ORIGINATION In Utero CD
RECORDED IN 1993
LAST LISTENED TO October 2010
RATING ★★★★★
In Utero was a welcomely abrasive follow up to the slightly-too-polished Nevermind. Serve The Servants, the first track, sets well the tone for the album. Like much of Kurt Cobain's songs, it is very personal, dealing with his reaction to his sudden fame and fortune, as well as his relationship with his father. However, the opening couplet 'Teenage angst has paid of well / Now I'm bored and old", as well as being typically self-depreciating, appears to trivialise what music had gone before and in particular Nevermind. Whilst this is understandable, given the disturbed state of mind of Cobain at the time, it does seem somewhat insulting to those legions of listeners who gave him the freedom to voice that very thought. It is a dark and twisted song, which begs the question, who are the servants? The record company, the fans, maybe even his muse? There is no clear answer to this and paying such close attention will only bring the listener too close to the troubled mind of the author. Ultimately, it is a good song but one whose darkness can be wearying.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
The Isley Brothers - Ohio / Machine Gun
ORIGINATION Gimme Shelter: Kaleidoscopic Funk Collision (v/a) LP
LAST LISTENED TO April 2010
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT teeny
RATING ★★★★★
Formed in the early '50s, The Isley Brothers had always moved with the times. They'd sang gospel, doo-wop, gritty r'n'b, soul and funk and had been on RCA, Motown and their own label, T-Neck. In 1971, two generations of Isleys were in the group when they released an album of rock-tinged funk. The lead track on that album was a medley of Jimi Hendrix's Machine Gun and the Neil Young-penned Ohio. At over nine minutes in length, putting it up front on the album was a bold move but one that was absolutely warranted. The two songs, both forthright and powerful protest songs, were blended with such mastery that they sounded very much like they'd always been meant to be together. They added a whole world of soul to Ohio that it had never noticeably been missing, before segueing it imperceptibly into Hendrix's pièce de résistance, via the Lord's Prayer, whilst even having time to drop in a sprinkling of vocalised Hendrix guitar sound. It was and remains powerful, hairs standing on the back of the neck stuff. A very rare instance of the unimpeachable being transcended.
LAST LISTENED TO April 2010
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT teeny
RATING ★★★★★
Formed in the early '50s, The Isley Brothers had always moved with the times. They'd sang gospel, doo-wop, gritty r'n'b, soul and funk and had been on RCA, Motown and their own label, T-Neck. In 1971, two generations of Isleys were in the group when they released an album of rock-tinged funk. The lead track on that album was a medley of Jimi Hendrix's Machine Gun and the Neil Young-penned Ohio. At over nine minutes in length, putting it up front on the album was a bold move but one that was absolutely warranted. The two songs, both forthright and powerful protest songs, were blended with such mastery that they sounded very much like they'd always been meant to be together. They added a whole world of soul to Ohio that it had never noticeably been missing, before segueing it imperceptibly into Hendrix's pièce de résistance, via the Lord's Prayer, whilst even having time to drop in a sprinkling of vocalised Hendrix guitar sound. It was and remains powerful, hairs standing on the back of the neck stuff. A very rare instance of the unimpeachable being transcended.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Buck Owens - Under Your Spell Again
ORIGINATION Essential County & Western (v/a) CD
LAST LISTENED TO last night
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT dead certain
RATING ★★★★★
I'm still slowly working my way into country music and so my knowledge is pretty slim and my ear not very well trained. Even still, from this vantage point Under Your Spell Again sounds about as perfectly country as can be. It is a perfect mix of pedal steel, fiddle, snare-led drums and sweet, sweet harmonies. It is the kind of song that one almost instinctively knows, where every change is exactly where it ought to be and every vocal can almost be sung along with on the first listen. Such archetypal songs are rare indeed. I've known it for less than five days and it has already buried itself deep into my brain.
LAST LISTENED TO last night
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT dead certain
RATING ★★★★★
I'm still slowly working my way into country music and so my knowledge is pretty slim and my ear not very well trained. Even still, from this vantage point Under Your Spell Again sounds about as perfectly country as can be. It is a perfect mix of pedal steel, fiddle, snare-led drums and sweet, sweet harmonies. It is the kind of song that one almost instinctively knows, where every change is exactly where it ought to be and every vocal can almost be sung along with on the first listen. Such archetypal songs are rare indeed. I've known it for less than five days and it has already buried itself deep into my brain.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Marty Robbins - Big Iron
ORIGINATION Essential Country & Western (v/a) CD
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT good
RATING ★★★★★
I first came across and enjoyed Big Iron on Johnny Cash's American IV album of 2003. Having not looked at the sleeve particularly closely, I did not realise it was one of the many covers he made during those recordings. It was therefore a pleasant surprise to come across the original version of it this week, on a damn fine compilation of recently copyright-free country and western music.
