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.
Now, I know y'all have been waiting for more than a year to read my review of The Rolling Stones' latest album. Is it worth buying? Well, I guess that by now its price has dropped significantly, so that may well be the case. You know what? when I'm listening to this on my stereo, I'm thinking to myself "this isn't half bad", basically it's way better than anyone could reasonably expect from a bunch of geriatric rockers. But afterwards this simile came to my mind: you know how there are tricks one can use to make stale bread edible again, delicious even? (If you don't, ask Marina). Well, that's how it feels: like I just ate some stale bread and enjoyed it. How was this miracle achieved? First of all, it's the raw materials: Jagger's ageless vocal, Keef's riffs, the underrated Ron Wood. Sure, Charlie has left the planet, but there are substitutes for almost everything nowadays, aren't there? As for finding the right cook, enter 33-year old Andrew Watt, who graduated effortlessly from producing popstars like Justin Bieber and Rita Ora to 80-year old rock legends like The Stones, Ozzy, and Iggy Pop. One may doubt his credentials, but one thing's evident: the guy is like a great forger; one who may not be able to paint a masterpiece but has studied Van Gogh's technique well enough that he can produce a slightly different version of "sunflowers" and pass it up as a work by the master himself. Case in point, opener "Angry": a typical Stones rocker reminiscent of classics like "Start Me Up" or "You Got Me Rockin'". Some may call this a "return to form", others "self-plagiarism". Same difference, really. It sounds good, but I have the nagging feeling that it could have been written by an AI with access to a Rolling Stones greatest hits compilation. I much prefer the attempts to slightly modernize The Stones' sound: "The Whole Wide World" and "Mess It Up" remind me of British90's indie bands - let's say Ocean Colour Scene and Franz Ferdinand, respectively. It sort of takes me back to Bridges To Babylon; not among The Stones' best albums, but the last one in which they tried to sound contemporary. "Bite My Head Off" is reminiscent of another time The Stones tried to follow the spirit of the age, albeit with better results: back in '78, they wrote a number of punk-inspired songs for Some Girls. They rocked OK, but didn't sound entirely convincing then, and sound even less convincing now. The best part of this punkish tune is a distorted bass guitar solo played by... Paul McCartney - the Beatles vs. Stones antipathy always was a media myth, Paul's on good terms with The Stones, he's even the one who suggested they use Watt as a producer."Live By The Sword" is another unconvincingly aggressive hard rocker. It nevertheless has the distinction of reuniting Mick and Keith with The Stones' original rhythm section for the first time in decades. Not only is it one of two tracks here featuring Charlie Watts on drums (recording sessions started in 2019, when he was still in good health) but Bill Wyman also briefly rejoins the band on bass after 30 years of absence. To top it all up, Elton John makes a cameo on piano. "Get Close" and "Driving Me Too Hard" are a couple of mid-tempo rockers that fall under the previously mentioned self-plagiarizing category. Recognizable as The Stones, yet utterly forgettable. Ballads include "Depending On You", the obligatory Keith Richards lead vocal "Tell Me Straight", and acoustic country "Dreamy Skies" - nice slide guitar and harmonica here. Which brings us to the undisputed album highlight "Sweet Sounds Of Heaven". A gospel-style tour de force sounding like a (heavenly, indeed) cross between "Wild Horses" and "Gimme Shelter". Jagger delivers his most soulful vocal in ages, while famous guests rise to the occasion: Lady Gaga on vocals channels the spirit of Aretha, while Stevie Wonder on keyboards channels... well, himself; what more can one ask for? The album closes with a faithful acoustic cover of Muddy Waters' "Rolling Stone Blues", the song that gave the band their name. It's their most honest song here, and among the most satisfying - just as their previous blues covers album was among their best of the last 40 years, an obvious labor of love instead of yet another attempt to resurrect old glories. If "Rolling Stone Blues" turns out to be The Stones' last song on their last LP, it'd be taking them full circle and make for a perfect career closure. That's nevertheless probably not the case; according to Jagger, there are many more songs left at the cutting room floor, waiting to be re-worked and polished until they sign as brightly as the ones included in Hackney Diamonds. As there should be; after all the band hadn't made an album of new material in 18 years, they're bound to have written more songs than these. The question is: do we really want to hear the ones that didn't make the initial cut? When it took so much time and effort, famous guests and hotshot producers, to make a simply decent album from the top-tier of the available songs? Or is it time to quit? Well, people have been asking that last question for 40 years, and the answer has always been NO. My guess is it'll continue to be the same, at least as long as Mick and Keith are still physically able to sing and play guitar.
***** for Sweet Sounds of Heaven
**** for Angry, Whole Wide World, Mess It Up, Rolling Stone Blues
*** for Get Close, Depending on You, Bite My Head Off,Dreamy Skies, Live by the Sword, Driving Me Too Hard, Tell Me Straight
Once more we get to the most unpleasant task of the year, the one where we get to list musicians who left the world in the last year. Why do I do it, if it gives me no pleasure? It started early in 2016, when we lost a lot of my favorite artists in a period of a few weeks. Each death took me back to the artist's records, listening to them, and eventually presenting some of them in this blog. But after awhile the deaths kept piling up, and I decided to commemorate them all collectively in a special post. Since then, it seems unfair not to repeat this tiniest of tributes for other worthwhile artists, so here we are now. This year's list doesn't include any death as shocking to me as the first months of 2016 did (David Bowie and Prince were among the heavier and more unexpected ones) but it does include some of my favorites: the father of British blues John Mayall is one of them - but then again the man was 90, he was productive until the very end (his latest, critically acclaimed, album was released just two years ago) and venerated as a veritable blues institution. Who wouldn't like to go out like that? Someone else I'd like to make a special mention of: this year we lost the last two surviving members of MC5, Wayne Kramer and Dennis Thompson - but not before they completed Heavy Lifting, the first new band recording in more than 50 years! See?Silver linings! I see many other favorite names here, too, and probably you do too - so let's take a minute to read through the list and give them all a mental farewell.
