Kyoto Record Stores

As you may know, I make a habit of mapping out the record store situation in every city I visit, at least to the extend permitted by the length of my visit. I did spent enough time in Kyoto to visit most of its record shops (as well as many food markets, Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples, Zen gardens, tea houses, and.. and...) BUT unfortunately most of my notes were erased. Either by a malicious note-eating virus or by a clumsy swipe of my fingers on my mobile screen. I figured nevertheless that it wouldn't be right to bypass Kyoto because it is an amazing town which you must visit if you can; and may I make a suggestion? in tourist guides you'll find a multitude of historic and cultural sites -mostly temples- and you'll want to visit them all because they all look gorgeous in the photos (and up-close, too, make no mistake) but you'll wear yourself out if you try. Choose three or four temples and diversify your experience by spending more time in the food market, the "geisha district" Gion with its quaint wooden houses, visit the Arashiyama bamboo forest, the informative and entertaining Samurai and Ninja museum, and of course as many record stores as you can. I'm telling you, Japanese record stores are a whole other level. So let me try to piece together a guide to Kyoto's record stores using the photos I took with my mobile and whatever memories still linger on 3 months after the fact:

A great thing about it is that most record stores are bundled within walking distance to each other, pretty close to the famous Nishiki Market. You may want to start from Kyoto-Kawaramachi Station; here, you'll find the local Tower Records branch on the 9th Floor of the Kawaramachi OPA department store - it was weird for me at first, but one gets used to it: record stores in Japan are very rarely storefront businesses, instead you'll find them either situated within shopping malls, or more often in apartments within office or even residential buildings. Now this branch of Tower Records may not be as massive as, say, the 8-story one in Shibuya Tokyo (I'll tell you more about it on another post) but it's still quite big by the criteria of 2025. Lots and lots of new LPs (¥ 4000-7000) and CDs (¥1500-3000). That's not nearly as expensive as it looks; at the time of my visit ¥1000 was worth roughly €6 or $7. Now, these prices are inclusive tax but there's a neat little trick you'll want to take advantage of; overseas travelers may have the tax deducted from their purchases provided they don't make use of them while they're on Japanese soil - just google it, it's a bit too complicated to explain here. Most record stores will not provide that service, but Tower Records does. Since you're there, you simply must visit the local Book Off store at the 8th floor - it's a used books chain but also carries 1000s of used CDs (¥330-1300), relatively few vinyls but an unbelievable variety of manga comics. 

Starting from as little as ¥110, they make for a fine and cheap souvenir, because what says "Japan" better than Manga? Even if one doesn't speak the language they're nice to browse through for the art - Just check them out well if you're buying them as presents for your friends' kids, because the artwork is often naughtier than one would expect, even for titles that seem to be targeted to the younger teens. Just a few meters further, on the 4th floor of the Takashimaya Shopping Center you'll find Face Records, which is a much more stylish affair. Important Note: in Japan there is No Ground Floor - or, rather, the ground floor is called the 1st Floor, the floor above it is the 2nd Floor, etc. Face carries (mostly used) vinyl, as well as some hi-fi equipment. You'll find Rock, Pop, Jazz, and J-Pop LPs, mostly under ¥2000. For the adventurous, there's a J-Pop corner at ¥100 - that's $0.67(!) for a random vinyl souvenir of your Japanese trip. At the opposite side of the street, inside a gallery connected to the market, there's a shop called Take.J (Ishizumi Shinkyogoku Building 3F, 563 Nakanomachi). Go up the stairs to the 3rd floor and you'll come across a cramped apartment full of CDs (only ¥500-1000). Very good for Rock and Metal, also Soul and J-Pop. And this is the last time I'll be that specific in my descriptions since my notes from here on were erased. 

Nearby, you'll find a shop called Banana Records. I don't remember much about it, except that it's directly above a camera shop (Camera no Naniwa Kyoto Store, 372 Narabutsucho). Here is what internet sources say "A wide selection of LPs, CDs, and EPs across various genres, including rock and jazz. Also small accessories like bags, second-hand clothing, cassettes". Confusingly, it's another shop in the neighborhood that uses the banana logo: Joe's Garage (Fusaya Building 2F, 572 Obiyamach) You'll see the banana sign at street level; then you need to go up the stairs through a place full of bric-a-brac called "chacharhy💗"; only then you'll find the record shop. Decent prices, as I remember, and a wide selection - especially in the field of classic rock.

I can't say I remember any details from my visit to Toradra Record (3rd floor YOGI Building, 456-6 Matsugaedacho) but this is how they describe themselves "Our store always has approximately 5,000 LPs and 3,000 CDs for sale. We handle and sell all genres, focusing on rock and jazz, as well as J.pop, soul, blues, reggae, world music, club music, hip hop, soundtracks, and classical music". Art Rock No.1 is at the 7th floor of an apartment building (Assorti Kawaramachi Nijo Building, 374 Ichinofunairicho). A nice collection of 70s-80s rock, jazz, and J-pop vinyl, and decent prices. Another record store perched high (6th floor) is Jet Set Records. This should be of interest to DJs as it carries more dance/funk/jazz, along with the usual rock stuff. Then to another apartment building (Morris Building 2F, 485 Kami-Honnoji-mae-cho) which hosts not one but 2 record stores: 100000t on the 2nd floor and Workshop Records on the 3rd. The former was a bit messy, while the latter had a nice selection of classic rock, jazz, soul, and j-pop records and CDs, all properly catalogued.

