I'm in the process of re-listening and re-evaluating my record collection, in no particular order. I'll be sharing the results of my evaluation and thoughts on the music in this blog.
When I first came to the Netherlands, I had a conversation with a young lady who told me she played the saxophone. I surprised her by telling her that it's a rare instrument for a woman to play. She believed it to be a rather feminine instrument. I guess that's a testament to Candy Dulfer's success in her native land: that she familiarised everyone with the image of a beautiful young woman playing an instrument previously associated with older black guys, and made it look sexy. Not that black jazz musicians can't be sexy to some people, but for most of us Candy is an infinitely preferable sight.
Her father Hans Dulfer is a renowned sax player who began teaching Candy the basics of the instrument at the age of 6. Her debut "Saxuality" in 1990 sold very well and was nominated for the Grammy award. Although still only 20 years old, she soon began performing and recording with giants of the music world such as Van Morrison, Pink Floyd and Prince. This follow up plays up her R&B/Hip Hop influences and is obviously aimed at the pop charts rather than the jazz connoisseurs. The slick production values and use of synths and drum machines may have served their purpose at the time but sound dated today. Candy's playing, on the other hand, is technically faultless - maybe a bit too safe and sometimes almost bland. But it is what it is -no Miles Davis cool genius or John Coltrane passion but a pop approach to jazz as background music to groove to at a club or chill out with a glass of wine. The funky dance numbers include "2 Funky" (obviously), "Sax-a-Go-Go" (featuring rapper Easy Mo Bee), "Bob's Jazz" (classy acid-jazz with nice organ/saxophone interplay) and the Funkadelic-like "Jamming" - all composed with the help of her producer, Ulco Bed. Two classic soul covers showed what she can do given classic material: Average White Band's "Pick Up the Pieces" and Eugene McDaniel's "Compared to What" (the only track with full vocals, a bad idea when you're competing against Roberta Flack's original version). "Mister Marvin" and "Man in the Desert" are two mid-tempo originals while "I Can't Make You Love Me" and "Sunday Afternoon" a couple of smooth ballads. Granted, it's all glossily produced, packaged and sugarcoated to sell to a pop and R&B (rather than jazz) audience, yet under all the gloss and glitter there still lies a jazz musician. And not a bad one, either...
**** for Bob's Jazz, Pick Up the Pieces
*** for 2 Funky, Sax-a-Go-Go, Bob's Jazz, I Can't Make You Love Me, Compared to What
** for Mister Marvin, Man in the Desert, Jamming, Compared to What,Sunday Afternoon
Platter of local cheeses in Tinos ouzeri "st'Alani"
If any of you visit my blog often, you've noticed that I post with admirable regularity - I, for one, admire myself for it, since I know how demanding it is. I have to keep a fast pace of course, as I have a lot of ground to cover. Lately though, I've been away on vacation and lack the time (or discipline) to sit in front of the laptop. Last week I was in Italy and yesterday we arrived to the Greek island of Tinos, one of the less touristic in the Aegean. Except, that is, on August 15th when the island gets overrun by pilgrims from all over the Christian Orthodox world flocking to the island's church to see the miracle-performing icon of Panaghia (i.e. the Holy Virgin). I'll be gone by then and spare myself the sight of the commercialization of faith. Anyway, my days now consist of swimming, lying on the beach and delving into the island's cuisine. It's incredible how, in a country with dozens of islands (I'm purposely limiting myself to the medium-to-big ones) each has its own distinct customs and cuisine. Yesterday, I was served a platter with cheeses impossible to taste outside the island, as they are too rare to standardize, package and market. Most of them were completely new to my taste buds and only one was similar to the famous graviera produced in the nearby island of Naxos. The incredible variety and taste of Greek cheeses can easily compare to e.g. French ones, but remains to this day an international secret despite the millions of tourists visiting the country every summer. All that foreigners know is feta, and even then they don't realize how many different kinds exist or that not all white soft cheese is feta - certainly not the tasteless white blocks made from cow's milk sold as such in the Netherlands. Here's a tip: Next time you're in Greece, walk into a super market and buy some unknown cheeses. Even better, ask for the local specialties at any village in the islands or mainland and you'll acquaint yourself with culinary experiences unavailable to city dwellers - not to mention foreigners. All of these have nothing to do with today's CD which is Energy Orchard.
Their name was vaguely familiar to me, as was the singer's name (Bap Kennedy), but what really convinced me, other than the fact I found it for price€1 on a market stall, was the producer: the name of Glyn Jones commands the respect, as he's worked with Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, The Who, Dylan, Clapton, The Clash and even The Beatles. Though not really worth mentioning in the same sentence with those giants (notice how I didn't?) Energy Orchard were, on the basis of this evidence, a pretty solid rock band with a nice twist: incorporating elements of their homeland's (Northern Ireland) traditional music. 1992's "Machine" is their second effort, and it carries echoes of Van Morrison, Tom Petty, U2 and the Waterboys. Thankfully these influences are all successfully assimilated, the music never sounding derivative but neither completely original. Opener "(When I'm With You I'm) All Alone" is a potent soul rocker with hard rock guitars a la Crazy Horse which is followed by a nice cover of Dylan's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" with a strong 60's folk rock vibe. Another garagey rocker follows in "How the West Was Won", possibly the fastest song of the CD. After that, the band's Irish blood takes over, resulting in a string of lyrical folk rockers: "My Cheating Heart" sports a nice fiddle intro and is more than a little indebted to Van Morrison's celtic soul sound, while "Pain, Heartbreak and Redemption", "Slieveban Drive" and "Blue Eyed Boy" add a bit of The Waterboys' Big Music, augmented with a gospel choir (the first) and fiddle (the second)."Stop the Machine" is a blues rocker with harmonica and "Three Days on the Tear" an upbeat folk song with lots of fiddle in the Waterboys/Pogues style. The rest ("Tell Your Mother", "All Your Jewels" and "Little Paleface") are all ballads, often with harmonica, Hammond organ and other flourishes. In my opinion, the band suffered from a lack of direction, opting for a clean pop production and including generic rockers like the title track rather than fully embracing their folk instincts. Nevertheless I found the album quite enjoyable and I am now persuaded to delve deeper into the work of Bap Kennedy and his band.
