Red Lorry Yellow Lorry "Smashed Hits" 1982-1986(rec) 1988(comp)****

Back in the late 80's I used to have one side of a cassette of Red Lorry Yellow Lorry which was at least a third generation tape, maybe more -meaning that I had copied it from a friend who had copied it from a friend who also wasn't the original LP owner. It was the analogue version of today's file sharing. Even then, record companies were complaining that "home taping is killing music" adding this slogan to LP inserts and music ads. Pretty heavy claim, coming from the greedy suits who had been robbing artists for years and tried to bury everything interesting and original in order to peddle their own prefabricated pop shit. Serves them right they nowadays survive by selling ringtones, though the whole situation kinda sucks for the workers in record pressing plants, a noble profession slowly going down the drain. When I'm cataloguing my records and CDs and see every one of denotes "made in EU" (or UK/US/Japan etc) I can't help but think of the people who made them and of the jobs lost in these places. Just one more reason for me to keep buying music in material form - next to the fact it actually sounds way better than shitty MP3s played on a shitty laptop or a mobile phone. And don't pretend it's normal, exchanging your stereo for a frigging telephone, a device that should forever have stayed connected to your home line. Think of the beautiful old round dials and the noise they made when you turned them with your finger. And of the receivers, feeling so sturdy in your hand. Think of all the bones and heads that wouldn't have broken if people had been watching their step instead of their phone screen while they walk. OK, enough - grumpy old man signing off for now...

"Smashed Hits" is a compilation of early singles, the title being a clever wordplay between the commercial pop Smash Hits magazine/compilations and getting smashed/drunk. It seems rather short, but it's of normal duration for an LP - it remains the only R.L.Y.L. compilation ever issued in vinyl, though I have the CD version myself. Listening to it now, I'm immediately transported to the late 80's and the alternative bars of the Athens Exarchia neighbourhood where I spent my student years: Iris, Allothi, Oktana and the recently resurrected Decadance. Alcohol-fueled late nights, legions of black-clad youths and punks with dangerously pointy hairstyles, deafeningly loud post-punk music: The Sisters of Mercy, Bauhaus, Killing Joke, The Sound...and less celebrated bands like R.L.Y.L. Coming from such a background, how could I not like it? Soundwise, R.L.Y.L. is a very typical dark wave band of the era: angular guitars, throbbing bass, and rousing, rhythmic, quasi-military drums courtesy of Mick Brown who'd later join The Mission. The compilation opens with first single "Beating My Head" (1982) and "Take It All" (1983) both betraying a strong Joy Division influence. On later singles they would adopt an even darker sound with Chris Reed's sinister vocals reminiscent of Bauhaus ("He's Read" 1983, "Hollow Eyes" 1984) and Sisters of Mercy ("Monkeys On Juice" 1984, "Spinning Round b/w Hold Yourself Down" 1985). Later singles like "Cut Down" (1985) and "Chance" (1986) continued in the same dark mood and relentless pace. Now that I think of it, the total absence of ballads sets this album apart from other "goths" of the era. Maybe there is some truth in their allegations that they were not goths at heart but rather influenced by garage/punk bands like Wire and MC5. The CD contains two 1984 B-sides not present in the LP: "Push" is an instrumental and "Feel A Piece" is another fast Sisters of Mercy-like tune. If you like the bands mentioned above, you should definitively check out R.L.Y.L., they're among the best of the era. "Smashed Hits" would be a solid but incomplete introduction, as it contains essential early singles but ignores album tracks and post-1986 material.