Marty Robbins, the writer and performer of that original, seems to have been a colourful individual, with a life that included not only being a country music star, but also the war in the Pacific, hosting his own television show, acting and race car driving. His version of the song feels considerably faster than Cash's and, with plenty of guitar picking, a high-tone upright bass and swathes of vowel-heavy backing vocals, has a lighter air. In some ways that lightness seems to clash with the tale of a killer and his death, yet there is something infectious in the bouncing tempo and the delightful guitar picking that is hard not to like.
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT good
RATING ★★★★★
I first came across and enjoyed Big Iron on Johnny Cash's American IV album of 2003. Having not looked at the sleeve particularly closely, I did not realise it was one of the many covers he made during those recordings. It was therefore a pleasant surprise to come across the original version of it this week, on a damn fine compilation of recently copyright-free country and western music.
Marty Robbins, the writer and performer of that original, seems to have been a colourful individual, with a life that included not only being a country music star, but also the war in the Pacific, hosting his own television show, acting and race car driving. His version of the song feels considerably faster than Cash's and, with plenty of guitar picking, a high-tone upright bass and swathes of vowel-heavy backing vocals, has a lighter air. In some ways that lightness seems to clash with the tale of a killer and his death, yet there is something infectious in the bouncing tempo and the delightful guitar picking that is hard not to like.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
[confusion]
Things were a bit muddied this morning. It seemed that I had Sixteen Tons by Tennessee Ernie Ford in my head when I woke, except that I couldn't have as I'm not certain I've ever actually listened to it. Now, I had heard the original Merle Travis version of it this week, yet it definitely was not that version I was hearing. Nor was it the Bo Diddley version, which was the only other one that I had. To make things trickier, it was merged with parts of at least two other songs, neither of which I was able to identify. It was a confusing morning.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Georges Brassens - Je M'Suis Fait Tout Petit
ORIGINATION French Café (v/a) CD
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT quite high
RATING ★★★★★
Georges Brassens was a respected figure in the French music scene of the last century, although seems little known elsewhere, almost certainly in part due to the hegemony of anglophone artists in popular music. In this song, as in much of his music, he accompanies himself on guitar, with just one other player on double bass. It is a lilting, elegant-sounding piece, sprinkled with Django-esque jazzy licks that punctuate Brassens' relaxed singing. Sadly, the content of the song is lost on me, as it has been more than twenty years since I last spoke any French. With songs as good as this, maybe it is about time I tried to do so again.
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT quite high
RATING ★★★★★
Georges Brassens was a respected figure in the French music scene of the last century, although seems little known elsewhere, almost certainly in part due to the hegemony of anglophone artists in popular music. In this song, as in much of his music, he accompanies himself on guitar, with just one other player on double bass. It is a lilting, elegant-sounding piece, sprinkled with Django-esque jazzy licks that punctuate Brassens' relaxed singing. Sadly, the content of the song is lost on me, as it has been more than twenty years since I last spoke any French. With songs as good as this, maybe it is about time I tried to do so again.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
The Temptations - Since I've Lost You
ORIGINATION Motown Special LP
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT purdy good
RATING ★★★★★
Awakening from a dream of a love gone, this song seemed like the perfect soundtrack. A beautifully arranged ballad with some very fine harmonies from a period of the Temptations history known more for its psychedelic soul.
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT purdy good
RATING ★★★★★
Awakening from a dream of a love gone, this song seemed like the perfect soundtrack. A beautifully arranged ballad with some very fine harmonies from a period of the Temptations history known more for its psychedelic soul.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Duke Ellington - Caravan
ORIGINATION Classic Jazz Archive: Diminuendo In Blue CD
LAST LISTENED TO a few days ago
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT yes, there was some
RATING ★★★★★
Caravan is one of those pieces of music that most of us know, even if we don't know we know it. Co-composed by Duke Ellington and his trombonist Juan Tizol (or possibly just by Tizol himself), it has been recorded countless times since and is has come to be considered a jazz standard. The first recorded version in 1936 was by a band that seem very much to have been Ellington and co., however this, the first credited Ellington version was not released until the following year.
With its smooth, flowing melody, it has a strong middle-eastern flavour which combined with a jazzy primitive percussion sound, prefigures the exotica movement of the fifties. It begins with an opening statement of that melody, before giving way to a string of short solos. The longest of these goes to the trumpet, which rasps throughout the piece before busting in for a brief solo around the half-way point on a muted wave. The real star of the piece, though, is that haunting, exotic melody, which winds smokily in and out of almost the whole tune. It was that melody that has captured countless ears and been the impetuous behind the avalanche of versions over the past seventy-five years.
