Artist
: HEAD MIX COLLECTIVE
Title : BIRTHRIGHTS
Label :
HMC
Format :
CD/Tape
Head Mix Collective
were originally formed by ex-members of Tofu Love Frogs, Doo The Moog and
The Cheap Suit Oroonies. All these bands were synonymous with festivals and
having a good time. This makes HMC possibly the world's first festi-diddldum
supergroup. And with this recent history in mind, when they formed they had
a lot to live up to and, boy, do they do that!
Head Mix Collective really
are a band and one to see live. Seen live, they really are awesome:
perfect for the green fields of Glastonbury.
They are festi-skank
complete with melodica, tin-whistle, didgedoo and accordian. Their music will
have you dancing to deep dub style bass and melodica lines one minute, then
jigging up and down to penny whistles and irish fiddle the next; but always
with that groove-conscious rhythm-driven thang backing it up.
Obvious comparisons would
be to Back To The Planet and Afro-Celt sound system, but those comparisons
really would be too obvious. HMC are more than that and I suspect in times
to come HMC will be band that we cheap hacks use as convienent signpost for
the unenlightened.
Top
Tune : Job Creation ( original mix )
The cd's hard-to-beat opening track which begins with melencholic violin and
didge. Then kicks off into a song where the female lead vocals really shine.
Runner
Up : Birthrights
The Title track, an excellent message of consciousness "To be one person in
one world. Fight for freedom" This track features knees-up jigging one minute
and dubbed up roots the next.
So far I've dealt only
with the music of HMC, but with song titles such as 'Job
Creation', 'Peaceful Protest' and 'Reclaim The
streets' you can gather where these guys are at. None of the above
comes across at all clichéd or tweee - which isn't always the case with bands
brave enough to try and cover subjects such as these. They use the space within
the cd booklet to set down their vision, and list contact numbers of like-minded
others also trying to achieve it.
To sum up, I'd say HMC
are one of those bands that you stumble across at a festival. And before you
know it you're grooving along with the infectiousness of it all. Then all
too soon they're gone. You didn't quite catch their name so you wander off
cussing to yourself and promising that you'll definetly find out who they
were, if you ever come across them again. If this scenario has happened to
you recently then there's good chance that it'll have been 'Head Mix Collective'
that you were grooving to.
'Birthrights is an excellent
second album from a band going from strength to stength. And what's more,
in these times of so much programmable music it's refreshing to come across
a band that really can cut it both live and in the studio. They will (I hope)
go far.
Peace and Love
bimble@freeradicalsounds.com
Click
here for our Headmix interview and details of their new album.
Band
Reviews page one features more Headmix reviews
Artist
: BACK TO BASE / BENJAMIN ZEPHANIAH
Title :
NU SUEDE SHOES
Label :
MPR RECORDS
Format :
CD Single
Every so often a tune
comes into existence that wipes the conscious corner with its lyrical purity
and directness. This is one of those tunes.
Back to Base provide
a suitably driving, dubby back-beat to Benjamin Zephaniahs 21st century dub
poetry. "Me no have no email, me have no mobile phone, I don't know where
me father is and I am all alone' - and later - "me have a little spirit so
me going back to bass". Pure, righteous dub poetry cutting through the media
wall of L.C.D (lowest common denominator) entertainment and you can dance
to it.
Every lyric in this track
is essential, it speaks to black and white alike: "The music is within me,
I have music in me heart, so please will you excuse me while I tear the state
apart". For all the dispossessed wherever they are,
Nu Suede Shoes hits the nail on the head. "Tell them man, show them
man, and teach them".
Buy or borrow this, listen
to it, and understand it. Benjamin Zephaniah and Back to Base understand,
lets hope there are more of these collaborations.
CLIVE SUBCULTURE
Band
Reviews page one features our review of the latest Back To Base album
Artist
: MANDRAGORA
Title : POLLEN
Label :
DELERIUM
Format : CD
The new album from Brighton’s
ethno dance, psychedelic fusionists, is perhaps the most rounded yet; embracing
possibly all their influences at once, and moving beyond the purer psychedelic
festi sound of earlier releases. Samples and techno beats merge with live
guitar, bass and drums, with guest vocals from Arthur Brown and ubiquitous
hash champion, Howard Marks.
A Personal fave is Dub
Jig - folk violins meet dubby grooves in a bizarre but highly danceable
form, with conscious vocals from Ben Jammin' - its a classic crossover tune,
people’s ears will prick up when you put this on. Click
On This features a timely spoken word piece on the ‘modem fetishists’
amongst us, floating along on a spaced out bongo driven rhythm and syncopated
sci-fi riffs.
For a mainly instrumental
band, Mandragora have incorporated guest vocalists pretty seamlessly into
their sound - Tim Leary appears to drop in half way through as do Can in sampled
form. There’s a feeling of Can - style percussive workout to several of the
tracks on Pollen, not to mention world / folk
instrumentation, acid lines and mutated chanting. A melting pot of different
sounds and traditional musical skill meeting technology, and actually getting
on rather well.
This is the sound of
the international underground - it grows on you and sorts you out.
CLIVE SUBCULTURE
