27 June 2013 (Day 178) – Where Imitation Is Sincere

It is amazing how concepts about my day’s listening occur to me as I sit down to write these posts.  Take today acts for example; a relatively new county/bluegrassy band, an undefinable singer/songwriter and a now veteran US West Coast punk band. The similarities are all trivial and relatively unimportant - they’re American, relatively unknown, highly regarded by their peers and, most insignificantly of all, have found their way into my collection. 

And yet when I look at my music journal, one thing stands out from my notes.  It is that each of the albums I played today appears to owe a stylistic debt to another act or musical style.  I’m not suggesting for a moment that the acts in question are rip off merchants; they’re all much too clever for that.  Rather the albums see to me to be either musical tributes/homages or are experimental in the sense the act is attempting to learn something by recording tracks in the spirit of the influence.

(# 477) Zac Brown Band – Uncaged (2012)

I first heard about this band earlier this year when I read that Bruce Springsteen had checked out the band’s Melbourne gig at the Myer Music Bowl on one of his nights off here.  That was good enough for me to do some investigating and my purchase of this album was the result.  It’s easy to see what Springsteen was drawn to; the band plays a mixture of fiddle accented country, folk and mostly southern rock that vaguely reminds me of the sound The Boss got on his Seeger Sessions project. There is nothing seriously amiss with the album but, then again, nothing to get all that excited about.  Everything here is much too clean and precise when a little bit of dirt and raggedness is required.   I suspect this could be a classic case of an act that is much better live than in the studio. 

(# 478) Micah P. Hinson – And The Pioneer Saboteurs  (2010)

Micah P. Hinson is a singer/songwriter from Texas and this is his sixth album, most of the predecessors being named after what I assume is his backing band at the time. This is the only album of his that I own or have heard and, for most of it, the clearest reference point I can discern is Nick Cave.  Many of the tracks here appear to be about the trials and tribulations of frontier life, a theme of Cave’s albeit in a different country and context.  On some of the tracks,  particularly on 2’s And 3’s and She’s Building Up Castles In My Heart, Hinson sings is a Cave like voice.   Some of the musical arrangements, especially on the opening couple of numbers, The Striking Before The Storm and The Cross That Stole This Heart Away are also reminiscent of Cave’s soundtrack work.   The similarities end with the incredible final track, The Returning, a massive sounding instrumental that inhabits the same territory but by invoking the spirit of Neil Young’s Crazy Horse or even Sonic Youth.  My Australian edition also contains a couple of bonus tracks after this, the latter of which, the original version of Watchers Tell Us The OF The Night is very much in the spirit of The Returning.

(# 479) Pennywise – From The Ashes (2003)

I bought this album cheaply from the op shop I wrote about recently because it had a bonus DVD attached.  The packaging didn’t provide a description and it turned out to be about the making of the album.  Had I know this, I wouldn’t have purchased this, felling that owning all of the albums that preceded it was sufficient.  And this one does suffer from a marked drop in quality, on many of the tracks it seems that the band were content to produce music very much in the same vein as The Offspring albeit with better lyrics.  This Is Only A Test stands out in this company for bucking the overriding trend.

26 June 2013 (Day 177) – When Two Acts Collaborate

Through music’s rich history there has been a strong tradition of established acts recording with each other.  Some of these have clearly been initiated through friendship or mutual admiration.  In some areas, especially jazz and blues, collaborations emerge between musicians who had become familiar with each other by playing together as session men on other artists recordings.  There are the tribute collaborations that occur when an established act wishes to help an early inspiration by producing or appearing on that acts comeback album.  And then there are what I could term as “wish list” collaborations when an established act specifically approaches a peer with an invitation “to jam” (and then invariably chooses never to release the results - Prince and Miles Davis anyone?)

As it is, I’ve already played a few collaborative albums – The Orb and David Gilmour, Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughn, Lou Reed and Metallica among them.  What surprised me was the sheer number of candidates just on my iPod, including these five gems:

(# 472) John Legend and The Roots – Wake Up! (2010)

This is a collaborative albums consisting largely of soul covers put together by modern day soul man Legend and hip hop masters The Roots.  The choice of songs clearly reveals an intention to produce a socially aware album in the mould of Curtis Mayfield’s 70s efforts.  Indeed, the opening track is Hard Times, a Mayfield number originally recorded by Baby Huey and The Babysitters.  For me the highlights of this spectacular album come from their attempts to make over some classics of the genre – an epic 2 track version of Donny Hathaway’s Little Ghetto Boy, a truly soulful version of Marvin Gaye’s Wholy Holy and a long loose meander through Bill Withers’ I Can’t Write Left Handed.  But topping everything is a convincing attempt on Humanity (Love The Way It Should Be) a reggae number originally recorded by the hitherto unknown (to me) Prince Lincoln Thompson.

