8 July 2013 (Day 189) – Accidently Heavy

II returned to work after a weekend and a work day away from my desk and started to go through Friday’s emails.  For some reason, I’d scrolled through my iPod during the weekend and left it at a particular mini album.  As I’d always loved the opening track I started playing it thinking that, by its end, I would have gone through my emails.  However, this took much longer than anticipated and, by the time I’d finished the task, had nearly finished the album, resulting in today’s unexpected playlist.

(# 509) Deftones – Back To School (Mini Maggit) (2001)

I first heard of the Deftones in 1998 when they performed on the main stage of the Pukkulpop Festival in Belgium.  I was initially bemused more than anything else; whilst the band worked up a commendable racket it seemed ill focused and lacking in variety.  They eventually harnessed that power into proper songs and two years later released the extraordinary Block Pony album.  Full of great material, the most intriguing track was the final track Pink Maggit.  On this lead singer’s Chineo Moreno’s powerful voice is reduced to a painful whisper as the entire band gamely attempts to stop the track from exploding for most of the track.  Even when it did, it was a supressed dirge like muffled explosion that eventually give way to a single heart beat drum pattern that simply added to its power.    Despite this achievement, the band’s record company subsequently convinced it, apparently against its wishes, to re-record the track with full vocals and power.  The resultant track, Back To School (Mini Maggit), contains a suitably massive sound and powerful vocal work that works in its own way.  This mini album includes the track, a mighty live version and Pink Maggit.  Strong live versions of White Pony’s Feiticeria and earlier tracks Nosebleed and Teething as well as an acoustic version of White Pony’s first single, Change (In The House Of Flies) round out the package.

(# 510) Korn – Follow The Leader (1998)

I’m not generally a fan of nu metal, nor of most of Korn’s catalogue.  This album’s predecessor Life Is Peachy was a pretty good effort but is miles from this album, Korn’s undoubted masterwork.  The opening 5 tracks are simply awesome; the fascinating It’s On! a track that keeps threatening to break out but never does, segues into Freak On A Leash which seems to do the same thing until the release valve is hit.  The marvellous, and supremely melodic, Got The Life comes next before giving way to the very, very heavy Dead Bodies Everywhere which, it turn gives way to a rap from Ice Cube that heralds the slow/heavy Children Of The Korn.  It is metal of a very high standard that few bands could hope to succeed, let alone sustain, and it does tend to overshadow the remainder of the album.  Despite that, B.B.K does it’s best to maintain the heavyosity, All In The Family likewise and Seed provides some much needed relief.

(# 511) Slipknot – All Hope Is Gone (2008)

I made the mistake of dismissing this band as a gimmick based on nothing more than their masks and band names (each is identified only by a number).  It was only after I cut a deal with one of my cousins at a Big Day Out (I’ll watch System Of A Down and Slipknot with him, provided he watch the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and The Polyphonic Spree with me) that I allowed myself to be exposed to the band.  Although this album hadn’t yet been released, I was stunned by how tight and inventive the band was live.  I eventually obtained their live album and then his which is simply one the great metal albums released to date this century. A short instrumental opener, .execute., gives way to the fearsome Gematria (The Killing Name) a 6 minute epic that marshals the bands various percussionists and guitars into an impressively suffocating aural apocalypse.  In comparison the incredibly catchy though still heavy Psychosocial and Dead Memories come across almost as pop songs.  Vendetta covers the same fallow ground as Gematria,  Gehenna and Snuff slows the pace down with impressive results and  Wherein Lies Continue and the title track show they’ve learnt a few tricks from listening to Metallica.

(# 512) Body Count – Body Count (1992)

This is the heavy metal band that was formed by rapper turned actor turned realty TV star, Ice-T.   Essentially it is a metal album constructed along the lines of a rap album.  There are numerous linking skits, including an opening one that portrays Ice-T as a cop killer, and just about all of the lyics, except for the impressive The Winner Loses, are of the type you’d expect on a gangsta rap album.  In expressing the realities of gang life, Ice is presumably trying to revamp the supposed horror fantasy themes of heavy metal with the true horror of (Californian West Coast gang) real life, but I suspect this limits the material's chances crossing over big time.  Having said that, the music on this is quite impressive; Body Count’s In The House and the Body Count Anthem are great themes, the title track smokes, Bowels Of The Devil could have easily slotted onto a Black Sabbath album and the controversial Cop Killer spoils a killer tune and a serious theme (police brutality on Afro-Americans) with trite lyrics. (The album’s chief weakness.)  The overall package was sufficient for me to see the band when they toured behind this and its follow up, Born Dead.  The tracks got even better live and Ice-T proved to be a most charismatic frontman.  