**** for (When I'm With You I'm) All Alone, My Cheating Heart
*** for It's All Over Now, Baby Blue, How the West Was Won, Pain, Heartbreak and Redemption, Slieveban Drive, Blue Eyed Boy, Stop the Machine, Three Days on the Tear, All Your Jewels, Little Paleface
I got this at the platenbeurs (moveable open record/ cd market) in den Haag, never having heard of Durwood Douche but intrigued with the idea of original, banned, songs from the 40's - which it isn't. It's all new songs on -let's say- adult subjects, but impeccably played and produced, with a faux period charm that is utterly convincing. You see, Durwood Douché was actually the pseudonym of septuagenarian L.A. jazz pianist Dick Shreve, who's played all kinds of jazz clubs since the 40's and even worked with such big band legends as Benny Goodman. Supposedly the (uncredited) singers and musicians are also the cream of LA's jazz club scene. Based on the musicianship displayed, I tend to believe it. Opener "Why Me God" was Douche's first release with this name: It appeared on a 7' single as "Everybody's Fucking But Me" in 1979. Almost 20 years later, Douche's entire oeuvre was released on CD, in the US with the title "Everybody's Fucking But Me" and in Europe as "Big Banned & Blue". The result is utterly hilarious, mostly when the songs are seriously played. For example "Why Me God" is a blues ballad where the singer moans in deep emotional pain, Billie Holiday-like "Everybody's fucking but me/I just can't seem to get laid/And though it's well made, my pussy's useful only when I pee". It's followed by another winner, a music hall duet called "My Most Favorite Things" (a.k.a. I can't keep my mitts off your tits) and "Air For A Dinosaur", a combination of jazz, gregorian hymn and incessant farting sounds. "Mister Bumpy" is a jovial music hall number on exhibitionism etc. The cabaret style (complete with faux- Marlene Dietrich vocals) "Merrilou" deals with face-sitting and cunnilingus, while "I'm In A Pickle" is a fiddler on the roof parody about sex with vegetables - you get the idea. The music veers from big band swing ("Here You Are") to Sinatra ballads ("Front Naughty Nocturne") to Hank Williams C&W ("Crazy To Be Crazy Over You"), while the album ends with Doris Day-like holiday number "The Christmas Gift": "Just a little Christmas blowjob will brighten up his day". I've heard the CD quite a few times and never get tired of it: the comedy may not be to everyone's taste, but the tunes are so good you'll be humming them in the bus - just don't forget yourself and sing the lyrics out loud, people might take it the wrong way...
**** for Why Me God, The Christmas Gift
*** for My Most Favorite Things, Mister Bumpy, These Remind Me Of You, Merrilou, Duet In Blue And Brown, Here You Are,I'm In A Pickle, 'Front Naughty' Nocturne, Crazy To Be Crazy Over You, Without You,
Last year, when I learnt the Stones were to tour again, I was delighted. As their only appearance in the Netherlands was in a festival near the German border, I even booked a hotel at a nearby town and got ready for the day the tickets would be on sale. Alas, it was not to be. When I logged in around 12, it was already sold out (in less than two hours). Same with their gig in Belgium. I was disappointed of course, but at least I was lucky enough to catch The Stones during the Bridges to Babylon tourin Athens. It was their secondappearance in Greece. The first was in April 1967, only a few days before the coup d'etat that saddled us with a fascist military junta for 7 years. Greece is now going through a similar period, only the CIA has been replaced by the EU (a euphemism for Germany & minions), elected government is blackmailed into submission rather than overthrown and tanks have been replaced by banks as weapon of choice. Anyway, the Stones' Athens concert in '67 ended in violence when Jagger approached the crowd handing out red flowers, a gesture the police chief on duty found to be too subversive for his liking. The one I witnessed was a much happier affair, with the band playing their hits for an enthusiastic generation-spanning crowd. Truly one of my best memories as a concert-goer. Of course, I had already bought the album and learnt the songs. Despite the absence of any real classics, it's quite good. After the return to form that was "Steel Wheels", 1994's "Voodoo Lounge" was a semi-successful effort to recapture former glories by recycling riffs and melodies from the past. "Bridges to Babylon" on the other hand was a product of Jagger's constant attempt to stay modern, this time by adding elements of electronica. He hired producers Dust Brothers (Beck, Beastie Boys) and Danny Saber (Black Grape) to produce some tracks, while Keith chose others for his own songs and Don Was oversaw the record as a whole trying to bind the different elements together. Thankfully it still sounds like the Rolling Stones, with only "Might as Well Get Juiced" and "Gunface" veering too closely to electronica. Lead single "Anybody Seen My Baby?" does feature a rap sample but is an otherwise typical mid-tempo Stones ballad with a lusty Jagger vocal.
