Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
There are poets and there are musicians, then there are lyricists of the highest value who toil away to conjure up seemingly out of mid-air the truth behind the meaning and whose purpose it seems is not to make the song just memorable, to one that gets inside the heart but to whom you cannot imagine having lived without. Into that fray lives many a genius but there is only one Heath Common and there can only be one man capable of bringing such assertive tales to life as he does in his new release BEATSBOX E.P.
A true original of the genre, his combination of spoken word delivery and the freedom he allows the musicians to work around him has been of a benefit to those having discovered the lyrics and the man are so intertwined that that the join is not just invisible but the pulse, steady, flowing and cool is to be heard regardless of how far away you stand.
BEATSBOX E.P. delves into the world in which the greats of the American Beat Generation would no doubt approve and the four songs that mark the tidal wave of expression capture that Post War authority perfectly. It is an authority that bowed to no one in charge, an influence that sought to redress and rage against the way humanity was heading and one that allowed for comfort, compassion and care for the person next to you. It is an authority of love and against all hate and one in which the tones of Heath Common frames with ease and a certain amount of sprinkle in the eye.
Satori In the Sky, Basquiat and Warhol, the absolutely superb Still Howling and The Busking Bodhisattva all reflect on just what Ginberg, Kerouac, Gary Snyder, Burroughs and Carr all brought to the world and the public’s attention, the freedom to have self expression and unlimited pastures to play in, not to be constrained by out-dated and regimented thought. For Heath Common and his musicians, this is the point and one well made throughout BEATSBOX E.P.
A master craftsman should always be admired, Heath Common is a craftsman that should be heard and savoured.
Ian D. Hall