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.
Thursday, 21 November 2024
The Walflower Complextion "The Walflower Complextion" 1966-1967(rec) 2000 (comp)***
Tuesday, 12 November 2024
Johnny Copeland "Bringin' It All Back Home" 1985***
Johnny Copeland was part of a long line of Texas bluesmen. He grew up in Houston's Third Ward ghetto, and apprenticed as a guitarist next to the "master of the Telecaster" Albert Collins. Who was in turn introduced to the guitar at an early age by his cousin Sam "Lightnin'" Hopkins. Who learnt his craft as a child by accompanying Blind Lemon Jefferson on guitar at informal church gatherings. Blind Lemon's own teacher is not recorded - after all we are now talking about the dawn of the gramophone age. But I'm sure that if could follow that line down to its beginning, we'd inevitably arrive to Africa. So, when Copeland finally became the first American bluesman to record an album in that continent, a name like Bringin' It All Back Home made complete sense. By that time, Copeland had spent more than 3 decades playing the blues, garnering a reputation as a performer in the chitlin' circuit, but remaining unnoticed by mainstream audiences until he moved to New York and signed with folk label Rounder Records in the early 80's. I don't know what prompted him to tour the Ivory Coast, but he obviously found some kindred spirits there who introduced him to the prevailing local styles, while he in turn introduced them to electric blues. As he said in a interview at the time "I could tell the roots of the blues comes from there. They mostly understood the Delta Blues. They was expecting it to be all slow blues. But we surprised them and had the kids up dancin' on the stage. We were more uplifting than the Delta Blues they'd heard". Opener "Kasavubu" is certainly an uplifting tune, full of Afro-Cuban dance rhythms and funky sax. "The Jungle" is a more typical R&B piece, featuring some fine electric guitar. "Ngoto" is a cover of a local hit by Orchestre Poly-Rythmo of Benin, embellished with funky horns and stinging blues licks. Side 1 closes with an excerpt of "Djeli, Djeli Blues", an instrumental by the Guinean kora master Djeli Mousa Diawara. For those not familiar with the instrument, the kora is a stringed instrument that is exclusive to West Africa. It typically has 21 strings, each of which plays a different note. At the right hands, it produces gorgeous arpeggios, similar to playing flamenco on a harp - if that makes sense. As this was way before "world music" came into fashion, Copeland must have heard it for the first time during his tour of the region, and was so enchanted by its sound that he asked Djeli Mousa to be a guest at his record. For some reason, the recording was cut in two: part one fades out at the end of Side 1, while part two opens Side 2. It's then followed by "Abidjan", a funky instrumental with a rhumba beat. Back to more familiar sounds, "Bozalimalamu" and "Same Thing" are tasteful electric blues, while the album closes with an interesting reggae-ish instrumental called "Conakry", combining masterful electric guitar and some kind of African percussion that sounds like a slightly stoned woodpecker pecking on wood. All in all, Bringin' It All Back Home is mostly notable as an interesting experiment. Nowadays, there are all kinds of collaborative albums by African and Western musicians, but that all begun after the prominent Paul Simon collaboration with South African musicians on Graceland (1986). Compared to that, Bringin' It All Back Home went relatively unnoticed, and largely unheralded for its innovation. Truth be told, the mixing of styles isn't always successful; most songs are either blues with a few African instruments, or African music with jazz and funk touches. Rarely, the two styles combine to produce something genuinely new. The result is nevertheless never less than enjoyable, thanks to the musicians' playing. While the African instruments add the necessary color, Copeland's guitar is the star, while special mention must be made to the saxophonists - whether the plaudits should be directed to alto sax Koffi Assalé or tenor sax Bert McGowan (or both) I don't know; to my shame (well, not really shame, more like slight embarrassment) I can't always tell the difference between the sound of the two instruments; anyway, there's some very cool sax playing involved. Johnny Copeland would go on to gain increasing recognition, including a Grammy award for a collaborative album with his mentor Albert Collins and (then) rising star Robert Cray. Unfortunately, the congenital heart condition which he suffered from, finally claimed his life just as he hit 60. But that line we talked about, the line which started in Africa and has included so many blues giants, is still going strong: his daughter Shemekia is undeniably one of the best female blues singers and guitarists that this century has produced so far.