A RS concert in '98 cost 12.000 drs ( €36)
And, with a young Angelina Jolie playing the subject of his desire in the video clip, I think we can all share in that sentiment. Just before the album's release, Keith's daughter pointed out the song's chorus similarity to k.d. Lang's "Constant Craving". Despite never having listened to Lang's song, Keith and Mick acknowledged a possible unconscious debt and gave her a part of the royalties, thus making the Canadian songstress a good deal richer. Opener"Flip the Switch" is arguably one of the Stones' fastest songs, followed by a typical Stones rocker in "Low Down" and emotive, insecure ballad"Already Over Me". The aggressive electronically treated rocker "Gunface" comes from the other end of the emotional spectrum while reggae-ish "You Don't Have to Mean It" is the first of 3 songs featuring a lead vocal by Richards. Unlike Mick, he sure keeps getting better as a singer as he gets older. Uptempo funk rocker "Out of Control" was the album's second single and "Saint Of Me" the third. As if we needed convincing, Jagger explains he's not fit for Sainthood over a warm gospel/r&b melody augmented by electronic drum loops. The funky electronica of "Might as Well Get Juiced" is followed by acoustic ballad "Always Suffering" and rocker "Too Tight", while the album closes with a couple of fine, jazzy Richards ballads in "Thief in the Night" and "How Can I Stop". All in all, another well crafted but rather nonessential latter-day Rolling Stones album, notable mostly for its (thankfully cautious) flirtation with electronica...
**** for Anybody Seen My Baby?, Already Over Me, You Don't Have to Mean It,Out of Control, Saint of Me
*** for Flip the Switch, Gunface, Always Suffering, Too Tight, Thief in the Night, How Can I Stop
Wayne Kramer is mostly known as former guitarist of the MC5, the 60s' most out-there, revolutionary rock group. The MC5 started off as a loud garage band playing rock'n'roll covers at high school dances, but got radicalised in the polarised political climate of the times, eventually joining John Sinclair's radical left White Panther Party and playing all kinds of benefits and demonstrations. They recorded 3 hugely influential albums, inspired by free jazz and inspiring, in turn, countless punk and hard rock bands. But they soon disintegrated, as they couldn't handle the responsibility of publicly representing the whole radical left movement, getting dragged from one violent protest to another and being endlessly persecuted by the authorities. In 1969, their manager John Sinclair was framed and imprisoned for drug charges (John Lennon campaigned vigorously for his release). A few years later, an addicted and disillusioned Kramer also got imprisoned for passing cocaine to an undercover cop. His road to recovery was long and arduous. By the time he resurfaced in 1995, many of his comrades in the MC5 was already dead and gone: singer Rob Tyner and guitarist Fred "Sonic" Smith (Patti Smith's husband) coincidentally both died of heart failure at the age of 45. This is Kramer's third solo record, produced by David Was of Was (Not Was). The music is a mixture of prose, funk, heavy metal and electronic music. His autobiographical lyrics and guitar playing remain stellar, the music unfortunately less so. The CD does begin impressively with funk-metal "Stranger In The House" sounding like a cross between Frank Zappa and Guns N Roses. "Back When Dogs Could Talk" is a typically experimental piece, poetry recited over jazzy licks, metallic riffs and soul backing vocals. "Revolution In Apt. 29" is the second highlight of the record, featuring sympathetically satiric lyrics about his days with the far-left middle-class "revolutionaries": "We're having a revolution/ In apartment 29/ Someone brought bazookas/ Someone's chilling wine/ We'll write a manifesto /Just after chips and pesto/ We've got more problems than solutions/ But no one seems to mind". "Down On The Ground" is a welcome hard-rocking return to the days of MC5 and "No Easy Way Out" an earnest autobiographical mid-tempo rocker about addiction. "You Don't Know My Name" is funk-metal and "Snatched Defeat" a straight-up hard rocker a la Neil Young. Most of the rest is a combination of electronic sounds, metallic riffs and prose. The most interesting moments of these are "Shining Mr. Lincoln's Shoes"'s oriental bouzoukilicks and bluesy guitar solos, and the captivating storytelling about the U.S. penal system in "Count Time" and CIA covert operations in "Dope For Democracy". Interesting album, for sure, as is Kramer as a person. Yet a far cry from his MC5 heyday...
**** for Stranger In The House, Revolution In Apt. 29
*** for Back When Dogs Could Talk,Down On The Ground,Shining Mr. Lincoln's Shoes,No Easy Way Out,Snatched Defeat
** for Dope For Democracy, You Don't Know My Name, Count Time, Doing The Work, A Farewell To Whiskey
Today is a day of grave mood in my country, Greece. Six months of incessant diplomacy and negotiation between Greece's left-wing government and other governments and Eurocrats culminated in a weekend of brutal aggression on the part of Germany and EU. Monday morning found prime-minister Tsipras succumbing to blackmail and signing his surrender: 3 more years of crushing austerity for the poor in return for yet another "rescue" package to ensure that the banks keep working and that the IMF, ECB and other creditors get their loans back with interest. For those who believed that change is possible, it feels like a shattering defeat, but the only thing shattered here is illusions. The illusion that people are free to make their own choices, that we live in a democracy and that the EU is actually a union based on cooperation, solidarity and equality (Boy, did I choose the wrong time to go and live in the proverbial belly of the Beast!). We were basically told that our opinion doesn't matter, the governments we choose are voiceless and powerless and that we're forever chained in perpetual debt bondage. In truth, there can only be one answer to that: The fight must and will go on! If elections cannot change anything, so be it - The fight will move from the parliament halls and government buildings back to the streets! And Randy is one of the bands that can help provide the soundtrack, with their music being both joyous and rebellious and lyrics full of conviction and certainty that If we unite we can break them ("If we unite"). As they say "Come on everybody sing with me/This is a song about being free/Days of submission, oh no, won't last long/This is a freedom song"(Freedom Song). Sloganeering, you say? I guess so, but I'd still rather sing that tune than the poor man's blues.