6 & 7 July 2013 (Days 187/8) – Catch Up Viewing

It was a strange weekend.  “M” and I did a lot of things around the house we’d been putting off for a while, did shopping, went to Ikea and watched both of Robert Downey Jr’s Sherlock Holmes flicks.  I was obviously aided by the Bulldogs playing in Canberra (an underwhelming  4 point win against cellar dwellers Greater Western Sydney) but it doesn't explain how I was able to fit in watching a number of DVDs.

(AV 19) The Black Crowes – Who Killed That Bird Out On Your Window Sill…The Movie (1992)

This is really clever movie.  It gives fans an idea of the band of the height of its fame through combing a number of different sources including documentary type footage, an MTV Unplugged appearance, video clips, news footage, concert footage, montages and live in studio footage.  Collectively these cover all of the best tracks from their classic first two albums.  Their best known tracks, Hard To Handle, She Talks To Angels, Thorn In My Side,  Remedy and Sting Me are all represented by their official videos and so the surprises come elsewhere.  The studio performances of Black Moon Creeping which starts the movie and Sometimes Salvation are pretty impressive but the absolute standout is a live performance of Stare It Cold.  Shot at, presumably a festival, before a huge crowd on a sodden field in Moscow, the band to rises to the challenge of winning over both the crowd and the armed soldiers deployed as concert security.

(AV20) The Black Lips – Live In Israel (2007)

This is a DVD shot in a Tel Aviv club that was included as a bonus “Australian Tour Edition” disc with my copy of their studio album Good Bad Not Evil.  Reputedly an outrageous live act, any antics are kept on the cutting room floor, keeping the emphasis firmly on their take on garage rock.  Three of the five tracks, I Saw A Ghost (Lean), Cold Hands and a storming O Katrina! come from Good Bad Not Evil.  (The other tracks are Boomerang ad Dirty Hands.) The performance is a suitably sweaty one that is lapped up by the Israeli audience.  But, as all of the cameras are kept firmly on the band and up close, any advantages that could derive from filming in the relatively exotic location are lost.  Indeed the gig could really have occurred anywhere at any time.

(AV21) The Who – At Kilburn 1977 (2008)

I love some of the things written on DVD covers.  In some ways they’re like descriptions of houses up for sale which are flagged as has having “great renovation potential” when it has practically collapsed.  The cover of this DVD states this “…is a holy grail for fans after decades of anticipation”.
Hmmm! I suspect what should have been written that for true fans of The Who, this is the release they’ve been dreading for decades.  It captures Keith Moon’s second last appearance with the band, the show being put on to allow concert footage of key songs to be filmed for inclusion in their The Kids Are Alright documentary.  Rather than trying to explain what actually happened, I’ll let The Who’s biographer Dave Marsh tell the story:

“The Kilburn show was a disaster.  Moon hadn’t practiced “in three years” (in John’s [Entwistle] words), and he was a nervous wreck, distraught at having to face a public appearance in such gruesome physical condition.  For the first time, there was no way to conceal his weaknesses: They showed in his potbelly and in his playing.

The rest of the band was almost as nervous…….”That was the first time I can remember being drunk before a show”, said Entwistle.  Between their ragged playing and the necessity of stopping and starting while camera angles and lenses were changed, the show was such a negative experience that no one could have blamed them if none of The Who ever took a stage again.”

(Dave Marsh, Before I Get Old. The Story Of The Who. First paperback edition 1983, page 494)

Some of the band are certainly nervous; Moon frequently speaks between numbers seemingly using his renowned charm as a form of apology for his appearance and performance and Pete Townshend is a ball of nervous energy.   Despite Moon, the DVD starts off OK, mainly because the producers cut out all of the between numbers guff.  I Can’t Explain, Substitute, Baba O’Riley and Entwistle’s marvellous My Wife are good enough, although I’ve seen and heard these tracks done better elsewhere. An attempt at a medley of Tommy tracks is such a disaster that Townshend cuts it short only for Moon to beg the band into playing, of all things, Tommy’s Holiday Camp.  Shakin’ All Over and My Generation are, at best, passable, but Who Are You is a complete mess probably due to a dramatic rearrangement.  Won’t Get Fooled Again starts off fine but seems to lose momentum as it proceeds. (The same can’t be said of the awesome version capture at a subsequent performance – Moon’s last appearance – that ends The Kids Are Alright.)

But there is a very positive reason for buying this.  There is a second disc that captures a live performance of the band at the Coliseum, a London opera venue, towards the end of 1969.  Unfortunately the picture quality is nothing better than adequate (which probably would have prevented a release on its own) and the producers have been clever enough to include it here.  Watch this awesome performance – split evenly between tracks from Tommy and earlier tracks – and you can see and hear just why the Kilburn performance is so disappointing.  And Keith Moon is so astonishing here that you’d swear they had changed drummers.  Remember him this way.

