▪︎ REVIEWS ▪︎
 

CRUELETTA AND HER SISTERS
"I've been selling Crueletta for ten years now which is testament to it's popularity! The illustrations are eye-catching and the design is striking. These independent publications also make perfect gifts!" HOLLY BURROWS - THE CARTOON MUSEUM
"What a charming little book of illustrated poetry. Tania picked this up a while back at the House of Illustration and I am glad she did. The poems are short but make you smile as you learn about Crueletta and her sisters. 4 stars!"

ADRIAN HENDRIK

KEITH LEVENE on "POPTONES" "by THE TROPICS OF CANCER: "Very nice..like the vocals-interesting version..I'm flattered.."


"(Get a) Grip (On Yourself)" - STRANGLERS cover by THE TROPICS OF CANCER feat. BEN HELL"What a fine mutilation!"-JELLO BIAFRA"This is COOL!" (JESSE TOWNLEY-ALTERNATIVE TENTACLES)

 

"LUNETTA" art by JF WHITNEY
"This is sooo cuuute!"

EARTHA KITT


"Suave is as suave does"

AISHA KHAN

"Parisian friends of the bizarre and avant-garde, curious about musical and iconoclastic sound assemblies, if you want a multi dimensional show that goes out of the ordinary and scene/public conventions, then come and meet on Sunday afternoon the immense (he must be 1m90) and talented (fans of The Flaming Stars Can't imagine all the instruments this man masters)"

CATHI MINI - PERSONA

JF WHITNEY ONE-MAN CINEMA BAND:
Joe Whitney is an all-round friggin genius. The One Man Cinema Band has to be seen to be believed." 

PETER THOMAS - EXPLODING CINEMA

"Amazing musical scientist and experimenter of genres" - JAMBOREE
"Your set was magic! Very energetic and clever" JOWE HEAD
"Moussaka Western" (Cold Feet Run Fast) "Great photographer and artist" "Way out on the frozen edges of the abrasive avant-garde" (Tricoteuse EP) 

 SCRATCHY SOUNDS

"Devilish rhythms and sweet madness" DATURA"Your performance was so personal, astonishing, sensitive, moving" 

STEPHANIE IPANEMA

"We really did like yer films and thanks for a grand set, I'm a fan!" CHARLIE FINKE-THE CESARIANS
"…our very special guest, the wunnerful Joe Le Tropic Whitney, renaissance man of artnik design, mischievous mudlarkin music and sophisticated auteur film mekin....a pop art polymath and a true hipster, cupcakes take note. Enjoy this then, a jazztronomically inclined prole art rock and roll trip to Whitney's moon....all the while maintaining a cool demeanour like the lovely Joe. Yo…"

BUGBEAR RADIO

"One of my fav artist and drummer in London" "The best beatnik in the world" 

 YVAN SERRANO-FONTOVA

"The last of the true English bohemians"

GREG FOAT

"As an artist Joe moves in his own way. Not a dark character, but Joe does march to his own drumbeat, and through his music, leads us into a mysterious underworld."

ELLA GURU

"A very talented artist and musician with strong tendencies to the surrealist"

DAVID PIPER

"The Keith Moon of skiffle" 

 HIGHTOWN CROWS

"Symphotic prophet"

SURI SUMATRA

"Avant Oh My Gaaad!"

DAMIEN McCOMB

"Compelling interactive cabaret..!"

SADIE MURDOCH

"I really loved your improvised sound performance with films"

MAKIKO WATANABE - FUTURE SHORTS FILM FESTIVAL Tokyo

"We were impressed by your work and particularly enjoyed your mixing of live music and film. We were also very impressed by the quality of your short films, such as 'All the World's a Cage'."

SARAH GROCHALA - HEADLONG DIGITAL ARTIST AWARD

"A beautiful poet … a joy to watch you perform and have your creative rage filling the evening"THIERRY ALEXANDRE - SALON CREME ANGLAISE
"For a man who is one of London's finest drummers, you play a striking gut scraper as well""London's finest drummer"

PHIL STAINES - THEE HYPNOTICS

"Camden's Troubadour" YORK RISE PAVEMENT CABARET


GOBBY HOLDER (SLADY) on "DON'T BLAME ME" by JF WHITNEY & JAKE VEGAS- 'This is brilliant Hahaha its so creative'


