Thursday 31 January 2013

31 January 2013 – Some guilty pleasures

After drafting yesterday’s post, I relaxed in from of the TV and watched;

(A/V 3) Abba – Bang A Boomerang (ABC 1)
This is an enjoyable and entertaining  documentary that explained the ABBA phenomenon purely from the Australian perspective.  It portrayed the crucial role that Australia had in re-starting their career after failing to build on their Eurovision success with Waterloo and threatening to become another one hit wonder.   I missed approximately the first 5 minutes or so and hope that some of my comments were not addressed in the bit I missed.

Basically put, the ABC had started Countdown and needed content to fit into the allotted hour so it was decided to air any film/video clips that were available.  Ian “Molly” Meldrum, the show’s host received a reel of ABBA film clips from their record company, showed I Do I Do I Do and it became a hit.  He followed this up with the clip for Mama Mia despite the fact the record company had no plans to ever release it as a single.  As the documentary revealed, the demand from the Australian public was so intense after a mere three plays on successive weeks, the record company reluctantly backtracked. The rest, as they say was history.
In many ways this story was not without precedent whilst also being prophetic.  In the 1960s the Australian TV audience fell in love with a dubbed black and white program from Japan called The Samurai. Its success also came as a surprise to its creators and star and spawned a massively successful Australian tour at the time and affectionate documentary a few decades later.  But musically speaking, exactly the same thing happened in the 1980s when MTV started in the United States.  Faced with a shortage of home grown product, it plugged the gap by showing clips from various sources and among the unlikely success was a band from exotic Australia called Men At Work.  (Who said there is no such thing as karma?)  Unfortunately these things were not mentioned in the documentary. 

But that’s a minor quibble.  The one thing I didn’t like about the documentary is how it didn’t portray the extent of ABBA’s Australian dominance.  It referred to their number 1 hits, the early promo tour culminating with the Channel 9 special with huge ratings which increased on its first repeat, the concert tour and the dominance of Fernando.  All are valid achievements and were duly covered, even if the documentary failed to point out that the 9 special shown about 7 times in a 6 – 12 month period.  But what was glossed over, if mentioned at all, was the sheer dominance of the band on the charts apart from the number 1s.  If my memory holds, I’m pretty sure that at the height of Abba mania, all four of the band’s studio albums and The Best Of Abba compilation were in the top 10 or 15 simultaneously.  There were also occasions when they held at least 3 tracks in the top 10. 
I also seem to remember that ABBA’s popularity held for a while after the number 1 reign of Fernando finally ended and didn’t just suddenly plummet as was inferred.  Once again, if my memory holds, the chart action gradually dropped off for the simple reason that by then there was no more old or new product to release and the Australian market had to wait for any subsequent albums or singles as these were released.   The documentary though was spot on about how hip it was to dislike ABBA for a time and the reasons for their re-emergence in the nation’s psyche. 

I and, it would appear, the rest of the country fell in love with the band at the time and, like most of the males at the time too, fell in love with Agneta.  (Frida’s charms only started to become apparent when she got rid of that hideous perm that graced all of those early film clips.)  More significantly, one of the first albums I bought with my own money was the Arrival album or, as it appears to have become universally known, “The One With The Band In The Helicopter”.  It is the only vinyl album I’ve ever purchased that is not stored at my house.  I hid it in the family collection and it still resides in the .youth family home.  It is also not listed in my collection.  Even though I appreciate the genius behind a number of ABBA singles, I still can’t bring myself to admit that I own their music.  I haven’t even used the justification that many now use, that of it being a “guilty pleasure”.
For me an album must fit certain criteria to qualify as a “guilty pleasure”.  It must be either an artist or album that is generally considered to be unfashionable today or that you would find impossible to justify to others familiar with your current musical listening habits.  More importantly, it must be something you enjoy listening to today and for me that translates to “must be on my iPod”.

Thus, today I decided to listen to some of my guilty pleasures starting with my guiltiest pleasure;
(89) Extreme – Pornograffiti

Extreme hit the big league for a while when two tracks off this album, More Than Words and Hole Hearted, both acoustic ballads, became monster hits.  These two tracks, along with a third number When I Kissed You, a 1940ish ballad, could not have been more unrepresentative of the band’s calling card, a blend of hard rock, funk and glam. Many of these tracks are quite impressive  - apart from the, at times, embarrassing lyrical content - including the title track, Get The Funk Out, When I’m President and It’s A Monster, all of which display the guitar heroics of Nuno Bettencourt and the over the top vocals of Gary Cherone.   It is an album almost without parallel within my collection and it always gets a least one play a year, although I simply cannot tolerate More Than Words.  What places this album above all of the other guilty pleasures is that I even went to see the band in concert.  If my memory holds that Melbourne  show was  the final date of the Pornograffiti world tour and, as is often the case, the playing that night was extremely tight with a celebratory air which only served to enhance my opinion of the album.  It even convinced me that Hole Hearted is a great tune; if only the horns employed live were included on the recorded version!
(90) Yes – 90125

Generally speaking I do not like the bulk of this band’s output although they have put out four great to classic albums.  The Yes Album is undoubtedly their best and both Fragile and Close To The Edge are pretty good too.  But this album, recorded in the early 1980s with Trevor Horn as producing is the one I play the most.  And to think that I discovered this totally by accident, being on a second hand C90 cassette tape I bought with the intention of wiping the contents!  This album starts with what is arguably their best known single, Owner Of A Lonely Heart.  There is great guitar work throughout courtesy of Steve Howe – City Of Love borders on heavy metal - and some intricate tracks such as Changes and Cinema that utilise every trick in the Horn production manual.  And just to prove that home taping is not killing music, a couple of  years ago, I spent actual dollars in buying the remastered and expanded version.
(91) Supertramp – Even In The Quietest Moments

It’s been fashionable to dismiss Supertramp for a number of years now, especially since the departure of Roger Hodgson.  But this band was responsible for at least two great albums in the 70’s including this one and Crime Of The Century.  Even In The Quietest Moments is notable for containing two of their best singles, Give A Little Bit and Lover Boy, but it is the epic 11 minute closer, Fool’s Overture, a track which sounds like a homage to Pink Floyd, that gets me every time.  It is also another album I accidently discovered on  a second hand tape which I’ve since upgraded to CD.
(92) 10CC – Deceptive Bends

This is possibly the best Paul McCartney album which the man did not make.  It starts off with two radio hits, Good Morning Judge and The Things We Do For Love but don’t let the latter put you off.  It has a number of quirky songs with an English sense of humour including the aforementioned Judge, Marriage Bureau Rendezvous and You’ve Got A Cold.  But once again, it is the 12 and a half minute closer, Feel The Benefit, which is ultimately the reason to hear this.  It is a track in three parts stitched together a la the McCartney suite at the end of Abbey Road but with a return to the opening melody at the end.
(93) Gerry Rafferty – City To City

This is an exceptional middle of the road album.  It starts off with a terrific quartet of songs;  The Ark, an Irish sounding number that appears to referring to global warning decades before the term was invented, the towering Baker Street (with THAT sax solo, although personally I’ve always preferred the guitar break near the end), the wonderful ballad Right Down The Line and the title track, a train song.  The rest of the album is pretty consistent without reaching the very high standard of the opening volley. Whatever’s Written In Your Heart,  a tremendous piano based ballad with a hymn like feel, is the pick of these.

