Charlie Gillett's "The Sound of the City" set out as a PhD thesis researching the origins and development of rock and roll in the diversity of American local and regional culture. Radio stations, record stores and small labels carried the energy and creative enthusiasms of the extraordinary people who lived at home. They supported styles of music that were barely visible at a national level and responded rapidly to shifts in local weird taste. We know roughly where it ended up. Hi Busted! Hi Britney!
But despite the global axis of not-very-nice, local and regional music still carries the same flame of enthusiasm, innovation and belief that Gillett latched onto. Sometimes it's a club singer doing Gene Pitney covers in South Shields. Sometimes it knocks you over with a belt like a live mains wire.
And that's where "Sounds From a Big Town" comes in. Huddersfield is a lovely town (offically the Biggest Town in England). It has a fine music festival every year, and lots of elegant Victorian public buildings and former mills. All cleaned and smiling in the sunshine these days. It also has Chocolate Fireguard Records and some busy people on and around the Council. They do well at chasing the Euro for money to have fun with.
The Timeless Music Project has gathered together three CDs of popular music from Huddersfield people. Guitars, Urban Hip Hop and Chill, and Dance make handy divisions for the collection: 41 tracks all told. It’s a serious compilation that music libraries, collectors and enthusiasts should make a serious effort to get hold of.
Quite a lot of it is local emulation of styles and genres that the world is already full of. But even here, there's a wholehearted commitment and passion that pushes itself ahead of the lusher and lazier international versions. MR SHIRAZ'S wild version of ska/punk/metal blisters and soars through "Sleeping with the Enemy". THE SCARAMANGA SIX'S "Big in Small Town" understates the title and overdrives the adrenalin in a fierce early rush of their unique and currently ustoppable style.
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On the Urban CD we have some head turning rhythms and tunes. Pat Fulgoni's band KAVA KAVA set the standard with the soulful, driving and epic "Maui". Top sound has got to be "Sinking Sand" by CELT ISLAM SOUND SYSTEM (featuring BONGO CHILLI). But there are seventeen tracks there that all have something to say. KO-D-FY "Good Ting Bad Ting" combines a haunting track with mean, fervent rapping and a totally incantatious chorus. K303's "Crab Nebula" is another attention grabber. Eric Satie meets Urban Species, with some abrasive wheels tugging at the big synth chords. My Media Player random visualisations loved it. There's some heavy resonance in NINE INVISIBLES' track "B Boy Rok" too. Special mention also to AWOL's "Just Us".
The Dance album cheats by having THE BLUEFOOT PROJECT'S RACHEL MODEST up against FORBIDDEN PLANET. Their track "Fly Away" is pretty inspirational stuff. But writing about dance music when you don’t dance is definitley a case of the celibate marriage counsellor. The eight tracks cover a lot of ground and stir a lot of low end frequencies. SPIDA LEE pushes THE STREETS aside with "The Truth" from Huddersfield. And the truth is what this colleciton has in abundance. It's The New Localism, tucked right inside the heart of The New Globalism. It's the other side of the same coin, with a real person's head where the President used to be.
Sadly, the CDs come with almost no information about the artists. The web doesn't help much either – but you can order a copy (for a crazy £10!) from www.chocolatefireguard.co.uk and do your research with your ears. It’s worth it.
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