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Day: 4 March 2012

Live: Michael Kiwanuka @ Ruby Lounge

Written by Joe Goggins on . Posted in Music.

20th February 2012

Ruby Lounge

5/10

If you know anything about Michael Kiwanuka, then you probably started reading this review wondering how many words would go by before there was mention of the BBC’s ‘Sound of 2012’. In this case, it’s thirty. Given the list’s formidable alumni – past winners include commercial heavyweights Adele, Ellie Goulding, Jessie J and 50 Cent – it’s little wonder that Kiwanuka, this year’s victor, has become the focus of intense media scrutiny.

Opening proceedings at the Ruby Lounge are The Staves, a trio of Watford sisters who themselves have experienced no shortage of acclaim, from providing backing vocals for Tom Jones to being headhunted by illustrious producers Glyn and Ethan Johns. Their involvement with those producers is just one reason why comparisons with Laura Marling are inevitable; their ability to conjure the spirit of folk music from both sides of the Atlantic is impressive and the outrageously charming three-part harmonies bode well for their imminent debut record.

Speaking of debut records, tonight provides the crowd with a first listen to material from Kiwanuka’s forthcoming Home Again. They mark an expansion on the sound that made his name, on a number of singles on fellow Londoner Ben Lovett’s label – Lovett being better known as one of Mumford’s Sons. Kiwanuka’s performance tonight veers between the brilliant – ‘I’m Getting Ready’ is a devastatingly soulful effort that recalls a mellower Al Green – and the bland, with a mid-set lull raising questions about album filler that won’t be answered until the record’s release. In terms of raw talent, there’s a strong case for Kiwanuka’s emergence on top of the BBC heap – his voice tonight is consistently impressive and occasionally breathtaking in its soulfulness – but it’s hard to wonder whether the artists he saw off might’ve had something  more groundbreaking to offer than ‘soulful singer-songwriter’.

Michael Kiwanuka – I’m Getting Ready (Later with Jools Holland)

Classic album: The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Electric Ladyland

Written by James Birtles on . Posted in Music.

Electric Ladyland
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Reprise
Released: 1968

Electric Ladyland was the third and last album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience which had to follow up two other huge albums – 1967’s Are You Experienced? and Axis Bold as Love – both of which have become timeless classics. But while Electric Ladyland may only be known by some for its controversial original pressing sleeve, featuring numerous naked women, the album as a whole was completely different to Hendrix & co’s previous releases.

From the opening track ‘…And The Gods Made Love’, the album gives the impression it will not be the same as its predecessors as it kicks in with a heavier sound. The album also features covers of both Bob Dylan’s ‘All Along the Watchtower’ and Earl King’s ‘Come On (Let the Good Times Roll)’.

Arguably, the most well-known song on the album, and of Hendrix’s back catalogue, is ‘Voodoo Child (Slight Return)’ (now more commonly known as the only Voodoo Chile), instantly recognisable by its extensive use of wah-wah guitar work. However, this track can easily be confused with another track by The Jimi Hendrix Experience named ‘Voodoo Chile’,  also featured on Electric Ladyland, which was a fifteen minute long jam and became the basis for the classic ‘Voodoo Child’.

This album has come to be a key influence for any and all heavy music that followed it and helped to prove that Jimi Hendrix, while an amazing songwriter and guitarist (even better than Clapton), was simply a genius. It is undeniably one of the greatest “heavy” albums of all time and one of the few albums you must listen to, no matter what you’re into.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Gypsy Eyes