Steve Smith - Handheld Mixer Lobotomy Blues

Hear The Track Here

But Oprah, the truth is that I don't really understand Steve Smith. There. I've said it. I say this not because Steve Smith doesn't speak English (Australian counts I guess) or because he talks utter bollocks because there are plenty of other artists I could say that about. Nope, read any of Steve's reviews and you'll see that not only does he do achingly painful reviews but he's also a big nuts and bolts man; his advice is always sound, cogent and succinct and not a 'peep my sh1t' in sight. Nope, what I can't understand about Steve is that being such a knowledgable and obviously capable musician, why does his music always seem like either a respectful nod at his classical favourites or a f-a-u-l-t-l-e-s-s (please note that means not a hair out of place) rendition of some imaginary TV or Film soundtrack.

Now give him his due, when he wants to recreate something, the man is a demon. Take, for example, Protect and Shoot (January 2006) or Mylanta and Coke (March 2006) both of which centered around ficticious po-leece dramas of the 1970's complete with wah wah and la las. Terrific stuff and - if it's a spoof - it's a well done one. As a musician I can certainly understand the intellectual charge of being able to master something like this but personally it doesn't give me multiple musical orgasms - and that is something I like to get from music. Mind you, this is definitely a personal choice and if Steve is happy making material like this why shouldn't he? Having said all that I do like Handheld Mixer Lobotomy Blues because it is the blues, albeit a bit peppier than you may have been used to.

Here Steve delves into a sub-genre of the blues called Jump Blues, a 1940's big band style of blues and an alleged forerunner of rock and roll itself. Again Steve is totally on the money in terms of style and content, everything sits in the track perfectly, and the track romps along merrily. Not sure whether the man himself is on the vocals but if it is, it fits the track well, and the lyrics are LOL funny - especially when you know something about the genre. This is an entry into something called the FDP Songwriting Competition whatever that may be and I feel Mr Smith will find some favour with this lively track. My only quibble about it, and its a small one at that, is that I felt some of the sounds were a bit dry and 'straight out of the box' but that's just me. As a reference back to the Jump Blues scene, this couldn't be more spot on.

Rip up a rug Momma!!! <-whatever that means. Recommended for the art of it.