Wednesday 30 January 2013

30 January 2013 – I have seen the big music

As I walked Lady this morning, the thought occurred to me that The Waterboys are playing in Melbourne for the very first time in a 30 year career.  Ordinarily, I would have been excited by this thought and would have been there tonight for sure.  The reason I haven’t is due to one of those occurrences that happens when you backpack or travel, as I’ve done through most of my adult life; that is to arrive in a City to find a favourite act playing either on that day or during your stay.

As it turns out, I’ve been very lucky.  During a 1998 European trek, this occurred on a few occasions. I spent a night In The Hague, The Netherlands purely as an overnight travel stop which turned out to be the opening night of the North Sea Jazz Festival with a number of free outdoor gigs throughout town.  I contented myself by watching the great Texan guitarist Duke Robillard and his band and would have continued on to reggae's legendary Skatalites if it wasn't for the rain that started falling. A few weeks later in Munich I was able to see Jeff Beck with support from the Big Town Playboys.  In the last weekend of August, I went to a ticket office in Brussels to buy a ticket to that year's Belgian Formula1 Grand Prix.  As I was enquiring, I saw a poster for the Belgian equivalent of Glastonbury, the Pinkpop Festival.  When the Grand Prix tickets turned out to be massively expensive, I switched tack and took in the Saturday of the Festival.  As a result I got to see Portishead, P.J Harvey, The Afghan Whigs, Monster Magnet, The Deftones, Fu Manchu, Spiritualised, The Fun Lovin’ Criminals, The Dandy Warhols, Gomez, Boys Against Girls, Bad Religion and many others.  As it turned out, I avoided a massive rain storm that lasted for the length of the Grand Prix.

But it was during an earlier backpacking odyssey in Europe in 1990 that I hit pay dirt when I arrived in Rome and discovered The Rolling Stones and Prince were appearing in separate shows only 5 days apart.  Getting tickets was easy despite not speaking Italian.  I walked into a ticket office, saw piles of unsold tickets to both gigs and simply pointed at each, raising one finger.  I then stayed in Rome long enough to take in the Stones gig, journeyed to Pisa, Florence and Sienna and then returned to Rome for just for the Stones gig.
For each show, I got early to the venue and plonked myself at the front.  The Stones show was part of their Urban Jungle tour and was pretty good despite the wild Italian audience.  At the time, I thought this was a coup because at that stage they hadn’t played in Australia since 1973.  They’ve been to Melbourne on 3 separate tours since and I’ve gone each time. (I’ll probably write about these gigs at some later time.)  Prince was even more of a coup as he hadn’t toured Australia at all at this point.  (He has also played Australia three times since and I’ve also been to each of those tours).  The Rome gig was part of his Nude tour, essentially a greatest hits show, because his then current album was the Batman soundtrack into which he dipped sparingly.  For the rest of the show there were choice selections from the Purple Rain, 1999, Parade and Sign O The Times albums, some real obscurities such as Bambi, and his own version of Nothin’ Compares 2 U as well as Thieves In The Temple and Question Of U, the best two tracks from the soon to be released and unloved Graffiti Bridge.  The band was also marvellous, containing Matt "Dr." Fink of The Revolution and some of the personnel from the Sign O The Times concert movie and Rosie Gaines.

But then I got even luckier.  A few weeks later I day-tripped into Lausanne, Switzerland from Geneva to find Prince was playing there that night.  I made my way to the venue and listened to the soundcheck.  For my reward, I got to hear the band practice Sign O The Times a few times, quite a treat.  I then continued on my way, but two mornings later as my train was pulling into Nice, I discovered he was playing there too.  This time I got to the gig, bought a ticket and was rewarded with a show even better than Rome. And if that wasn't enough, the local paper published a photo of the crowd from the stage the following day and I could pick myself out in it.  Much later I discovered that heavy rain fell during the actual Lausanne gig too.
A month after that, I arrived in London and discovered that The Waterboys were going to play in a tent erected on Finsbury Park.  As it turns out, fate delivered a better show than I’d dared consider.  The show was ostensibly part of the tour to support the Room To Roam album, the follow up to the wonderful Fisherman’s Blues.  However, Steve Wickham the fiddle player who was central to the folk sound of both albums left the band and Mike Scott reconfigured it so that it returned to the “Big Music” rock that characterised all of its pre Blues albums.  The resultant show was a triumphant summation of the bands career to date, taking in absolutely everything I’d loved about the band up to that point.  Appropriate tracks from Fisherman’s Blues and Room To Roam were also played and I left the temporary venue with the “hoo hoo hoos” of the largely drunken crowd happily replaying in my mind. 

In a way that show (and the fact that it came with the added romance of being overseas) has coloured my relationship to Scott’s subsequent solo output and Waterboys albums in a negative way that no other show has been able to achieve.  Although there are albums that I like, my mind keeps casting back to that September night in 1990.  Like I said, I got lucky and saw a band I loved at exactly the right time. Try as I might, I can’t get that memory out of my head.  It is a major reason why I am trotting out this post on my kitchen table tonight instead of sitting in Hamer Hall hoping, probably in vain, for a set list from 23 years ago.  Fortunately, unless there is an unfortunate accident, I don’t think tonight’s audience is going to get soaked.
But at least today’s listening was great.

(87) Fisherman’s Blues – The Waterboys
(88) Too Close To Heaven. The Unreleased Fisherman’s Blues Sessions – The Waterboys

Fisherman’s Blues is one of my favourite albums.  It is an inspired marriage of rock, soul and folk in a way that very few acts have even been able to achieve.  It kicks off with the title track, a joyful piece of music in which Mike Scott expresses his wish to be a fisherman against a Irish sounding melody driven by Steve Wickham’s fiddle.  The template is then followed for the remainder of the album on a diverse selection of songs including We Will Not Be Lovers, World Party, And A Bang On The Ear and an inspired cover of Van Morrison’s Sweet Thing which incorporates part of The Beatles Blackbird.  Scott’s fascination with W.B Yeats also features in The Stolen Child and the album concludes with an unlisted potion of Woody Guthrie’s This Land Is Your Land.
Fisherman’s Blues has a seamless unity to it but it represents only a small part of the music recorded at the sessions.  Too Close To Heaven is the first disc of music released to highlight this material.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with any of the tracks, but listening to it one can understand why these tracks were not included in the original album.  The sound is definitely less joyous and the inclusion of any of these pieces, especially the epic 12 and a half minute title track, would have interrupted the flow of the album.  It is a testament to Scott’s vision that he knew what to release as well as what not to release.  As such, this album has much in common with other similar compliations, notably Bruce Sprongsteen’s The Promise, the album of tracks recorded for and not included on Darkness On The Edge Of Town.