Thank You For The Music,
January 2, Chris Karrer (Amon Düül, Amon Düül II,
Embryo) 76 January 4, Glynis Johns (Actress and singer), 100 January 4, David Soul (Actor and singer), 80 January 5, Gene Deer (Blues guitarist and singer) 59 January 5, Del Palmer (Audio
engineer, Kate Bush bassist) 71 January 6, Iasos (New-age musician) 76 January 7, Tony Clarkin (Magnum) 77 January 9, James Kottak (Drummer for Scorpions, Kingdom Come, Warrant) 61 January 10, Audie Blaylock (Bluegrass musician) 61 January 12, Bill Hayes (Actor and singer) 98 January 19, Marlena Shaw (Jazz and soul singer) 84 January 19, Mary Weiss (The Shangri-Las) 75
January 19, Luis Vasquez (The Soft Moon), 44
January 21, Cynthia Garrison (The Three Degrees) January 23, Melanie (Singer-songwriter) 76 January 23, Anders "Dagger" Sandberg
(Rednex), 55 January 23,Margo Smith (Country singer-songwriter) 84 January 26, Dean Brown (Jazz guitarist) 68 January 31, Paul Brett (rock guitarist) 76 February 2, Wayne Kramer (MC5) 75 February 2, Derrick McIntyre (Jamiroquai) 66 February 3, Aston "Family Man" Barrett (Bob
Marley and the Wailers) 77 February 5, Toby Keith (Country singer) 62 February 6, Donald Kinsey (The Kinsey Report) 70 February 7, Henry Fambrough (The Spinners) 85 February 7, Mojo Nixon (alt-country singer) 66 February 9, Damo Suzuki (Can) 74 February 9, Jimmy Van Eaton (Rock and roll drummer) 86 February 11, Randy Sparks (The New Christy Minstrels)
90 February 13,Kerry "Fatman" Hunter (New
Orleans Nightcrawlers) 53 February 14, Ian Amey (Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick
& Tich) 79
February 16, Dexter Romweber (Flat Duo Jets), 57
February 16,Cynthia Strother (The Bell Sisters), 88 February 19, Bobby Tench (Singer, Jeff Beck Group, Van
Morrison) 79 February 20, Vitalij Kuprij (Trans-Siberian Orchestra)
49 February 22, John Lowe (Pianist for pre-Beatles band
The Quarrymen) 81
February 22, Roni Stoneman (bluegrass banjo player, Hee Haw), 85
February 25, Peter "Peetah" Morgan (reggae
band Morgan Heritage) 46
February 28 Cat Janice (American singer-songwriter), 31
March 1, Don Wise (R&B saxophonist) 81
March 2, Jim Beard (Keyboardist, Steely Dan) 63 March 2, W. C. Clark (Blues musician) 84 March 3, Brit Turner (Blackberry Smoke) 57 March 4, B. B. Seaton (The Gaylads) 79 March 5, Pavel Zajíček (DG 307) 72 March 10, Paul Nelson (Rock and blues guitarist) 63
March 10, T. M. Stevens (bassist, The Pretenders), 72 March 10, Karl Wallinger (The Waterboys, World Party) 66 March 11, Eric Carmen (Raspberries) 74
March 12, Russell Wilson (Junkhouse) 62
March 13, John Blunt (drummer, The Searchers)
March 13, Dick Allix (Drummer, Vanity Fare) 78 March 14, Angela McCluskey (Wild Colonials) 64 March 17, Steve Harley (Cockney Rebel) 73
March 18, Jimmy Hastings (Caravan), 85
March 18, Kevin Toney (The Blackbyrds) 70 March 19, Greg Lee (Hepcat) 53 March 20, Gene Elders (Ace in the Hole Band) 80
March 24, Dennis Schiavon (The Rezillos), 63 March 25, Chris Cross (Ultravox) 71 March 26, Zero a.k.a. Clare Elliott (Suburban Reptiles)
66 March 29, Gerry Conway (Jethro Tull, Fairport Convention) 76 April 1, Michael Ward (The Wallflowers, School of
Fish) 57 April 4, Keith LeBlanc (drummer, Little Axe), 69
April 4, Graeme Naysmith (English guitarist, Pale Saints), 57 April 5, C. J. Snare (FireHouse) 64 April 7, Clarence "Frogman" Henry (Rhythm and
blues singer) 87
April 8, Jon Card (Canadian drummer, SNFU), 63
April 9, Max Werner (Dutch singer/drummer, Kayak), 70
April 12 Lucy Rimmer (British vocalist for The Fall)
April 14, Ben Eldridge (The Seldom Scene) 85
April 15, Eugene Wolfgramm (The Jets), 57 April 16, Arthur Tavares (Tavares), 81 April 16, Rusty Gauthier (New Riders of the Purple
Sage), 73
April 16, Gavin Webb (The Masters Apprentices), 77
April 18, Jack Green (T. Rex, Pretty Things, Rainbow), 73
April 19 Eddie Sutton (Leeway singer), 59
April 20,Tony Tuff (Reggae singer, The African Brothers), 69
April 21 Jean-Marie Aerts (Belgian guitarist for TC Matic), 72
April 22 Chan Romero (Rockabilly singer "The Hippy Hippy Shake") 82 April 24, Mike Pinder (The Moody Blues) 82
April26 Robin George (British guitarist, singer and producer), 68
April 26 Frank Wakefield (Bluegrass mandolin player), 89
April 30, Duane Eddy (Rock and roll guitarist) 86 May 1,Richard Tandy (Electric Light Orchestra) 76
May 2, Gary Floyd (The Dicks, Sister Double Happiness), 71
May 7, Steve Albini (Big Black/Shellac, record
producer) 61 May 8, John Barbata (Drummer, The Turtles/
CSN&Y,/ Jefferson Airplane) 79 May 8, Dennis Thompson (MC5) 75 May 12, David Sanborn (Saxophonist) 78 May 14, Jimmy James (Singer) 83 May 15, John
Hawken (Renaissance, Strawbs) 84 May 16, Randy Fuller (The Bobby Fuller Four) 80 May 17, Charlie Colin (Train, The Side Deal) 57 May 18, "Spider" John Koerner (Folk and blues
singer) 85 May 18, Jon Wysocki (Staind) 53 May 24,Mark Gormley (Singer-musician) 67 May 24, Doug Ingle (Iron Butterfly) 78
May 29, Mansour Seck (Senegalese singer), 69 May 30, Doug Dagger (The Generators) 56 May 31, Ed Mann (Keyboardist and percussionist, Frank Zappa band) 69
June 2, Colin Gibb (Black Lace) 70 June 3, Brother Marquis (2 Live Crew) 57 June 11, Françoise Hardy (French Singer-songwriter) 80 June 11, Arthur "Gaps" Hendrickson (The
Selecter), 73 June 18, James Chance (James Chance and the
Contortions) 71 June 24, Shifty Shellshock (Crazy Town) 49 June 26, Kinky Friedman (Country singer-songwriter) 79
June 28, Betty
Veldpaus (Pussycat) 72
July 1, Laurie Lindeen (Zuzu's Petals) July 2, Tom Fowler (The Mothers of Invention, It's a
Beautiful Day) 73
July 6, Joe Egan (Stealers Wheel) 77 July 9, Joe Bonsall (The Oak Ridge Boys) 76 July 10, Dave Loggins (Singer-songwriter) 76 July 16, Bernice Johnson Reagon (The Freedom Singers,