Another shop I really liked was Happy Jack. It's on the 3rd floor of a shopping center (Tobee Building 302, 224 Eiraku-cho). Not so big, but had all the things I like; especially 60s/70s rock, garage, psychedelia, soul, jazz, and j-pop of course. Nice prices also. Of course not all record stores are hidden in apartment buildings - these next ones were in the galleries in the market. First, and for me best, was Supermilk Records (495 Nakasuji-cho). At first glance it didn't look like much, but I found some super cool Japanese punk and metal records between ¥300-1000. Also a nice selection of jazz, soul and rap. Now I know I took photos of it, but I can't find them in my mobile anymore - as if the disappearing notes weren't bad enough, now photos go missing too?

 

There were two more stores with an actual storefront: Jeugia is an entertainment store selling vinyl, CD, DVD and other stuff, and Shimizuya which had mostly J-pop CDs and DVDs. I didn't find anything of interest in any of them, and neither did I find something at the last Kyoto record shop I visited, Poco A Poco, an underground shop situated at one of the shopping galleries (Daishinville B1F, Dori Sanjo, Teramachi). Now these are all the record stores I visited in Kyoto, but by no means all of them. This source lists 48 record stores in the city, though I wouldn't know whether it's up to date. Anyway, 48 is a bit too much for most of us, so by cross-checking the previous list with other internet sources and crossing out those inconveniently located, I arrived at this additional list of shops that I haven't personally visited but seem to be worth your attention: First one is Parallax Records, on the next corner to Happy Jack (Shin-kyogoku uta-no Koji Building 2F, 407-1 Sakuranomachi) and specialized in noise/experimental/electronic music, mostly on CD. Hitozoku (above the Morikawa tobacco store, 271-4 Kitakurumaya-cho) specializes in electronic and world music vinyl, mostly used. Vivrant (Teramachi Ayanokoji Building 4th Floor, Teianmaenocho 586) offers "a wide selection of used LPs/45's specializing in Soul, Funk, Disco, Rare Groove, Jazz, Hip Hop etc". Black Ark (Kawara-machi Kaikan 202, 253-1 Ichinomachi) focuses solely on reggae music, used vinyl mostly. Vinyl 7 (492 Shimohonnouji -mae -cho, near Jet Set) seems to specialize in funk and disco. Still in the neighborhood (ION Building 2F, 340-1, Daimonji-machi) one can find Prototype Records (google reviews describe it as "a cool little spot with a decent but limited collection" but also praise its "impressive reggae and jazz section"). Poohyokocho (370-1 Kameyacho) seems to focus on folk and country and Hard Bop on jazz (of course). Its address is Tkaragaike Building 1F-3 ,474 Kami-Honnoji-mae-cho, apparently it's "tucked away in a nondescript building, requiring a small sign at knee height to locate". Unfortunately (or not) Kyoto doesn't have the equivalent of Tokyo's Disk Union which is, like, the Mecca of 2nd hand record stores - you'll have to go to Osaka for the closest branch; it'll take you all of 14 minutes with the shinkansen bullet train. And, let's face it, you're going to Osaka anyway. If not to stay, then at least for a daytrip, as I did. Not enough time for record hunting. Enough to visit the Shogun castle, built by Toyotomi in the 16th Century - way before he switched to making airconditioners and the like. And eat takoyaki, of course. Basically, I stopped at every food stand and sampled everything I could, all over Japan, and especially in Osaka. It was worth it.

