Thione Seck "Orientissime" 2005***

Thione Seck may be, next to Youssou N'Dour, one of Senegal's most popular singers but he remains relatively unknown in (what we think of as) the West - which is, to be exact, the North, seeing as Senegal lies to the west of Europe's westernmost point. He served as the lead singer of Orchestra Baobab (1973-1979) but left to front his own band, missing out on the international recognition that came with the release of their Pirates' Choice album in '89. He belongs to the griot caste, West Africa's hereditary troubadours and keepers of oral tradition - his great-grandfather was a court musician for the legendary Wolof king Lat Dior. He usually plays in the popular mbalax style rather than the Cubano-Congolese rumba of Baobab, but this album finds him transcending his roots and fusing West African music with Arabic and Indian melodies. The Arabic influence comes naturally, due to the proximity with the Maghreb as well as Seck's position in the Muslim Murid brotherhood. Apparently, Indian music reached him through the Bollywood film industry whose products were quite popular in Dakar's movie theaters when he was young.

Seck before a Bollywood poster in Dakar

All the songs are credited to Seck, many of them being complete reworkings of previous hits he had with his regular band Raam Daan. The mix is natural and arrangements expertly realized: The backing vocalists are a typical African detail, Seck's smooth and languorous vocals (sung in Wolof) isn't a far cry from Arabic singing, with oriental melodies often played by soaring violins, and Indian music scales prevail. Likewise the instrumentation is mixed: we get the local  xalam lute and sabar drums, Indian tablas and sitars and Arabian oud. "Assalo" is the most Indian-sounding piece thanks to the sitar and guest vocalist Bombay Jay. Egyptian singer Rehab graces two songs here: "Yaye" and "Woyatina". Apparently Seck was impressed with the success of Natasha Atlas' amalgam of Oriental and pop sounds, and wanted to incorporate some of that in his album. While she doubtless has a wonderful voice, I'm more attracted to the Arabian strings, both in these tracks as well as the opener "Siiw", atmospheric closer "Mapenda" and percussion-driven "Blain Djigueul". "Manmignoul" also sports beautiful violin and (flute?) solos. "Mouhamadou Bamba", previously also recorded by Orchestra Baobab, retains the chorus of that version but it's slower with a more passionate and spiritual lead vocal as befits its religious text. "Ballago" is another highlight, featuring wistful sitar and sweet female backing vocals while "Djirim" and "Doom" are among the more upbeat tunes, despite lyrics dealing with suffering children and poverty. The latter is the only song with horns, and the closest to Orchestra Baobab's Afro-Cuban style. Orientissime was a relative commercial success with the "World Music" audience, coming on the heels of other successful syncretic attempts (the Irish/techno/African grooves of Afro Celt Sound System, Afro-flamenco amalgam of Songhai, Afro-Blues collaboration between Ali Farka Toure & Ry Cooder, etc.). To be honest, I'm somewhat skeptical about these transcontinental mixtures. I like the fact that musicians from different cultures create music together, but I'm apprehensive of disparate traditions merging into a musical mush that borrows from everywhere without being rooted anywhere. Not that this is the case here, mind you. But neither is this a good entry point to African music - more like an interesting, pleasant-sounding, experiment.

