Ashley
Reaks and Joe Hakim – Cultural Thrift (Metal Postcard Records)
CD
/DL
Out
Now
9
/ 10
Experimental
post-punk musician teams up with poet/writer.
Don’t
be put off by the opening bars of Abba’s SOS emanating from Nature Poem, the
first track on the collaboration between Ashley Reaks and Joe Hakim, this is no
pop album. Not for the first time, the
two come together with eight tracks built up from the music of Reaks and the
hard-hitting poetry of Hull poet Hakim.
Also
together with the duo are a clutch of fine musicians who have a history with
Reaks – the remarkable voice of Norwegian Maria Jardardottir, saxophone from
Dave Kemp and guitars from Nick Dunne.
All these artists appeared on Reaks’ stunning Before Koresh album from
earlier this year.
Perhaps
the idea of putting music to poetry and prose isn’t unusual but, with the
sounds of the brilliant Radio Europa still buzzing in our ears, it maybe marks
a new genre heading our way. A slower,
more confident version of rap perhaps, the blending of Hakim’s down-to-earth
words with often quirky music is an absolute joy.
Jardardottir
has a voice like no other, her involvement in Albert Hoffmann’s Bicycle for
instance is refreshing as she presents a freeform jazz like ending to the
track, and Kemps saxophone provides another edge to the sounds.
Hakim’s
words are spot-on, entirely relevant about everyday people in everyday situations,
he has the ability to write not in the conventional sense, but rhyming words
after short or longer lines and sometimes midway. In a similar way to Faithless’ Maxi Jazz,
Hakim inserts rhymes halfway through lines creating enthralling couplet patterns
throughout.
To
Let describes homelessness and the moving round of room to room where varying
degrees of lettings are portrayed –
“I’ve
never really had a home just a series of
rooms in which I’ve stayed,
rooms
in which ideas have played
rooms
in which dreams have decayed”
Ironically,
on Imposter Syndrome, Hakim throws the suggesting that someone may want to be
the mix of Joe Strummer and John Cooper Clarke, and that mix is potentially
what Hakim is. Punk attitude feet firmly
grounded.
Reaks
too is a rare talent. His music fits the
poetry perfectly, often with an edge – listen to the wonderful bass line on
Imposter Syndrome or the subtle reggae backing to To Let or Albert Hoffman’s
Bicycle and insist that there isn’t a genius lying beneath the surface.
Link
Metal Postcard Records
Ashley Reaks website
Ashley Reaks on Twitter
Ashley Reaks on Facebook
Joe Hakim on Write Out Loud
Joe Hakim on This Is Hull
Joe Hakim on Twitter
Before Koresh album review
Published on Louder Than War 13/12/15 - here
No comments:
Post a Comment