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Zarko · 04-14-2009, 05:17 AM

Champagne & Grit – Little Axe (2004)

GENRES – Blues, Dub, Gospel

Grinning In Your Face – 3:57
Finger On The Trigger – 5:09
Mean Things – 6:17
The Way I See It – 0:38
Walk On Water – 4:49
Go Away Devil – 4:44
Say My Name – 4:45
Take Me Back To The Country – 1:00
All In The Same Boat – 4:10
Living & Sleeping In A Dangerous Time – 5:44
Will I Ever Get Back Home Again? – 4:22
Cloud – 3:11
Sinners – 4:40

Yet another album that just plain made me excited when I found it… When some people read ‘electronic dubbed blues’ they will probably think of Moby’s Play, as this was the first album to gain mainstream popularity from the style, and as a result is given a lot of credit for the ideas. Well, hate to burst your bubble but Little Axe (Skip McDonald) was one of the true originators of the style in 1994 with the album The Wolf That House Built. Champagne & Grit is the 2004 variant, and Little Axe is in stellar form. On the short of it, you should get this album. I’ve never been huge on modern blues, but it converted me. It is also produced by Adrian Sherwood, which may get a few peoples attention.

The album opens auspiciously with a simple blues ditty, the type that I haven’t heard in a good long time. ‘Grinning In Your Face’ makes me want to whip out some older blues albums, which contain some simple tunes with some nice vocals, and the artists make something great out of it. Classic blues, with a little gospel lyricism, it’s hard to get sick of. Bernard Fowler lends his simple, down to earth vocals for the album in general. His voice just works, tingling with the blues, riding the intense and deep sounds forward.

‘Finger On The Trigger’ changes the sound and feeling altogether, as the group whip out a funky blues groove with a sprinkle of reggae. The base is still the blues, pure and simple, but the cover is a foot tapping groove, almost hitting the tradition RnB level, as the distorted vocal samples are muffled and electronic in the background. Junior Delgado lends himself to the first of many songs on the track, offering up his reggae roots sound, infused with the dub, making this song a treat on the ears with the contrast between vocal styles. Cutting between McDonald’s deep bassy tones, to Delgado’s light Caribbean to the sampled and mixed backing vocals doesn’t sound like it should work, but believe me, it does. It also has some ripping harmonica work in the middle, which are almost unearthly in their nature.

‘Mean Things’ carries on the dub feeling from the previous track, but there is a heavier focus on pure blues sounds, down the guitar work and lyrics. From the album it is the most ‘modern-urban blues’, as it touches upon many of the greatest factors of classic blues, without borrowing from it too much, as well as offering a decent enough amount of what blues needs to become in the modern times. It still has a reggae groove to it at times, but it still doesn’t lose its bluesy nature. The layering during the guitar solo is a beaut at around 2:30, fusing deep bass with McDonald picking on his steel guitar. The sound is phenomenal.

‘The Way I See It’ is a simple little interlude, giving McDonald a chance to pull out some basic blues sounds. It’s nice, not terribly necessary, but nice nonetheless. ‘Walk On Water’ pulls out a little more gospel soul sound, in another homage to the classic gospel sound. There is a group of a few vocalists performing the majority of the work, before they introduce either a) a sample of some old gospel blues or b) have recorded in that style. Either way, it sounds awesome, offering a little bit of variation from the normal, chilled tempo of the song overall. It’s an extremely light and happy inducing song, and the light dub work in the background is as good as ever. It has that sense of largeness that gospel entails without losing too much of the modern elements that have been introduced elsewhere on the album. It is definitely one of my preferred songs from the album. By the way, I would love for someone to suggest a band or album that is similar to the ‘sampled’ vocals I was talking about on this track. I love that sort of stuff.

‘Go Away Devil’ is a return of the bluesy reggae sound, with some gospel-like lyricism. The song on a whole is all on a ‘spaced out’ level, slow, foreboding vocals with the appropriate levels of dubbing and distortion to make the ‘Go away Devil, Devil’ lyrics to have the perfect sense of hostility. The driving harmonica is also a treat for the listener, it also adds a bit of flavour, especially considering it is used primarily in conjunction with the reggae/dub vocals, and isn’t terribly intrusive during the more bluesy moments. ‘Say My Name’ borrows Shara Nelson’s unique sound in another slow grooving blues performance, which has the perfect touch of psychedelic RnB sound to create another solid track. I am not as huge on the track as a whole compared to many others, mainly due to the vocals, but it has a great measured groove to it.

‘Take Me Back To The Country’ is another short interval of pure blues. These shorter tracks really are a god send when most of the songs are quite large in scale. It is another simple piece, lasting only a minute. ‘All In The Same Boat’ is a difficult to explain. It has a distinct gospel sound, but has a few ‘singer/songwriter’ vocals area intertwined to make it a little different. The vocals don’t sound bluesy most of the time, but I still quite like the song. It’s another one of my ‘happiness inducing’ psychedelic good memories songs, even if it doesn’t particularly sound like something from your childhood, it just reminds you of those times.