LAST LISTENED TO a few days ago
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT yes, there was some
RATING ★★★★★
Caravan is one of those pieces of music that most of us know, even if we don't know we know it. Co-composed by Duke Ellington and his trombonist Juan Tizol (or possibly just by Tizol himself), it has been recorded countless times since and is has come to be considered a jazz standard. The first recorded version in 1936 was by a band that seem very much to have been Ellington and co., however this, the first credited Ellington version was not released until the following year.
With its smooth, flowing melody, it has a strong middle-eastern flavour which combined with a jazzy primitive percussion sound, prefigures the exotica movement of the fifties. It begins with an opening statement of that melody, before giving way to a string of short solos. The longest of these goes to the trumpet, which rasps throughout the piece before busting in for a brief solo around the half-way point on a muted wave. The real star of the piece, though, is that haunting, exotic melody, which winds smokily in and out of almost the whole tune. It was that melody that has captured countless ears and been the impetuous behind the avalanche of versions over the past seventy-five years.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
The Bees - A Minha Menina
ORIGINATION Sunshin Hit Me CD
LAST LISTENED TO a few days ago
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT reasonable
RATING ★★★★★
A few years ago, I picked up a copy of The Bees third album, after hearing a few tracks from it on God's Jukebox. I liked it plenty and so a little later picked up their debut in a random second-hand music moment in Brum with the Doctor. To this day, it has failed to grab me in the same manner.
Today's track was the one that stood out for me, which is ironic as it is a version of a track by Os Mutantes, so perhaps I should finally get round to listening to them. Another thing I discovered about this track today was that it was licensed for an advert, along with another two of their tracks. It was at this point I stopped caring about The Bees.
LAST LISTENED TO a few days ago
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT reasonable
RATING ★★★★★
A few years ago, I picked up a copy of The Bees third album, after hearing a few tracks from it on God's Jukebox. I liked it plenty and so a little later picked up their debut in a random second-hand music moment in Brum with the Doctor. To this day, it has failed to grab me in the same manner.
Today's track was the one that stood out for me, which is ironic as it is a version of a track by Os Mutantes, so perhaps I should finally get round to listening to them. Another thing I discovered about this track today was that it was licensed for an advert, along with another two of their tracks. It was at this point I stopped caring about The Bees.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
Doris Day - The Deadwood Stage
ORIGINATION The Best of Doris Day CD
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT hilarious
RATING ★★★★★
If this doesn't make you smile, you probably shouldn't be here. Whip crack away!
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT hilarious
RATING ★★★★★
If this doesn't make you smile, you probably shouldn't be here. Whip crack away!
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Sister Sledge - Lost In Music
ORIGINATION We Are Family LP
LAST LISTENED TO last April
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT reasonable: I've been lost in music often recently
RATING ★★★★★
There is more to this track than memory will provide. After breakfast this morning, when I decided to get the obligatory morning song listen over with, then write a few sentences and get on with my day, I did not expect much. One listen, a few sentences about disco things and done. This did not happen.
Essentially the disco anthem chorus is what one remembers, which is well-known enough to easily obscure the rest of the song. Yet when one listens with fresh ears, much more is revealed. As the song slowly builds, it quickly becomes apparent that this finely crafted piece owes as much to soul as to disco and, whilst disco in itself is not a bad thing, so too it is not a musical form associated with subtlety, which soul often is. Whilst here the driving beat firmly moves the song into the disco camp, there are also many subtle details, in the chicken guitar, in the tambourine down in the right channel, in that gradually built-up intro and in the lyrics looking for salvation through music, that are divinely soulful.
Lost In Music is a simple enough track which is put together really rather well, a fined honed piece with not a single wasted moment. It is rather a shame that it will be forever lumped in with the glittering blare of disco.
LAST LISTENED TO last April
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT reasonable: I've been lost in music often recently
RATING ★★★★★
There is more to this track than memory will provide. After breakfast this morning, when I decided to get the obligatory morning song listen over with, then write a few sentences and get on with my day, I did not expect much. One listen, a few sentences about disco things and done. This did not happen.
Essentially the disco anthem chorus is what one remembers, which is well-known enough to easily obscure the rest of the song. Yet when one listens with fresh ears, much more is revealed. As the song slowly builds, it quickly becomes apparent that this finely crafted piece owes as much to soul as to disco and, whilst disco in itself is not a bad thing, so too it is not a musical form associated with subtlety, which soul often is. Whilst here the driving beat firmly moves the song into the disco camp, there are also many subtle details, in the chicken guitar, in the tambourine down in the right channel, in that gradually built-up intro and in the lyrics looking for salvation through music, that are divinely soulful.