Sweet Honey in the Rock) 81 July 17, Pinche Peach (Brujeria) 57 July 19, Toumani Diabaté (griot, kora player) 58 July 20, Jerry Miller (Moby Grape) 81 July 20, Sandy Posey (Country singer) 80 July 21, Evelyn Thomas (Disco
singer) July 22, Duke Fakir (Four Tops) 88
July 22, John Mayall (John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers) 90 July 24, Bill Crook (Spiritbox, Living with Lions) July 26, Jason Clark (50) , Kelly Nelon Clark (64),
Amber Nelon Kistler (35) July 27, Danny Clarke (The Meditations) 72 July 27, Pat Collier (The Vibrators) 72 July 28, Martin Phillipps (The Chills) 61 July 28, Mick Underwood (The Herd, Episode Six,
Quatermass) July 29,Joey Gilmore (Guitarist for James Brown, Etta
James) August 2,Nicu Covaci (Transsylvania Phoenix) 77 August 3, Shaun Martin (Snarky Puppy) 45 August 5, Maurice Williams (The Zodiacs) 86 August 7,Jack Russell (Great White) 63 August 9, Carl Bevan (60 Ft. Dolls) 51 August 9, Carl Weathersby (Guitarist for Albert King,
Billy Branch) 71 August 13, Greg Kihn (The Greg Kihn Band) 75 August 15, Joe Chambers (The Chambers Brothers) 81 August 16, Bobby Hicks (Bluegrass fiddler) 91
August 16, Tore Ylwizaker (Norwegian keyboardist for Ulver), 54
August 17, Johnny "Dandy" Rodríguez (bongo player for Tito Puente), 78
August 21, Russell Stone (Brotherhood of Man) 77 August 23, Catherine Ribeiro (French folk psych singer,
The Alps) 82
July 27 Mísia (Portuguese fado singer), 69 September 5, Herbie Flowers (Blue Mink, T. Rex, Sky) 86 September 5, Sérgio Mendes (Bossa nova musician) 83
September 6, Screamin' Scott Simon (Sha Na Na) 75
September 6, Mark Moffatt (The Monitors) 74
September 7 Jimmy Gilmer (The Fireballs), 83
September 8, Zoot Money (The Animals, Humble Pie) 82 September 10, Frankie Beverly (Maze) 77 September 13, Chalmers Davis (Keyboardist for Little
Richard, Johnny Cash) 73
September 14 Gerry Robinson (The Purple Gang), 76 September 15, Kenny Hyslop (Simple Minds, Slik) 73 September 15, Tito Jackson (The Jackson 5) 70 September 15, Roli Mosimann (Swans, Wiseblood) 68 September 17, JD Souther (Singer and songwriter) 78 September 18, Juan Brujo (Brujeria) 61 September 18, Dick Diamonde (The Easybeats) 76 September 18, Nick Gravenites (Big Brother and the
Holding Company, The Electric Flag) 85 September 21, Eddie Low (Country singer) 81 September 21, Roger Palm (Drummer, ABBA) 75 September 23, Freddie Salem (Outlaws) 70 September 24, Cat Glover (Prince's band) 62 September 27, Pit Passarell (Viper) September 28, Kris Kristofferson (Country songwriter
and singer) 88
September 29, Martin Lee (Brotherhood of Man) 77 September 30, Dave Allison (Anvil) 68 October 2, Ken Tobias (Singer and songwriter) 79
October 5, Mimis Plessas (Greek composer and pianist), 99
October 5,Nell Smith (The Flaming Lips collaborator), 17
October 7, Cissy Houston (Singer, mother of Whitney
Houston) 91 October 16, Liam Payne (One Direction) 31 October 20, Barbara Dane (Folk Singer, activist) 97 October 21, Paul Di'Anno (singer, Iron Maiden, Battlezone) 66 October 23, Linda LaFlamme (It's a Beautiful Day) 85 October 23, Jack Jones (Singer), 86 October 25, Phil Lesh (Grateful Dead) 84
October 28, Manuel "Guajiro" Mirabal (Buena
Vista Social Club) 91
October 30, Richard Andrew (Underground Lovers drummer) 58
November 3, Quincy Jones (Record producer, songwriter,
and arranger) 91 November 3,Andy Leek (Dexys Midnight Runners) 66 November 4, Tyka Nelson (Singer; sister of Prince) 64 November 9, Lou Donaldson (Jazz alto saxophonist) 98 November 9, Ella Jenkins (Folk singer) 98 November 12, Roy Haynes (Jazz drummer) 99 November 14, Dennis Bryon (Bee Gees,
Amen Corner) 75 November 14, Peter Sinfield (Lyricist, King
Crimson) 80 November 13, Shel Talmy (producer, The Kinks, Who)
November 18, Colin Petersen (Drummer, The Bee Gees) 78 November 20, Andy Paley (The Paley Brothers, The Modern Lovers) 72 November 20, Mike Pinera (Blues Image, Iron Butterfly)
76
November 21, Willy Quiroga (Argentine musician for Vox Dei), 84
November 22, Harry Williams (Bloodstone) 80
November 22, Toni Price (country blues singer), 63 November 24, Bob Bryar (My Chemical Romance) 44 November 29, Will Cullen Hart (Olivia Tremor Control)
53
December 16, Steve Lewinson (Simply Red) 58 December 16, Ruth McArdle (Belgian singer, Lords of
Acid) December 17, Alfa Anderson (Chic) 78 December 17, Mike Brewer (Brewer & Shipley) 80 December 18, Slim Dunlap (The Replacements) 73 December 20, Helena Zeťová (Black Milk) 44 December 20, Sugar Pie DeSanto (R&B Singer) 89 December 21, Casey Chaos (Amen, Christian Death) 59 December 25, Dulce (Mexican Actress and singer) 69 December 29, Eric Carlson a.k.a. Sickie Wifebeater (The
Mentors) 66
As (any possible) regular readers would know, every December I buy music magazines for their end-of-the-year-retrospectives and publish the respective best albums lists on this blog. It used to be Q, Uncut, Mojo, and Classic Rock. Unfortunately, the former publication has closed, while I stopped buying the latter ever since it stopped giving away sample CD's; I do publish CR's list nevertheless because it has a singular focus that distinguishes it from the rest. This year, I noticed that the website albumoftheyear.org also publishes an aggregate list that draws from many different publications across many different genres, so I'm including the Top 20 albums from that list, too, for a more nuanced approach: So since my own focus is on classic and/or alternative rock, I would have completely bypassed Charli xcx's Brat which apparently is Metacritic's highest-rated album of 2024. I remember reading about the word "brat" being a big trend this year, and about the artist endorsing Camala Harris' presidential race (for all the good it did her), but had never listened to the music. So I had to go to youtube and seek the album's lead single, "Von Dutch", and was completely amazed.
