Lemmy "Damage Case" 1966-2005(rec) 2006(comp)****

Usually between Christmas and New Year there isn't any news worth reporting, Today's news, though, were as heavy-hitting as they were sad: Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister, a real rock'n'roll legend, passed away last Monday. He had seemed indestructible until a year or two ago, when life on the road, alcohol and hard drugs had began to take their toll. Yet he appeared to be over his health problems, recording a new album in 2015 and only slightly slowing down his touring schedule. In the end, he succumbed to a very aggressive form of cancer: He was diagnosed on December 26th (a couple of days after his 70th birthday) and died just two days later. So I decided my last post of 2015 should be a small tribute to a true rock original, a presentation of his career retrospective entitled "Lemmy: Damage Case". Ian Kilmister was still in high school when he acquired his nickname because he kept asking everyone to "lemmy [lend me] a quid" as he was already addicted to gambling at the slot machines. He entered rock and roll in 1965 as a member of the Rockin' Vickers and has been one of the most hard working (and hard rocking) musicians, touring and recording unstoppably for the last 50 years. His life is the source of a million anecdotes and wild tales of sex, drugs and rock'n'roll to the max. All hugely entertaining, but as we deal here with record presentations, and not biographies, I'll urge you to look elsewhere for that. A good starting point could be 2010's "Lemmy" documentary.

"Damage Case" is a unique anthology as it mostly delves into Lemmy's unknown roots and various side-projects, with only passing references to his main contribution to rock, Motörhead. It starts off with 3 tracks from his earliest band The Rockin' Vickers. which Lemmy joined as simply a guitar player (1965-1967). Their cover of The Kinks' "Dandy" that opens the 1st CD was their (relatively) biggest success, but comes off as too tame (and rather lame). "I Don't Need Your Kind" is a nice garage rocker, while "It's Alright" is seemingly based on an early version of The Who's "The Kids Are Alright".

In 1967 Lemmy moved to London, sharing a flat with bassist Noel Redding of The Jimi Hendrix Experience, while working as a roadie for the band. Next year he provided guitar and vocals for the psychedelic band of Malaysian-born tabla player Sam Gopal. As a guitarist, Lemmy is crude but he seems to have picked up a trick or two from Hendrix while carrying his guitars from gig to gig. Strange as it sounds, despite the acoustic percussion and underlying Eastern melodies the two tracks included here seem to presage Motörhead in the vocal department - especially "Escalator". My favorite line from that song: "If you think you like me living, baby/You're gonna love me when I'm dead". Right on, Lemmy!

In '72 Lemmy joined (as bassist and occasional vocalist) the world's premier space-rockers Hawkwind, a band known as much for their psychedelic drone music as for the long hair, drug habits and wild stage antics, including an impressive light show and naked lady dancers. The first Hawkwind track included here "The Watcher" is Eastern-tinged acoustic psychedelia, followed by the band's biggest hit, sci-fi boogie "Silver Machine", composed by Dave Brock and sung by Lemmy. Lemmy's own composition "Motorhead" (without the umlaut over the "o") was a straight-up rock'n'roller to which other members added saxophone and violin solos. It was eventually left out the album and consigned to a single B-side. In '75, Lemmy was fired from the band following a drug bust while on tour. Now, Hawkwind weren't exactly straight edge - try notorious stoners. But Lemmy's drug of choice was speed (amphetamine), which obviously meant that he was out of synch with the rest. As he later confessed, getting fired from Hawkwind is one of the things that hurt him the most. He took some instant revenge from them in his own way: “I came home from America and fucked all their old ladies. Except for Brock’s. I couldn’t get his. I had a good time with all them chicks – they were really eager.”

His next step was to form his own band, from which no one would ever kick him out of. It was to be a speed trio with guitarist "Fast" Eddie Clarke and drummer Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor, who also passed away earlier in the year (last November, in fact). He named them Motörhead (with an "ö") after his Hawkwind composition, which he re-recorded and re-released with his new band. They are often considered the progenitors of thrash metal, but their music is really pure rock'n'roll boogie played loud and fast as only a speed freak like Lemmy can. His gruff vocal and lightning fast bass is the band's trademark and indeed few sounds are as instantly recognisable as a Motörhead song. Somehow, though, he manages to never be boring despite continuously repeating himself. Very few have achieved that (I can only think of The Fall and, probably, The Ramones). This compilation offers typical Motörhead fare "Damage Case"and "Hellraiser", Hell's Angels tribute "Iron Horse/Born to Lose" and Plasmatics cover "Masterplan", as well as one of their finest moments "Killed By Death". I love the video with Lemmy rising from the grave on a motorcycle - I hope he doesn't pull that trick on his funeral, though - some old people with weak hearts will be attending! "1916" is, on the other hand, very atypical of the band, an anti-war ballad with a slow marching beat akin to the traditional "Waltzing Matilda". We also get a short, punky tribute to a certain New York band (guess which) entitled "R.A.M.O.N.E.S." and a thrashy cover of Metallica's "Whiplash". Metallica have often acknowledged their debt to Lemmy and covered his songs, and he returns the favour with a ripping cover of their classic "Enter Sandman". Another metal band that gets the nod is Iron Maiden whose "Trooper" he also covers, a cool version closer to the original than to the familiar Motörhead sound.  Further solo tracks like "Thirsty And Miserable" and Queen cover "Tie Your Mother Down" are just as great but indistinguishable from Motörhead. For all the metal connections, Lemmy's first and biggest love was rock'n'roll and that becomes evident by all the golden oldies included here. First up, there's a fantastic cover of Johnny Kid and The Pirates' "Please Don't Touch", performed by Motörhead together with female metal band Girlschool.

