19 & 20 October 2013 (Days 292 & 293) – What’s A Good Music Read?

The book salesman should be honoured because he brings to our attention, as a rule, the very books we need most and neglect most - Confucius

As a consequence of my embrace of the internet, I am now working towards the objective of ensuring that my original two custom made bookshelves contain nothing but items in hardcover……. Now all I have to do is start reading them – otis.youth 12 & 13 October 2013

Most rock journalism is people who can't write, interviewing people who can't talk, for people who can't read - Frank Zappa 1978

Among the reasons why I choose to remain anonymous is that I maintain a book collection relating to popular music.  I don’t regret this in the slightest.  Although I’ve read a number of the great novels in my time, I really don’t feel any great urge to read many more.  For evidence of man’s capacity for wondrous works of art, I’m more than happy to visit a gallery, wander the streets  of the finest European cities, watch a great movie or listen to some of the finest records to have emerged from late the 20^th and 21^st Centuries.

But this is not to infer that I actually agree with Zappa’s famous comment.  Reading about music is much like art, architecture, motion pictures or listening to music.  For every Jackson Pollack masterpiece, Gaudi structure, Cohen Brothers movie or Radiohead album there is always going to be meaningless graffiti tags, fibro cement sheeted horrors, Police Academy sequels and Kenny G record.  Basically, if you’re prepared to dig there really is a lot a great stuff to find and I’d like to think that buried within my collection of reference books, anthologies, biographies, autobiographies and oral histories is material that would suit the most demanding reader. 

Finding a good reference book, such as a music guide, is a hard task as you’d want to use a guide you can trust or, put another way, roughly shares your same opinion.   Ideally, my perfect reference book would be a volume full of reviews as originally published in Mojo, Rolling Stone or Q magazines and even then there would be restrictions on when I would want to read a review from either of the last two magazines.  But these books are not likely to ever be printed as the magazines in question increasingly rely on the websites to publish this type of information.  Fortunately, I have most editions of the Rolling Stone Record Guide and these remain, in the absence of anything else, the yardstick by which I can immediately garner a review without having to turn on a computer. 

There are other guides in my collection which I use for certain genres of music.  Dave Thompson’ weighty tome entitled Alternative Rock covers many bands that never make it into mainstream guides even if his judgement varies wildly about the key works of critical acts.  Although written quite a while ago, Charles Shaar Murray’s Blues On CD and Lloyd Bradley’s Reggae On CD are both indispensable.  The latter though, really does require a second edition given the rise of various reggae reissue labels such as Blood On Fire, Pressure Sounds and Trojan’s issues of anthologies, themed compilations and box sets.

Many critics and authors have written extensively for magazines and some of the best reading in my collection comes in the form of anthologies of their best work.  Lester Bangs’ Psychotic Reactions and Carburettor Dung: The Work of a Legendary Critic is arguably the best, containing marvelous examples of his anarchic style.   Not far behind is Nick Kent’s The Dark Stuff, which contains samples of his work for the New Music Express from the punk era but is highlighted by a legendary epic piece on Brian Wilson.  Greil Marcus has published numerous books including anthologies on his writings on Bob Dylan, The Doors, and Van Morrison, as well as In the Fascist Bathroom: Punk in Pop Music, 1977–1992 which contains his magnificent description of the Sex Pistols original final gig in 1978.  He has also written a number of other books well worth tracking down, especially Double Trouble: Bill Clinton and Elvis Presley in a Land of No Alternatives.  The opening chapter looks at the impact of Bill Clinton’s presidency upon Washington DC and finds all manner of similarities to how Elvis Presley was received by American society.

I’ve always enjoyed a good biography or autobiography and my collection contains examples from all over the industry including musicians and groups, record companies and executives, producers, promoters, roadies, fans and groupies.  As a general rule, I’ve found that the best autobiographies are those which sound as though they’ve been “written” by the musician in their own hand even though it’s mostly the work of the ghost writer.  These include the autobiographies of Miles Davis, Ray Charles and Keith Richards.  Ray Davies of The Kinks X-Ray is suitably inventive being an “unauthorised autobiography” which merges fact with fiction, Frank Zappa’s The Real Frank Zappa Book is appropriately bizarre and Anthony Kiedis’ Scar Tissue makes me wonder whether he even likes himself. But all of these pale against the best of them all, Bob Dylan’s Chronicle’s Volume One a non-linear picking of some of the highlights of his career that predictably leaves you wanting more.   In some respects, he was adapting Joe Jackson’s A Cure For Sanity which limits his life story to just his pre fame years.  And for those wanting an idea of life on the road, try Bruce Thomas’ The Big Wheel, an account of a tour as one of Elvis Costello’s Attractions, Ian Hunter’s perceptive Diary Of A Rock’n Roll Star and Rob Hirst’s account of Midnight Oil’s final American Tour Willie’s Bar And Grill.