(# 473) Brother Jack McDuff and David ‘Fathead’ Newman – Double Barrelled Soul (1967)

I discovered this album totally by accident when the disc was accidently placed into the digipak of another album I purchased.  This consists of lengthy soul instrumentals by organist McDuff and sax player Newman who have appeared on countless albums in my collection. For the most part, the tracks are easy going and just manage to contain enough energy to prevent them lapsing into lounge music although Esperanto goes perilously close.    Their version of Sunny is quite entertaining seemingly incorporating the James Bond Theme into the rhythm.  This is definitely one for lovers of the work of Booker T and the MG’s or The Bar-Keys.

(# 474) Robert Plant and Alison Krauss – Raising Sand (2007)

This is another covers album, this time of a range disparate Americana soundings tunes selected by musical archivist/musician/producer T-Bone Burnett for bluegrass singer Krauss and rock god cum world music warbler Robert Plant.  Despite the billing it is Krauss’ honeyed voice that dominates the majority of tracks with Plant providing, at times, subtle support.  As producer Burnett provides a wonderfully sparse yet nuanced production sound that complements them beautifully.  Strangely enough the album’s highlight, Please Read The Letter, was co-authored by Plant having appearing on his Walking Into Clarksdale album with Jimmy Page.  Fortune Teller, Killing The Blues, Tom Waits’ Trampled Rose and Townes Van Zandt’s  Nothin’ are all rendered convincingly.

(# 475) Various Artists – Judgement Night Original Soundtrack (1993)

The movie is merely OK but this soundtrack is sensational.  Using the template established by the Run DMZ and Aerosmith version of the latter’s Walk This Way, each track on the album is a collaboration between a hard rock or alternative act and a hip hop act.  The albums starts with all guns blazing with Helmet and The House Of Pain on Just Another Victim, a track in which the former’s brutal guitar attack is perfectly complemented by the latter’s rap and sampling.  Falling which follows this is almost as good as Teenage Fanclub start working abound with Tom Petty’s Free Falling only for De La Soul to cool things down with a typical rap. The title track mashes Biohazard and Onyx to sound like Body Count and Slayer and Ice-T sound right at home on Disorder, effectively a cover medley of songs by The Exploited.  Freak Momma sees Mudhoney providing the music background for a typically inventive Sir Mix-A-Lot rap and Missing Link by Dinosaur Jr and Del the Funkee Homosapien sounds like a great lost early Red Hot Chili Peppers track.

(# 476) Canned Heat And John Lee Hooker – Hooker ‘N’ Heat (1971)

This is one of the finest blues albums ever released.  For the most part it is a John Lee Hooker solo album with support at times from the Heat’s Al Wilson, whose last recording this was.  Whether its Hooker's playing and stomping or Wilson’s harmonica the first disc and the early part of the second is full of great blues numbers such as Send Me Your Pillow, Sittin’ Here Thinkin’, Driftin’ Blues, You Talk Too Much and Bottle Up And Go.  But the real business are the tracks where Hooker joins Canned Heat for a turbocharged boogie session.  The final three tracks, Let’s Make It, Peavine and an electrifying 11 minute Boogie Chillen No. 2 are as good as this type of music gets.

By the time I’d finished listening to the last album here I was at home attempting to get my thoughts together for this post.  Word was coming from our nation’s capital that the former Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd was challenging the current Prime Minister and his former Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard for his previous post.  Later on it was revealed he had succeeded.  Clearly collaboration is not a term that is familiar for either leader.

25 June 2013 (Day 176) – Albums That Remind Me Of Great Gigs

There is an overwhelming amount of published data about the link between music and memory.  I haven’t read any of it and have no intention of doing so.  Therefore, I’m sure what I’m about to write probably has no bearing upon or completely distorts the scholarship that’s been produced. 

I’ve been told that I have a tremendous memory and have no idea why.  Perhaps it is because I’ve listened to music throughout my life.  I have many memories about events in my life in which music is part of the recall process.  Indeed, the earliest memory I have of my life is always set against the backdrop of the Beatles Penny Lane.  This is strange because that memory involves being in the open air away from radios and televisions.  Suffice to say, whenever I hear that song, I’m instantly transported back to that specific memory and a certain feeling creeps across me that is almost impossible to describe.    All I know is that feeling reminds me of a time when my life was much simpler and it takes an effort to shake it off.   