Then there's a one-off single with The Pirates' guitarist Mick Green, containing a hard rock cover of Elvis' "Blue Suede Shoes" and an original composition in 60's pop style entitled "Paradise". Lemmy has also recorded a straight-up rockabilly album with Danny B and Slim Jim from Stray Cats. It's really enjoyable and Lemmy obviously has the time of his life churning out unironically faithful covers of oldies by Carl Perkins ("Matchbox"), Johnny Cash ("Big River") and even a Buddy Holly teenage-broken-hearts ballad ("Learning The Game"). 

Another 50's ballad ("Stand By Your Man") sung with the Plasmatics' Wendy O Williams gets horribly mangled. Well, what can you do? Wendy didn't have much of a voice, what she had was a spunky character, killer body and good friends like Lemmy. Other friends of Lemmy's appearing here are punk rockers The Damned (on Sweet cover "Ballroom Blitz" and "Over The Top", proving that Motörhead's music was as close to punk rock as it was to heavy metal). Collaborations continue with R&B stomper "Don't Do That" by the Young And Moody Band (featuring Whitesnake's Mick Moody and pop duo The Nolan Sisters) and "Shake Your Blood" by Probot, a musical vehicle for Dave Grohl of Nirvana/Foo Fighters fame. All in all, this compilation is a fitting tribute to one of the last great rock'n'roll heroes. Farewell, Lemmy! I'd say "Rest In Peace" but somehow I don't think that it's your style ...

***** for Escalator (Sam Gopal), Silver Machine (Hawkwind), Motorhead (Hawkwind), Please Don't Touch (Headgirl), Killed By Death (Motörhead)

**** for I Don't Need Your Kind (Rockin' Vickers), It's Alright (Rockin' Vickers), The Dark Lord (Sam Gopal), Ballroom Blitz (Damned), Over The Top (Motördam), Iron Horse / Born To Lose (Motörhead), Blue Suede Shoes (with Mick Green), Enter Sandman, Big River (with Slim Jim & Danny B), The Trooper (with Phil Campbell & Rocky George)

*** for The Watcher (Hawkwind), Damage Case (Motörhead), Don't Do That (Young And Moody Band), Masterplan (Motörhead), Paradise (with Mick Green), 1916 (Motörhead), Hellraiser (Motörhead), Tie Your Mother Down, R.A.M.O.N.E.S (Motörhead), Matchbox (with Slim Jim & Danny B), Thirsty And Miserable, Shake Your Blood (Probot Feat. Dave Grohl), Whiplash (Motörhead)

** for Dandy (Rockin Vickers), Learning The Game (with Slim Jim & Danny B.), Stand By Your Man (with Wendy O Williams)

Various Artists "100 Hits-Christmas Legends" 2010(comp)****

Every year around mid-December I start compiling my official holiday CD. I make a list of 30-35 songs and play them for my girlfriend. Together we decide what stays in and what goes out. The CD is always heavy on old jazz/easy listening numbers but also contains rock and folk. The idea is that songs should convey the holiday feel, without necessarily following the Christmas theme. Christmas songs are (of course) mandatory but they shouldn't make up the majority, so every year I include 7-10 of them (out of 20-25). After 11 years, you start to realise there aren't as many of them as you thought and have to struggle to avoid repetition. This is where this compilation comes in handy. It's called "100 Hits - Christmas Legends" and contains all the obvious hits and legends, as well as a lot of yuletide obscurities to choose from. Seeing that it's 100 songs and that I don't intend to spend all of Christmas Day in front of the computer, I won't do a complete presentation and rating as I usually do. Suffice it to say you get all the must-haves concerning both hits (Jingle Bells, White Christmas, Deck The Halls, Let It Snow!, Winter Wonderland, Silent Night, O Christmas Tree, Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree, Frosty The Snowman, Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer etc) and legends (e.g. Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Dean Martin, Judy Garland, Louis Armstrong, Andrews Sisters and Doris Day - all of them just in the first of five CD's). The highlights are too many to mention but some of my favorites are Dean Martin's "Let It Snow!", Eartha Kitt's sultry "Santa Baby" and Louis Armstrong's "Zat You Santa Claus". It also contains some lesser known nuggets that always crack me up: Ella Fitzgerald's "Santa Claus Got Stuck In My Chimney" and Spike Jones' "All I Want For Christmas (Is My Two Front Teeth)" - yes, I've heard a bunch of versions but this is the funniest. I also enjoyed the two relatively unknown tracks by the BBC Dance Orchestra. I've always loved the Bonzo Dog Band's 30's pastiches and after listening to "The Santa Claus Express" I saw where they got their inspiration from. I'm posting the complete tracklist below, plus a clip from every CD. And, if you're looking for something appropriately Christmas-y for next year's holidays, this one currently costs only £5.99 on Amazon. It should do just fine - until my home-made compilations hit the market and wipe out all competition, that is. Enjoy, and a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!

CD1

Bing Crosby -White Christmas

Frank Sinatra -Christmas Dreaming (A Little Early This Year)

Perry Como -It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Nat King Cole -The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You)

Dean Martin -I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm

Judy Garland -Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

Eddie Fisher -You're All I Want For Christmas

Harry Belafonte -Mary's Boy Child

Louis Armstrong -Cool Yule

Anne Shelton -Merry Christmas

Mitch Miller And The Gang -Deck The Halls

Dean Martin -Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

The Andrews Sisters -The Merry Christmas Polka

Doris Day -Here Comes Santa Claus

Vic Damone-Marshmallow World

Dave King -Christmas And You

Frank Sinatra -O Come All Ye Faithful 

Peggy Lee -Ring Those Christmas Bells

David Whitfield -Santo Natale

Mario Lanza-Ave Maria

 

CD2

Nat King Cole -The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot

Perry Como -Winter Wonderland

Johnny Mathis -What Child Is This?