A far more recent development has been the adaption of oral history a historiographical technique where the story is told in the first person by a number of individuals linked together by third person text written by another.  Arguably pioneered in the amazing Aerosmith band autobiography Walk This Way, it has also been utilised to great effect in the US punk memoir Please Don’t Kill Me and, even more spectacularly, by Motley Crue in The Dirt.  The latter might very well be the only book whose legacy will probably outlive the music it sought to immortalise.  It’s inspired me to buy the subsequent books by band members Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee and Vince Neill even though I’m most unlikely to ever buy one of their albums.

Biographies are a harder genre to judge.  First, is the need to keep at arm’s length any book that prides itself on being an “authorised biography”.  If that’s the case, chances are that the book will be a whitewashed version of the artist’s  or act’s career with little critical balance.  Then there will be some books that will read well simply because of the amazing life or career of the artist in question.  However, when an interesting story ends up in the hands of a skilled writer, the results can be extraordinary.  Evidence for this comes  via Peter Guralnick’s two volume history of Elvis Presley   (Last Train To Memphis and Carless Love: The Unmaking Of Elvis Presley), Lauren St.  John’s  Hardcore Troubadour: The Life And Near Death Of Steve Earle,  Michael Lyon’s biography of Ray Charles Man And Music and David Ritz’s Divided Soul The Life Of Marvin Gaye.  Then there are those authors who relied upon to produce top notch work irrespective of the subject matter including Clinton Heylin, Barney Hoyskins, Phillip Norman and Johnny Rogan. 

But this is now a very much incomplete idea of what’s in my collection for this only lists those books that I’ve actually read.  I have around 60-70 books that I haven’t yet started including many of which are very highly rated.    As it is, I’ve finally started to get back in the groove recently and I’m currently going through Pete Townshend’s autobiography.  Once I finish that the real headaches begin.

18 October 2013 (Day 291) – The Albums I’ve Played Most Often This Year

Before I wrap up playing all of the candidates for a mythical top 100 of my favourite albums, it would be remiss of me if I don’t make a mention of the four albums that I have played the most this year.  After all this is also a measure of favouritism.

But before I continue, a digression is warranted here.  Yes, this is a record of what I’ve listened to during the year, but the items I’ve documented in this blog are those which I’ve played in their entirety during a specific day.  There have been moments during the year when I might have spare five, ten or fifteen minutes and want to play something.  When I do so, I will usually play something from that day’s playlist or something that I’ve played during the year to date.  Snippets of the four albums in question are played if I wanted something different to listen and in each case it’s invariably been because the album in question contains a sequence of tracks that I’ve found so irresistible that I keep going back.  Even then, time factors prevent me from playing either that sequence of the album in its entirety.  It’s only when the album has been played in full for the first time that I’ve added it to the blog and commented on it.

As it is, I have already commented on three of the four albums this year.  They are:

S + M by Metallica, or more specifically, the first disc of the album which is as brilliantly sequenced as any live album I’ve ever heard.  The band’s performance is faultless, the orchestra meshes beautifully and the opening two instrumentals (the orchestra’s performance of The Ecstasy Of Gold and Metallica’s introduction into The Call Of The Ktulu) seems to do the trick if I need an instant spot of inspiration.  The blistering Masters Of Puppets which follows then functions as a form of exultation, particularly if I’ve had to defeat a computer problem, in which case the refrain of “Obey your master” is deeply satisfying.  

Then there is Live At The Magic Bag, Ferndale, Michigan one of The Supersuckers live albums.  The opening brace of about 6 tracks up to Creepy Jackalope Eye is just about the most relentlessly exciting opening to a live set I’ve got in my collection and the fake encore culminating with Born With A Tail is pretty damn good too.  Although I’ve always loved this ever since I bought, somehow it was the experience of driving around Northern Romania on holiday last that embedded itself in my brain.  Maybe it was the combined influence of seeing some of the remnants of the Soviet and Ceausescu regimes, sites associated with Vlad Dracula and being in the Gypsy heartland that resulted in this being literally the only album I played there.  Indeed, I found myself singing Born With A Tail so often in public as I explored the various sites that “M” was constantly threatening me with violence, which I found oddly endearing.  On my return home, I’ve found playing the album a hard habit to break.

