Trevor Gordon Hall – ‘Turning Ruts Into Grooves’ [Review]
Although this piece is aimed at creative people who are traversing the long, desolate desert of writer’s block, it’s also a great pick-me-up for anyone experiencing an awkward life period, whether it be termed a “dry patch” or a “dark night of the soul”. On Turning Ruts Into Grooves, Trevor Gordon Hall employs his virtuosic guitar talents in evoking feelings of uncertainty, ambiguity, anxiety, inertia, and the slow emergence of fresh direction and determination. Not so much a piece of music as an act of public service. Read more…
Opening with a scratchy guitar body groove and winding its way through percussive harmonics, slinky melodies, and thick, earthy riffs, Dance of the Last Rhino is exactly the kind of awe-inspiring instrumental guitar masterpiece we’ve come to expect from Jon Gomm. The above compositional elements aren’t layered in a multi-tracked sense, but performed simultaneously. If you’re new to Jon Gomm’s world, then welcome – and whether you’re a newbie or superfan, you know you need to check out the video below… 
Trevor Gordon Hall is not so much a guitarist as a master craftsman. On Mind Heart Fingers, Hall lays a set of twelve prime pieces out in the sun for the world to see – and the world is better off for his efforts. Add to Hall’s innate and tasteful sense of musicality an exotic instrument in the shape of his trusty kalimbatar, and you have something really special. 
Candyrat Records is not so much a label as a seal of guaranteed quality and exotic innovation. In kalimbatarist Trevor Gordon Hall’s case, exoticism is clearly the name of the game, and Surviving Ordinary Days bubbles with spicy bliss and seethes with a technique so advanced and emotionally engaging that it’s almost enough to make you want to cut off your own hands. If you like your acoustic music to travel as far from stuck-in-the-mud traditionalism as possible, need something to get you through depressingly ordinary wintery days, and/or are wondering just what the hell a kalimbatar actually is, just press play. 
What do you get if you cross Brandon Boyd’s lyricism, an idiosyncratic yet familiarly contemporary male pop vocal, a touch of Biffy Clyro’s more commercially-oriented song structures, and a little Jon Gomm-esque acoustic work? Well…this. Into Color manage to take so many disparate parts and fuse them into something appealing in a pop sense, yet sufficiently inventive to attract the praise of the most hard-bitten muso. Once again, they deserve massive respect for another solid step in the right – and a fresh and exciting – new direction. 
This EP is aptly titled. If you’re feeling starved of intense and immense prog-fusion brilliance, then you should do two things: Read more TMMP, and check out CHON. They’ll seduce you effortlessly with opening acoustic-centric track Super Potion, and leave you wondering what the fuck just happened by the time Knot is finished. Not bad for just two tunes. 
Sublime. Infinitely cool. Near-impossibly effortless. Building fragmented non-sentences made up of adverbs and adjectives can be seen as bad writing, but it’s also an effective method when it comes to describing Trickster. Carefully chosen notes flow through strangely-tuned strings and warm tones to arrive in the ears fully formed and deliciously seductive. I love this track – and if you’re into the likes of 
Although I’ve already reviewed Simeon Baker’s EP, I wanted to come back to this brilliant piece of acoustic virtuoso mastery and bask in its rays for a bit. 
London’s randomness never ceases to surprise me. In summer, street performers can be found everywhere – but having spent so much time passing rappers, dancers, and human statues, it takes a lot to attract a spoilt Londoner’s attention. It’s safe to say, then, that Simeon Baker has a lot to offer.