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revolutionarywarhistory · 2 years ago

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"Flecking the hedges with red": Palmer's Ballad on the Maryland 400

A photograph of John Williamson Palmer who wrote ‘The Maryland Battalion’

Editor's note: this is an article I posted on September 28, 2016 on Finding the Maryland 400. Reposted from Academia.edu and my History Hermann WordPress blog.

In the past, we have written about poems and songs relating to the Maryland 400. [1] They were celebrated years after and during the Revolutionary War, with newspapers often containing poems and songs. Such poems included one about William Sterrett in 1776 and a song by Tom Wisner titled “The Old Line.” Poems and ballads, which are narrative poems, not only appeared in newspapers but also in books. This post analyzes the 1901 ballad titled “The Maryland Battalion in the Battle of Long Island” and its author. [2]

The ballad’s author was a native Baltimorean named John Williamson Palmer. He was a physician by profession, but later became a journalist, and served as a New York Tribune correspondent in Richmond, Virginia during the Civil War. [3] He traveled across the world to India and elsewhere in East Asia, worked for the East India Company, and warned acclaim after contributing to numerous periodicals. [4] During the Civil War, Palmer wrote the well-known ballad titled “Stonewall Jackson’s Way” during the Battle of Antietam in 1862. [5] This ballad became one of the South’s most popular lyrics. This is not surprising because Palmer joined the Confederate Army and later served on the staff of John C. Breckinridge, the Secretary of War of the Confederacy. [6] After the Civil War, he published a book of folk songs and numerous other books of note. He had become, as his former employer, the New York Tribune, called him, “a veteran balladist” who will “be long remembered” because of his good verse. [7] By the early twentieth century, some claimed that he become a writer with “vigorous lyric faculty.” [8]

“The Maryland Battalion” was originally printed in a 1902 book titled Every Day in the Year. The book was a “poetical anthology” which commemorated “the most striking events in history” and the men and women who “have left an imprint on their day and generation.” [9] The ballad was printed with an introduction making it clear it was about the Battle of Brooklyn. [10] His ballad fits with those he wrote about Stonewall Jackson and the Battle of the San Jacinto in 1836 by exhibiting a patriotic theme, from his point of view. [11]

The text of this ballad is reprinted below [12]:

Spruce Macaronis, and pretty to see, Tidy and dapper and gallant were we; Blooded fine gentlemen, proper and tall, Bold in a fox-hunt and gay at a ball; Prancing soldados so martial and bluff, Billets for bullets, in scarlet and buff— But our cockades were clasped with a mother’s low prayer And the sweethearts that braided the sword-knots were fair [13] There was grummer of drums humming hoarse in the hills, And the bugles sang fanfares down by the mills, By Flatbush [14] the bagpipes were droning amain, And keen cracked the rifles in Martense’s lane [15]; For the Hessians were flecking the hedges with red [16], And the grenadiers’ tramp marked the roll of the dead Three to one, flank and rear, flashed the files of St. George [17], The fierce gleam of their steel as the glow of a forge. The brutal boom-boom of their swart cannoneers Was sweet music compared with the taunt of their cheers— For the brunt of their onset, our crippled array, And the light of God’s leading gone out in the fray. Oh, the rout on the left and the tug on the right! The mad plunge of the charge and the wreck of the flight! When the cohorts of Grant [18] held stout Stirling [19] at strain, And the mongrels of Hesse [20] went tearing the slain; When at Freeke’s Mill the flumes and the sluices ran red, And the dead choked the dike and the marsh choked the dead! ��Oh, Stirling, good Stirling, how long must we wait? Shall the shout of your trumpet unleash us too late? Have you never a dash for brave Mordecai Gist [21] With his heart in his throat, and his blade in his fist? Are we good for no more than to prance in a ball, When the drums beat the charge and the clarions call?” Tralára! Tralára! Now praise we the Lord For the clang of His call and the flash of His sword! Tralára! Tralára! Now forward to die; For the banner, hurrah! and for sweethearts, good-by! “Four hundred wild lads!” May be so. I’ll be bound ’T will be easy to count us, face up, on the ground. If we hold the road open, though Death take the toll, We’ll be missed on parade when the States call the roll— When the flags meet in peace and the guns are at rest, And fair Freedom is singing Sweet Home in the West. [22]

At the time, the ballad was positively received. Noted writer Rossiter Johnson said it reminded him of classic lyrics of another balladist, while the Chicago Tribune said that the ballad, along with his other writings, had become “familiar to the American people.” [23] The St. Louis Republic called it “blood-stirring” and the Baltimore Sun said it had no less “dash and ring” than his other ballads and would, which “rouse the blood to action and enthusiasm.” [24] Acclaimed poet Charles D. Roberts even praised it, calling it a “splendid piece of work, inevitable and unforgettable.” This flattery is not surprising because the ballad was written in style of that time by catering to a Victorian appetite for heroes and legends and preserving the Maryland 400’s story, while cultivating Maryland pride.