(AV 22) The Gun Club – Live At the Hacienda 1983/84 (2006)

This DVD contains footage of two shows at the legendary Manchester venue taken a year apart and shows this legendary cowpunk band at full throttle.  The footage is nothing more than adequate and is focused once again just of the musicians; I suspect the tapes were probably made by venue staff.  Collectively, the band powers through some of their best material.  The 83 show, featuring Jeffrey Lee Pierce seated at the edge of the stage for much of the gig, comes out swinging with the lethal combination of Fire Of Love followed by their cover of Creedence’s Run Through The Jungle.  Fire Spirit,  Death Party and Sex Beat are among the remaining tracks but the relentless nature of the playing does become a bit wearying by the end. 

The 84 show, which appears to have previously seen the light as a standalone video called Preachin’ The Blues, is a better paced show and all the stronger for it.  Pierce this time is not seated and plays guitar on a number of tracks starting with the brilliant opener Hey Juana.  Sex Beat and Fire Of Love get another run and Preachin’ The Blues is inspired, arguably the best track on the entire disc.  The closing trio of Goodbye Johnny, Give Up The Sun and Sleeping In Blood City is magnificent.

5 July 2013 (Day 186) – Catch Up Listening

For the second Friday in a row, I sat at my kitchen table and worked whilst waiting for my central heating unit to be repaired.  Naturally, this didn’t occur until around 2 pm but at least it was successful and I can now write in something approaching heated comfort. 

I’d set myself a set of work tasks that didn’t require much in the way of full concentration and so it was a good day for catching up on some recent additions to my collection, starting with another bona fide Australian rock legend originally from New Zealand;

(# 503) Spencer P. Jones & The Nothing Butts – Self Titled (2012)

Spencer P. Jones has a mighty pedigree having been a member of The Johnny’s, the Beasts Of Bourbon and a couple of Paul Kelly’s bands among others.  He has also released a number of solo albums over the last decade but nothing approaching the anticipation that surrounds this one.  The drummer in the Nothing Butts is James Baker, previously also of the Beasts Of Bourbon and also early Scientists and Hoodoo Gurus.  On guitars and bass is Gareth Liddiard and Fiona Kitschin from The Drones.  As you can imagine, between them they make quite a gritty yet melodic racket on songs that lyrically run the gambit of human emotions.   Jones’s and Liddiard’s guitars dominate proceedings on each track especially on the suitably titled Freak Out and the epic closer When Friends Turn.

(# 504) King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard – 12 Bar Bruise (2012)

As the title of this album sort of implies, King Gizzard, produces dirty but highly effective 80s style alternative rock along the line of early period Beasts Of Bourbon or, even more appropriately, the inspired insanity of  Sixfthick.  Certainly, the title track here is compulsory listening for anyone who ever wanted to hear what the Beasts would sound like with a female vocalist.  Garage Liddiard is clearly homage to The Drones Gareth Liddiard of sorts interspersed with busts of demented harmonica playing.  High Hopes Low introduces a hint of country to their overall chaos and the hilarious closer Footy Footy is a wild punk thrash.  It’s not for the faint hearted but it is loads of fun.

(# 505) The Drones – I See Seaweed (2013)

Given I’ve named checked Gareth Liddiard in the previous two albums, its only fair that I should play the latest album by his band.  The Drones are arguably Australia’s most vital band; they create an inspired cacophony to accompany Liddiard’s long narratives that demand repeated listening and this is going to require a few more plays before I’ve completely digested it.  As it is there is more than enough material here to keep one thinking should the band take another 4 years or so to bring out their next release; Nine Eyes is supposedly about Google Street View, The Grey Leader similarly about leaders such as Tony Abbott, Laika about the dog the Russians shot into space and Why Write A Letter That You’ll Never Send? appears to have the holocaust industry in Liddiard’s sights.

(# 506) Tim Rogers – Rogers Plays Rogerstein (2012)

You Am I’s front man and lynchpin Tim Rogers has released a number of albums under his own name to supplement the band’s work.  This album is supposedly has him performing songs co-written by an American he meet called Shel Rogerstein, although many of the lyrics, notably Part Time Dad, appear to be addressing elements of his own life.  For the most part, the songs are delivered in the same easy going gait that characterised You Am I’s Deliverance album.   I Love You Just As You Are Now Change, bucks the trend musically thanks to what sounds like a fuzz bass and the closing number, Let’s Be Dreadful, sounds like a long lost Kinks number. 

(# 507) Divine Fits – A Thing Called Divine Fits (2012)

This is a solid album produced by a group that includes former members of Spoon, The Handsome Furs and The New Bomb Turks.  I’m only familiar with the latter and so can’t really judge as to these influences.  But for the most part, the songs remind me of The Killers (especially on What Gets You Alone) crossed with elements from quirky acts such as Sparks and They Might Be Giants.  (Check out The Salton Sea with its Sparks like construction.)  Of great interest to these ears is the presence of a cover version of The Boys Next Door’s Shivers which is fairly respectful of the original.

