because it is very jovial music.
          Overall I enjoyed listening to this reggae record and I hope I get to hear more reggae so I might get Leon to play me some more when he comes in friday for music. I would give this record 10 out of 10.