Shakin' Street "Shakin' Street" 1980****

Shakin' Street were formed in Paris in the mid-60s by guitarist Eric Lévi and singer Fabienne Shine. Fabienne was born in Tunisia, moving to France as a child, like so many of the "pieds noirs" did after the countries of the Maghreb gained independence. Soon she embarked on a "career" as a model, actress, and singer. I use the word "career" in brackets, since her biggest claim to fame pre-Shakin' Street seems to be appearing as a... female tree in Roger Vadim’s Barbarella, and joining Led Zeppelin's entourage. Apparently she dated Jimmy Page, and followed the band on tour, not as a groupie but as a fellow musician - according to her bio, at least. Page and Plant encouraged her to form her own band, which she soon did. She must have thought "what do they have that I do not?" and not come up with the obvious answer "one is a virtuoso guitarist and the other has an exceptional voice". Well, Fabienne didn't have a great voice but what she had was a shit-ton of attitude - and sometimes, certainly around the time that punk broke out, that's way more important. Her singing style actually reminds me of a more shouty Patti Smith. Soon, Shakin' Street found themselves at the epicenter of a musical revolution, appearing on the second European punk festival at Mont-de-Marsan (1977) alongside The Clash, Police, Eddie & The Hot Rods, Damned, and Lou Reed, among others. A little-heard LP called Vampire Rock followed. Fabienne somehow managed to get Blue Öyster Cult's Sandy Pearlman to listen to it; he liked it, and that led to a recording deal with Columbia Records and a relocation to San Francisco. More importantly, when it turned out that original lead guitarist Armik Tigrane had sold his guitar to buy heroin, Pearlman arranged for the perfect substitution: Ross "the Boss" Friedman, formerly of punk/hard rockers Dictators. Together they recorded this well-received album, and started gathering a live following, even securing a place in the historic Black and Blue tour, which was co-headlined by Black Sabbath and Blue Öyster Cult. Ross Friedman must have made quite an impression on that tour, because when Ronnie James Dio -then the lead singer for Black Sabbath- was asked to recommend a guitarist for this new heavy metal band called Manowar, Ross "the Boss" was top of his list. The loss of the lead guitarist curtailed Shakin' Street's progress, and pretty soon the rest of the band also went their separate ways. The music on this album isn't easy to categorize; there are elements of punk, heavy metal, new wave, power pop, and AOR. If I had to choose one label, that would be "High Energy Rock'n'roll", as befits a band named after a song by MC5. "No Compromise" makes for a strong opener, a galloping garage rocker with powerful vocals and a short but sweet solo. "Solid As A Rock" and "No Time To Loose" are also fast rockers, with a somewhat more radio friendly chorus, and backing vocals repeating the title creating a nice hook for the songs. "Soul Dealer" is a somewhat slower, with a nice repeated riff, Patti Smith-like vocal delivery, and a B.Ö.C.- like solo by Ross the Boss. Nice percussion bit at the end, too. "Susie Wong" is a poppier new wave number. It's a good song, but it highlights Fabienne's vocal limitations; she's an energetic singer who can shout and scream as well as anyone in the louder songs, but not a great fit for the melodic ones. Really, depending on your taste, her voice can be an asset or a liability. "Generation X" introduces itself with a classic boogie guitar riff followed by Fabienne's bloodcurdling screams. The guitars remind me of Ronnie Montrose while the lyrics seem to reference The Who's "My Generation". "So Fine" has a Sixties swing to it, think The Ramones covering The Ronettes or Beach Boys. "I Want To Box You" starts off as aggressively as the title suggests; generally the trick with the backing vocalists repeating the song title ("box you!") works well - but here it sounds out of place - like a disco chorus on a Motörhead rocker. Certainly it's the heaviest track here, with Ross the Boss going wild on guitar. All in all, this is a wild rock and roll album, not quite garage punk nor heavy metal but something in between. It's very much up my alley, but it's not without its flaws: firstly, as I mentioned earlier, Fabienne isn't the best singer; her passion and conviction shine through, but her voice and technique leave something to be desired. Secondly, it's the songs: while they're energetic, and catchy enough to stick to your brain for a while, they're not particularly original or remarkable. Still, a fun album to play loud, and easy to get hold of, in vinyl at least (not so much on CD). Next time you find a cheap copy at a record fair, don't pass it by.

P.S. The band reunited in 2004 and have been intermittently active since then - or at least were, until 2019. I couldn't find any signs of activity since. Eric Lévi sat out the reunions, focusing on film music and his successful new age project, +eRa+.

**** for No Compromise, Solid As A Rock, No Time To Loose, Soul Dealer, Generation X, I Want To Box You

*** for Susie Wong, Every Man Every Woman Is A Star, So Fine

Bob Dylan "The Bootleg Series Vol. 12: The Best Of The Cutting Edge 1965–1966" 2015 (comp)****

A few months ago I went to the movies with my girlfriend and our friend Anastasia to see A Complete Unknown. It was at a cinema I used to go as a kid, ZEA at Pasalimani. How good it is to visit one of the few surviving neighborhood movie theaters in the age of multiplex entertainment! It was just as I remembered it - with a more advanced audio and video system, of course, and minus the psychedelic liquid light projections it used to show during the intermission - it was all that was missing to take you back to the 60's! The movie certainly brought that decade back to life, and featured fantastic music (of course!) and great performances by all the actors, who even sang themselves - now, anyone can imitate Dylan's characteristic singing voice, but Joan Baez must be more difficult, kudos to Monica Barbaro for that! As you may know, the story arc concerns Dylan's coming to New York to conquer the city's folk scene, and culminates with his decision to go electric, betraying all the people who believed in him by following his own muse. I was so familiar with the rock mythology behind it that watching the film was like watching the movie adaptation of a favorite book. Would they be faithful to the story? Which episodes would be included, which would be left out, and which would be invented in order to tie everything together? In the end I left satisfied, and so did the girls, even though they weren't the Dylanophiles that I am.