(# 508) Teenage Fanclub – Songs From Northern Britain (1997)

I was initially disappointed by this album when it was originally released.  These days, I know this was because it had the misfortune of being the follow up album to that great trio of albums, Bandwagonesque, Thirteen and Grand Prix.  Whilst it is not as good as those three albums, there are considerable number of tracks that would more than hold their own on the tracklisting of any of those. Start Again. I Don’t Want Control Of You, I Don’t Care and, especially, the irresistibly catchy Take The Long Way Round and the superb Mount Everest are all prime examples of the band’s way with jangly guitars and strong songwriting.

4 July 2013 (Day 185) – Albums That Pay Homage

It’s American Independence Day.  I’m not going to do something so obvious and construct today’s playlist based on some form of American theme. The reason, I think, is fairly straight forward.  Rock music after all is an American music/cultural form and along with the Hollywood movie probably its most enduring and loved twentieth century cultural export.  Some might disagree with this given that jazz, country, blues, swing, Americana, cajun, zydeco, rap, hip hop, tex-mex, chicano, alternative/indie, do-wop and probably a few others are also American forms.   Just about the only forms I’d rule out would be reggae (obviously), heavy metal (essentially developed by British acts such as Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, etc,  although Americans did eventually develop their own offshoots such as those hair metal bands of the 1980s, thrash and grunge),  most experimental streams (notably electronica) and, of course, world music.  Punk music, of the sort that exploded in the late 1970s, is probably a three way tie with the Ramones in New York City, The Sex Pistols/The Clash in London and The Saints in Brisbane more or less arriving at the same spot simultaneously.

But this did get me thinking.  There are quite a few great albums out there where acts pay homage to other acts.  Some of these are intended to draw attention to larger causes, others as a form of memorial for a recently departed musician and others which serve as an “In memoriam” and raise funds for the act’s family.  And there are also albums where an established act will release an album of cover versions all written or recorded by another act.

And, as it turns out, all of the acts or musical forms celebrated in today’s curtailed playlist are American starting with;

(# 500) Temple Of The Dog – Temple Of The Dog (1990)

Temple Of The Dog (the band and the album) was a one off put together in 1990 by Soundgarden’s lead vocalist Chris Cornell as a tribute to his roommate Andrew Wood.  Wood, in turn, was the lead vocalist of Seattle band Mother Love Bone, who were on the cusp of stardom and, before that, local heroes Malfunkshun.  Cornell brought together Soundgarden’s drummer Matt Cameron, Mother Love Bone members Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament and local guitarist Mike McCready.  A newcomer to the Seattle scene named Eddie Vedder also ended up contributing some lead and back up vocals.  In other words, Temple Of The Dog was Chris Cornell fronting the present day Pearl Jam. 

Apart from being a musically appropriate tribute to Wood this album is fascinating because it, more or less, documents the birth of Pearl Jam.  Say Hello 2 Heaven is a long and emotional ballad featuring magnificent vocals from Cornell.   Reach Down starts off as a typical Soundgarden tune from that era before mutating into a PJ jam.  Vedder and Cornell share the lead vocal duties on Hunger Strike and Four Walled World is the track that really does demonstrate how PJ would have sounded had Cornell become their singer.

(# 501) John Hammond – Wicked Grin (2001)

Hammond (Jr.) is the son of the legendary music producer John Hammond.  An accomplished blues musician with a wonderful voice and casual guitar style, he has not been a prolific songwriter.  But this was never an issue for this record which consists almost completed of covers of songs originally written and recorded by a friend of his, Tom Waits.  Waits not only gave his blessing for the album, he also produced it and plays assorted instruments as well. This is a great introduction to the Waits songbook, particularly if you find his ragged voice annoying.  Also, the tracks have some of the trademark Waits rough edges smoothed and, along with Hammond’s voice, allow you to truly appreciate the genius behind these songs.   Heartattack And Vine, 16 Shells From A Thirty-ought Six, Get Behind The Mule, Big Black Mirah and Murder In The Red Barn among others are handled superbly and the album, fittingly, became one of the best selling albums of Hammond’s long career. 

(# 502) The Blues Brothers – The Blues Brothers Original Movie Soundtrack (1980)

I really should have included this album in my posting about bands to which I owed a debt.  Simply put, the movie and then this album made the blues sound palatable to me, but more importantly, pointed me towards a number of blues and soul legends even before George Thorogood.   Not only that, but the movie was definitely the first time I’d ever seen footage of either John Lee Hooker, Aretha Franklin, Cab Calloway and James Brown.  On top of that, I spent a few enjoyable Friday nights at the original Valhalla cinema in Richmond at the over the top midnight screenings of the movie and even better was going to the Palais Theatre to see the movie followed by a performance by the actual band.  That gig in turn was the only time I got to see Steve Cropper and the late Donald “Duck” Dunn live (and yes, they played Green Onions during the show) but the band also brought Eddie Floyd with them too.