Randy come from Sweden and their brand of melodic punk rock is as populist (and as good) as that of their American counterparts Green Day and Rancid. Like them, they draw inspiration from the Ramones, Clash, Who and Stooges. And like them, they write catchy choruses that can easily be chanted back at them by huge crowds at football stadiums - only in this occasion, they won't. It doesn't matter how commercial their music is, they come from the wrong continent. And, more crucially, their subject matter isn't one the public is very likely to warm up to: Swedes can get Americans to sing about Dancing Queens but Proletarian Hop? Isn't that a bad word? Frankly, it never seizes to amaze me that so many bands of the Marxist persuasion (e.g. Randy, International Noise Conspiracy) come from this moderately socialist country with the smallest class differences in the world. How do you get radicalised growing up under the comfort and security of the welfare state? On the other hand, a good education, free time and access to information via books and the Internet can also be an eye-opening combination. You don't have to see your neighbour searching for food in the garbage cans (like it's happening in Greece lately) to draw the conclusion that there's something wrong with capitalism. Of course, Randy's not all about politics: They also sing about the thrills of rockin' out (therockabilly/hardcore of "Chicken Shack", Rancid-meet-AC/DC of "Punk Rock City", Dropkick Murphys-like of "Rockin' Pneumonia and the Punk Rock Flu", Eddie Cochran-referencing "The Heebie Jeebies/Dial 911"). They sing the praises of early rock'n'roll idol Little Richard ("The Human Atom Bombs"), male friendship ("Summer of Bros") and modern slackerdom (the double-speed rockabilly of "Shape Up"). The Buzzcocks-like "Addicts of Communication" is a satirical jab on their generation's mobile phone and Internet fixation. "I Don't Need Love" reverses the Beatles' message to adjust it to the 21st Century, while the Hives/Stooges garage punk of "Keep Us Out of Money" accuses stock market-types for the perpetual poverty of the working class. The Green Day-ish "Karl Marx and History" is about turning protest marches into a joyful celebration driven by the certainty of final victory, because "...so says Karl Marx and history". Thankfully they don't forget to exhibit some self-mocking humour with lines like "We got all kinds of freedom fighters gathered here/We got our friends in the corner over there drinking beer". But the real gems here are a trio of songs that sound as if they've come right out of The Clash's London Calling (and I can't think of any higher praise than that). The same mix of punk rock, ska, latin and rockabilly licks and left-wing sloganeering. On "If We Unite", you could even mistake singer Stefan Granberg for Joe Strummer himself as he sings with conviction "If we unite we can break them". "Freedom Song" is another Clash carbon copy (in the best sense possible) and a mighty enjoyable one, complete with bells chiming and singalong Rama lama ding dong's . "Proletarian Hop" has a ridiculously catchy chorus and guitar riff that would be guaranteed to make it the ultimate frat party anthem, if it wasn't for the lyrics. The song draws a straight line from the Spanish Civil War to today, effectively equating the fascists to today's neo-liberals and urging us to continue the fight: "They say it ended that last year/But the fascists are still here/The war ain't over and the battle ain't won/The struggle, baby, has just begun/It's a war between the classes/The privileged few against the masses/Spanish anarchists said: No pasaran!/I say we stick to that until the war is won". Amen to that!