And then there is the album that has had me transfixed for the greater part of the year, Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side Of The Moon.  It’s usually been the Floyd album I’ve played the least, mainly because of its overfamiliarity over the years.  I started playing bits of it earlier this year as a direct result of my posting about the sound of David Gilmour’s guitar.  After I wrote that, I went back to that album, specifically to listen to his solo in Time.  I put on my headphones, heard the clocks, the tune, the solo and the segue into The Great Gig In The Sky and realised just how great and self contained was the original vinyl side 1 of the album.   (I would then usually switch off the album, finding the cash registers at the start of Money a little bit too distracting.  But it was hearing it on headphones for the first time in decades that did the trick and I’ve found that first side almost irresistible to play when “M” and I retire for the night and I find myself , for whatever reason, unable to sleep .  Playing this has the effect of putting me into another dimension that I’m well and truly asleep well before the Time solo. Strangely enough, the clocks have only woken me up once.

This leaves me with just one more album, which just happens to be the one that I play most often.  When today started I had no intention of playing it through, but my day turned out to be such a stop and start one that I had effectively played it by work day’s end.  Oddly enough, in writing this posting, I’ve realised that, in its own way, it is a release that incorporates all of the features of the other three albums mentioned.

(# 679) Rammstein – Volkerball. Live In Nimes (recorded 2005/released 2006)

This is Rammstein’s second and infinitely superior live release.  The standard edition, like my copy, comprises a DVD of the Nimes and other live performances and a CD of tracks from the Nimes with care taken in the track selection to minimise duplication of tracks on the Live Aus Berlin set.  The CD is (like the Metallica and Supersuckers sets) brilliantly sequenced.  The opening track is an 2 minute introduction of pre gig crowd noise (like the Supersuckers set), actually the soundtrack to the menu of the DVD, that introduces the music as effectively as the other three.  By itself, on headphones it is as effective at night as the Floyd’s Breathe, and actually enhances the opening track, the mournful yet heavy Reise Reise.  This track detonates a staggering sequence of tracks that equals the other two live albums; Links 2 3 4 (a track set to a martial beat with lyrics espousing an anti right wing political stance), Keine Lust, an over the top Feuer frei! (these days known as the track that starts the Vin Diesel movie xXx), Asche zu Asche, Morgenenstern and Mein Teil.  By then the momentum that has been built is such that the acoustic Los sounds seriously out of place.   Du riechst so gut then picks up the pace and the band then charges home.  Benzin is seriously heavy, crowd favourites  Du haust and Sehnsucht are both delivered with greater power than on the Berlin live disc and Amerika brings the main set to a satisfying close provided you’re not an American.  Oddly, only two tracks from the encore make the disc, but both Sonne and Ich Will wrap things up nicely although personally, I would have dropped Los and replaced it with the cover of Depeche Mode’s Stripped that’s featured on the DVD as it would have given it a greater flow and unity.  It is as strong a set of industrial metal that anyone is ever likely to hear and I'm sure will be the soundtrack should I ever revisit Romania.

17 October 2013 (Day 290) – What’s My Favourite Steve Earle Album Ever

For some reason I’m free of commitments today and so can contemplate a playlist for a minimum of five albums by the same artist.  As I scrolled through my iPod listing of artists wondering whether there would be anyone left there to whom this would apply, I didn’t get very far before I came across Steve Earle. 

Earle is one of America’s most revered songwriters, able to write powerful, controversial or deeply personal material that finds him equally at home within the country, folk and rock communities.   Some of his songs are the product of a rather interesting life which has included seven marriages, successfully fighting off heroin addiction and also a stint in jail but he has also taken a stance on many political causes.  He is a noted anti capital punishment advocate, was one of George W Bush’s fiercest critics in the music world and attracted great deal of criticism for his anti Iraq war stance especially, for his lyrics to John Walker Blues.  Walker was the American citizen captured by US Forces in Afghanistan who was fighting for the Taliban.  In his song, Earle bravely attempted to articulate Walker’s motives by singing in the first person.

The album which contains this track (2002’s Jerusalem) did not make today’s playlist but five other albums did, starting with the album which, ironically could have paved the way for him to become a blue collar star on a par with Bruce Springsteen had subsequent events played out differently:

(# 674) Steve Earle – Copperhead Road (1988)

Earle’s first two albums, Guitar Town and Exit O, were both low key country albums that were well received.  On this album the quotient of rock was dramatically increased and, such were the force of his political opinions, that the Springsteen comparisons were made.  Lazy commenters could argue that this was an attempt at remaking the Born In The U.S.A album;  the title track with its full on rock ending and Earle’s lyrics about returned US soldiers from Vietnam could easily be mistaken for that album’s title track.  Johnny Come Lately (on which he is joined by The Pogues) also addressed war veterans concerns, whilst the powerful The Devil’s Right Hand attacked gun ownership and Back To The Wall poverty.  The latter half of the album balances these concerns with more personal concerns, the pick of these being You Belong To Me.