And the soundtrack album still has a lot to recommend.  There are three reasons for this.  First is the obvious love that John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd for the music which does not end up sounding like another celebrity vainly trying to convince they’re a legitimate serious artist album.  Indeed Belushi’s vocal, in particular on She Caught The Katy, are one of the album’s strong selling points.  Another is the authentic music from the pro’s in the crack band and the other is the inclusion of some of the tracks with the music legends.  Aretha’s update of Think, James Brown gospel number The Old Landmark, Ray Charles’ blistering Shake A Tail Feather and, best of all, Calloway’s Minnie The Moocher all mesh well with covers.

 

3 July 2013 (Day 184) – Producers As Musicians

I sort of conceived today’s listening as an add on to yesterday’s paylist.  The only problem is now as I sit to write this post, I cannot possibly conceive of the connection.  It’s not as though most producers disguise their true identities when they release albums.

Perhaps what I originally had in mind is once a musician is recognised as a type flight producer, any albums of their own music that they produce are probably more likely to be seen as an adjunct to what’s perceived as their main career.  In some ways it is akin to the member of a band who releases the occasional solo album but is never tempted to leave the band in which they made their name.  The resultant albums tend to be viewed as an opportunity for the individual to record material that would never otherwise see the light of day, an attempt to try out things that could not be attempted in their day job or as a pressure release valve.  Whilst this makes a certain kind of sense, it still doesn’t explain my initial concept. 

But the overall concept for today’s listening is a sound one, even though the initial premise was found to be extremely wanting.  And so for whatever reason a number of individuals who’ve made their mark as producers have also been responsible for creating some fine albums of their own music.  This shouldn’t be all that surprising; in just about every example I can think of, the producer began their music career as a musician before turning to production.  (Having said that, one of today’s selections did go the other way, that is from producing to creating music.)  For the purposes of selection, my definition of producer means a producer of music created by other acts.  Anyone whose production history revolves around their own work has been excluded.   

(# 496) Joe Henry – Kindness Of The World (1993)

Joe Henry has produced a number of wonderful alt-country albums over his career, mutating into an acclaimed producer of a some of the industries most respected artists.  These include Solomon Burke, Aimee Mann, Bette LaVette, Elvis Costello/Allen Toussaint, Loudon Wainwright III, Bonnie Riatt, and Billy Bragg.   This was his fouth album and arguably the one that put him on the map.  No doubt this was partially due to the involvement Jayhawks members Gary Louris on guitar and Marc Perlman on bass but the songs are of an uniformly high quality.  Of particular note is the magnificent and optimistic Fireman’s Wedding, the title track a duet with great Victoria Williams, Dead to The World a rocking country number incorporating fuzz guitar and great vocal support from Louris and Buckdancer’s Choice.

(# 497) T-Bone Burnett – The Criminal Under My Own Hat (1992)

Burnett has produced an imposing list of major albums for acts such as Los Lobos, Elvis Costello, Roy Orbison, Counting Crows, Gillian Welch, The BoDeans, Robert Plant/Allison Krauss, Steve Earle and the Elton John/Leon Russell collaboration. He has composed or compiled soundtracks for Hollywood movies which have earned him an Oscar and a Golden Globe Award.  But his own albums have proved to be nothing short of exceptional.  The material on this album consists of two basic types of tracks all with country overtones.  Some numbers are very much in the vein of his soundtrack work incorporating acoustic instrumentation such as double bass and fiddles and the remainder are electrified.  Indeed one track, I Can Explain Everything, appears twice in either guise.  And as is the case for most of his albums, he sings with a casualness that is quite appealing that is sometimes mixed with a dose of sly humour.

(# 498) Daniel Lanois – Arcadie (1989)

The only producer here that didn’t start his career as a musician, Lanois was first really noticed when he worked with Brian Eno (someone I could also have played today) in producing U2’s The Unforgettable Fire.  Since then he’s co-produced more U2 albums with Eno including The Joshua Tree and  Achtung Baby and been solely responsible for major releases by Peter Gabriel (So and Us), Emmylou Harris (Wrecking Ball), Neil Youing (Le Noise), Willie Nelson (Teatro)  and Bob Dylan (Oh Mercy and Time Out Of Mind).  Arcadie was his first solo album and by the time the first two sublime numbers Still Water and The Maker have concluded it’s clear that he has applied the same glistening production sound that is the hallmark of his most famous production jobs.  The biggest surprise on this is his confident vocal delivery with lyrics delivered in English and French but on occasion he left the vocal duties to others, noticeably on an arrangement of Amazing Grace featuring the incomparable Aaron Neville.