But not everything is as heavy as that.  In the majority of cases the memories invoked by music are mostly happy ones.  And some of the happiest ones I have involve music itself, more specifically gigs that are memorable for some reason or other.  In a day involving some of the most tedious work imaginable (an entire day working on spreadsheets), I really needed something to make me smile.

(# 465) Mercury Rev – Deserter’s Songs (1998)

The memory: Mercury Rev at The Corner Hotel, 30 September 1999.

This is one of the great albums of the 1990s full of clever songs, unusual combinations of instruments, Jonathon Donahue’s distinctive vocals and a pristine, delicate sound which casts a dreamlike spell.  Holes and Opus 40 were unlikely though deserved hits and The Funny Bird sounds like a track ready made for a widescreen cinema epic.  The Happy End (The Drunk Room) and Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp probably sound like alternative medieval music, if such a genre were possible. But best of all is the magnificent Goddess On A Hiway a stately number that appears to combine the band, an unforgettable hook and what appears to be piano, harpsichord and a theremin.   Yet, despite the brilliance of the album, no one was really prepared for how these songs came across when played live.  The band injected such power into these songs that each turned into a mini epic of sorts and you could have sworn you were listening to different songs.   Tracks from the rest of their catalogue were carefully chosen to augment the Deserter’s Songs tracks and played in much the same spirit.  The version of Frittering played that night remains to this day one of my all time favourite live memories.

(# 466) Smashing Pumpkins – Siamese Dream (1993)

The memory: Smashing Pumpkins at The Prince Of Wales Hotel, 28 January 1994

Two decades on, this remains my favourite Smashing Pumpkins album.  There are no pretensions at work here with each track taut and fully realised.  With the exception of Sweet Sweet which simply doesn’t fit into the flow, the album is brilliantly sequenced.   The opening sequence of the explosive Cherub Rock and Quiet followed by the quieter Today and the slow burning Hummer is nothing short of perfect with  brilliant tracks such as Disarm, Geek U.S.A. and Silverf**k eventually trailing in their wake.  Luna is a perfect low key closer that anticipates some of the sounds to be pursued on the subsequent Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness.    And like Mercury Rev, this club show in the small confines of the Prince Band Room was simply overwhelming.  Those present on the night knew that the chances of seeing the band play a room of that size again (at least with what we know to be the definitive Smashing Pumpkins line up) was zero.

(# 467) The Fabulous Thunderbirds – Tuff Enuff (1986)

The memory: The Fabulous Thunderbirds at The Palace, 18 November  1989

After years of toiling away in relative obscurity, The Fabulous Thunderbirds hit the big time with this album.  Cynics might suggest this was due to the fame of guitarist Jimmie Vaughn’s little brother Stevie Ray but this is to deny the quality of the album.  It is a great example of Texan blues, soul and tex mex immaculately produced by Dave Edmunds and containing a number of great tracks including the title track, Look At That Look At That and the Los Lobos sounding Amnesia.  Down At Antoine’s is a terrific instrumental with great harmonica playing from Kim Wilson whose vocals are also a treat throughout the rest of the album.  But the best track is a cover of an Isaac Hayes/David Porter penned Sam & Dave b-side Wrap It Up an irresistible slice of soul despite the decidedly non PC nature of the lyrics.   

I first some of this songs live when the band supported Stevie Ray Vaughan at Festival Hall on 22 March 1986.  The overriding memory of that night was the encore of Stevie Ray’s set when the brothers Vaughan played a double necked guitar simultaneously, even changing necks mid tune.  As for the Thunderbirds I left feeling the best way to see them would be within a club with a beer in hand.  This is why the 1989 show stands out, a bar band playing in a bar before its own fans.  Although I’ve never been to Texas, on that one night, for all intents and purposes, I was. 

(# 468) John Hiatt – Live At the Palace, Melbourne April 24, 1991 (Slow Turning Australian edition bonus disc 1991)

The memory: John Hiatt at The Palace Melbourne, 24 April 1991

This is a 5 track CD containing great renditions of Real Fine Love, Your Dad Did, Lipstick Sunset, Rock Back Billy and Slow Turning.  Backed by the impressive Fugitive Popes, it demonstrates that Hiatt is a charismatic figure live with his endearing between song patter preserved. 