Brook Benton -This Time Of Year

Frank Sinatra -Silent Night

Bing Crosby -I'll Be Home For Christmas (If Only In My Dreams)

Mario Lanza-O Christmas Tree

Connie Francis -Baby's First Christmas

Dinah Shore -Ole Santa

Paul Robeson -Mary Had A Baby, Yes, Lord

Dean Martin -The Christmas Blues

Louis Armstrong -Christmas In New Orleans

Peggy Lee -Winter Weather

Danny Kaye, Bing Crosby, Peggy Lee And Trudy Erwin -Snow

Eddie Fisher -That's What Christmas Means To Me

June Hutton -Song Of The Sleighbells

Gracie Fields -Christmas Eve In Fairyland

Eddie Arnold -Christmas Can't Be Very Far Away

The Orioles -(It's GonnaBe) A Lonely Christmas

Billy Eckstine-Blue Christmas

CD3

Eartha Kitt-Santa Baby

Brenda Lee -Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree

Ella Fitzgerald -Santa Claus Got Stuck In My Chimney

The Andrews Sisters -Christmas Island

Perry Como -TwasThe Night Before Christmas

Mario Lanza-We Three Kings Of Orient Are

The Beverly Sisters -Little Donkey

Nat King Cole -Frosty The Snowman

Bing Crosby -Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer

Petula Clark -Where Did My Snowman Go?

Spike Jones -All I Want For Christmas (Is My Two Front Teeth)

Dickie Valentine -Christmas Alphabet

Frank Sinatra -Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

Frankie Laine And Jo Stafford -Christmas Roses

Gracie Fields -Christmas Bells At Eventide

Judy Garland -The Birthday Of A King

Peggy Lee -It's Christmas Time Again

The Weavers -One For The Little Bitty Baby (Go Where I Send Thee)

Eddie Fisher -Christmas Day

Rosemary Clooney -Suzy Snowflake

 CD4

The Weavers -We Wish You A Merry Christmas

Elisabeth Schmann-Coventry Carol

Frank Sinatra -Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

Georges Thill-CantiqueDe Noel

Judy Garland -The Star Of The East

Lonnie Donegan-On A Christmas Day

Mario Lanza-O Holy Night (Cantique De Noel)

Bing Crosby -God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman

Anne Shelton -Away In A Manger

Glenn Miller -Jingle Bells

Perry Como -The Twelve Days Of Christmas

Dick Haymes-O Little Town Of Bethlehem

Frank Sinatra -It Came Upon A Midnight Clear

Nat King Cole -There's A Train Out For Dreamland

Kay Kyser-Hello Mr. Kringle

Tino Rossi -Petit Papa Noel

Django Reinhardt And Stephane Grappelli-Christmas Swing

Lita Roza-St. Nicholas Waltz

Boston Pops Orchestra -Sleigh Ride

BBC Dance Orchestra -The Santa Claus Express

   

 CD5

Louis Armstrong -Zat You Santa Claus

Louis Prima -Shake Hands With Santa Claus

Bobby Helms -Jingle Bell Rock

Mabel Scott -Boogie Woogie Santa Claus

Margaret Whiting -The Mistletoe Kiss Polka

Nat King Cole -Mrs. Santa Claus

The Beverly Sisters -I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

BBC Dance Orchestra -The Fairy On The Christmas Tree

Dick Haymes-The First Nowell

Frank Sinatra -The Christmas Waltz

Glenn Miller -Cradle Song

Jack Teagarden With Johnny Mercer -Christmas Night In Harlem

Perry Como -Joy To The World

Judy Garland -Happy New Year

Bing Crosby -Mele Kalikimaka (Hawaiian Christmas Song)

Vera Lynn -I'm Sending A Letter To Santa Claus

Richard Crooks -The Star Of Bethlehem

Eddie Arnold -C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S

Mario Lanza-The Virgin's Slumber Song (Maria Wiegenlied)

The Four Ramblers -Christmas In Killarney

Luke Haines "The Oliver Twist Manifesto" 2001***

Christmas dinner at the Dickens'

During our recent trip to London, my girlfriend and I visited the Charles Dickens museum in the writer's old house on Doughty Street. Visitors to the museum can get an idea of daily living in Victorian England as well as an insight into the personality of the writer: the Anglo-centric world traveller, the bon viveur, and the one he hid deep inside: the 11 year old child working in the factory to free his father from debtors' prison. London still reminds you of Dickens' stories when you least expect it: a shop here, a pub there, a row of chimneys out of "Oliver Twist". As it turns out, Dickensian references can even be found at the bottom of a crate labelled 3CD's-for-£1 at a used books-and-records store in Stoke Newington. Chancing upon a CD called "The Oliver Twist Manifesto" I immediately put it aside on the "interesting" pile. I had never heard of its existence but I knew Luke Haines makes good albums: I have an LP and a few CD's by his bands The Auteurs and Baader-Meinhof. His version of Oliver Twist sings "Get off your knees you grovelling bastards/This is Oliver Twist pissing over Britannia...There was this gang who I used to run with/Swindlers, knaves, urchins scum, spivs/Looking good comes in handy/When you're dipping from the pockets of a dandy". Doesn't sound much like the well-mannered boy whose most famous phrase is “Please, sir, I want some more”. At best, he sounds like his pal the Artful Dodger. On the cover the singer poses, dressed like mr. Dickens himself, with a bunch of modern-day "street" kids, holding banners with the albums' alternative title "What's Wrong with Popular Culture". And who better to explain it than the notoriously rancorous Luke Haines? His lyrics are full of bile, carefully making sure to insult everybody from pop icons and the entertainment industry to obscure sculptors and (naturally) the English press, mocking every notion of Englishness and religion in the bargain. He makes his intentions clear from the opening verses "This is not entertainment/Don't expect me to entertain you/any more than you could entertain me...Run away if you don't like it/You don't need to worry your pretty head about it/Don't beg for mercy, you'll get none, now it's war/This is Rock 'N' Roll Communique No.1". Musically, though, it's curiously light: Pop melodies, soaring strings both real and synthesized, and electronic disco rhythms are employed to produce one of his most accessible offerings, closer to the chamber pop of Divine Comedy than the angular new wave of The Auteurs. "Oliver Twist" and the "Oliver Twist Manifesto" masterfully blends dramatic strings and electronic bleeps while "Discomania" evokes an unholy union of Pulp, ABBA and Ennio Morricone. On "Christ" he mixes religious imagery with self-mythologizing while combining seemingly random words with the name Christ. "England VS America" is a slow tune full of a very English brand of self-loathing and "Never work" a lovely ballad referencing a Guy Debord slogan from May '68 "Ne travaillez jamais...We'll call a general strike/For the right to never work". Great sentiment and beautiful album. If only he had followed "Oliver Twist" with his version of "A Christmas Carol" I'd have the perfect alternative blog entry for the holidays...

