Do the Albequerque Turkey - Bad Bad Whiskey Album Review

I interviewed the Bad Bad Whiskey boys last year at Vintage Nation, (you can watch that here - skip to 3.33 for the interview).   Now they are back with a new drummer and a new album - 'Albuquerque Turkey'.  It's been almost two years since their debut 'Home Cookin'' was released, so it was about time that we heard from the Godfathers of Skifflebilly.

Along with Don Gio on drums, Bad Bad Whiskey is comprised of Citizen Lane, (singer, guitarist and handy with a harmonica) and The Moocher, who rounds off the trio on the double bass.  Together, they play a mixture of rockabilly, skiffle (et voilà- skifflebilly), rhythm & blues and jazz, all with a skiffle edge.  The album was recorded as live, with the band all gathered around a microphone in Gio's shed - it gives the whole recording a slightly homemade quality that really suits the music.

'Albuquerque Turkey' is a mixture of original material and reinterpretations of songs from artists such as Woody Guthrie, the Memphis Jug Band and Hank Williams.  In my humble opinion, all the best albums have a least one song dedicated to a dance craze, so the tradition of songs such as The Twist, The Madison and The Hucklebuck, the title track is all about the Albuquerque Turkey.  Such is the physical response this song is set to illicit from those that hear it, Bad Bad Whiskey are even calling on their fans to send footage of them bopping and jiving to be featured in their next video(email your footage to BadBadWhiskey@ymail.com).

 

One of the three original tracks, Give Her Back, really stood out.  It's really upbeat and features some great vocals from frontman Citizen Lane - it could only be improved by being slightly longer than 85 seconds!  Another stand out track is their rendition of Hound Dog as is unlike any other version I've heard.  Closer to Elvis than Big Mama Thornton, its somehow darker tone puts an interesting, and very well executed, spin on the classic song.

 

Alongside the trio, the album features a few well-chosen guests, including Anthony Hodgson on the fiddle for  I Ain't Got Nobody and piano from James Farebrother on Move That Thang.  Also featured is Col. Spencer from MFC Chicken playing the 'yakety sax' on versions of Vince Taylor's Brand New Cadillac and Roy Brown's Hip Shakin' Baby. These additions give Bad Bad Whiskey the opportunity to try out a greater range of sounds with considerable success.  Overall, 'Albuquerque Turkey' is a strong follow-up to their debut, albeit with much more of a rockabilly feel than its more rhythm and blues influenced predecessor.  It goes some of the way to capturing much of the spirit of their often raucous live shows.

The band are launching 'Albuquerque Turkey' on November 9th at The Great Eastern in Brighton, details can be found here.  As well as seeing a couple of sets from Bad Bad Whiskey, there will also be special cocktails and food deals from Brighton Burger.

You can download 'Albuquerque Turkey' (and their previous offering, 'Home Cookin'') from their Bandcamp site, or head down to the launch on Saturday.

 

 

The Great Gatsby Soundtrack review

I am, along with many others, eagerly awaiting the release of Baz Luhrmann's 'The Great Gatsby'.  One of my favourite books adapted by a director that has proven he can film a visually rich and sumptuous movie, looks set to be one of the highlights of the Hollywood calendar.  One aspect of the production that may prove to be slightly more questionable, is the soundtrack.  With Jay Z as executive producer, it was never going to be a straightforward reproduction of popular 1920s standards (for that, see the Boardwalk Empire soundtrack which is absolutely superb).  Rather than incorporating jazz-age music, considered daringly modern at the time of the novel's release, it has been replaced with the contemporary equivalent; that is replacing jazz with hip hop.

 

The opener, '100$ Bill' from Jay-Z, (who was also executive producer on the film) sets the somewhat anachronistic tone for the rest of the album.  The track does sample dialogue from the film, but not in any meaningful way.

Following '100$ Bill' is 'Back to Black' by Beyoncé and André 3000.  Originally by Amy Winehouse, the song is quite jarring - especially Beyoncé singing 'I love blow and you love puff'.  I don't think the style or lyrics are relevant to The Great Gatsby and it just seems like a reason to have Jay Z's wife on the album.  Another cover, the evocative and despair-filled 'Love is Blindness' from Jack White (originally by U2), brings an emotional depth that seems to be lacking from some of the more morose tracks.

