8 January 2013 - An Ordinary Day

It was just an ordinary work day.  For my in car entertainment, I chose an extraordinary album.

The Screaming Trees – Dust

How many acts can claim that every album released during their active life was better than the one that preceded it?  And, inevitably, how many can claim that their final album was their best?  For the Screaming Trees the answer to both questions was a resounding yes.  Dust was the album that they always threatened to make; its predecessor, Sweet Oblivion, came close but this one wins through owing to the consistent high quality of every track.  Despite this – I particularly love the opener Halo Of Ashes with its vaguely Indian sounding atmospherics, All I Know and Traveller with their catchy choruses – the undisputed highlight is the album’s closer, Gospel Plow, a raging tune wrapped by a droney instrumental opening and coda.  Although group dynamics were thought to be less than harmonious, based on the evidence of the shelved and posthumously released “final” album Last Words – The Final Recordings, I’d prefer to think the band realised they couldn’t top this and decided to honourably call it a day. 

Later in the day came a diverse trio of releases.

Elton John/Leon Russell – The Union

I think I am gradually being seduced by the notion of buying some of the early Elton John albums.  This really sounds like a throwback to that era, a feeling aided by Russell, a superstar when those albums were originally recorded.  Everything about this seems natural and unforced, unlike some superstar collaborations.  Very classy indeed.

New Order – Power, Corruption And Lives (deluxe 2 disc edition)

This is a solid album but possibly not quite the masterpiece that some have claimed.  It is the bonus disc that raises this release to another level.  No other act managed to leave so many of the best tracks off their albums, New Order being addicted at the time to the 12 inch.  This bonus disc includes Blue Monday, The Beach, Confusion and Thieves Like Us alone.  Nothing else needs to be said.

Wire – The Black Sessions, Paris, 10 May 2011

This is a release I’ve never seen in an Australian store so thank heavens for the internet! Wire are probably the least heralded, even by critics, of the acts that emerged in the English punk rock explosion of the 1970s and no other act – The Clash included – has managed to release as many enduring releases.  This performance is dominated by tracks from their then most recent album Red Barked Tree and the absolutely stunning Send, both albums released this century. They also cherry picked some of the highlights of their earlier catalogue including the irresistibly quirky and catchy Map Reference 41 N 93 W and an extended version of the title track of their seminal album Pink Flag.