**** for Rock 'N' Roll Communique No.1, Oliver Twist, Discomania, The Oliver Twist Manifesto

*** for Death Of Sarah Lucas, Never Work, Mr. & Mrs. Solanas, What Happens When We Die, Christ, The Spook Manifesto

** for England VS America

Pererin "Teithgan" 1981****

I'm currently reading (intermittently, among other books) Norman Davies' "Vanished Kingdoms" and recently finished a chapter dedicated to Alt Clud, also known as the Kingdom on the Rock. I consider myself well-read when it comes to history, but this chapter put me to shame. Very few names and facts rang a bell and, more often than not, it was a bell from literature rather than history: I'd swear I've come across these places and protagonists in the pages of J.R.R. Tolkien or G.R.R. Martin: Apparently Dun-Eidyn and Dun-Rheged (I'm pretty sure these places should be somewhere in Middle Earth) stood East and West of the ancient Antonine Wall which used to divide the island of Britain and protect the Christianized Britons from the wild Pictish tribes living north of the wall. Game of Thrones, anyone? Anyway, that onslaught of exotic names left me somewhat dizzy: out of 50 pages (containing at least 10 facts per page) I can probably only remember one or two dozen random facts. Could it be a sign of early Alzheimer's? I know it's not senility, because senile people tend to ramble incoherently, for example when questioned about a music CD, they will tell you about a - totally irrelevant - book they've read and then jump to their favorite subject, the afflictions of old age. Thankfully that's still a long way ahead. Back to the book, these are some of the facts that stuck with me: 1)The Scots came originally out of Ireland, along with their Mac Names, kilts and whisky. Scotland's original inhabitants were the Picts 2)British saints are fairly ridiculous (how seriously can you take someone called St. Mungo, founder of Glasgow?). St. Patrick -who incidentally was British, not Irish as most people think- is the obvious exception, as he's given us St. Patrick's Day which is celebrated with lots of song and beer every March 17th, in the nearest Irish pub 3)The king of Pictland Oengus Mac Ferguson eventually gave way to the Gael (of Irish descent) Cinaed (aka Kenneth) Mac Alpin, who was succeeded by his son -and my namesake- Constantine, the first to rule over a united Scotland (though not yet known as such). How the hell can the first King of Scotland's name be Constantine? It's akin to the first President of the U.S. being called Mutsuhito or something like that. Can you imagine the White House situated at Mutsuhito D.C.? 4)Welsch is Saxon for "foreigner", the name the foreign invaders gave to the local Britons. In the end, the ancient Brythonic heritage (including their language) was sidelined by successive waves of invaders (Romans, Scots, Angles, Saxons, Vikings and Normans) and only kept partially alive in the part of the country known as Wales. Maybe this explains the allure of the Welsh language, at once musical, alien, exotic, and carrier of ancient tradition. Like Gaelic, its distant cousin, songs sung in Welsh assume a dreamy, fairytale quality when played by a band as capable as these guys are.
I've written about Pererin before, when I presented their "lost" album Yng Ngolag Dydd. Compared to that album, this is proggier, although no less anchored to Medieval Celtic folk. It's still dominated by dreamy Welsh singing and acoustic instruments (ac. guitar, bodhran and lots of flute) but also augmented by washes of mellotron, synths, drums and the occasional electric guitar. Opener "Y Drws" starts off with slow acoustic guitar and flute but slowly achieves a fuller sound with the use of drums and mellotron. "Y Gwr O Gefn Birth" is more traditional, with fast acoustic guitar strumming on the forefront accompanied by electric solos in the background. "Ddoi Di Dei" is a Celtic instrumental that'd make the ideal soundtrack for a medley of your favorite scenes from The Hobbit. "Draw Dros Y Bryniau" is a slow, pastoral, ballad that evokes pictures of serene green landscapes. "Mae Nghariad in Fenws" is a typically airy love song. My favorite part is the electric guitar solo, very beautiful but low in the mix so as not to disrupt the romantic atmosphere. "Symffoni Lawen" is a "contemporary Christian song" with a simple melody played on acoustic guitar and soft, warm, synths. "Teithgan" (Journey) is a more traditional tune that changes pace a few times. "Ble'r Wyt Ti'n Myned" is a gorgeous melody blending medieval and modern prog-rock elements, while "Diferion" is a short instrumental and "Mynydd Parys" (introduced by the sound of winds blowing) a prog tour-de-force, with masterful playing and thoughtful lyrics on the preservation of nature and tradition. A real gem of an album, highly recommended for friends of progressive rock (Yes, Genesis) and folk (Strawbs, Dubliners). And did I mention it's completely sung in Welsh? Nothing transports you to mythical times better than Welsh...