Amazed that people can write about this shit as if it's important stuff! Like, people who actually write about music in magazines, not just 14-year old girls who follow whatever's the latest trend on tick tock. Seriously, what's to like? I mean sure, the singer is kind of cute, but she's got no voice, her "rebel girl" antics in the video are just pathetic, and the music is just generic beats which could have been written by an A.I. Thankfully, Fontaines D.C. are on number 2; a bunch of talented young men with a rebel attitude that's only partially rock star posing. Romanceis their 4th album (I haven't got it yet, but I have the previous 3, all great). They performed almost all of it when I saw them live lately; lead single "Starbuster" almost brought the house down during the encore.
On No.3, The Cure's long-awaited returnSongs of a Lost World.That's more like it! I'm about to receive this as a Christmas present, and haven't listened to it yet. For the purposes of this presentation I checked lead single "Alone" on youtube: total antithesis to the previously mentioned, upbeat, tracks: a return to the elegiac tone of 80's albums like Pornography and Disintegration that may well spawn yet another generation of emo kids.
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As for the rest of the list, well of course there's a lot of commercial stuff I'm not particularly fond of: pop, hip hop, modern R&B etc. The inclusion of the latest Nick Cave album Wild God isn't so much an indication of its worth (it's an above average Nick Cave LP, so of course it's great) as much as of an indication of the artist's growing acceptance by the mainstream: it took them 40 years, but the world is finally catching up. Another pleasant surprise is the inclusion of Jessica Pratt'sHere in the Pitch; another artist in this Top 20 that I got to see recently- low key, but absolutely deserves all the plaudits
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AGGREGATE LIST (ALL GENRES, ALL PUBLICATIONS) TOP 20: 1 Charli xcx - BRAT2 Fontaines D.C. - Romance 3 The Cure - Songs of a Lost World 4 MJ Lenderman - Manning Fireworks 5 Beyoncé - COWBOY CARTER 6 Waxahatchee - Tigers Blood 7 Cindy Lee - Diamond Jubilee 8 Billie Eilish - HIT ME HARD AND SOFT 9 Kendrick Lamar - GNX 10 Tyler, The Creator - CHROMAKOPIA 11 Jessica Pratt - Here in the Pitch 12 I Got Heaven - Mannequin Pussy 13 Sabrina Carpenter - Short n' Sweet 14 Mk.gee - Two Star & The Dream Police 15 Kim Gordon - The Collective 16 Clairo - Charm 17 Adrianne Lenker - Bright Future 18 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Wild God19 English Teacher - This Could Be Texas 20 Vampire Weekend - Only God Was Above Us
MOJO's No.1 is the new Jack White, No Name. This album appeared out of nowhere when customers at White's Third Man record stores were given a mystery LP as a present, which of course turned out to be his latest album. Generally hailed as a return to The White Stripes' garage rock heyday; I've only heard the two tracks included in the two magazines' Best Of 2024 samplers but tend to agree.
MOJO MAGAZINE:1. Jack White - No Name 2. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Wild God3. Beth Gibbons - Lives Outgrown 4. Gillian Welch & David Rawlings - Woodland 5. Bill Ryder-Jones - Iechyd Da 6. Kim Deal - Nobody Loves You More 7. Fontaines D.C. - Romance 8. The Lemon Twigs - A Dream Is All We Know 9. Jane Weaver - Love In Constant Spectacle 10. Kim Gordon - The Collective 11. John Grant - The Art of the Lie 12. Shabaka - Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace 13. The Smile - Wall of Eyes 14. Cassandra Jenkins - My Light, My Destroyer 15. English Teacher - This Could Be Texas 16. Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band - Loophole 17. Paul Weller - 66 18. David Gilmour - Luck and Strange19. Peter Perrett - The Cleansing 20. Lady Blackbird - Slang Spirituals 21. Gruff Rhys - Sadness Sets Me Free 22. Mdou Moctar - Funeral for Justice23. Richard Thompson - Ship To Shore 24. Mercury Rev - Born Horses 25. St. Vincent - All Born Screaming 26. Dirty Three - Love Changes Everything 27. The The - Ensoulment 28. John Cale - POPtical Illusion 29. Charles Lloyd - The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow 30. Waxahatchee - Tigers Blood 31. The Cure - Songs of a Lost World32. Pet Shop Boys - Nonetheless 33. Ezra Collective - Dance, No one's Watching 34. Amyl and The Sniffers - Cartoon Darkness 35. Adrianne Lenker - Bright Future 36. Jessica Pratt - Here in the Pitch 37. Common & Pete Rock - The Auditorium Vol. 1 38. Leyla McCalla - Sun Without the Heat 39. Arooj Aftab - Night Reign 40. Brittany Howard - What Now 41. Laura Marling - Patterns in Repeat 42. Michael Kiwanuka - Small Changes 43. The Black Crowes - Happiness Bastards 44. Kamasi Washington - Fearless Movement 45. Nubya Garcia - ODYSSEY 46. The Last Dinner Party - Prelude to Ecstasy47. The Jesus and Mary Chain - Glasgow Eyes48. Nick Lowe - Indoor Safari 49. Joan As Police Woman - Lemons, Limes And Orchids 50. Lee "Scratch" Perry & Youth - Spaceship to Mars 51. IDLES - TANGK 52. Richard Hawley - In This City They Call You Love 53. Public Service Broadcasting - The Last Flight 54. MJ Lenderman - Manning Fireworks 55. The Bug - Machine 56. Nadine Shah - Filthy Underneath 57. Johnny Blue Skies - Passage du Desir 58. Naima Bock - Below a Massive Dark Land 59. Oren Ambarchi, Johan Berthling & Andreas Werliin - Ghosted II 60. The Hard Quartet - The Hard Quartet 61. Oisin Leech - Cold Sea 62. Hermanos Gutiérrez - Sonido Cósmico 63. Floating Points - Cascade 64. Hamish Hawk - A Firmer Hand 65. Cassie Kinoshi's Seed - Gratitude 66. Khruangbin - A LA SALA 67. Ghost Dubs - Damaged 68. Julia Holter - Something in the Room She Moves 69. The Harlem Gospel Travelers - Rhapsody 70. Kelly Finnigan - A Lover Was Born 71. The Bevis Frond - Focus on Nature 72. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Flight b741 73. Tindersticks - Soft Tissue 74. Pom Poko - Champion 75. Field Music - Limits of Language.
