I’ve never been one for celebrating the New Year as it
doesn’t really stand for anything significant.
It’s not my birthday or that of anyone I know, it marks no anniversaries
of note and represents only the mid-point of my work year.
The completion of an arbitrarily determined Earth lap of the
Sun usually means this is the day I’ve arbitrarily selected to update the
listing of items in my music collection.
However, as Friday will be very hot and will keep me indoors, I’ve put
off that task until then. All that
remains is a very lazy day with my wife “M” [yes, pseudonym named in honour of
James Bond’s boss] and our part time dog, a beagle called Lady. I’d love to say she was named after Billie
Holiday but alas her owner, “M’s” sister who is overseas, named in deference to
The Lady And The Tramp.Today also marks the start of another arbitrarily determined lap of the sun task on my part. It is to document a year’s worth of consuming music. By this I mean the conscious choices I’ve made to listen to the items in my collection, the music DVDs or music TV I choose to watch , the related books I’ve read and gigs I’ve attended. Along the way I’ll also comment on those times music has intruded into my daily existence.
This idea hit me a few months ago when I found myself remembering
a feature that featured in early 80s editions of the New Musical Express, the
English weekly music paper, entitled “Portrait of The Artist As A
Consumer”. In this, musos essentially
raved about the music they loved.
Somehow that reminisce got mixed up with other thoughts in my mind about
doing something online that was, hopefully, original and which required some
disciplined writing on my part.
Unlike those profiled in NME all those decades ago, I’d like
to make it clear that I’m not a muso. I
can’t play an instrument (unless air guitar counts), write music or sing. I am not part of the music industry in any
way, shape or form nor write about music in the media or any other online
forum. I am first and foremost, an enthusiast
or, if you like, a consumer.
THE MUSIC
First up, is my favourite new release of 2012. And for the first time in a long time it
comes from one of Melbourne’s finest:
Toward The Sun by The Dirty Three
Arguably the best instrumental act in rock released what is their
best album since the one-two punch of Horse Stories and Ocean Songs. Tracks are generally shorter than on the
past couple of releases allowing for greater variety and musical
experimentation to make itself heard. What’s
noticeable to me is a referencing to classic acts and possible influences on
key tracks. Open Furnace Fires is a psychedelic track set against a cacophony that
appears to be the Three’s interpretation of Pink Floyd’s On The Run. That Was Was sounds like a long lost Dinosaur
Jr instrumental and Ashen Snow contains vague hints of the pre lyric portion of
Stairway To Heaven. On headphones, this
album is a treat.
‘Cause I Sez So by
The New York Dolls
I bought this last week at Boxing Day sale eager to see
whether the reconstituted could maintain the momentum created by their
excellent comeback album, One Day It Will Please Us To Remember This. The new album is book-ended by two absolutely
cracking tracks, the title song and Exorcism Of Despair both of which would
have more than held their own on the debut in the 70s. The rest of the album is a solid NYC rock
album the likes of which are still produced today by the likes of Blondie.
Chris and Rich Robinson – Birds Of A Feather. Live At The
Roxy [DVD]
This was unfinished business having watched/listened to half
of this whilst making dinner on NY Eve on
the portable DVD player “M” got me for Christmas. For an acoustic release, the Robinsons
courageously eschewed the standard greatest hits set (only Jealous Again and
Thorn In My Pride get a look in), instead delivering a mixture of album cuts,
rarities and covers. The result is a
testament to the personality and powerful voice of Chris and, like all good
acoustic recordings, the brother’s songwriting abilities. 
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