**** for Kasavubu, Abidjan, Conakry
*** for The Jungle, Ngote, Djeli, Djeli Blues, Bozalimalamu, Same Thing
Thursday, 7 November 2024
Fleetwood Mac "Fleetwood Mac Live" 1980****
***** for Dreams, Rhiannon, Don't Stop
**** for Say You Love Me, Sara, Not That Funny, Landslide, Fireflies, Over My Head, Don't Let Me Down Again, Go Your Own Way, I'm So Afraid
*** for Monday Morning, Oh Well, Over & Over, Never Going Back Again, One More Night, Farmer's Daughter
Friday, 1 November 2024
The Alpha Band ''Interviews" 1976-78(rec)1988(comp)***
**** for The Dogs, Last Chance To Dance, You Angel You, Mighty Man
*** for Interviews, Cheap Perfume, Ten Figures, East Of East, Spark In The Dark, Rich Man, Back In My Baby's Arms Again
Friday, 25 October 2024
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds "Wild God" 2024****
Recent years had seen The Bad Seeds take a back seat while Cave and his current henchman Ellis drowned their albums in hazy synths. Additionally, Cave has lately often performed/recorded solo on piano, or as a duo with Ellis. To be honest, I wasn't thrilled with that direction, irregardless of the quality of the songwriting; The Bad Seeds are too good a band to be underused. Here, they make a partial return, as the song structure and instrumentation follows more conventional forms. Wild God sounds like a natural progression from Push The Sky Away moving towards a more ambient sound a la Sigur Ros or Spiritualized. Final mix was done by Dave Fridmann (Mercury Rev/Flaming Lips). When you know that, you can't disregard the similarities between album opener "Song of the Lake" and, say, The Lips' Yoshimi or Rev's Secret Migration - all those big, exhilarating, strings and choirs. The choir takes on an even bigger role on the uplifting title track, which is followed by the life-affirming "Joy" tracking the road from tragedy to redemption. It's the song that captures the spirit of Wild God best - Joy was initially going to be the album title, but Cave thought it might be too give the wrong impression, of one-dimentional happiness, when it's about overcoming adversity and finding joy in experiencing life in all its complexity and wonder. "Final Rescue Attempt" is closer to the piano balladry of his critically acclaimed Boatman's Call, with some judiciously applied electronic elements. "Conversion" sounds suspiciously close to something religious, but trust Cave to confuse the personal with the mystical; there's a talk of beauty, and of a girl, and love, of course, either personal or universal. Driven by the gospel choir, the song gets progressively more ecstatic with the repeated chorus of "touched by the spirit" and Cave repeatedly shouting "you're beautiful". "Cinnamon Horses" and "Long Dark Night" are a couple of gentle ballads, followed by "O Wow O Wow (How Wonderful She Is)", a poignant love song dedicated to former lover and bandmate Anita Lane, who passed away recently. The pair co-wrote "From Her To Eternity" during the early years of The Bad Seeds, and collaborated sporadically even after their separation. A recording of Anita nostalgically reminiscing about the old days renders the song even more heartbreaking. "O Wow O Wow" may not be among Cave's best compositions, but it's one of his most heartfelt and touching songs, and as great and generous epitaph as one could ever hope for. The album closes with "As the Waters Cover the Sea", a short song of openly religious nature ("As He steps from the tomb/In His rags and His wounds"... "He brings peace and good tidings to the land" etc). I guess it brings a nice closure to the album, but it's disappointingly unambivalent for Cave, more suitable for a collection of carol songs than for an album called Wild God. Musically, this is a better than average Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds LP, on a par with Push The Sky Away or No More Shall We Part - I will not compare it to their albums from the 80's/early 90's, which to me are untouchable. What's more important, though, and unexpected coming from an artist often portrayed as "dark" or "gothic", is its heart-warming message.
Right now there's also a limited transparent vinyl LP version available. I got mine from a record store in Belgium, as part of an "indie" package (I guess only available at independent record stores?) also including a Nick Cave poster and "Wild God" pin. The artwork is, as you can see, depressingly plain, somewhat inappropriately for an album that's meant to be celebrating joy. Except if the word is used ironically, as in "Joy Division".
