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Excellent!!
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Reverend Freakchild is a multiple throwback. He evokes the great "blue-eyed soul" vocalists of past ...Reverend Freakchild is a multiple throwback. He evokes the great "blue-eyed soul" vocalists of past decades, like Leon Russell or a laid-back Tim Buckley. But he's also, like John Hammond Jr., a student of traditional acoustic blues guitar. He also brings jazzy, but not flashy, touches to his playing, like a humbler version of Jorma Kaukkonen or Leo Kottke...He's also got a broad playful side. The traditional artist this "Reverend" most often brings to mind, however - not so much for his technique but for overall musical sensibility - is another Reverend, namely Gary Davis. Freakchild's soulful vocals and sensitive guitar work lock these elements together, resulting in a musical mosaic that pays reverent tribute to the spiritual and soulful traditions of American music...Excellent!!
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Reverend Freakchild
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‘God Shaped Hole’ van Reverend Freakchild gaat misschien niet met de titel ‘album van het jaar’ lope...‘God Shaped Hole’ van Reverend Freakchild gaat misschien niet met de titel ‘album van het jaar’ lopen, maar met ‘Sweet Sweet You’ heeft de man wel ontegensprekelijk één van de beste songs die ik in lange tijd heb gehoord geschreven. Nu is de plaat oorspronkelijk van 2010, dus ‘God Shaped Hole’ doet sowieso niet mee als het op meest nieuwe releases aankomt. Dit neemt echter niet weg dat je van een heuse ontdekking mag spreken.
Reverend Freakchild (oftewel Fordham, Cleophus James, Fleetwood, Sal Paradise en nog tal van andere namen) beschrijven is heus niet evident. De man groeide op in Hawaii, studeerde in Boston en haalde daar zijn diploma’s filosofie en godsdienstwetenschappen en woont tegenwoordig in Manhattan, New York. Hij speelde in het verleden in tal van bands. Zo kan je onder andere namen als Bananafish, The Neptune Ensemble, The Soul Miners en The Lucky Devils in zijn biografie tegenkomen. Reverend Freakchild speelde zelfs in zalen als Carnegie Hall en Avery Fischer Hall. Hij deed dat weliswaar als lid van het Metro Mass Gospel Choir, maar hij stond er toch maar. En om het lijstje nog bizarder te maken, vermelden we met alle plezier zijn vaste stek op zondag in Tobacco Road, een plaats in de buurt van Broadway waar menig hippie zijn of haar broek versleet en dat nu vooral drugverslaafden, prostituees en muziekfreaks over de vloer krijgt.
De opmerkelijke levensloop van Reverend Freakchild heeft, in tegenstelling tot wat je zou verwachten, niet gezorgd voor een geflipte en schizofrene plaat. Toegegeven, de songs klinken heel verscheiden, maar zijn ontegensprekelijk van de hand van de Rev himself. We horen heel wat verschillende stijlen, al is de term ‘roots’ sowieso de grote gemene deler. Echte, doorleefde blues horen we in ‘A Day Late And A $ Short’, ‘All Across America’ en ‘Crazy Life (It’s Alright)’ zijn dan weer heuse Americana-rockers. Country is zwaar vertegenwoordigd in songs als ‘My Good Friend Legba’, ‘Causing Crying’ of het eerder al genoemde ‘Sweet Sweet You’. ‘Stupid Motherf#%!er’ is dan weer een heerlijk relaxed, laidback nummer waar je onmogelijk een label op kan plakken.
Freakchild speelt zelf gitaar en mondharmonica en hij neemt ook de vocalen voor zijn rekening op ‘God Shaped Hole’. Live speelt hij vooral solo. Af en toe wordt hij bijgestaan door (een deel van) de band die ook present was voor de opnames van deze plaat. Neem het maar van ons aan dat het stuk voor stuk prima muzikanten zijn, net als Freakchild zelf trouwens. Drew Glackin, die de lapsteelpartijen op ‘God Shaped Hole’ zo heerlijk doet klinken, verdient wel een aparte vermelding, al is de reden dan weer minder fijn. De man overleed onverwacht en heeft het niet mogen meemaken dat deze cd uitkwam. ‘God Shaped Hole’ is de derde cd van Reverend Freakchild. Voor mij persoonlijk was het een meer dan aangename kennismaking en ik ben er zeker van dat de doorsnee liefhebber van muziek in het algemeen en roots in het bijzonder mij hierin zal bijtreden. Met andere woorden: doe uzelf een plezier en surf even naar ’s mans site. U zal het zich niet berouwen.