This CD was rushed out to capitalise on the effect Hiatt had on his debut Australian tour in 1991.  This came as a complete shock to his record company because he came out as a special guest opening for The Robert Cray Band.  I was the Concert Hall for the Melbourne date on 15 April and saw the incredibly rare event of a support act actually win over a potentially hostile audience which gave him a standing ovation and demands for an encore.  The response to Hiatt that night was such that the club gig was added to the end of the tour and recorded. He proved to be quite the unexpected entertainer too, telling cheesy stories between numbers and incorporating quite unorthodox “dance moves”.   But ultimately it was the music that won everyone over, a task made all the easier in that his two recent albums at the time – Bring The Family and Slow Turning - also happened to be his best.  It was a classic example of seeing a performer in his prime and at the right time.

(# 469) Suicidal Tendencies – Still Cyco After All These Years (1993)

The memory: Suicidal Tendencies at The Palace Melbourne, 2 November 1993

This is ST’s high energy re-recording of their debut self titled album and, as such contains some of their greatest numbers.  Suicide's an Alternative / You'll Be Sorry, Institutionalized, War Inside My Head, I Saw Your Mommy, Fascist Pig and A Little Each Day are all classics of the early thrash era and are given the treatment they truly deserved here.  Might Mike Muir’s singing on this album, particularly on Institutionalized is inspired.

It was with this album that ST toured Australia for the first time as the special guests of the hapless Alice In Chains.  By all accounts, they slayed the crowd at Festival Hall a few nights earlier, a situation not held by Alice In Chain’s drummer not being able to properly function during their set.  I wasn’t there that night as I was hamstrung by a wedding commitment and so had a ticket to the club show at The Palace.  If anything, the situation was even worse for Alice In Chains because it appeared that all of Melbourne’s ST fans had actually targeted this gig. This was the just about the only time I went to a club gig to find that it already packed to the rafters before the support had stepped on stage.  And the response of the crowd to the band that night was absolutely phenomenal.  By the time they had finished their set, I was ready to go home and, indeed, a proportion of the crowd did just that.  Fortunately Alice In Chains kind of rose to the occasion and delivered a professional set but on this night Suicidal Tendencies ruled.

(# 470) Wire – Send (2003)

The memory: Wire at The Corner Hotel Melbourne, 7 March 2004

Wire recorded some of the best albums in the initial English punk explosion of the 1970s.   And yet despite splitting up and reforming this is their best ever album.  It is a raging beast of an album containing some of the most ferocious music recorded during the last decade including In The Art Of Stopping, Mr. Marx’s Table, Comet, The Agfers Of Kodak and Spent.  The energy and power does not let up for even a second and puts bands half their age who claim to be heavy to absolute shame.

I think Wire’s 2004 Australian tour was their first one of this country.  I hadn’t heard this before I went and so was expecting that I be hearing punk/art rock classics form their golden era. Alas I went alone, not being able to convince anyone to come with me. I distinctly remember feeling alone and unwanted that night.  Most most of the audience was long time Wire fans like myself, the only difference being that everyone had partners.  I looked around – I was the only single person there, or so it seemed.  It was a watershed moment; I wondered whether this was going to be a glimpse into my future.  Darker questions circulated in my mind; Just how many gigs could I attend alone?  Is tehre anyone out there for me?  How come all these other people could find each other and share the same taste in music?

Fortunately, Wire came on stage before these thoughts could become darker and started playing the songs from this album.  I was staggered.  It remains to this day one of the great gigs I’ve seen.  The hairs stood on the back of my neck and I proceeded to the mosh pit for the only time in my life and joined in.  It was cathartic and liberating and my faith in myself was restored, at least for the time being.  I’d realised that if I was to remain alone, at least I would have future experiences like this to sustain me.  Little did I know that later that year I would meet a woman called “M”.

(# 471) Rammstein – Live Aus Berlin (1999)

The memory: Big Day Out, Royal Melbourne Showgrounds, 28 January 2001

This the first live album and soundtrack to the first live DVD by the masters of German industrial stadium rock.  Recorded on home ground in Berlin in 1998, it is a live greatest hits collection from their earliest albums.  On the DVD the songs are larger than life, listening to this for the first time in ages and after having listened to the awesome Volkerball live CD for a number of years now, it now sounds quite flat in comparison.

I approached the 2001 BDO with a great deal of trepidation.  The headliners were Limp Bizkit, a band I wasn’t planning on seeing.  Immediately before them were Rammstein, who I’d never seen or heard and before them was Powderfinger, Australia’s then rock gods who I found, in the main, to be little more than competent.  Also all of the bands I wanted to see were clashing with each other and I was faced with a number of uncomfortable choices.  Not only that, but a poor gig goer had been killed during a crowd crush a couple of days earlier in Sydney during Limp Bizkit’s set.  There was a bad vibe.