**** for Siiw, Assalo, Djirim, Ballago, Doom, Manmignou, Blain Djigueul, Mapenda

*** for Yaye, Woyatina, Mouhamadou Bamba

** for Mouhahibou

The Rats "The Rats" 1979(orig) 2008(reissue)****

I've written before about Dead Moon and about how seeing them play at my neighborhood club in Athens opened my eyes to a different kind of rock'n'roll: intense, passionate, and gritty. Fred Cole quickly became an underground rock hero of mine, so I started collecting his albums: whether with 60's psychedelic/garage rockers Weeds/Lollipop Shoppe, 70's hard rockers Zipper, Dead Moon (1987 - 2006), or Pierced Arrows afterwards, his intensity and integrity shines through. Until recently, I hadn't come across any of his punk albums with The Rats - I wasn't even aware they had been re-released, so finding an affordable reissue of their 1980 debut in my neighborhood record store was a nice surprise. Looking at his photo on the album cover, Fred seems incredibly young. It's hard to believe that he already had 15 years of experience playing in rock bands at that point. His band The Weeds had started to make their mark in California in the mid 60's when they fled in a half-baked attempt to reach Canada in order to avoid the draft. Destiny was nevertheless waiting for them in Portland, Oregon where they stopped because they ran out of gas. It was there that Fred met his future partner in life and music, Toody, and where he'd later settle down. First the band went back to California where they changed their name to Lollipop Shoppe, made an LP, and got to play alongside Janis Joplin and The Doors, but ultimately failed to break through. The couple then left for Alaska before returning to Portland where they opened a guitar shop, while Fred continued playing rock in local amateur bands. One of them called King Bee ended supporting The Ramones in '78, and the experience was revelatory. One might think that '78 was a bit late to discover punk, but in the U.S. it was still an underground phenomenon mostly limited to New York. Anyway, punk's aggressive sound, DIY aesthetic, and prioritizing attitude over chops, suited Fred well. He had always been a great singer/screamer but not an accomplished guitarist, indeed The King Bees were the first of his groups where he also played guitar. He taught Toody to play bass, and they formed a punk trio called Rats with a drummer known only as Rod Rat. Their self-released debut didn't reach many ears but was certainly among the better U.S. punk efforts, and set the foundation for their future ascend into cultdom as Dead Moon. Indeed there's very little difference between the version of "Until It Rains" here and the one on Dead Moon's masterpiece Strange Prey Tell. On rare occasions they seem to be jumping on the punk bandwagon, e.g. when singing from the point of view of "Teenagers" despite being parents and small business owners at the time, while the unnecessarily ultra-short duration of that track also seems to point to punk orthodoxy rather than be what the song asks for. It's aggressive as befits a punk band, but also catchy and melodic, with Fred and Toody harmonizing perfectly on the chorus. They follow the same blueprint on most of the songs here: lo-fi production, fast songs, aggressive but always with a sense of melody, short on guitar solos but with an abundance of cool riffs. Fred's shrill voice drives most of the songs with Toody joining on the chorus. The music on a couple of tunes is a bit derivative of The Ramones ("Rat Race" and "Tactics Plan", the latter with Toody on half-spoken lead vocal). There's also a subtle folk influence on "It's Too Late" and ballad "19783" which is reminiscent of early Love. Other small deviations include "Secret"'s rockabilly guitar, the 60's influenced blues riff and organ on "Flash Dogs", "DC-10"'s distortion effects and a somewhat new wave-sounding "Can Never Go Back". The Rats would make another couple of LP's, which I'm now determined to add to my collection. This is raw but exciting stuff. I recommend it wholeheartedly, but I would suggest to start with Dead Moon which is where Fred and Toody got the formula exactly right. For more insights on Fred and Toody's story, you can read this article or, better yet, search for the documentary Unknown Passage: The Dead Moon Story.

**** for World War III, Teenagers, Flash Dogs, Tactics Plan, It's Too Late, Sacrifice, Social Indigestion, Panic On 39th, 19783, Gotta Get Away, Until It Rains, Secrets, Can Never Go Back

*** for Rat Race, DC-10

 