Lost In Music is a simple enough track which is put together really rather well, a fined honed piece with not a single wasted moment. It is rather a shame that it will be forever lumped in with the glittering blare of disco.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
The Marcels - Blue Moon
ORIGINATION 45
LAST LISTENED TO November
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT minimal
RATING ★★★★★
Now this is what I call a proper start to the day. My eyes had barely opened, in fact they probably weren't even that, when I that magical "bom bo-bo bom…" rattled around my head. Brilliant!
Blue Moon is one of those classic American that has become a standard. It was written by the renowned composers Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart in 1934 and has countless versions of it have been recorded since. When The Marcels released their version in 1961, it retooled the song considerably, taking it from a ballad into an up-tempo doo-wop hit.
I first heard the tune when watching American Werewolf In London at a tender age in the mid eighties and I've loved it probably ever since. It's bouncing rock 'n' roll beat, endless made-up word stop-starts, five part harmony and Hart's sentimental lyrics make me smile every single time.
LAST LISTENED TO November
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT minimal
RATING ★★★★★
Now this is what I call a proper start to the day. My eyes had barely opened, in fact they probably weren't even that, when I that magical "bom bo-bo bom…" rattled around my head. Brilliant!
Blue Moon is one of those classic American that has become a standard. It was written by the renowned composers Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart in 1934 and has countless versions of it have been recorded since. When The Marcels released their version in 1961, it retooled the song considerably, taking it from a ballad into an up-tempo doo-wop hit.
I first heard the tune when watching American Werewolf In London at a tender age in the mid eighties and I've loved it probably ever since. It's bouncing rock 'n' roll beat, endless made-up word stop-starts, five part harmony and Hart's sentimental lyrics make me smile every single time.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse - Angel's Harp (Feat. Black Francis)
ORIGINATION Dark Night Of The Soul CD
LAST LISTENED TO two days ago
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT yadda yadda
RATING ★★★★★
It has a catchy chorus, one that has been rattling around inside my head since I picked up this album last month. The guitar is also quite good and there are some enjoyable electronic embellishments. Yet somehow, trying to focus on this as an individual track is almost impossible this morning.
LAST LISTENED TO two days ago
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT yadda yadda
RATING ★★★★★
It has a catchy chorus, one that has been rattling around inside my head since I picked up this album last month. The guitar is also quite good and there are some enjoyable electronic embellishments. Yet somehow, trying to focus on this as an individual track is almost impossible this morning.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Violent Femmes - To The Kill
ORIGINATION Violent Femmes CD
LAST LISTENED TO three days ago
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT annoyingly high
RATING ★★★★★
I thought by not listening to them for a few days, that they might release their grip. I seem to be sadly mistaken. Today, there was yet another return to their first album, this time one of the least good tracks. It feels less tight than the rest, formless in places. Whilst that is undoubtedly the intention, and it does form a good counterpoint in its place on the album, it does not make for a particularly arresting song.
LAST LISTENED TO three days ago
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT annoyingly high
RATING ★★★★★
I thought by not listening to them for a few days, that they might release their grip. I seem to be sadly mistaken. Today, there was yet another return to their first album, this time one of the least good tracks. It feels less tight than the rest, formless in places. Whilst that is undoubtedly the intention, and it does form a good counterpoint in its place on the album, it does not make for a particularly arresting song.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Metallica - Leper Messiah
ORIGINATION Master of Puppets LP
LAST LISTENED TO last week
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT I have no idea any more
RATING ★★★★★
It was strange and it was grey outside, another quiet Sunday morning. The song was familiar, almost instantly so and yet it was not, this relaxed little melody that I knew so well. Smooth and quiet but something was not right. After a while, I realised that the relaxed little melody was Leper Messiah and somehow that did not seem odd, although odd it surely was because there is nothing about Leper Messiah that is relaxed. If there could be such a thing as a textbook metal song, then this is it. With its proper, choppy, stop-start riffage, its fierce vocals about nothing much in particular, the not-too widdly guitar solo and then the last-minute return to those head-noddingly great riffs that stop-start to a stop, this is tight, muscular, metal heaven.
Also worth mentioning is that Leper Messiah is from Metallica's best album, Master of Puppets. Whilst they recorded plenty other great songs before and are continuing to do so today, with its sophisticated combination of metal sounds and proper album-length, they have yet to surpass this album.
LAST LISTENED TO last week
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT I have no idea any more
RATING ★★★★★
It was strange and it was grey outside, another quiet Sunday morning. The song was familiar, almost instantly so and yet it was not, this relaxed little melody that I knew so well. Smooth and quiet but something was not right. After a while, I realised that the relaxed little melody was Leper Messiah and somehow that did not seem odd, although odd it surely was because there is nothing about Leper Messiah that is relaxed. If there could be such a thing as a textbook metal song, then this is it. With its proper, choppy, stop-start riffage, its fierce vocals about nothing much in particular, the not-too widdly guitar solo and then the last-minute return to those head-noddingly great riffs that stop-start to a stop, this is tight, muscular, metal heaven.