(# 675) Steve Earle – Train A Comin’ (1995)

Much happened between Copperhead Road and this album although this did not include the release of much new material with the exception of 1990’s loud, pummelling and hard to sit through in one sitting The Hard Way.  Train A Comin’ was in effect a comeback album, his first release after a stint in jail for heroin possession.  Many of the songs were written years earlier as a young man, a couple during his rehab process and three covers are also included (his long term hero, friend and mentor Townes Van Zandt’s Tecumseh Valley, The Beatles I’m Looking Through You and the reggae standard The Rivers Of Babylon).  Every track is rendered acoustically in either a folk or bluegrass style that maintains an astonishing consistency of sound and purpose.  In many respects, this is Earle’s true debut album and the font from which his current standing and development is derived.

(# 676) Steve Earle – I Feel Alright (1996)

This was the logical and triumphant first step away from Train A Comin’ and all of its unintended associations with Earle’s drug and legal problems.  Now fronting a band, the title track is a joyous personal state of the national address.  Hard-Core Troubadour and More Than I Can Do continue in this vein, the former swinging like the very best Los Lobos tunes.  Now She’s Gone shuffles along amiably despite the sadness of the lyrics as does Billy And Bonnie and The Unrepentant is a resolute rocker.  Two of the slower tracks; CCKMP (Cocaine Come and Kill My Pain) and South Nashville Blues are both powerful throwbacks to I Feel Alright’s themes albeit with a stronger musical backings but ultimately, this is an album by an artist happy to be alive and functioning in the world again as demonstrated by the wonderful closing track You’re Still Standin’ There, a duet with Lucinda Williams.

(# 677) Steve Earle – The Revolution Starts Now (2004)

This was the album that followed the explicitly political Jerusalem and found Earle maintaining the rage.  Bookended by two versions of the defiant and catchy The Revolution Starts …. [Now], Earle hits the target on a number of anti Iraq tunes, with Home To Houston, Rich Man’s War, the powerful declaration Warrior and the intricate The Gringo’s Tale practically amounting to a mini suite.  The faux reggae of Condi Condi, a lust letter of sorts, to Condoleeza Rice and F The CC (Fxxk The [Federal] Communications Commission) varies the attack to incorporate humour and an Ramones style chant respectively. The remaining tracks are largely non political but are all wonderful; Comin’ Around, a duet with Emmylou Harris, the tender I Thought You Should Known and the late period Springsteenesque The Seeker.

(# 678) Steve Earle – Washington Square Serenade (2007)

This album took a bit of stick from some listeners who seemed unprepared to accept some of the more audacious attempts to experiment with Earle’s musical palette.  But it is these additions, especially the beats on the extraordinary Satellite Radio, the use of Brazillian music on City Of Immigrants and the Tom Waits inspired soundscape of Red Is The Colour and his brilliant cover of Waits’ Way Down In The Hole, that gives this diverse album its power.  Even then, the more traditional Earle fare such as the sparse ballad Sparkle And Shine and Jericho Road are absolutely top notch and the same applies to this album’s duet, Days Aren’t Long Enough with current wife Allison Moorer.

16 October 2013 (Day 289) – What’s My Favourite Mudhoney Album Ever

Today I write about one of my favourite groups, the finest band ever to come out of Seattle, Mudhoney.  They were the very first grunge act that I ever saw when they toured Australia in February  1990.  BJ and myself had heard some tracks from the initial releases and, on the basis of that alone went to see them.  We were absolutely blown away by their full frontal attack and the collection of brilliant tracks they’d already accumulated. 

Obtaining copies of their releases was an extremely difficult task and later that year I was provided with a graphic illustration of just how hard it must have been for the band to get traction even in their own country.  In September that year, I spent a few days in New York City, determined to see as many sights as I could whilst filling a shopping list of albums we’d compiled of albums we thought could be obtained more easily over there including SuperFuzzBig Muff and their self-titled album.  Over the space of one day in which I walked from the Booklyn Bridge up Manhattan Island back to hostel just a few blocks short of Harlem and the Apollo Theatre at around 110^th Street.  (That is more than 110 blocks.)  I stopped at every record shop along the way, filling the list as I went; the one act whose albums I could not find were Mudhoney’s.  Eventually, I found a cassette copy of the self titled debut album just short of my hostel; in many of the shops I visited the store clerks didn’t even know of the band.