***** for Beating My Head, He's Read, Hollow Eyes, Hold Yourself Down

**** for Monkeys On Juice, Feel A Piece, Generation, Spinning Round, Cut Down, Chance 

*** for Take It All, Push

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds "Skeleton Tree" 2016****

This was the 6th or 7th Nick Cave concert I've witnessed in a period of 30 years. I've seen Cave the self-destructive junkie, Cave the bible-wielding madman and fantastical murderer, Cave the troubadour of love, Cave the damned poet, Cave the singer of the underworld, even Cave the mid-life crisis hard rocker (about the time he also took to wearing a 70's pimp moustache). So when I entered Amsterdam's Ziggo Dome on October 6, I didn't know who to expect. Cave the grief-stricken father, perhaps? The shocking story of his 15-year old son Arthur's death (he fell off a cliff after taking LSD with a schoolmate) had dominated Cave-related news in the last years, and this tour is the first after that personal tragedy. At that point I hadn't heard the new album yet (it was delivered to me on the same morning) but some youtube excerpts seemed to point to a rather depressing bunch of slow songs. I was somewhat apprehensive of a night of morose piano balladry, but I needn't have feared: this was the Nick Cave we've known and loved for 30 years: visibly affected by his experience, but not beaten. Did he seem angry? Yes. Dark and broody? Absolutely - but then these words have been synonyms of "Nick Cave" forever. Haunted? Maybe. Lyrical? Philosophical? More than ever. Also theatrical and energetic as always, and keen to connect to his audience, often losing himself in the crowd and leading many of them onstage for the encore. The Bad Seeds were impeccable as usual, despite the absence of Cave's former lieutenant, Blixa. One minor quibble for old fans like me was the over-reliance on "Skeleton Tree" material (7 songs), but both the new songs and what we did hear of the old favourites was played fervently. So, upon returning to my house after a very saisfying concert, it was with a positive attitude that I listened to "Skeleton Tree" for the first time.
The cover certainly doesn't forebode anything good, being a simple green font on black background, like a PC monitor from the 80's. I mean sure, sometimes the lack of artwork can be a kind of art statement (think of The Beatles' "White Album") but this is just blunt and ugly. The album opens with "Jesus Alone"'s eerie synths, while its first lines seem to address his recent loss in a shockingly direct manner "You fell from the sky/Crash landed in a field/Near the river Adur". A litany of lost characters follows, as if summoned from the purgatory by Cave's incantation "With my voice/I am calling you". "Rings of Saturn" is an atmospheric, ambiguously erotic, song with Cave reciting rather than singing - something he does more often as his poetry gets longer and more complicated. "Girl In Amber" is a poignant ballad, many of the lyrics once again seemingly vaguely referencing his son's death. It ends with the repeated warning "Don't Touch Me", a phrase you'd expect to hear from someone with a raw wound. "Magneto" is a slow tune with atmospheric synths over which Cave half speaks and half sings in a voice reminiscent of Van Morrison circa Astral Weeks. "Anthrocene" is another rumination on humanity and loss set on a slow trip hop beat while "I Need You" has at once the most accessible melody and most heartrending, despairing lyrics and vocals. "Distant Sky" is a transcendental song, featuring a church-like organ and the crystal clear voice of Danish singer Else Torp (in the concert, her part was a recording) in stark contrast to Cave's (he sings desperately: "They told us our dreams would outlive us/They told us our gods would outlive us/But they lied", she answers with hope: "Let us go now, my only companion/Set out for the distant skies/Soon the children will be rising, will be rising/This is not for our eyes". The same-named "Skeleton Tree", which closes the album is a sorrowful ballad which nevertheless ends with the mantra "it's alright now", signifying acceptance if not actual catharsis. One can't help but be affected knowing the personal tragedy behind the making of this album, but even if it was possible to ignore the facts, it'd still remain a deep and emotional work of art by one of the last great poets and performers in rock.