– Burkely Hermann, Maryland Society of the Sons of American Revolution Research Fellow, 2016.

Notes

[1] Another post on this blog also put the ‘Midnight Ride of Paul Revere’ into context as it relates to Maryland.

[2] Alan, a volunteer at the Baltimore County Historical Society, gave me a copy of this ballad this summer when I made a trip to this historical society. In order to be consistent, the word ballad is used even though some refer to it as a poem.

[3] Henry E. Shepard, The Representative Authors of Maryland: From the Earliest Time to the Present Day With Biographical Notes and Comments Upon Their Work (New York: Whitehall Publishing Company, 1911), 100; American History Told by Contemporaries: Welding of the Nation 1845-1900 (ed. Albert Bushnell Hart, Honolulu: University Press of the Pacific, 2002, reprint of 1921 edition), 282.

[4] Rand Richards. Mud, Blood, and Gold: San Francisco in 1849 (San Francisco: Heritage House Publishers, 2008), 201; Shepard, 100; American History Told by Contemporaries, 282.

[5] Richards, 86, 101; Southern Life in Southern Literature: Selections of Representative Prose and Poetry (ed. Maurice Garland Fulton, New York: Ginn and Economy, 1917), 259-261.

[6] American History Told by Contemporaries, 282; “Words of the Hour”: A New Anthology of Civil War Poetry (ed. Faith Barrett and Cristanne Miller, Boston: University of Massachusetts Press, 2005), 389; Herman Melville, Correspondence (Chicago: Northwestern University Press, 1993), 516; Women reading Shakespeare 1660-1900: An anthology of criticism (ed. Ann Thompson and Sasha Roberts, New York: Manchester University Press, 1997), 110; Shakespeare: The Critical Tradition. The Merchant of Venice (ed. William Baker and Brian Vickers, New York: Thoemes Continuum, 2005), 86; Shepard, 100-101; Southern Life in Southern Literature, 259. Before the war, in 1855, he married Henrietta Lee, a Baltimorean who was a prolific writer and reader of Shakespeare. Palmer also had correspondence with the acclaimed novelist Herman Melville after the Civil War.

[7] “A Southern Poet.” The Evangelical Episcopalian. Vol. 14, no. 1. March 1902. pp. 464; Every Day in the Year: A Poetical Epitome of the World’s History (ed. James L. Ford and Mary K. Ford, New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1902), v. Others called him “one of America’s real poets,” before his death in 1906.

[8] John Wanamaker, Book News: A Monthly Survey of General Literature. Vol. 19 (Philadelphia: John Wanamaker, 1901), 684.

[9] Every Day in the Year, 289.

[10] Ibid, 133, 157-158.

[11] Poetry of the People (ed. Charles Mills Gayley and Martin C. Flaherty, Boston: Ginn & Company Publishers, 1904), 238-239; The Home Book of Verse: American and English 1580-1918 Third Edition (ed. Burton Egbert Stevenson, New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1918), 2429; Index of Current Literature (ed. Edward J. Wheeler). Vol. 40. New York: The Current Literature Publishing Company, Jan-June 1906, 449-450.

[12] The tune of this ballad is not known.

[13] “Scarlet and buff” is a reference to the uniforms Smallwood’s soldiers and said to have worn. In actuality they did not wear these uniforms. Instead, they wore white linen or hunting shirts, leather breeches, leather belts, stockings, leather shoes with buckles, and felt hats.

[14] General Sullivan was driven back by the Hessians, hired soldiers fighting for the British, and flanked by Clinton’s forces in Flatbush.

[15] Martenese’s lane was a road that was the Greenwood cemetery’s southern border in Brooklyn.

