Strings of Atlas Cage - So Far From Home

The scene is a bit surreal.  The theater is empty.  Vendors languishing in slow motion, taking down tarps and laying out t-shirts, preparing for the onslaught.  I've got my photo pass and am sitting alone in a side hallway.  Ushers ignore me.

It's the perfect time to write.  I pull out my iphone and hit play.  The music is already queued up.  It should be. I've been listening to the album for days now.  On repeat.  With each listen, I dig a bit deeper.  Hear a new effect.  Pick up a new lyric.  Fall deeper and deeper under the spell of Atlas Cage.

Let's get the comparison out of the way right off the bat.  With his retro-afro, persistent dark glasses, and groove-laden take on 70's rock (with heaps of soul), Lenny Kravitz just has to come to mind.  And it should.  They both plow a vaguely similar vein of lost-in-time, yet thoroughly modern classic rock with a love of the wah and a bit of fuzz.  But here's the thing.  I never really liked, Lenny Kravitz.  Yet I dig Atlas Cage.

What's the difference, you ask?   Intent.  While both of these cats probably have the identical set of major influences, Kravitz never went far enough for me.  He was content to play it safe and try and score hits.  He just wasn't heavy enough.  Other than a few choice cuts, he really just bored me.  I didn't hate Lenny, how could I?  He's a good musician, could turn out a good tune, and was married to Lisa Bonet. All good.  But he bored me.  I didn't hate Lenny, I just nothing-ed him.

Not Atlas. 

There's something meaner in this dude.  Something definitely heavier.  No less melodic, no less capable of cranking out a great tune.  But its all darker.  Pop-friendly without the pop gloss and sheen.  It just feels more real to me.  More authentic.  More anguished.

After hearing the album for about the fifth time, I wrote Atlas this cryptic passage.  "The love spawn of an orgy weekend; fathered by Kravitz and Hendrix, suckled at the teet of mother classic rock, while spoon fed a gob of blues and a puree of funk."  He responded.  "So you're digging it, huh?" 

Yeah, Atlas, I'm digging it.

"Art and Commerce" is a journey though fuzz riffs and a throbbing rhythm that just comes on like sex.  It's a heavy bass that propels this thing.  Not a hide-it-in-the-back bass, but a deep and dark and dangerous bass.  And that works perfectly when the scythe of guitar cuts in with mutated fuzz and angry chords.  Up front, Atlas will probably admit that, like Hendrix, he's not the greatest singer in the world.  And that's just fine.  His vocals work dead-on for his throbbing rock.  He sings, vocalizes, sing-talks, shouts, and almost scats when the mood hits him.  And it's all just perfect for what he's getting at. 

"Don't Want the World" is a blitz of loosely-strung guitar chords, aching blues notes, and bending hallucinogenic solos.  Man, this song just exudes feeling.  Isolation, desperation, loneliness.  The guitar is strummed with passion and purpose, as if each slap against those strings is a catharsis.  Atlas sings with a heavy heart, like a funeral pall hanging over his head, as he lets out a moan of love lost.  "I don't want the world, I want you," the chorus cries out in deepened and darkened heaviness.   That psych lead guitar scorches through the acoustic strumming like a heart crying in pain.  And all of this is wrapped up in a melody that begs for attention. 

"Falling Sky" ups the old-school psych vibe with effect-laden guitar and a very Hendrixian vocal.   His voice strains and reaches, but not trying to find notes.  It searches to find feeling.  It reaches for emotion.  Yeah, I can get behind that.  That's one of the things Pope and I talked about when we first started the Ripple.  Make us happy or make us cry, it doesn't matter.  Just make us feel something.  Make us feel what you feel.  Atlas does that here.  The song is really more of a shell than a fully-fleshed composition, but that shell is a vehicle for the ache in his voice.  It's like a soul purging, set to music.  Then "Find a Way" storms out riding the back of monster named bass guitar and a stormfront called wah-guitar.  This is the most Kravitz-sounding cut I hear on the album, but like I said, I'm digging this one.   The bass and drums are deep and throbbing, pure funk, and my ass feels it while that guitar transport me to pure rock bliss.  The chorus slays, dropping in to a chanted "Got to find a way to get away" while the tune turns into pure 70's metal.  I'm fist pumping for reasons I don't know why.  I'm yelling at people I don't even know. People are staring at me like I'm a drooling madman, and I don't care.  Maybe I am.