Also worth mentioning is that Leper Messiah is from Metallica's best album, Master of Puppets. Whilst they recorded plenty other great songs before and are continuing to do so today, with its sophisticated combination of metal sounds and proper album-length, they have yet to surpass this album.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Friday, February 11, 2011
Violent Femmes - Please Do Not Go
ORIGINATION Violent Femmes CD
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT rising farce
RATING ★★★★★
The Violent Femmes again? There are no songs of theirs that I dislike, howver writing about them for this many days in a row is a little tiresome. Please Do Not Go features a nice sing-a-long chorus. It is a slower song and, as ever, the up front Mariachi bass is great. There is a little falsetto singing in this one too. Nice.
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT rising farce
RATING ★★★★★
The Violent Femmes again? There are no songs of theirs that I dislike, howver writing about them for this many days in a row is a little tiresome. Please Do Not Go features a nice sing-a-long chorus. It is a slower song and, as ever, the up front Mariachi bass is great. There is a little falsetto singing in this one too. Nice.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Violent Femmes - Black Girls
ORIGINATION Hallowed Ground LP
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT damned good
RATING ★★★★★
The Violent Femmes return this morning with another song from their second album and one that is a particular favourite of mine. It starts out in fairly typical Femmes style, with some up-tempo drums and that distinctive bass guitar sound, which soon evolves when tenor sax comes in to augment the first verses. However, it is not until those verses are finished that the song really breaks new territory, with a choppy, hard-blown sax solo that edges into Pharoah Sanders-style freedom, which is followed by some bird-call vibrato trumpet and then a Jew's harp. Even more oddness follows that, when all the the blown instruments start trading off each other. It is a magnificent piece in its setting, at once seemingly at odds with the folky punk (or possible punkish folk) of the Femmes, whilst at the same time being the logical extension of, and perfectly complimentary to, it. Singer Gano returns for the ending, almost yelling lines about "digging black girls" which in itself seems pointedly at odds with the faith-inspired verse the precedes it. Marvellous.
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT damned good
RATING ★★★★★
The Violent Femmes return this morning with another song from their second album and one that is a particular favourite of mine. It starts out in fairly typical Femmes style, with some up-tempo drums and that distinctive bass guitar sound, which soon evolves when tenor sax comes in to augment the first verses. However, it is not until those verses are finished that the song really breaks new territory, with a choppy, hard-blown sax solo that edges into Pharoah Sanders-style freedom, which is followed by some bird-call vibrato trumpet and then a Jew's harp. Even more oddness follows that, when all the the blown instruments start trading off each other. It is a magnificent piece in its setting, at once seemingly at odds with the folky punk (or possible punkish folk) of the Femmes, whilst at the same time being the logical extension of, and perfectly complimentary to, it. Singer Gano returns for the ending, almost yelling lines about "digging black girls" which in itself seems pointedly at odds with the faith-inspired verse the precedes it. Marvellous.
Wednesday, February 09, 2011
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - There Is A Kingdom
ORIGINATION The Boatman's Call CD
LAST LISTENED TO December
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT teeny
RATING ★★★★★
Each time a new Bad Seeds album comes out, almost without exception, my reaction to it is muted. Usually for some months after my first listen, I am unsure about it, about this change to a known entity. Then comes a day that I think, "actually this is all right". By the next day the album will be on constant rotation and will stay there for many, many days. Boatman's Call was something of an exception, it was and is so quiet, so low-key, missing the usual Bad Seed bombast, that I never reached that week of constant rotation. However, over the years it has gradually ebbed into my conscious and finally, in the past few years, I have come to terms with it and it enjoys a special place in my heart. It is a quietly beautiful album.
All of this makes waking to a particular song from this album rather unexpected, especially one that I have never once sought out to listen to on its own. As with the whole album, it is quietly beautiful, centred around Cave and his piano, with minimal further instrumentation. It appears, on the face of it, to be about faith. However, unlike yesterday's song of faith, this one could as easily be a song of secular love. The line is, as ever with Nick Cave, a blurred one.
LAST LISTENED TO December
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT teeny
RATING ★★★★★
Each time a new Bad Seeds album comes out, almost without exception, my reaction to it is muted. Usually for some months after my first listen, I am unsure about it, about this change to a known entity. Then comes a day that I think, "actually this is all right". By the next day the album will be on constant rotation and will stay there for many, many days. Boatman's Call was something of an exception, it was and is so quiet, so low-key, missing the usual Bad Seed bombast, that I never reached that week of constant rotation. However, over the years it has gradually ebbed into my conscious and finally, in the past few years, I have come to terms with it and it enjoys a special place in my heart. It is a quietly beautiful album.