On the morning of the day, I awoke to the news that Limp Bizkit had flown home.  I arrived at the Showgrounds and found out that Powderfinger had been offered and refused the closing slot.  Rammstein were to do the honors instead.  Thus also had the effect of changing all the running orders and my clashes disappeared.  I just wish it hadn’t occurred because of the tragic loss of life.

At nightfall I headed to the main stage to watch Rammstein.  All I knew was they sang in German and were supposedly spectacular live.  75 minutes later, I was a card carrying member of the Rammstein fan club.  They presented a set that replicated the performance on Live Aus Berlin containing all of the stunts and stage features contained in it. I instantly got the joke; a group of 5 hulking specimens of Ayran manhood whose machismo was constantly being undermined by the keyboard counterpoints of its sixth member.  It was my introduction to the world’s most entertaining live act whose best music was still to come.

24 June 2013 (Day 175) – Father And Son

Back at work and back to deciding upon a theme based on the first album played in the day.  I knew what that would be as soon as I selected;

(# 461) Tim Buckley – Honeyman.  Recorded 1973 (released 1995)

During the 1990’s three amazing live albums were released showcasing the skills of this folkie turned psychedelic/jazz/soul/whatever musician.   Each is different; Dream Letter is a folk concert recorded in London in 1968, the extraordinary Live At The Troubadour is a live album recorded in the noted club during 1969 and this one, a live radio broadcast from 1973.  This is a pretty good representation of his latter day vocal style without coming anywhere near the gymnastics of the 1969 album.  The opening tracks, Dolphins and Buzzin’ Fly are nicely understated.  Get On Top ups the tempo and the funky Devil Eyes maintains the groove.  Honey Man has a nice jam feel to it and Sweet Surrender is an effective closer.   Unfortunately, he died 2 years later without ever threatening to become famous.  Despite fine albums like these, today he is more famous for being the father of;

(# 462) Jeff Buckley – Grace (1994)

I was fortunate enough to have seen Jeff Buckley live twice in my lifetime.  The first occasion, in September 1995, was unquestionably one of the finest gigs I have ever witnessed.  This was during Buckley's promo tour of Australia to support this album.  Having already bought Live At Sin-e, I had tuned into 3JJJ to hear an incredible one hour performance with his full band.  By this stage, Grace had been out for a year and the band had worked up some amazing arrangements for many of its songs including an almost heavy metal version of Eternal Life that ended the show.  At the end of the broadcast it was announced that tickets were going on sale the following morning for a gig at The Athenaeum Theatre, an intimate 1000 seater in the centre of Melbourne. Thanks to a ticket outlet being in the same building as my office at the time, I was able to be first in the queue the following morning. and still only managed seats in the very last row of the upper level. 

The gig itself was one for the ages.  It was essentially a longer version of the JJJ show but contained the same pumped up arrangement of Eternal Life, inspired takes on Mojo Pin and So Real, lengthy excursions of Last Goodbye and Love You Should’ve Come Over and, of course, Halleljulah.  The roar of the audience and sustained applause at its end was amongst the loudest and most sustained I’ve ever heard.  And afterwards everyone reluctantly walking out was reaching out to each other in their incredulity.

Now the Athenaeum Theatre has occupied the same site in Melbourne since it was established in 1839.  In fact, it is the only building to have ever occupied the site.  It has stood there for approaching 200 years as Melbourne developed from a tiny settlement to a modern metropolis of 4 million people.  And in many ways, Grace is a musical equivalent, Buckley's only real album that has stood the test of time and which continues to attract admirers as the world changes around it.

Yet, when I first played it, I was unimpressed.  Numerous spins later, I’ve realised this was due to the gig and the impossibly high standards it raised.  In reality it is a different beast, an ethereal, almost religious sounding recording.  It is the type of album that should be played in cathedrals around the world should religious orders ever tire of playing Georgian Chants or baroque organ music. 