Soon after I watched the movie, I came across this CD. The Bootleg Series Vol. 12: The Cutting Edge 1965–1966 focuses in this most prolific and revolutionary stage of Dylan's career, covering an incredibly productive 14 month-period during which the artist recorded 3 electric folk rock masterpieces (Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61, and Blonde On Blonde) and shocked the folk music world with his electric performance on the stage of Newport Festival, which provided one of the centerpieces of the movie. Cutting Edge comes in  three different editions: The standard one (a.k.a. The Best Of The Cutting Edge) is comprised of 2CDs featuring previously unreleased demos, rehearsals, and outtakes from the sessions that produced the aforementioned albums. The Deluxe Edition (6 CDs) also contains many half-finished rehearsals, false starts and whatnot. That much detail may be too overwhelming for most of us, but it allows one to track the development of certain songs in the studio. The Collectors' Edition (18 CDs) contains everything recorded during those sessions plus some hotel room demos - not sure that anyone sane would ever go through all of it. I already own some of Dylan's Bootleg Series, and always marvel at how he keeps changing his songs, trying out different tempos and arrangements; sometimes the finished product bears only passing resemblance to the original demo. And neither does it stay the same after it's committed to vinyl, Dylan keeps trying on different arrangements live. Before buying this compilation I looked it up at the metacritic website to see what reviewers were saying about it, and came across an unbelievable metascore of 99/100. How can any collections of demos and outtakes be so good? I asked myself, so I bought the CD and delved in. Amazingly, it's almost as good as advertised; I mean there's no escaping the fact that, however great these songs are, there are even better versions of them out there, which most of us are very familiar with. CD 1 opens with a barrage of acoustic demos: ballads "Love Minus Zero/No Limit" and "She Belongs to Me" sound as charming as ever, while the delirious "Bob Dylan's 115th Dream" works well as a solo acoustic number - the lyrics, at least, are more discernable - and what a surreal, comedic, ride of a song it is! There are two more ballads included here in acoustic demo form, which weren't used by Dylan but given away to ladies with whom he had affairs with: "I'll Keep It with Mine" to Nico, "Farewell Angelina" to Joan Baez. Another unused song is acoustic blues "California" - though some lyrics were recycled for "Outlaw Blues", a storming electric blues version of which is also included on CD 1. It's no surprise that the electric numbers are the best here; after all Dylan had gathered some fantastic musicians, including Michael Bloomfield (a.k.a. the Jewish blues wunderkind from Chicago) on guitar. He puts in some scorching solos on the (also unused at the time) blues "Sitting on a Barbed Wire Fence". Dylan actually adlibs in this song "I got this woman in LA/ she makes the sweat run down my brow/ she's good alright, but she ain't as good/ as this guitar player I've got right now" "Subterranean Homesick Blues", "On the Road Again", "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry" are presented in rough-and-ready intense garage rock versions, while "If You Gotta Go, Go Now" (featuring backing vocalist Angeline Butler) has a New Orleans jazz groove that makes it sound like a prequel of The Basement Tapes. This, too, didn't appear in any of Dylan's albums, but it charted in the UK when it was covered by Manfred Mann, and again by Fairport Convention. A charming rendition of "Mr. Tambourine Man" is unfortunately incomplete - if it was finished, it could have surpassed the final album version. The most interesting moment of the CD is listening to back-to-back versions of "Like a Rolling Stone": Take 5 is typical harmonica-heavy Dylan folk rock, while take 11 is transformed by the introduction of Al Kooper's organ. Al recounts the story in the liner notes: he took his guitar along and invited himself to the recording sessions, hoping to play on the album. When he heard Bloomfield plug in and play, he realized he didn't have a chance himself, so he sat on the sidelines watching the proceedings. At some point, organist Paul Griffin left his place and moved to piano. Kooper had played keyboards before but he wasn't an organist - he didn't even know how to turn on a B-3 Hammond, but the other guy had left it on, so he sat in his place and, out of nowhere, came up with this fantastic melody. Dylan loved it, and changed the song structure to bring the organ to the fore; from that moment on, Kooper stopped being a guitarist and made a career for himself as an organist instead. I was delighted to see that little episode make the cut and get included in the movie. Disc 1 closes with 11-minute epic "Desolation Row". Once again, the sparse instrumentation allows one to focus more on the lyrics. And again, what a lyric - I mean, "they're selling postcards of the hanging" what kind of pop song starts off like that? CD 2 is, if anything, even better than the first. We get, slightly different, full band versions of classic Dylan tracks which mostly appeared on Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde On Blonde, often backed by The Hawks, soon to become known as The Band. On each track, the band sound spontaneous but tight - even the first takes included here sound like the songs had been well rehearsed beforehand. CD2 doesn't feature many solo demos or abandoned songs - with the exception of "Lunatic Princess" and the fantastic "She's Your Lover Now", both of which are cut short. The latter remains a band favorite although there has never been a full band version of it; the only finished take is a solo piano demo available only in the Collector's Edition of The Cutting Edge. Up-tempo versions of "I Want You" and "Just Like A Woman" are interesting to hear; pity that the latter flounders toward the end. All in all, what a great outpouring of songs, all created in such a short period of time. Listening to these songs again, I appreciate the garage rock intensity of the electric numbers, even though none of them trump the overtly familiar album/single versions; but above all I'm impressed by the quality of the lyrics. All the surrealistic imagery and the ingenious wordplay; no-one else wrote like that at the time, at least not in the world of popular music. Was it Nobel Prize-worthy? Irrelevant! None of it was written with literary prizes in mind, but it sure makes a solid case for young Dylan as a rare songwriting genius. At the film, when everyone is awed by his songs, their reaction seems exaggerated to convince us of the hero's brilliance. I think that's because we grew up with his songs, so we're taking them for granted. But imagine hearing them for the first time, coming out from the mouth of such a young person! Or listening to Jimi Hendrix for the first time, producing all those strange sounds with his guitar, or hearing the incredible sound mélange that was Sergeant Pepper - those were the days, bring me more sixties biopics please! I hear they'll be making four different Beatles films, one from the perspective of each member, now those I want to see! And you know Dylan will be making a cameo to introduce the Fab Four to marijuana - wouldn't it be fun if they cast Chalamet for the role? It'd be like one of those Marvel films where Daredevil makes an appearance at a court room scene of an Avengers movie, in his alter-ego as blind lawyer Matt Murdoch of course. And where's that Arthur Lee biopic I've been waiting for? How can a story like his not move Hollywood filmmakers?