Syd Barrett "Barrett" 1970****

Syd Barrett's two solo LPs were among my favorite pieces of vinyl when I discovered them during my late teens. I was enchanted by the weirdness and deceptive simplicity of the music, curiously detached singing and surreal and indecipherable poetry. I sensed there was something wonderful beyond the surface, a mystery that rendered these albums different from everything else I had heard until then. I guess that this is result of getting drawn into the world of a mad genius. Genius being the key word here. Usually, mental illness is off-putting, an obstacle to communication, and a cause for uneasiness and emotions of pity towards the person that suffers from it. But madness like Barrett's is captivating, like seeing pieces of a puzzle that you sense would reveal a wonderful picture if assembled - only that assemblage is impossible without the key of that special madness. In the mid 60's, 20-year old Barrett was the undisputed leader of Pink Floyd, a band at the forefront of the new psychedelic movement. Then, during late '67 - early '68,  he started faltering. His behavior got more erratic, he missed gigs, and if he was present he was often unable to play a single note, just standing there and staring at nothingness. Whether his mental illness was created or only exacerbated by LSD, drugs certainly played a role in his condition. His bandmates first drafted in Barrett's high school pal David Gilmour to substitute for him when he couldn't perform, and then ousted Syd from the group altogether. Hard as it may seem, it was a sensible decision for a band with ambitions. Those who didn't know how deep Barrett's problems went thought that Pink Floyd wouldn't get very far without their leader - indeed Barrett wasn't just the lead singer and guitarist but the principal songwriter as well, having written most of the songs on their debut and all the early singles including Top 20 hits "Arnold Layne" and "See Emily Play". Even the band's managers chose Barrett over the rest of Pink Floyd and quickly booked a studio for him to record his first solo album. The recording lasted on and off for a year, and was a tortuous process for everyone. Barrett had many half-baked ideas, but couldn't finish any of them, and even when something worked he was unable to repeat it. The album, called Madcap Laughs, was finally finished with the help of former bandmates Roger Waters and David Gilmour who took time out of Pink Floyd's busy schedule to help their old friend. It was released in January 1970, although the original recordings dated from '68 - '69. It was a weird folky lo-fi experience with flashes of the old genius, but proved successful enough for EMI to give the green light for a sequel. The sequel, simply named Barrett, was produced by Gilmour and Pink Floyd organist Richard Wright. The two of them, alongside drummer John Shirley, also function as Barrett's backing band. Compared to its predecessor, the production here is fuller, sometimes even sounding like the work of a real band - which is a testament to Gilmour's talent and persistence to first coax Barrett into giving a coherent performance and then to orchestrate it somehow so as to resemble a pop song despite Barrett's idiosyncratic sense of timing. Two songs are particularly successful in recreating that band sound - and both were influential enough to have bands named after them: "Baby Lemonade" and "Gigolo Aunt". The former features a great guitar part that didn't originally belong to the song but was stuck at its beginning by Gilmour who thus transformed a piece of absent-minded noodling into the perfect song intro. Although relatively upbeat musically, it's still a rather bleak song (sample lyric "I’m screaming, I met you this way/ You're nice to me like ice"). Richard Wright's distinctive keyboards on both songs evoke similarities to Pink Floyd's early psychedelic pop singles. "Love Song" is just a sweet tune, and Wright's contribution on piano and organ give it a charming baroque air. "Dominoes" is nostalgic with a rather lethargic vocal, and "Is It Obvious" a disjointed folk ditty. "Rats" and "Wolfpack" are also difficult, featuring louder vocals and discordant acoustic guitars without any melody. "Maisy" is a throwback to Pink Floyd's blues roots, sounding a bit like a drowsy John Lee Hooker on barbiturates. "Waving My Arms in the Air/ I Never Lied to You" and "Wined And Dined" are a couple of affable psychedelic folk tunes, while closer "Effervescing Elephant" is a quirky children's rhyme about zoo animals with playful vocal and whimsical tuba backing - more reminiscent of Bonzo Dog or the Monty Pythons than of Pink Floyd. Barrett contains Syd's last songs; soon afterwards he disappeared from public life altogether, moved back to his mother's house in Cambridge and never played music again, preferring other hobbies like painting, photography, and gardening. The insect painting on the album cover is one of his own, by the way. Both his LPs are wonderful examples of whimsical and quintessentially British psychedelic pop. The melodies are usually quite lovely and wordplay occasionally brilliant, with a superficial childlike innocence hiding a sometimes dark and desperate underbelly. After all these years, Madcap and Barrett retain their mystery and charm, and I never get tired of them. Unconventional, but highly recommended - just don't expect to hear anything similar to The Wall or Dark Side Of The Moon.