Tuesday 29 January 2013

29 January 2013 – My Musical Maps

As “M” had an additional day off, I drove to work alone musing about the ways in which I been inspired to purchase new music over the years.  The dominant force has been the recommendations of my music loving friends, many of whom will be described during the year, pending permissions and any conditions.  

I know this sounds silly but increasingly their recommendations are under threat by my music reading.  Mojo and Uncut, with their editorial emphasis of giving weight to past and present day acts have been especially influential.  Just over the course of the last year, I’d been inspired to track down a range of albums, almost impossible to get here, after features or references in either magazine.  These have included albums by 60s American electronic duo The Silver Apples, Japanese noise rockers Bo Ningen, American indie band Codeine, hardcore pioneers Bitch Magnet and UK punks the Subhumans.  As I’ve previously mentioned, the CD compilations that come with these albums are also influential.  I also take notice of acts that are named dropped by other acts in interviews; my entrĂ©e into the world of drone masters Sun O))) and label mates Om, for example, came after Geoff Barrow or Adrian Utley kept name checking them both as an inspiration whilst writing their Third album.
But this is not just limited to reading magazines.  I think the mark of a really good music writer lies in an ability to write about music in an enthusiastic and knowledgeable way that has you wanting to hear more.  Last year, for example, I read Enter Night, Mick Wall’s biography of Metallica and ended up purchasing Venom’s thrash masterpiece Black Metal.  And never doubt the influence of a well written reference book such as 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die (directly responsible for  my ordering  the psychedelic United States Of America’s 1968 self titled album or sourcing a copy of Gene Clark’s amazing 1974 release No Other), various  Rolling Stone or Virgin Record Guides (the latter’s Seventies guide was crucial in guiding me towards various key 70’s German experimental acts) or provocative overviews such as Everett True’s Live Through This -  American Rock Music In The Nineties  or Dave Thompson’s Alternative Rock.  

The internet is also increasing exerting an influence, although at this stage I still use it primarily to track down hard or impossible to get stuff in Australia.  However, one aspect I do find valuable already are the comments posted by people who have purchased albums on sites such as Amazon.  In these cases, what I’m more interested in is not so much their opinion about the album (although sometimes it has been decisive in deciding whether to purchase or not) but rather consumer information.  There have been cases when I’ve been altered to sloppy industry pressings of albums I wanted to upgrade from vinyl or tape to CD.  A number of reviewers on Amazon UK, for example, warned me that the CD version of Japan’s Exorcising Ghosts has had 6 tracks deleted and that a CD version of Grace Jones Slave To The Rhythm, omits linking material, has a rearranged track order and presents some tracks in shortened versions.
Finally, live performances for me are crucial, particularly by acts in support roles, at festivals or on radio/TV. I can name a variety  of acts that I’ve discovered this way including The Dirty Three, The White Stripes, Rammstein, At The Drive-In (and their offshoots, Sparta and The Mars Volta), Le Tigre, Died Pretty, Spiritualised, Fu Manchu and  The Crystal Castles.  With one exception, radio airplay and music clip programs such as Countdown ceased having any influence over me decades ago as a result of a number of key realisations which I’ll outline in future posts about my musical miseducation.

But there has been one thing that has almost completely failed to persuade me to purchase a given album.  It is the music display, in store performance or in store playing of new releases.  I can’t speak for other people but I just don’t seem to take any notice.  For me, unless I’m there with the express purpose of buying a particular album, the act of going into a music shop is all about the search and the discovery.  An in house promotion – even performances which I simply treat like a concert – negates that very experience.
I mention all of this because the first album played today is by the only act I’ve discovered owing to an album being played in a music shop.

(85) Tame Impala – Lonerism
This is the band’s second album, released just a few months ago. (Actually the word band isn’t quite correct given that Kevin Parker writes all the music and plays all the instruments but he claims they are a band nonetheless so who am I to argue?)  I can still clearly remember the circumstances  of hearing their debut album, the awesome Innerspeaker.   I was in the Elizabeth Street JB HiFi searching around when I realised I was lingering to hear this wondrous psychedelic masterpiece.  I inquired at the counter and then immediately added it to my purchases.  The early tracks on Lonerism adhere very much to its predecessor’s namesake.  Even some of the song titles echo those on the debut.  But over the last four tracks beginning with the fantastic single Elephant something starts to happen.  The music becomes less light with a greater darkness and thump.  It is even reflected in the two song titles after Elephant,  She Just Won’t Believe Me and Nothing That Has Happened So Far Has Been Anything We Could Control, the latter being the stand out track.  I suspect that Parker is warning everyone to expected something different next time out.  I, for one, can’t wait.

(86) Chris Isaak – Live At The Fillmore
I will never say a bad word about Chris Isaak.  His music is classy in a good way and it is refreshing to see someone not take his public persona all that seriously.  Despite that I stopped buying his albums after The Baja Sessions feeling that the rest of his career will effectively consist of variations on a theme.  There is nothing wrong with that but as long as he continues to produce live albums as enjoyable as this – mercifully with the between song patter included, I’ll happily continue to buy those.

28 January 2013 – Sound and Vision

Today is the Australia Day Public Holiday.  “M” and I went into town for a fancy lunch, and then returned home to shampoo Lady and watch some movies.  Earlier in the morning, some quality time presented itself and I used it productively to fit in some viewing. 

