Ralph Atkinson - Ghost Ship

Hear The Track Here

On the surface it would seem to be an impossibility. Even knowing Canadian Ralph Atkinson to be a very creative and adept musician, as he has proved to all of us time after time, there is no way on Earth he could do it, could he?? 'It' in this case being a cover version of (hang on to your wits) Thomas J Marchant classic Sails. See, our Thomas is a very unique musical character, having forged his sound over many years. He can do what he does exceedingly well, but could anybody else? Ralph can. His version of Sails (which I rate as one of TJM best songs) really keeps true to the original but brings a whole new slant to the song - exactly what I would call a great cover version. Top marks to the man, get a listen to both versions to see how... Damn, I'd like to hear them do this together!!

In the meantime, there's this ghost ship...

Just when you think you have a handle on Ralph, the man does a swerve and Ghost Ship is such a surprising swerve it took some getting used to. I can point to ten million musicians who I think would dabble in electronica but absolutely the last person I would expect to not only dabble, but excel in it, is Ralph Atkinson. What, the guitar-playing, song-writing, ex-barbershop singer?? But no, o disbelieving eyeballs, here is the proof so all aboard this 'ere Ghost Ship and have the crap scared out of us by the prospect that nothing is sacred to this particular musician, no stone unturned in his search for more 'input'...

The thing that gets me, like the Sails cover, is that he does it all soooo well...It's a mark of Ralph's prowess as a musician that he can pretty much turn his hand to anything (and believe me Ghost Ship is the anything) and make it a worthwhile listening experience as this track amply demonstrates. In essence, it's one long build, in an eerie, sub Hitchcock incidental music arrangement that screws up the tension nicely. While you will have heard similar from lots of sources, I think Ralph puts his own particular brand on this one. Damn thing is as broody as a mother hen...

Recommended Electronica soundscape from a most unlikely source.