"I'll be Your Stone" is an assault of fuzz, Kravitzian riffs and anger.  It's a huge song with a bottom end that could be felt on the Richter scale in California.  But it's not content to hang there.  Massive funk bass bleeds through the scratching guitar and Atlas seduces just about every woman on the planet as the heaviness rages back. "Indigo-go Girl" comes on like a transformed funk "You Really Got Me' by The Kinks, but funky in ways Ray Davies never dreamed about.   "So Far from Home" retreats to a thick, street-wise funk rap that'd make the Fun Lovin' Criminals proud.

It's a "never-stop-listening to" kinda album.  Now all I gotta do is talk Atlas into putting it out on vinyl.  I'll be first in line to buy a copy.

Yeah, Atlas, I'm digging it.

--Racer



Strings of Atlas - Dont Want The World Official... by atlascage

Heavy Manic Souls - S/T

Ladies and Gents, wave riders of all ages, Welcome to the venue.  Are you ready to rock?  I said, ARE YOU READY TO ROCK!.  . . .  There, that’s more like it.   Here is your performance guide,

Who is performing? 

Heavy Manic Souls, a four-man band, originally formed in France in September 2009, by guitar god, singer, writer and band founder Chris Francheteau, also known as Chris Rolling (don’t ask why), that also includes skins player Rod Chaillou;  heavy-bottomed bassist Eric Robin; and blues vocal master Eric Dufour. Unfortunately, the band in this form is no longer around and it is now a two-piece band which, when you hear the album, I believe you will find to be an absolute tragedy.  

To what will we be listening?

Heavy Manic Souls’ self-titled album.  The album was made in five days.  It was mainly recorded live with overdubbed solos and vocals and mastered at Pigsound Studios in Los Angeles.  It consists of the following tracks:

    Change The Reality
    Juggernaut (Fury Road)
    Lone Star State Song
    Rollerball
    Cigarette
    Heads Or Tails
    Escape From Earth
    Down In The Rain
    Badass Motherfucker
    Uncle Pirate Blues
    Heavy Foot, Cool Hand


What type of music will we hear?

Heavy blues rock.  I think you will find it to be some of the best heavy blues rock you have heard in a very, very long time.

What does it sound like?

Robin Trower, Hendrix, Cream-era Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Johnny Winter, Rick Derringer, Randy Bachman, - all rolled into one.

Where can we hear it and buy it?
http://www.heavymanicsouls.com/

So, without further ado, we bring you Heavy Manic Souls.  Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em.

-  Old School

Scorpions - Tokyo Tapes

 

Another week, another review of a double live album. I could have sworn I wrote this one up a year or so ago for Ripple but was amazed that I did not. Good thing, too. I've been looking for a cheap copy of the LP to replace the one that went missing over 25 years ago and finally tracked one down last week. 5 bucks for this muther at a used place on Long Island in a bin full of crappy metal like Americade and Kane Roberts. I've had the remastered CD for many years, and it sounds great, but when it comes to double live albums you just gotta have the gatefold sleeve. For fans of 70's heavy rock, Tokyo Tapes is an essential companion piece to Unleashed In The East, Strangers In The Night, Made In Japan and Live & Dangerous. Next time you're having a party put all those albums next to the turntable, rotate playing sides from them and watch the chicks magically disappear. Works every time!

Tokyo Tapes captures the Scorpions at a key point in their career. Guitar wizard Uli Jon Roth had already made up his mind to leave the band (check out his song "I've Got To Be Free" from his last studio album Taken By Force) but honored their touring commitments in Japan. Recorded live in 1978, this captures the end of Uli's Hendrix inspired version of the band before they evolved into a more conventional and commercial hard rock/metal band in the 1980's. Most fans of the popular era are either unaware or flat out don't like this version of the Scorpions. The truth is that most Scorps records until the mid-80's are pretty solid and they remain a kick ass live band to this very day. The Scorpions have announced that they will be retiring so if you've never seen them, you better do so soon. The next best thing would be to check out the great live DVD of their show at the Wacken Festival from 2006 with special guests Uli Roth and Michael Schenker.