[16] As a private of the Maryland William McMillian put it in his description of the battle, “We were surrounded by Healanders [Scottish Highlanders] on one side, Hessians on the other.”

[17] The “files of St. George” are British soldiers.

[18] A British general named James Grant commanded the left wing during the battle.

[19] Lord Stirling, or William Alexander, was a veteran of the Seven Years War, and was a brigadier general during the battle.

[20] Refers to Hessians.

[21] Mordecai Gist was a native Baltimorean and commanded the Marylanders during the Battle.

[22] The last lines are saying that people should fight at any cost for their freedom and is challenging readers to fight and not be weak.

[23] The Missionary Review of the World vol. 24, part 2. Funk & Wagnalls, 1901, 160.

[24] The Missionary Review of the World, 115, 160, 181-182; The Literary Digest Vol. XXII, no. 25. June 22, 1901, 1A2.

#maryland 400 #john williamson palmer #poems #revolutionary war #mordecai gist #patriotism #confederacy #civil war #hessians #germany

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brokehorrorfan · 7 years ago

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Event Report: John Carpenter in Concert (2017)

After composing the scores to the majority of his movies over his illustrious, three-decade filmmaking career, John Carpenter released his debut solo album, Lost Themes, in 2015. He quickly followed it up with another record, appropriately titled Lost Themes II, the following year. He accompanied the second release with his first-ever live performances. It was unclear if it would be his only tour, so fans traveled from far and wide to witness the master of horror play his classic themes live. Needless to say, it was a massive hit.

Carpenter has just released his third studio album, Anthology: Movie Themes 1974-1998. While the previous records were all-new, original music, Anthology - as its name suggests - finds Carpenter re-recording his classic film cues alongside his Lost Themes collaborators: his son, Cody Carpenter, a talented synth musician in his own right; and his godson, Daniel Davies, the son of The Kinks guitarist Dave Davies.

The familial unit recently hit the road for the Anthology tour, bringing Carpenter to several cities that were missed on the first tour. I was fortunate enough to catch the show at Royale in Boston, Massachusetts on November 15, 2017. Along with Cody Carpenter on lead synthesizer and Daniel Davies on lead guitar, Carpenter is joined by the same backing band used by Tenacious D: drummer Scott Seiver, guitarist John Konesky, and bassist John Spiker.

Carpenter's musical influence can still be felt to this day - perhaps now more than ever - in the soundtracks to high-profile projects like Stranger Things, Tron: Legacy, and Drive. While his scores largely consisted of minimal, synthesizer compositions, Carpenter and his cohorts have reworked them as full-band songs. The brooding synth remains ever-present, but it's more layered and accompanied by blazing guitars and a driving rhythm section. It's particularly interesting to hear the group cover scores that Carpenter didn't compose: Jack Nitzsche's Starman theme and Ennio Morricone's The Thing theme.

The setlist was very similar to that of Carpenter's first tour, not only in terms of song selection but also in sequencing. The mannerisms - from fog shrouding the stage during The Fog to the band donning sunglasses while playing They Live - were familiar as well. I wouldn't have minded a few more different cuts mixed in, but those who missed the experience the first time around can enjoy all the classics, along with a few additional themes.

Carpenter played the entirety of the Anthology album - including the two 7" bonus tracks from Village of the Damned and Body Bags - with the exception of the theme from his first film, Dark Star. Hearing the instantly-recognizable scores from such classics as Halloween, Escape from New York, Assault on Precinct 13, and Christine would have been more than enough to leave fans satisfied - but the band also mixed in a few tracks from the Lost Themes albums ("Vortex," "Mystery," "Distant Dream," and "Wraith"); as Carpenter described them, "the soundtrack to the movies in your mind."

Carpenter keeps his between-song banter to a minimum, instead allowing the music to speak for itself. Montages of the films play on a screen behind the band as they perform the respective themes, with the crowd cheering for iconic moments, like They Live's lengthy fight scene and The Thing's chest defibrillation effects. It's easy to get lost in the films as the adroitly executed music provides the soundtrack, but be sure to keep an eye on Carpenter to catch him occasionally dancing or throwing up the metal horns.

Like his previous trek, there is no opener on the Anthology tour. While I'm perfectly happy getting right to the main event, it would be nice to see Carpenter bring out someone from the current crop of talented synthwave musicians that cite him as an inspiration - like Perturbator, Gost, or Carpenter Brut, to name a few - to set the tone for the audience.