**** for Addicts of Communication, Karl Marx and History, If We Unite, Proletarian Hop, Rockin' Pneumonia and the Punk Rock Flu, Freedom Song, The Human Atom Bombs
*** for Punk Rock City, Keep Us Out of Money, Summer of Bros, I Don't Need Love, Shape Up, The Heebie Jeebies (Dial 911)
** for Chicken Shack, Whose Side Are You On?, Win or Lose, I Believe in the Company
Born in Mississippi in 1917, John Lee Hooker was around almost as long as the blues itself, devising a new urban blues boogie style, scoring his first hits in the 40's and experiencing a late career rebirth with 1989's "The Healer" that lasted until his death in 2001. These late records were full of guests from the blues and rock world, lining up to play the blues with one of the last original pioneers of the genre. Many of them are also featured here to pay tribute to the master bluesman and help raise money for a charity in his name. The result is entertaining but uneven, as it often happens with such tribute albums. Although most of the songs are J.L.Hooker originals, the end result mostly reflects the players themselves. A bit of the old DNA is in evidence in the opening soulful performance of "I Want to Hug You", sung by his daughterZakiya backed by Johnnie Johnson & Bobby Murray. The classic "I'm in the Mood" is given a generic hard rock treatment by Jack Bruce and Gary Moore (now both also sadly deceased). Not bad, but I much prefer their slow take on "Serve Me Right to Suffer". Yes, it does sound like any other Gary Moore ballad, albeit a very good one. In any case, neither song sounds anything like the original. "Bad Like Jesse James" (by Vince Converse backed byLeo Lyons and Ric Lee from Ten Years After) comes somewhat closer. "Baby Lee" and "Little Wheel" are even more faithful, played with gusto by 60's veterans Gary Brooker (Procol Harum) and Andy Fairweather-Low (Amen Corner and, more recently, Roger Waters' band). The acoustic "Ground Hog Blues" also sports a quite original feel, not surprisingly since T.S. McPhee (from The Groundhogs) has played with Hooker since the 60's and was one of the first people to introduce him to British audiences. Colosseum's Dick Heckstall-Smith on sax adds a welcome jazz twist. On "I'm Leaving" they rock harder, as they're joined by Humbie Pie guitarist extraordinaire Clem Clempson. Jeff Beck offers his guitar pyrotechnics to the Hooker-like boogie "Hobo Blues" and the traditional gospel "Will The Circle Be Unbroken". Former Rolling Stone Mick Taylor adds workmanlike boogie "This Is Hip" and Peter Green takes on "Crawlin' King Snake", one of Hooker's most famous tunes. Of all the superstar guitarists involved in this project, Green was (in his Fleetwood Mac days) once the greatest. Inspired by religion (and drugs)he took a break in 1970 and never completely returned. His folk-blues guitar playing here is beautiful but very different and inferior to his old style, while his vocals sound like they're from beyond the grave. The remaining two tracks are the most intriguing as they come from half-finished J.L.Hooker projects: Greggs Eggs' blues-soul "The Business" (vocals by Suzanne Sterling) was destined for the next Hooker CD but never recorded by him due to his death and "Red House" features the great man himself backed by Booker T. Jones on organ and Randy California (from Spirit) on guitar. It was supposed to appear on a Jimi Hendrix tribute album and it's typical late-period J.L.Hooker, a nice slow jam with his trademark mumbling vocals. Not an extraordinary find, but a fine epitaph nevertheless.
**** for I Want to Hug You (Zakiya Hooker & Johnnie Johnson), Baby Lee (Gary Brooker & Andy Fairweather-Low), I'm Leaving (T.S. Mcphee, Dick Heckstall-Smith & Clem Clempson), Serves Me Right to Suffer (Gary Moore), Red House (John Lee Hooker & Booker T & Randy California)
*** for I'm in the Mood (Jack Bruce & Gary Moore), Bad Like Jesse James (Leo Lyons, Ric Lee, Vince Converse), Will the Circle Be Unbroken (Jeff Beck), Ground Hog Blues (T.S. McPhee & Dick Heckstall-Smith), This Is Hip (Mick Taylor), Little Wheel (Gary Brooker & Andy Fairweather-Low), Crawlin' King Snake (Peter Green), The Business (Greggs Eggs), Hobo Blues (Jeff Beck)
Ry Cooder is probably best known as a soundtrack composer, producer and serial collaborator. The story of how he discovered the Cuban veterans of the Buena Vista Social Club and brought them out of retirement and into international stardom, well that's the stuff of legend. We'll get into the details when we present that record. His own recordings showcase his deep knowledge of American history and roots music as well as his instrumental prowess, most notably on slide guitar. As usually happens with his albums, "Chicken Skin Music" reads like an encyclopedia of American traditional music, incorporating the sounds of Mexico and Hawaii. He opens and closes with a couple of Leadbelly songs. Often an inspiration for Cooder, Leadbelly was certainly a larger-than-life character: A folksinger and brawler, he spent a big part of his life incarcerated and was discovered and recorded in the infamous Angola prison camp in Louisiana during 1933/1934 by the archivist Lomax brothers. His good behaviour and winsome ballad "Goodnight Irene" moved the notoriously hard governor enough to grant him early release. "The Bourgeois Blues" is an anti-racist song written from personal experience, warning black people about the harsh treatment they can expect in northern cities, where they flocked in great numbers during the recession. It won him lifelong friends in the American Communist Party and lifelong enemies in the FBI. In his own fine version Cooder accompanies himself on bottleneck guitar, bajo sexto, mandola and French accordion. It's followed by traditional "I Got Mine", a jug band-style song embellished with horns and "Always Lift Him Up", a country song he mixes with the Hawaiian tune "Kanaka Wai Wai" (with Cooder on Hawaiian Slack-KeyGuitar). The old country hit "He'll Have to Go" and the classic "Stand by Me" are transformed by Flaco Jimenez's accordion into great Tex-Mex mariachi ballads. "Smack Dab in the Middle" is a rhythmic R&B number, followed by country ballad "Yellow Roses" and guitar instrumental "Chlo-e". Especially for those last 2 songs Cooder flew all the way to Honolulu to record with Hawaiian guitar legends Gabby Pahinui and Atta Isaacs. "Goodnight Irene" closes the album with another Mexican flavoured performance withJimenez and his band. All in all, a solid album exhibiting Cooder's instrumental talent, expertise in all styles of American roots music and penchant for unusual and exotic sounds which would culminate with his forays into African and Latin American music in the 90's onwards...
