KEITH CHRISTMAS - Light of the Dawn - 2006 - Album review

KEITH CHRISTMAS - Light Of The Dawn - 2006 - Album review
HIGHLIGHTS: Light of the Dawn - Stone with a View - Let the Devil
SOUNDBITE: She came to me in a dream last night/ Face all staring ghostly white
RATING: 5/5
Who the f*ck is Keith Christmas? F*lk blues? Run for the hills surely - and then wonder why in b*ggery a folk blues album is getting reviewed on this blog. Firstly a confession - I work with this guy. Now it's not what you're thinking - for a start the tight b*stard made me pay for the CD. Secondly it's actually that good that I reckon people need to know about it. I'll be honest - my reference points for this genre are few and far between and often take the shape of memories of half heard music from smoky real ale West Country pubs where I'd ventured on ill-advised forays looking for a Sunday roast. The closest my own music collection gets to Keith's stuff is the occasional slide guitar offering from Ben Harper or Mark Lanegan (former Screaming Trees singer sometime Queens of the Stone age collaborator) especially his 'Field Songs' album. The first thing that pleasantly surprised me about this album was the fact that it didn't feature any accordions at all. Secondly it was close enough to Mark Lanegan for me not to feel completely out of my depth. Thirdly the quality of the tunes like 'Light of the Dawn'. The opening acoustic guitar chords of this reminded me of 'Alone Again Or' by Love on their 'Forever Changes' LP. In fact the guitar playing is pretty damn impressive throughout, especially on bluesy tracks like 'Heart, Soul, Body and Mind' and 'Let the Devil'. You can't knock the man's voice either - it wouldn't surprise me if he's smoked the odd cigarette, but he's got range and can more than carry a tune. The tempo of tracks varies a lot over the album from slide-blues stompers like the aforementioned 'Let the Devil' to the melancholy 'Stone With A View' and for anal guitar geeks, Keith's generously included the tuning AND the capo position for each song. All this and he produced it as well! I would go on for longer but I have to go and get some more tobacco for my pipe and my glass of Old Peculiar is nearly empty. Just kidding. Anyway - you don't have to take my word for it go and listen at:
www.keithchristmas.co.uk Check!