I indulge in three broad types of music viewing excluding made for TV or motion picture biopics such as Ray or Walk The Line.  These are concert performances, the occasional compilations of video clips or TV appearances and documentaries.  The latter category includes early efforts such as Woodstock, Gimme Shelter, Let It Be or Sympathy For The Devil made for cinema release. Today these are increasingly being developed by the acts themselves.  The Rolling Stones appear to be leading the way with the recent releases of Stones In Exile and Crossfire Hurricane but frequently these take the form of “The Making Of” freebies included as a bonus DVD as an inducement to purchase an album.  Personally, I don’t see how such a disc would induce anyone to buy an album, the only exception being anniversary releases of significant albums such as discs included with the 25th Anniversary Editions of The Clash’s London Calling or Bruce Springsteen’s Born To Run and Darkness On The Edge Of Town. 
(Audio-Visual 2) The Fleshtones - Excuse Us For Living But The Graveyard Is Full

This was released as a bonus disc with the deluxe edition of their Brooklyn Sound Solution album with Lenny Kaye.  The documentary was filmed during 2007 and 2008 and shows the legendary 30 something year old garage band on the road, in concert and in the recording studio.  Elements of this clearly involve the band wanting to set the record straight on a few matters especially that, although the they regard themselves as one of the bands that emerged from the CBGB scene, albeit slightly later than the Ramones, Television, Blondie, etc  and despite having frequently played with these acts, have largely been written out of that scene’s history despite being the only band that has never broken up.   But this is a minor matter.  This one hour documentary is a celebration of a band that plays for the love of the music, whose members are committed to each other and do not envisage breaking up unless one of them dies. There is great footage of the band live, especially in Dictator’s Handsome Dick Manitoba’s NYC bar although unfortunately, no one track is shown in its entirety.   The live footage will have anyone who’s had the pleasure of seeing this great band live fondly recalling the experience.  Talking heads paying tribute include Manitoba, Steve Wynn of the Dream Syndicate and Dave Faulkner of the Hoodoo Gurus.  
Otherwise, the only album played today was whilst writing this post.

(84) The Lemonheads - Its A Shame About Ray
Many things have been said over the years about Evan Dando, not all of which has been complimentary.  But what can never be denied is the quality of this album.  Although barely 30 minutes long, even with the latter day inclusion of their sped up cover of Mrs Robinson, each track has something to recommend it.  The best tracks such as Rudderless, the title track and Alison’s Starting To Happen rank with the very best American “college rock” music of the era.

Monday 28 January 2013

27 January 2013 – Memories of Big Days Out Past #2

Here are my memories of the Big Day’s Out I’ve attended, listed in chronological order.  Hopefully my memory holds up as I’m writing this solely from my gig list.  But I think it illustrates how the bills developed over time with only the 2003 - 2005 line ups really challenging the first two for overall quality and diversity.

24 January 1993 – Royal Melbourne Showgrounds
In a compact showgrounds set up, the emphasis was on the 7 international acts. Helmet produced a brutal set gleaned from the Strap It On and Meantime albums.  The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphosphy were impressive considering they only had the one album to drawn from.  Mudhoney were their reliable selves despite some agitation from segments of the crowd.  Carter USM were enjoyable enough.  Sonic Youth blasted through tracks mostly from Dirty.  Iggy Pop surprised the crowd with his choice of Stooges covers and headliners Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds were really effective in the gusty win which seemed to complement their set perfectly.  Local acts I saw included The Clouds, Hoss, The Meanies and The Hard-Ons.

23 January 1994 – Royal Melbourne Showgrounds
This one vies with 2003 for the title of the best one I’ve attended.  The line up of local acts was pretty good including The Cruel Sea, Died Pretty, The Celibate Rifles and Robert Forster. The 3RRR stage was packed for great shows from Urge Overkill and Primus.  But this was a year for the main stage Teenage Fanclub produced what was probably the best set for an early afternoon (circa 2pm) slot with a wonderful version of Everything Flows at the end.  The Breeders were OK, The Smashing Pumpkins much better, but the real business was the final three acts.  The first of these were The Ramones with a typical high energy set.  Then, in one of the best scheduling moves ever, they were followed by Bjork who went over well.  (I could only see part of her set because it clashed with, I think, Primus.)  But best afield honours were won by Soundgarden.  Their set, coming just a few days before they unleashed Superunknown on an unsuspecting world, was one of the festivals all time greats.  Unbelievably, only Spoonman from the new album was played but their set will be forever remembered for the climax of Slaves And Bulldozers and an unbelievable Jesus Christ Pose. 

22 January 1995 – Royal Melbourne Showgrounds
This was a letdown after the heights of the previous year with the fault squarely at the feet of the international acts.  Best of them were The Screaming Trees whose set was memorable for the sight of the Connor Brothers and possibly Mark Lanagean jumping off stage to get at some idiots in the crowd throwing mud at them.  Hole was disappointing, The Offspring, then riding the first wave of their success, did well and Primal Scream for some reason was flat.  (Maybe daylight didn’t agree with them.) The Cult made the horrible mistake of delivering a set focusing on their just released self-titled album when a greatest hit set would have been more appropriate.  Ordinarily I would have left mid-way to catch Luscious Jackson but stayed seated in the grandstand owing to a severe migraine.  Curiously this was cured by headliners Ministry whose sound and vision were impressive.  I left without seeing boiler room headliners Fun-Da-Mental. Among the local acts I caught were You Am I, Crown Of Thorns, Dave Graney and the Coral Snakes, Magic Dirt, Fur and TISM.

28 January 1996 – Royal Melbourne Showgrounds
At this one the main stages were set futher back as the size of teh crowd started to signficantly increase. It was another good year for local acts including Magic Dirt, Died Pretty, Spiderbait, Regurgitator, Ammonia, The Powdermonkeys, Shihad and Snout.  A completely unknown Reef were impressive in what was basically a barn.  Billy Bragg had the RRR stage mesmerized as did Rancid. Tricky played a stunning set in the Boiler Room that didn’t get the credit it deserved.  The Jesus Lizard were entertaining as they always were and Elastica were fun.  Rage Against The Machine got the biggest response of the day but I found their performance too one dimensional. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds were the first return act and really should have been the headliners.  That honour went to the now largely forgotten Porno For Pyros, Perry Farrell’s band for part of the time during what turned out to be Jane’s Addiction’s lengthy hiatus.  They were OK (the on stage props were great) but I left midway to catch the legendary Radio Birdman tear it up on the RRR stage.

25 January 1997 – Royal Melbourne Showgrounds
This was a good year for catching up on local and international acts away from the main stage.  This included the best act of the day the mighty Jon Spencer Blues Explosion with a characteristic high energy set.  Japan’s Shonen Knife garnered fans in one of the animal pavilions with dreadful acoustics.  On the main stage was Fear Factory an act I’ve never really warmed towards, Supergrass who, whilst entertaining, are no Teenage Fanclub and The Prodigy an act that makes fine albums but whose renown as a live act I’ve always found puzzling to say the least.  The Prodigy as well as The Offspring and headliners, Soundgarden were all making the second appearance at the festival, the latter two without threatening their previous heroics.  Poor Patti Smith on her first ever Australian tour tried to make an impression on an indifferent audience which appeared not to have heard of her.  At least the diehard fans had memories of her epic show at the Palais Theatre the previous night to sustain them.  Local acts providing great value that year included You Am I, Spiderbait, Paul Kelly, Magic Dirt, Even and The Black Eyed Susans.