***** for Y Drws, Y Gwr O Gefn Birth

**** for Ddoi Di Dei, Teithgan, Ble'r Wyt Ti'n Myned, Mynydd Parys

*** for Draw Dros Y Bryniau, Mae Nghariad in Fenws, Symffoni Lawen, Diferion

Steve Earle "Just An American Boy" 2003***

I know this may sound ugly to any U.S. readers, but many people in the rest of the world views country singers (at least as represented by the Nashville-based country music industry) as a bunch of flag-waving morons. They've obviously never listened to Steve Earle. Or his mentors, Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark. They should. Don't start with this live recording, though. However good the performance is, it may not be the ideal introduction as Earle uses the opportunity to talk about subjects that obviously important to him, such as war and the capital punishment (he's against both, something that's not as self-evident as it sounds to us Europeans). I personally find his long introductions articulate and entertaining, but some may see them as an unwelcome distraction from the music itself. I don't disregard the fact that, given the drowning out of dissenting voices in the U.S. and solidly reactionary world of country music (they almost lynched the Dixie Chicks for criticizing Bush's warmongering), Earle's speaking out through his records is probably of even importance with his musical contribution. But I'll review the album based solely on its musical merits. It opens up with a couple of raw and electrifying performances of "Amerika v. 6.0 (The Best We Can Do)" and "Ashes to Ashes". His backing band The Dukes crank up the volume here, sounding less like a country band and more like alternative rockers in the vein of Green On Red or Dream Syndicate. "Conspiracy Theory" is more of the same, with the addition of an R&B chorus. "I Remember You" is a country duet from the "Jerusalem" album (with female singer Garrison Starr standing in for Emmylou Harris). It sports some nice twanging guitar and prepares us for "Hometown Blues" and "The Mountain" which feature Earle in full-on bluegrass mode - fiddles, mandolins and all. Back in '88 Earle had collaborated with Irish folk-punk legends The Pogues for his Copperhead Road LP, so the Celtic spin he gives to the same-named song here should come as no surprise. "Harlan Man" and "Guitar Town" are ragged country/rockabilly hybrids, while disc 1 closes with "Over Yonder (Jonathan's Song)" and "Billy Austin", a couple of naked acoustic ballads reminiscent of Springsteen circa his Nebraska album. The mood remains the same for "South Nashville Blues" and "Rex's Blue's/ Fort Worth Blues", and then Earle decides to drop his "bomb": His swinging "John Walker's Blues" has seen him banned from many U.S. stations because of its controversial subject, as he dares to paint a human portrait of the notorious "American Taliban" arrested by the U.S. Army Forces during the Afghanistan invasion while fighting on the side of the Taliban. He's the average "American boy" of the title who, without having any relevant background, converted to Islam and went to a foreign land to fight for what he perceived as a just cause. It's followed by ringing folk-rockers "Jerusalem" and "The Unrepentant" and marathon talking blues "Christmas In Washington". The second disc ends with a couple of covers: An almost garage rock version of Elvis Costello's "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding?" and "Time You Waste", a ballad by his songwriter son Justin Townes Earle. Now, I know I've said this album isn't for the newcomer but after hearing it all again, I'm inclined to disagree with myself: The song choices are spot-on, performance passionate, and Earle's views presented in a heartfelt and humorous, non-preaching manner, so why the hell not?

**** for Amerika v. 6.0 (The Best We Can Do), Ashes to Ashes, Hometown Blues, The Mountain, John Walker's Blues, Jerusalem, The Unrepentant, What's So Funny About Peace Love & Understanding

*** for Conspiracy Theory, I Remember You, Harlan Man, Copperhead Road, Guitar Town, Billy Austin, South Nashville Blues, Time You Waste

** for Over Yonder (Jonathan's Song), Rex's Blue's/ Fort Worth Blues, Christmas In Washington

London Record Shops

I just got back from my latest visit in London, the third one until now (roughly once every 10 years). It was an easy and comfortable train trip from Brussels, only 2 hours with euro-star, which made me wonder why I hadn't done it before (granted, I've only been living in Brussels for half a year - but still, even from Delft it wasn't that far). And of course, other than being there on my best friend's birthday (cheers Anastasia!) the main motivation for the trip was some good-old record hunting. My two previous trips (in the nineties and noughties) had been very productive, providing me with both rare and (crucially) cheap records and CD's to fill the holes in my record collection. Incidentally, my first experience from London record shops has seen the light of day in the pages of ZOO magazine - no, I don't mean this one, what are you thinking? I'm talking about the short-lived but legendary Greek music magazine. It sported a readers' column called "record hunting" and my entry got me a years' worth of issues, including the CD EP's that are now collectors' items. My second visit yielded even more treasures, but the third time there was no charm: The record shop is dying. It's a well known fact, but in my mind's eye it was alive and well in London. Not anymore. This time I was less than impressed by what I saw and, if the situation has deteriorated so badly in a city of 9 million people which also happens to be the pop capital of the world, there's no hope. Maybe the vinyl will survive as a gourmet music lovers' possession, but it seems it's more of a decorative item nowadays - used to give your house a sophisticated retro look, even if you don't own a record player and only listen to music on your laptop (It doesn't sound the same people, can't you hear the difference?) CD's are a thing of the past, but that's what I've been collecting since the days of the great vinyl purge. They take up less space, sound good (the flat digital transcription of the early days is gone), mostly have nice artwork and informative booklets, can be listened on the home stereo, car and -yes- laptop, and it's easy to rip mp3's for your portable devices and to make compilations. I do have doubts over their longevity, though. 