 

'Bang Bang' seems one of the more promising tracks, sampling the ubiquitous 'Charleston'.  Will.i.am produces a song more in line with what I was expecting from the album, combining his signature style with hints at early 20th century popular music.  At times, he employs a style reminiscent of a barber shop quartet as well as a few bars of scatting. On multiple listens, the track does tend to improve and seems to fulfil the brief of combining what was considered daring and new in the '20s, and what is contemporary and modern now.

A second appearance by a Black Eyed Peas alumnus is 'A Little Party Never Killed Nobody (All We Got)' from Fergie (feat Q-tip & GoonRock).  A typical electroswing track, with a few horns thrown over the top of a classic club tune.

Lana Del Rey's 'Young and Beautiful' is the point at which the soundtrack takes an increasingly dark turn.  It was written to accompany a specific scene in the film, as was Florence + the Machine's characteristic alternating-between-haunting-and-powerful ballad 'Over the Love'.  They are both the dramatic trailer fare and they can be easily imagined scoring a poignant montage in many a film.  Sounding as though it was written for the same scene as 'Young and Beautiful' and 'Over the Love' (or perhaps hinting that a large proportion of the film will be of a pensive and brooding nature) 'Together' by The xx continues the mood with its lush orchestral sections, but doesn't say anything new.

 

With the tinkling piano backing, 'Where the Wind Blows' by Coco O of Danish duo Quadron has a vaudevillian feel, but in no way sounds dated. One of the few uplifting songs on the soundtrack.  'Hearts a Mess' (Gotye), 'Into the Past' (Nero) and 'Kill and Run' (Sia) are all very low key, ambient tracks, with the latter two again featuring quite majestic strings.  Sia's vocals on the last track in particular, are well suited to the opulent look of the film.

 

'Love is the Drug' will be familiar to anyone that listened to the Bryan Ferry Orchestra's debut released last year, although this version also features the vocals of Mr Ferry himself.   One of the most 'authentic' tracks on the album, it goes some way to capture the essence of the jazz age portrayed in the film and can verge of sleazy - but definitely in a good way.  The second helping from the Bryan Ferry Orchestra this time features Emeli Sandé on vocals, in a reimagining of Beyoncé's 'Crazy in Love'.  Although good to hear another jazz-fuelled track, Sandé's vocals don't quite come up to scratch,  exacerbated by the fact that Beyoncé features as a reminder elsewhere on the album.

 

It would have been more fitting to hear some 1920s songs among the covers, perhaps some that are mentioned in the novel itself.  I understand the theory behind Luhrmann's remark that, as the audience is living in the 'hip-hop age' as opposed to the jazz-age, they "want [their] viewers to feel the impact of modern-day music the way Fitzgerald did for the readers of his novel at the time of its publication" however I don't think it has quite hit the mark and may prove distracting.  It will be interesting to see the context into which each track is placed, and whether the soundtrack accurately reflects a rather bleak film.

The soundtrack is released on the 6th of May on Interscope Records with a deluxe version featuring three additional tracks.

  

Have you heard any of the songs from the soundtrack?  What did you think of them?  Are you looking forward to seeing The Great Gatsby?

Pip, Pip and a Merry Christmas!

On Thursday, upstairs at the Prince Albert played host to a slightly more refined gathering than it’s used to, as Mr B brought his sold-out show to Brighton just in time for Christmas.

The evening started with an opera singer gliding through the G&T sipping crowd.  The Gentleman Rhymer’s yuletide show features many Chap-Hop staples taken from both his latest release ‘The Tweed Album’ and earlier offerings such as ‘I Say’.  There were a few festive treats thrown in, including new single ‘Oh, Santa!’ and a brand new take on ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas’.