(# 499) John Cale – Fragments Of A Rainy Season (1992)

John Cale has played a major role in rock music history, first as a member of The Velvet Underground (and before that, drone pioneers The Theatre Of Eternal Music) and also as a producer of some of the finest albums ever recorded including debut albums for The Stooges, The Modern Lovers and Patti Smith. But he has also recorded a string of marvellous and challenging solo albums.  Fragments Of A Rainy Season is not an example of his production skills.  It is a recording of a live performance consisting of just Cale, his rich Welsh voice and his piano.  It includes highlights of his best known work (Paris 1919 and Guts), Style It Takes from his Andy Warhol tribute album with Lou Reed and two of the most audacious cover versions ever recorded.  One is his deconstruction of Elvis Presley’s Heartbreak Hotel in which the entire tune is slowed down to a crawl and performed as a tragic ballad.  The other is his version of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah performed relatively straightforwardly in a manner that would have provided both Jeff Buckley and k.d Lang with the necessary inspiration to attempt their interpretations.

2 July 2013 (Day 183) – Acts In Disguise

Obviously my real name is not otis.youth.  I chose it because I wish to remain anonymous; you never know what nefarious elements out there can do with just your name.  As if to prove that, yesterday I received an obviously fake letter from overseas designed to scam me.  Just one reading of the envelope and letter was sufficient to determine how the scammers obtained my mail address from a particular non digital source.  Unfortunately for them, that immediately gave their game away; well, that and the poorly phrased English, the wild and inaccurate guesses about my family tree and the misspelling of one aspect of my name. 

And this provided me with the theme for today’s listening.  There are a hell of lot albums out there by established acts who go under assumed names as if to hide their true identities.  Obviously in most instances, these identities can be determined by just as single listen, especially if the artists involved have distinctive voices or playing styles.  But from what I’ve been left to understand, in many instances, this occurs at the insistence of one or more of the acts’ record companies who have allowed them to record and release the results on the other act’s label.  The idea seems to be that if the act releases the material under a different name, this would not divert too many sales away from the act’s established catalogue.

If true, this is another example of how record companies truly do not understand how music fans operate.  First, as I’ve already mentioned, if the acts have anything distinctive about them, their presence in the new entity becomes immediately apparent.  Second, it reveals a breathtaking naivety about music fans, especially today.  It may come as news to them, but fans really do read music magazines, websites or  newspapers and listen to radio stations etc that will report on and review the eventual results.  Finally, and most importantly, the labels don’t seem to understand that such an album amounts to free publicity for the act’s back catalogue.

And so today’s listening dips a toe into some of my favourite examples of acts in disguise, starting with a partial one:

(# 493) The Chris Stamey Experience – A Question Of Temperature (2005)

True identities: Chris Stamey and Yo La Tengo

The origins of this mindblowing album go back to 2004 when the album was originally released (and credited to the true identities)  in a very limited run as part of an anti George W. Bush re-election effort.   Fortunately, sanity prevailed and the album was given a full release. Although Stamey is identified, very few of the numbers here sound like the quirky tracks that would have been recorded by the group with which he is most often associated, The dB’s.  (One of their tracks, Summer Sun, is covered here.)  On the other hand, the album sounds very much like a lost Yo La Tengo album with Ira Kaplan’s idiosyncratic guitar playing very much to the fore.  It starts off with a brace of superb cover versions, the most well known being The Yardbrid’s The Shapes Of Things, Cream’s Politicans and Television’s Venus.  But the absolute highlight of this set is the awesome 10 and a half minute MacCauley Street (Let’s Go Downtown).  A classic slow/freakout/slow number of the type often utilised by the latter day Sonic Youth (refer to Murray Street tracks such as Rain On Tin or The Empty Page), this starts off with quiet half sung/spoken lyrics that clearly position the song as a form of modern day homage to The Velvet Underground.  (Lou Reed is even name checked in this part of the track.) The middle five minutes or so is an inspired Yo La Tengo freakout with guitars and Kaplan’s e-bow exploding in all sorts of directions as if trying to replicate the VU’s improvised workouts on their live renderings of Some Kinda Love before fading to an organic end.  (Sonically speaking, all of the guitar and e-bow lines in the middle section appear to have been allocated one channel or the other, and so fiddling around with equalizers, speakers, etc, can produce varying results.)   It is very close to the finest single track I’ve ever heard from this veteran band.

(# 494) Hindu Love Gods – Hindu Love Gods (1990)

True identities: Warren Zevon and R.E.M. minus Michael Stipe

This album consists of a number of cover versions knocked out during the recording sessions for Zevon’s Sentimental Hygiene album.  (Zevon’s band on that album was essentially, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Bill Berry.)  It’s not meant to be taken as anything other than an enjoyable romp through a number of well known songs.  Of these the highlight is their barnstorming version of Prince’s Rasberry  Parade. Close behind is a stomping performance of Battleship Chains a track made famous by The Georgia Satellites, the blues standard Mannish Boy and other blues classics such as Crosscut Saw and Travellin’ Riverside Blues.  A version of Woody Guthrie’s Vigilante Man rounds things off nicely.