DAN WHALEY (OUT OF LIMITS) on "LEMURS IN THE KITCHEN" by JF WHITNEY & JOHNNY JOHNSON- "Rather marvellous slab of weirdness…splendid stuff" on "WALTZ OF THE WORKHOUSE" by JF WHITNEY & JOHNNY JOHNSON- "Unhinged creepy feel"
on "COLD FEET RUN FAST" by JF WHITNEY- "Really rather marvellous"on TRICOTEUSE EP: "Cor, that's a cracking set of tunes!"on "BRIDGE ST BOARDERS" by JF WHITNEY- "Multi-Talented multi instrumentalist"


"Has the feel of dark adventures" 

Whisperinandhollerin

"A perfect wheeze" CAMDEN NEW JOURNAL

"Lucinda Sieger then brought on a paper frame as part of her intro for JF Whitney, AKA Mongo Joe Whitney from The Urban Voodoo Machine, who is in the Emerald 20 art exhibition at St Pancras Hospital until 29/9/23. Joe then played The Magic Hatchet a dark tale accented by his violin. Esmerelda featured some delicate brushwork on a bucket, well until the bucket fell off the chair! He then finished with a very English Folk song style version of Never Let Your Braces Dangle, the old Harry Champion classic, played on the violin first, with the vocals acapella afterwards, it was very funny with a touching introduction."Simonovitch WHISPERINANDHOLLERIN.COM


RECORD COLLECTOR Sept 1997 JOE WHITNEY"Klo-Dean"/Sister Flora" Unusually for a solo record by a drummer (think of Ringo, Charlie or Moon), "Klo-Dean" is virtually all drumming. Whitney is the sticksman with the dashingly cool Flaming Stars, but it's not all skins-and-rims: there are some wild acoustic guitars here, too. But what makes this a killer 7" is "Sister Flora"- a frenzy of percussion punctuated by an easy-listening chorus reminiscent of the Pearl & Dean theme. Check out the handmade sleeves and the very limited pressing too."

A remake of PIL's classic "Poptones" – and done on a funky 45 label, too! The track is a lot trippier than most of the rest of the Stark Reality catalog – with a slow hypnotic groove that's very much in keeping with PIL's original, but also more of a fuzzy psych approach to the cut – one that takes it into some mighty nice spaced out territory! "Sylvia's Gate" starts with a catchy piano riff – grooving along at a bubbling pace, kind of madly skipping as some wordless female vocals come into the track and scat along – sounding almost like a mad number by Doris or Karin Krog, but even weirder overall!" DUSTY GROOVE AMERICA, INC.

Under The Covers – The Tropics of Cancer featuring She Rocola (RIM CD 18)

"Jazzy, quirky and thoroughly bohemian"

PENNY RIMBAUD

"The Flaming Stars' expressive sticksman Joe Whitney provides his own unique brand of hi-class lo-fi with the Tropics of Cancer on "Under The Covers".His Rim Records debut, "Introduction To A Rumour" sold out its initial pressing in record time, and featured a mesmerising overhaul of Diana Ross' "Upside Down" that prompted Andrew Weatherall to feature it on his Soma Records compilation "SciFi-Lo Fi". For this follow-up release he concedes lead vocals to the sultry, smooth, beguiling She Rocola, reigniting their previous incarnation as Minxus.Opening with the film noir of "Shelia's Dream", the album progresses to Whitney and Rocola equally at home conquering the Julie London standard "Cry Me A River", as subverting The Buzzcocks' "Get On Our Own" with toy piano and recorders – Rocola's sensuous tones ever-present throughout.The Tropics of Cancer are renowned for their playfulness. "An Easy Addiction" tricks you into believing you're listening to a sixties underground classic, but is one of several self-penned songs by Whitney and Rocola holding their own amongst the stellar cover versions.A seemingly incongruous blend of assured melodies and arrangements bordering on the anarchic, "Under The Covers" has the uncanny knack of arousing the curiosity and raising the eyebrows whilst simultaneously snaring the listener into its ten tumultuous tracks."

LEE MCFADDEN

THE TROPICS OF CANCER FEAT. SHE ROCOLA : UNDER THE COVERS (Rim)4/5

The vampish Ms Rocola has been prowling the capital's garage rock underground these past few years, bringing more than a touch of sultry sophistication to the party, whether fronting Joe Whitney's trash-exotica project The Tropics of Cancer or the swing-jazz ensemble Lady And The Tramps. The Tropics' Under The Covers, as the title suggests, throws together originals like the bewitching Sylvia's Gate with class takes on such classics as Cry Me A River, plus a take on The Buzzcocks' Get On Our Own that's pure Wicker Man in execution. 

HUGH GULLAND - VIVE LE PUNK

The Tropics Of Cancer featuring She Rocola, "Get On Your Own" (from the Rim album Under The Covers). "It's the Buzzcocks – Love Bites, right? – given some absolutely crazed but beautiful Kurt Weill-style torch song makeover."

