Paris Paloma - Yeti - Tempo Review

Søren Bebe - Trieste - Tempo Review

Robyn Martin - Buckle Up - Tempo Review

Muharrem Aslan - Akarsuya Birakilan Mektup - Tempo Review

Clips from Essential Rhythm on 94.7 The Pulse 

Raw clips from Essential Rhythm

Broadcast 2024-10-14

I really love this piece.

The vocals sit almost quietly above an instrumental which is smooth, warm, supportive, ethereal.

There’s very limited movement in that backing. 

A sequence of chords repeated.

Just as we settle into the piece the vocal steps up, breaking free from the rhythm, there’s an added echo to the vocal, almost a reverb.

It’s very clever.

I love the incorporation of this century’s tropes, such as swipe left as a metaphor of rejection, and as an embellishment of the lyrics.

There’s a feeling of the need for affirmation in these lyrics, “I just want to be adored,” and yet, the most dominant, repeated vocal phrase is “just ride.”

And yet the words “Come down” never appear in the lyrics.

Reb Fountain - Come Down - Tempo Review

Broadcast 2024-11-11

I know, but sometimes I love to kick back with some music like this. 

So what do we have …

Some lush instrumentals, a very tight backing vocal, and a lead vocal which does it all.

Have you come across the term mellifluous? Pleasant, sweet and fluid, like honey.

The descending vocal runs are precise and wonderful to listen to.

Scat singing, yes, but a whole different styling.

The lyrics are about a relationship and discovering or determining that it’s a new game with new rules. Always a tense situation.

I keep coming back to the instrumentals, though.

They are just superb.

Parvyn - New Game - Tempo Review

Broadcast 2025-01-06

This is quite different to the classic Beatnik Preachers material.

First and foremost, it’s instrumental, without the clever beat poetry that is a feature of their work.

Second, the musical style is very different to their hip material.
But there’s a reason for this.

The track is described as a tribute to the late Nelson Riddle whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid-1980s, and to the others of that era who gave us that signature sound.

This piece highlights the artistry that Tok and the other band members are capable of.

The tune comes straight from that milieux, you can’t fault it.

The arrangement and performance are superb and true to the era.

You see, this is what you miss when you are not following musicians through their mailing lists or social media.

Maybe this will not appear on a Beatnik Preachers album, maybe you’ll never hear it apart from this review.

The Beatnik Preachers - Forever - Tempo Review

Broadcast 2025-01-20

Clean, crisp and clear are the three words that first spring to mind listening to this song.

The whole mix is balanced and allows each instrument, including the voice to come through without having to compete for some dominance.

There’s a great instrumental break ranging over the scope of the guitar.

I could fit a drummer joke in here, but I’m too polite.

This is a classic Australian hymn of praise to the very heart of our desires – the beach!

No seriously, it’s about getting out of the city to the beaches, experiencing the rolling waves, clearing your mind and drifting away.

Of course, the reality is that we leave that and return to the city.

But the paradise is still there for the next trip.

Brad Hunt - Paradise - Tempo Review

Broadcast 2025-01-27

There is so much to say about this song.

I can hear the tambour behind them, only emerging as a solo instrument at the finish – a very folk instrument.

The instruments playing over that beat are light, disciplined and beautiful.

Then there are the voices of Mabel and Ivy, their tonality perfect, their harmony incomparable.

An American reviewer called their work “Chamber Folk” and that’s a wonderful description.

The song is about the ending of a relationship, “making a clean cut.”

“Strangers we’ve made now
The chains we have laid down”

And yet, a memory comes into the second verse of a better, a pacific time.

You can make a clean cut, you can live the future separately after the cut, past memories can contain a different cut.

Charm of Finches are currently touring Australia and New Zealand and will be down our way at the Port Fairy Folk Festival and Trentham’s Cosmopolitan Hotel, on 25 May. 

They will be performing songs from their latest album ‘Marlinchen In The Snow’ as well as exciting new material.

Charm Of Finches - Clean Cut - Tempo Review

Find us on Instagram & Facebook @ essential.rhythm

Spotify Playlist: Essential Rhythm Melbourne 

Previous shows aired on:
Hitz FM 89.9
Southern FM 88.3
The Pulse 94.7
Kiss FM Melbourne

Weekly uploads of reviews and interviews from the program, "Tempo". "Tempo" is a weekly radio program presented by John Lamp, highlighting a wide range of music and music reviews on 94.7 the Pulse in Geelong, Wadawurrung country. John has been involved in community radio since 1976, initially with a music program "Parcel of Rogues" on 7CAE-FM in Hobart, Tasmania. After moving to Geelong, he joined 94.7 the Pulse on the program "Folks Alive", which morphed into "~meanderings~." John then spent a decade on the station Boards of Management before returning to the air in 2022 with his new program "Tempo." Full programs can be accessed at the link below.

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