***** for Bob Dylan's 115th Dream Solo Acoustic, Subterranean Homesick Blues Take 1, Outlaw Blues Take 2, On the Road Again Take 4, If You Gotta Go Go Now Take 2, It Takes a Lot to Laugh It Takes a Train to Cry Take 8, Like a Rolling Stone Take 11, Visions of Johanna Take 5, She's Your Lover Now Take 6, Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again Take 13, Tombstone Blues Take 1, Positively 4th Street Take 5, Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window? Take 1, Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues Take 3, Highway 61 Revisited Take 3, Queen Jane Approximately Take 5

**** for Love Minus Zero/No Limit" Take 2, I'll Keep It with Mine Take 1, She Belongs to MenTake 1, Farewell, Angelina Take 1, California Take 1, Mr. Tambourine Man Take 3, Like a Rolling Stone Take 5, Sitting on a Barbed Wire Fence Take 2, Medicine Sunday Take 1, Desolation Row Take 2, Desolation Row Take 1, Lunatic Princess Take 1, Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat Take 8, One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later) Take 19, Absolutely Sweet Marie Take 1, Just Like a Woman Take 4, Alternate Take, Pledging My Time Take 1, I Want You Take 4

*** for You Don't Have to Do That Take 1, Highway 61 Revisited Take 7 (False Start)

 

The Who with Orchestra "Live At Wembley" 2022 (rec.2019)***

The first time I saw The Who live was in Amsterdam during their Quadrophenia and More Tour (2013). It was a rewarding experience; Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey were in good form despite their age,  and the rest of the band supporting them ably - especially Pino Palladino on bass and "Ringo's son" Zak Starkey on bass. The visuals were also excellent, but I remember thinking that it took a very proficient and well-rehearsed 10-piece band to produce a result that only came somewhat close to the original 4 members. Later, a DVD, recorded at Wembley Stadium during that tour, came out as Quadrophenia Live in London. I didn't buy it, despite the fact that it could have served as a nice souvenir of the concert. I figured that any time I want to listen to Quadrophenia start to finish, I can play the studio version. And if I want to listen to The Who live, I have the expanded Live At Leeds and The Kids Are Alright. Why, then, did I buy Live At The Wembley recorded at the same location as Quadrophenia Live, and even reprising half of that album, only 6 years later? Well, of course it's the orchestra thing. How much does it add to the original songs? First thing first: Metallica S&M, this isn't. Where, on that album, rock band and orchestra combined to produce intensely heavy music in an epic scale, here the orchestra just plays a supportive role, not unlike the expanded 10-piece band I remember from the Quadrophenia concert in Amsterdam. Townshend and Daltrey are in similarly good form - better than what can be reasonably be expected, given their age. When they are not accompanied by the orchestra, as in "Substitute" and "The Seeker", they sound like an older, slightly blunted, version of themselves. The acoustic version of "Won't Get Fooled Again" is different enough to previous ones to be of interest, but frankly rather weak. It was interesting to hear the orchestra replace the synths on tracks like "Baba O’Riley" and "Eminence Front" resulting in a more organic sound. Often it adds some welcome bombast, as in the fanfares of "Pinball Wizard" or melodrama, as in "Behind Blue Eyes" and "Love Reign O'er Me". Lesser known tracks like "Imagine A Man" (1975) and "Hero Ground Zero" (2019) gain from new orchestrations; new blues track "Ball And Chain" (2019) isn't up to the same level as the classics, but it's good to have a live version of it. An acoustic rendition of "Tea and Theater" from 2006's Endless Wire (recorded during a different concert, too) makes for a puzzling inclusion, and rather anti-climactic closer. This set was also released on triple vinyl, but my own version is the 2CD and Blu-Ray set. The Blu Ray offers Stereo, DTS 5.1, and Dolby Atmos audio, but no video! All you get on your screen are some photos! That was an unwelcome surprise, for sure! Since it's not made specifically clear on the package that this is an audio-only BluRay, I -and almost everybody else who purchased it- naturally assumed we were getting a video recording of the concert with surround sound. I mean, it's not some ancient archive recording. It's a huge production at Wembley stadium in 2019! Many buyers felt cheated. After all, to be honest the PCM 5.1 sound (I can't judge the Dolby Atmos sound channel, since I don't have the appropriate equipment to listen to it on) isn't all that revelatory - slightly bigger and more vivid, especially in the orchestral parts, but I'm guessing that, had they known that there was no visual content in the BluRay, many buyers would have gone for the vinyl version instead. The official response to complaints was that "the Wembley concert wasn’t filmed for DVD or Blu-ray. The only filming was choosing  for the live back screens at the show." So the cameras were transmitting while a director chose which camera feed to project on the back screen. Although the primary material wasn't recorded, apparently we still have the visuals as they were projected on the back screen. Well, some of those visuals are available for free on youtube; they look quite good and complement the sound on those youtube videos perfectly! It's a pity they didn't also make them available to paying customers, to watch on their TV while listening to that nice crisp digital sound on BluRay, instead of watching a stupid slideshow. Anyway, purely music-wise, this is The Who (or, more correctly, Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend) in respectably good form, playing some of their most famous and beloved songs. True, these "live with orchestra" versions can't compare to the studio ones, or with live recordings by the original band in their prime. It would be unreasonable from us to expect that. But they are just different enough for fans to want to listen to. If you are fans, if you already own their classic studio albums and some essential live Who from their 60's and 70's, and you are still not satiated, you may want to get this one, too. It certainly makes for a fun listen, and the orchestra adds a welcome new dimension. Too bad for the missed opportunity; some nice visual content might have elevated this to a 4* set. 

