Wednesday, August 26, 2009

9c from Benelux - Jinder


Jinder, Jinder, Jinder… a very pleasing moniker that just rolls of the tongue. So much so that I spent a while doing just that. Then I started trying to make little rhymes, but that proved to be difficult. Try it yourself. Here I’ll start you off:

“There once was a tunesmith called Jinder…”

There will be a prize for the best one.

But I digress. You want to know what I made of “9c from Benelux” don’t you?

Jinder is a very assured singer and guitar picker. The production is on the button with a soft warm sound and tastefully sparse use of slide and banjo here and there. The songs ache with longing for a world of long dusty trails, big skies and dumb gas station attendants.
He is at is best with intimate and heartfelt subjects such as “Aimee” which is as sweet a love song as you’ll hear this year. I’ll say nothing about the cover of “Vincent”. You probably don’t associate the song with a childhood holiday in Morecambe and it would be unfair to burden you with the detail.

Also there’s another problem.

Songs that couple “slide guitar” with “whisky bar” are fine when you’re from Austin Tx, but Jinder is from rural Warwickshire UK. That knowledge just grates on me and I can’t help wondering why pubs, pedestrian shopping precincts and cheap cider aren’t worthy of Jinder’s impressive songwriting skills.

Maybe I’m being unfair. After all, no one ever criticised Zep because they didn’t actually come from Middle Earth and Dr Octagon probably wasn’t born on Jupiter. This is a good little record from a class act.

You can buy 9c from Benelux and other titles from Jinder's back catalogue at www.jinder.co.uk

Reviewer: CP Mandrake

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Do you know "Mrs Partridge passed away today"

We have a pub next door the TVR HQ. It's called the Agricultural Arms or the Aggi as it is known by the locals. The bar itself is nothing much to shout about. In fact I usually avoid the place. But it does have one redeeming factor. It as a big back room. More of a hall really, for gigs and functions. It also has a stage a decent PA and a lighting rig, a rare thing for a pub gig. The reason for last nights visit was to see Devon's very own answer to The Yardbirds, The Devil Delta Blues Band. As usual TDDBB delivered a faultless set of both blues standards and their own classically crafted vintage blues tunes. It was a shame that harp player Joel Squire couldn't make the show. I was told he had taken to his bed with a bout of the ill's. After the show I got talking to the drummer, Mr Keith Giles, and the conversation turned to previous bands he had performed with.
Keith, it turns out, was the drummer for the 60's psych-pop band Fortes Mentum. Not a band I knew anything about, but I do now with a lot of help from the web. Now I know that there are certain folk out there who get very excited over such things and are willing to part with large sums of cash for such vinyl gems. Especially when it comes to rare psych/rock/pop and folk bands from the 60's. So before I get inundated with mail asking for Keith's contact details, he assures me that he has not got any Fortes Mentum LP's or singles for sale.

I found a couple of tracks online but as expected the web is peppered with bits and pieces about the band but their website is far the best place to glean any information you may require about the band.
I found their 1968 single release on Parlophone Records entitled Saga of a Wrinkled Man and a download on Rhapsody and their web site has some classic photos and an up to date band biog. Well worth a look if you want to experience some classic English psych-pop from the 1960's. Hope you enjoy and thank you Keith for unlocking the doors to your psychedelic past. Keith's next appearance with the with The Devil Delta Blues Band will be 5th September at The Pier Tavern, Illfracombe, Devon.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Is this Summer? The P4R Live Music Night

Paddle4Relief will be holding another fundraising music gig at The Aggi, Braunton on Friday 21st August 2009! Founder, Tim Tanton is heading back to Sri Lanka in September, for three months, to complete a number of projects before the East Coast Monsoon Season hits!

. . . . . . featuring headlining band 'The Artists' – a quartet of talented young men who gave an energetic and powerful performance at their inaugural P4R music gig in June, who are fronted by the charismatic Pascal on lead guitar and vocals.

. . . . . . a new sound for P4R are 'Tied Loose' - a five piece band consisting of Keira - Vocals, Wilf - Rythm guitar, Dan – Bass, Adam – Drums and Darren - Lead/rythm guitar. They play their own material along with covers including; Communication Breakdown, Bring it on Home, Knockin on Heavens Door, Back in Black and Sweet Child o Mine. They are in the majority, a classic rock band, drawing on influences from Zeppelin, Hendrix, AC/DC, Guns N' Roses, The Stones etc. But with their very own unique spin on it, largely helped by their female vocalist, Keira.

. . . . . . the enigmatic youth of Jim Heard as 'Ashbeck Goes Acoustic' – Jim was asked back following such awesome feedback from the crowd he entertained at the main P4R event on Saunton Beach back in June. The 19 year old singer/songwriter knows how to wow the crowd with his acoustic set. Jim's musical influences include Stereophonics, Blink 182, Get Cape Wear Cape Fly and anything acoustic.

. . . . . . and finally but definitely not last, we have the mature and experienced Douglas E Powell – an absolute backbone of P4R's music gigs.
. . . .'Douglas E Powell's own take on folk and Americana has earned him great respect from fans of his music all over the world.
Choosing to play solely with acoustic guitar and harmonica, Douglas tips his hat to his musical heroes Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Burt Jansch.
His live performances are intensely charged with deeply personal lyrics over gritty and beautifully simplistic guitar work.'

And to help them blow the roof off, the ever present PINKY PA!
The evening will be kicking off around 8.30pm. A donaton of £3.50 will be requested on the door. All funds raised will go towards further Well and Water Projects in the village of Arugam Bay, Eastern Province, Sri Lanka.