I sit here looking out my window. From the 11 floor skyscraper in Toronto Canada. I look down on the streets, on this arctic air morning in April. I have my cans on. It’s first thing in the morning, as the sun comes up over the towers. The silver spot of the day. No one has arrived to work yet, so I have the whole department to myself. No telephones. No whinny sales staff. Just me, the black bird flying high, and my headphones cranking Birth of Joy
Just when you thought that the world of rock music has fallen off the ledge to the depths of mordor, along comes Birth of Joy. These cats hail from the Netherlands. A three piece band. Full of gargantuan tone, riffs and Hammond. Yes... my brothers and sisters! That’s right! The Hammond tone! The cool thing about this band is, there seems to be something very exclusive with way the Hammond gets treated on these recordings. I have one word that can describe it. Righteous! One of the best mixed albums I’ve heard in awhile. You can really hear the naturally tone of the instruments. And the all important snare drum mix, jumps right out too. No shenanigans or hocus pokus special effects with this production. (From what I can hear). A very true, prime and clean recording. The band describes their own music as “Supercharged” . The trio is a carpet ride back to the psych blues rock mirror window of 1967 – 1972. A nice rarity in today’s world of plastic auto-tone vocals and pro-tool software driven production.
So folks, if your looking for some classic vibes with a whole new take on what’s already been covered in the world of rock, then check these cats out. Break out your 1972 headphones. Pour yourself a morning coffee. And then crank it before the world starts to spin around the sun. It just may raise the hairs on your arms. Just like the heavy days of the 70’s
--Wino Chris
