Mark Lanegan "Whiskey for the Holy Ghost" 1994*****

Was Mark Lanegan the Tom Waits of grunge? Judging from this album, one might certainly surmise that. Not only is the album title and front cover positively Waits-ish, but his voice has the required grit, not to mention a world-weariness unbecoming of a man in his late 20's. Of course, even though Waits also sang like a washed-up old wino in his youth, he was just an observer of that decadent Bukowskian underworld. Lanegan's tortured vocal, on the other hand, was hard-earned; the horrific story of his trajectory from abused and neglected child to juvenile delinquent to junkie rock star has been well documented in his autobiography; when he sounds like he's singing from the gutter, that's because it's exactly where he was at the time. When he recorded these songs (1991-1993) he was still a member of his infamously dysfunctional band, Screaming Trees. He had already made a tentative step towards a solo career with his acoustic low key debut, but Whiskey... was the big one in terms of songwriting (by Lanegan exclusively), production, and performance. It proved to himself and to the world that he had what it takes to make great music on his own, an idea his former bandmates had tried to suppress. Here, he is the sole writer, lead singer, co-producer, and occasional guitarist. Dinosaur Jr. bassist Mike Johnson (co-producer, multi-instrumentalist) does most of the rest, while other friends also help out. The mood is mainly subdued and instruments mostly acoustic, although there are some louder tracks featuring distorted electric guitars (e.g. "Borracho"). The arrangements are generally subtle but not necessarily sparse - there's the odd piano, organ, sax, and violin, all used to good effect. For this album, Lanegan has admitted to deriving inspiration from Van Morrison and "southern gothic" novelist Cormac McCarthy; as always, the influence of Jim Morrison and Johnny Cash in his singing is also evident. The album opens with a bit of whistling, followed by folky acoustic guitar and wistful vocal ("The River Rise"). "Carnival" is more upbeat, akin to a Screaming Trees track with completely different instrumentation (great use of violin, here). "Pendulum" is another highlight, featuring the desert country sound that Calexico would popularize a few years later, while "House a Home"s slide guitar and violin also give off a country vibe. Beautiful harmonies and sax give "Sunrise" a lighter tone, but the rest of the album is comprised by mournful blues and ballads - of the best sort, I hasten to add. Whiskey... set a trend with grunge musicians who wanted to show their more mature/emotional side. Great albums in the same vein were released in the same year, including Alice In Chains' Jar Of Flies and Nirvana's mega-hit MTV Unplugged in New York. Furthermore Whiskey is not just where Lanegan found his true voice for the first time, but probably the purest expression of his art. He would go on to release cover albums, acoustic ones, hard rocking ones, to incorporate elements of electronic music, and to be a serial collaborator to, among others, QOTSA, Isobel Campbell, Greg Dulli etc. A diverse body of work, united by his unmistakable voice. It's a voice that makes basically all of these albums worth hearing, but if I only had one choice, this would probably be it.

***** for The River Rise, House a Home, Carnival, Sunrise, Pendulum

**** for Borracho, Kingdoms of Rain, Riding the Nightingale, El Sol, Dead on You

*** for Shooting Gallery, Judas Touch, Beggar's Blues

 