Quite low at the list, but still a kind of vindication after decades of cultdom, Nick Saloman a.k.a. The Bevis Frond. Not just a psychedelic legend, but a vastly underrated songwriter as well.
Uncut features Nick Cave on the top spot, and real-life couple Gillian Welch & David Rawlings on No.2. Somewhat expected, seeing as Uncut has a soft spot for Americana music. This is the couple's first album under both names, usually they release albums under either one or the other. Both magazines rate the return of the Kims quite highly: years after leaving The Pixies and Sonic Youth respectively, Kim Deal and Kim Gordonprove they have always been an artistic force to be reckoned. K-pop wunderkind Kim Jong Un doesn't make an appearance this time, but Former Portishead Beth Gibbons does, at both magazines' lists, at No.3.
UNCUT MAGAZINE:1. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Wild God, 2. Gillian Welch & David Rawlings - Woodland,3. Beth Gibbons - Lives Outgrown,4. Arooj Aftab - Night Reign, 5. Jessica Pratt - Here in the Pitch, 6. Adrianne Lenker - Bright Future, 7. The Smile - Wall of Eyes, 8. MJ Lenderman - Manning Fireworks, 9. Cindy Lee - Diamond Jubilee, 10. Waxahatchee - Tigers Blood, 11. Cassandra Jenkins - My Light, My Destroyer, 12. Julia Holter - Something in the Room She Moves, 13. Fontaines D.C. - Romance, 14. Mdou Moctar - Funeral for Justice, 15. Jack White - No Name, 16. Bill Ryder-Jones - Iechyd Da, 17. Johnny Blue Skies - Passage du Desir, 18. Shabaka - Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace, 19. Peter Perrett - The Cleansing, 20. Hurray for the Riff Raff - The Past Is Still Alive, 21. John Cale - Poptical Illusion, 22. Alan Sparhawk - White Roses, My God, 23. High Llamas - Hey Panda, 24. Phosphorescent - Revelator, 25. Nala Sinephro - Endlessness, 26. Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band - Loophole, 27. English Teacher - This Could Be Texas, 28. Jake Xerxes Fussell - When I'm Called, 29. Oisin Leech - Cold Sea, 30. Kim Gordon - The Collective, 31. Mabe Fratti - Sentir Que No Sabes, 32. Mabe FrattiBeak> - >>>>, 33. Willie Nelson - The Border, 34. Rosali - Bite Down, 35. Brittany Howard - What Now, 36. Myriam Gendron - Mayday, 37. Shellac - To All Trains, 38. Dirty Three - Love Changes Everything, 39. Brown Horse - Reservoir, 40. Grandaddy - Blu Wav, 41. Paul Weller - 66, 42. Kim Deal - Nobody Loves You More,43. Richard Thompson - Ship to Shore, 44. Christopher Owens - I Wanna Run Barefoot Through Your Hair, 45. Laura Marling - Patterns in Repeat, 46. Charles Lloyd - The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow, 47. Sarah Davachi - The Head As Form’d In The Crier’s Choir, 48. David Gilmour - Luck and Strange, 49. Still House Plants - If I Don't Make It, I Love U, 50. Oren Ambarchi / Johan Berthling / Andreas Werliin - Ghosted II, 51. Chuck Johnson - Sun Glories, 52. Basic - This Is Basic, 53. Bonny Light Horseman - Keep Me on Your Mind/See You Free, 54. Kaia Kater - Strange Medicine, 55. Nilüfer Yanya - My Method Actor, 56. Fievel Is Glauque - Rong Weicknes, 57. Jlin - Akoma, 58. Linda Thompson - Proxy Music, 59. Charli XCX - Brat, 60. Nadine Shah - Filthy Underneath, 61. Idles - Tangk, 62. Kamasi Washington - Fearless Movement, 63. The Jesus and Mary Chain - Glasgow Eyes, 64. Billie Eilish - Hit Me Hard and Soft, 65. Tindersticks - Soft Tissue, 66. Vampire Weekend - Only God Was Above Us, 67. John Canning Yates - The Quiet Portraits, 68. Taylor Swift - The Tortured Poets Department, 69. The Cure - Songs of a Lost World, 70. Arab Strap - I'm Totally Fine with It Don't Give a Fuck Anymore, 71. Beachwood Sparks - Across The River Of Stars, 72. Laurie Anderson - Amelia, 73. Nick Lowe - Indoor Safari, 74. Dave Alvin & Jimmie Dale Gilmore - TexiCali, 75. Pye Corner Audio - The Endless Echo, 76. Personal Trainer - Still Willing, 77. Kali Uchis - Orquídeas, 78. Wadada Leo Smith & Amina Claudine Myers - Central Park's Mosaics of Reservoir, Lake, Paths and Garden, 79. Yasmin Williams - Acadia, 80. Leyla McCalla - Sun Without the Heat.
Rather low at No.63, we find the return of Jesus and Mary Chain with Glasgow Eyes. Just like with The Cure (here at No.69), they sound as good as they did in their heyday 4 decades ago!
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Classic Rock's choices are usually wildly different from the others; this time, not so much: The Black Crowes' Happiness Bastards(No.1) and David Gilmour's Luck and Strange(No.3) have received unanimous praise. Recent reviews focus on Gilmour embracing a simpler, less proggy, production approach. To me, it'll always come down to the voice and guitar of Pink Floyd: I'm happy that Gilmour and Roger Waters still make great music, 40 years after the bitter divorce. Just don't ask me to choose between Mommy and Daddy.