**** for The Bourgeois Blues, He'll Have to Go, Smack Dab in the Middle
*** for I Got Mine, Always Lift Him Up/Kanaka Wai Wai, Stand by Me, Yellow Roses, Chlo-e, Goodnight Irene
Another concert I recently saw in Amsterdam was that of the Moody Blues. The audience in these two concerts (The Who and Moody Blues) had an average age of 60+, quite the opposite from what happens in Greece where, regardless the kind of music, concert-goers are mostly young with the odd middle-aged person here and there (Of course, the crisis may have changed that, too). Why that happens in The Netherlands, I don't know. Is it a sign of youth turning away from rock? Of the deep influence pop music had in Sixties' Holland? Or of the Dutch baby boomers being really active and immersing themselves in all kinds of activities when Greeks of their generation mostly just go to the tavern? Anyway, it made for an enthusiastic audience. The band featured 3 members from the classic line-up, Justin Hayward (guitar & vocals), John Lodge (bass, guitar, vocals) and Graeme Edge (drums, though a second drummer was required as he couldn't physically pull off the whole gig). The other two played with undiminished prowess, while the rest of the musicians were also very good - especially the two ladies contributing vocals, flutes, saxes, keyboards and more. My only objection is the "psychedelic" screen projections, obviously meant to replicate a 60's light show but actually looking like a Windows Media Player visualisation. The music was a melange of pop and progressive rock drawing from all stages of their career. Not that I'd mind had they stopped in 1972, when they took a break after a string of 7 masterful albums which began with this one, arguably one of the cornerstones of pop and rock music.
The Moody Blues at Heineken Music Hall, Amsterdam 25/6/2015
Funnily enough, the original idea behind it belonged to a member of that most maligned profession, a record company executive. Having devised a new enhanced stereo recording technique, Decca Records sought for the right sound to showcase the new technology and came up with a (previously unimaginable) mixture of pop and classical music. They even chose the piece, Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 and enlisted a pop group to play. Only they had other ideas. Instead of working on their symphony parts, they hijacked the orchestra and had them play their own music, a song suite replicating the different hours of a typical day. The result was so good that no-one was upset by their mischief and the album was released with much fanfare, Despite the fact that neither album nor single bothered the Top-10 at the time, it signalled the opening of new horizons and the birth of the Progressive Rock genre, The orchestra bridges the songs together and takes the spotlight on the symphonic opening and closing parts, but the Moodies' sound is in itself very rich, as it's embellished with flute, sitar and, most notably, mellotron - a tape-replay synthesizer emulating the sound of an orchestra which came to dominate prog rock in the 70's. The album begins with "The Day Begins", an orchestral piece cleverly previewing some of the themes that will follow, in symphonic form. A spoken intro and instrumental bridge are followed by the majestic ballad "Dawn Is a Feeling" and the playful "Another Morning" evoking vivid images of children playing. Another orchestral interlude is followed by psychedelic rocker "Peak Hour". The Afternoon is comprised by Hayward's lyrical "Tuesday Afternoon" and Lodge's "(Evening) Time to Get Away". The first part was also released as a single and is a beautiful melody withgreat vocals, acoustic guitar and mellotron. "The Sunset" somewhat echoes The Beatles' flirtation with Indian music while Evening's second part "Twilight Time" is an upbeat psychedelic rocker typical of the late 60's. Which leads us to "Nights in White Satin", one of the all-time greatest ballads in the history of music. It's impossible to calculate how many couples have slowdanced to this song holding each other tight, how many lovestruck youths have written it on cassette compilations for their loved one or dedicated it to them on the radio. Emotive vocals, majestic strings, breathtaking melody: no wonder it's never off the airwaves - just turn the dial long enough and it'll pop out. I'll hazard a guess that, as long as there are lovers and music, it'll keep getting played. The original album ends with a short narration by Edge, but this edition adds no less than 10 bonus tracks: Alternate versions of "Tuesday Afternoon", "Dawn Is A Feeling", "The Sun Set" and "Twilight Time" prove that the songs work fine even taken out of context, while a live version of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" provides a link to their R&B roots. Single tracks "Fly Me High", "I Really Haven't Got The Time" and "Leave This Man Alone" are fine specimens of Beatles-y pop, while "Love and Beauty" and "Cities" veer closely to the more intricate sound of the album. All in all, an influential bona-fide classic - no record collection is complete without it...