**** for Jesus Alone, Rings Of Saturn, Girl In Amber, I Need You, Distant Sky, Skeleton Tree

*** for Magneto, Anthrocene

Rebels Without A Cause "Naked Lunch" 1987***

This is the second band from Ravenna Italy I present in this blog, after The Cavemen. Both play pure garage/rock'n'roll, which may be more indicative of my own music tastes than of that city's music scene. After all, Italian rock is usually melodic rather than frantic - although the Rebels don't lack in the melody department, they mostly deal in high energy rock'n'roll. Not that I knew what they were about when I bought this record, I just liked the trashy aesthetic of the cover and put my faith on the record label Electric Eye, the Italian indie that released the classic Sick Rose LP's in my collection. The first track "Rock Me Baby" certainly has similarities with that band, being a straight energetic garage rock'n'roll number with vocals that reminded me of The Rose's Luca Re. On the whole, despite obviously coming from the punk/alternative scene and retaining the energy and rawness associated with it,  The Rebels also have a rootsy Americana sound evident e.g. in the 8-minute R&B workout "New York Girl" or the rockabilly "She's On Fire" with its Django-like solo.
"It's Only A Different Love" is a groovy rocker with heavier guitar while mid-tempo closer "Situation Of My Head" is reminiscent of 80's paisley underground bands or contempoary American college radio indie pop. This mini LP (plays at 45RPM wih a total duration of 27 minutes) manages to include 5 songs in slightly different styles, but all the influences blend together harmonically thanks to the distinctive vocals and excellent guitarwork of leader Davide Piatto. It has never been released on CD, and neither have the bands' 2 LP records that followed it. The bands' full discography is available to listen on Soundcloud. If you like what you hear you'll be pleased to learn that there are enough cheap 2nd hand copies on sale at discogs and elsewhere.

**** for Rock Me Baby

*** for New York Girl, She's On Fire, Situation Of My Head

** for It's Only A Different Love

The Rolling Stones "Blue & Lonesome" 2016****

The day before I started writing this entry I went to see The Rolling Stones play for the second time in their lives (well, mine too of course). 20 years ago they had impressed me with their energy and ability to create excitement live. This time I was rather apprehensive: could they still put on a great show now they're in their seventies? Well, let's put it this way: they're not doing their legacy any disservice. Yesterday they didn't seem to have aged a single day. Keith's face may now look like a Halloween rubber mask but he's still got that mischievous look in his eye and he can still shake a stadium with a simple riff of his guitar. As for Jagger, he's in ridiculously good shape. If he ever dies he should donate his body to science - if he still has some body left, he seems to be shrinking in size as he's getting older. But of course we didn't pay a pretty penny to see if they're holding up well, it's all about the music, and one can't complain in this department. The band were playing well and the setlist was nearly perfect - even Keith's "Slipping Away" came at the right time to use the restroom or get beers from the bar. Other than that, the only songs that weren't stone-cold classics were the two blues covers from their latest album, and these were played with obvious gusto and skill. 
"Blue & Lonesome" was an unpredictable move from one of rock's most predictable dinosaurs: For decades now The Stones had been following the routine new album/huge tour/commemorative live cd. Big groups need new releases to promote on tour, to keep them from looking like a nostalgia act. Building tours around archive compilations like 40 Licks and GRRR was getting old, so they had to enter the studio again and come up with new material. After their 80's slump, their albums had been craftmanlike, neither exciting nor embarassing so one would normally expect more of the same. But instead of spending months honing in new songs as planned, they had an outburst of spontaneity, returning to their roots and the common love which brought them together: the Blues. Beginning the recording sessions with a blues cover just to warm things up, they found out they were enjoying themselves too much to stop playing blues and go back to trying to emulate their former glories. Three short days later, the band that took its name from a Muddy Waters tune and cut their teeth as Alexis Korner's sidemen had recorded its very first pure blues record as well as their first all covers album. They made a point of covering many relatively unknown classics, including no less than four songs by Muddy Waters' harmonica player and Chess Records solo artist, Little Walter. These include downhome blues "Just Your Fool" and "Blue And Lonesome" as well as the more jump blues-like "I Gotta Go" and "Hate to See You Go". The renditions are traditional in style, recreating without imitating the smoky atmosphere of 50's Chicago joints where this music was born. They're the most direct music they have done in decades, the band being super tight and recorded for the most part live straight to tape. The guitarists exchange licks without drowning the songs in solos as is too often the case in modern blues. Keith of course is not your typical lead guitarist (Woods played most of the solos in yesterday's concert), this kind of material would be perfectly suited to Mick Taylor, his counterpart in The Stones circa 1969–74. One can imagine how this album would have sounded with Taylor by listening to "Everybody Knows About My Good Thing" which contains some melting slide courtesy of guest Eric Clapton who plays in a similar style to Taylor. Clapton also plays lead on the closing "I Can't Quit You Baby". A bold move by The Stones, taking on a song made famous by Led Zeppelin. The Stones' version is emotive and powerful - maybe not as powerful as Zeppelin in their youth, but then again what is? The two Clapton songs count among the album's best, together with the Little Walter tracks, Jimmy Reed ballad "Little Rain", blues rocker "Ride 'Em On Down" and Howlin' Wolf's "Commit A Crime". Looking at him one can't imagine Jagger sounding as menacing as Wolf, a man twice his size with a voice to match. But Jagger is the most pleasant surprise here. I would expect Woods and Richards or seasoned sidemen like Chuck Leavel to be in their element playing traditional blues, but Jagger is the one that sounds the most rejuvenated by this project. His vocals are emotive and powerful, he has swagger when appropriate and oozes pain in the bluesier pieces. Above all, his harmonica playing throughout is one of the record's highlights. Being a "mere" covers album I doubt this will go down in history as one of the great Stones' records. Despite that, there's no denying it contains their most spirited playing in decades - not to mention it's the best British Blues album since the genre's heyday with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac.

