Jonathan Billings – Jonathan Billings

Released: 2014

Label: Self-released

When I bought: 2024

This is another record I picked up in She Said Boom in Toronto. As I said when writing about 1977, I wanted to get albums from local artists and small labels.

This record was sitting in the local artists section, and came as a vinyl/CD package, which is pretty good value for CA$6.99 (£3.90).

I know nothing about Jonathan Billings, and can't find too much online (there's no information on his Spotify page) but it is clear there are two wolves inside the man - one is Dave Gilmore, and the other is Rory Gallagher.

The majority of the album is solid, good old fashioned blues rocks.

'78 Buick','Yorkville', 'No Sympathy' 'When You See Me' are no nonsense tracks, with crunchy riffs and searing guitar solos.

This is where the Rory Gallagher (and other blues player) influences are really on show. It sounds good on the record, but I reckon the best place for this music is hearing it live in a North American dive bar.

'The Greater Day' shows off the Pink Floyd side of Billings, with fluttering reverb on the vocals, jazzy cymbal playing, and a bass solo in the extended outro all revealing different colours in his palette. Definitely the album's highlight.

'Limited Life' and the instrumental track 'Floating' also show there's life beyond the blues.

Is it a record I would go back to on a regular basis? Probably not, but that's a personal taste thing as opposed to it not being good.

Billings is clearly a talented musician, and I actually think he's better when he moves away from what seems to be his natural bluesy instincts.

The vinyl itself is a gorgeous blue colour, and for a self-released record it's definitely something to be proud of.

If you like blues rock, with a splash of 70s era Pink Floyd thrown in, you should give this a listen for sure.

5/10.

Comments

Pointless Nostalgic – Jamie Cullum

Year Released: 2002 Label: Candid Year Bought: Can't Remember Jamie Cullum burst into the nation's consciousness with a performance on Parkinson in April 2003, a showing that was soon followed by the huge-selling album 'Twentysomething'. It was 2002's 'Pointless Nostalgic' that put Cullum on Parky's radar, and shows the jazz singer and pianist beginning to hone the act that would make him such a breakthrough. There's a host of standards here – 'In The Wee Small Hours of The Morning'. 'It Ain't Necessarily So', 'I Can't Get Started' – alongside a couple of originals and a cover of Radiohead's 'High And Dry'. I remember that song being a big deal at the time for some reason. I think it was seen as rare merging of jazz and alt-rock. Cullum's version is not bad, and actually keeps it quite light and subdued without slipping into a dirge. Cullum was just 23 when this was recorded, and perhaps it's his yo...

Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand

Year Released: 2004 Label: Domino Year Bought: 2004 January 2004. I'd just quit uni. Was back at the family home in Bishop's Stortford. The place I'd been so desperate to get away from, and I was back and already bored. And then things got a bit less boring. I remember this so clearly. I was having a shower and the radio was on, and on came 'Take Me Out'. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. At first I thought it must be an old tune that had passed me by, but no, it was announced as a new song by a band called Franz Ferdinand. It sounded glorious. It sounded interesting. After the staleness of the post-Britpop years, and beigeness of Coldplay, Travis et al, there was actually a British band doing something interesting. I loved it, and when the album came out the next month, I gobbled it up with glee. Listening back now, and I still love it. The hushed opening of 'Jacqueline', the sleaze of 'The Dark of the Matinee', the homoeroticism of 'M...

Ringleader Of The Tormentors – Morrissey

Year Released: 2006 Label: Sanctuary Year Bought: 2006 Released in 2006, 'Ringleader of the Tormentors' in many ways represents the apex of the Morrissey resurgence that began two years earlier with 'You Are The Quarry'. Whereas that album peaked at number 2 in the album chart (although it did spawn 4 top ten singles), its successor gave Morrissey his first number 1 album since 1994's 'Vauxhall and I'. 'Ringleaders...' raised some eyebrows at the time as Morrissey sang explicitly about something he had previously made a virtue of not discussing. His sex life. "There are exploding kegs between my legs," he sings on 'Dear God Please Help Me' – a tune that swells and grows to a climax with strings written by Ennio Morricone. "Now I'm spreading your legs with mine in between," he later adds. Perhaps this new found desire of the flesh was due to this album being recorded in Italy, and references to the country season the ...

All The Records I've Ever Owned

Search This Blog