CD/Vinyl Review: Ginger Wildheart’s 555%

By: Natalie Thake

The face of the music industry is changing.  CD sales are on the wane, and high street record stores are either closing their doors, or devoting their floor space to merchandise, DVDs, MP3 players and video games.  Like it or not, digital downloads, both legal and illegal, are on their way to superseding physical musical releases.  Subsequently, record labels are wary of making risky investments, instead relying on tried and tested products and catering to the lowest common denominator.

Of course, musicians always have the option to release their music independently, directly in to the hands of their fans.  But while this can represent artistic liberation, with this comes a whole new set of stakes, with the financial onus squarely on the shoulders of the acts who choose to venture down this road.

Serious music lovers might also bemoan the state of the industry, but now the online revolution has thrown up a solution that benefits both artists and fans.  Website www.pledgemusic.com offers bands the opportunity to raise funds for a new project by giving their fanbase the chance to contribute to the cost, in exchange for exclusive rewards.  These could range from CDs to signed merchandise to private singing lessons.  This system allows the artist to gauge the reaction of their devotees to a forthcoming release.  If enough fans pledge to bring in 100% of the budget, then the project goes ahead funded by the public (pledges are only collected if the target is reached), and the artist is assured that their fans are enthusiastic at the proposition of say, a new box set or a live DVD.

One such musician venturing into this brave new world is Ginger Wildheart, frontman of British rock band The Wildhearts, and an acclaimed solo artist in his own right.  While neither Ginger nor his band are household names, in the last two decades they have maintained a hardcore contingent of devotees, and their albums and live performances are consistently praised by those in the know.

Sadly, it seems that the band’s current hiatus might well be indefinite, but Ginger has been busy since his last solo studio album, 2008’s sublime Market Harbour.  Since then he’s worked on albums for cowpunk legends Jason and the Scorchers and Hanoi Rocks frontman Michael Monroe, both of which were superb, and bore his indelible mark of genius.

Now for his fourth official solo album, Ginger has put faith in his fans not only to offer financial backing for an ambitious triple album, but to also be involved in the decision-making process on the track listing for the final single-CD edition.

Via www.pledgemusic.com, fans could pledge £12 for the single album release, £15 for the DVD documenting the making of the album, £20 for the limited edition signed triple-CD, £25 for a signed triple-CD, and £40 the deluxe triple-vinyl.  The princely sum of £100 would buy a “Thank you” in the liner notes.  The triple album, 555% (because 5 is Ginger’s lucky number, and at 555% of the target pledge amount the limited editions of the triple CD/vinyl were deleted) is only available to those who pledged, and the single-CD version (entitled 100%), which compiles twelve of the thirty tracks, will be out in the shops.  Thus, those fans who were first in line to offer a show of support will be rewarded for their loyalty.

Now here’s where it gets really interesting.  Those who pledged were sent MP3s of each of the three ten-track CDs, one disc every Friday for three weeks.  Ginger has asked fans to select their three favourite songs from each CD, and then vote on these for inclusion on the final single edition of the album.  Presumably His Gingerness will select the final three tracks which will make up the twelve.

Having made this choice myself, I can honestly say that it is akin to being given thirty adorable puppies and asked to choose which nine to save from drowning.  Such is the consistency of these tracks, and the instantaneous attachment I feel for them, that it was a struggle to narrow my choice of songs on each disc down to seven or eight, let alone three.   I imagine that the rest of the fans who had this gift bestowed upon them agonised similarly over such a decision, with an internal debate raging day and night over which songs to keep and which to discard.

The sense of anticipation each week, when at 5:55 p.m. on a Friday, the tracks were made available, has been immeasurable.  Camaraderie between Wildhearts’ fans is a beautiful thing, and this release has really been a thing to bond over, with fans connecting via social network sites to enthuse over the project.  It’s hard to remember when buying a new album last felt this special.