Although only on their second tour, Carpenter and his band put on such a tight live show that you'd think they've been doing it for many years. They played nearly nonstop for a solid 75 minutes, nary missing a beat. The younger Carpenter and Davies have clearly inherit their fathers' respective musical talents, and the elder Carpenter seems more than happy to share the spotlight with his kin. In fact, he seems more cheerful on stage than he has in a long time.

It's just as exciting to be a fan of the current era of John Carpenter as it was during his 1980s heyday, during which he was crafting an unrivaled string of genre classics. As much as I would truly love to see him direct another film, I would be perfectly content to see Carpenter continue churning out new music and touring regularly. We've lost several masters of horror as of late, so it's truly a treat to see the 69-year-old Carpenter not only healthy and happy, but also creatively fulfilled.

Setlist:

Escape From New York: Main Title Assault on Precinct 13: Main Title Village of the Damned: March of the Children The Fog: Main Title Vortex Mystery They Live: Coming to L.A. Starman: Starman Leaves (Jack Nitzsche cover) The Thing: Main Title (Ennio Morricone cover) Distant Dream Big Trouble in Little China: Pork Chop Express Wraith Halloween - Main Title In the Mouth of Madness - Main Title Body Bags Vampires: Santiago Prince of Darkness: Darkness Begins Christine: Christine Attacks (Plymouth Fury)

See all of my John Carpenter photos here.

#john carpenter #halloween #escape from new york #they live #the thing #article #event report

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alexanderking · 6 years ago

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Another top 20 albums of 2018

‘My 11th list, making this nearly 10 years of top 20 lists! There’s a lot more hip-hop on this one than recent years...

“Have I left anything out?”- Albums et al of 2017:

Iman Omari – IHY: I was asked to see him live in 2017. He was on one of my favourite tracks off of Jonah Levine Collective’s ‘Attention Deficit’ project. I even checked out some of his tracks. Yet I STILL missed out on this album until May of this year!!! ...Better late than never I guess...this would’ve got a 6...

Keyon Harrold – The Mugician: I heard this one last year, I just neglected to mention it on last year’s list...

Quelle Chris – Being you is great! I wish I could be you more often: While I still haven’t necessarily gained an understanding of this project lyrically, I really enjoyed the production. ‘Worth a mention...

Blue Lab Beats – Freedom: I only got hip to Blue Lab Beats this year and ended up going down a tiny rabbit hole. This EP in particular stood out to me. I love ‘Keep Moving’ and the title track...

Ivan Ave – Every Eye: Shouts to my friend Sherman for this one! MNDSGN isn’t really one of the producers I keep an eye out for (pun intended), but I was really feeling the work on here. This might have got a 19...

Smino – blkswn: I finally got on that Chicago wave of hip-hop. I never fully got into Chance, but I really like the work of a lot of his cohorts. I feel that Smino’s flows and general sound is really accessible to fans of Travis Scott, Drake and to a much lesser extent the Migos. I thought the middle of the album slowed down a bit (even though it’s growing on me) but I really enjoy the second half...

...2018:

20) Mick Jenkins – Pieces of a Man:

I had only been listening to Mick Jenkins for about a month before this one came out. The subject matter seems to cover various elements of how a man is perceived nowadays, as well as allowing for moments of vulnerability on tracks like ‘Soft Porn’ and ‘Heron Flow’. My favourites are ‘Stress Fracture’, ‘Plain Clothes’ and ‘Consensual Seduction’...

19) Prhyme – PRhyme 2:

‘Black History’ pulled me in. I was generally engaged from ‘1 of the Hardest’ to ‘Rock It’, then I was fully engaged from ‘Loved Ones’ onwards. While a lot of the subject matter remains being who rhymes the best and attracts the most women (-_-), the wordplay and Preemo’s experimentation kept this enjoyable...

18) Kaidi Tatham – It’s a World Before You:

I keep remarking on how ridiculous this musician’s output is...and no doubt I’ll keep doing so. This project has a more straight forward structure to his broken beat/jazz stylings, most prominent in the title track, ‘Your dreams don’t mean a thing’ and ‘2Tone’. While I still find myself comparing most of his music to ‘In Search of Hope’ (my favourite of Kaidi’s work), I was glad to hear a full version of ‘Cold’ and gems in ‘Joyous’ and ‘Cupid’...