**** for Eminence Front, Imagine A Man, Pinball Wizard, Hero Ground Zero, Behind Blue Eyes, 5:15, Love Reign O'er Me,  Baba O’Riley

*** for Who Are You, Join Together, Substitute, The Seeker, Won't Get Fooled Again (Acoustic), Ball And Chain, The Real Me, I’m One, Tea & Theatre (Acoustic)

** for The Punk And The Godfather, Drowned, The Rock

Cindy Blackman Santana "Give The Drummer Some" 2020***

Photos: the Santana band, featuring Cindy Blackman-Santana on drums, at Ziggo Dome Amsterdam, 24-06-2025

As I said previously, we greatly enjoyed the Santana concert at Ziggo Dome a few days back. The guitarist was of course the main draw, but his wife/drummer Cindy Blackman Santana gave an equally admirable performance, including a quite (physically) demanding drum solo, which came more than two hours after the start of the concert. My girlfriend and I were both so impressed we that we decided to buy her CD even though we had no idea what it would sound like - based on what I had read about her, I thought it'd be pure jazz but as it turns out that was only one of the colours she had in her palette.

Talking of Cindy Blackman as being the drummer of Santana band, or the wife of the guitarist, is of course reductive, as she is quite well-known in her own right. I, like most pop and rock fans, first became aware of her as that hot female drummer who appeared in Lenny Kravitz videos but, in reality, when she joined Kravitz's band she was already a well-respected jazz musician whose recordings as band leader went all the way back to 1987. Give The Drummer Some is her 11th solo album - as well as her first since marrying Carlos Santana in 2010. Previously she used to record more often; probably the demanding tour schedule of Santana was too time-consuming, but she used that time well. When she entered the recording studio after a 10-year absense she had 17 songs ready, all but one her own original compositions. I haven't followed her career closely, but this CD seems to be an anomaly: she used to be a straight-up jazz artist, but this one leans more on rock, pop, and R&B. Also, where she previously mostly contained herself to drumming, this time it's her singing that comes to the fore. She possesses a fine soulful voice; not a belter like Aretha, but perfect for the lighter pop-R&B material. Her drumming on this album is, as expected, impeccable - funky on the groovier numbers, strong on the rockers, inventive in the jazzier pieces. Sometimes it's overshadowed by the guitars, which is to be expected when one has Carlos Santana on board - his contributions here are fantastic, often better than on his own recent albums. Another heavyweight guitarist is John McLaughlin (Mahavishnu Orchestra, Miles Davis Band). His solos here, especially on "We Came To Play", are of dizzying speed and complexity. Vernon Reid (Living Colour) is an old associate of Cindy's, and balances rock and jazz very well. A surprising inclusion is that of Kirk Hammett (Metallica). To be fair, after Metallica had Marianne Faithfull guest on one of their songs, made a collaborative album with Lou Reed, and given a concert with a symphony orchestra, one should stop being surprised every time they step out of the Heavy Metal field. I guess they're so good at that one thing they do, you forget they're not one-dimensional. In this case, Hammett puts his heavy riffs and shredding solos in the service of the groove, providing us with the hardest rocking moment of this record. Combine this with jazz instrumentals, R&B dance tracks, funk rockers, and rapping by Santana Band vocalist Andy Vargas, and you've got a lot -maybe too much- diversity. On the whole, this is an uneven album featuring nevertheless great musicianship. A bit poppier than I had hoped, I expected a jazzy affair with the drums more to the fore - despite the consistently strong drumming there are barely any drum solos. I'm thinking that some of these songs would work better incorporated in a Santana album, while the jazz and R&B/dance tracks could form the basis for two different CD's. But it's Cindy's album, maybe she wanted to demonstrate her expertise in different styles at the expense of consistency and flow. The cover art reminds me of Santana's Africa Speaks, not surprising since the two albums belong to the same period, while the CD is hosted in a similarly flimsy cardboard case. Usually while I listen to an album I make a few notes on each track, which I later work into my review. This time, though, I think I can present them as-is, so here's my track-to-track presentation of Give The Drummer Some:

1. "Imagine"*** funk rock remake of the classic John Lennon ballad, not entirely convincing but featuring great guitar by Carlos Santana. I don't really care for the vocals on this one, it had me (mistakenly) thinking "This gal is no singer". It's the only cover on this CD, obviously chosen because the message of the song is important to the Santanas.