It’s truly heartwarming to see the massive uptake in pledges, as the total raised was vastly in excess of the original proposed target.  It’s apparent that the massive budget that such enthusiasm for the project has afforded Ginger has resulted in vastly superior recording quality to anything he’s previously been involved in.  As well as the ubiquitous duelling guitars, the album is chock-full of lush strings, soaring vocal harmonies, honky-tonk piano, and atmospheric synths.

It’s the usual motley crew responsible, with “Random” Jon Poole (Cardiacs and God Damn Whores), Chris Catalyst (Eureka Machines), Willie Dowling (Jackdaw 4) and Jase Edwards (Wolfsbane) all making an appearance, as well as Ginger’s Wildhearts cohorts CJ and Ritch Battersby.  Ginger’s voice has never sounded better, alternating with ease between sweet melody and throaty harshness.

The thirty of Ginger’s self-penned songs on 555% are wildly unpredictable, from all-out hard rocking to subtle introspection, and everything you can think of in between, often in the space of a single track.  It’s difficult to summarise all the highlights of such a momentous record, but here are some stand-out moments.

“I-N-T-E-R-N-A-L Radio” showcases Ginger’s talents as a one-man riff factory, as it veers from one musical direction to another, paying tribute to the joys of musical discovery before climaxing in a solemn, chanting refrain of an outro.

“Time” is a mature, grandiose epic, the lyrics of which delve into the theme of aging.  There are elements of the tempo-changing punky middle section that are definitely reminiscent of cult pronk band the Cardiacs, which is no surprise considering their long-time association with Ginger.

Funky and synth-heavy, “Another Spinning Fucking Rainbow” is a shouty piece of power pop which only someone with no soul would fail to smile at.  Even when his songs are tragic and self-depreciating, they are still full of bombastic exuberance.

“Westward Ho” combines world music with rock overtones, in a manner which really shouldn’t work but implausibly does.  Caribbean percussion, reggae rhythms, and a hand-clapping choir give way to a driving guitar-led crescendo that is harks back to the genre-crossing of The Clash.

On “The Other Side”, Ginger duets with New York chanteuse Victoria Liedtke on a moving, profound ballad with philosophical lyrics.  It’s a rare thing to have an artist be able to invoke such an emotional response, while at the same time always remaining grounded and never losing his essential sense of fun.

“Begin From Within” begins like a slice of 80s Depeche Mode-style electro, with a trademark Ginger Wildheart sing-along chorus that left me feeling more national pride than all of the Jubilee and London Olympics celebrations put together.

“Taste Aversion” starts as a piano-led balled, before culminating in a King Crimson-esque progressive breakdown, which takes in Victorian choral music, jazz and death metal along the way, before diving back into the chorus, which features the sublime refrain “fucked from behind”.

“In Vino Veritas” is an epic instrumental guitar-fest, with a thundering bassline, which contrasts beautifully with “Very, Very Slow”, a ninety second thrash-punk gem.  The latter displays the fretboard talents of Wolfsbane guitarist Jase Edwards, divebombing with great aplomb.

“There is Something Wrong with my Mind” is a glorious song that starts with a theramin-backed verse, before building to a sweeping, military chorus which explodes into an orchestral finale.

While I deliberated for so many hours on which tracks I would like to appear on the final single-CD edition, ultimately I would be happy for any ten tracks from 555% to make the final cut, and whichever ones are chosen, this is certain to be an album of the year.  It won’t set the chart afire, or win a crop of prestigious awards at a back-slapping industry-endorsed ceremony, but the true believers who are lucky enough to hear this will feel privileged to belong to such a blessed contingent of listeners.  By the time this record gets taken on the road, the fans will sing along to every word with gusto.  Best of all, Ginger Wildheart can rest assured that of all the contemporary songwriters lauded by the mainstream music industry and press today, not one of them could put out a collection of thirty songs of such consistent brilliance.

555% will be unleashed on CD and vinyl this May, exclusively to those fans who pledged.  The single-CD album, 100%, will follow.