Getting back to Tokyo Tapes, opening song "All Night Long" is one of their best. It was never on any of their studio albums and is one of the few (maybe the only one) written by Uli and vocalist Klause Meine. It's everything an opening song should be - fast, loud and with a killer groove. Uli's solos are incredible but so is Rudolf Schenker's kick ass rhythm guitar. Rudy really pushes the band hard and he's a very underrated player. The rhythm section of Francis Buchholz (bass) and Herman Rarebell (drums) are pummeling. "Pictured Life" and "Backstage Queen" get massive reactions from the Japanese crowd and the band delivers tight renditions. As always Uli's lead guitar work blazes.

Uli really lets loose on the slower and more Hendrix influenced songs like "In Trance," "In Search Of The Peace Of Mind," and, especially, "We'll Burn The Sky," co-written by Monika Dannemann, the woman who Hendrix was involved with when he died. The Scorpions met her when they played the Marquee Club in London and she became Uli's companion until her death in 1996. "We'll Burn The Sky" is credited to being written by Rudy Schenker and Monika but Uli owns this song. His guitar playing is out of this world. Next to Robin Trower, Uli is one of the few to have been able to incorporate Hendrix's playing into a unique style. As great as Uli's playing is, sometimes his singing isn't so great. Especially on "Polar Nights." It was actually dropped from the CD version of Tokyo Tapes to keep it a single disc but is a bonus track on the CD of Taken By Force. Still, it contains a great solo and is not worth getting up off your bean bag chair to move the needle when playing the LP. His vocals on "Dark Lady" are much better mainly because he lets Klaus handle the high notes on the chorus.

Another fun aspect of Tokyo Tapes is the between song banter. Klaus addresses the Japanese audience in English with his thick German accent. Who knows if anyone understood each other but one of my all time favorite stage announcements is when he says "I hope we get a good feeling together" and then yells out a few words in Japanese. The crowd really goes wild when they do a version of the Japanese song "Kojo No Tsuki." That must have earned the band a huge amount of respect. Another classic Klaus moment is when he shrieks at the crowd "do you like rock n roll" before they launch into a high energy meddley of "Hound Dog" and "Long Tall Sally." They were probably inspired to dust these off as a reaction to Deep Purple's usual encore of "Lucille."

The front cover is a classic with Rudy bending waaaaay in front of the bass player. Sure it looks a little gay, but can you do that in giant, white platform boots? There are great photos in the inner sleeve and almost everyone in the band has ridiculously big platforms. Probably the main reason why if you see photos of them today they're wearing sensible shoes. Back in the 70's everyone wore those giant shoes, kimonos and had massive fog machines on stage and the world was a better place.

--Woody

Mountain – Climbing!

 

As I write this, Mountain’s legendary guitarist Leslie West is recuperating in the hospital following leg amputation surgery due to his long term diabetes. Mountain was scheduled to perform at the Hard Rock in Biloxi, Mississippi when Leslie started having problems that led his operation. Reports say that Leslie is doing well and should be discharged shortly. Not long after the surgery he called into his friend Howard Stern’s radio show and sounded in good spirits. I know I speak for everyone involved here at Ripple that we wish him a speedy recovery and look forward to hearing his incredible guitar tone again very soon.

On to happier things, like celebrating Mountain’s awesome debut album Climbing!, originally released in 1970. Leslie released a solo album titled Mountain in 1969 but not long after that he and bassist/producer Felix Pappalardi decided to form a full time band. One of their first shows was at the Woodstock festival in 1969. The band was not complete until powerhouse drummer Corky Laing joined and the rest is history. Most people consider Mountain a power trio and forget about 4th member Steve Knight on keyboards. Felix wanted a keyboard player to avoid comparisons with Cream but Leslie could have cared less and has never really said nice things about Steve over the years. Either way, this is the line up that produced one of rock’s greatest heavy albums.