***** for Wild God, Conversion
**** for Song of the Lake, Joy, Final Rescue Attempt, Cinnamon Horses, Long Dark Night, O Wow O Wow (How Wonderful She Is)
*** for Frogs, As the Waters Cover the Sea
Friday, 18 October 2024
Bruce Springsteen "Chapter & Verse" 1966-2012 (rec) 2016 (comp)****
***** for Born to Run, Badlands, The River, Born in the U.S.A., Brilliant Disguise, The Ghost of Tom Joad, The Rising
**** for Baby I (The Castiles), You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover (The Castiles), He's Guilty (The Judge Song) (Steel Mill), Growin' Up, 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy), Wrecking Ball
*** for The Ballad of Jesse James (The Bruce Springsteen Band), Henry Boy, My Father's House, Living Proof, Long Time Comin'
Monday, 7 October 2024
The Dandy Warhols "Best of the Capitol Years 1995-2007" 2010(comp)****
A few days ago I saw the Dandys perform live, for the second time. What I remember most from the first (2001, at the Rodon Club in Athens Greece) is the sudden realization that I was older than the bands I'm listening to - mistaken though; apparently I'm 3 years younger than singer Courtney Taylor-Taylor, though probably older than some other band members. They do, in fact, still have a young-ish demeanor - after all, they're a rock'n'roll band; and they have the tunes and looks to support it. Their setlist was a mix of the alternative/psychedelic and sing-and-dance-along hits, the latter bundled together towards the end of the concert. Most of those came from "the Capitol Years" covered in this compilation. The band's decision to sign with a major label was a contentious point, as presented in Dig!. This music documentary examined the parallel careers of two underground bands of friends: The Dandy Warhols and Brian Jonestown Massacre; while the former go on to international success, the latter refuse to sell-out and remain a cult band with few, albeit fanatic, supporters. At least that's what we're supposed to think. Anyway, the "sellout" begins with the Dandys' first album for Capitol (and 2nd LP overall), ...The Dandy Warhols Come Down (1997). First single "Not If You Were the Last Junkie on Earth" set the standards for the band's work, not only with its upbeat rhythm and catchy hooks, but mainly because of its ironic humor, including the trademark line "I never thought you'd be a junkie because heroin is so passée". Another upbeat, danceable, number is "Every Day Should Be a Holiday", presented here in its Tony Lash Mix). "Boys Better" opens this comp with a catchy organ riff, while "Good Morning" (still in their live playlist) is less poppy, with a darker Lou Reed-like vocal, and shoegazey mix of distorted guitars and dreamy melodies. ...Come Down was followed by Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia (2000), which contained mega-hit "Bohemian Like You". A Rolling Stones-like rocker duplicating the sneering humor of "Last Junkie", it got picked by Vodafone for their advertising campaign, turning the band into a household name. "Get off" has a feelgood vibe; could be about sex, drugs or just partying - not quite celebratory though, since "getting off" is compared to a "ball and chain". That album contained a lot of good songs, but this comp only offers three; the last one being an alternate edit of third single "Godless" - another tune sung with ennui and cool sax. For their third major label LP Welcome to the Monkeyhouse (2003) the Dandys tried to up the commercial ante, by employing Duran Duran's Nick Rhodes to produce, adding some disco/glam golddust. Once again the lead single is a ridiculously catchy tune with sneering lyrics, "We Used to Be Friends". Second single "The Last High"(presented here in a new edit) features guest vocalist Evan Dando and sounds like a more electronic Roxy Music. Two more songs from the album ("Scientist", "Plan A") are also presented in alternate versions, and exhibit that same cool synth pop vibe. What nevertheless becomes obvious is that the band is repeating themselves, and a slightly more electronic/less guitar-driven cannot disguise the fact that "The Last High" is similar to "Godless" is similar to "Good Morning" is similar to "Holding Me Up" from their next album Odditorium or Warlords of Mars (2005) . Likewise, the lead single from Oditorium is a re-write of "Bohemian Like You" (although this sounds less like the Rolling Stones, and more like The Primal Scream in their Rolling Stones-emulating phase), while "Smoke It" is a raucous Iggy Pop-like rocker. The comp ends with "This Is the Tide", the obligatory previously unreleased track that's supposed to lure in fans who already own all the band's album. It's not bad - not great either, just a return to their earlier garage rock sound. It becomes obvious that the band got tired of playing the game, trying again and again to give the record label the hits they kept demanding. So they left Capitol and founded their own indie label, Beat the World Records. Their next records wouldn't be short on catchy pop rock tunes, but they'd also indulge their more experimental, psychedelic, side. Best of the Capitol Years focuses on the band's more commercial period. It only presents one facet of the group, and they sometimes sound to be pursuing commercial acceptance too eagerly. It's fun to listen to and to sing along to, in any case.
***** for Get Off, Bohemian Like You, We Used to Be Friends
**** for Boys Better, Every Day Should Be a Holiday (Tony Lash Mix), Not If You Were the Last Junkie on Earth, Godless (Extended Outro), Scientist (Are Sound Version), The Last High (Edit)
*** for Good Morning, Plan A (Are Sound Version), Holding Me Up, All the Money or the Simple Life Honey, Smoke It, This Is the Tide