All of this makes waking to a particular song from this album rather unexpected, especially one that I have never once sought out to listen to on its own. As with the whole album, it is quietly beautiful, centred around Cave and his piano, with minimal further instrumentation. It appears, on the face of it, to be about faith. However, unlike yesterday's song of faith, this one could as easily be a song of secular love. The line is, as ever with Nick Cave, a blurred one.
Tuesday, February 08, 2011
Violent Femmes - Hallowed Ground
ORIGINATION Hallowed Ground LP
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT pretty high
RATING ★★★★★
After the last couple of morning songs, yesterday turned into Violent Femmes day, with three of their albums (which is all I have) on constant rotation. Most listeners rarely move beyond their classic first album and this is a real shame because the second album is just as good. It was culled from the same writing period as the first, and so contains something of the same flavour, yet it is a more ambitious and sonically diverse album. Today it was its title track that was with me when I woke.
Of the songs on the album, Hallowed Ground is the one closest musically to the first album, structured as it is around the strong up-front bass and guitar, although with the addition of some piano. Where it differs is through its the lyrics. Previously, they were centred around a post-pubescent world, on this album singer Gordon Gano's faith is the common theme. This song is a statement of faithful defiance against the coming apocalypse, which was close at the time of writing, and whilst the faith is strong it is not overt. This is not one of the brethren looking to bring you into the fold, rather it is a young man quietly asserting his beliefs.
Many found this statement of faith a reason to turn away from the Violent Femmes and it does seem at odds with the prevailing sentiments of rock music. Yet this was and remains more of an indictment of the listener than of what is a great album.
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT pretty high
RATING ★★★★★
After the last couple of morning songs, yesterday turned into Violent Femmes day, with three of their albums (which is all I have) on constant rotation. Most listeners rarely move beyond their classic first album and this is a real shame because the second album is just as good. It was culled from the same writing period as the first, and so contains something of the same flavour, yet it is a more ambitious and sonically diverse album. Today it was its title track that was with me when I woke.
Of the songs on the album, Hallowed Ground is the one closest musically to the first album, structured as it is around the strong up-front bass and guitar, although with the addition of some piano. Where it differs is through its the lyrics. Previously, they were centred around a post-pubescent world, on this album singer Gordon Gano's faith is the common theme. This song is a statement of faithful defiance against the coming apocalypse, which was close at the time of writing, and whilst the faith is strong it is not overt. This is not one of the brethren looking to bring you into the fold, rather it is a young man quietly asserting his beliefs.
Many found this statement of faith a reason to turn away from the Violent Femmes and it does seem at odds with the prevailing sentiments of rock music. Yet this was and remains more of an indictment of the listener than of what is a great album.
Monday, February 07, 2011
Sunday, February 06, 2011
Violent Femmes - Gone Daddy Gone
ORIGINATION Violent Femmes CD
LAST LISTENED TO very early this morning
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT not waking to it would have been a surprise
RATING ★★★★★
A stand out track from a stand out album. It is not the most obvious stand out track on the album and the album is not one of the most stand out albums in the world. Both are slow builders. The lyrics from the song repeat again and again on an internal loop long after the album has stopped playing, the album slowly, eventually has become a hit, popular with an endless tide of post-adolesents, an album to take to heart at that impressionable time and to never let go of.
As well as the endlessly repeating hook of the lyrics, Gone Daddy Gone has a xylophone* solo. A xylophone solo. If this does not convince you of its greatness, you ought not be here. Go now.
*that's the one with the wooden bars
LAST LISTENED TO very early this morning
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT not waking to it would have been a surprise
RATING ★★★★★
A stand out track from a stand out album. It is not the most obvious stand out track on the album and the album is not one of the most stand out albums in the world. Both are slow builders. The lyrics from the song repeat again and again on an internal loop long after the album has stopped playing, the album slowly, eventually has become a hit, popular with an endless tide of post-adolesents, an album to take to heart at that impressionable time and to never let go of.
As well as the endlessly repeating hook of the lyrics, Gone Daddy Gone has a xylophone* solo. A xylophone solo. If this does not convince you of its greatness, you ought not be here. Go now.
*that's the one with the wooden bars
Saturday, February 05, 2011
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - Home
ORIGINATION Megan
LAST LISTENED TO late week
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT vague
RATING ★★★★★
Some mornings only the briefest of snatches of a song is in my head. These are the testing mornings, especially if it just a riff. Luckily this morning it was lyrics and ones easy to identify. Unluckily, all of the time I lay in bed, I could remember not one more piece of the song, just the endless tumble of two state names.
This song was a gift from my lovely friend Megan and it is one of those songs that will always remind me of her, whenever I hear it. It is a charming boy-girl pop song about finding a home in love, "home is whenever I'm with you", that can't fail to bring out a smile. It also starts with whistling, has that state name tumble and ends with some sweet, sweet trumpet. I'm sold.