Opening with the most identifiable cowbell lick ever, “Mississippi Queen” erupts from the speakers no matter what you play it on – transistor radio, massive PA system or anything in between. The result is always the same: 100% KICK ASS!! Unlike many other popular rock songs, I never get tired of hearing it. If it comes on the radio you immediately forget about what was played before it and you will be furious if the DJ follows it up with Billy Joel. Not all Long Island rockers are equal. Once you get past the cowbell what really hits you is Leslie’s utterly MASSIVE guitar tone. Many have tried but no one comes close to that sound. He’s gone on record many times as saying that he wound up using a Sunn PA amplifier at the Fillmore West because the Marshall amps he was expecting never arrived. He liked the sound of his Les Paul Junior plugged straight into it so they used it on the album. The main thing about his guitar tone is that it just sounds really fuckin’ LOUD and makes you want to turn the stereo up.

If “Mississippi Queen” doesn’t melt your speakers than “Never In My Life” will. Faster, harder and almost twice the length of the hit single, “Never In My Life” is simply one of the most kick ass songs of all time. Legend has it that Jimi Hendrix was in the studio next door and Leslie asked him to come in when they were mixing it. Jimi was knocked out by the riff and later on played bass behind Leslie during a jam with Corky. Not a bad endorsement for your debut album, eh?

But Mountain Climbing! is not all just speedy blues riffs and pounding cowbell. Songs like “Theme from an Imaginary Western” and the Woodstock anthem “For Yasgur's Farm” (both sung by Felix) offer nice counterpoint to the heavy rock jams. Probably the biggest strength of this album is the balance between heavy and quiet, light and dark. Acoustic numbers “The Laird” and “To My Friend” set up the rockers “Silver Paper” and “Sittin’ On A Rainbow” perfectly. Variety is definitely a lost art amongst most of today’s bands. Leslie’s vocals are shouted and raw while Felix is much more melodic. When you combine that with great songs and excellent musicianship you have a timeless classic like this.

Climbing! is a real one of a kind and belongs in every rock fan’s library regardless of generation. It goes without saying that the louder you play it the better it sounds and it gets stronger year after year. Send Leslie some good thoughts and crank this one up soon.

--Woody

Buy here: Climbing

Heavy Glow - The Filth and The Fury”EP

Electronic distortion - to reproduce or amplify (a signal) inaccurately by changing the frequencies or unequally changing the delay or amplitude of the components of the output wave. (The “Filth.”)

Audio feedback - when a sound loop exists between an audio input and an audio output. The frequency of the resulting sound is determined by resonance frequencies in the microphone, amplifier, and loudspeaker, the acoustics of the room, the directional pick-up and emission patterns of the microphone and loudspeaker, and the distance between them. (The “Fury”)

Add the two together and you have The Filth and The Fury.  Use it skillfully and surround it with expert guitar playing, world class rock drums, driving bass, catchy lyrics, and soulful vocals, and you have Heavy Glow’s The Filth and The Fury EP.

Although the EP’s name is the same as a 1999 video rock documentary on the Sex Pistols by Julien Temple, Heavy Glow’s performances are more akin to the 1969 psychedelia of Jimi Hendrix.  Guitarist and vocalist Jared Mullins displays his axe virtuosity like a circus ringmaster. He tames feedback and turns it into melodious waves of sound in much of the same way Hendrix did during his performance of “Can You See Me?” at the Monterey Pop Festival.  He adds various distortions - from Hendrix’s and Clapton’s fuzzboxes to Link Wray’s dislodged amplifier tube sputter.  Mullins’ guitar playing is a master class in tone. Mullins’ vocals fit beautifully and provide an expressive and accessible foundation for the power trio.

Joe Brooks provides the bottom. He thumps and bumps crunch in a way Dickie Peterson of Blue Cheer fame would fully appreciate.  Dan Kurtz is a madman.  He is a power drummer, with exacting rhythm, that would have Buddy Miles and Ian Paice on their feet waiving flicked Bic lighters.

Now here’s the kicker.  The EP was cut live in one room over a period of six hours.  Let me say that one more time - the EP was cut live in one room over a period of six hours.  Incredible!

