A late photo update from Mike Only, Jim Lockey and Mike Scott

Thirsty and Miserable Launch

Thursday 27th of Jan saw the launch of a new night in Cheltenham built on a new set of ideas with a strong DIY attitude and a little help from our friends and the nice folk at istartedthefire records. The launch had a very strong local line up with Gareth Harper, Falcons and Men Diamler all playing their hearts out in an intimate setting in front of a receptive audience.

After the three acts had wowed the crowd Men Diamler joined the Thirsty and Miserable DJ's behind the decks as we both played contrasting tracks with no attention payed to genres. Bellow are a selection of images from the night if you want to read a full review you will have to wit until the second issue of the Thirsty and Miserable zine.

Liam O'Kane - Voice Of The Equal

This is an EP I have been looking forward to getting hold of as Liam O’Kane’s debut album ‘Happy Days Sad Songs’ was one of my favorite records of last year. This EP is the first release on Off Cut Records which is a label founded by Liam earlier this year.

After the forst listen of the EP the first thing I noticed was this EP was a progression on from the first record which although fantastic crept closer to a full band sound this EP is unmistakably a solo recording. The sound Liam has is original and refreshing the acoustic ska/ reggae he plays takes influence from artists such as Babar Luck, Vic Ruggiero and Chris Murray in small parts.

Lyrically the record tackles life, love and politics in a mature clever fashion, with every word being backed up by Liam’s incredible vocal style and unquestionable passion. The powerful vocals add real emphasis to title track ‘Voice Of The Equal’ with a more tender side exposed on ‘In Music Lost’, which tells the stories of musical inspiration throughout Liam’s life.

The mature sound present in both the music and vocals creates an EP that flows nicely between tracks and my only complaint is that it’s only 5 tracks long. If the development continues between this recording and the next at the same level it has previously the next recording from Liam O’Kane will be phenomenal as I would place this EP and the debut album on a must have list.

Over all this record is a mature piece of work from a young artist who deserves to be successful from his solo work as he is one of the most exciting acts around. This EP is perfect for summer and will bring a hint of sunshine even to a rainy day, more importantly you should support the DIY scene in this country and in particular independent record labels such as Off Cut Records.

Mike Scott and Ben Childs Split EP

This is a record that got me truly excited both artists used to be in bands I was inspired by in my younger years (Mike sang for Phineaus Gage and Ben was one of the founding members of Sonic Boom Six) so to hear what their solo work sounded like was going to be a treat.

This excitement was not wasted as from the first few bars of  Ben’s opening track of the album you can tell you are going to be in for a treat. I was surprised to hear the large folk influence within Ben’s six tracks but it totally works the addition of violin and banjo in parts creates an authentic folk feel. This folk influence combines beautifully with elements of reggae, which mostly come through from distinctive vocals and political and personal lyrics.

This first half of the split is perfect for summer and the general cheery musical style suit Child’s voice superbly. There are moments of raw emotion, passion and completely danceable passages overall this is the perfect showcase for what this artist can and will continue to do. Each track flows faultlessly into the next making this piece of work incredible for both individual tracks and  as an entire record. 

If New-Folk is the future of alternative music expect Ben to be at the fore front of the genre as it develops. These are the first six songs to be released by Ben Childs and to be completely honest they blew me away with a mixture of surprise and pure joy. If this is to be the style that solo work keeps to I will very much look forward to hearing what’s next.

Ben’s half of the split is beautifully balanced out with the more pessimistic style of Mike Scott who presents acoustic punk rock in a passionate honest style. Mike’s snarling vocals are backed by raw acoustic guitar and occasional backing vocals. Mike’s lyrics are political throughout his six tracks, two of which are perfectly selected covers (The Connells  and Propaghandi). Mike’s observational lyrics are inspiring and depressing in equal measure, his reverse political analysis makes it impossible not to continue thinking after listening to each track.

The honesty projected through lyrics and Mikes voice create an enchanting six tracks that seem to float by in a matter of moments. The balance of songs is again near perfect showing an incredible amount of thought has gone into song selection, the track listing flows smoothly and creates a varying array of emotion throughout giving this EP a real sense of longevity.

Although Mike Scott has a completely different approach to acoustic music to that of Ban Childs this creates a split, which is a thing of beauty and wonder. The contrasted styles fit together beautifully and this record has been a regular on my CD player and Ipod in the last month or so and I can see it staying there for a long time. I can only recommend that you go and buy this record and support this countries DIY scene.     

A Beginners Guide to Acoustic/Solo

This is another genre my Dad can take credit for me now enjoying so much, he has put the grumpy man with a guitar into my ears from an early age. Unlike him the artists I choose to listen to often come out of bands either as a side project or after the split of the band.

I particularly love the surprise element of artists who have come from this background . Most notably the difference between Lightspeed Champion and Test Icicles or Frank Turner and Million Dead is astonishing. Both have gone from making heavy music with shouty vocals to breathtaking beauty. Other fine examples of the element of surprise have been Albert Hammond Jr. and The Nightwatchman(Tom Morrello) both guitarists who came out with a solo record proving not only they can sing but they can also write a great record.

The inclusion of acoustic allows for a wider track selection including one of the tracks from the fantastic acoustic part of the most recent Hot Club De Paris and the incredible Rodrigo Y Gabriella who if you ever get the chance to see live you should. The fact they can make the level and depth in sound they do using only an acoustic guitar each is truly amazing.

This is a genre where more than one CD could be put together, there are some great artists that didn’t make it onto the CD but are more than worth a listen for example Babar Luck, Liam O’Kane, Jim Lockey, Matt Reynolds and Robb Blake.

Obviously as with the previous lists history plays an important part in the genre it would be a crime to not include Lou Reed or Iggy Pop and strong arguments could (and should) be made for Elvis, Johnny Cash, Buddy Holly and even Bob Marley fortunately there will be enough time for me to add them to the mix in due course.

Although I find the history of musical genres fascinating and important the solo scene is currently growing stronger than it has been for a long time so if there is one genre to get my sister into this is the one. The key artists included are:

Lou Reed
Iggy Pop
Moldy Peaches
Jeff Buckley
Lightspeed Champion
Ben Folds
Bright Eyes
King Django
Vic Ruggiero
Nightwatchman
Albert Hamond Jr.
Justin Sane
Badly Drawn Boy