mp3: Coulter’s Snatch
mp3: Heat
mp3: Pretty Colors
mp3: Inquiring Minds
mp3: I Hate Your Kid (live - save link - don’t stream)
mp3: Folsom Prison Blues (live - save link - don’t stream)

website: http://www.hamellontrial.com

Yet another artist I fall back on ritualistically, I still remain certain Ed Hamell deserves your attention. His new album Songs for Parents Who Enjoy Drugs is out next week in America (not sure about a European release but may well be the same), so now seems as good a time as any to bring him back up.

An anti-folk hero, Hamell on Trial is one of the best guitar performers you can ever see live. Literally destroying his guitar onstage every night, whipping audience members’ eyes out with his broken .16 guage strings, it’s immense fun watching him as he breaks down spectators with his part stand-up, part musical assault.

The thing worth mentioning is that on record he can be quite different, taking time to try out ideas and layering instrumentation. In some ways it dilutes the power of his songs, which can either be completely venomous or sentimental when performed with just an acoustic guitar. But I don’t hold that against him. In fact, it means when you do get to see him live, it makes the raw versions that much more powerful.

So to demonstrate his power I’ve linked to four tracks from the new album, and two live tracks from a gig recorded in Stroudsburg, PA around Christmas. If you’re short of time, go straight to ‘Coulter’s Snatch’ which is aggressive, political and very funny. The other album tracks back-up my previous point, showing other sides to his songwriting. As for the live tracks, you simply must listen. In fact, I heartily recommend downloading the entire bootleg from here (available in ogg, mp3 and flac). But use these as tasters. Everyone in the world has to love ‘I Hate Your Kid’ (although this is an extended version which breaks into ‘Born to be Wild’ for a minute’), while he surely has to be one of the few performers in the world who can take a classic Johnny Cash moment like ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ and do it justice.

And if he ever comes your way, do go see him. He won’t disappoint, but he may spit water on you. Watching his lookalike on Masterchef Goes Large will simply not suffice.