17) Layfullstop – Colour Reaction:

Some reviews have said this is an EP, while others have said mixtape or album...I’ll go with the latter for now. This is one my friend Dan put me on. This nine track project consists of impressive flows, engaging singing and strong instrumentation; enough to have me coming back to this one throughout the year. My favourites are ‘Kriss’ and ‘Suits’...

16) Anderson .Paak – Oxnard:

It may be no secret that I wasn’t really blown away by ‘Malibu’ or ‘NxWorries’. This album however struck a chord with me. It may be (what a lot of reviewers are saying) the confidence of which .Paak tells us who he is, how he can be and also leaves us with poignant messages; some’ we’ve heard a lot in the past year or so but still remains very much HIS voice. My standouts are ‘Tints’, ‘Who r u?’, ‘Mansa Musa’, ‘Smile’ (not ‘Petty’ so much), ‘Cheers’ and ‘Headlow’ (I have to accept my ignorance to a further extent on this one as the song is merely about getting head in the car)...

15) Lupe Fiasco – DROGAS WAVE:

Lupe Fiasco returns with his most ambitious body of work to date. The first nine songs have a continuous narrative of a number of African slaves who are thrown overboard during the transatlantic trade to become the Longchains; spirits that reside beneath the waves, sinking other slave ships and often saving the lives of those drowning or thrown overboard (‘Alan Forever’ is an example of this). The remaining tracks come across to me as an anthology of this world. There’s a callback to the character ‘Stack’ from ‘The Cool’, as he daydreams about finally becoming an accomplished hip-hop superstar in ‘Stack That Cheese’ and we get the fictional story of Jonylah’s life in ‘Jonylah Forever’; she’s later courted by Alan on ‘Alan Forever’...I’m rambling!

This project is riddled with educational moments and distinctive flows. Strangely enough I found that musically, the more electronic leaning instrumentals worked better for me than the traditional hip-hop sounds. My standouts are ‘Manilla’, ‘Alan Forever’, ‘Sun God Sam...’, ‘Stack That Cheese’ and ‘Happy Timbuck2 Day’...

14) Phonte – No News Is Good News:

The long promised and awaited project from Phonte Coleman comes to fruition! Much like ‘Charity Starts At Home’, this album sees Phonte predominately rapping. While there’s a tiny bit of bragging, this album takes a chunk of it to talk on the physical health of the black community, particularly in relation to food. There’s also moments that Phonte reflects on his growth as a person, an artist and as a partner, giving us another “Grown ass rap album”. A lot of the production worked really well on here too...

13) Ali Shaheed Muhammad & Adrian Younge – The Midnight Hour:

‘Another project Dan put me on. This project was being conceived when Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Younge were approached to compose the score for ‘Luke Cage’, hence why the spacious soundscapes, occasional burst of drums and laid back midnight session playing sound quite familiar. This is a great project to listen to in the night hours (as possibly its intention?). I loved ‘It’s You’, ‘Dans Un Moment D’errance’ and ‘Together Again’...

12) Kamasi Washington – Heaven and Earth:

After taking us on quite the journey with ‘The Epic’, Kamasi Washington returns with this double (triple) album. For me, the music writing has shown steady progression although I felt there were less stand out solos to go back to. I’d recommend listening to this the first time in the order the title suggests (‘Heaven’ and ‘Earth’), then’ as it is (‘Earth’ and ‘Heaven’)...

11) Killiam Shakespeare – A Town Called Elsewhere:

While I love Steve McKie’s work with Bilal Oliver, I had little to no knowledge of the Philadelphia collective he creates music with. The first couple of pieces on ‘A Town Called Elsewhere’ didn't quite catch my attention. But then the dramatic burst of drums and strings that open ‘1976 Heron’ did just that! From this piece onwards I found myself head nodding along with the slight rock stylings of ‘WDYKAL’, the ranting pulse of ‘Kelo B. Trippin’, the grand opening of ‘Sumido Querido’ and the rolling swagger of ‘Philip Eno Greene’...

10) Patrick Paige II – Letters of Irrelevance:

After a free EP of excellence and a breakdown of current events for his late mother, the bassist from The Internet delivers a personal and at times painful body of work. ‘Letters of Irrelevance’ covers his current status, the passing of his mother and rift it left for him and his loved ones. Paige raps some moments of reflection on ‘The Best Policy’ and ‘The Last Letter’, moments of lament on ‘On My Mind’ and ‘Ode to Inebriation’ and pulls off some impressive vocals on ‘Voodoo’ and ‘Red Knife’...