And that, I suspect, is basically how the situation is today.  Mudhoney have never had a hit, nor have their albums, at least here, sold in any great numbers.  Even a stint with the major labels did nothing to change this.  Yet, they are many fans favourite grunge act, a situation no doubt due to their hard worn status as a live act.  If you’re in any doubt, check out the live tracks on the Collector’s Edition of SuperFuzz Big Muff which gives a great example of the band at the time I first saw them (including their largely unacknowledged sense of humour)  or, even better, find a copy of the DVD Live At El Sol, a performance at a club in Spain around 8 years ago.

This is not to infer that their recordings aren’t very good.   Although there are a couple of albums that are simply average, the high points are absolutely brilliant and deserve your attention.  For starters, I recommend Under A Billion Stars which I played earlier in the year, but if you want to go back to the start:

(#670) Mudhoney – SuperFuzz BigMuff (1988)

Their debut release was this 6 track EP which has since been expanded twice.   Need is a great opener, taking a supremely melodic tune and wrapping in in fuzzed up guitars with Mark Arm’s typically snarly vocals on top.  Chain That Door is a typically locomotive piece which introduced the world to their buzz saw guitar sound and Mudride was the first of their dirge like slower numbers.  Whilst these tracks showed promised it was the remaining tracks that should have put the band over the top. No One Has is cut from the same cloth as Chain That Door but sustains it for a longer period and towards a more logical conclusion and If I Think was a great stop/start, slow/fast/slow number of the type Nirvana were to master.  But the killer track, and first Mudhoney classic, is the awesome In ‘n’ Out Of Grace.  Starting off with a snippet of dialogue from, I think Rebel Without A Cause, the band explodes into a raging tune that raises and falls in intensity into a simmering drum break explodes a second time into a series of deranged guitar solos piled on top of each other and a gradual slowing to a stop end.  It’s mightily impressive stuff.  It’s since been expanded to a single CD which inludes early singles including the infectious Touch Me I’m Sick and Sweet Young Thing Ain’t Sweet No More and covers of The Dicks Hate The Police and Sonic Youth’s Halloween.  The 2 disc Collector’s Edition contains these tracks as well as the aforesaid live material and demo tracks.

(# 671) Mudhoney – Mudhoney (1989)

Their full length debut is home to some of the best loved songs in the Mudhoney arsenal including the relentless Here Comes Sickness, the inanity of Flat Out Fxxked, Magnolia Caboose Babyshit an adaption of a Blue Cheer track, the relatively sparse sounding You Got It aand the largely acoustic When Tomorrow Hits.  Running Loaded and the opening cut This Gift provided more examples of their slow/fast/slow expertise.  Dead Love incorporates some neat psychedelic touches in attempting to outdo In ‘n’ Out Of Grace.

(# 672) Mudhoney – Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge (1991)

The instrumental Generation Genocide kicks things off by incorporating a garagey sounding keyboard that provides the perfect intro to the raging Let It Slide which follows.  The remainder of the album provides a great deal of variety that is brilliantly sequenced.  Good Enough sounds like a country track without any country instrumentation at all, Thorn, Into The Clink and Shoot The Moon all ape Let It Slide, the keyboards return to propel  Who You Drivin’ Now?, Move Out deftly incorporates acoustic guitar and harmonica into their sound, Fuzzgun ’91 is a fun attempt at a surf instrumental and Pokin’ Around sounds like Dinasaur Jr with Neil Young on harmonica.  The slower Check Out Time ends the album on a wholly appropriate note with the keyboards again to the fore.

(# 673) Mudhoney – Since We Became Translucent (2002)

On this album Mudhoney tried the same trick as they did on Fudge by introducing another instrument to the fix, this time utilising horns.  These meshed brilliantly with the keyboards on the 8 minute opener Baby Can You Dig The Light, a track that would not sound out of place on The Stooges Fun House or The MC5s’ High Times.    Where The Flavor Is employs horns in a manner not too dissimilar to the early recordings of The Saints or Hunters And Collectors.  Take It Like A Man employs a vague honky tonk keyboard with some inspired horns whilst the theme of Sonic Infusion should be readily apparent by now.

15 October 2013 (Day 288) – What’s My Favourite Kraftwerk Album Ever

The combination of a few work commitments means I only have time for a playlist of about three albums today.  Given yesterday’s Can playlist, the obvious candidate for today is Dusseldorf’s finest, Kraftwerk. 