After playing this I started to look for another father/son combination.  Quite a few came to mind but I settled on the Thompsons , starting with:

(#463) Richard Thompson – RT: Shine In The Dark.  Epic Live Workouts

This is the third disc in a six disc set made available initially only via Thompson’s website.  I’m not sure how Thompson defined “epic”, but I originally approached this disc expecting every track to be a 10 minute electric guitar orgy.  Some of the tracks undoubtedly are, especially Calvary Cross and Sloth (both versions I’m sure have been released as bonus tracks on reissues of his albums).  Drowned Dog Black Night also fits the bill, a track that originally appeared on the first French Firth Kaiser Thompson album. Yet the remaining tracks are essentially shorter and not all that noisy at all.  But this doesn’t mean there is any lack of guitar thrills. Valerie is turned from an electric to an acoustic tour de force whilst Don’t Let A Thief Steal Into Your Heart and Ghosts In The Wind demonstrate his powers on the acoustic.

(# 464) Teddy Thompson – Separate Ways (2005)

Richard Thompson has a dedicated audience but in no way could he be called a superstar.  The same thing can also be said about his son Teddy.  This is his second album which consists of 13 folk rock tunes of a consistently high standard that highlighting individual tracks seems pointless.   (Only 12 are listed; there is a 13^th hidden track which is a duet with his mother Linda.)  In many respects, these songs pursue a path not too dissimilar to his father’s acoustic work but with a voice that’s all his own.  Plus, Dad and his unmistakeable guitar add their unmistakeable signature on some tracks.

22/23 June 2013 (Days 173/174) – Op Shopping For CDs

I wasn’t thinking about going shopping for CDs this weekend.  OK, that’s a lie; I’m always thinking about shopping and adding to my collection in the manner Imelda Marcos collected shoes.  Perhaps what I meant to say was that my scope for buying stuff did not look good.

The reason was simple, “M” was demanding I spend some time attending to things around the house and could barely refuse given I was heading off to the footy on Saturday night.   After attending to the most pressing matters, “M” decided the time was right for us to dispose of some items by donating them to our local op shop.  Given this did not include any aspect of my collection, I readily agreed, thinking that perhaps I might be able to get some CDs after all. 

So, after dropping off our donations, I headed eagerly into the shop itself, eager to see whether they had any CDs or books on sale.  Unfortunately this proved not to be the case, the shop’s stock being the same stack of albums that seems to reside en mass in every such store.  I’m not going to identify the culprits – you know who they are! 

By now it was past lunchtime and “M” wanted to reward me with a feed at our favourite sushi place, incredibly, an owner operated space in the food court at a nearby shopping centre.  But on the way back home we took a different route and two things happened.  As we passed through one of our neighbouring suburbs, “M” decided she wanted to go into their op shop.  Feeling slightly deflated by my lack of success at our earlier stop, I wasn’t overly enthusiastic but “M” held sway.   

We walked in and I saw the shop had a largish collection of CDs along a couple of shelves.  I started to go through them, cursing I didn’t bring my reading glasses.  Why is the print on the jewel case spines so bloody small?  But then, I saw something, and then something else….. a few minutes later I had purchased 5 albums all for the princely sum of three dollars each and with the money going to a good cause to boot.  Even better, the first album I played when I got home was something that has long been deleted;

(# 458) Kings Of the Sun – Kings Of The Sun (1988)

I remember the first time I saw this band.  It was a film clip for their first single Bottom Of My Heart.  Neither the clip nor the song with its “You’re on top of the bottom of my heart” hook line impressed me.  Then a considerable time later, I caught the band as a support to an act that escapes me for the moment.  By now they seemed to have mutated into an over the top rock band full of attitude and a lead singer so full of showman strut that he made David Lee Roth look retiring.  I was hooked and raced out and got the album on vinyl.  I don’t think it sold all that well but it is one beast of an album. Serpertine which opens proceedings is a monster of a track  that should have been a massive hit. Get On Up, Black Leather, Hot To Trot and Wildcat all follow in the same vein.  Still don’t like Bottom Of My Heart though.

(# 459) M.I.A. – Arular (2005)

I was staggered to find this, as I don’t think I’ve ever previously seen a copy of this, M.I.A.’s debut in the shops.  It is a full on attack from the British based Tamil who could have possibly thought this was going to be the only album she’d ever release.  Musical styles (notably funk, hip hop and dance, political themes and righteous youthful anger all collide at a million miles an hour to produce a remarkable album not all that dissimilar to The Silts magnificent Cut album.  Bucky Done Gun, Sunshowers and Galang prove that you can dance and make a point at the same time.