How did they do it?  Well, talent helps - so does the steady hand of guitarist and producer Stevie Salas.  Salas has worked with Rod Stewart, Mick Jagger, George Clinton - even Justin Timberlake.  He just seems to know how to get the best out of these boys.

The EP contains five songs - all of them gems.  The most radio ready are "I Almost Prayed" and "Bourgeois Baby" which share a certain drive and complexity that have you up and rockin’.  Then there is "Hot Mess" with a riff that descends directly from Hendrix’s "Manic Depression"  "Love Ghost" does things with feedback and fuzz that make you know the band was reared on a steady diet of hard rock.  To finish the EP Heavy Glow performs "Red July," an early 1970’s power rock ballad of Bootsy Collin-esque bass combined with Clapton’s Cream-era guitar tones, accented by Stewart Copeland-like drumming, over which Mullins croons about “hot summer, red July” with mantra-like repetition.

Don’t know where the band name Heavy Glow came from.  At first I thought it might have originated from the lyrics of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ song "By The Way."  After listening to the EP I’m not so sure.  It might just be taken from the light at the end of a burning medical marijuana cigarette.  Now, that’s more like Heavy Glow.


- Old School

Buy here mp3: The Filth & The Fury [Explicit]

Jimi Hendrix - Valleys of Neptune

Valleys of Neptune is the latest feast of table scraps that the Hendrix estate is offering up to famished Jimi freaks across the globe. The majority of these 12 recordings are from 1969 and have been floating around on bootlegs for years but they’ve been given a sonic upgrade from Jimi’s favorite engineer Eddie Kramer. Since a lot of these were works in progress that were never finished by Jimi, Valleys of Neptune is very much a “mixed bag” as the kids used to say in the 60’s.

A remake of “Stone Free” with Jimi’s old army buddy and future Band of Gypsys bassist Billy Cox and long time drummer Mitch Mitchell gets the ball rolling. This version has a strong R&B feel that contrasts nicely with the original. Not better or worse, but very different and very cool. If only all alternate versions were this good. Billy also appears on a great version of Elmore James’ “Bleeding Heart” that brings to mind Jimi’s high energy remake of Howlin’ Wolf’s “Killing Floor” and on the spacy title track.

The rest of the songs feature the original Experience of Jimi, Noel and Mitch. Remakes of “Fire” and “Red House” from February 1969 aren’t too different from the originals but are strong versions. These recordings were done in preparation for a pair of shows at the Royal Albert Hall that was professionally filmed. The Hendrix estate is planning to finally release the footage later this year. The bootleg DVD I have is smokin, but it will be great to see it in better quality with superior audio. Also from the February 69 sessions are a good version of “Lover Man” that’s a little slower and shorter than some of the other versions that have been released and an instrumental version of Cream’s “Sunshine Of Your Love” that could been left unreleased. It’s not bad, but it’s not terribly exciting, either.

"Mr. Bad Luck" from 1967 and "Crying Blue Rain" from 1969 feature bass and drum overdubs by Noel and Mitch done in 1987. The uptempo "Mr. Bad Luck" later evolved into “Look Over Yonder” on the Rainbow Bridge soundtrack and South Saturn Delta album. "Crying Blue Rain" is a slow blues in the vein of “Hear My Train A Comin” with a doubletime section in the middle. Speaking of “Hear My Train A Comin” there’s a good version of that song from April 1969 with plenty of guitar freak outs.

“Ships Passing Through The Night” is a previously unreleased song that brings to mind “Night Bird Flying.” Jimi’s playing his guitar through a rotating Leslie speaker to give it some extra Jimidelic trippiness. This mid-tempo blues is clearly a work in progress. Who knows how he would have finished it off. “Lullaby For The Summer,” and instrumental, is also previously unreleased and later evolved into the power boogie “Ezy Rider.”

Chances are you know what kind of Hendrix fan you are. If you weren’t thrilled with posthumous releases like South Saturn Delta and First Rays of the New Rising Sun then you can probably skip this one. If you’re a Hendrix freak like me, than his leftovers are enough of a meal to keep you satisfied until the next round of bootlegs make the rounds.

--Woody

Buy here: Valleys Of Neptune

http://www.jimihendrix.com/