Solomon Grundy "Solomon Grundy" 1990***

I  recently read about the death of Van Conner (from pneumonia, aged 55), which made me take out this CD for a listen. I remember finding it at the discount section of a big Athenian record store. I thought "hey that guy plays in the Screaming Trees, this may be good, too", so I bought it. This was right at the start of the whole grunge thing, mind you. The Screaming Trees were still an obscure neo-psychedelic band recording for indie label SST. Being part of the whole Seattle scene, they soon followed their "younger brothers" Nirvana, Pearl Jam et al. to fame, before imploding due to continuous in-fighting - mainly between singer Mark Lannegan and guitarist Gary Lee Conner. Van was the band's bassist, as well as the fat, pimply, and myopic younger brother to the guitarist. I doubt that made him the most loved and respected band member, so it makes sense for him to try and "spread his wings": taking advantage of a temporary break for The Screaming Trees, he gathered a few friends to make a band where he could be the star, taking over vocals and guitar duties. Solomon Grundy had just enough time to record an album of Van's songs and play a few gigs, before The Screaming Trees were offered a contract from one of the major labels sniffin' around Seattle. Van rejoined the Trees for a second act, a more successful but not a happier one, act, and this album was quickly forgotten. Did Solomon Grundy ever really have a chance? Well, my initial reaction on hearing this album was "these songs would sound really great if Lannegan sang them". Conner's singing technique is OK, he just didn't have the pipes. The fact of the matter though, is that he could really write a nice tune; the songs are reminiscent of The Screaming Trees' SST period, with less of their classic rock influences, and more of an indie, proto-grunge sound. The LP was initially to be called Stone Soup and Other Stories. Side One ("Stone Soup") opens with "Out There", combining Dinosaur Jr.-like guitars, Lemonheads-like melody and Beatlesque harmonies. The chorus of "Presence of You" sounds a lot like The Wipers, a good thing. These influences, along with the usual 60's - 70's Screaming Trees heroes (Neil Young, Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane) are in evidence in the rest of the tracks, too. Side Two ("Other Stories") comes supposedly from another recording session. Certainly Opener "Time Is Not Your Own" has a more lysergic character; it reminds me of some late-60's comps I have, but then abruptly takes a turn towards (cowpunk legends, and SST labelmates) Meat Puppets territory. With the exception of the more straight-ahead "Gone" (which sounds a bit like Offspring), the songs on Side Two are slightly more complex/psychedelic than the grungier Side One. What this album clearly shows is that, at the age of 23,Van Conner had what it takes to be the leader of his own band. The Screaming Trees always shared songwriting credits, so it's impossible to know who wrote what, but Van proves here to be a talented songwriter, his solo compositions more perfectly attuned to the zeitgeist than his band's SST-period retro sound. The Screaming Trees would go on to even better things in the 90's, and dissolve in acrimony around the end of the decade. Mark Lannegan would employ his considerable vocal talents elsewhere with success, while the Conner brothers went back into relative obscurity. After Van's passing, I read that he he used to play with a group called VALIS, after a book by my favorite SF author. I had never heard of them, but now I have to check them out! As for Solomon Grundy, now that's a cool name, too! I take it he wasn't inspired by the old nursery rhyme, rather from the DC Comics villain. In any case, this is a good album that fell through the cracks, if you like alternative guitar rock/grunge you should check it out!

**** for Out There, Presence of You, Time Is Not Your Own, Dawn and the Dark, My Mind

*** for My Prison Is My Freedom,  A Little While, Simplify, Gone, One Day

** for Quiet Sea

Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan "Hawk" 2010****

This album takes me back to the time I saw the two artists perform these songs live, on the stage of Groningen's Oosterpoort. I spent my first couple of years in The Netherlands at the Northern provincial city of Groningen, and still remember it fondly. Hollanders often talk about is as it's a god-forsaken place inhabited by some kind of weird-talking hillbillies (if there were any hills in The Netherlands, which there aren't - sand dunes is as high as it gets). To emphasise how far it is, the Dutch say "there's nothing above Groningen" - to which Groningers have given a positive spin, as in "there's nothing better than Groningen"). Don't let the bad publicity fool you: It is a beautiful and vibrant student city with great night life and lots of culture, including the Eurosonic festival in January with bands from all over Europe, and Noorderzon in August (theatre, music, all arts really...) Then you have many live venues like the temple of the Alternative scene Vera (bands like Joy Division and Nirvana played there when they were still unknown) and bigger halls like the Oosterpoort. The latter also houses the Take Root festival, which in 2010 had a pretty strong lineup, including among others Wilco, Iron & Wine, Dave Rawlings Machine with Gillian Welch, Black Mountain, and Isobel Campbell with Mark Lanegan.
Now, how exactly does a Glasgow girl fit into an event sub-labeled "Festival For Past, Present and Upcoming American music"? She does, not only because of her choice of collaborators, but foremost because of her songs drawing from American folk tradition, and especially the great country duets: Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood, George Jones & Tammy Wynette, June Carter-Cash and Johnny Cash. Nothing about the gentle pop of her former band Belle and Sebastian could have prepared you for this dive into Americana, which is why I was surprised to learn she was the creative force behind the duo. Another reason may have been that her sweet and soft voice on the record plays second fiddle to Lanegan's strong, gravelly baritone. Music critics invariably used the same metaphor for this pairing: the beauty and the beast. As well as their voices, the two singers' exterior justifies the simile: Isobel's fragile good looks make quite a contrast with Lanegan's unkempt gloomy lumberjack appearance. On stage, though, Campbell was the one in control: If Lanegan was the leading man, she was obviously the director, stepping in at the right moment with her vocals, guitar, cello, piano and other instruments. Theirs was a very successful (artistically, at least) partnership, but "Hawk" was to be their 3rd and last album together. Probably they felt the formula was getting old, which is why they try some different approaches here: the rich strings and R&B backbeat of "Come Undone" is a definitive winner, probably the duo's best moment. "You Won't Let Me Down Again" could have been an acoustic outtake from Lanegan's collaborations with desert rockers Queens Of The Stone Age - if it wasn't for Isobel's soft and sensual backing vocals. "Snake Song" is a similarly sturdy acoustic blues, featuring great vocals from both performers. "Get Behind Me" is a rockabilly scorcher and "Hawk" a rollicking instrumental with howling sax. On the one hand I applaud their desire to shake things up a bit, but on the other I have to admit that those two kinda break the mood of the album. Despite all the efforts to mess with the formula, the pair are at their best when they stick close to it: the Nancy-and-Lee style ballads "We Die And See Beauty Reign", "Time Of The Season", "Eyes Of Green", and the fantastic closer "Lately" with Lanegan channeling Leonard Cohen and gospel-style backing vocals. Then, as if we're witnessing a real-life idyll unravelling, Campbell goes at it alone for the haunted ballad "Sunrise" and Mazzy Star-soundalike "To Hell & Back Again", and even exchanges Lanegan for a younger man (American singer-songwriter Willy Mason) for a couple of duets: "No Place to Fall" and "Cool Water". Good songs, and the addition of a Celtic violin on the former (as well as "Eyes Of Green") is another nice touch by Campbell-the-record producer. Mason sounds like a cross between Tim Hardin and Johnny Cash. Actually, he's like a younger, less gritty and world-weary, Lanegan - now doesn't that sound like rebounding from a failed romance? But, as far as I know, Mark and Isobell's coupling was never a romantic one and just naturally ended for the singers to follow their muse elsewhere. At least they left behind three albums of beautiful music, all of which are highly recommended.

