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.

29 & 30 June 2013 – Half Time

Sunday 30 June marks half time in my project.  Six months of blogging completed with another 6 months to come.  It should be more than enough time to play some of my very favourite albums and think of a new project for 2014. 

There was precious little time available for listening and all I got to hear was:

(#484) Outkast – Stankonia (2000)

This is regarded as one of the all time great rap/hip hop albums.  I can see why.  It is an expansive record that takes in a wide range of musical styles and sources and an array of mostly discovered talent.  Brilliantly sequenced, it starts of in a rush with Gasoline Dreams, and culminates in a brilliant sequence of psychedelic influenced tracks including Toliet Tisha, Slum Beautiful and the title track.  And yet, it lacks one explosive gigantic global hit or two to give it the proper recognition it deserves.  Pity that their subsequent album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below is this album in reverse (that is, containing the huge break out singles but lacking the overall conception of this).

(#485) Nada Surf – The Stars Are Indifferent To Astronomy (2012)
(#486) Nada Surf – The Dulcitone Files (2012)

Nada Surf is an alternative rock band from New York that’s been around now for 18 years and yet this is just their sixth album.  It consists of 10 tracks of guitar driven melodic rock/power pop which reminds you of some of the best practitioners in the field over their lifetime, such as Matthew Sweet circa Altered Beast, Superchunk and prime era Lemonheads.  The best tracks on this come early on.  The opener, Clear Eye Clouded Mine, is noisily melodic and Waiting For Something and Jules And Jim are nice straight ahead poppier numbers.  Let The Fight Do The Fighting adds trumpet to the template with  good results.  The Dulcitone Files is a bonus disc containing acoustic versions of half the album that demonstrates the songcraft sitting behind the numbers.  Perhaps some of these could havwe been included in the main album proper for greater variety?

So just what I achieved so far this year?  Counting the albums I’ve played on the weekend I have in the first 6 months of the year:

A] listened to a total of 486 albums spread out across 515 CDs.  Assuming a minimum of 10 tracks per CD, that would equal approximately  5150 tracks which, assuming 50 minutes  per disc, equates to an estimated listening time of 429 hours .

B] listened to a further 218 tracks spread out across 4 iPod Shuffle sessions, which at an estimated 5 hrs per session  equates to an estimated listening time of 20 hours .

C] attended a total of 6 gigs in which the headliners played a total of 115 tracks (for an estimated time of 9 hours) , and

D] viewed a total of 18 music related DVDs, TV broadcasts or documentaries, which at an average of 80 minutes per item results in 22 hours and 40 minutes of viewing .

Thus, adding together the approximate amount of tracks and listening/viewing time, we get:

	Estimated number of tracks	Estimated time spent
A	5150	429 hours 10 minutes
B	218	20 hours
C	115	9 hours
D		22 hours 40 minutes
	Total of: 5483 tracks & 18 a/v items	Total of: 480 hours and 50 minutes

And none of this takes into account reading time and time spent on writing the blogs for this project, although, if anything, my reading time has directly decreased in proportion to my writing time.

Somehow, these figures just don’t seem enough.  I must do better.  I will do better.

28 June 2013 (Day 179) – Kitchen Table Blues

Here I am sitting at my kitchen table cold and unhappy.  I’m cold because our central heating unit has broken down.  I’m unhappy because the technician that came to fix it declared that the value unit (or something that sounds like that) needed to be removed and has taken it away to be repaired.  So now I’m p***ed off because we’ll have to wait another week before the repaired piece can be returned and reinstalled.  It also meant I had to work from home working from said cold kitchen table as I waited for the technician to arrive. 

Some people might think that working from home is an easy day’s work but it actually takes a great deal of discipline.  Whilst you aren’t distracted by your phone going off or people “popping by” to see you for any reason, other new distractions emerge.  There is your bed (as in “why don’t I just write on my laptop from the comfort of my bed?”), your TV (as in “why don’t I keep this on whilst I work?”), your mail box (as in “my mail should have arrived by now”) or your immediate surrounds (as in “why don’t I pop off to the supermarket to get something for lunch?”).  Sitting at the kitchen table allows me to overcome all of these but it does put me into close contact with my fridge and the urge to get something to eat or drink.  Compared to the other distractions, it’s the lesser of all evils.  Indeed, I use trips to the fridge as the means of resting my eyesight when it  starts to worsen from too much time on the laptop.

The other luxury I allow myself is in choice of listening matter.  As I’m alone in the house, I can choose anything irrespective of lyrical content.  No chance of offending anyone.  I can play things on my stereo system thus giving my ears a break from the earplugs of my iPod and, most importantly, I have access to my entire collection.

And so it is today as I play CDs from my plastic pending box.  My first selection is supposed to remind me of warmer climes;

(# 480) Popol Vuh – City Raga (1995)

Popol Vuh was a German experimental (i.e “Krautrock”) band formed by the late Florian Fricke in the 1970’s.  They produced numerous albums and a few soundtracks for German director Werner Herzog including Nosfertu The Vampire and Aguirre: The Wrath Of God in the process moving from music dominated by synthesizers to world music albeit with an experimental/ambient bent.   This album, as the title implies, takes its cue from Indian (as in the sub continent) music and the seven individual tracks fly by as if part of one longer piece but I'm unsure whther this is typical of their work.  Further investigation is necessary.

(# 481) Ben Folds – Ben Folds Live (2002)

This album is drawn from a solo tour of the United States in 2002.  It’s an enjoyable enough performance with songs drawn from his solo works and the Ben Folds Five.  The overall effect is more or less the same as listening to a piano man on a larger stage, a point made more explicit by the inclusion of Elton John’s Tiny Dancer.  Best Imitation Of Myself, Narcolepsy and The Luckiest come off best.  The seemingly off the cuff Rock This Bitch adds some colour and there is also his bizarre statement that his best known song Brick is about helping his first girlfriend have an abortion.  

(# 482) Shane Nicholson – Faith & Science (2006)

Formerly of Pretty Violet Stain and recently separated from wife Kasey Chambers, with whom he’s created two strong albums, Nicholson has produced some really solid albums of contemporary rock .  This is his second album and is full of songs about self doubt, personal struggle, hope and the healing powers of a strong relationship.  Everybody Loves You Know, Safe And Sound, I Can Change, Home and Stolen Car all seem to stem from deep wells of an interesting life.  The amusing Big In Japan sits well in contrast alongside such company.

(# 483) Dan Kelly And The Alpha Males – The Tabloid Blues (2004)

Dan Kelly is the nephew of Australia’s venerated Paul Kelly and is carving out a nice little niche for himself.  This was his first album with the Alpha Males which includes the leader of The Drones Gareth Liddiard.  Although the album cover is an attempt to portray a Blue Note album cover in orange, there is no jazz to be found here.  The first two thirds of the album is dominated by some of the best alternate rock to have emerged from an Australian Act over the last decade before settling into more reflective material on the run home.  The final track, River O Tears, is co composed with Liddiard and reminds me a little of Liddiard’s solo album.

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.