In my opinion, Kraftwerk’s connection to the  “Krautrock” scene of the 1970s is quite limited.  Their first two albums (Kraftwerk in 1970 and Kraftwerk 2 in 1972) are certainly productions of that era but are not generally regarded as major releases.  It was only after the band reduced its membership to the core of Ralf Hutter and Florian Schneider and released their third album, Ralf und Florian in 1973,that they began to find their all synthesiser/drum machine sound with generally vocoder treated vocals.  They then entered a golden period, releasing five albums over the next seven years, at least three of which absolute classics that I simply cannot separate.  They are, in effect, the electronic version of Bob Marley and the Wailers; being viewed as the figurehead of a field that had already been established, and probably doing more to inspire other musicians into exploring it just by dint of the record sales alone.  How a band like this, as influential in rock’s development as Elvis Presley, Marley, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, James Brown, Led Zeppelin and a handful of select other acts, is not in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame remains a mystery and a musical crime.

(# 667) Kraftwerk – Autobahn (1974)

This was their fourth album and the one which made the world sit up and notice.  Side 1 of the original vinyl album was taken up the 22 minute title track basically extolls the fun of travelling along Germany’s autobahns (super fast freeways).  The synths, effectively replicate the sound of cars, heavy traffic with car horns early on, and whooses as cars pass at top speed on the autobahn afterwards.  It brilliantly evokes the experience of fast car travel; somehow, every time I play it I don’t get the sense of the amount of time that has elapsed by its end.  The band cleverly keeps the journey going by an ending probably limited by the capabilities of vinyl.  Just how long the track would have taken had the CD been invented at the time of recording is anyone’s guess.   Somehow, an edited version of the track became a worldwide hit.  The tracks on side two tend to be ignored.  The two part Kometenmelodie (or Comet Melody) incorporates space travel themes that were probably unique at the time but which have since been rendered familiar by numerous sci-fi movie soundtracks, the ominous sounding Mitternacht (or Midnight) is extremely effective and Morgenspaziergang (or Morning Walk) incorporates some elements of the early Kraftwerk sound (notably the use of flute) as well as a vague sounding return to the basic Autobahn “riff”.  Perhaps, the morning walk was the precursor to the return trip home?

(#668) Kraftwerk – Trans Europe Express (1977)

This album appears to be a vague celebration of all things European.  Opening cut Europe Endless starts with what sounds like a manipulation of one of The Who’s electronic rhythms (such as on Won’t Get Fooled Again) before adding quite Germanic sounding synth lines and choral themes that Rammstein would adapt decades later.  The Hall Of Mirrors has a vague French feel and  Showroom Dummies is very German; the band compares themselves to shopfront mannequins thus meeting the stereotypical view of Germans as indistinguishable, emotionally aloof and rigid.  The second half of the album – the vinyl side 2 – is effectively a suite in which the band attempts to replicate Autobahn, this time by concentrating on train travel.  It kicked off by the title track on which the synths are employed to impersonate train movement and the engine whistles.  It segues perfectly into Metal On Metal, maintaining the lyrics of the title track but giving listeners an idea of the train travelling over various railway sleepers.  Franz Schubert and Endless Endless which follow seem to imply the end of the trip.

(# 669) Kraftwerk – Computer World (1981)

On this album Kraftwerk celebrates the computer in its then basic form.    The title track which opens the album, and a second version, are based on a beautiful synth melody that brilliantly contrasts the otherwise robotic sounds that dominate the album.  Computer Love takes the melody and softens it further so that one could think that computer love is possible. Pocket Calculator sounds exactly how you would expect it to sound complete with the bored vocal of its operator.  The instrumental Home Computer serves up more of the same; you can hear sounds on this track in particular that were to pop up and dominate pop songs in the 1980s.  It’s More Fun To Compute which attempts to pass the pace along seemingly anticipating and predicting Western industrialists subsequent embracing of the concept that the using computers should speed up productivity and thus should be “fun”.

14 October 2013 (Day 287) – What’s My Favourite Can Album Ever

Can are a German experimental band that formed in the late 60s and made some of the most influential music ever recorded.  Like most of the other German bands that made up the so called “Krautrock” scene (Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream, Faust, Neu!, Harmonia, Cluster, Aamon Duul II, La Dusseldorf and a great many others), their music eschewed the traditional bases and influences that underpinned rock.  You won’t find many tracks here based on the blues or country or possessing a strong backbeat.  Whilst Krautrock incorporates traditional rock instrumentation, it is a form of music that values improvisation, electronics, tapes and a restless searching for new musical forms with as few reference points as possible. 