9) Jean Grae & Quelle Chris – Everything’s Fine:

‘Another recommendation from Dan! Engaged emcee couple (now betrothed) Jean Grae and Quelle Chris decided that they spent so much time together that they might as well make a collaborative album. So why not create a project that delves into the lie we often tell ourselves and others when responding to the question “How are you?”! My standouts are ‘House Call’, ‘Gold Purple Orange’, ‘Breakfast of Champions’, ‘Scoop of Dirt’ and the closing track ‘River’...

8) Noname – Room 25:

I really paid no attention to this Chicago-based emcee/singer/musician until the buzz around the release of this project; I even missed out on seeing her live at North Sea Jazz Festival in 2017...I’m so glad I finally caught up! ‘Room 25′ explores a number of moments that occurred in Noname’s 26th year of life (yes, it’s her 26th year), including an intense relationship, her nomadic lifestyle due to touring and the loss of a friend. Musically, I felt this album peaked with ‘Windows’ but lyrically I’d say on ‘Ace’ (named after the Ace Hotel in Shoreditch) and ‘Part of Me’...

Side note: Listening to this album took me down the Chicago-based wave rabbit hole...

7) Saba – CARE FOR ME:

Out of the Chicago wave, Saba took the top spot for me this year, with this cathartic project, mainly exploring his relationship with his late cousin. This doesn’t become fully evident until the closing 11 minutes of ‘CARE FOR ME’, with ‘PROM/KING’. This piece begins with Saba and his cousin becoming close and ends with his untimely death. This is followed by the beautifully harrowing ‘HEAVEN’, in which he sings from the perspective of his cousin’s spirit; this is one I often feel uncomfortable singing along to because of how personal it is...

6) Royce Da 5′9″ – The Book of Ryan:

Royce Da 5′9″ continues the trend of “Grown ass rap albums” (several of which are his previous works) with this insight into Royce’s story. The first act of the album (tracks 1-7) addresses where he’s at with current events. The second act (tracks 8-16) speaks of his younger years, covering addiction and family relationships, especially his brother and father. The third act (tracks 17-20) returns to the present, dealing with issues of mental health before closing with the joys of having just got paid on ‘First of the Month’. My personal standouts are ‘Godspeed’, ‘Life is Fair’, ‘Legendary’, ‘Outside’ and ‘Strong Friend’...

Side note: This album works a lot better without the ‘Caterpillar (Remix)’ bonus track, which for me, has the whiniest verse I’ve heard from Logic to date (even with ‘Everybody’)...

5) The Internet – Hive Mind:

After a string of solo albums, EPs and the odd track over about two years, The Internet band reunite to give us what is possibly their most cohesive album to date. After the first four tracks (many of which were singles), this project initially took me aback by how straight forward the song formats generally become. After a few listens, it really worked for me. My favourites are ‘La Di Da’, ‘Next Time/Humble Pie’, ‘Wanna Be’ and ‘Beat Goes On’.

4) DJ Jazzy Jeff – M3:

Continuing from the inspiration that gave us last year’s ‘Chasing Goosebumps’, DJ Jazzy Jeff collaborates with Daniel Crawford, Kaidi Tatham, Stro Elliot, Killiam Shakespeare and rap group ‘The Trinity’ (I seriously didn’t intend for the roll call to be this long...) to give us the third instalment in his ‘Magnificent’ series. Lyrically, the group bounce off of each other really well, even pulling off some super rapping at times. While this is a showcase for the writing ability of Rhymefest, I felt that Dayne Jordan in particular, held his own. My favourites are ‘M3′ (the intro and outro), ‘Skaters Paradise’, ‘2 Step’ and ‘The Government’s Dead’...

3) Vertical Current – The Future is Bright:

‘Another Philadelphia based group I wasn’t privy to until Eric Roberson shared the video for ‘Open’ on which he features. To me, this group is what would have happened to Snarky Puppy if they kept experimenting with the sound they utilised on ‘Bring Us The Bright’. Not to take away from this group at all! There’s a strong mix of Jazz, Rock, Soul/R’n’B and to an extent scoring. I can play this album in it’s entirety really easily but my absolute favourite on here is ‘Trocodile’...

