Anton Barbeau - King of Missouri
(Woronzow)
Keith Christmas - Acoustica
(Woronzow)
Woronzow brain trust (Nick Saloman and Ade Shaw, also of The Bevis Frond) met Anton Barbeau when they were touring in California, and he handed them a tape of his music. They liked what they heard and agreed to put out his next album. They even went one step further, and, while he was in London visiting friends, they, along with Frond drummer Andy Ward, agreed to be his backing band on this punnily titled album (aka King of Misery?).
The opening (title) track and "Octagon" are fun, power pop rockers, with the latter's toe-tapping, hard-driving, memorable riff sounding exactly like Woronzow stablemate Mick Crossly and his Flyte Reaction. "It's OK, Maybe" is one of those sweet little ditties that John Lennon and Nick Lowe used to toss off in their sleep and once you've heard it, it's stuck in your head for days; marvelous, and the obvious choice for the lead single.
The more elaborately arranged tracks like "The Clothes I Want To Wear," "I Remember Everything," and, particularly "I'm Always Offending My Sensitive Friends" are a little more difficult to wrap your arms around as Barbeau's crackling voice struggles to emote in the upper registers. But that's a minor quibble. After all, it's the rockers you'll return to again and again, including the power pop party anthem, "I Don't Like You" and the otherwise relatively sedate "Sylvia Something" and "Retabulation," which both benefit from Saloman's trademark ripping guitar solos. These alone are worth the price of admission and a must for Frond completists, although Barbeau can hold his own with his enjoyable sense of melody and raspy voice custom-made for the pop overtones. I'd also recommend this to fans of the poppier side of the Woronzow stable, such as Alchemysts, Lucky Bishops and Flyte Reaction.
If Barbeau reminds you of Woronzow artist, Flyte Reaction, then Keith Christmas' acoustic solo album will bring back fond memories of former Woronzow artist, Mick Wills, who released similar albums on Woronzow back in the early 90s. Christmas' (indirect) Woronzow connection goes back a bit further, however, to the days when Ade Shaw contributed bass to his Pigmy album (B&C, 1971) and cover of "My Girl," which also appears on the US version of Christmas' Brighter Day album, released on Emerson, Lake & Palmer's Manticore imprint back in 1974. (Lake also co-produced it.) Christmas is a bit of a legend in certain well-respected circles, having played and recorded with David Bowie and Rick Wakeman (on Bowie's Man of Words/Man of Music, aka Space Oddity), King Crimson alumni Ian MacDonald, Ian Wallace and Mel Collins (Brighter Day), Rod Argent (Pigmy), and Cat Stevens, Steve Cropper and "Duck" Dunn (Stories from The Human Zoo). In the 70s, he performed at the first Glastonbury Festival, and toured in support of Zappa, Beefheart, Hawkwind (of whom, Ade is an ex-member) and The Kinks. Voiceprint recently reissued his 1992 blues album (with his Weatherman project) and in '96 he released the Love Beyond Deals album (produced by Fairport Convention/Steeleye Span guitarist, Ashley Hutchings). He ended the 90s touring with his wife, Julia, and in 2001 began recording an album with her. He's also got another blues project, KCBlues, that he's been recording with recently.
So now that we've discussed Christmas' background, let's tell you a bit about this marvelous release. Christmas' playing is a bit more aggressive and rocking than other artists releasing this style of material, so think more in terms of Vini (Durutti Column) Reilly and Richard Thompson and less Jansch, Renborne and Graham. The songs are all uniformly great, particularly the Hawaiian/Calypso groove of "Easy" and the happy-go-lucky, strolling minstrel vibe of "Awakening;" from the finger lickin', chicken pickin' of "Sliding" and the hesitant, staring-into-the-campfire melancholia of "Ascension" right on up to the toe-tappin', finger poppin finale, "Inside Out." Acoustica is a must for fans of the instrument and a welcome addition to your collection of Jansch, Thompson, Fahey, Graham, Drake, and the like.
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