EVERETT TRUE - VILLAGE VOICE 27/10/07

"The fixed rate, opiated ennui of heavy-lidded, lusty laments and mournful dalliances like Moontalk - all coconut clip-clops, crawling crab walks and palm tree breezes deflecting the disembodied spectre of Patsy Cline at a samba party, walking after eternity's midnight under blue, blue electric bruised black Hawaiian moons - and the slouched, Segovian, silver screen solemnities of the swoon-some flamenco fairytale "Get On Our Own" are iridescently cinematic…*****" 

STU GIBSON - MAVERICK, April 2008

Nicholas Jeremy Clarke: "The whole thing has a nice dream like sway with the exotic charms of a distant south sea Island or Patsy Cline on Vallium; you decide. I'm on my 6th listen...love it"


Thats a fantastic version, really great! STEVE DIGGLE on 'GET ON OUR OWN"


THE TROPICS OF CANCER:Are an organism that has grown fungally from the bowels of the London underground, and hence damned hard to pin down. This probably started in some Soho cellar bar, very late one night. They might include luminaries such as Joe Whitney, She Rocola, Jake Vegas, Sexton Ming, and a host of others. They might veer wildly from louche exotica and hardcore cha-cha to Mondo film-noir swing and classic torch songs. They do a confusing, achingly beautiful version of 'Get On Our Own' by The Buzzcocks. With bells on. And recorders.Why?When pressed quite hard to attempt to explain this, Joe claimed that it 'exists in order to do what the Hell it likes... Love them.

CLUB HELL

"UPSIDE DOWN" by THE TROPICS OF CANCER :SCI-FI LO-FI (ANDREW WEATHERALL COMPILATION - SOMA RECORDS)

"The Tropics of Cancer's spooky take on Diana Ross' "Upside Down" is ace"

TIM CHESTER - NME

"The Tropics of Cancer turn Diana Ross' disco-lite "Upside Down" into a brooding, bass-heavy death-surf ballad"

CULTUREDELUXE.COM

" A frankly bizarre cover of Diana Ross' "Upside Down" by Tropics of Cancer that features a rumbling, echoey bassline and a disturbingly inappropriate vocal."

STYLUS MAGAZINE

"Sci-fi Lo-fi offers some crazy interpretation of Diana Ross' 80's track "Upside Down" by The Tropics of Cancer"BERLINISTA.COM
An excerpt from "Medicine" Stu Gibson's "Rumour" review in "Sleazegrinder"....."Fittingly for such a master-class in midnight mores our first sip is a surreal shiver through 'Upside Down'...yarse, Ms Ross' disco diva classic magicked into an exquisite mambo jive, hot under the collar vocals whispered like incantations and curses by a private eye straight outta Chandler as the indigenous poison administered by his lap-dancing Laotian goddess takes full effect...."

THE TROPICS OF CANCER: INTRODUCTION TO A RUMOUR (Rim Records)

"The Tropics are Flaming Star Joe Whitney and a gathering of London's kitsch cats and gangster chic underground gutter hounds (including Jake Vegas, Urbane Voodoo Machine P.R. Angel and brother Flamer Huck). This here is a collection of recordings from various speakeasies, cellar casinos and upstairs back-rooms of east-end back-alley boozers from 1992 to 2004. A low-key affair conducted appropriately at street ends so dark everyday folk are wary and speak only hearsay about what goes in the house on the corner...if it's occupied at all. Restlessly inventive...intoxicatingly hypnotic...a sultry stew flambé-ing the Flaming Stars further into flamenco flavoured Latino bordellos and sweaty oriental opium dens (the rather wondrous and beautifully sung 'Ue O Muite Aruko' which sounds like Geisha girls dancing on rose petals while levitating on flute and xylophone mists)...rounds of cards played, deals shook...suckers shook down in experimental folk lounges of Eno ethereal swinging rags and raging voodoo vibes.Fittingly for such a master-class in midnight mores our first sip is a surreal shiver through 'Upside Down'...yarse, Ms Ross' disco diva classic magicked into an exquisite mambo jive, hot under the collar vocals whispered like incantations and curses by a private eye straight outta Chandler as the indigenous poison administered by his lap-dancing Laotian goddess takes full effect and heaves-ho the anchor on his hallucinogenic express taking in coconut growing hip-hop from Middle Eastern bazoukis ('The Ghost Of Baghdad'), Schnapps soused Germans grimacing in shell-shocked delirium between murderous mortar blasts and nightmare nursery rhymes from a flatlining Brothers Grimm ('Trollmors Vuggesang'), sassily sardonic put-down 'Balls To Call' .. surface sweet as Rosemary Clooney singing a 1950's TV ad for domestic products whilst delivering an earthy riposte to her handsome chap for not calling .. and myriad mordant folk tunes plucked from hillsides, vineyards and decaying farmhouses. Oh, and Bauhaus' 'Honeymoon Croon' spit-roasting (in the traditional tribal sense) Alien Sex Fiend on 'Angie!'Moreso than the Stars this is evocative, unceasingly creative and cinematic soundscapery that'd perfectly accompany arthouse noir, Spillane style slick dickery and nocturnal 'Nosferatu' wanderings (see the twitching 'Tricoteuse'). Highly and heartily recommended."