***** for Come Undone

**** for We Die and See Beauty Reign, You Won't Let Me Down Again, Snake Song, No Place to Fall, Get Behind Me, Time of the Season, Eyes of Green, Lately 

*** for Sunrise, To Hell & Back Again, Cool Water

** for Hawk

Mark Lanegan "Imitations" 2013***

From the first moment I heard The Screaming Trees I recognized Mark Lanegan as an exceptional singer. What I could never imagine was how far away he'd stray from The Trees' neo-psychedelic hard rock. Apart from his own records, he has proven an excellent interpreter of others' songs and a valuable collaborator to artists as diverse as Queens of the Stone Age, Isobel Campbell and (the Afghan Whig's) Greg Dulli. This is his second all-covers album and this time he chose to include some easy-listening standards as tribute to his first musical influences (meaning his parents' record collection). He opens nevertheless with a contemporary song. Chelsea Wolfe's "Flatlands" is a stark proposition, just voice and acoustic guitar, until the arrival of a cello mid-song which immediately elevates the song. James Bond theme “You Only Live Twice" (a puzzling choice) is given an acoustic folk treatment, same as the old standard "Mack The Knife". Both are unrecognizable, albeit only the latter in a good way. The jazzy finger-picking guitar and Lanegan's smoky voice and understated delivery prove an unexpectedly good fit for an over-familiar song. Another jazz standard "Autumn Leaves" gets a more conventional approach and is a romantic and melancholic triumph. He also delivers a warm and rich version of "Solitaire" and  even has the audacity of taking on Frank Sinatra in "Pretty Colors" and the outcome is, unbelievably, a tie (I guess it depends on taste)."Élégie funèbre" is a risky choice and his French is not convincing (he reminds me of Iggy's "Après"), but at least it introduced me to the music of Gérard Manset. Lastly, the album's leading track is John Cale's “I’m Not The Loving Kind”. I'm not familiar with the original, but the version here is great, with dramatic strings and a world-weary melancholic delivery.

**** for Flatlands (Chelsea Wolfe), Pretty Colors (Frank Sinatra) Solitaire (Neil Sedaka/Andy Williams), Autumn Leaves (Joseph Kosma, Jacques Prévert/Johnny Mercer)

*** for Deepest Shade (Greg Dulli/The Twilight Singers) Brompton Oratory (Nick Cave), Lonely Street (Andy Williams), I'm Not the Loving Kind (John  Cale), Mack the Knife (Brecht/Weill), Élégie funèbre (Gérard Manset)

** for "She's Gone (Vern Gosdin) and You Only Live Twice (John Barry/Nancy Sinatra)