LAST LISTENED TO late week
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT vague
RATING ★★★★★
Some mornings only the briefest of snatches of a song is in my head. These are the testing mornings, especially if it just a riff. Luckily this morning it was lyrics and ones easy to identify. Unluckily, all of the time I lay in bed, I could remember not one more piece of the song, just the endless tumble of two state names.
This song was a gift from my lovely friend Megan and it is one of those songs that will always remind me of her, whenever I hear it. It is a charming boy-girl pop song about finding a home in love, "home is whenever I'm with you", that can't fail to bring out a smile. It also starts with whistling, has that state name tumble and ends with some sweet, sweet trumpet. I'm sold.
Friday, February 04, 2011
Iggy & The Stooges - Search And Destroy
ORIGINATION Raw Power CD
LAST LISTENED TO last night
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT detonate for me
RATING ★★★★★
I do love The Stooges and this is one of their best. No question. From nine seconds in when James Williamson's first blistering guitar spits in, to Iggy's higher-pitch-than-normal vocals, to the very last bars, it does not let go for one second. It grabs you by the throat and pulls you along for the crazed ride, for three and a half minutes of pure adrenaline rush. There is little else like it and there is only one way to listen to it and that is a speaker cabinet-rattling volume. The neighbours can go take a hike.
Sadly, these days the world we live in intrudes on the cosy memory of revolutions past. Yesterday's artist is today's salesperson. Would that it were not. So now most times when I listen to The Stooges, I can't help but picture Iggy's face on the back of a bus, hawking insurance. I'm so lucky that I do not own a television.
"Here's the deal, folks, you do a commercial, you're off the artistic roll call forever. End of story. Okay? You're another corporate fucking shill, you're another whore at the capitalist gang bang and if you do a commercial, there's a price on your head, everything you say is suspect and every word that comes out of your mouth is now like a turd falling into my drink…" - Bill Hicks
LAST LISTENED TO last night
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT detonate for me
RATING ★★★★★
I do love The Stooges and this is one of their best. No question. From nine seconds in when James Williamson's first blistering guitar spits in, to Iggy's higher-pitch-than-normal vocals, to the very last bars, it does not let go for one second. It grabs you by the throat and pulls you along for the crazed ride, for three and a half minutes of pure adrenaline rush. There is little else like it and there is only one way to listen to it and that is a speaker cabinet-rattling volume. The neighbours can go take a hike.
Sadly, these days the world we live in intrudes on the cosy memory of revolutions past. Yesterday's artist is today's salesperson. Would that it were not. So now most times when I listen to The Stooges, I can't help but picture Iggy's face on the back of a bus, hawking insurance. I'm so lucky that I do not own a television.
"Here's the deal, folks, you do a commercial, you're off the artistic roll call forever. End of story. Okay? You're another corporate fucking shill, you're another whore at the capitalist gang bang and if you do a commercial, there's a price on your head, everything you say is suspect and every word that comes out of your mouth is now like a turd falling into my drink…" - Bill Hicks
Thursday, February 03, 2011
Cerrone - Supernature
ORIGINATION 45
LAST LISTENED TO this morning
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT um… good?
RATING ★★★★★
There was nothing in my head this morning, just words. It was the unsnoozed radio that provided the spark today, in quite an unlikely form for morning radio. Call me Mr. Cheater if you want, but it is today's song.
Supernature is about as great a piece of Euro-disco as can ever be found. Funky bass, layers of repetitive synth, a woman singing fairly odd lyrics. Seeming that it will roll on forever, with its occasional strange sort-of sound effects and loud whispers, somehow it is all over in just over four minutes. If ever there was a 45 that would benefit from having two copies to thread into each other, prefiguring house music if ever anything did, it was this one. Sadly I only have the one, that I bought from the Professor a little more than nine years ago (and how it be that long ago?). I find myself wondering if it was it one of his recommendations, or if I found it rummaging though a pile of that week's incomers.
As it happens, a few years later I found a copy of the 12" on eBay. I was both pleased and surprised to discover that rather than being a stretched and padded version of the 45, it was actually the full and unedited version, which was equally as good and, best of all, over ten minutes long.
LAST LISTENED TO this morning
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT um… good?
RATING ★★★★★
There was nothing in my head this morning, just words. It was the unsnoozed radio that provided the spark today, in quite an unlikely form for morning radio. Call me Mr. Cheater if you want, but it is today's song.
Supernature is about as great a piece of Euro-disco as can ever be found. Funky bass, layers of repetitive synth, a woman singing fairly odd lyrics. Seeming that it will roll on forever, with its occasional strange sort-of sound effects and loud whispers, somehow it is all over in just over four minutes. If ever there was a 45 that would benefit from having two copies to thread into each other, prefiguring house music if ever anything did, it was this one. Sadly I only have the one, that I bought from the Professor a little more than nine years ago (and how it be that long ago?). I find myself wondering if it was it one of his recommendations, or if I found it rummaging though a pile of that week's incomers.