CLASSIC ROCK MAGAZINE1. The Black Crowes - Happiness Bastards, 2. Judas Priest - Invincible Shield, 3. David Gilmour - Luck and Strange, 4. Bruce Dickinson - The Mandrake Project, 5. Black Country Communion - V, 6. Pearl Jam - Dark Matter, 7. Ian Hunter - Defiance Part 2: Fiction, 8. The Black Keys - Ohio Players, 9. Deep Purple - =1, 10. Gary Clark Jr. - JPEG RAW, 11. The Cure - Songs of a Lost World, 12. Myles Kennedy - The Art Of Letting Go,13. Jack White - No Name, 14. FM – Old Habits Die Hard, 15. Massive Wagons - Earth to Grace, 16. The Quireboys - Wardour Street, 17. Blackberry Smoke - Be Right Here, 18. Orange Goblin - Science, Not Fiction, 19. Von Hertzen Brothers - In Murmuration, 20. Bad Nerves - STILL NERVOUS, 21. Big Big Train - The Likes of Us, 22. Sebastian Bach - Child Within the Man, 23. The Lemon Twigs - A Dream Is All We Know,24. IDLES - TANGK, 25. Jon Anderson & The Band Geeks - TRUE, 26. Magnum - Here Comes the Rain, 27. Moggs Motel - Moggs Motel, 28. The Hot Damn! – Dancing On The Milky Way, 29. Slash - Orgy of the Damned, 30. Royal Republic - LoveCop, 31. Terrorvision - We Are Not Robots, 32. Green Day - Saviors, 33. Fantastic Negrito - Son Of A Broken Man, 34. Hawkwind - Stories From Time and Space, 35. Tuk Smith & The Restless Hearts - Rogue To Redemption, 36. Blues Pills - Birthday, 37. Gun - HOMBRES, 38. The Virginmarys - The House Beyond The Fires, 39. MC5 - Heavy Lifting, 40. Opeth - The Last Will and Testament, 41. Joanne Shaw Taylor - Heavy Soul, 42. Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown - Electrified, 43. His Lordship - His Lordship, 44. Saxon - Hell, Fire And Damnation, 45. Peter Perrett - The Cleansing, 46. Nightwish - Yesterwynde, 47. The Cold Stares - The Southern, 48. Sweet - Full Circle, 49. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Wild God, 50. Bon Jovi - Forever.
Other artists that managed to draw praise from all three magazines include veterans Jack White, Nick Cave, and The Cure, as well as younger bands like The Lemon Twigs and Idles. The most surprising name included in all three lists is that of Peter Perrett formerly of The Only Ones. Where has he been since he wrote "Another Girl, Another Planet" 45 years ago? Further, I'm not surprised that the other magazines ignored albums lauded by CR by bands like Judas Priest and Deep Purple. I am nevertheless very surprised that no-one else acknowledged the release of new albums by Pearl Jam and Green Day. Have they already become the kind of nostalgia act that fills stadiums while their new release goes unnoticed?Let's hope that the new Trump presidency will inspire another masterpiece, the way George W Bush did with American Idiot. Besides, Trump did inspire Green Day's new single "The American Dream Is Killing Me" with its allegoric "zombie apocalypse" video:
By now, almost every band that's been around for a while has recorded a cover album. These are rarely received with enthusiasm from fans or reviewers, so why bother? critics cite a lack of inspiration, but I think it's mostly a desire to return to the roots: every musician starts off as a fan, covering their favorite music, and finding joy in playing with like-minded comrades. By going back to the beginning, bands try to rekindle the original spark and have fun playing with each other. Whether the fans have fun listening to the result, is another matter. And yet another, whether they'll feel the urge to listen to the album repeatedly. I, for example, enjoyed listening to Deep Purple's Turning To Crime: classic tunes played with gusto by virtuoso musicians, what's not to like? But I haven't re-listened to the album since I reviewed it for this blog, and I probably won't for a long time. On the contrary, The Dangermen Sessions, vol.1 takes a trip to the (home or car) stereo rather often. Maybe because Madness bring their inherent exuberance to everything they do, and all they need is a bunch of good tunes, which in this case is a given. Most of these have been in the band's repertory from the early days when they were still known as the Invaders. Βefore recording this album they got together and performed a few secret gigs under the alias the Dangermen; the liner notes continue the charade: supposedly the (fictional) Dangermen formed in Havana in the 1960s, and have reformed after 35 years to record this album. Each member also gets a fictional identity and backstory - possibly the original idea was for the CD to be released under the Dangermen moniker but that was considered to be too uncommercial, so instead it became the 9th official LP by Madness. Although the original songs covered belong to a variety of styles, they are all performed in a rocksteady/reggae/ska beat. Because some of them, including The Supremes' "You Keep Me Hanging On" and The Kinks' "Lola", had been reggaefied before, the band based their versions on previous covers rather than the originals. Barbara Lynn's 1962 R&B hit "You'll Lose a Good Thing" and José Feliciano ballad "Rain" also sound good in their reggae-ish arrangements, but it's the classic ska tunes that entertain the most. Some, like Max Romeo's "I Chase the Devil" or Desmond Dekker's "Israelites" are overtly familiar in their original versions; while Madness don't add a new dimension to them, their spirited performances maintain the fun factor. Then there are those old Jamaican tunes that were new to me: Prince Buster's "Girl Why Don't You?", Lord Tanamo's "Taller Than You Are", Rudy Mills's "John Jones" and Edwin Astley instrumental "Dangerman". These also stick close to the originals, and Madness do a great job of introducing them to us. Undoubtfully the most entertaining song here is Lord Melody's calypso classic "Shame & Scandal". It cracks me up every time I listen to it, and I heard it here first. Since then, I've heard countless other covers, including one in Dutch and a very bad Greek one - it's not the fault of 70's pop singer Dakis, it's just that the lyrics sound really daft translated in Greek. The album closes with a faithful roots reggae take on Bob Marley's"So Much Trouble in the World"; I guess Madness rightfully thought that a collection of (mostly) Jamaican tunes wouldn't be complete without a Marley tribute, but subject-wise it's somewhat of a downer. Not the perfect closure to a CD that's really fun to listen to. By now it's been 20 years since the release The Dangermen Sessions, Vol.1 and there hasn't been any talk of a Volume 2 follow-up. Maybe we have to wait until their inspiration dries up again (Dangermen bridged a 10-year gap between albums of original material). Lord knows, there are enough tunes that are just crying for the Madness treatment. Thinking back to all the bands that have released cover albums, it's hard to say that any of them are standouts of their respective discographies, and the same is true for this one. It nevertheless makes for a quite pleasurable listening experience, even more so than many of Madness' regular LPs. In two words: satisfaction guaranteed.