(Preach)
www.rootstime.be
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New Rev Freak CD God Shaped Hole
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CD REVIEW: Reverend Freakchild - God Shaped Hole By Ivan Nossa
Artist: Reverend Freakchild Album:...CD REVIEW: Reverend Freakchild - God Shaped Hole By Ivan Nossa
Artist: Reverend Freakchild Album: God Shaped Hole
Label: Treated & Released Records Website: http://treatedandreleasedrecords.com Genre: Blues/CountrySounds Like: Lean Russell, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson Technical Grade: 8/10 Production/Musicianship Grade: 9/10 Commercial Value: 8/10 Overall Talent Level: 8/10 Songwriting Skills: 8/10 Performance Skill: 8/10
Best Songs: Sweet sweet you, Don’t miss nothing
CD Review: Reverend Freakchild comes from Hawaii, Boston, New York and God only knows how many other places have touched his life and enriched his background. At the same time he has played in various bands (like Bananafish, The Neptune Ensemble, The Soul Miners, The Lucky Devils and The Cosmic All Stars), shows, international tours and also venues like Carnagie Hall (with the metro Mass Gospel Choir). After all these experiences it comes natural for his new cd to be so rich and diverse. It is like a garden with many flowers and every flower has its own beautiful color. These flowers are his songs that come from different music American roots but sound always appropriate. We can find true blues in “A day late and a $ short” and “Worried life”. Rock, especially American rock, with songs like “Crazy life”. And even country with “Sweet sweet you” and “My good friend Legba” or “Causing crying”. The icing on the cake of all the above is his soulful voice that adds a special deepness to all the tracks. His voice can change from country to blues in seconds and fit perfectly. Most of the songs takes us back to the times of American real bluesmen and countrymen. I suggest that he continues in the search for his personal style to add to these music genres that he interpret so well. He plays guitar and harmonica and his harmonica bits are really emotional. The end of “A day late and a $ short” is a gem. In some tracks he is accompanied by the Cosmic All-Stars, and they play beautifully. The lap-steel is vibrating making some songs sound like classics. The arrangements are first class, they allow the entire album to switch from one genre to the other and sound always very good and perfect for all the kinds of music. The violin in supersubconscious is really a nice touch, a kind of a melancholic second voice. The bluesful banjo in “My good friend Legba” and the dramatic drum solo of "Worried mind" send shivers. A very good album, played with the heart and sung with the soul.
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God Shaped Hole
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Trying to come up with a good stage name must involve some serious
considerations - like maybe how...Trying to come up with a good stage name must involve some serious
considerations - like maybe how to pay homage to your favorite
musical icons, or what name would best encapsulate your own musical
persona. And I'm sure that's the sort of stuff New York based
Sal Paradise was thinking about when he was trying to decide whether
to be known as Floyd Graves, Cleophus James - or the name he finally
settled on - Reverend Freakchild. The name Reverend Freakchild sort
of sums up his credo which is "Music is my religion. Through song I
seek transcendence." And I might add, when he sings he gives
listeners a transcendent experience too.
Reverend Freakchild's music is a soulful mix of blues, gospel, rock
and country, and besides his solo career, he's been a member of many
bands, including the roots rock jam band Bananafish, The Neptune
Ensemble, and The Cosmic All-Stars, a group that appears on some of
the tracks from his new album.
The new album is called God Shaped Hole. And if you happen upon this
CD, the first thing you might notice is the mesmerizing cover art - an
intricate circle of interlocked guitars and arms possibly inspired
those M. C. Escher drawings you may have seen - you know, the ones
with staircases that seem to be going up and down at the same time.
Cover drawings aside though, God Shape Hole is also musically
mesmerizing, with Reverend Freakchild on guitar and harmonica, joined
by the late Drew Glackin on lap steel, bass player Jon "Bones Richie"
Robinson, Patrick Carmichael on drums, Crazy Joe Kaplowitz on organ,
and Sara Alden on fiddle.
We're going to hear three tracks from God Shaped Hole, beginning one
of my own favorites -
it's called Sweet Sweet You. Here's Reverend Freakchild...