By the time I’d played this, the other discs had to wait, as it was time to head out to the game.  Despite the 10 degree weather I travelled to Eithad Stadium where the Bulldogs promptly rewarded me with a 10 goal loss for my fortitude. After that, I didn’t feel much like playing stuff for the rest of the weekend although I did manage to get through this on the Sunday;

(# 460) Live – At The Paradiso, Amsterdam

Fortunately the band had the common sense not to title this “Live Live” or “Live Squared”.  A CD version of a concert DVD, this could easily function as a greatest hits compilation.  It contains solid versions of mainstays such Selling The Drama, Lightning Crashes, Turn My Head, The Dolphin’s Cry, Heaven and Lakini’s Juice.  I Alone Is marred in part by an overreliance on the audience singing the lyrics and a version of Johnny Cash’s I Walk The Line is, ahem, interesting.  The two studio tracks tacked onto the end are unremarkable.

21 June 2013 (Day 172) – Compilations By Music Pioneers

I realised today that I forgot to make a fundamental point about yesterday’s post and let it become the focus for today's limited listening.  It is that the notion of a single disc compilation works best of all for music pioneers of the 1950’s and even earlier.  In this era, artists more or less, released singles; albums were little more than greatest hits compilations.

Today there are hundreds of compilations that honour these acts, mostly single or two disc sets.  As such, all I have to do is to think of an act I would like to see included in my iPod and to seek out the compilation that contains what I consider to be the best of that artist’s work.

Even then, not every act is represented this way on my iPod.  It is also loaded up with a number of various artist compilations that can produce a wealth of tracks by the same artist that nothing else is necessary other than to create a playlist for tracks by that artist drawn from these varied sources.  This applies in particular to a number of blues and rockabilly artists, Southern soul acts and Motown.  

But some acts simply cannot be denied, having produced so many memorable hits that a compilation had to be included, including;

(# 455) Chuck Berry – Greatest Hits

Elvis Presley may have made rock ‘n’ roll accessible to white people but ultimately it was Chuck Berry who provided its vocabulary, ensured the guitar was the dominant instrument and who developed the licks utilised by just about every major guitarist of note ever since.  There is probably no one definitive Berry compilation out there, mainly because so many el cheapo companies have flooded the market with CDs of his best work.  My copy is one of these, but oh what a track listing; - Roll Over Beethoven, Rock And Roll Music, Sweet Little Sixteen, No Particular Place To Go, Johnny B Goode, Let It Rock, Memphis, Reelin’ And Rockin’, You Never Can Tell and Back In The U.S.A. are within its 24 tracks.  And extra marks to the compilers for leaving off his biggest hit, My Ding A Ling.

(# 456) Buddy Holly – The Best Of Buddy Holly (2008)

Thanks to Paul McCartney’s ownership of the Buddy Holly songbook, there is little chance of the market being flooded with numerous Holly Best Ofs.  This particular one – with a pink cover – is the best single disc compilation of his work I’ve found, comprising 20 tracks, with not a duff one among them.  That’ll Be The Day, Think It Over, Peggy Sue, Rave On, Heartbeat, Peggy Sue Got Married, True Love Ways, Brown Eyed Handsome Man and It Doesn’t Matter Any More are amongst its tracks.  All contain his marvellous guitar work and distinctive vocals amid an overall production that trod the fine line between vitality and overblown floss quite nicely.  Most importantly, although there are some 50s harmony vocals, these do not overwhelm the songs in the way the Jordanaires rendered so much of Elvis’ 50s output to be practically unlistenable these days.

(# 457) Little Richard – The Very Best Of Little Richard (2008)

This is another single disc compilation released in 2008 with a pink cover.  Play this to anyone who doubts the size of Little Richard’s contribution to the development of rock ‘n’ roll.  Along with Jerry Lee Lewis, he was responsible for introducing the flamboyance and wild abandon that is so integral to the very best rock.  Tutti Frutti, Long Tall Sally,  Good Golly Miss Molly, Slippin’ And Slidin’, Rip It Up, The Girl Can’t Help It, Jenny Jenny and Bama Lama Bama Loo are all here as is his take on The Killer’s Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On.  And if that’s not enough, check out the awesome live medley of Ain’t That A Shame/I Got A Woman/Tutti Frutti tacked on to end. Wooooooo!

Little wonder I headed into the weekend in a good mood.

