Little Axe - Hard Grind - 2002

Product Description:Mississippi label Fat Possum has done much for the fusion of blues and another distinctly African American music, hip-hop, but this project sounds forced and phony. R.L. Burnside's elegant and trippy Wish I Was in Heaven Sitting Down and the compilation New Beats from the Delta both team urban Southern MCs with the label's crusty bluesmen and sound gritty and first-rate. But this meandering, formless sonic splatter painting is terrible, despite its expert cast.
Guitarist Skip McDonald, bassist Doug Wimbish, drummer Keith LeBlanc, and producer Adrian Sherwood are electronica pioneers, the guts of the band Tackhead, and sparkplugs for recordings by Ministry, African Head Charge, and Dub Syndicate. They have a grounding in funk, reggae, and rock that's given their earlier meta-music a human streak. So it's surprising there's almost no soul here. Gliding slide guitars, samples of black voices, and harmonica lines float through the mix, sliding against pumped snare drums, echo-treated cymbals, and programming. At best, in "Run Here Boy" and the rambling narrative "Blues Story II," the CD's nearest stabs at cohesive songs, a simmering, brooding mood rises, but it's broken by intrusions of dub effects, chanting, and glossolalia. What we hear are the signifiers of blues and none of its substance, mated with listless, shambling, ambient grooves.

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Little Axe - Hard Grind - 2002

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Review: Just when you thought the tired old blues genre had nothing original to offer, back comes Skip McDonald with his third and easily his best Little Axe album. After the experimentation of "Wolf That House Built" and the more soulful "Slow Fuse" album, all the potential is realised this time round. The genius of this record is that it remains faithful to the old blues tradition without compromising 21st century production values. Jaw-dropping blues samples (Moby, eat your heart out) allied with memorable tunes make for probably the best blues album of the year. The real standout tracks are "Tight Like That" (simply inspired) and "Walk Right Shoes" but, to be honest, with the exception of one unexciting instrumental, these are all winners. Roll on the next album (Amazon's Customer).

Track Listing

01 - Dark As The Night Cold As The Ground - 2:53
02 - Blues Story II - 5:14
03 - Run Here Boy - 5:34
04 - One Drop Blues - 3:42
05 - All Night Party - 3:46
06 - Midnight Dream - 4:04
07 - Walk Right Shoes - 4:05
08 - Long Way To Go - 3:37
09 - Down To The Valley - 5:31
10 - Tight Like That - 5:29
11 - Seek The Truth - 4:47

Personnel

Backing Vocals - Ghetto Priest (tracks: 7, 9, 10, 11)
Bass - Doug Wimbish (tracks: 3, 5 to 9, 11)
Drums - Keith LeBlanc (tracks: 2, 6 to 11)
Engineer - Alan Branch , Darren Grant , Nick Cop Lowe*
Guitar, Bass, Keyboards, Backing Vocals - Skip "Little Axe" McDonald*
Harmonica - Alan Glen (tracks: 2, 3, 5, 6, 10)
Mastered By - Kevin Metcalfe
Producer - Skip McDonald
Producer, Mixed By - Adrian Sherwood