**** for Just Your Fool, Commit a Crime, Blue and Lonesome, I Gotta Go, Everybody Knows About My Good Thing, Ride 'Em on Down, Hate to See You Go, Little Rain, I Can't Quit You Baby

*** for All of Your Love, Hoo Doo Blues, Just Like I Treat You

Peter Gabriel "Peter Gabriel" AKA "2" AKA "Scratch" 1978****

This is Peter Gabriel's 2nd album, called simply "Peter Gabriel". That's cool, many singers have an eponymously called album, usually their debut. Gabriel, though, used the same name for his debut, then for his second record, then for his third, and his fourth. So critics gave them numbers or names to tell them appart: This is usually called either "2" or "Scratch" because of its cover. The grim cover photo is just another indication that Gabriel wasn't about to go out of his way to be pleasant and make new fans. Another indication is his choice of producer: Robert Fripp was anything but a hitmaker, though his unconventional guitar sound was much in demand. Around the same time he played in albums by David Bowie, Brian Eno, Talking Heads and Blondie, among others. Despite the fact that singer and guitarist used to front two of the most distinguished progressive rock outfits (i.e. Genesis and King Crimson), this album is sonically closer to New Wave while retaining Prog's tendency to experiment. Of the first two songs "On The Air" is a rocker with an aggressive raw vocal and synths reminiscent of The Who's "Baba O Reilly", while lead single "D.I.Y." is another uptempo rocker with funky bass and edgy vocals. On the excellent ballad "Mother Of Violence" he's thoughtful and emotional, accompanied mostly by acoustic guitar and classical piano. "A Wonderful Day In A One-Way World" is a surprisingly simple song melding reggae and new wave the way early Elvis Costello albums did. "Indingo" has a sparse late-night jazz feel, but the rest of the album isn't as straightforward. "White Shadow" and "Flotsam And Jetsam" are a couple of more uncoventional prog ballads with pensive piano, while "Exposure" sports a repetitive funk riff and Fripp's heavily manipulated guitar effects, a technique he called Frippertronics. "Animal Magic" is an upbeat rocker with bar room piano and nimble guitar and "Perspective" a straight glam rocker that reminded me of Lou Reed. The album closes with another ballad demonstrative of its often perceived as "cold" and "unforgiving" nature: the main character seeks fullfillment in the married bliss of a well-ordered family life, only to find himself shackled in misery and living in a slum. When his wife kills herself and their child, he tries to gamble the compensation money away, only to win big. Finally he gets to buy the "Home Sweet Home" of his dreams. The story, told in dramatic style with wistful piano and saxophone, was perceived as misogynistic by some, tragic by others, and darkly humorous by others yet. Gabriel deliberately obscures the spirit in which he wrote the song. The album in general is dominated by quite oblique lyrics and music, so it's no surprise it's not among his best loved. Yet there's no denying there's a musical genious at work here...

**** for On The Air, D.I.Y., Mother Of Violence, A Wonderful Day In A One-Way World, Animal Magic

*** for  White Shadow, Indigo, Exposure, Flotsam And Jetsam, Perspective, Home Sweet Home