26 January 1999 – Royal Melbourne Showgrounds
There was no event in 1998 but it returned in 1999.  Once again the main stages provided varying standards of quality or interest.  Soulfly delivered a great set of extremely heavy rock and The Manic Street Preachers were fine and Peaches was fun in a tightly packed pavilion. The Fun Lovin’ Criminals were too laid back compared to a festival I’d sent them in Belgium just 5 months previously.  Korn battled sound problems but did enough to convince me to purchase their Follow The Leader album which I still play today. Marilyn Manson baited the audience which  made for an entertaining show as I waited to see whether any of the crowd missiles would hit. (I can’t remember anything about the actual music though.)  Headliners were Hole with Courtney Love seemingly channelling the spirit of Stevie Nicks.  I left after a few numbers to enjoy the far more enjoyable TISM.  On the outside stages two young acts really impressed Ash and Sean Lennon as well as The Dirty Three, The Powdermonkeys  and The Mark Of Cain.  The nuance of Sparklehorse was undone by the shocking acoustics of the animal pavilion. I didn’t catch either of Fat Boy Slim, Powderfinger or, to my eternal regret, Underworld.  Their set in the Boiler Room after Hole was largely regarded as the best performance of the day.

30 January 2000 – Royal Melbourne Showgrounds
The first band I saw on the day was Atari Teenage Riot who dressed in black and screaming political tracts were distinctly at odds with the summer’s day.  I spent a lot of time in the outside stages enjoying Bert Orton, Ozamalti, Joe Strummer and Lisa Miller. Primal Scream in the Boiler Room atoned for their previous BDO appearance with a sensational set and Basement Jaxx  also impressed in the same venue.  On the main stage The Cruel Sea and  The Foo Fighters  were great, Nine Inch Nails did reasonably well but the disappointment were headliners The Red Hot Chili Peppers who had begun smoothing out the rough edges of what had made their music so compelling in the first place.  Fortunately, the outside stage had Sweden’s awesome The Hellacopters and their high energy rock.  Pity they attracted such a small crowd.  Determined not to repeat the previous year’s mistake, I finished the night at the Boiler Room where, once again, the best performance of the day came, this time courtesy of The Chemical Brothers.

28 January 2001 – Royal Melbourne Showgrounds
My initial hopes for a good day were initially dashed by the release of the timetable which was full of uncomfortable clashes and choices.  Then the unfortunate death of a concert goer at the Sydney leg resulted in headliners Limp Bizkit pulling out.  This act - a band whose Australian popularity was fuelled almost exclusively by JJJ and, who were going to struggle in front of a Melbourne audience anyway, were the first, and to date only, headliner I had planned to ignore. )  This led to a reshuffling on the main stage acts which solved many of  scheduling problems although it still meant that I had to miss Japan’s ZooBombs, You Am I, The Go-Betweens  and The Happy Mondays.   Unbelievable to think of this today but Coldplay were on the bill with an early afternoon slot and did really well as did the pre Fergie Black Eyed Peas on an outside stage.  After that was lots of sampling including, Roni Size Reprazent, The Avalanches, The Fuaves and The Casanovas.  Melbourne began a mutual love affair with At The Drive-In who were sensational.  On the main stage Queens Of The Stone Age, Placebo and P.J Harvey all impressed on their first Australian tours. Powederfinger were given to opportunity to close the day on the main stage but wisely declined.  That honour was given to Rammstein, whose industrial rock was more suited to a Melbourne audience than Limp Bizkit, who promptly went on to steal the day.

28 January 2002 – Royal Melbourne Showgrounds
Not a good year, caused largely by 9/11 which scared many acts from making the trip to Australia.  Only the presence of New Order and Garbage was enough to get me through the turnstiles and they both delivered.  Unfortuantelty, I couldn’t get in to see The White Stripes as they were scheduled in  the infamous animal pavilion and caused a crush as everyone wanted in.  (I wasn’t as desperate, having salready seen them.) Silverchair were fine and The Crystal Method, Kosheen and Jurassic 5 were all nice discoveries for me.  I had absolutely no interest in seeing one hit wonder Alien Ant Farm, was baffled by System Of A Down and left during headliners  The Prodigy.

27 January 2003 – Royal Melbourne Showgrounds
For me this rivals the first two for the title of the best BDO ever owing to the wonderful diversity on offer.  I spent the greater part of the early period with local acts The Vines and Augie March interspersed with impressive sets in the animal pavilion (now with improved acoustics) by The Music and At The Drive-In offshoot Sparta.  I then took in The Deftones on the main stage followed by a rest preceeding 5-6 non stop hours of the finest music imaginable.  First, I caught most of the set by Wilco on an outside stage.  Then I ventured into the main stadium to catch the remainder of Queens Of The Stone Age with Mark Lanegan.  I stayed on for about half of P.J Harvey’s set fronting a 3 piece band similar in style to her early records.  Then it was off to the Boiler Room, which in those days was on the main arena alongside the right hand main stage, for the first Melbourne performance of Kraftwerk.  30 minutes later, the right hand stage kicked in and I popped out to catch Jane’s Addiction on their first reunion tour.  For the next hour I kept popping in and out of the tent.  The Gods were with me that day, as it enabled me to see my favourite tracks from both acts.  After the mighty Germans finished I moved outside for the end of Jane’s set.  Immediately after that, headliners The Foo Fighters came on and Dave Grohl wisely powered through a strictly greatest hits set.  Then it was back  to the Boiler Room to finally catch Underworld.  If only every line up could be like this!

26 January 2004 – Royal Melbourne Showgrounds
This one featured  just about the worst scheduling clash in Melbourne BDO history.  Headliners were Metallica. I could only afford 30 minutes to their mighty repertoire so that I might catch a significant portion of outside stage headliners The Flaming Lips.  (But Metallica were so loud I was still able to hear them anyway.)  Of the other acts The Strokes appeared ill suited to the main stage, MUSE showed the first signs of their impending superstardom, The Dandy Warhols were fine and The Black Eyed Peas showed the first signs of blanding out.  Kings Of Leon, for some reason, failed to leave an impression.  Despite the English hype, I was underwhelmed by The Darkness and couldn’t decide whether they were serious or just talking the piss.  In any case, I left after a few numbers, preferring the soothing sounds of my favourite crooner, the Malaysian born, Australian, Kamahal.  Also on the outside stage was The Mars Volta who were impressive considering their set was seemingly a couple of very long numbers.  English act Audio Bullys were good in the Boiler Room where I was finally able to see Aphex Twin albeit with Luke Vibert.  But for me, the most fascinating act of the day was Afrika Bambaataa and his pioneering rap.  Literally two turntables and a  microphone being passed around the large number of people on stage who free formed their lyrics, this was music history and education of the highest order.  It was such a shame that only about 300 people witnessed it.