(# 495) The Dukes Of Stratosphere – Chips From The Chocolate Fireball (1987)

True identity: XTC

Easily the most intriguing of these acts owing to its highly ironic and totally unforeseen consequences, this is a compilation of the debut 25 O’Clock mini album from 1985 and the full length 1987 release Psonic Punshot.  XTC recorded these records as a homage of sorts to the British psychedelic acts of the 1960s they loved and which also seemed to inspire much of their work at the time.  XTC was not referenced on the original releases with each member adopting a fictitious identity and certainly the 6 tracks which make up 25 O’Clock are hard (at least to me) to pick out as them.  However, it was hard to miss distinctive XTC touches on Punshot, especially on Collidescope, Vanishing Girl and You’re My Drug.  Closing track Pale And Precious plays out as an astonishing Pet Sounds era homage to The Beach Boys.  Incredibly, despite the fact XTC were releasing amazing albums under their own name simultaneously, they were massively outsold by their alter egos.

1 July 2013 (Day 182) – Acts To Whom I Owe A Debt

Thanks to the Bulldogs shock 3 point loss to Melbourne of Saturday night, I was in a foul mood when I arrived at work and sought to elude anyone wanting to remind me of that. 

I was still in a foul mood as I started scrolling.  Even this task didn’t lighten my spirits until I came across an act and their first two albums.  I smiled as I thought about the impact their music had on me and opened me up to different sounds.  This demanded that I pay a debt and sing their praises and those of the other acts that made up today’s listening;

(# 487) The Police – Outlandos d’Armour (1978)
(# 488) The Police – Regatta de Blanc (1979)

I never viewed The Police as a punk act.  I saw them as a rock act with a pronounced reggae influence.  Listening to both of these albums back to back, I was surprised at how slight that reggae influence seems to be today.  Regatta de Blanc, in particular is almost devoid of its influence apart from Message In  A Bottle, Walking On The Moon and The Bed’s Too Big Without You.  Maybe I feel this now because I’ve listened to a lot of prime 70s reggae since I first heard these albums, but the point remains I owe a debt to The Police and The Clash, in particular, for making reggae palatable to me by including it with rock.   Whilst I now appreciate that Bob Marley and the Wailers did precisely the same thing at the same time with their albums on the Island label, I now realise why I didn’t take to it then because I suspect the balance went too much in the other direction, that is, they still sounded like reggae albeit with some rock mixed in.

And make no mistake, these first two Police albums are still exciting rock records and the live performances of the time I’ve heard on bootlegs, etc are incredibly dynamic.  Outlandos d’Armour starts magnificently; Next To You is a great opening, So Lonely the quintessential slow/fast/slow/fast number and Roxanne endures today despite all of Sting’s attempts to recast it.  Hole In My Life is fun and Peanuts is goofy fun.  The two rockers that kicked off the former side 2, Can’t Stand Losing You and Truth Hits Everybody are rockers of the highest order.  The less said about the final three numbers the better.

Regatta de Blanc is even better, offering a greater diversity of tracks.  The previously mentioned reggae tracks all have elements in them that clearly demonstrate that the guys, especially Stewart Copeland, were true students of that music form.  The title track makes for a great drunken singalong and is deadly when played live, It’s Alright For You Is a nice throwback to the first album and the closing combination of Copeland’s Does Everyone Stare and Sting’s No Time This Time was a massive improvement over its predecessor.

(# 489) George Thorogood and the Destroyers – Live (1986)

I love George Thorogood and the Destroyers.  Always have.  Always will.  For a long time in my life they were practically the only overseas major blues act of any note to regularly visit these shows and the first one that I saw.  Thanks to him, I paid serious attention to Bo Diddley and, thanks to the name check on this album, was introduced to Hound Dog Taylor.  Then there was his performance at Live Aid.  Queen and U2 may have won the honours at Wembley, but it was George that set Philadelphia on fire, and reintroduced Bo Diddley and Albert Collins to the world’s and my attention to boot.  (And remember, he was a last minute addition to the bill!) And only AC/DC is a finer exponent of gutbucket electric boogie today.

And if you doubt any of these claims, have a listen to this album, recorded on a typical night out, the year after that Live Aid performance.  The band roars out of the starting blocks with Who Do You Love?, Bottom Of the Sea and Night Time, the latter including riffage from Train Kept A Rollin’.  He pays homage to John Lee Hooker on One Bourbon One Scotch One Beer, scorches through Madison Blues and the obligatory Bad To the Bone and sends everyone home very happy indeed with a romp through Reelin’ And Rockin’ full of his bawdy wit.

And the great thing is that he’s still at it, more or less, proudly unbowed.  A year or two back “M” asked me to take her to see Joe Cocker.  No problems there; I’m a long time Cocker fan, but just as important was that George Thorogood and the Destroyers were opening.  Unbelievably the Palais Theatre was jammed full before he got on stage.  By the end of his set, “M” was asking me how to pronounce Thorogood, and a number of hard core fans had left their seats, went into the foyer, bought up at the merchandise table and gone home.   Somewhere around the world tonight this is being repeated;  George and his mates are recreating this album, preaching to the converted and winning new fans.  And it will continue until the day he dies.  Long may he continue to do so. 