‘Living & Sleeping In A Dangerous Time’ has a distinctly urban reggae blues sound, reminding me of some of Marley’s more dub infused pieces (Sorry I am not very knowing of reggae in general), combining enough of the best of both genres to make it a standout track. The sampling of the old sounding vocals is just another treat; I love it at every opportunity it is used, as the track talks about urban poverty and its results. It has a more distinct dub/reggae sound to it, which offers something different; just the simple blues layering is splendid. It is worth a check out from blues and reggae fans alike. It’s like reggae dub with a little Howlin’ Wolf gruffness infused.

‘Will I Ever Get Back Home Again?’ is similar to ‘Mean Things’ in that it has an individual urban-esque blues sound. It is heavily dubbed and distorted, but it has a beautiful blend archetypal blues harmonica, as McDonald’s vocals are transformed to an odd amalgamation of deep ‘darkness’ and psychedelic spaced out echoes. It’s an odd song, in that it never really picks up, but rather remains in it’s tripped out lulled glory. ‘Cloud’ is the longest ‘pure’ blues track, as it consists mainly of acoustic and steel guitar picking. It doesn’t come forward and grab you by the genitals, but then again, it isn’t meant to. Evocative of the lazy afternoon out in the sun, it is a charming track that, along with the previous song, signals the coming down period of the bluesy dub goodness.

The final track, ‘Sinners’, is a great send off to the album as a whole, borrowing from everything, and mixing it with a solid gospel blues base. It had quickly become probably my favourite send off for any recent album. It might just be me not recollecting some great moments, but it just grabs so many good qualities and shoves them together to make even more greatness when you thought it might have been maxed out. Once again the old styled vocal sampling is just a treat to behold. It isn’t in you face with loudness; it’s just a great track.

I said I would be cutting down on review length a while back, but some albums just deserve all the praise they get. I think I have talked about it enough, but if this is modern blues, I am mighty happy with where the genre is despite it’s falling off the face of the mainstream scene.

