REVIEWS FEB/MAR 2022 REVIEWS FEB/MAR 2022 REVIEWS FEB/MAR 2022 MARK PONTIN GROUP
KALEIDOSCOPE Lunaria Records CD
It’s big, ambitious and Welsh, and as the band’s website tells us, ‘The album’s concept will certainly be relatable to some, about a guy who wakes up one day to find the love of his life has gone, and literally taken everything with her. Complete with strings and brass section, the musicianship alone marks this album as a true masterpiece.’ Mark Pontin, vocals and guitar wrote all 13 numbers. There’s some rugged blues here, for instance the heavy Starmaker and the atmospheric Hell’s Kitchen, but what makes this album stand out is the versatility of the group both creatively and instrumentally. I thought I was listening to Steely Dan on the jazzy instrumental Hotel Diablo, with some deft guitar interplay between Pontin and keyboards
“The Mark Pontin Group represent Welsh musical talent at it’s finest” wizard Owain Hughes. There’s plenty to get your blues teeth into with the satisfying riffs of Freeway Fantasy and the meaty Don’t Sleep. But this is a collection of contrasts. The title Roll With Me Easy immediately suggests an urban blues, but it’s a beautiful nostalgic meditation complete with strings. Pontin handles these well-crafted songs with sensitive skill. The cinematic final track, Phoenix, has an accompanying World War 1 video on the band’s website wherein a soldier leaves the trenches and gives up on killing. The music matches it all. The Mark Pontin Group represent Welsh musical talent at it’s finest, and this is a CD they can be truly proud of. ROY BAINTON
IMAGE: ROB LLOYD PHTOGRAPHY
BLUES MATTERS! ISSUE 124
only way you can actually tell that this is written and recorded by artists working in their second language, is the Germanic monikers on the sleeve, in terms of sound and atmosphere, this album sounds as British or American as anything that drops through our letterbox. The album sleeve shows a collection of gentlemen getting ready to play some blues in a club, all sepia tones and old-school styling. The music however, is far more muscular and big-band sounding, lots of horns up front in the mix. If this is your thing, this is probably something you will really like. If not, it possibly won’t convert you. It’s not that the songs are not played well, very well, it’s more that they lack the magic ingredient that sets them apart from so many other bands releasing this type of material. The main problem seems to be Michael Arlt, whose vocals do not come anywhere near to matching his harmonica skills, or the rest of the band’s peerless musicianship. But since the vocal is the front and centre of vocal blues music, it needs a seriously charismatic voice to do the heavy lifting. That is especially true in a busy and very full-sounding musical landscape, where the vocals are constantly in danger of sinking beneath a welter of keyboards and horns. The songs themselves are fine, I just feel that they would sound a lot better if they were sung by someone with more variation of delivery. I would take an educated guess that That Ain’t All is voiced by Andreas Alt, because the vocal is far stronger. If I am in error, and it is actually Michael, then my advice is that you use this stronger and more commanding voice for everything you record in future. A good collection of songs diluted by the delivery, but nothing that’s not easily fixable. ANDY HUGHES
BILL FILIPIAK MEDICINE I NEED REVOLVER RECORDS LTD Wow. What an opening to a very good album, the all- harmonica atmosphere on this old town Western blues song, When The Blues Come Calling. Bill Filipiaks voice is deep, rich and, on this particular track, he is in story telling mode so it’s kind of the talky singing voice like story tellers of old times gone by. As a producer of the most hallowed of Nashville roots music institutions, the Grand Ol Opry, Bill has rubbed shoulders and learnt from some of the finest Americana artists around and all of that learning and talent is on every track of this amazing album. Amazing because, this is Filipiak’s third full length album with 9 tracks, was recorded, engineered, produced and he played every single instrument. There is so much back story to this album, about the influences, all fascinating and relevant, but so much that I am unable to cover it all, suffice to say, family and the loss of it and the renewed hope that comes from those left around you is one of the biggies. Pure Blues, feelings, atmosphere, stories, music all with deep influences felt throughout from down home country blues to folk and Americana. It’s just astonishing to know that this album, in every aspect, comes through one man’s talent. JEAN KNAPPITT
CIRCLE OF MUD CIRCLE OF MUD DIXIE FROG MUSIC Circle of Mud have created an original blend of heavy rock and bluesy lyricism
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