As many enthusiasts have pointed out, many of these musicians were actively rebelling against anything associated with the previous generations who were held in contempt for the role they played in causing two world wars and, in seeking to redefine music in their own image, were attempting to prove their country can be an agent of positive change.  Certainly, the movement won more than their fair share of adherents.  Brian Eno was an early collaborator.  Julian Cope was so enamoured with the scene that he wrote Krautrocksampler, a book viewed by many as the definitive word on the subject and John Lydon has often expressed his love for Can’s music over the journey, its influence clearly audible in the early work of Public Image Limited.

Which brings as to Can which, along with Kraftwerk, were viewed as the scene’s dominant force.   The first couple of Can albums I heard were their final album, 1989’s Rite Time and 1975’s Landed. I thought both were fine intriguing albums, but it was only in the last 10 years  that I was introduced to their masterworks, the first two on today’s list coming from a stall holder at a weekend market “M” took me to near her family home.  All three albums on today’s playlist are in a word, indispensable starting with;

(# 664) Can – Tago Mago (1971)

Originally a double album on vinyl which today fits neatly onto a single CD, this is regarded as their masterpiece.  It is experimental music of the highest order, the product of relentless jamming and subsequent editing, which effectively highlighted as songs mostly long tracks where the band seemed to arrive at the one point, establishes a groove and rides it through to the point of exhaustion.  The first vinyl disc, consists of tracks that could almost pass as an experimental jazz (?)suite but are highlighted by unorthodox guitars, booming bass and free form lyrics sung by Japanese singer Damo Suzuki which somehow seem appropriate sung.  Opening track Paperhouse rises and falls in intensity like the best of Sonic Youth and on the 18 minute Halleluhwah the ride the mightiest groove they ever hit characterised by a relentless percussion heavy attack.  But ultimately how one responds to the album depends on how they view the second disc which is experimental even by their standards.  The 17 minute Aumgn almost defies description with tape and radio recordings thrown into the mix; think of what would happen if you decided to take a band and improvise around The Beatles Revolution 9 and you still wouldn’t come close to describing this.  Bring Me Coffee Or Tea that ends the album seems to add Eastern influences.

(# 665) Can – Future Days (1973)

The early tracks on this album, sound like the band had decided to create an album using the end point of Tago Mago as its starting point. The title track again deploys an Eastern influence and one can hear in it and the tracks Spray and Moonshake that follows all sorts of little bits and pieces that were to inform the work of David Bowie, later period Roxy Music and a host of other acts,  But this album’s standout piece is the 20 minute closer Bel Air a track bordering on ambient territory courtesy of clear of distinct lines of keyboards, percussion and guitars that you can feel snake around you and each other to mesmerising effect.

(# 666) Can – Ege Bamyasi (1972)

The 9 minute opener Pinch harks back to Tago Mago by maintaining a strong rhythmic emphasis which basically doesn’t let up for the rest of the album.  Vitamin C is an appealing up tempo number which contains elements that could lend themselves to hit singles and the final track Spoon was actually a hit single in Germany.  The ten minute Soup contains controlled chaos of the sort that would bring a smile to the faces of Frank Zappa fans.

12 & 13 October 2013 (Days 285 & 286) – My Music Book Collection

On Thursday, in between my likely concussion induced sleeps, there was a knock at the door.  I got out of bed, went to the front door and asked who was on the other side.  My answer of “delivery” allowed me to adapt one of my all time favourite Homer Simpson lines, “OK, but I’ll have to warn you I’m not wearing any pants”.   I opened the door and stuck out my head so the delivery man could see me.   I stuck out one of my hands, thanked him, and took hold of a giant United States Postal bag.  Ah! My books, my concussed brain reasoned correctly.

The last couple of years have seen my embrace the internet as a means of sourcing my favourite music from overseas.  As I’ve written previously, I hadn’t intended to do so but have been forced to do so owning to shrinking catalogues at traditional shops here and the reluctance of many local record company arms to release the most challenging (aka that I’m most likely to purchase) music.

In this time I’d occasionally bought a music related book, usually the biography, autobiography or oral history of an act or scene, music guide or music journalism anthology.  Once again, market conditions here have forced me to do so.  Hardcover books in particular are almost luxury items , a situation not helped by the Government’s insistence on adding our 10% sales tax on them.  This has seen a number of established book chains and independent book stores close.  Others have stepped into the beach by pioneering discounted book stores stocked basically by remainder stock imported from overseas.  Whilst this helped accelerate the rate of increase in my collection, the biggest such business, All Books 4 Less, went into receivership earlier this year.  At that point, I thought it would be a while before I would be adding substantially to my collection.

