3) Jon Gomm – Secrets Nobody Keeps
If you were like me and you caught Jon on his Irish tour earlier this year, then you know this album needs no introduction. This guy is just on the top of the top when it comes to the current wave of percussive guitarists (Andy McKee and Mike Dawes being other guys to watch) who have been making a name for themselves as of late. Essentially, he plays every member of a regular band, on his acoustic guitar, lovingly named Wilma. It’s not something I can really explain properly without a video, but trust me, it’s impressive to watch, and Jon’s music is impressive to listen to.
‘Secrets Nobody Keeps’ is his third record, and his most DIY effort. Recorded at home in his house in Leeds, Jon used Pledgemusic.com in order to open pre-orders and let his fans directly fund the recording of the album. Everything is funded directly by fans, and thankfully, the recording quality has improved from album to album, with this being his best sounding, and his most interesting listen to date. Opening with first single ‘Telepathy’, it’s very clear that this is a very introspective set of songs from Jon, and as a result the melodies are incredibly heartfelt and the intricacies that come with percussive guitar are even more intimate sounding to the song. Any argument for ‘flash’ or ‘showing off’ is eliminated by the time the chorus melody in ‘Wukan Motorcycle Kid’ hits, and by the time ‘Passionflower’ (Jon’s viral video hit of two years ago) kicks into it’s funky tuning-changing melody there’s no doubt this is head-to-toe an essential listen from an essential musician. ‘Secrets Nobody Keeps’ is available for £9.99 on Jon’s official site.
Essential track: Wukan Motorcycle Kid
It feels odd putting Ben Sharp’s Cloudkicker project on this list because, well, he doesn’t actually care. Not in a apathetic ‘F**k my fans’ sort of way, but in a ‘I’d be doing this regardless’ sort of way. Cloudkicker is just an evening project for Ben, it’s just something he does in his free time when he feels like creating some music. It’s just that music is genuinely brilliant. It’s brilliant on a technical level, it’s brilliant on a production level and it’s brilliant on an aural level. ‘Subsume’ is continuing Ben’s trend of doing whatever the hell he wants when he wants to do it and just taking us along for the ride. If you’re familiar with his work, it’s somewhere between his last three releases, ‘Beacons’, ‘Let Yourself Be Huge’ and ‘Fade’, if you’re not, well, gather round children, and let me tell you a tale.
‘Subsume’ is not his most accessible work, but much like all of his releases, once you’re in, you are hooked and there is no going back. With 4 tracks in 40 minutes, it’s an odd album to listen to because all the tracks bleed into each other in a really formative way. It actually feels like one long track with a LOT of ebb and flows that make the listen never feel tenuous no matter how familiar you become with the material. Ranging from the heaviest, fuzziest, chunkiest riffs Ben’s ever written to the clean chord progressions he has become notable for, and ALL the layering in between, this is as much a musical adventure as it is an album of songs. It’s quite odd, as well, because Ben doesn’t use lead guitar or vocals, basically ever, and as a result, you realize you are listening to someone who has meticulously sculpted the music to be simple and easy on the ear, but also catchy and not feeling lacking and that’s not an easy thing to do, nor is it something you see very often in circles outside of jazz. He isn’t just writing catchy progressions so he can solo over them, he’s writing catchy progressions and then complimenting them with more interesting progressions until the music is this amalgamation of sound that just feels complete and utterly satisfying. ‘Subsume’ isn’t my favourite work of his, but I said that about ‘Fade’ this time last year, and now that is my favourite, so time will tell. In the meantime, Cloudkicker is a project you should be listening to, right now. All of his album are available for free from his bandcamp.
Essential track: All of it. The entire album.
Honestly, when I first heard Cyclamen, I didn’t get it. Like Dillinger Escape Plan meets Haunted Shores meets Converge meets Sigur Ros, it was all the noisy stuff I liked, with all the metalcore and ambient stuff I liked without really hitting the right spot between them all. I was very enthused by a sister project Withyouathome’s post-rock goodness (which is well worth checking out), and because their both spear-headed by one Hayato Imanishi, I ended up following ‘Ashura’ right up until it’s release, and I was very glad of it because this was the right spot I had been looking for, and boy oh boy, it hit that spot GOOD.
This album is just mental altogether, opening with an altogether grim sounding blast-beat before kicking into a super technical verse and then one of the catchiest most melodic choruses of the year, this is one of those releases that just grabs you and doesn’t let go until the final track is done with you, and by then you don’t want it to go. Being a concept album, with a story begun in the bands previous album ‘Senjyu’, the lyrics and music all flow together really nicely, even though each song is it’s own. The lyrics are sang in Japanese, with a translation available in the lyrics book, and it actually doesn’t impair the story-telling aspect of the album at all.
Every time I listen to this record, I felt like I was being told a story by the lyrics that I was kind of making up myself based on the actual music, which itself is a pleasure to focus on, and that’s really remarkable. A concept album that tells a story all it’s own to each listener if they can’t understand Japanese, how many of those can you name? On top of that, as I said, the music itself is very much worth some attention. Technical, melodic, stirring, at times plodding, it’s crafted with obvious vision and love but also has a canned chaos feel to it, like a train almost going off the rails but just keep in line not to. This is DIY music done right, by a guy and a band who love doing it and who deserve success.
Download ‘Ashura’ and ALL of Hayato’s other works at their bandcamp page for free, though I suggest supporting them. You won’t regret it.
Essential track: Haja-Kenshou
Next week…. Comics!