Anyway, this is my report from my visits at the record shops during my 4-day stay in London. Obviously it's not a reliable guide, you'd have to ask a Londoner for that. First of all, forget the behemoths of the past: The Virgin Megastore on Tottenham Court Road that so impressed me the first time is gone. The same fate befell giant record stores everywhere: Gone are Amsterdam's Fame Store and Athens' Metropolis. Granted, they were never as sympathetic as the traditional record shops but they offered variety, hours of browsing without being bothered and affordable prices. 
Their supermarket-style approach lives on in the medium-sized shops like HMV on Oxford Street (founded in 1921, probably the oldest record shop around) and Fopp at the Seven Dials/Covent Garden neighborhood. I would recommend a visit to the latter for the variety and prices, but you can find the same in electronic chains stores like Media Markt in Brussels or Saturn in Bremen. Not that I like buying CD's from stores that sell TV's and coffeemakers, just saying that Fopp is one of the better London CD shops and yet nothing special. On to Soho, which is not as I remember it. The sex shops and working girls have given way to trendy pubs and restaurants. Still, gentrified or not, a lively neighborhood - a bit too lively in fact. On Friday and Saturday night it was almost impossible to find somewhere to eat or drink. Interesting shops, though. I visited Sister Ray which seemed to have shrunk from my last visit, but still had a large enough collection and good bargains. Same goes for Reckless Records, a few meters down the road (Berwick Street). I got some nice second hand psychedelic CD's here. The shop was promoting Reckless's (it's also a record label) latest release, a new Brainiac 5 album after 35 or so years of absence. Never heard of them? You should - their "World Inside" album always was a favorite of mine, together with early Bevis Frond LP's also on the Reckless label. A CD anthology is now available and I'll present it here on a later occasion. On the corner there's Sounds of the Universe, offering LP's, CD's and books mostly leaning towards jazz, soul and reggae. Phonica Records on the nearby Poland Street focuses on dance music and held my interest for about 15 seconds. Music and Video Exchange on Notting Hill Gate proved, once again, to be the best choice both for rare and cheap CD's. All second hand, most start with £4- £6, with the prices sliding down with time. I got a bunch of CD's for £1 as well as some stuff I was searching for (Planxty, Roy Harper etc) all under £8. Round the corner you can find Book and Comic Exchange which is, likewise, a good source for used books. Of the many music books on sale I chose Martin C. Strong's voluminous Great Rock Discography. It's out of print and replaced by the Essential Rock Discography, which I owned already but only is a measly 1200 pages thick. Whereas the Great Record Discography offers more info on pre-millenium rock, as well as a handy weapon to use against home invaders.

I also visited Rough Trade West on Talbot Street in Portobello and was rather disappointed when I saw how small it was. It turns out that, if one wants more choice, he'd have to to visit their other store on Brick Lane. But West did have some rarities from independent labels and I was delighted to get a compilation of The Zounds, a favorite anarcho-punk band from my youth. Next stop was Camden Market, where I imagined I'd find cheap CD's but it turns out they sell everything but CD's: I only found a couple of stalls among hundreds of shops. Monastiraki (Camden's Athenian counterpart) offers much much more choice to music lovers. I got a bunch of rock-related T-Shirts and, on my way out from Camden, visited another record shop in the area, Out On The Floor Records. It's a nice enough shop, mostly selling soul and reggae LP's, but I left without shopping something. I later went off the beaten path to Stoke Newington, to visit Lucky Seven Records, which is supposedly a great source of cheap music and books. And it is - if you don't mind digging through a crate of junk to find a few nice CD's priced a ridiculous 3-for-1£. There's a lot more books and CD's for a modest £2-£5, but finding what you're looking for is either a question of luck or of very wide taste. As I belong to the latter category, I came out with a book and 18 or so CD's for less than £30 overall, so I'd rate the excursion a success - but if you're the choosy kind, chances are you won't find any hidden treasures here. Then again, you never know. And that's what makes record shop browsing an infinitely more rewarding experience than surfing amazon or ebay... Now, I know most people favor collecting vinyl over CD and I guess they'd like to read more about the vinyl market in my blog entry. Limited time meant I didn't browse the LP stands a lot, but I generally found them to be quite overpriced. I mean certain records have always been expensive but not every album is a collector's item. The 90's and 00's saw thousands of record collections getting dumped into the market and the price of used vinyl plunge. Today it seems that those 20-somethings that sold off their collections are now 40 and eager to buy them back at twentyfold the price, just to own these nostalgia items they will never play because they're too lazy to walk over to the record player. You won't catch me paying €20 for a used album that is by no means rare and costs half that price as a new, remastered, CD. And you know what? All that talk about vinyl sounding better is such nonsense. Most of them don't: the hissing during the quiet parts and the pops and crackles of used LP's still get on my nerves. I can't believe so many fall for the "romantic" glorification of these imperfections. Not to mention the latest trend to resurrect the audio cassette. Still, anything is better than mp3's and London record shops, even in decline, offer some good opportunities to collectors and music lovers. In addition, they made me re-evaluate and appreciate the shops I know well in The Netherlands, Athens and Brussels. They're certainly also worth a blog entry, in the future. I might even have a few pointers for record buying visitors to Paris, too..

Nas "Illmatic" 1994***

Campo del Ghetto Nuovo, Venice

In my review of Nas's debut album below,  I refer to it as music from the streets. I was a bit hesitant to use the word ghetto as I don't know whether it is politically correct or even relevant any more. Incidentally I recently visited the original ghetto in Venice, Italy. Its bland multi-storied buildings make for a stark contrast to the impressive palazzo's of the rest of the old town. It took its name from a foundry (getto in Italian) that was there before that district was used to house the city's Jewish community. From the 16th Century, the Jews of Venice were allowed to circulate freely and conduct their business during the day but, come nightfall, they had to retreat to the ghetto, whose gates were locked by the city guards until the next morning. Although Napoleon officially abolished that segregation 2,5 centuries later, Venetian (and European) Jews continued to live in their own isolated, usually downtrodden, city quarters. American cities had their own ghettos housing African-Americans or poor immigrants. In the past they've been the subject of popular songs ranging from militant black power (e.g. Gil Scott Heron) to well-meaning white paternalism (e.g. Elvis' "In the Ghetto"). One wonders if they're still relevant today, when the president of the U.S.A. (ostensibly the most powerful man in the world) is an African-American. On the other hand, unarmed black kids still get shot in their own neighborhoods just because they looked suspicious to some cop. Confusing, the world we're living in. When this album came out 20 years ago, Nas famously sang "I'm out for dead presidents to represent me", meaning the presidents pictured on dollar bills. I'm pretty sure he couldn't imagine an actual black president sitting in the White House then - or that such a revolutionary change would make so little difference. Don't get me wrong, I think Obama's a good one as U.S. presidents go, but it seems that Nas had it right all along: Dead presidents do wield greater power than live ones. 

