Time: 57:51
Size: 132.4 MB
Styles: Harmonica blues
Year: 2017
Art: Front
[3:17] 1. Wake Up
[3:56] 2. Alright Babe
[6:15] 3. Busy Crossroads
[4:09] 4. Fine Girl
[3:26] 5. I Hear Woohoo
[4:39] 6. Koko Boogie
[4:19] 7. Loopin' My Blues
[3:09] 8. I Wanna Be The Devil
[3:56] 9. Lucky Chicken
[5:54] 10. Starfish
[3:29] 11. Loop Train Blues
[7:21] 12. The Station
[3:54] 13. Rocking
Italian harmonica player-singer Paolo Demontis appears on his new CD as Paul Demon, a more bluesy sounding moniker. I reviewed his unique approach to the blues on his previous release “Loopin’ The Blues” which was released under his given name. He carries on his one man band of vocals, harmonica, percussion and loop station here as well. His way with a harmonica is very well informed and inventive while keeping it bluesy. The loop station and only having a pretty steady beat throughout most songs it limits his style considerably. He manages to vary his harp style enough to keep the music as fresh as possible. His accent makes deciphering some of the lyrics a challenge to say the least.
Many of his songs fall into the incessant beat category, such as “Wake Up” and “Loopin’ The Blues”. “I Hear Woohoo” is an instrumental with mouthed sounds, much like a modern day Sonny Terry. Paul adopts a jazzy virtuosic sound on parts of “Fine Girl” and “I Wanna Be The Devil”, similar to what Charlie Musselwhite does occasionally.
He reverts to harmonica imitations on “Lucky Chicken” and “Loop Train Blues”, utilizing one harmonica for the underlying beat while he plays over the top on it. Your guess is as good as mine as to what “Starfish” is about. What sounds like clicking noises made from his mouth are utilized along with a boogie beat on “Koko Boogie”, where he pulls out his “boogie” voice. On “Alright Babe” and “Rocking” he uses an echo on his harmonica to great effect.
Paul’s harmonica skills can’t be denied, but after two CDs of much the same, it may well be time to add a few musicians into the mix. The absence of guitars is refreshing, but using a real drummer would give more flexibility to the rhythms. Taken in small doses his music is rewarding, but the similar approach throughout tends to get monotonous. His ideas and execution are intriguing, but perhaps it is time for him to flesh out his sound, while still maintaining his creativity and originality. Opened minded people would be advised to keep track of his further endeavors. ~Greg "Bluesdog" Szalony
Many of his songs fall into the incessant beat category, such as “Wake Up” and “Loopin’ The Blues”. “I Hear Woohoo” is an instrumental with mouthed sounds, much like a modern day Sonny Terry. Paul adopts a jazzy virtuosic sound on parts of “Fine Girl” and “I Wanna Be The Devil”, similar to what Charlie Musselwhite does occasionally.
He reverts to harmonica imitations on “Lucky Chicken” and “Loop Train Blues”, utilizing one harmonica for the underlying beat while he plays over the top on it. Your guess is as good as mine as to what “Starfish” is about. What sounds like clicking noises made from his mouth are utilized along with a boogie beat on “Koko Boogie”, where he pulls out his “boogie” voice. On “Alright Babe” and “Rocking” he uses an echo on his harmonica to great effect.
Paul’s harmonica skills can’t be denied, but after two CDs of much the same, it may well be time to add a few musicians into the mix. The absence of guitars is refreshing, but using a real drummer would give more flexibility to the rhythms. Taken in small doses his music is rewarding, but the similar approach throughout tends to get monotonous. His ideas and execution are intriguing, but perhaps it is time for him to flesh out his sound, while still maintaining his creativity and originality. Opened minded people would be advised to keep track of his further endeavors. ~Greg "Bluesdog" Szalony
Busy Crossroads
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:02
Size: 87.1 MB
Styles: Harmonica blues
Year: 2015
Art: Front
[3:23] 1. Busy Crossroads
[3:59] 2. My Band
[4:54] 3. Don't Touch My Blues
[4:15] 4. Hard Drinkin' Woman
[3:46] 5. Baby Please Go
[4:07] 6. Funk You
[5:23] 7. Reggaetime Blues
[3:29] 8. Dirty Clothes Blues
[4:42] 9. Stomp & Go
Blues purists need not apply. The sole instruments employed by Paolo Demontis the self-proclaimed Italian “harmonica player and a new modern one man band” are harmonicas, vocals, Boss Re-300 Loopstation and a bit of imagination”. Beat-box and programmed bass lines underlie multi-layered and electronically tweaked harmonicas and vocals. His magnificent harp technique doesn’t get lost amid the techno-tampering at work here. With his thick Italian accent you are need to have the lyric sheet at hand to decipher things, but the accented words lend a mysterious and exotic European pop-blues atmosphere that in the end works.
The songs tend to get repetitious at times, but Paolo’s genius for overlaying interesting harmonica parts is a listener adventure that never ends. Leave your preconceptions behind and enjoy some techno-blues peppered with rap, funk, hip hop, rock, reggae, dance and Afro-Beat.
Beat-box, mouth percussion, treated and accented vocals fly by in “Busy Crossroads”, a song that brings to mind Anthony Kiedis’ vocal delivery on The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Give It Away”. Paolo uses percussive Rice Miller-style harmonica technique on “My Band”, scratching as he overlays other harmonica parts. “Lonesome train harp effects intro into some wicked Sonny Terry harp, and an echoed vocal is featured on “Don’t Touch My Blues”.
Multiple harmonicas are layered over a harmonica drone with echoed vocals on “Hard Drinkin’ Woman” as the refrain seems to be repeated endlessly. A nice rhythmic, chugging harp pattern is the foundation for the treated vocal on “Baby Please Go”. Here as elsewhere Paolo’s harp skills are very much in evidence. ~Greg "Bluesdog" Szalony
The songs tend to get repetitious at times, but Paolo’s genius for overlaying interesting harmonica parts is a listener adventure that never ends. Leave your preconceptions behind and enjoy some techno-blues peppered with rap, funk, hip hop, rock, reggae, dance and Afro-Beat.
Beat-box, mouth percussion, treated and accented vocals fly by in “Busy Crossroads”, a song that brings to mind Anthony Kiedis’ vocal delivery on The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Give It Away”. Paolo uses percussive Rice Miller-style harmonica technique on “My Band”, scratching as he overlays other harmonica parts. “Lonesome train harp effects intro into some wicked Sonny Terry harp, and an echoed vocal is featured on “Don’t Touch My Blues”.
Multiple harmonicas are layered over a harmonica drone with echoed vocals on “Hard Drinkin’ Woman” as the refrain seems to be repeated endlessly. A nice rhythmic, chugging harp pattern is the foundation for the treated vocal on “Baby Please Go”. Here as elsewhere Paolo’s harp skills are very much in evidence. ~Greg "Bluesdog" Szalony
Loopin' The Blues
No comments:
Post a Comment