Showing his multi-instrumentalism, Mr B ‘[took] to the pianoforte, as all cabaret performers must do’ and then joked that the set was rather more smut-filled than he had intended, (after a particularly saucy ditty played on his table-top piano).

Mr B was joined onstage by his trusty Gentleman’s personal Gentleman, Carshalton, who performed his own below-stairs take on a blues classic.  

Excellent support from We AreGoose brought the perfect mix of comedy and music, a highlight being their song about a fight to the death of all the ‘Tims’ in the world (with an obligatory Timothy Dalton breakdown of course).

As always, the Brighton-based Mr B engaged the audience and encouraged audience participation and had everyone laughing as he proclaimed that he was definitely “chappy number 1 in Portslade”.

In the words of Mr B, ‘pip, pip and Merry Christmas’.

p.s. Mr B is hoping to get the 'Christmas no. 42' with 'Oh Santa'. I beleive you can get it from itunes, but I don't really understand all that (it's still records and CDs for me) but do have a look.

Competition time!

As I imagine you all know by now, I work for the Vintage News and this week we are running a competition to win a rather fabulous new album.  What could be better just before Christmas?

If you’ve read our review of The Jazz Age by The Bryan Ferry Orchestra, we’re sure you’re all eager to hear it.  Well, you are in luck!  We have one copy to give away to subscribers of our website.  Not already subscribed? Just click here and fill in the form.

After you’ve subscribed, to be in with a chance of winning just answer the following question:

Which 1927 collection of illustrations is the album artwork taken from?

hint: it might be worth taking another peek at the review ;)

Email your answer to newsdesk@vintagenews.tv with ‘The Jazz Age Competition’ as the subject

The competition ends midnight, Friday 21^st December and the winner will be announced before Christmas – good luck!

"The Jazz Age" or why I started watching Roxy Music on youtube

I can’t admit to be overly familiar with Bryan Ferry’s oeuvre, apart from a few songs (notably, ‘Love is the Drug’, ‘Virginia Plain’ and ‘Let’s Stick Together’) as well as a beautifully haunting version of ‘The Only Face’ on one of Jools Holland’s albums.  So when I heard that he was releasing a new album, it didn’t stir much excitement within me.  When I heard that all of the songs were covers of 11 of his hits from the last 40 years, re-recorded in the style of a 1920s dance band, I was suddenly interested.

In what I think is quite a brave step, Bryan Ferry’s distinctive vocals are absent from this album, as all of the songs are instrumentals.  The remarkable change in style may also leave some of his more die-hard fans a little disappointed.  However, they should put their reservations aside and listen to what has immediately become my favourite album of the year!

After hearing the songs of ‘The Jazz Age’, I must say I did go through my mum’s record collection and listen to some of the originals, which really enhanced my appreciation of the reworked tracks.

Produced by Ferry and long-time collaborator Rhett Davies, The Jazz Age truly is a love letter to the music of the 1920s, not a half-hearted attempt to jump on the vintage bandwagon.  Bryan Ferry said “I loved the way the great soloists would pick up a tune and shake it up - go somewhere completely different...”, a statement which is played out to great effect on the record.

Highlights are the joyously upbeat ‘This is Tomorrow’, the lovely lilting refrain on ‘Avalon’ and ‘The Only Face’ – in which I half expected Cab Calloway to start singing about a tragic woman’s demise! 

The album’s artwork is taken from the 1927 collection of illustrations ‘Le Tumulte Noir’ by the French artist, Paul Colin.  These illustrations were inspired by La Revue Nègre, which included among its stars, Josephine Baker (Colin’s muse and lover). 

I for one would love to see this album performed live, although I’m not sure how the show would work as Bryan Ferry wouldn’t be singing and of course, they would have to play in venues with an ample dance floor, not the stadiums I’m sure he normally commands!

The album was released on 26^th November 2012 with the 10” vinyl folio set for release on 3^rd December (hint, if anyone fancies buying one of the folios for me, I dare say I wouldn’t refuse it!)

 Keep an eye out on The Vintage News facebook and twitter as we will be announcing a competition to win a copy of The Jazz Age next week*.

*should point out that the competition ran in December 2012