The Vinyl Resting Place #1 Bo Diddley - The Black Gladiator

Released in 1970, four years after his last solo sojourn, 'The Originator', 'Black Gladiator' was in the same musical melting pot as Muddy Waters’ 'Electric Mud' & Howlin’ Wolf’s 'This Is Howlin’ Wolf’s New Album'. Both records are reactions by original electric bluesmen to the newer, heavier white blues sounds that were dominating the music scene in late 60s America. BB King also released a similar record, 'Live In London' in 1971 using British blues stars of the day.

Bo Diddley however drew on the newer black music of the day. The heavier, funkier sounds coming out of late 60s Motown & Atlantic, the grittier & more socially aware offerings from James Brown, Curtis Mayfield & George Clinton. Diddley sets the tone early with a musical palette of hard edged funk that hits you square in the guts. Black Gladiator could comfortably sit alongside any of the psych blues classics from Funkadelic & Parliament.

Opening track 'Elephant Man' is a killa psych funk floorstomper & probably my favourite Diddley track ever. 'Black Soul' is also a funk, freight Soul Train workout. Keyboard player Bobby Alexis is featured heavily on the album, always comping & pumping the songs forward, letting Diddley fire some thick funk lead riffs around the groove. Diddley does however revert to a more standard blues format on a few songs. 'Hot Buttered Blues' & 'Power House' are more traditional but they don't seem tired, cliched or album fillers as they are all dipped in late 60s goodness, killer guitar tones, & great backing vocals from Cookie Vee. 

Album closer 'I Don't Like You' is crazy. I mean really out there. Opera meets the blues with Cookie and Diddley exchanging hip hop style smack talk. Apart from the 12 bar misogyny of 'Shut Up Woman' (weakest track in I'm A Man style) it's a great, overlooked record with some real classic cuts on it. Blues purists may have dismissed it when it was released, but check it out, frug your acid drenched heart out to gritty, sweaty, funk blues drenched in psychedelic rain. And not a Diddley shuffle beat in sight.

Errrm nice look Bo.

Dead Sea Skulls - Fortune Favours The Brave

Remarkably, having only formed during the last few months in their hometown of Birmingham, this power rock trio have been incredibly assiduous in their already impressive output. Regular gigs, photo shoots, ep release, music video & more recently, a residency at Camden Town's Hawley Arms. 

The line up is Ash Sheehan, centre (vox/drums) Brothers Jimi, left (bass) & Nick Crutchley (guitar) 

The 'Fortune Favours The Brave' ep is an explosion of punk rock power pop, conjuring up lost melodies reminiscent of bands like The Replacements, The Exploding Hearts, Superchunk, The Lemonheads & more recently Incubus, Kings Of Leon, The Strokes, Foo Fighters & 30 Seconds To Mars.

Click here if you can't see the Absent Ones video

Opening track 'Absent Ones' comes in at a lean 2.30 seconds. All Nick Valensi style monster staccato riffage, woven together with an anthemic sing-along chorus. 'Nowhere I Belong' & 'Giving All I've Got' have a *dirt under the fingernail* Incubus Morning View era groove, crossed with the power and radio friendly choruses of 30 Seconds To Mars arena pleasers. 'Come Round Again' & personal live favourite 'Riding High' completes the rest of the impressive debut ep. All of the tracks have hallmarks of well crafted songwriting, earworm choruses, funky backline grooves & flat out switchblade vocals. Riding High's Scott Holiday riffage and Jay Buchananesque bluesy vocals in particular wouldn't be out of place on Rival Son's Head Down album.

Live this band are a visual powerhouse. They might hail from the West Midlands but they have the image and attitude that spilled out of CBGB's in late 70s New York. Ash, centre stage, playing the drums (standing up) with such venom, ferocity & precision, you wonder how he manages to deliver such quality vocals as he pounds the drums to within an inch of their life. Jimi's solid, melodic funk bass grooves lock tight with the backbeat while brother Nick's tight, inventive riff's float effortlessly around Ash's impressive vocals. You forget this gloriously layered sound comes from only three players.

You should be hearing a lot more about Dead Sea Skulls. As their hashtag on twitter ominously reads #DeadSeaIsComing

Dead Sea Skulls Live at Birmingham O2 Academy September 2013

Dead Sea Skulls Live at Hawley Arms London September 2013

Dead Sea Skulls Live at Fixxion warehouse Wolverhampton October 2013

Debut EP "Fortune Favours The Brave" was produced by Andy Hawkins (Kaiser Chiefs/The Damned/Ginger/Pigeon Detectives) and is available on Broken Banjo Records via iTunes, Amazon MP3 and Spotify.

>BUY DEBUT EP HERE<

Upcoming dates:

10th Oct - Fixxion Warehouse Wolverhampton

24th Oct - Hawley Arms Camden London

9th Nov - "Cherry Cola" @ Purple Turtle, Camden

>Facebook here<

>Follow Dead Sea Skulls On Twitter here<

Mary Epworth 'September' Review

Mary Epworth's new single 'September' (out now on Hand Of Glory Records) is a glitterbeat glamstomper, heavily infused with synth bass, fat back beats and dirty, killa fuzz.

September shouldn't be a surprise in terms of direction, the radio-edited single 'Black Doe' from debut album 'Dream Life' hinted at a footstomping, fuzz filled future. If you follow Mary on twitter @maryepworth or have listened to various radio interview/live sessions with the band, you already know it's 60s sunshine pop, prog, psych & much, much more (not just f*lk) that excites this band. More recently a slight obsession with Bowie's foil Mick Ronson has been a major twitter topic between Mary and guitarist/vocalist Helene Bradley. So maybe some glitter-killa Ronson style riffs will be evident on the second album!

Mary - "This song in an earlier form nearly ended up on Dream Life, but once we decided it hadn’t made the cut, I realised it could be turned into a bit of a glitterbeat stomper. I’ve been in a bit of a glam rock frame of mind, and wanted to make something that people could move to. Producer Will and I went as far as dancing while we recorded the drum take, to make sure the beat was just right for a night out at the local working men’s club" 

(credit for mary's quote 'http://thequietus.com')

Coming in at only 1.46 seconds, this is a fresh slice of perfect 70s pop. Imagine Joe Meek & Brian Eno (Here Come The Warm Jets era) co-producing Suzie Quatro while Marc Bolan gets jealous in the control room.

Buy September here 

Mary's website

(photo http://www.harrymedia.com)