Music kicks ass

Well, I've listened to the Seal album (IV) a few times and it's not completely what I expected. It doesn't completely convince me in places. Some of the arrangements sound like... like a tracing of a really good song, rather than the song itself. His voice is awesome, though. The excellent "My Vision" is probably the highlight for me so far - co-written with Thomas Newman, incidentally (he of echoey American Beauty piano fame).

Tonight I went to see the Mad, Bad and Dangerous tour - John Otway, Wilko Johnson and The Hamsters. Otway never fails to disappoint, though I had never seen him minus Big Band. Mayhem ensued, as per usual, with Richard's guitar work sticking its head up occasionally and saying, "I kick ass". Which he does. Johnson and The Hamsters were new to me, I was very impressed by The Hamsters and eventually by Johnson as well - though it took me a while to come round to him. He doesn't play much and his guitar is universally out of tune, but his stage presence is magnetic - he struts/runs/shakes across the stage when soloing, all the while with a "did you see that?" expression towards the audience. His bass player, Norman Watt-Roy (ex-Ian Dury & Blockheads) was excellent; unbelievable groove and superb ballsy sound as well, playing a Jazz through a large Trace Elliot stack. Slim from The Hamsters really really can play guitar, too. The night finished up with an "everyone-on-stage" rendition of Wild Thing and then (the joy!) Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick. I had a really enjoyable night and will probably go to see the tour again at Bolton Albert Halls on Nov 4th, if anyone wants to join me...

And in other news; the Lukas EP "Sold Out", which I've just produced, sold out in 10 minutes after their gig tonight. Hurrah! Though they did only bring 20 (I know, makes it a bit less impressive). (smug)I said they needed more...(/smug) anyway, it bodes well! I'm pretty happy with it, as well, which is rare. The overheads on "Guarantee" were a problem but with quite a bit of compression they were giving the guitars a run for their money (the guitars were taking over the arrangement before). Get a copy from Lukasnet. Now on the cards; a track for Jules Rendell, soul/jazz/ish, some funky RnB for a girl named Steph, and a remix for Beccy Higg. Plus some media tracks. And finish my website! www.robkmedia.co.uk coming your way soon...