Back in 2002, Hardkandy were at their debut peak with rave reviews for their album and a Big Chill appearance but since then, the folk-soul-jazz scene has been up and down.
The daddy of the ‘New Folk Sound’ is Terry Callier and Hardkandy’s single off the album Advice featured the vocals of the man himself. Callier is a favourite with Massive Attack and, as they’ve got a new single out with Terry, Hardkandy’s timing was perfect for the release of the ‘difficult’ second album.
I bought the single on impulse (I particularly liked the reggae version of ‘Advice’) and, spotting Simon Little was involved (see Wah Wah 45′s Underground Hits and Exclusive Bits) rushed off and got the album.
Simon and Tim Bidwell started the band in Brighton so they’ve been able to call up local guests like John Hughes (‘Three Days’) and Will Holland (of Quantic Soul Orchestra). ‘Three Days’ ups the tempo as does the blunt-The Streets-funk, ‘State Of You’ (Russ Porter vocals and brilliant bass of Richard Brittain). These two tracks are also singles and are definitely on a more (recent) Coldcut tip
The standout tracks for me are the dubby folk of ‘Triage’ with jazzy sax of Jonny Tarr and another instrumental, the funky ‘Brown Eyed Girl’ (featuring Lee Sankey on harmonica).
‘Hold On’ is a soul-dub-pop song and ‘Loose Ends’ is another in a dubby mood. The album starts with the very Terry Callier like vocals of Sean Clarke on ‘Dizzy Dumb’ (he’s also on the equally strong ‘Jack Of Clubs’). The last track is the acoustic ‘Alright’ (vocals Marne Hollis) that was recorded in Tim’s bedroom.
An album that should be a big sucess.
Reviewed: Hardkandy – Last to Leave (Catskills Records) Cat. No. RIDCD013
Tracklisting:
1 Dizzy Dumb
2 Triage
3 Advice
4 Brown Eyed Girl
5 Three Days
6 State of You
7 Hold On
8 Loose Ends
9 Jack of Clubs
10 Alright
Links:
www.hardkandy.co.uk
www.catskillsrecords.com
www.bigchill.net – The Big Chill festival 2006 will take place from 4th-6th August 2006