30 January 2005 – Royal Melbourne Showgrounds
Sadly this was the last fling at the original venue.   This marked the first and only time I was accompanied by one of my nephews as I couldn’t persuade anyone else to come.  Our tastes are quite different and some compromises were in order.  He introduced to Australia hip hop via Scribe and Kid Koala and also insisted I watch System Of A Down who I found as baffling as ever.  But his best achievement was getting me to stay for Slipknot who were really impressive and not the gimmick act I feared they would be.  In return, I took him to see the brilliant Le Tigre in the animal pavilion, Money Mark,  The [Jon Spencer] Blues Explosion who he liked and The Polyphonic Spree which I loved and he loathed.  The Hives somehow eluded him.  But there was no arguing over the quality of headliners The Beastie Boys or The Chemical Brothers closing set in the Boiler Room.

29 January 2006 – Princess Park, Carlton
This was the temporary venue with a reduced capacity  which hosted the BDO for 2 years.  It was a mixed bag on the main stage.  Headliners The White Stripe played a curiously disjointed set which didn’t flow as well as at did.  Franz Ferdinand were OK , Kings Of Leon improved considerably and The Magic Numbers would have been better served on a smaller stage.  Consequently the way was cleared for The Stooges to steal the show even though the increasingly younger audience had absolutely no idea about them.  But in many respects the true highlights were at the minor stages.  I spent a lot of time at one tent in particular taking in the energetic The Go! Team, the legendary Sleater-Kinney, a more focused set from The Mars Volta and a spoken word performance from Henry Rollins who, in turn, introduced The Beasts Of Bourbon.  The Boiler Room played host to a great set from Belgium’s Soulwax and later on, their alter egos, 2ManyDJs. Finally, towards night’s end as I was seeking to hook up with Mickey, I stumbled across a fine set by the rapper Common.

My unbroken run came to end when I had absolutely no interest in attending the 2007 show.  I couldn’t get a ticket to the 2008 show due to its unprecedented sell out in an hour owing to the unexpected announcement of the reformed Rage Against The Machine.  The 2009 show had Neil Young but the rest of the card was weak.  I ended up buying a ticket to Young’s sideshow at the Myer Music Bowl.
28 January 2010 – Flemington Racecourse Carpark

An extremely promising line up was rendered impotent by the scheduling.  Even worse, was the 40 degree temperature for the greater part of the day.  Survival was the name of the game and the organisers responded admirably. Early on I took in the majesty of The Jim Jones Revue followed by Meagan Washington and Andrew W.K from the safe distance of a beer tent.  Trips to the Boiler Room to see South Africa’s Die Antwood and The Crystal Castles were interspersed with a tent show by Gareth Liddiard of The Drones.  Whilst watching Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeroes a cool change kicked in, allowing for a move to the main stage for the day’s big 3 acts.  The John Butler Trio were playing as I waited to get into the safety barrier.  This enabled me to catch the triumphant return of The Stooges followed by the equally triumphant return of the world’s most spectacular live act, Rammstein. After that I proceeded outside to catch the enigmatic Tool who had headlined one of the year’s I’d missed. But the Stooges/Rammstein/Tool combo came at a cost; I had to forgo Primal Scream performing Screamadelica live (but I saw that show when the album was originally released), Grinderman (who I’d also seen previously), M.I.A and, most unfortunately and to my eternal regret, LCD Soundsystem.
I’d only had time for listening to one album on the day, this post having to be written over a couple of days owing to circumstances beyond my control.

(83) Porno For Pyros – Self Titled
Porno For Pyros released two albums of which this was the first.  For the most part, it is a cracker, although it runs out of steam towards the end.  But before then the title track, Cursed Female and Cursed Male all pack a punch and the single Pets is magnificent.  It is easily the best of all Perry Farrell’s non Jane’s Addiction recordings.

Sunday 27 January 2013

26 January 2013 – Memories of Big Days Out Past #1


Today is Australia Day, our national holiday a day this year on which everything is open because the holiday is on Monday.  For Melbourne’s music fans this year Australia Day is also the day for the Big Day Out, the biggest annual festival in Australia.
I have found memories of the Big Day Out having attended the great majority of the ones held in Melbourne since 1993.  Nowadays, my attendance is dependent on two things, an adequate line up and tickets not selling out before I could purchase one. This year’s event is apparently not a sell-out but I’m also not going.  There are some acts on the bill worth seeing, Gary Clark Jr, the Crystal Castles, The Killers and some of the smaller acts.  But I don’t favour having to watch a 90 minute Red Hot Chili Peppers main set especially given the album they’re touring.  Band Of Horses does not strike me as a main stage act and as much as I love the Yeah Yeah Yeahs albums, for some reason I simply cannot warm to Karen O’s onstage persona.

What I used to love about the BDO was the sheer diversity of the bill.  In the early years a day at the BDO was akin to a day of musical discovery.  A typical bill would contain a mixture of acts you wanted to see, acts you were curious to see but not sufficiently to pay for a concert ticket for a standalone gig and acts you almost certainly would not have seen under any other circumstances.  (Of course there are always acts on the bill that you would never go to watch under any circumstances.) Each year, I would start out with a plan to my day but always ended up varying it to stay or move on if the act exceeded expectations or proved disappointing.  Ken West, now the Festivals main organiser, acknowledged in an Age E.G article yesterday that the BDO has largely lost the people who went to the early days.  He thinks it might be because they’ve aged and would now feel out of place and wants to lure them back.
Well I’m one of those and I’m pretty  sure that I’m not going because I’m getting older; I’d like to think that my sense of musical exploration and willingness to experience musical diversity is as strong as ever. But to my way of thinking there are two global factors and three factors specific to Melbourne that are conspiring against me. 

The first factor is the competition from other festivals which is making it harder for the organisers to attract a varied line up that would sufficiently appeal to me.  When the BDO started it was almost the only one major festival around and organisers had the luxury of knocking back acts begging to be on the bill.  Today it has to compete for acts annually against the national Soundwave, Harvest and Future Music festivals.  From this year, it is also competing against All Tomorrow’s Parties finally with a Melbourne presence. On top of that it has to compete against The Falls Festival at Lorne each New Year’s Eve, the Meredith and Golden Plains Festivals in Country Victoria, the Roots and Blues and Splendour In The Grass festivals in New South Wales and every two years Womad in Adelaide.  Many of these other festivals niche market their audience and it would appear that acts of a certain ilk, and their audiences (say hard rock acts to Soundwave) gravitate to those.  For the BDO, this means some acts – Band Of Horses is a great example – that would have been a great to see on a smaller stage are thrust onto the main stage.  Thus pleasure of discovery from the smaller stage is denied whilst diminishing the experience of the main stage. 