(# 490) The Saints – (I’m) Stranded (1977)
(# 491) The Saints – Live At Pig City Brisbane 2007          

I remember in the moment in 1977 as though it were yesterday.  I was watching Countdown and this film clip came on for this new band from Brisbane called The Saints.  The song was (I’m) Stranded and it was a revelation encapsulating everything I thought rock should entail.  The overiding memory was of the jolt to my senses caused by the combination of Ed Kuepper’s buzzsaw guitars and Chris Bailey sneering delivery of the lyrics.  And the lyrics meant something, at least to me - Stranded/Yeah I’m On My Own/Stranded/Yeah I’m On My Own/Stranded-on-my-own -  simple, to the point, memorable and easy to remember.  With the song still in my head, I went to school the following day.  Usually, everyone would discuss the acts on the show but, despite my raves, could not find anyone who remembered seeing them.  The lyrics then took on a double meaning; it became my mind’s anthem in terms of how I saw my own musical taste.  In those days Countdown was repeated the following Saturday afternoon.  In the absence of a VCR, I took my cassette player and taped the clip when it came on (it started the second side of the same tape in which my radio listen to Springsteen’s Born To Run had been captured two years previously).  It was only after I played the tape again that I noticed the fake crowd applause the program’s producers had tacked on to the end of the clip.  Stranded, indeed.

(I’m) Stranded the single, became the title track of The Saints debut album and 36 years later the album still sends the same jolt through me as that Countdown appearance.  In fact, (I’m) Stranded isn’t necessarily the best track on the album.  There’s the ferocity of Wild About You, the relentless Erotic Neurotic, their trashing cover of Elvis’ Kissin’ Cousins  and the awesome demolition set pieces that were the closing tracks Demolition Girl and Nights In Venice.  The reissued version of the album is even better as among the bonus tracks is one of the greatest tracks ever recorded by an Australian act – This Perfect Day- and their brutal assault on River Deep – Mountain High.

But I have the original album on my iPod these days.  The reason for this was to leave space for  Live At Pig City, the recording of the first comeback gig by the original foursome after Kuepper’s departure 27  years previously.  As reunion gigs go, this was pretty damn good with the band attacking everything at absolutely full throttle.  The version of This Perfect Day is magnificent but it is the 4 closing tracks that represent the absolute zenith of the original band’s recorded history. It’s kicked off by the raging horn driven attack of Know Your Product from their second album and then continues unabated into Messing With The Kid and Nights In Venice before an explosive River Deep provides the aural cheery on top.  Strangely only (I’m) Stranded sounds less than extraordinary – as also happened when I saw the original band replay the debut album at The Forum in 2009 – a fate seemingly reserved for a track which is now so vested with personal history.

(#  492) Pretenders – The Pretenders (1979)

Speaking of music vested with personal history, this is the album that always reminds me of my university years.  The University of Melbourne has what was then called a “leisure library” which became my preferred place for relaxation between lectures, tutorials and research.  To me it was notable for four things – the awesome library devoted to all things political and pop culture; bound volumes of (US) Rolling Stone magazine going all the way back to its first editions; a music library and a listening room full of headphones, listening chairs and bean bags where one could go and listen to up to 8 albums from the collection as requested by students whilst passively inhaling smoke from the funny shaped cigarettes others there were smoking.  And the first Pretenders album was the album that was seemingly most often requested and which I most wanted to hear.

And little wonder.   Side 1 of this album is nothing short or perfect, seemingly sequenced as a mini album in its own right.  Precious is the perfect opener with Chrissie Hynde taking absolutely no prisoners.  The Phone Call, Up the Neck and the chaotic Tattooed Love Boys follow before Hynde steps aside for the instrumental Space Invader.  Not that she needed to give the boys in the band any space, as much as the album in dominated by Hynde it was also a stunning showcase for James Honeyman-Scott’s flashy guitar work, Pete Farndon’s forceful bass and Martin Chambers’ spectacular drumming.  The Wait follows, now an acknowledged classic, before the album’s first ballad, a tender cover of Stop Your Sobbing brings the side to a perfect close. 

At this point, the needle at the Uni library could rest in the run out groove for incredibly long periods of time which is why this was such a loved album.  If it appeared that it would be a long time before the platter would be flipped by the hassled librarians, I could always search for something else to hear or leave.  Unsurprisingly, I’ve always side 2 was weaker – it is – but it still contains Brass In  Pocket and the wonderful closer Mystery Achievement.   But this doesn’t matter, whenever I hear this album I’m instantly transported to the bean bags and the headphones.  This alone is a reason to be grateful.