+++ Sweet Sweet You; Supersubconscious; Don't Miss Nothing
Reverend Freakchild with Don't Miss Nothing, and before that
Supersubconscious and Sweet Sweet You from his latest album God Shaped
Hole. And by the way, the CD also comes with four embedded music
video bonus tracks that include an instrumental version of Don't Miss
Nothing and a wonderfully soulful version of the traditional This
Train. You can find out more about this album and sample all the
tracks by going online - the link is treatedandreleasedmusic dot com.
- God Shaped Hole is a featured album on this
week's Kaleidoscope, heard on KZGM Cabool MO and WAZU Peoria IL.
Broadcast time is Wed 5/25 at 10am CT and repeats Sun 5/29 at noon CT.
Live streaming is available at www.mykz88.com
Love your stuff!
Best wishes,
Butch Kara
KZGM FM
Cabool MO
www.kz88.org
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4 stars
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Artist: Reverend Freakchild
Album: God Shaped Hole
Review by Vinny “Bond” Marini
His name is ...Artist: Reverend Freakchild
Album: God Shaped Hole
Review by Vinny “Bond” Marini
His name is Reverend Freakchild and his musical career has spanned the gorge from rock to blues to country to spirituals. On his new album God Shaped Hole, Freakchild brings us a taste of all of that and more.
The album is a collection of solo, and music played with the Cosmic All-stars: the late Drew Glackin on lap-steel, Jon “Bones Ritchie” Robinson on upright bass and Patrick Carmichael on drums. Freakchild is responsible for the vocals, guitars and harp playing. Also on the album are “Crazy” Joe Kaplowitz on B-3 organ (he adds some spectacular ambiance to the music), Sara Alden on fiddle and backing vocals by Sean Condron, Mamie, CC and Sal Paradise.
“Strange Magic” opens the album and comes across like something from the 70’s. Opening with what sounds like music being played backward, the song erupts into a solid slow bluesy beat as Freakchild talk-sings the lyrics. You get introduced to the solid core of the Cosmic All-Stars as they enhance the music of the Reverend.
“Sweet Sweet You” follows with a pure roots/country sound. Freakchild’s finger picking laid on top of the lap-steel and the solid rhythm, put down by Robinson and Carmichael, lead into a harmony line of woos and the Reverend begins to tell the story of a man heading to heaven and meeting his heroes, named in the chorus; “There were Jimi and Janis and John Lennon too, yeah, there was Sonhouse and Robert Johnson wailing like they do…” It is one of the top picks on the album. Freakchild’s moaning wail fits perfectly into this mode.
“All Across America” follows and Freakchild shows us his rocking side. A two-four beat pounded out by Carmichael and Freakchild’s wailing harmonica mixed in the back, but still sweet to hear.
On “My Good Friend Legba” we get the Reverend with a resonator guitar, nothing more. The song is mixed with the guitar on the right channel and the vocals coming from the left channel. It gives the song a true delta quality to it. This is the type of song you will get if you see Freakchild as a solo artist and he can certainly make the resonator sing.
“A Day Late And A $ Short” is another blues jam from the band. The B-3 is a large part of this song, some tasty runs being played on it throughout. This is a party kind of song with background noise added, voices talking, other sounds…making you experience the song as if you were in a bar watching the band play live. The song fades out and there is some harmonica, voices, one note on the B-3 which grows into a full chord as the harmonica keeps wailing, and then it all fades out. Freakchild seems to like adding ambiance to his music and for this song it works.
“Worried Mind” is another blues joint, with a wailing lap-steel adding to Freakchild’s vocal prowess. Carmichael is showcased in this song, his drum beat exploding over the excellent harp lines being played, at times sounding as if there are two of him playing.
On the song “Supersubconcious,” Freakchild wrote in a fiddle that brings a soft, yearning sound to the song, and in parts acts like a harmonic voice along with the lap-steel. The country flavored song lets Freakchild tell the tale as the band gives him a platform to allow his voice to take center stage.
As all bluesmen seem to do, Freakchild has a song that lays it on the line. It is not a radio friendly song at all as the title states. “Stupid Motherf#%!er,” talks about those instances where the wrong decisions were made, as in cheating on a girlfriend, but sleeping with her girlfriends, well, he F’ed it up! Though the title is censored, the lyrics are not. The music for the song is probably the most basic of all the songs on the album and that did not surprise.