***** for Dawn Is a Feeling, Forever Afternoon (Tuesday?), Nights in White Satin, Tuesday Afternoon (alternate version)
**** for Another Morning, Peak Hour, The Sunset, Twilight Time, Fly Me High, Love and Beauty, Cities, Dawn Is A Feeling(alternate version), The Sun Set(alternate version),Twilight Time(alternate version)
*** for The Day Begins, Morning Glory, Lunch Break:Intro, (Evening) Time to Get Away, Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood, I Really Haven't Got The Time, Leave This Man Alone
I just caught The Who at Amsterdam, the last stop of their Who Hits 50 tour. Once more they didn't disappoint (I also saw them a couple of years ago, when they presented the whole Quadrophenia album). Of course their age shows, the manic energy of their 60's concerts is gone (and so has, thankfully. the destruction of their instruments onstage) but they can still play a rippin' good show. I guess that when they can't do it anymore, they'll just stop. They played music from all stages of their career, including two songs from this, their 1965 debut. It has been called "the hardest rocking LP" ever, a valid statement given the time of its release. Its relentless youthful energy provided the blueprint for much of the subsequent garage rock, heavy metal, and punk. Opener "Out in the Street" is a powerful garage/R&B number with a catchy chorus. It's followed by "I Don't Mind", the first of two James Brown covers (the other is "Please, Please, Please"). It may seem a strange choice for a hard rock band, but The Who (with their previous names, as the High Numbers and the Detours) were the house band of the mod movement, known for its meticulous dress code, love for scooters and soulmusic - hence The Who's early moniker "Maximum R&B". "The Good's Gone" is a great garage rocker with drawling vocals and "Much Too Much" sports a Dylan/ Byrds folk rock sound. "La-La-La-Lies" is a melodic Beatles-y number and "It's Not True" a mocking song featuring a Stones-y beat, Beatles-y harmonies and Townsend's trademark power chords. "My Generation" itself is an iconic song, an open call for rebellion against the older generation, topped by the infamous "I hope I die before I get old" line. I'm not sure how they feel playing it now that they've hit 70. Musically it's also a very aggressive song:
Townshed's guitars are loud and distorted, Moon attacks his drums more furiously than anyone in memory and Daltrey's delivery is an angry and frustrated stutter (When I first heard him sing "Why don't you all f-f-f-f-fade away", I was half-expecting to hear f-f-f-fuck off). Not to be outdone, Entwistle puts in the coolest bass break I've ever heard. "The Kids Are Alright" is an autobiographical piece. As Daltrey told us, it came from feeling trapped in the role of a husband and father when je was just a 20 year old kid who wanted only to play rock 24/7. "Sometimes, I feel I gotta get away...Bells chime, I know I gotta get away/And I know if I don't, I'll go out of my mind/Better leave her behind with the kids, they're alright/The kids are alright" Musically, the first impression is that it sounds like the Beatles. Then you think yeah, if the Beatles had swallowed a bagfull of speed, causing Ringo to grow a couple of extra hands! Now, The Who weren't blues influenced like their contemporaries Animals/Stones/Yardbirds etc, but they did include a loose but aggressive blues jam in "I'm A Man". Halfway through it disintegrates in a haze of guitar feedback, manic drumming and disjointed piano keys banging. "A Legal Matter" is about divorce (pretty rare for that time since rock'n'rollers were barely out of their teens) and it's the first song sung by Pete Townshed rather than divorcee Roger Daltrey. The album closes with "Ox", a monumental surf instrumental all distorted guitars (predating Hendrix by a couple of years) and frantic drumming played at double speed. The fact that Keith Moon was barely 19 at the time beggars belief! The Who quickly outgrew this phase and wrote more sophisticated songs but, for sheer energy and power, they never surpassed "My Generation". And neither has anyone else, for that matter!
***** for My Generation, The Kids Are Alright
**** for Out in the Street, The Good's Gone, It's Not True, A Legal Matter, The Ox
*** for I Don't Mind, La-La-La-Lies, Much Too Much, Please Please Please, I'm a Man
The black device on the coffee table is called a telephone. The round thing in its middle with the holes is a dial.
Blues Wire were an electric blues band from Thessaloníki. They started their career in 1983 as Blues Gang and quickly established themselves as one of the best European blues bands. Bluesmen visiting Greece in the 80's-90's would often enlist them as their backing band because of their deep knowledge of the genre. They've backed Louisiana Red, Katie Webster, John Hammond, Carey and Lurrie Bell, Angela Brown and many others. I've often had the opportunity to see them play in my hometown of Athens and, having seen many famous blues artists live, I can honestly say The Blues Wire were up there with the best of them. This album was their first under the "Blues Wire" moniker. The production is way ahead of all other albums of the Greek Alternative scene of the time and thankfully free of 80's trappings that ruined "electric blues" albums of that era. It is definitively electric but less rock than, say, Gary Moore or Johnny Winter. Instead it stays closer to its roots, with a sound similar to classic Chicago Blues and John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. The playing is excellent throughout and the orchestration features two guitars (lead and rhythm or slide), bass, drums and the occasional keyboard and harmonica. Highlights include Howling Wolf's "Who's Been Talking", Wilson Pickett's "Mustang Sally" (similar to Buddy Guy's version, but recorded a few years earlier) and Zaikos originals "Fat Meets Bones" (instrumental) and "Blues Junkie" (with female lead vocals). But my absolute favorite is the fantastic reworking of Sleepy John Estes' 1929 hit "Diving Duck". They don't write lyrics like that any more: "If the river was whiskey/and I was a diving duck/ I would dive to the bottom and never would come back". Wasn't there a prohibition in 1929? Yes, there was! I can't help but make the connection with Greek Rembetika of the same time, always singing the praises of hashish despite the fact it was illegal.