20 June 2013 (Day 171) – Greatest Hits Albums On My iPod

I enjoyed yesterday’s little excursion so much I thought I do the same thing today.  That is pick a theme for the day’s listening based on the first album I chose.  I set myself a potentially difficult task when I went with;

(# 451) Queen – Greatest Hits (compilation 1981)

This was the first of three Greatest Hits comps issued by the band during and after their career. The track listing for this album apparently varies from country to country depending on which tracks had been released as singles, but the Australian is incredibly solid.  The legendary Bohemian Rhapsody is the opening track, its massive popularity here no doubt a cause of great satisfaction to Freddie Mercury after the band had been largely booed at the Sunbury just the year prior to its release.  (For the full story refer to Mark Blake’s fascinating bio Is This The Real Life – The Untold Story Of Queen.)  All of Queen’s best stuff from their initial history is here; nods to their early heavy days in Now I’m Here and Seven Seas Of Rhye, the infectious Killer Queen, their first hit here, The Fat Bottomed Girls/Bicycle Race double A single (the latter complete with its bicycle bell solo!), Another One Bites The Dust, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Flash, the theme from their Flash Gordon movie soundtrack, the wonderful You’re My Best Friend and some Freddie flamboyance in Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy.  Naturally We Will Rock You and We Are The Champions are kept till last.

But it really wasn’t all that difficult to discern a theme when it dawned on me that Queen is represented by this album and the subsequent Greatest Hits II on my iPod and indeed, in my collection.  Obviously Queen diehards will disagree, but I think Queen are a band that is better served through their compilations.  Their best work was contained in their singles which in turn were usually the stand out tracks on the albums.  And in any case, their albums cover such a wide range of, often bizarre, musical styles, that no one or two Queen albums could possibly do justice to them on the iPod. 

And so, I started to scroll through my iPod trying to find examples where I chose single disc compilations – double albums, anthologies and box sets excluded – that I used to best represent some cherished acts. 

(# 452) Faith No More – Who Cares A Lot? The Greatest Hits (compilation 1998)

Probably no other act caused as much heartburn when it came to deciding what to put on my iPod as rap/metal pioneers Faith No More.  My initial thought was to have them represented by the albums The Real Thing and Angel Dust, both classics in their right and their powerful Live At The Brixton Academy.  I figured the live album would ensure that We Care A Lot would be included but I still bemoaned the absence of the surging Introduce Yourself, the title track of their debut album.  I was also unsure about including the King For A Day and Album Of The Year releases, both very much underrated with many fine tracks but not as consistent as the other two.  Then I remembered I had this which I had originally purchased exclusively for the bonus disc of B-sides and rarities.  When I checked out the main disc I realised the compilers had done an excellent job.  Introduce Yourself and We Care A Lot are both here in all their glory as are the carefully selected highlights from each of the studio albums including the majestic Epic, From Out Of Nowhere and Falling To Pieces from The Real Thing, Midlife Crisis and their piss take of The Commodores Easy  (Don’t be fooled by anyone claiming that this was a reverent homage.) from Angel Dust.  The last two albums have been expertly filleted through the inclusion of the marvellous Digging The Grave and The Gentle Art Of Marking Enemies and King For Day’s Ashes To Ashes and Stripsearch.  If Angel Dust’s Be Aggressive had been included it would have been close to perfect.  And so, this lives in my iPod along with the live set which contains more of the Real Thing and a massive cover of Black Sabbath’s War Pigs.

(# 453) John Lennon – Lennon Legend. The Very Best Of John Lennon (compilation 1997)

The existence of this album made it very easy for me for Lennon to be represented on the iPod.  To mind, Imagine is far and away his best solo album and that has been synched.  All I then needed to do is to drop its tracks from this and there is nothing but wall to wall classics – Instant Karma, Cold Turkey, Mind Games, Whatever Gets You Thru The Night, his great cover of Stand By Me, Working Class Hero and Give Peace A Chance.  More importantly, the best tracks from his comeback albums are also here – the comeback single (Just Like) Starting Over, Watching The Wheels, the tragic Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy) and the horribly underrated Nobody Told Me.

(# 454) Masters Apprentices – Fully Qualified. The Choicest Cuts (compilation 2006)

Who was Australia’s finest band during the 1960’s?  A silly question to be sure but no doubts many critics would nominate the Easybeats nonetheless.  I don’t have a problem with that but it is increasingly becoming apparent to a great many people that the Masters Apprentices  could easily have gained the honour.  Initially an raw R&B combo the band embraced psychedelics and released a number of timeless tracks and at least one classic album (their 1967 self titled debut although 1971’s Choice Cuts also has its fans).  This 24 track comp does justice to their career and includes classic tracks such as the Undecided and Turn Up Your Radio and their hard rock undertones, the 60s pop smarts of Elevator Driver and Living In A Child’s Dream, the memorable Australian hit Because I Love You and the psychedelica of Rio De Camero and Our Friend Owen Stanley III.