**** for Shame & Scandal, I Chase the Devil, Israelites, Rain
*** for This Is Where/ Girl Why Don't You?, Taller Than You Are, You Keep Me Hanging On, Dangerman (aka High Wire), John Jones, Lola, You'll Lose a Good Thing, So Much Trouble in the World
Now here's a CD I hadn't played for more than 10 -maybe 15- years! And it might have stayed this way, if it wasn't for Random Selection. Why? Because the way I remembered it, this was as an album of covers of contemporary British Invasion hits. There was a time when I'd buy just any 60's garage album I could find, and get a kick out of every one of them. But most of them were just too similar, and were logged in my mind as "more of the same" - and that included The Walflower Complextion. I mean why listen to their cover of "Gloria" instead of two dozen or more that I have in my collection? Truth be told, now that I'm re-listening to it, there is something different about this version: an insistent guitar motiff that runs through the whole song, and handclaps used as extra percussion; little details I hadn't noticed the first time around that make this stick out as more than another Them/Shadows of Knight copy. Other songs, too, prove that this CD was worth more than the cursory listen I initially gave it. But first a few info about the band: apparently they took their (deliberately miss-spelled) name from a face cream ad. When I saw their photos, I had to laugh, too: the complexion of these pasty redhead teens is indeed not what you'd expect from a bunch of Sudamericano youths - and with good reason; these boys were the sons of yankee officials, all going to the same expat high school in Bogotá, Colombia. Their ages vary between 14 (guitarist Fred Sampson) to 17 (his drummer brother, Richard). Pat Sinex (16) plays bass in all but two tracks, and Mark Lusk (16) is the lead singer. Chris Kyzs (16) also plays guitar on disc 1. Apparently, they made a splash at local dances, enough for Colombian label Daro Records to offer them a recording contract, and even secure them a couple of TV appearances. CD 1 of this comp contains the band's eponymous debut from 1966, featuring four Rolling Stones covers: "Tell Me", "Last Time" and ballad "Blue Turns To Grey" are well played and rather faithful, albeit rather lo-fi, covers. "Empty Heart" on the other hand is embellished with stinging guitar licks; generally the guitarwork on this album is amazing given the age of these kids. That's even more evident in the four instrumentals: their own compositions "Chris's B's", "Blue Bells", "Sapphire" and Link Wray cover "Yack, The Ripper". These instrumentals went unnoticed by me the first times I listened to this album, because I'm not really partial to instrumental music, but after re-listening this CD, I'd have to say that they show where the real strength of the band lies. Of course, by the time they recorded this, surf music was out of fashion, so the focus is more on British-style R&B. Next to the Rolling Stones covers, we get their versions of The Kinks' "Long Tall Shorty", garage folk "Open Up Your Door" (The Richard and the Young Lions) and frat rocker "Hanky Panky" (Tommy James and the Shondells). The only original vocal song ("Sapphire" does have some spoken vocal, but it counts as a surf instrumental in my book) is opener "All It Is", also released as a single. It's a nice garage folk tune with pleasant harmonies, but I prefer the harder stuff myself. Only a few months after their debut, the band produced the follow up When I'm Far From You (1967). Chris Kyzs had in the meantime left, so there's only four of them pictured on the album cover. Funnily enough, their debut's cover photo also originally featured only four members: Mark Lusk joined the band at the last minute, and his photo had to be cropped-in after the fact - and not too subtly, as is obvious by looking at it. The second LP ditches the surf music, and replaces it with some Latin-inspired tunes: "El Caiman" and "Santa Marta" are covers of contemporary cumbia hits, which would have been popular with the crowds at local dances, and "La Bamba" is of course a Ritchie Valens cover. There's only one Stones tune here ("Not Fade Away"), but this time they draw inspiration from Van Morrison's Them, including four songs from Them's repertoire: "Baby Please Don't Go", "Route 66", "Gloria", and "Out Of Sight", all of which provide the highlights on Disc Two. There are two more more, less interesting, covers (Bob Dylan's "She Belongs To Me" and a lukewarm take on The Searchers' "Needles & Pins") and two originals: folk ballad "When I'm Far From You" and instrumental "From Head To Toe" (unfortunately not on a par with the ones on the previous album). The Walflower Complextion folded soon after the release of Far From You, but left their mark on the Bogotá rock scene - as well as leaving two whole LP's behind, something that few garage bands can boast of. According to the liner notes, Fred Sampson later joined local scenesters Los Young Beats, but he's not mentioned on the notes of the LP I have (The Exciting Sound Of Los Young Beats, to be presented here sometime) so he probably didn't record with them. Apparently he's still making music; his official website introduces him as the "platinum selling songwriter" of "I Need Your Love" fame (from Boston's 1994 Walk On album), and he has recently released a Howlin' Wolf tribute album. For my part, I'm more impressed by his guitar playing skills at such a young age. The Walflower Complextion may not have been incredibly important or original, but this CD still contains some of the best garage rock to come out of South America in the 60's. Now that I've properly listened to it, I'll be sure to play it more often.
**** for Empty Heart, Blue Bells, Sapphire, Open Up Your Door, Baby Please Don't Go, Gloria
*** for All It Is, Tell Me, Chris's B's, Last Time, Hanky Panky, Blue Turns To Grey, Long Tall Shorty, Yack The Ripper, Route 66, When I'm Far From You, Not Fade Away, La Bamba, She Belongs To Me, Santa Marta, Out Of Sight
** for El Caiman, From Head To Toe, Needles & Pins
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 instrumentsadd 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
Fleetwood Mac are one of the bands I regret most having missed out seeing live; for one reason or another I was not able to see them in the few times they visited Holland in the last 15 years - and, after Christine McVie's death and Lindsey Buckingham's estrangement from the rest, it seems that I'll never get to tick that particular box. Closest I'll get to, is one of their live albums; basically Live and 1997's The Dance. Fleetwood Mac Live was the band's first live release after 13 years and about as many personnel changes. Fleetwood Mac, who had started out as a pure blues band, had lost its leader Peter Green to LSD and religious cults in 1970, and staggered aimlessly for a while, until they incorporated the American singer/songwriter duo, and real-life couple, of Buckingham/Nicks. With founding members Mick Fleetwood (drums) and John Mac Vie (bass) augmented by a trio of talented singer/songwriters (Stevie Nicks on vocals, Lindsey Buckingham guitar and vocals, and Christine Mac Vie on piano and vocals), they finally hit their stride, producing three artistically and commercially successful albums in quick succession: Fleetwood Mac (1975), the mega-selling Rumours (1977), and more experimental double LP Tusk (1979). With all those hits under their belt, the time was right to release a live album; after all this was the golden era of the double live album: Kiss Alive, Frampton Comes Alive, Cheap Trick At Budokan sold spectacularly better than their studio predecessors, and acted as springboards to unprecedented commercial success for the respective bands. Slightly less influential then these, Live captures Fleetwood Mac at their creative