MIKE NOGA – THE BALLADEER HUNTER

So in the early 1970’s  Mike Noga was living in Greenwich Village and hanging around with the folkies again, jamming with friends Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell and rapping with Allen Ginsberg as he began recording The Balladeer Hunter…oh… hang on; i’m sorry, that was Bob Dylan! How could I be so mistaken? Maybe it’s the harmonica and throaty vocal on The Cold Year, or the phrasing on Rothko, it is definitely the rolling poetic lyric and violin on A Long Week (Hurricane anyone?). The Balladeer Hunter is the second solo release for Drones drummer Mike Noga, and shows that drummers can do more than just hang out with musicians. Noga’s songwriting continues to develop (in a very different direction to band mate Gareth Liddiard), he has a very traditional ear, and they stylistic borrowing is often coupled with well constructed phrasing “I made you cry / But i never made you laugh”. In his own words: “All I want is some truth. So I hope you hear the passion my little band and myself poured into these songs. I hope you hear the truth”. Having set out to make an album reminiscent of the “soul” of the classic 70’s songwriters Noga has certainly achieved that; for better or for worse.

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