***** for Baby Lemonade, Love Song, Dominoes, Gigolo Aunt, Effervescing Elephant

**** for Rats, Waving My Arms in the Air/I Never Lied to You

*** for It Is Obvious, Maisie, Wined and Dined, Wolfpack

The Kinks ‎– "Lola, Percy & The Apeman Come Face To Face With The Village Green Preservation Society... Something Else" 1966-1971(rec) 1974(comp)***

As I previously explained, Golden Hour was a budget record label releasing cheap 60-minute compilations in the 70's, by bands that were either relatively unknown or -like The Kinks, at the time- outdated. They released three such compilations by The Kinks, totaling an impressive 99 tracks. Golden Hour Vol.1 contained the hits, Vol.2 the early stuff, while this double LP gathered most of the rest. The artwork and title are an awkward way to inform buyers that this comp contains a wide selection of tracks from the following albums: Face To Face (1966), Something Else By The Kinks (1967), The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society (1968), Lola Versus Powerman And The Moneygoround (1970), Percy (1971) and the Apeman 1970 single. Basically you get something like 80% of the aforementioned LP's - minus, of course, the hits which are mostly included on Golden Hour Vol.1. If one already owned Vol.1, they could purchase this cheap supplement and get most of The Kinks' discography between 1966-1971, which consists of a wonderful and idiosyncratic body of work to rival any other in classic rock. Despite the absence of some hits, there's still an embarrassment of riches ranging from 1966's plain rocker "Party Line" to the classic gender-confusion story "Lola", Dave Davis' hit single "Death Of A Clown", and the lament for old England that was "The Village Green Preservation Society". And then there's Ray Davis' acute observational humor on songs like "Dandy" and "People Take Pictures Of Each Other" ("...just to prove that they really existed"). Just replace "pictures of each other" with "selfies" and you've described one of the biggest plights of our decade. At 44 tacks, it's impossible to give a detailed analysis, I'll go into the specific songs when I present the individual albums - suffice it to say that there are some real gems, and even what was considered filler at the time (which you also get here) shows at least some marks of Ray Davis' songwriting genius. So there's absolutely no faulting the contents of this collection, but there are many other reasons why I wouldn't recommend its purchase: Firstly, by removing even a few of their hits from that period, the compilation isn't representative of that phase in The Kinks' evolution. Secondly, by that time The Kinks' LPs were not mere collections of songs but concept albums each revolving around a specific idea. While some of the songs from Village Green, Lola and Percy were successful as stand-alone singles, others just don't work as well when taken out of context as it happens here. Thirdly, there are too many songs on each side; in terms of duration, it feels like you're listening to a CD. You may ask whether it is any better to have to get up every 15 minutes to change side? The answer is that there's nothing wrong with long LP's, except that your attention may start slipping away after 20-25 minutes. Some will tell you that 30 minutes of music per side is too much for a vinyl LP and that sound quality suffers greatly as a result, but I wouldn't go that far. Sure, listening to this LP is not an audiophile experience but I've heard much worse. If you're used to streaming, MP3, or just the average CD sound quality, you won't be bothered by it. Lastly -and that may seem superficial, but it can also be a dealbreaker- the packaging is ugly, and the title is just ridiculous. On the other hand...collect all 3 Golden Hour Kinks compilations, and you've got yourselves more or less their entire 60's output on vinyl for an unbeatable price. Tempting, isn't it?

***** for Lola, The Village Green Preservation Society, Love Me Till The Sun Shines, Dandy, Death Of A Clown, David Watts, People Take Pictures Of Each Other, Village Green, Apeman, Harry Rag

**** for Wonder Boy, Rainy Day In June, Party Line, Rosy Won't You Please Come Home, Wicked Annabella, Tin Soldier Man, Two Sisters, Funny Face, Moments, Sitting By The Riverside, Johnny Thunder, Picture Book, You're Looking Fine, God's Children, Afternoon Tea, The Last Of The Steam Powered Trains, House In The Country, Situation Vacant, Holiday In Waikiki, Session Man, Most Exclusive Residence For Sale, Lazy Old Sun, End Of The Season, No Return, Starstruck, The Way Love Used To Be, Big Sky

*** for Little Miss Queen Of Darkness, Dreams, Do You Remember Walter, All Of My Friends Were There, Too Much On My Mind, Animals In The Zoo, Phenomenal Cat