Little Axe - London Blues (2017)

Tracklist

01. Be Thankful
02. London Blues
03. Snake Oil
04. Deep River
05. Factory Girl
06. Next Week Thursday
07. Sparrow's Nest
08. House of Bones
09. When I Rise
10. Great Heroes
11. Factory Girl (Dub)
12. Deep River (Dub)
13. London Blues (Dub)
14. Next Week Thursday (Dub)
15. Sparrow's Nest (Dub)
16. When I Rise (Dub)
17. Theme (Megamix)
18. House of Bones (Dub)


The future of blue note... ! Twenty-three years ago, this quotation foretold a great career for Little Axe aka Skip McDonald. The musician had already had a taste of fame with the Sugarhill Gang Backing Band / Tommy Boy Co-operations and their Hip Hop Masterpieces, writing music history along the way. Then he rolled out Little Axe and gave the blues a new, groovy face...! Releases on legendary labels like Okeh Records, Realworld, On-U Sound and majors like Sony, BMG, Warner, etc. followed. On-U Sound label mastermind Adrian Sherwood has always given Skip a platform to present his entrancing blend of blues, gospel, cajun, dub and trip hop: pioneering and authentic at the same time. His sound takes the essence and sound samples from blues legends such as Howlin Wolf, Leadbelly and Son House and distils them to create musical visions that are both penetrating and highly hypnotic. Little Axe has released seven albums to date; London Blues is his eighth official album. Old mates, like Mark Stewart (Pop Group and Maffia), Doug Wimbish (bass player for Living Colour), Keith LeBlanc (drummer), Perry Melius (drummer for African Head Charge) have provided assistance and JebLoy Nichols collaborated on writing. London Blues sticks tenaciously to tradition to the blues but at the same time is infused with a plethora of musical lingos (see above .). The new album is packed with 16 songs (on CD), all of which glitter and shine with strokes of production genius and imaginative arrangements. On London Blues, Skip McDonalds creative team is even more sophisticated and innovative than on the predecessor albums. Amazing instrumentals (Be Thankful), a touch of gospel (Deep River), splashes of trip hop with blues harp (Next Week Thursday) and delta blues meets dub (When I Rise) the album meticulously follows a trail between Chicago and London, blending all the stepping stones to form a smooth, irresistible pathway. Vinyl comes with a copy of CD as bonus.

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