My collection has been building since around 1985 when I purchased my first music related book - surprise! - Dave Marsh’s biography of Bruce Springsteen, Born To Run.  After that I added books almost as an afterthought as I stumbled across book sales or second hand book shops.  Occasionally I added a batch purchased at massive CD and Book clearance sales that used to occur at the Melbourne Convention Centre 3 or 4 times a year.   But the acceleration button was pushed when All Books 4 Less started operation.  Initially, every book in the shop cost $5AUS although, as time progressed, books were also priced in $5AUS lots up to $20AUS.

I am easily able to handle my collection especially as my home is designed in such a way that begs to be lined by bookcases.  I had two massive book shelves, each around 2 meters high built when I purchased my home.   I also have two massive IKEA shelving units (not their basic Billy product but a style that is no longer available) that are also erected alongside a feature wall in the house.  These latter units also holds my vinyl albums and my cherished Akai stereo unit, and the books mesh well with them; my music hall of fame, aka the second toilet, is conveniently around the corner.

Until the time All Books 4 Less came along, I hadn’t given much thought as to the format of the books I was purchasing.  The beauty of their pricing structure was that they made no real distinction between paperbacks, softcovers or hardcovers.  As a result, I started to get a bit picky and started concentrating almost exclusively on hardcover editions.  I still purchase softcovers provided the binding is strong and there is little evidence that I’ll be able to obtain a hardcover edition.  (After all, not all books are issued in hardcover.)

After All Books 4 Less went belly up, I started to search the Internet and, by chance, discovered The Book Depository.  This is a British site that offers books at hugely discounted prices and does not charge postage. (I suspect the cost of postage is built into their prices.)  I started using their service and found them to be reasonably efficient with books usually arriving within 2 weeks.  On a couple of occasions, the items failed to arrive but I experienced little difficulty in getting these replaced at no cost.  But, by and large, they only seem to cover recently released books leaving me with the problem of how to source books – preferably in hardcover – that are today only in print in paperback form.

The Book Depository, assists in this dilemma by referring customers to Abebooks for out of print items.  This is a second hand site into which booksellers from around the world feed in their inventories and gives separate prices for the book and postage.  It is brilliant for obtaining books from Australian bookstores, as many sellers waive postage charges within the country.  But for books from overseas, especially the US, postage is the real killer effectively raising the price of individual books to Australian retail levels and beyond.

Then a couple of months ago I stumbled across Better World books which has become my bookseller of choice.  The premise of their operation is disarmingly simple; they take in books by donation from anywhere including libraries thus preventing them from being unnecessarily pulped.  They place their stock on their website at extremely reasonable prices and do not charge postage.  For every book purchased they donate another to people needing books around the world and also plough their profits into worthy causes.  For an additional minor surcharge, purchasers can also participate in their carbon offset scheme for which I’m more than happy to assist.

I started by purchasing a couple of books including a hardcover version of the Neil Young biography Shakey (price $16US) which I’ve never been able to find here.  After placing an order I was given an estimate that they have some problems with deliveries to Australia and are trying to find a faster way to send items than the current one to three weeks.  My first delivery arrived within this estimate and I was thrilled to find the items in pretty good condition.  Spines weren’t damaged and dust jackets were in good nick.  My copy of Shakey contains stamps and markings that betrayed its public library origins; in this case it was none other than the New York Public Library.

Thrilled with this, I then revisited their site and discovered their bargain bin in which a number of identified sale items can be purchased for a combined $35US.  I submitted my first order, and 36 hours later submitted another.   Incredibly their systems are such that both orders were combined into one, placed into a box along with those plastic air filled buffering things, and sent to me, pantless and all.   Each of these books was in brilliant condition including a couple that would have been brand new.  All it required was for me to remove their barcode stickers as well as the Dewey stickers on the spines of those that came from libraries.

As a consequence of my embrace of the internet, I am now working towards the objective of ensuring that my original two custom made bookshelves contain nothing but items in hardcover.  At this point I’m about 85% of the way to achieving this goal which has overtaken my music purchases to the extent that I can barely remember when I bought my most recent CD.  The overflow books have been consigned to the unit containing the vinyl albums, as well as two smaller IKEA units.  One in the vicinity of the toilet hall of honour and the other is inside it. 

Now all I have to do is start reading them.