Track Listing > >
A New Year's Anxiety / Lean From The Middle / Sunday / Radix / Franky Boy / Always Ashok / Under The Thumb / Decadence / Geri Gigolo / Slow Tune / Happy Slap
FILTHY LUCRE RECORDS
Playing a jazz-funk cross between The Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Jamiroquai, Ashok are a band that mix mainstream pop sensibilities with slick funk rock dynamics. Ideally suited to the jazz world stage at Glastonbury Ashok are a band dealing in syncopated guitar riffs, loose limbed drumming and laid back hip-hop flavours. The addition of Flo Welch's vocals are the real hook though, as she adds a human touch to the professional sheen of the musicianship, her voice creating a warmth that touches on mainstream pop divadom, yet still maintaining an individual edge of personality.
Debut album PLANS is a record that fuses hip/hop, funk and jazz rock with mixed results, a record certainly possessing all the personality and vision you could hope for. Flo has developed her vocals into a powerfully soulful croon, and its her presence that lends Gran Cassa their real heart and soul, though the bands frequent tendency to deal in raw sounding jazz/funk clichés is a bit too Jamiroquai-like for comfort. A song like LEAN FROM THE MIDDLE is a fun but ultimately forgettable sounding song, whilst the funkier UNDER THE THUMB is a more satisfying affair complete with funky bongo beats and smooth sounding rap injections; think Gorillaz by way of Arrested Development. The smooth jazz infused hip-hop of ALWAYS ASHOK is a place where the band come together strongest, slinky beats and slick guitar work underpinning Flo's soulful melodies and Leo Nathan's smooth baritone rapping.
Elsewhere the cocktail lounge jazz of GERI GIGOLO and the downbeat pop of SLOW TUNE fail to reach quite the same heights, though closing number, the country tinged HAPPY SLAP marks Ashok out as a band with a definite quirky streak to their songwriting prowess, a jaunty and energetic number chock full of fun.
Ashok are a band with the talent and chops to take things all the way; a tight sounding band with impressive vocal presence, they sound on the verge of great things. PLANS is an ultimately patchy and uneven record, but there are enough sparks of determination and talent at play here to suggest that Ashok are capable of developing and improving with every move they make.
BIOGRAPHY
Greenwich based-seven-piece Ashok release their debut album, PLANS, on 2 April on Filthy Lucre Records. Their sound feeds on diversity, bristling with jazz, soul and rollickin' country influences.
The eleven track album opens with NEW YEAR'S ANXIETY, fuelled by frantic strings, Flo's thumping vocals playing out across Leo's resonant lyrics. Current single LEAN FROM THE MIDDLE is hooked around elegant, jazzy arrangements with sliding bass and Flo's velvet-coated vocals. "It's a jibe at the world and the extreme reactions of people," says Leo. "We need to learn to take a little from both sides." ALWAYS ASHOK ushers in a more downbeat take, with shimmering guitar strums layered over the subtle beats. Future single UNDER THE THUMB is one of the band's favourite tracks, with a staccato rap, trumpet hoots and bongo licks all dusted with a soaring vocal from Flo: "It's two songs in one," says Leo. "My words are all about my brother who died when I was younger and Flo sings about falling in love with a guy who is worse for you than the devil. There's a real synchronicity of darkness around the whole track." In GERI GIGOLO an ethereal vocal hook from Flo floats around a rich belly of smoky piano taps. The album closes with HAPPY SLAP, which takes their sound and twists it into a punchy, country number to rival Dolly Parton. The subject matter? "It's about beating up your boyfriend," says Flo, a touch nonchalantly.
Ashok's first real gig was a total shambles. It was at the Bug Bar about 2 years ago and it ended up with just Flo, Leo and Chris performing to a backing track. Luckily, the crowd was made up of friendly faces so they went down well and were promised another if they could scrape together a full live band. They returned with a raucous assembly of musicians, violinists, a second MC, bongos and trumpets. "Flo got bollocked by the owner that night for taking piss out of people on stage," says Leo. "She was shouting stuff at our friends in the audience. I don't think we got another gig there after that. She was only joking as well."
They have been together over four years now. As a naive 16 year old, Flo would make up lyrics about love and sit on Chris' bedroom floor jamming: "I used to sit and pretend to be Jill Scott into the mic. What did I know about love at that age? Now the music comes from a much more personal place and our writing process has altered dramatically."
With the four years comes a brother-sister relationship between the three core members: "Most of the time Leo really pisses me off," says Flo. "He's so opinionated and we go at it like cat and dog but he's the first person I got to for advice in how to handle men. And we both look to Chris for guidance, he's the central point that keeps the band relaxed."
The past six months have seen them hosting a bustling residency at the cavern-like Oliver's Jazz Bar in Greenwich. "It's quite an intimate venue," says Chris. "The audience just gets hammered on red wine and jumps around dancing. Come and take a look."
Ashok release their debut album, PLANS on 2 April on Filthy Lucre Records.
LINE UP
Flo Welch
Leo Nathan
Chris Lane
DISCOGRAPHY
PLANS (Filthy Lucre Records>2007)
A New Year's Anxiety
Lean From The Middle
Sunday
Radix
Franky Boy
Always Ashok
Under The Thumb
Decadence
Geri Gigolo
Slow Tune
Happy Slap
LINKS
Ashok>www.myspace.com/ashokmusic
FURTHER LISTENING
Zero 7
Fat Freddy's Drop
Morcheeba
Review date: February 2007 |