apogee, sports a hit-laden setlist and excellent performances. But, on the downside, it fails to convey the excitement of a real concert; there's very little between-song banter, and the recordings come from far too diverse sources: clubs, arenas, soundchecks and rehearsals. Which makes it all sound more like a collection of unrelated live recordings rather than a cohesive album. The band is really tight and professional, so the performances still sound slick (thanks presumably to a fair amount of overdubbing), albeit less glossy than the studio versions. So if you always felt that their studio albums were just a bit too clean, you might enjoy this LP better. What hit me immediately when I first listened to this, is how dominant Buckingham's guitar is, at least compared to the studio versions. I never rated him highly as an instrumentalist, but here he really lets his inner guitar hero shine: notably on Peter Green-era hard rocker "Oh Well", but also on opener "Monday Morning", and on elongated versions of "I'm So Afraid" and the punk/new wave-y "Not That Funny" from Tusk. The latter's yelps and howls are also repeated during the intro to another of his songs "Go Your Own Way", which sounds refreshingly rugged and quite different to the polished version in Rumours. "Don't Let Me Down Again" (from the couple's pre-Mac 1973 LP Buckingham Nicks) sounds fantastic re-imagined as a rowdy Southern rocker. It's fair to say that the aforementioned tracks, which feature Buckingham in lead vocals, are also the wildest and least commercial-sounding ones on this LP. Christine Mac Vie handles the more folk/blues numbers, including ballads "Over & Over", "One More Night", upbeat "Over My Head", country-ish "Say You Love Me", and of course what is arguably her best song "Don't Stop", which here also features some fine blues guitar by Buckingham. Moving on to the most pop-oriented of the band's singers, Stevie Nicks' enchanting voice is on the forefront on her ethereal hits "Dreams", "Sara", "Landslide", and a passionate performance of "Rhiannon". Additionally, she brings a new song called "Fireflies" - a rather upbeat number which, like most of the songs on Rumours, mines the rich dramatic seam provided by the interpersonal relationships within the band. Fleetwood Mac Live closes with Beach Boys cover "Farmer's Daughter", a wonderful showcase for the band's harmonies. Nicks' and McVie's vocals are amazing throughout, while Lindsey's are rougher, which of course he makes up for with his excellent guitar playing. John Mac Vie and Mick Fleetwood are the unsung heroes of the group (although they gave their names to it), but their performance here is also commendable - especially Fleetwood, his drumming on "Oh Well" is one of the album's highlights. Now, my own version of Fleetwood Mac Live is the original double CD release from 1988, but this has now been surpassed by a triple-CD Deluxe Edition featuring 15 more songs stemming from the same period, and superior remastered sound. In conclusion, there are some iconic (usually double) live classic rock albums that capture the artists' essence better than any of their studio LPs, and considered to be essential listening, e.g. The Allman Brothers' At Fillmore East,Kiss Alive!, Deep Purple's Made in Japan, Thin Lizzy's Live and Dangerous, etc. Fleetwood Mac Live doesn't quite belong in the same category, but it's a damn fine live document of the band in their prime, and well worth owning for any fan.
***** 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
When I saw this LP at the bargain bin in my neighborhood record shop, I initially thought it was an album of actual interviews. There are LPs out there only containing spoken word interviews, but these usually concern more popular artists, people like The Beatles, Doors, Nirvana etc. The Alpha Band aren't really in the same league, which made me curious enough to give it another look - and sure enough, it wasn't a spoken word album at all, but a best-of compilation. Now, all I knew about The Alpha Band was that T Bone Burnett was a member, but that was enough. I mean, he's involved in so many great albums in my collection, either as a musician or -more often- as producer. Surely his own records should also be worth listening? Not that The Alpha Band was a personal vehicle for Burnett - Steven Soles has an equal share in vocals, guitar, and songwriting, while David Mansfield's playing on violin, mandolin, and other instruments is integral to the group's sound. All three of them were members of Bob Dylan's legendary Rollin' Thunder Revue. Apparently, their chemistry was so strong that they elected to keep playing together even after the tour was over. Their eponymous debut The Alpha Band (1976) was recorded and released immediately after the tour ended, and was extremely well-received - by critics and music biz insiders, at least. To my ears, it sounds like an updated take on The Band's folk rock, incorporating power pop and new wave influences - I hear similarities to Elvis Costello and Tom Petty, especially in the first tracks ("Interviews", "Cheap Perfume", "Ten Figures"). "The Dogs" and "Last Chance To Dance" are more country-oriented - the latter features some inspired violin playing, too. From the second album Spark In The Dark (1977) we get "East Of East" (co-written, same as many other Alpha Band songs, by Bobby Neuwirth), electric blues "Spark In The Dark" and Dylan cover "You Angel You". The latter is performed in a Buddy Holly-like rockabilly style, and features one Ringo Starr on drums. Adopting a more commercial sound didn't improve sales, and neither did the famous guests - which may be the reason that their next album, The Statue Makers of Hollywood (1978) was to be their last. There's a strong religious theme to this one; actually, the only song that hits the mark for me is "Mighty Man", which sports a big, Cinematic, sound, and reminds me of the better tracks on Dylan's "Christian" albums from the same period. "Back In My Baby's Arms Again" is a repentant/moralistic country ballad, and "Rich Man" an overlong piece whose only saving grace is Mansfield's mandolin playing. In general, The Alpha Band display great craft in their compositions, playing, and orchestrations. For some reason, they were never as successful as other bands with a similar sound (Doobie Brothers, America, Bread etc.) but they certainly were their equals. Burnett, Soles, and David Mansfield went out of the limelight, producing and playing on other people's records, working on soundtracks, and releasing the odd, low-key, solo album. Their legacy as The Alpha Band is well worth discovering, and this compilation is a good place to start.
**** forThe 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
It's been 7 years since the previous time I saw Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds play live at Amsterdam's Ziggo Dome. That concert reminded me why they're one of my favorite bands, in a way that listening to their latest albums didn't; Nick has always been a terrific performer, but his desire to connect with his audience seems to be intensified after his personal tragedy. The loss of his teenage son was recent then, and his grief more palpable. This time, I had the impression that the healing process is well under way. Onstage, he inhabited -as he did in the past- various personas: the crooner sitting on his piano, the storyteller, the actor, the manic preacher, even the rocker - with ample help, of course, from the always fantastic Bad Seeds, augmented this time with a 4-piece gospel choir and Radiohead bassist Colin Greenwood. Only downside, to me, was the setlist; half of it was made up from the new album (they played 90% of it), with the other half cherry picking tracks from a deep discography of 20 or so titles.
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)