3) Jon Gomm – Secrets Nobody Keeps
If you were like me and you caught Jon on his Irish tour earlier this year, then you know this album needs no introduction. This guy is just on the top of the top when it comes to the current wave of percussive guitarists (Andy McKee and Mike Dawes being other guys to watch) who have been making a name for themselves as of late. Essentially, he plays every member of a regular band, on his acoustic guitar, lovingly named Wilma. It’s not something I can really explain properly without a video, but trust me, it’s impressive to watch, and Jon’s music is impressive to listen to.
‘Secrets Nobody Keeps’ is his third record, and his most DIY effort. Recorded at home in his house in Leeds, Jon used Pledgemusic.com in order to open pre-orders and let his fans directly fund the recording of the album. Everything is funded directly by fans, and thankfully, the recording quality has improved from album to album, with this being his best sounding, and his most interesting listen to date. Opening with first single ‘Telepathy’, it’s very clear that this is a very introspective set of songs from Jon, and as a result the melodies are incredibly heartfelt and the intricacies that come with percussive guitar are even more intimate sounding to the song. Any argument for ‘flash’ or ‘showing off’ is eliminated by the time the chorus melody in ‘Wukan Motorcycle Kid’ hits, and by the time ‘Passionflower’ (Jon’s viral video hit of two years ago) kicks into it’s funky tuning-changing melody there’s no doubt this is head-to-toe an essential listen from an essential musician. ‘Secrets Nobody Keeps’ is available for £9.99 on Jon’s official site.
Essential track: Wukan Motorcycle Kid
It feels odd putting Ben Sharp’s Cloudkicker project on this list because, well, he doesn’t actually care. Not in a apathetic ‘F**k my fans’ sort of way, but in a ‘I’d be doing this regardless’ sort of way. Cloudkicker is just an evening project for Ben, it’s just something he does in his free time when he feels like creating some music. It’s just that music is genuinely brilliant. It’s brilliant on a technical level, it’s brilliant on a production level and it’s brilliant on an aural level. ‘Subsume’ is continuing Ben’s trend of doing whatever the hell he wants when he wants to do it and just taking us along for the ride. If you’re familiar with his work, it’s somewhere between his last three releases, ‘Beacons’, ‘Let Yourself Be Huge’ and ‘Fade’, if you’re not, well, gather round children, and let me tell you a tale.
‘Subsume’ is not his most accessible work, but much like all of his releases, once you’re in, you are hooked and there is no going back. With 4 tracks in 40 minutes, it’s an odd album to listen to because all the tracks bleed into each other in a really formative way. It actually feels like one long track with a LOT of ebb and flows that make the listen never feel tenuous no matter how familiar you become with the material. Ranging from the heaviest, fuzziest, chunkiest riffs Ben’s ever written to the clean chord progressions he has become notable for, and ALL the layering in between, this is as much a musical adventure as it is an album of songs. It’s quite odd, as well, because Ben doesn’t use lead guitar or vocals, basically ever, and as a result, you realize you are listening to someone who has meticulously sculpted the music to be simple and easy on the ear, but also catchy and not feeling lacking and that’s not an easy thing to do, nor is it something you see very often in circles outside of jazz. He isn’t just writing catchy progressions so he can solo over them, he’s writing catchy progressions and then complimenting them with more interesting progressions until the music is this amalgamation of sound that just feels complete and utterly satisfying. ‘Subsume’ isn’t my favourite work of his, but I said that about ‘Fade’ this time last year, and now that is my favourite, so time will tell. In the meantime, Cloudkicker is a project you should be listening to, right now. All of his album are available for free from his bandcamp.
Essential track: All of it. The entire album.
Honestly, when I first heard Cyclamen, I didn’t get it. Like Dillinger Escape Plan meets Haunted Shores meets Converge meets Sigur Ros, it was all the noisy stuff I liked, with all the metalcore and ambient stuff I liked without really hitting the right spot between them all. I was very enthused by a sister project Withyouathome’s post-rock goodness (which is well worth checking out), and because their both spear-headed by one Hayato Imanishi, I ended up following ‘Ashura’ right up until it’s release, and I was very glad of it because this was the right spot I had been looking for, and boy oh boy, it hit that spot GOOD.
This album is just mental altogether, opening with an altogether grim sounding blast-beat before kicking into a super technical verse and then one of the catchiest most melodic choruses of the year, this is one of those releases that just grabs you and doesn’t let go until the final track is done with you, and by then you don’t want it to go. Being a concept album, with a story begun in the bands previous album ‘Senjyu’, the lyrics and music all flow together really nicely, even though each song is it’s own. The lyrics are sang in Japanese, with a translation available in the lyrics book, and it actually doesn’t impair the story-telling aspect of the album at all.
Every time I listen to this record, I felt like I was being told a story by the lyrics that I was kind of making up myself based on the actual music, which itself is a pleasure to focus on, and that’s really remarkable. A concept album that tells a story all it’s own to each listener if they can’t understand Japanese, how many of those can you name? On top of that, as I said, the music itself is very much worth some attention. Technical, melodic, stirring, at times plodding, it’s crafted with obvious vision and love but also has a canned chaos feel to it, like a train almost going off the rails but just keep in line not to. This is DIY music done right, by a guy and a band who love doing it and who deserve success.
Download ‘Ashura’ and ALL of Hayato’s other works at their bandcamp page for free, though I suggest supporting them. You won’t regret it.
Essential track: Haja-Kenshou
Next week…. Comics!