“Causing Crying” brings back the country twinge that Freakchild seems to hold near to his heart. It is a ‘get-along-little-doggie’ song, with heavy lap-steel presence.
The album closes with Freakchild and his resonator once again for a song titled “Don’t Miss Nothing.” When the Reverend is playing in this style it harkens to the great sounds of Jorma Kaukonen, though Freakchild needs to go a bit further to touch that master.
Reverend Freakchild grew up in Hawaii and has lived in Boston and now Manhattan. He has played hippie hangouts, clubs and even Avery Fischer Hall and the great Carnegie Hall (with the Metro Mass Gospel Choir). All of those experiences can be heard on God Shaped Hole as the Reverend takes you on his musical journey. If you are a fan of Leon Russell, John Hammond Jr. and Doctor John you will become a fan of Reverend Freakchild and God Shaped Hole will be in your collection.
Review by Vinny “Bond” Marini
Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)
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5 Stars
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This review is from: God Shaped Hole (Audio CD)
This CD is a redemptive ride. From the first tr...
This review is from: God Shaped Hole (Audio CD)
This CD is a redemptive ride. From the first track we're off on a journey with the Rev of always becoming. Seeking a 'Strange Magic' that always seems to elude us. Next we travel down to the delta. The Reverend makes the pilgrimage to the crossroads and asks Robert Johnson for direction at his grave while paying homage to some classic rock icons on this sweet sweet track. We then travel 'All Across America' with lyric lifts from Woody Guthrie 'from California to the New York Isle' to Jimi Hendrix's Spanish Castle Magic reference of 'traveling by dragonfly'. Deeper still we traverse the winged 'Supersubconscious' drug-a-log of the Freakchild. Emerging resonator steel guitar'd acoustic we trudge the path of excess with Legba and the Rev to seek the palace of wisdom only to find we've arrived 'A day Late and a Dollar short' in an ode to the blues. But it's Alright because this CD is pure roots rock, and rolls on into shades of the Rev's 'Worried Mind' and 'Crazy life'. The Rev is an excellent harmonica player and plays some great solos on quite a few tracks on the disc. He also proves he can artfully bend some strings on 'Worried Mind' - probably the best track on the CD but a little long for a radio ready single. He leaves most of the colors and textures to the great lap steel, fiddle and Hammond B3 organ sidemen. All the songs on the disc are Rev originals, and a great piece of self deprecating songwriting is the tune 'Stupid Motherf#%!er'. It's destined to be an underground sing along cult classic. Redemption finally follows with the realization that all the Rev's hard living has been 'Causing Crying'. And then a final acoustic slide guitar tune with lyric beauty of biblical revelation overtones reminds us to 'Don't Miss Nothing' and sends us back into the world hopefully wiser for the ware.
The CD also includes 4 movies. 'Amsterdam Blues' - a great acoustic blues Polaroid diary of younger days gone past. 'God Shaped Hole' - the title track instrumental that finds the Freakchild's feet wandering through some amazing scenes. 'Don't Miss Nothing' - gets an instrumental Buddhist treatment and some pastoral passages that allude to the spirituality of the great video artist Bill Viola. 'This Train' with simple inspired vocal, resonator slide guitar, upright bass and hand claps finally transports the listener to transcendence.
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‘Freakchild’ is right…..
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‘Freakchild’ is right…..
April 20, 2012
This album is insane.. I love it!
Actually, I want...‘Freakchild’ is right…..
April 20, 2012
This album is insane.. I love it!
Actually, I want to meet this guy.
The name, Reverend Freakchild. The album, God Shaped Hole.
I’m almost beginning to wonder if this is his real, legal name.
Again I say, it takes a special kind of record to take me out of my ‘reviewing-an-album-comfort-zone’. This is a special record.
Ya know, if you’re a hippie, or love late nights at rowdy bars or outdoor festivals, this album is for you. But, this album swept me all up as well.. someone with absolutely no interest in blues or roots music. I’m a fan, and this is one of my favorite albums of 2012 so far.
Reverend Freakchild ‘God Shaped Hole’
LoveSound Rating – 7/10
Favorite Tracks – ‘Strange Music’ & ‘Supersubconscious’
Reverend Freakchild – www.myspace.com/reverendfreakchild
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