When I saw the name Farmer Pimp, I had images of a prostitute sitting on a hay bale in red band gumboots and I expected the music to be the same – a bit of a mish mash of genres.
I wasn’t far wrong but what I found is that it worked really well. Claire Holmes' vocals are reminiscent of R&B/Blues genre and to a degree, the majority of the tracks on this album do have that slow paced, easy going element but with an up-lifting melody.
'El Roboto' had strings of electronica throughout the track but they were very subtle. 'Disney Love' had a very dominant ethnic underline which reminded me of something out of Bollywood.
I found that 'Honey Bee' had a very hip hop/street, earthy and dirty kind of feel to the track and 'Like No One Else' had moments of big band beats which I thought were going to explode through the speakers, however, they remained quite mellow. The saxophone solo was well executed on this track as well.
'Pieces of Eight' had me dreaming of a Jamaican holiday with its steel drums and reggae sound.
It is hard to pin Farmer Pimp to a specific genre and I thinks that this works well for this group. They can just concentrate on being Farmer Pimp.
Overall, it is a very easy listening, pleasant little album; however, nothing really stands out for me.
Farmer Pimp are about to emerge from a writing and recording hiatus that sees them presenting their finest material yet with their debut album 'Sweet Hot Pepper Pop' due for release 26 April 2010.
Locally loved and applauded for their dynamic live shows, and unique and innovative blending of musical genres, Farmer Pimp have pushed the envelope once again.
Formed at music school 6 years ago, Farmer Pimp is the creative partnership of Mark Michel (songwriter/producer) and Claire Holmes (songwriter/singer), with band: prominent local musicians John-Paul Muir (songwriter/keys), and Glen Child (drums), with a host of the countries best string and horn players and sections adding depth and lushness to their live performances.