STU GIBSON - SLEAZEGRINDER

"Absolutely crazed but beautiful" - THE VILLAGE VOICE

"Sultry, seductive and entrancing" - MAVERICK

"Ace" - NME

"Slinky and sophisticated" -BIZARRE"

Beatnick surf guitar, jazz punk and solid solid grooves. Cool vibes and never the same line up twice." - ENTS 24

"Ultra cool surf blues rock and roll n swing" STRANGER THAN PARADISE

"Wild theatrical rock and roll" 

CORSICA STUDIOS

"The last time Joe Whitney & She Rocola's crazy Camden collective played Gypsy Hotel their set varied from glam rock, Beethoven, jazz, Japanese traditional music and Norwegian lullabies – we're very curious to see what they'll cook up this time!" GYPSY HOTEL

THE FLAMING STARS:"One of Britain's best live acts" MOJO"Yes, believers, you can play raucous garage blues, feel the devil-dogs of rockan-RAAHHWWLL nibbling at your parts and still have tunes... Top class." NME"The band can sound as evil as Nick Cave's Birthday Party or as tragic as the Tindersticks." CHICAGO.CITYSEARCH.COM

"Fuses garage punk and spaghetti western twang with a bit of Tom Waits thrown in for good measure – a mix which has gained them a sizeable cult following both at home and in Europe." 

MUSIC WEEK

"The singer gives the impression of being drunk"

ISAAC HAYES - guest singles reviewer - TIME OUT

"But it's rascally drummer Joe Whitney who flexes his democratic muscles most demonstratively with "Baby Steps" and "The Long Walk Home" – which both sound like rather fine outtakes from the Get Carter soundtrack, albeit played by a drunken jazz band falling down a spiral staircase." 

ADRIAN P. - DOA 18/11/02

"Drummer Joe Whitney, a vital member of the band's sound, produces a series of fascinating rhythms throughout, barely pausing for breath. Hulked over his drum kit, like a wolf protecting her young, he lays the foundations on which Décharné's keyboard solos explode, punctuating each song with meticulous timing and execution." 

BBC TYNE 02/06/05"Drummer Joe Whitney has always been on the verge of seizure behind the drumkit; with this number he proves that his passionate mania hasn't abated in the slightest." WILL LERNER on "Only Tonight" ALLMUSIC.COM

"Like a fistfight between Jerry Lee Lewis and the Voidoids" Melody Maker UK"In their native England, The Flaming Stars are garage rock royalty with a six-year string of albums, singles and Peel sessions beloved of folks as far away as Japan's Michelle Gun Elephant." The Boston Phoenix USA"Fuses garage punk and spaghetti western twang with a bit of Tom Waits thrown in for good measure - a mix which has gained them a sizeable cult following both at home and in Europe." Music Week UK"Forget the Kray Twins, it doesn't get much more suave than this. The Flaming Stars combine searing melodic guitar, trashy drums, and smooth crooning that'll work you over like a good batch of martinis at an after-hours pad; the band can sound as evil as Nick Cave's Birthday Party or as tragic as the Tindersticks."
chicago.citysearch.com (USA)"L'ambience 3V (Velvets /Vega / Vegas)" DIG IT (Fr)"Simply cool"
ROLLING STONE

 

THE URBAN VOODOO MACHINE"Train Wreck Blues had a lot more balls than on the album and was grittier than some of the previous versions I've heard by The Dalston Devil Trio among others and Joe Le Tropic's washboard antics were a highlight on this tune."WHISPERINANDHOLLERIN.COM"Joe 'Mongo' Whitney played a mean washboard" SOUNDBLAB
"Pipe & Slippers Man went down a storm with both Slim and Joe Whitney stage front really working the crowd into a frenzy."Simonovitch WHISPERINANDHOLLERIN.COM