This directly feeds into the second factor.  As it seemingly becomes harder to attract a diverse bill, BDO organisers have increasingly resorted to paying huge sums to secure big name headliners thought to guarantee a sell-out. To justify these payments these acts – the Chili Peppers this year, Soundgarden and Kanye West last year, Tool and Rammstein the year before that, etc - are increasingly playing just the BDO without side shows.  Hard core fans of these acts and not necessarily other acts on the bill buy BDO tickets to ensure they can get in practically from the moment the tickets go on sale whereas veterans like me who were not accustomed to this are waiting for the second announcement of acts and publication of the timetable before deciding whether to go.  The fans of these megastar acts effectively treats the day as though they are going to see that act at Rod Laver Arena, and the overall bill is treated as though it is a 10 hour support act and the atmosphere of the day as a whole suffers as a result.

Complicating both of these factors are the Melbourne specific factors.  First has been the loss of the original venue, The Showgrounds.  This was a wonderful venue as all of the stages were within a discrete distance of each other which helped foster a sense of community among the audience.  This feeling has completely dissipated in the Flemington Racecourse car park next door.  The main stages are a considerable distance away from the remaining stages and this acts as a disincentive, particularly on hot days, to what to move around too much.
The second is a factor that has always existed in Melbourne and is now a crucial one.  All of the Melbourne BDO venues exist among residential areas and so a strict curfew for the outdoor stages has always applied.  As a result, the Melbourne BDO has to devise a timetable with a hour less that that available to some of the other Australian BDO venues.  Clashes between acts have always existed, but as the overall quality of the bill declines, there has been an increased rather than reduced risk that two of the acts you really want to see are put up against each other.  This is the main reason why BDO veterans wait for the second announcement and timetable.  If there are a lot of clashes it becomes more appropriate to buy tickets to the side shows but the megastar instant sell outs prevent that.

Even more significantly, are what I think might be the expectations of the Melbourne audience from the early days compared to the rest of the country.  I suspect it is a tale of radio stations.  When the BDO first started, the Melbourne audience was predominantly listeners of Melbourne’s 3RRR.  Indeed for the first few years at the Melbourne event, the main stage outside the main stages was known as the 3RRR stage.  3RRR is a community radio station, staffed mainly by volunteers and funded by subscribers and it is unquestionably this cities’ dominant broadcaster of alternative music.  In doing so it has minimised the influence of the national youth broadcaster JJJ which today is the major radio partner of the BDO.  Consequently BDO bills are effectively JJJ bills reflecting the tastes of the Sydney and Brisbane audiences but not necessarily that of Melbourne’s.  This wouldn’t be an issue if both stations played the same music and herein lies the problem. JJJ is essentially part of the wider music machine and a significant portion of its playlist, whilst alternative in nature, would simply not get a look in at RRR.
Tomorrow, I’ll take you through the BDOs I’ve attended over the years.  Meanwhile, the music played today was all of acts who distinguished themselves in past events.

(80) Soundgarden  - Badmotorfinger
Their unbelievable set in 1994 was probably the finest ever delivered by a headliner.  Even though Superunknown, now an acknowledged hard rock classic, was just days away from release their set borrowed heavily on this.  The opening quartet of Rusty Cage, Outshined, Slaves & Bulldozers and Jesus Christ Pose is staggeringly good.  The rest, highlighted by the Searching With My Good Eyes Closed (the ending of which appears to foreshadow Black Hole Sun) is almost as good.  If it had the same production sound as Superunknown, it would probably today be regarded as its equal.

(81) Helmet – Strap It On
The previously unknown Helmet were one of two discoveries of the inaugural Melbourne BDO in 1993.  Although their subsequent album Meantime was to garner critical accolades, it was this album that basically established the Helmet template.  Brutal opener Repetition sets the tone and the rest of album, especially Sinatra and FBLA, follows through admiringly.  This is the sort of album that gives hard rock a good name.

(82) The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy – Hypocrisy Is The Greatest Luxury
This was the other great discovery of 1993. I’ve never viewed this as either a rap or hip hop album.  Rather, it is an album in the tradition of rap forefather’s The Last Poets built largely on unusual instrumentation, vocals that are half sung, half spoken and lyrics about the social or political concerns of the day.   Highlights include the now legendary and possibly overused, Television The Drug Of A Nation, Famous And Dandy (Like Amos ‘N’ Andy) an attack on media stereo typing of Afro-Americans and the self-explanatory title track.  A cover of the Dead Kennedys' California Uber Allies is effective too.  Unfortunately, the duo went their separate ways after just this album – guitarist Charlie Hunter who formed a jazz trio and Michael Franti went on to form Spearhead – but it is more than possible that this contains all they needed to say together.

Friday 25 January 2013

25 January 2013 – Some great live albums


It was a quiet day at work.  A number of staff had taken leave in anticipation of the Australia Day long weekend and so I was able to schedule another productive day at my desk. As I was about to launch my assault, I scrolled though the listing of albums on my iPod and I came across a live album I hadn’t played in a while.
The Live Album is, in my view, the ultimate test of any act’s ability as musicians.  When you think about it, due to the limitations imposed by early recording processes, all of the earliest records were effectively live performances. This emphasis receded into the background as recording became more sophisticated and advances such as one-take session musicians, overdubbing techniques, sinclaviers, samplers, pro tools and vocal auto tuning were introduced and discarded.  The Beatles were at the forefront of replacing the live performance in the studio with studio perfectionism.  But at least when they got to this point, sensing that they’ll never do justice to their creations in front of a live paying audience, they had the good sense to retire from live performance.  

Yet since then, the Live Album, in many cases is the most scorned item in an artist’s repertoire and sometimes for good reason.  I’ll concede some were released to meet contractual obligations or simply to overcome a shortage of “product”.   I’ll also admit there are some bloated overlong releases unnecessarily padded with extended guitar, bass and drum solos. I’m also prepared to concede that some, like Stevie Ray Vaughn’s Live Alive or Bob Marley’s Babylon By Bus, simply captured an act at the worst possible moment in otherwise exemplary careers.  And then there’s Led Zeppelin’s The Song Remains The Same which is all of the above.  Fortunately Jimmy Page redeemed everything with the extraordinary How The West Was Won – even if it did contain Dazed And Confused and Moby Dick.  But they’re on the same disc to facilitate deliberate avoidance.  (Good thinking Jimmy!) I’ll accept the existence of fake ones out there.  Some James Brown albums in the 1960’s, for example, were studio albums with applause subsequently dubbed.  And yes, the biggest blight is that the reverse applies; performances so heavily overdubbed in the studio afterwards that it could qualify as a studio recording although no one readily admits to it.  
And then there are ones that exist to simply fleece fans of which the quintessential release is Elvis Presley’s Having Fun With Elvis On Stage.  This is a live record without music, just his between songs patter linked together.  Unfortunately, I know it exists because some friends of my parents played it as background, err, noise at a barbeque to which the family was dragged.  Fortunately, that was the same evening I saw The Clash’s clip for London Calling for the first time and so tried to keep that in my head as I physically tried to restrain myself from going after our otherwise gracious host.

