Bill Wells and Maher Shalal Hash Baz

Band: Bill Wells and Maher Shalal Hash Baz
Label: Geographic
Title: GOK

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Band:Bill Wells and Maher Shalal Hash Baz
Title:GOK
Reviewed By:Jamie Rowland
Date Published:08/05/2009

Label:Geographic
Format:CD
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I am a big, big fan of Maher Shalal Hash Baz’s 2004 album 'Blues du Jour' (not sure if it’s still available anywhere, but if you come across it, pick it up!), so I was very excited to hear about this new record with Bill Wells being released.

Essentially an instrumental album, it certainly retains plenty of the charm of Maher Shalal Hash Baz’s previous work – a good number of the tracks sound like the closing music to a particularly cheesy American sitcom from the 1980s – I can imagine them playing over a montage of stills from the week’s episode. ‘Duck’, ‘Oddults’, ‘Liquorice Tics’ and ‘Banned Announcement’ are my favourites of these.

I’m not always keen on instrumental albums, which is perhaps illustrated by my fondness for the few tracks on 'GOK' which feature vocals (and particularly the rather lovely ‘Cowtail Calypso’). Some of the other tracks are a bit more sombre, and while I don’t feel these retain my attention as much as the shorter, more upbeat tracks, I think there’s still a lot to like about them. At close to 6 minutes long, ‘Poxy’ perhaps outstays its welcome a bit, while the slightly “is that in tune?” nature of some of the arrangements might prove testing to some listeners.

Overall though, I think GOK’s faults are outweighed by the positives, and the sense of ‘have-a-go’ fun which runs through all of Maher Shalal Hash Baz’s music.

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Largely instrumental avant-garde experimentalism with an emphasis on have-a-go fun on joint album from Scots musician Bill Wells and Japanese composer Maher Shalal Hash Baz

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GOK - CD
Largely instrumental avant-garde experimentalism with an emphasis on have-a-go fun on joint album from Scots musician Bill Wells and Japanese composer Maher Shalal Hash Baz

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