2) Daniel Crawford – Revolution:

I wasn’t hip to Daniel Crawford until seeing how significant his contributions to ‘Chasing Goosebumps’ and ‘M3’ were. This had me check out what I call the “Woke” trilogy, starting with ‘Red Pill’ and continuing with ‘The Awakening’. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the conclusion had been released!

This project deals mainly with the theme of inequality in the States. An initial indication is the first official piece titled ‘Kaepin’’. The issue is more explicitly addressed from ‘Sirens’ onwards. The more Jazz oriented pieces, starting with ‘Before The Storm’ seem to convey a build up to a revolution, the drums and guitars on ‘Checklist’ sounding like a group being gathered, the urgent synths on ‘March of the Gullah’ conveying an unrelenting determination and the title track giving us the possible climax! ‘Strong features and playing all around on this one. It was almost my number one but in the end I went with...

Sy Smith – Sometimes a Rose Will Grow in Concrete:

This album was entirely written, produced, arranged and performed by Smith. This has been a joy to get lost on walks to! It remains a damn shame that she is still to an extent, an unsung talent (pun intended!) despite a number of strong releases and prolific features among the underground but recognised. ‘Sometimes a Rose...’ has the general subject matter of love and being in it, but also addresses self belief on the title track and disillusionment on ‘We Were Never Free’. My favourites are ‘Camelot’, ‘We Were Never Free’, and the ‘Closer Than You Know’ segment...

Honourable Mentions: There are quite a few more albums I could mention, but I’m limiting this section to 10:

Chima Anya & Slone – People Forget: ‘Another “Grown ass rap album” from an artist who continuously shows growth in his lyrics. From reminding us to ‘Do Less’, to reflecting on where he is now on ‘It Wasn’t Always Like This’. From acknowledging the ethereal factor to (mis)fortune on ‘Luck’, to taking in those moments to appreciate a win on ‘Make Do’.

C R O W N (Formerly Lauren Crown) – Epicene: C R O W N’s third EP, addressing romance, heartbreak and the hypocrisy of our expectations of women when pursuing love. ‘Womxn’s Way’ continues to be my favourite piece by C R O W N to date, although I must say ‘How Many Times’ hit WAAAAAAAAAY too close to home!

Phony Ppl – mō'zā-ik: This was a recommendation from a tweet by ‘The Internet’; A group of vocalists, musicians and occasional emcees who somewhat help fill a void of black modern male crooners in Soul/R’n’B. There wasn’t anything I disliked on here, but there wasn’t anything I LOVED either; ‘REALLY liked, but not loved...

Lyric L – UnequiVocaL: ‘Lyric L’s sophomore project. ‘A blend of hip-hop, soul, deep house and broken beat. There were significant moments on the first half of this album (‘Dreamstate’ and ‘Try’), but the second half takes the gold for me, with tracks like ‘Expected To’, ‘Why (Find the time)’ and the humorous ‘Oh No (Here we go)’...

Black Milk – Fever: This is one I’ve only revisited a couple of times over the year. 'Fever’ delves more into Black Milk’s musical craft, the raps feeling more sparse than ‘If there’s a Hell below’. ‘Laugh Now, Cry Later’ and ‘True Lies’ deserve a shout.

JID – DiCaprio 2: This is one I ignored until I watched Dead End Hip-Hop’s review of this project. ‘Playful flows, ‘a head-nod factor and crossover appeal without losing its character at all. I just hadn’t revisited this as much as other albums...

Blue Lab Beats – Xover: I was late on this artist. This brought in the spring perfectly, with borderline Neo-soul vibes and spacious jazz pieces. There was a slump in the middle of the project for me however...

Pusha T – Daytona: While I haven’t revisited this much either, I can’t deny the attitude or the confidence of Pusha’s flows and the instrumentals. ‘Santeria’ is a standout...

Children of Zeus – Travel Light: 'Another Dan recommendation. This is a long-awaited, well deserved win for the ‘Broke ‘n’ £nglish’ cohorts. This is another one I just didn’t revisit much. ‘Kintsugi’ is a stand out for me...

Tom Misch – Geography: I got hip to this musician the day AFTER he performed at North Sea Jazz Festival. I enjoyed this album way more than I thought I would. ‘South of the River’ to ‘It Runs Through Me’ is my favourite section of the project...

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