Conory - By Jingo

Hear The Track Here

I've known UK based musician Conory for a couple of years and his brand of Alternative rock has hit the spot more than a few times, even gaining him one Must Have somewhere down the line. Moreover, he's also an artist I do like listening to whenever, because his songs are always pretty decent and worthy of a listen. Now, hold steady, while I insert the fly into this review ointment because By Jingo is the first ever Conory track that hasn't been a song. Mind you, again I should expect the unexpected from him because - lest we forget - this is also the musician who brought Marking Time (January 2010), an excellent XTC soundalike that had me frothing at the mouth and that ain't a pretty sight. So, Conory has always been one to throw spanners into things so that the music coming out of the other end of this process is (and isn't) familiar and fresh.

The story behind By Jingo is worthy of mention as an example of how to capitalise on ideas. Where other people take notebooks (you know, the paper kind) and jot down ideas they have while on the move, Conory takes along a small office tape recorder and when he had an idea, he'd hum it into the tape. Well, he says its more like a dum than a hum and when you hear By Jingo you will know exactly what he means. Conversely this is the first track finished from that basic idea and Conory is threatening that there around 40 more to come. It is, as he describes it, 'the first Dum to be finished' Can't say fairer than that, I say.

Musically it's a very weird combination of electronica, trance, rock and all points on out. It's also a full on instrumental, although - thankfully - it doesn't rely on the time honoured tradition of messing up a perfectly good groove with ego stroke lead guitarists and keyboard players. Now I'm a sucker for a great groove and By Jingo has one, and truth is that's about all it has. Mind you being dominated by the Dum school of musical thought it pumps along a damn sight quicker than you would expect. Has some excellent sounds in it too, although I wasn't prepared to be as won over by the horn sounds as I later found myself. If I have a complaint about the track at all, I think it would have to be its repetitiveness. The basic groove is only so long, and the track seems to repeat it two or three times when I felt it could have been expanded more than it was. Still, as a lesson in the Dum method, it's a fine challenge.

Dum dum dum. Dum dum dum. (but not dumb). Recommended instrumental.