B. Hamilton and the bold folk unraveling's of "Things I Learned at the Anti-Gentrification Bake Sale"

 

"I saw the pearls around Lake Merritt / In a riot cop’s baton / I asked him where he came from / He said to keep moving along / So I just stood there for a minute / Just to see / What he would do to me..."

Sometimes you find truth around the fringes. Maybe because along the tattered edges of things, whether societies or artist communities, the have nots or have hardly anythings have nothing to lose so they say how things are or, at least, how they truly believe things to be. And even if the truth is only a facsimile, it feels genuine. I thought about this while listening to the unraveling "Things I Learned at the Anti-Gentrification Bake Sale" from Oakland's B.Hamilton, the creation of one Ryan Christopher Parks and is (for the most part) Ryan (playing stuff) and Raj (playing drums). 

I can tell you with no uncertainty that within 20 second into "Things I Learned at the Anti-Gentrification Bake Sale" that it felt to me exactly like the kind of song that could have been played at Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, namely at Woodstock. I think this because it feels like a raucous 'fuck you' kind of protest song (and a great one) and while I can't at this time really tell you if it is ironic or sardonic, perspectively - first person or third person, factual or fictional, a dystopian eulogy or a hopeful warning (a sign post to go the other way). Now, I can tell you what I think it is but am happy to swim in the happy sea of not knowing. 

Anyway, I absolutely am enamored with the track maybe for the same reason I like movies that take place in the 70's. It is nice to believe in social revolutions even though we probably are all too stupid to be all that unified about anything anymore. I love the sound of it, I dig Ryan's vocal countenance that sounds a bit bruised up, like a man who has had his heart broken more than once and hates humanity as much as he believes in it. 

Ryan says this about this track:

"This song came out of nowhere in early October. I don’t know shit about the subconscious, but it feels like this is where this one came from. Just a composite of my time in Oakland, watching the same city blocks inhale and exhale through some pretty fucking crazy points in American history."

"Things I Learned at the Anti-Gentrification Bake Sale" is from a truly spectacular EP called "Saigon Market (2023)" and I can tell you that every single song (there are only 4) feels like mini-movies and, to me anyway, has a decidedly 70's feel, musically progressive and nostalgic turning on a tightly wound, jazz / rock / blues folk fusion. The three other songs on the album are strikingly different than "Things I Learned at the Anti-Gentrification Bake Sale" and as a trio feel more like sexy sisters. Super jammy with nimble guitar work and daring bass / drum shuffles. Listening to "Saigon Market", which is such a lovely experience has me feeling like B.Hamilton is a fiery amalgam of artists like Steely Dan, Steelers Wheel, Pere Ubu and Quill. 

For me, time is a truly fleeting thing and it is likely the same for you as well, so I implore you to listen to "Saigon Market (2023)", I guarantee that you will, in the least, like it and likely love it. 

-Robb Donker Curtius 

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THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM 

https://www.facebook.com/bhamiltonwastaken

https://open.spotify.com/artist/3woJ14T9D8p8gwQhpcq38F

https://bhamilton.bandcamp.com/

https://www.instagram.com/bhamiltonwastaken

https://www.tiktok.com/@bhamiltonwastaken


Ryan Christopher Parks began B. Hamilton in Oakland, California a while ago.

"Everything I Own is Broken" is an album that was recorded behind an anarchist book warehouse and released in 2011.

"Fight Everything" is an album that was recorded behind an Ace Hardware and released in 2015.

Raj Ojha (Once and Future Band, Howlin' Rain) started playing drums and recording everything in 2016.

"Nothing and Nowhere" was recorded a block away from a "Bed Bath and Beyond" and released in 2019.

Cue the thing.

"Good Foot" is a single that was recorded by a PG&E substation and released in 2022.

"I would give songs numbers instead of names if I could. I can? Ok. Here I go, but not really." was also recorded there and released in March of 2023.

"Other Lives of Magic and Wonder and Whatever" was also recorded there and released in July of 2023.


Where's the lie. Thanks.

B. Hamilton, folk, indie rock, folk / jazz / rock fusion, new album Saigon Market (2023)", "Things I Learned at the Anti-Gentrification Bake Sale", politico folk, protest, alternative folk,