As it happens, a few years later I found a copy of the 12" on eBay. I was both pleased and surprised to discover that rather than being a stretched and padded version of the 45, it was actually the full and unedited version, which was equally as good and, best of all, over ten minutes long.
Wednesday, February 02, 2011
Baby Charles - Hard Man To Please
ORIGINATION Baby Charles CD
LAST LISTENED TO December 2010
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT limited
RATING ★★★★★
Songs such as this morning's and yesterdays can be quite a tester for my memory. Yesterday was not so bad, because I had the intro and part of the melody, however this morning all I had was one riff. It was new funk and that was as much of a feeling as I had from it. Quite why it was stuck in my head was a mystery. Perhaps it my subconscious reminding me to Pay More Attention To Funk.
After some time spent tracking it down, I found the riff was by Baby Charles, who appeared in my life very early one Saturday morning on Mark Lamarr's God's Jukebox radio show. Whatever track it was he played then, it caught my ears and the first thing I did after a night's sleep was to find their website and buy their album, a self-titled debut. It is a pretty fantastic slab of funk. Hard Man To Please, placed in the middle of that slab, has almost all of the things a top funk tune needs: whacka-whacka guitar, slip-sliding organ, brass stabs, some good repetitive lyrics and a change of chord last section. If the bass was not so often lost in the mix this would certainly be getting played more often, which would have made its tracking down this morning easier.
Even though this is not the best track by Baby Charles, it will give you a good taste of what they are like. Sadly, if you like that taste there will only ever be one album, as they split last year.
LAST LISTENED TO December 2010
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT limited
RATING ★★★★★
Songs such as this morning's and yesterdays can be quite a tester for my memory. Yesterday was not so bad, because I had the intro and part of the melody, however this morning all I had was one riff. It was new funk and that was as much of a feeling as I had from it. Quite why it was stuck in my head was a mystery. Perhaps it my subconscious reminding me to Pay More Attention To Funk.
After some time spent tracking it down, I found the riff was by Baby Charles, who appeared in my life very early one Saturday morning on Mark Lamarr's God's Jukebox radio show. Whatever track it was he played then, it caught my ears and the first thing I did after a night's sleep was to find their website and buy their album, a self-titled debut. It is a pretty fantastic slab of funk. Hard Man To Please, placed in the middle of that slab, has almost all of the things a top funk tune needs: whacka-whacka guitar, slip-sliding organ, brass stabs, some good repetitive lyrics and a change of chord last section. If the bass was not so often lost in the mix this would certainly be getting played more often, which would have made its tracking down this morning easier.
Even though this is not the best track by Baby Charles, it will give you a good taste of what they are like. Sadly, if you like that taste there will only ever be one album, as they split last year.
Tuesday, February 01, 2011
Benny Poole - Pearl Baby, Pearl
ORIGINATION 45
LAST LISTENED TO May 2010
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT you're kidding, right?
RATING ★★★★★
In the early part of this century, I was regularly visiting the hallowed Professor of Plastic and picking up all manner of wonderful slabs of vinyl, both big and small. It was a time when new funk and soul 45s would arrive every week, some new, some reissues. This one, a reissue on a split single with Magentica by Espen Horne on the flip, was given a release in early 2002. It is a rough and tough, piece of latin-flavoured, instrumental soul, with a groove that sounds much more like it was recorded in the mid-sixties than in 1974.
After an intro with the first note cut off on this pressing, a tenor sax establishes a melody and then slips into a mid-range solo that could groove on forever. However, with a scant 45 running time of two minutes, it does no such thing. It has only been in the sweet spot for a minute, when the organ swings in from the background for a few brief bars to fight it out and then it is all gone. A fine, fine groove that could easily be much longer.
LAST LISTENED TO May 2010
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT you're kidding, right?
RATING ★★★★★
In the early part of this century, I was regularly visiting the hallowed Professor of Plastic and picking up all manner of wonderful slabs of vinyl, both big and small. It was a time when new funk and soul 45s would arrive every week, some new, some reissues. This one, a reissue on a split single with Magentica by Espen Horne on the flip, was given a release in early 2002. It is a rough and tough, piece of latin-flavoured, instrumental soul, with a groove that sounds much more like it was recorded in the mid-sixties than in 1974.
After an intro with the first note cut off on this pressing, a tenor sax establishes a melody and then slips into a mid-range solo that could groove on forever. However, with a scant 45 running time of two minutes, it does no such thing. It has only been in the sweet spot for a minute, when the organ swings in from the background for a few brief bars to fight it out and then it is all gone. A fine, fine groove that could easily be much longer.
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