Gerald Clark (vocals and guitars), Schalk van der Merwe (bass), Riaan Nieuwenhuis (keyboards and piano), Alida Stadler (drums and percussion) and Henry Steel (electric and acoustic guitars) bring together several strands of blues and keep the mood upbeat — even when the music is mellow.
Opening with Willy Nixon’s bouncy old favourite My Babe, the album mostly comprises Delta Blue’s own compositions, from the soulful blues-rock of Milk Cow Blues and the playful harmonica dancing around on Hazel Street to the laid-back, contemplative Super Voodoo Flamenco Child. There is even a nod to the origins of blues with the easy-going guitar melody that jams along on Ain’t No Tellin, a track that dates all the way from 1928, penned by Mississippi John Hurt.
Inbluesstation ends as it starts, turning up the beat with the foot-tapping Boogie Chillen and Mojo Hand.
Clark’s voice is just the right combination of power, gravelly texture and emotion, ideally suited for tracks that demand a soulful approach, like Roger Walker’s Muddy Water Blues. His fellow blues players are a talented bunch and on several tracks their skills are evident — just listen to the dexterous fingerwork of the guitar-playing on the jazzy instrumental track Gangsta.
I’m not sure what old men in Mississippi will make of Inbluesstation, but it sure sounds fine in South Africa.
No Friends of Harry: The Present Has Passed (Fresh)
The present has indeed passed — that is, the South African rock scene of the Eighties, when the four-piece No Friends of Harry were a firm favourite, and not only with Barney Simon. Thanks to Fresh Music’s Retro Fresh series, which takes classic South African music and remasters and re-releases it, their gothic alternative music sees the light of day once more on this new album. The band formed in 1986 and rose to success, even though many clubs “were not in the slightest bit interested in odd-looking groups dressed all in black”, as the comprehensive history of the band included in the sleeve notes explains. They even impressed British alternatives in 1990, the decade in which they moved away from their gothic roots to a harder sound before calling it a day in 1998. On this album, flash back in time with Competition Rules, Some People, Time, I Lose Faith, The Underground and 10 other of the band’s best creations. True, it all sounds dated now, but it’s still proudly South African. — Riaan Wolmarans
Various: Lara Croft, Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (Gallo)
Lara Croft is one tough cookie who shouldn’t be messed with and, befittingly, the soundtrack to her second movie is a solid compilation of mostly rock tracks from and inspired by the movie, opening with the Davey Brothers’ happy and singalong Heart Go Faster and also including contributions by the reliable Filter and the floaty Dandy Warhols. Highlights are the crafty Paul Oakenfold mix of POD’s Satellite (is there no end to Oakie’s creativity?), Jason Nevins’s hectic take on Moby’s Jam for the Ladies and Sinead O’Connor’s vocals on Conjure One’s slow and languidly beautiful Tears from the Moon. Even if Croft shoud fail to save the day at the movies, the soundtrack remains a winner. — RW