2. "We Came To Play"**** funk jazz instrumental. Solid drumming but totally overshadowed by John McLaughlin's masterful guitar arpeggios. Settles into a repetitive groove for the last minute.

3 "She’s Got It Going On"**** a funky pop number that reminds you she used to be in Lenny Kravitz's band, also despells previous doubts about her singing abilities.

4 "Miles Away" *** a short atmospheric jazz number with trumpet (inspired by Miles Davis?)

5 "Everybody's Dancin'" **** a self-described "feelgood song". Superb R&B with beautiful guitar fills by Carlos Santana.

6 "Velocity" *** a pure jazz number, great interplay between the drums and electric piano (Neal Evans).

7 "I Need A Drummer" *** upbeat funk rock. The song was inspired by a jam Cindy had with Prince, his influence is all over this one.

8 "Superbad" **** The title isn't the only part of this song that's reminiscent of James Brown. John McLaughlin limits himself to just one shredding solo, this time. Now that I think of it, this sounds a bit like Funkadelic when they had Eddie Hazel on guitar.

9 "You Don’t Wanna Break My Heart" *** a ballad of the Lenny Kravitz school. Carlos' emotive guitar solo elevates this.

10 "Evolution Revolution"**** OK, guitarist Vernon Reid is an obviously good fit, but Metallica's Kirk Hammett? His familiar heavy riffs nevertheless fit this song very well, and give Cindy an excuse to bang the drums even more savagely to match the two guitarists' aural attack.

11 "Change Is In Your Hands"*** another heavy funk rocker with Vernon Reid guesting on lead guitar and Andy Vargas (current Santana Band vocalist) on rap vocal. Uplifting political message.

12 "Dance Party" *** based on an electronic loop, not my kind of thing but interesting thanks to Bill Ortiz's contribution on trumpet.

13 "Fun Party Splash" *** a much better dance party number than the previous one, with a disco beat and energizing guitar by (who else?) Carlos Santana.

14 "Social Justice"*** another "message" song by the politically attuned couple. Carlos Santana and Andy Vargas guest.

15 "Twilight Mask" *** atmospheric instrumental with prominent low bass and Carlos Santana on free jazz improvisations. Goes on for 9 minutes, which is a bit too long.

16 "Mother Earth"*** Cindy hitting pots and trash can lids, basically everything that was around when she got a musical idea she wanted to put down immediately. Sounds way better than my description lets on.

17 "Black Pearl"**** An atmospheric jazz piece with great guitar by Carlos Santana and Vernon Reid.

Santana "Sentient" 1987-2024(rec) 2025 (comp)***

Photos: Santana Live at Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam. Tuesday 24 June, 2024

We recently went to Ziggo Dome for a Santana concert. It was the second time I saw the band live - the previous one was waaay back in 1991 at Leoforos Alexandras Stadium in Athens. I was mesmerized by Carlos' guitar, and still think of it as the best guitar playing I've ever witnessed live - and I've seen a lot of concerts starring a lot of famous guitarists. At the time I had recorded the concert on my walkman, and -despite the awful sound quality- every listen would reinforce that conviction. That cassette went wherever cassettes go when you're not paying them attention, but there's a better recording of that concert out there on youtube so you can judge for yourself. This time around, Carlos' playing was a little less impressive, but what do you expect? the man is 77 years old - it's difficult to grasp that he was only 43 back then, quite younger than what I am now, but it felt like I was seeing a legendary beast from a bygone age; Woodstock was like the Jurassic period to me, but I was less removed from it then than I now am from that warm Athens night when I first saw Santana live. And if Carlos' fingers are a tad less nimble than they used to be, Tuesday's concert didn't make for an inferior experience. First of all, this time Santana have a lot more hit songs than they did then; especially the ones from multi-Grammy Award winner Supernatural (1999), they played 5 off that one on the Ziggo Dome concert. Secondly, it's a terrific band: David Mathews was impressive on keyboards throughout, bassist Benny Rietveld played a masterful solo, the vocalists, percussionists, and the rest of the band were also great. But my girlfriend and I were most impressed by wife Cindy Blackman Santana on drums. So, at the end of the show, we went to the merchandise stall and got both Santana's latest vinyl and Cindy's new(ish) CD (to be presented next week)