**** for Who's Been Talking, Diving Duck, Fat Meets Bones, Blues Junkie *** for Mustang Sally, Crying for My Baby, Bye Bye Baby, Because Of You
Wikipedia lists 13 bands in the category South African indie rock groups and another 17 in the category South African alternative rock groups. Interestingly, based on the photos provided, all except one are white. Blk Jks is the one exception. Could it be that black South Africans resent rock because it is the music of their "former" oppressors? Or is this the result of the cultural ban from the West during the appartheid years? It didn't seem to stop white South Africans from keeping up with the latest developments in rock. Maybe African culture is just rooted too deep for other influences to survive in its shadow. But, in the case of the Blk Jks, survive they did: Besides the traditional African music influences, traces of indie, new wave, funk and prog rock combine to create a unique musical amalgam often compared to TV on the Radio. Songs alternate between styles and languages (English, Zulu, and Xhosa) and confound music journalists in their attempt to pigeonhole them. Opener "Molalatladi" is the stand-out track and, in its vocals and structure, overtly African. Yes, the spidery guitars come from the Santana/Hendrix rock tradition, but we've seen that before with African bands, most notably Tinariwen and their Malian brethren. "Banna Ba Modimo" is more adventurous, combining Mars Volta's grungy prog with Balkan horns and even a short rap. I'm not sure whether I like it, but I can't help but admire the ambition behind it. "Standby" is their most user-friendly piece yet,an indie rock ballad, sung in English. "Lakeside" is more accomplished, a proggy piece reminiscent of Radiohead. It brought the band unexpected fame (and money, I hope) when it was included in the EA's FIFA 10 Playstation/PC Game. "Taxidermy" features falsetto vocals, noisy guitars and drumming that momentarily gel together only to disintegrate again in chaos. "Kwa Nqingetje" is an almost experimental atmospheric piece and "Skeleton" a dub/funk combination with prominent horns and loud guitars. "Cursor" is a slow and sprawling indie-dub while "Tselane" takes us full circle to Africa. This time, though, it's simplicity itself: just hypnotic vocals and acoustic guitars, providing a much-needed respite from the dense sounds that preceded it. At the time of its circulation, "After Robots" received rave reviews, but (if I'm not mistaken) sold rather poorly. Maybe it was too complicates for the general public. Or maybe it wasn't properly promoted by the record company. In any case, it seems to have disappeared completely . As for the EP and CD that followed it, until I googled them earlier today I didn't even know of their existence. If you like your music to take you to interesting and unexpected places, I suggest you try Blk Jks. You won't regret it...
**** for Molalatladi, Lakeside, Skeleton
*** for Banna Ba Modimo, Standby, Taxidermy, Tselane
This album was my introduction to Deacon Blue. When I want to get into a band, I start either with a Best-of or with their most famous album. I guess you can also start with a couple songs on youtube or even download a whole album from piratebay, but if I'm even remotely interested in a band, I have to have a CD (or LP, of course). My first impression of the band was that it reminded me of (fellow Scotts) the Waterboys, so I wasn't surprised to learn they used to tour together in the 80's. Further listening of his compilation revealed Deacon Blue (named thus after a Steely Dan song) to be a more pop/soul oriented band. Prefab Sprout or Dexys Midnight Runners would be a better comparison. "Our Town" compiles almost all of the singles and adds 3 previously unreleased songs. I'll present them in chronological order, starting with their 1987 debut "Raintown", which obviously refers to their native Glasgow. I know because I was in Dutch class with a Glasgow girl and distinctly remember her response to us Mediterranean fellows complaining about the Dutch weather. She said "What are you talking about? At least here it doesn't rain every day!" "Raintown" is a short of concept album relating to everyday life in an urban working-class neighborhood. Hence come songs on love, longing and difficult relationships like the Waterboys-like folk of "Chocolate Girl" and soul of "When Will You (Make My Telephone Ring)", songs of strife and social inequality like soul/R&B "Loaded" and of chasing your dreams: DB's greatest hit "Dignity" is about a man hard at work, saving for a small boat and dreaming of the good times he can have with it. From 1988's "When the World Knows Your Name" we get the pop/soul "Queen of the New Year", the Springsteen/U2-like "Love and Regret" and the upbeat hits "Real Gone Kid", "Wages Day", and Van Morrison-influenced "Fergus Sings the Blues". The album reached No.1 in the UK, while follower "Fellow Hoodlums" (1991) went to No.2. It continued on the same direction, mixing a soul rhythm section, folk-ish acoustic guitars and fiddles and expressive, soulful vocals. From here we get "Your Swaying Arms" and "Cover from the Sky", a folk/pop number featuring Lorraine McIntosh on lead vocals. The album's high point was the effervescent "Twist and Shout", a catchy combination of pop and Cajun zydeco reminiscent of the Talking Heads. From EP "Four Bacharach and David Songs" we get pop tearjerker "I'll Never Fall in Love Again". Despite the success of their previous albums, "Whatever You Say, Say Nothing" (1993) saw a change in direction towards alternative rock and even dance music (probably as a result of hiring Paul Oakenfold as a producer). "Your Town" and "Only Tender Love" seem to use U2 as a role model while "Will We Be Lovers" is more dance-oriented. Of the 3 new songs, "I Was Right and You Were Wrong" continues in the new alternative rock direction and was released as a single, while "Bound to Love" and "Still in the Mood" are two nice songs in the familiar folk/soul style of their earlier records. I'm satisfied with this collection, but still not convinced to delve further: these 4 or 5 songs from each album must certainly be the cream of the crop. Who knows if the rest of the album is worth buying? Maybe I should look it up on youtube, or even download from piratebay, just to make sure...
**** for Dignity, Real Gone Kid, Fergus Sings the Blues, Chocolate Girl, Twist and Shout
*** for Wages Day, Your Swaying Arms, I Was Right and You Were Wrong, I'll Never Fall in Love Again, When Will You (Make My Telephone Ring), Your Town, Queen of the New Year, Only Tender Love, Cover from the Sky, Love and Regret, Will We Be Lovers, Loaded, Bound to Love, Still in the Mood