Previous month's Q magazine had a big feature on the best albums of the 90's and, although not one of my favorite music mags, I just had to buy it. You see, I'm a sucker for all those lists and retrospectives and, of course, I wanted to count how many of them I own. I ended up with 70%, a very decent percentage given that I'm not so keen on electronic music or hip hop. I do have Nas's "Illmatic", partly because it appears on many similar lists (here on no.49). Nas was only 20 when he made it, an authentic poet of the street rapping eloquently about the harsh reality of life in the big city. Guns and drugs are recurring themes, so he often gets tagged as Gangsta-Rap, but I think that that's misleading as he's less aggressive and more poetic than your Ice-T's and NWA's. The album starts off with a trio of strong numbers (after the introductory "The Genesis"). "N.Y. State Of Mind" is a very rhythmic rap about the violent side of life in New York and "Life's A Bitch" a bleak presentation of the inner city's desperate youth "Life's a bitch and then you die/That's why we get high/Cause you never know when you're gonna go". The latter features a lonely saxophone playing in the background, one of many jazz elements elevating "Illmatic" above the average rap album of the era. "The World Is Yours" is a reference to Al Pacino's motto in the movie Scarface and features the Nas's classic (and often plagiarized) line "I'm out for dead presidents to represent me". The funky "Halftime" was Nas's debut single (preceding the album by almost 2 years) and "One Love" a letter - not to lover, but to an incarcerated friend. It's musically one of the best numbers thanks to the sympathetic production by A Tribe Called Quest's Q-Tip and the atmospheric piano samples. The album closes with "It Ain't Hard To Tell", another jazzy piece that served as Nas's second single from the album. Though I can't claim to have any deep knowledge of hip hop, I can see why "Illmatic" is so highly rated. I found it lyrically and musically interesting and, unlike some other albums, free of filler and listenable from beginning to end. I'd say it's worth 3(*) to the open-minded rock fan, more if you're into hip hop or electronica. Enjoy..

**** for Life's a Bitch, The World Is Yours, One Love, 

*** for N.Y. State of Mind, Halftime, Memory Lane (Sittin' in da Park), One Time 4 Your Mind, Represent, It Ain't Hard to Tell

** for The Genesis

Bijelo Dugme "The Ultimate Collection" 1974-1988(rec) 2007(comp)****

I've really been working on this review for a long time. Not only it's a very long album (35 songs) but it spans many years and styles, and concerns a band that is very famous in their own land (making any mistakes on my part easily detectable) but also previously completely unknown to me, meaning it required quite a lot of research and careful listening. Not to mention it's sung in Serbo-Croatian, which sound pretty strange to the ears of those of us not used to Slavic languages. I hope it's nevertheless a good presentation of the album and the band to readers not familiar with Yugoslavian rock and will encourage them to delve further into that genre.

Here's one I don't know where to classify, and this time I don't just mean musically but geographically. Bijelo Dugme (Serbian for White Button) were (I believe) Serbians, born and bred in Sarajevo of Bosnia and recording for a Croatian label. Back then, of course, all these were one country, named Yugoslavia. The powers that be divided it in several pieces, after plunging it in a bloody civil war whose ripples are still felt in the area. Despite being neighbors, we Greeks did not have much cultural exchange with Yugoslavia - except in sports, that is. Goran Bregovic was the first Yugoslavian artist to become popular (in the late 80's) thanks to his film music and has subsequently recorded with many famous Greek artists - yet few people know he used to be a rock star in his own country. Even the idea of Yugoslavian Rock sounds ridiculous to people nurtured with the idea that rock can only be English or American. When I read about them, I just had to get me an album and, thanks to ebay, I soon had this double compilation with a generous 35-song tracklisting. The band was founded in 1974 and led by guitarist Goran Bregović and singer Željko Bebek. Like most East European rockers they sing in their native language, either because they didn't speak English or -more likely- to avoid problems with the "communist" censors. Its mixture of hard rock, blues and Balkan folk music was named by the press pastirski (shepherd) rock. Now, in Western music, folk usually means acoustic instruments and ballads. Those familiar with the Balkans, though, know that Balkan folk is mostly dance music for big feasts, weddings etc. and meant to be played loud. Couple that with BD's insistence on electric instruments and the outcome is nothing like folk rock - rather hard rock often inspired by traditional melodies. The slow songs, on the other hand, are more Westernized as they draw inspiration from the blues. I will not go into details about their history since there's a very detailed wikipedia page in English on them. Instead I'll present their discography through the songs making up this compilation, starting with their first single, 1974's "Top", a hard rocker reminiscent of Deep Purple Mk.I (pre-Ian Gillan) while "Da Sam Pekar" from the same year is a fast paced boogie. From their '74 debut LP "Kad bi bio bijelo dugme" we get the heavy blues "Blues Za Moju Bivšu Dragu", the shameless Chuck Berry ripoff "Ne Spavaj Mala Moja Muzika Dok Svira" and the emotive ballad "Selma". The album's cover must have been pretty daring for East Bloc standards, as it featured a girl in an unbuttoned jean shirt, exposing most of her breasts. It didn't seem to bother the censors, though, and the band would go on with releasing more provocative covers in the future.

This collection also includes most of their 1975 album "Šta bi dao da si na mom mjestu", including the galloping "Hop Cup" and the blues/hard rock "Ne Gledaj Me Tako I Ne Ljubi Me Više". Once again I'm reminded of Deep Purple (Mk III this time, and their classic "Mistreated") because of Bebek's bluesy delivery and the great interplay between Bregović 's guitar and Vlado Pravdić's organ. Other songs from this album include the bluesy "Šta Bi Dao Da Si Na Mom Mjestu" and "Ne Gledaj Me Tako I Ne Ljubi Me Više" and power ballad "Došao Sam Da Ti Kažem Da Odlazim". "Tako Ti Je Mala Moja Kad Ljubi Bosanac" is dominated by an almost metallic riff but also contains a Balkan-sounding chorus. "Požurite Konji Moji" is a complex composition, a fast hard rocker with a prog/jazz middle section. "Ima neka tajna veza" is a nice, single-only, mid-paced prog rocker from the same year.

