Working from home again today and so walk Lady after
farewelling “M” at the station. For
company I have:
(54) Visage – Self Titled
Along with Ultravox’s Vienna, this is the album from the so
called “New Romantic” movement of early-mid 80’s worth owning. The album mixed the combined talents of London
scenesters Steve Strange and Rusty Egan along with Midge Ure and Billy Currie
of Ultravox and several members of Magazine. Their combined talents meshed on this release
incorporating at least one catchy
instrumental (including the title track), hit singles (Fade To Grey and Mind Of
A Toy) and other material. It still
holds up surprisingly well 30 years later.
By the time I’d finished that album, I thought I’d make a
selection of albums that have not made it onto the iPod. I set down to work with a largely
instrumental release from Jamica;
(55) The Professionals Meet The Aggrovators – At Joe Gibbs
This great slice of dub and some reggae brings together two
of the house bands used by major Jamician producers of the 70’s, Joe Higgs (The
Professionals) and Bunny Lee (The Aggrovators).
The intriguing aspect of this recording, as far as I can perceive based
on my copy of the album, is that the drums and horns appear to have been mixed
to the front with the bass and guitar lines very much in the background. Most unusual but it does not detract from the
overall effect.
(56) Pete Townshend – Live. A Benefit for Maryville Academy
I’ve enjoyed the bulk of Pete’s solo material, particularly
the Scoop series which contains largely acoustic and demo material. There is
something about the sound of the man’s voice that seems to suit the acoustic
material but which equally explains why Roger Daltrey’s is probably better
suited to The Who’s full throttle versions.
This is a live recording of an
acoustic concert held as a fundraiser
for a Chicago institution that treats abused children, a cause close to
Townshend’s heart and which almost led him into serious trouble a few years
later when researching paedophilia on the web.
For this show Townshend is effectively part of a duo along with Jon
Carin, a musician I’d previously associated with the post Waters era Pink Floyd
touring band with other musicians used sparingly. It starts out with an impressive rendition of
Canned Heat’s On The Road Again and the remainder are tracks that have appeared
on Who or Townshend solo albums. A two
track bonus disc contains Eddie Vedder on Magic Bus. Great stuff.
(57) Steely Dan – Aja
I’m reasonably sure that I prefer the initial version of
Steely Dan when it was more than just a vehicle for Becker and Fagan. Of all of their “studio” albums, Aja is the
one that most fans and critics seem to love.
Hell, I’ve known of people who have named their children after
this. But I’ve always felt that this
album is a bit too slick for my taste.
Black Cow and Peg are great tracks that hold their own alongside the
best of the band’s work but no detail from the remainder of the album ever
seems to be able to stick in my head once the album’s finished. This latest listening does nothing to dispel
that view but given I am working, this is probably to be expected.
(58) Prince – Chaos And Disorder, and
(59) Prince – The Vault. Old Friends 4 Sale
I tend to link these two albums together in my mind although
they were released a few years apart. My
memory always is that I prefer one to the other but I never seem to remember
which. The other thing that links them
together is the end of Prince’s (I refuse to use the squiggle symbol)
relationship with Warner Brothers.
A note inside the CD insert states that Chaos And Disorder
was originally intended for private use only and that the compilation serves as
the last original material recorded for the label. Many have chosen to interpret the use of the
word compilation as meaning that Prince simply took some demos, etc and
randomly threw them together to get out of the contract as soon as
possible. I’m not too sure about that;
with tracks like Dig U Better Dead, Right The Wrong and Had U, I think at least
some tracks were recorded for the record which probably explains why it hags
together as well as it does. While certainly not a classic, it is very
much an underrated album.
The Vault, on the other hand, was thrown together, seemingly
by Warner Brothers itself. I’m not sure
how they expected this one to sell because there’s nothing memorable about much
of the material here.
After my work day concluded, I was finally able to connect
to the internet. Now what do I have to
do to get the blog up and running?
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