TOTAL SCORE

7.5/10

– Grinning In Your Face
– Finger On The Trigger
– Walk On Water

04-14-2009, 05:17 AM	#49 (permalink)
Zarko Barely Disheveled Zombie Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Australia Posts: 1,196	Champagne & Grit – Little Axe (2004) GENRES – Blues, Dub, Gospel Grinning In Your Face – 3:57 Finger On The Trigger – 5:09 Mean Things – 6:17 The Way I See It – 0:38 Walk On Water – 4:49 Go Away Devil – 4:44 Say My Name – 4:45 Take Me Back To The Country – 1:00 All In The Same Boat – 4:10 Living & Sleeping In A Dangerous Time – 5:44 Will I Ever Get Back Home Again? – 4:22 Cloud – 3:11 Sinners – 4:40 Yet another album that just plain made me excited when I found it… When some people read ‘electronic dubbed blues’ they will probably think of Moby’s Play, as this was the first album to gain mainstream popularity from the style, and as a result is given a lot of credit for the ideas. Well, hate to burst your bubble but Little Axe (Skip McDonald) was one of the true originators of the style in 1994 with the album The Wolf That House Built. Champagne & Grit is the 2004 variant, and Little Axe is in stellar form. On the short of it, you should get this album. I’ve never been huge on modern blues, but it converted me. It is also produced by Adrian Sherwood, which may get a few peoples attention. The album opens auspiciously with a simple blues ditty, the type that I haven’t heard in a good long time. ‘Grinning In Your Face’ makes me want to whip out some older blues albums, which contain some simple tunes with some nice vocals, and the artists make something great out of it. Classic blues, with a little gospel lyricism, it’s hard to get sick of. Bernard Fowler lends his simple, down to earth vocals for the album in general. His voice just works, tingling with the blues, riding the intense and deep sounds forward. ‘Finger On The Trigger’ changes the sound and feeling altogether, as the group whip out a funky blues groove with a sprinkle of reggae. The base is still the blues, pure and simple, but the cover is a foot tapping groove, almost hitting the tradition RnB level, as the distorted vocal samples are muffled and electronic in the background. Junior Delgado lends himself to the first of many songs on the track, offering up his reggae roots sound, infused with the dub, making this song a treat on the ears with the contrast between vocal styles. Cutting between McDonald’s deep bassy tones, to Delgado’s light Caribbean to the sampled and mixed backing vocals doesn’t sound like it should work, but believe me, it does. It also has some ripping harmonica work in the middle, which are almost unearthly in their nature. ‘Mean Things’ carries on the dub feeling from the previous track, but there is a heavier focus on pure blues sounds, down the guitar work and lyrics. From the album it is the most ‘modern-urban blues’, as it touches upon many of the greatest factors of classic blues, without borrowing from it too much, as well as offering a decent enough amount of what blues needs to become in the modern times. It still has a reggae groove to it at times, but it still doesn’t lose its bluesy nature. The layering during the guitar solo is a beaut at around 2:30, fusing deep bass with McDonald picking on his steel guitar. The sound is phenomenal. ‘The Way I See It’ is a simple little interlude, giving McDonald a chance to pull out some basic blues sounds. It’s nice, not terribly necessary, but nice nonetheless. ‘Walk On Water’ pulls out a little more gospel soul sound, in another homage to the classic gospel sound. There is a group of a few vocalists performing the majority of the work, before they introduce either a) a sample of some old gospel blues or b) have recorded in that style. Either way, it sounds awesome, offering a little bit of variation from the normal, chilled tempo of the song overall. It’s an extremely light and happy inducing song, and the light dub work in the background is as good as ever. It has that sense of largeness that gospel entails without losing too much of the modern elements that have been introduced elsewhere on the album. It is definitely one of my preferred songs from the album. By the way, I would love for someone to suggest a band or album that is similar to the ‘sampled’ vocals I was talking about on this track. I love that sort of stuff. ‘Go Away Devil’ is a return of the bluesy reggae sound, with some gospel-like lyricism. The song on a whole is all on a ‘spaced out’ level, slow, foreboding vocals with the appropriate levels of dubbing and distortion to make the ‘Go away Devil, Devil’ lyrics to have the perfect sense of hostility. The driving harmonica is also a treat for the listener, it also adds a bit of flavour, especially considering it is used primarily in conjunction with the reggae/dub vocals, and isn’t terribly intrusive during the more bluesy moments. ‘Say My Name’ borrows Shara Nelson’s unique sound in another slow grooving blues performance, which has the perfect touch of psychedelic RnB sound to create another solid track. I am not as huge on the track as a whole compared to many others, mainly due to the vocals, but it has a great measured groove to it. ‘Take Me Back To The Country’ is another short interval of pure blues. These shorter tracks really are a god send when most of the songs are quite large in scale. It is another simple piece, lasting only a minute. ‘All In The Same Boat’ is a difficult to explain. It has a distinct gospel sound, but has a few ‘singer/songwriter’ vocals area intertwined to make it a little different. The vocals don’t sound bluesy most of the time, but I still quite like the song. It’s another one of my ‘happiness inducing’ psychedelic good memories songs, even if it doesn’t particularly sound like something from your childhood, it just reminds you of those times. ‘Living & Sleeping In A Dangerous Time’ has a distinctly urban reggae blues sound, reminding me of some of Marley’s more dub infused pieces (Sorry I am not very knowing of reggae in general), combining enough of the best of both genres to make it a standout track. The sampling of the old sounding vocals is just another treat; I love it at every opportunity it is used, as the track talks about urban poverty and its results. It has a more distinct dub/reggae sound to it, which offers something different; just the simple blues layering is splendid. It is worth a check out from blues and reggae fans alike. It’s like reggae dub with a little Howlin’ Wolf gruffness infused. ‘Will I Ever Get Back Home Again?’ is similar to ‘Mean Things’ in that it has an individual urban-esque blues sound. It is heavily dubbed and distorted, but it has a beautiful blend archetypal blues harmonica, as McDonald’s vocals are transformed to an odd amalgamation of deep ‘darkness’ and psychedelic spaced out echoes. It’s an odd song, in that it never really picks up, but rather remains in it’s tripped out lulled glory. ‘Cloud’ is the longest ‘pure’ blues track, as it consists mainly of acoustic and steel guitar picking. It doesn’t come forward and grab you by the genitals, but then again, it isn’t meant to. Evocative of the lazy afternoon out in the sun, it is a charming track that, along with the previous song, signals the coming down period of the bluesy dub goodness. The final track, ‘Sinners’, is a great send off to the album as a whole, borrowing from everything, and mixing it with a solid gospel blues base. It had quickly become probably my favourite send off for any recent album. It might just be me not recollecting some great moments, but it just grabs so many good qualities and shoves them together to make even more greatness when you thought it might have been maxed out. Once again the old styled vocal sampling is just a treat to behold. It isn’t in you face with loudness; it’s just a great track. I said I would be cutting down on review length a while back, but some albums just deserve all the praise they get. I think I have talked about it enough, but if this is modern blues, I am mighty happy with where the genre is despite it’s falling off the face of the mainstream scene. TOTAL SCORE 7.5/10 – Grinning In Your Face – Finger On The Trigger – Walk On Water Last edited by Zarko; 09-18-2009 at 07:09 AM.