From 1976's "Eto! Baš hoću!" we get once more most of the album, starting with the epic hard rock of "Dede Bona, Sjeti Se, De Tako Ti Svega" and "Izgledala Je Malo Čudno U Kaputu Žutom Krojenom Bez Veze" with its heavily distorted guitar effects. "Ne Dese Se Takve Stvari Pravome Muškarcu" is closer to Lynyrd Skynyrd territory and even features some great harmonica. "Sanjao Sam Nocas Da Te Nemam" and "Loše Vino" are a couple of sensitive ballads with sensual female backing vocals.

1979's "Bitanga i princeza", almost completely included in this compilation, is straight hard rock, the same-named number reminding me of Uriah Heep's FM-oriented singles of the era. "Ala je glupo zaboravit' njen broj" is a fast rocker very close to what Pavlos Sidiropoulos was doing around the same time in Greece. It contains their first censored lyric - curiously for an "atheist" socialist society because the censors thought it could offend religious Christians. In "Ipak, poželim neko pismo" the guitar is less prominent than the bass and keyboards. The Balkan-sounding melody of the chorus is the only discernible folk element in this LP. "Kad zaboraviš juli" and "Sve Će To Mila Moja Prekriti Ruzmarin Snjegovi I Šaš" are a couple of grandiose ballads featuring a symphonic orchestra, "Na Zadnjem Sjedištu Moga Auta" points to a turn of direction, incorporating ska, disco and new wave elements. 

By next year's "Doživjeti Stotu" the transformation (musical and stylistical) is complete and, although Bregovic has complete control as producer, his electric guitar is buried behind the keyboards and sax. Songs like "Doživjeti Stotu", "Čudesno Jutro U Krevetu Gđe Petrović" and "Ha, Ha, Ha" have more in common with The Beat or The Motels than with their earlier albums and "Pristao Sam Bicu Sve Sto Hoce" a pleasant but forgettable singalong number.

1983's "Uspavanka za Radmilu M" continues on the same ska/new wave style. "Drugovi I Drugarice" and "U Vrijeme Otkazanih Letova" are nice enough for that genre but sound rather outdated to my ears. "Kosovska", sung in Albanian, was the band's attempt of reconciling the Serbian and Albanian communities of that Yugoslavian Republic through rock'n'roll. Admirable sentiment but it'd take much more than an Eye Of The Tiger-style funk rocker to do that. "Ako Mozes, Zaboravi" is the standout track, and the first song in this compilation that actually sounds like the Goran Bregovic we know from the "Time of The Gypsies". Think Ederlezi with electric guitars and you're close.

From 1984's "Bijelo Dugme", featuring new singer Mladen Vojičić Tifa, we get only the folk-inflected "Lipe Cvatu Sve Je Isto K'o I Lani" while 1986's "Pljuni i zapjevaj moja Jugoslavijo" featured yet another vocalist in Alen Islamović. "Hajdemo u planine" features both gypsy folk and funk/rap elements while "Ružica si bila, sada više nisi" is the kind of pop ballad that later became associated with the likes of Eros Ramazzotti - something that also holds for "Nakon Svih Ovih Godina" from the band's last album "Ćiribiribela" (1988).

The story of Bijelo Dugme comes to a close, almost simultaneously with the story of their country. In the early 90's, Yugoslavia was immersed in a civil war, the bloodiest and most senseless Europe has seen since World War II. The country was divided and official history has given out roles: the good guys, the bad guys, the victims and the murderers. Like always, reality is infinitely more complicated. Suffice it to say that the split is complete and that all that came before now seems as unreal as a dream. It seems like there always has been a country called Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia etc. Yugoslavia has almost faded from memory within a few years, and so has its greatest rock band Bijelo Dugme. Goran Bregovic has moved on to become a successful film music composer and international world music star, but his rock'n'roll past deserves to be saved from obscurity (though of course it's anything but obscure for his co-patriots). This compilation makes for an ideal introduction.

***** for Požurite Konji Moji

**** for Top, Da Sam Pekar, Ne Spavaj Mala Moja Muzika Dok Svira, Tako Ti Je Mala Moja Kad Ljubi Bosanac, Hop Cup, Bitanga I Princeza, Na Zadnjem Sjedištu Moga Auta, Hajdemo U Planine, Ima Neka Tajna Veza, Selma, Blues Za Moju Bivšu Dragu, Loše Vino, Sve Će To Mila Moja Prekriti Ruzmarin Snjegovi I Šaš, Ako Možeš Zaboravi 

*** for Dede Bona, Sjeti Se, De Tako Ti Svega, Izgledala Je Malo Čudno U Kaputu Žutom Krojenom Bez Veze, Ne Dese Se Takve Stvari Pravome Muškarcu, Ala Je Glupo Zaboravit Njen Broj, Doživjeti Stotu, Čudesno Jutro U Krevetu Gđe Petrović, Drugarice I Drugovi, Vrijeme Otkazanih Letova, Lipe Cvatu, Došao Sam Da Ti Kažem Da Odlazim, Ne Gledaj Me Tako I Ne Ljubi Me Više, Šta Bi Dao Da Si Na Mom Mjestu, Sanjao Sam Nočas Da Te Nemam, Ipak Opželim Neko Pismo, Kad Zaboraviš Juli

** for Ha Ha Ha, Kosovska, Pristao Sam Biću Sve Što Hoće, Ružica Si Bila, Nakon Svih Ovih Godina