But I think these sort of crappy live albums are in the minority.  There are a number of brilliant live albums out there, ones that captured acts at the absolute peak of their powers or which mark significant individual shows.  The number of the latter is now on the increase with the number of what I would term “historical” releases as record companies scour their tape archives for any shows they may have.  In some cases they now attempt to source them from the public, ironic given their efforts to stop it at the time.
Having said that, I think the era of the Live Album is close to dead.  Its purpose now is largely twofold; to complete content on 2 disc collector’s edition of albums where no other outtakes, demos or B-sides exist or via the live DVD.  The latter has a number of distinct advantages.  Crowd roars make sense.  You can see instead of just hearing onstage actions such as the roar of AC/DC’s cannons during For Those About To Rock (We Salute You).  Even guitar, bass and drum solos can possibly be enjoyed (or enable trips to the toilet or the fridge) but you can skip or fast forward them easily enough.  Let’s face it there are limits to which you want your act to prove their ability as musicians.

(77) Little Feat – Waiting For Columbus (extended version)
If there is only one Little Feat album you must own, it is this one.  This 1977 release is a great example of a band at its absolute peak and also functions as a virtual “Greatest Hits Of The Lowell George Era”, impeccably played and augmented on many tracks by the Tower Of Power horn section, a great live act in its own right.  Highlights are many, starting with a backstage or studio track called Join The Band that morphs into the band intro and the first proper track, Fat Man In The Bathroom, a brilliant Dixie Chicken/Tripe Face Boogie and a seamless working of Time Loves A Hero into Day or Night.  All this and Willin’ and All That You Dream too.  If there was a problem with the original album was its front ending of the up tempo tracks, this has been fixed by the extended edition which adds unreleased outtakes and live tracks that first appeared on the Hoy! Hoy! Compilation.  This ramps things up a notch although I’ve left off the last three tracks From my iPod so that it ends with an extended jam on Day At The Dog Races.

(78) The Band – Rock Of Ages (extended version)
This was the first album by The Band I ever heard, a Canadian act that I consider to be the founders of Americana.  Although this doesn’t have the emotional pull of The Last Waltz, this too is a great summation of The Band’s first four albums.  It was recorded in late December 1971 and would appear to have captured the start of 1972 when Garth Hudson’s instrumental showpiece, The Genetic Method (one of the very few solos on a live album that actually works) breaks into Auld Lang Syme.  Like Waiting For Columbus, a horn section features on many tracks and the bonus tracks add to the original album allowing for the inclusion of at least two more classic tracks (Up On Cripple Creek and I Shall Be Released) and a four track encore featuring Bob Dylan, culminating in (what else?) Like A Rolling Stone.

(79) Bob Marley and the Wailers – Live!
This is the reason why Babylon By Bus continues to be a disappointment to me.  This album was recorded at the Lyceum Theatre in London in 1975 and I’ve seen copies of this called Live At The Lyceum.  This is unquestionably the best live performance of the Wailers that I’ve heard and it’s not just due to the impassioned performances by all concerned or the canny decision to release this as a single disc, presumably of highlights. (These include Trenchtown Rock, I Shot The Sheriff and, of course, Get Up, Stand Up.) It is one of the few live albums where the audience is a crucial factor.  Their reactions, captured throughout this recording, give it a celebratory air despite the grim subject matter of some of the tracks.  My copy has a bonus track – Kinky Reggae – during which Marley introduces everyone on stage and makes for a fitting conclusion.  But two questions remain; when is the deluxe two disc edition going to be released and can it possibly improve this.

Thursday 24 January 2013

24 January 2013 – Computer Love and David Gilmour’s Guitar


It was a busy day at work, including an online training seminar, and so opportunities for listening were limited.  First up I opted for;
(75) The Orb featuring David Gilmour – Metallic Spheres

On paper this match up might seem unusual but Pink Floyd’s albums prior to Dark Side Of The Moon were, more or less, ploughing the same field as techno wizards The Orb.  Although their methods and instrumentation may have differed each act pursued widescreen, dreamlike and largely instrumental epics which were embraced by punters who liked to rave all night, with or without the benefit of chemical experimentation.  This album is divided into just two tracks, each effectively merging a few numbers with recurring flourishes and Gilmour’s vocals.  Elements of both acts are plainly audible; however, over the course of these two tracks a sort of transition takes place.  Track 1 appears to contain a number of Floydian touches especially in the opening few minutes.  As it continues these touches seem to retreat and, by the end of the album, it really is an Orb album with Gilmour’s guitar.  But that’s the fascinating thing with this one.  Every time I play it, I pick up something different and my attitude changes markedly.  But one thing remains the same and that is my love for the sound of David Gilmour’s guitar.
I’ve been entranced by Gilmour’s playing practically from the first time I heard Pink Floyd. I’ll never forget the moment.  A school friend put on Dark Side Of The Moon to demonstrate the prowess of the family stereo.  Naturally he started with On The Run and then let it run onto Time and the clocks and through to the cash registers at the start of Money.  Undoubtedly impressive as those bits were, it was the Gilmour solo on Time that remained in the memory bank. It conceivably could have been the very first guitar solo that excited me.   From then on his work became the feature I remembered most on my first listen of just about any subsequent Floyd album. On Wish You Were Here it was his playing at the start of Have A Cigar, on Animals it was his work at the end of Sheep and on The Wall it was the mother of all solos, THAT ONE at the end of Comfortably Numb. Gilmour’s playing is incredibly expressive and distinctive, yet it sounds so simple. And even though I can’t play an instrument I have no doubt whatsoever that attempting to recreate it is a tough ask.

(76) Underworld – Second Toughest In The Infants
Fortunately I own the version of the album with the bonus disc containing Born Slippy (Nuxx) and Rez after the former featured prominently in the movie adaptation of Trainspotting.  But this shouldn’t detract from the thrills the album proper delivers.  It opens sensationally with the 16 minute Juanita/Kiteless/To Dream Of love, three tracks which continually overlap each other.  Blueski, the shortest track is equally memorable, taking a lovely guitar melody and seemingly looping it so that its conclusion could have become a point of conjecture.  Rowla takes a georgeous electronic pattern that could have come straight off a Tangerine Dream or Cluster album and is then transformed by the addition of drums and some manipulation.  I could gush on about each track but the key point is this is one of the best examples of electronica one could hope to hear and, unlike much of the German 70’s acts that so obviously inspired it, you can even dance to it.