First of all, "Sentient" may be Santana's newest LP, but it mostly contains older, semi-forgotten, recordings and collaborations, going back as many as long as three decades. Which one can guess by taking a look on the collaborators: Miles Davis (R.I.P.)? Michael Jackson (R.I.P.)? Actually, Miles was already dead when "Get On" was included on Paolo Rustichelli's Mystic Man (1996) which means tha Carlos and the Italian keyboardist were playing along to Davis' trumpet samples. Not bad, though. It's a chillout tune with a semi-electronic Latin beat and a small funky vocal sample. So far that sounds like something you might listen at a Balearic beach bar in the 90's - but the superb playing by the musicians elevates it tremendously. The LP contains another track from the same CD, "Vers Le Soleil". No Miles here - just Carlos and Paolo, relaxed vocals and dramatic synthesized strings. Both are "Sentient versions", meaning they've been reworked for inclusion here. I wouldn't know how much, but the new versions are great, especially Carlos' guitar which is just magical. Another reworked version is "Please Don't Take Your Love" featuring Smokey Robinson, originally recorded for the soul legend's comeback LP Time Flies When You're Having Fun (2009). Smokey's ageless vocal combines with Carlos' classy blues licks to create one of the highlights here. Opener "Let the Guitar Play" was released last year as a Record Store Day single, and features veteran rapper Darryl McDaniels (of Run-DMC) on vocal. I don't know why all those old rockers think they're modernizing their sound by adding unrelated rap segments; to be honest, I find it intrusive and would have prefered the track as an instrumental. "Whatever Happens" off Michael Jackson's last album Invincible (2001) features some nice acoustic guitar and intricate production. It wouldn't have sounded out of place on Supernatural. A second MJ composition "Stranger In Moscow" is included here in a, previously unissued, instrumental version recorded live in 2007 at a small club, backed by renowned drummer Narada Michael Walden and his band. Santana's guitar literally sings, as it copies the tone of MJ's vocal on the original ballad. A great gift for the diehard fan who may already own all the other, rare but previously released, pieces. Another previously unreleased track is "Coherence", credited to Santana and wife/drummer Cindy Blackman. It's an adventurous jazz fusion piece featuring great musical interplay between the couple. The vinyl version of Sentient closes with a masterful instrumental called "Blues For Salvador" from the eponymous 1987 album - I guess its inclusion is justified by the fact that it comes from a "solo" Carlos Santana LP, and thus new in the official Santana-the-band discography. As you may have already guessed, this is a hodgepogde of different styles, even more so than Santana's (in)famous string of commercial "collaboration" albums of the early 00's. It's nevertheless nice to bring all those scattered tunes together, and Carlos' playing is inspired throughout irregardless of song style. Not essential for the casual listener, but good for diehard fans who want to collect everything from their favorite artist, as wll as those who, like me, wanted a souvenir of the Oneness tour (although I believe the band didn't play any of these tunes live). The album cover you see here is exclusive to the European market - basically, it swaps the international edition's front and back covers. The CD version of the album contains extra tracks: two more Rustichelli collaborations called "Rastafario" and "Fool Moon", as well as "I'll Be Waiting", a soul ballad from Moonflower.

**** for Please Don't Take Your Love, Get On, Blues For Salvador

*** for Let The Guitar Play, Stranger In Moscow, Whatever Happens, Vers Le Soleil, Coherence

Frenzee "What’s Wrong With Me" (2024)****

Sometime ago I wrote a post on a record by Xylouris White. As I explained then, Giorgos Xylouris of Xylouris White is a Greek-born singer and lute player. As a young man, he immigrated to Australia and has made records blending Cretan folk with jazz and new wave. More importantly, he is also a member of a famous Cretan mountain clan; his uncle Nikos Xylouris started as a traditional folk musician but transcended all that to become one of the country's most beloved and respected singers of all time. He died in 1980, aged only 43, passing the torch of Cretan music champion to Giorgos' father, better known with the nickname "Psarantonis". What I didn't know until I watched documentary "A Family Affair" is that there's yet another generation of Xylourises: Giorgos' kids Apollonia, Adonis, and Nikos. They were born and raised in Melbourne Australia, where they were exposed to a lot of different music styles; Cretan, of course, but also punk rock and a lot of AC/DC. The whole family has since remigrated back to Crete, where the Xylouris youths hatched this little dynamite. It all  started during the pandemic lockout: the boys, who earn their daily bread playing traditional instruments at weddings and festivals, switched to electric guitar and drums and started jamming, while their sister became the singer, main lyricist, and general frontperson of the group during the live performances. They released an EP in '22, and this LP last October (or is it a mini-LP? despite having 9 tracks, it's actually only 20 minutes long). The music is very fast and energetic, reminiscent of Black Flag, of Riot Grrrl archetypes Bikini Kill,  or -closer to home- fellow Aussie troublemakers Amyl And The Sniffers. Favorites: opener "100°C" which somehow carries echoes of Rage Against The Machine, followed by "Sales", "Data Collector" and "Pink Tax"; these remind me a bit of Motörhead - until the vocals kick in, that is. Then the resemblance evaporates; Apollonia spouts the lyrics like a machinegun. "Angry" is the longest track, and it's one of those cases where the title says it all. It's also -along with the eponymous closer- the closest Frenzee get to thrash metal (think Suicidal Tendencies). The whole of the album really is a great little blast of manic energy and righteous anger. Highly recommended, I can't wait to witness this band live!

***** for 100°C, Angry

**** for Sales, Data Collector, Pink Tax, Ask Me Again, What's Wrong With Me

*** for Rats In Here, Fear No Fear