ART

 The multi-tasking artist, musician and photographer launches his month-long show at the gallery/salon with a party tonightNow this is a good one. The legendary Kentish Town gallery-cum-salon have a major exhibition kicking off for a month from tonight, with a show entitled 50/50 by Joe Whitney.Whitney is an artist, musician and photographer with work published, performed and exhibited across the globe. "My artwork (drawn, painted or digitally rendered) is entirely inspired by fleeting random ideas," he says, perhaps not entirely helpfully. But we forgive him.And he's a busy bee too, with recent shows across the capital everywhere from Hackney Picturehouse to Proud. Check out his website for a full display of his Renaissance-man style multi-tasking (a roll call of everything from movie soundtracks to magazine photography).And – of course – no-one needs an excuse to swing by Michael Ptootch's iconic second Thursday-of-the-month soirées, with cocktail bar, secret garden, live music and eclectic K-Town crowd. And if that's not enough, there'll be a performance from – who else – Whitney's band The Flaming Stars, too.50/50 runs at Flaxon Ptootch, 237 Kentish Town Road, until October 9. Launch party tonight from 7pm.KENTISHTOWNER 12/09/13

Marvellous work. Cracks me up. SON OF DAVE
FILM"Some of the films in the festival are more nakedly surrealistic. Joe Whitney's "Pas Catholique," a witty meditation on Catholicism, repression, and sadomasochism, draws on the 1920s French surrealist tradition; its dominant motif is the disembodied head of a man (Cyril Roy) who may or may not be a monk." Graham Fuller - New York Film Critics Circle - theculturetrip.comPas Catholique: "Expressionist look at religion somewhere between Ingmar Bergman and Jean-Luc Godard." Chuck Foster - Film Threat, Los Angeles "Fucking Brilliant!" John Cooper Clarke on "I'm Hurting/The Bitter Cup"
"Rollicking folk self-evisceration from Billy Childish" Exploding Cinema on "I'm Hurting/The Bitter Cup""Love the style...these films are perfect content for the festival" (Al Carretta - Nightpiece Film Festival, Edinburgh Fringe)
"Unique strong cool visuals with humour" Makiko Watanabe - Future Shorts Film Festival, Tokyo"I'm not sure who should be most insulted!" Billy Childish on "Crueletta-The Musical Chair""Absolutely superb!" Cathi Unsworth on "My Dog""Great film!" Jamie McLaren (Run-Riot) on "My Dog""This is the work of a pure genius!" Amanda Rodgers (Stranger Than Paradise) on "The Magic Hatchet""It's really beautiful. Congrats on that it's really great quite extraordinary and very funny too"Caroline Catz on "Heaven From Pennies"Fantastic. Playful, creepy... Brilliantly weird" Lois Pryce on "Waltz of the Winter Companions""Fabulous!" Suzy Prince on "Waltz of the Winter Companions""The Roger Corman Of Camden" She RocolaDRUMS"Drummer Joe Whitney, a vital member of the band's sound, produces a series of fascinating rhythms throughout, barely pausing for breath. Hulked over his drum kit, like a wolf protecting her young, he lays the foundations on which Décharné's keyboard solos explode, punctuating each song with meticulous timing and execution." (BBC TYNE)
"Joe the drummer's outstanding abilities become apparent on ingeniously constructed songs" (DAVE JENNINGS - MELODY MAKER)
"A jazz drummer with the energy and attitude of a rock animal" (NGAIRE-RUTH - MELODY MAKER)
"A wild man in a suit playing skew-whiff jazz rhythms on his drums" (NME)
"Produces rhythms which are powerful, compelling and committed" (OSCAR ISSUE 4 - NEWCASTLE)
"Drummer Joe Whitney has always been on the verge of seizure behind the drumkit; with this number he proves that his passionate mania hasn't abated in the slightest." (WILL LERNER - ALLMUSIC.COM)
"One of my fav artist and drummer in London" (YVAN SERRANO-FONTOVA)
"The Keith Moon of skiffle" (JEB PAGE - HIGHTOWN CROWS)
"The Eric Ambler of the drums" (JAKE VEGAS)
"The Dapper Duke of Drums and Daguerrotypery" (STEPHEN PRINCE - AFTERHOURS SLEAZE AND DIGNITY)
"Quite remarkable drumming that teeters on the edge of control." (RETRO MAN)
"Sounds as if Keith Moon is risen" (UNDERGROUND)DJ"Joe Le Tropic span some great tunes" Puss Johnson"Great set. You were brilliant!" Vinyl Secretary