Log #124 - Introducing Gas and Fennesz

Radiohead - Amnesiac

Gas - Pop

Neil Young - Tonight's The Night Live At The Roxy

Fennesz - Endless Summer

David Bowie - Black Star

Bear's Den - Islands

A couple of albums here that I now consider near the best of the particular artists in question: David Bowie's final album Black Star and Radiohead's Amnesiac. 

With it's jazz honkings and strident bass and drums Black Star couldn't really be more different to Bowie's heyday albums of the early 70s, except for the ever distinctive voice which remained strong to the end. A very powerful final statement from an amazing artist. 

Amnesiac is probably not many Radiohead fan's first choice for favourite album but I much prefer it to the celebrated Ok Computer. 

More detail on Black Star here from an earlier log >>

More detail on Amnesiac here from an earlier review>>

Also two albums from the ambient/electronic genre which I've been reading a lot about - Gas and Fennesz. 

Gas is the stage name for German electronic musician Wolfgang Voigt. Pop (2000) is the third in a trilogy of albums he produced with 1997's Zauberberg and 1999's Königsforst. The instrumental music is heavily layered mostly without beats or perceptible changes. The dense soundscape of repetitive loops and drones reminds me of the William Basinski albums I've heard, particularly The Disintegration Loops, although this is much more easy listening. It's actually very peaceful to listen to - hypnotic, and yes, I would say, beautiful. I think I'll play this album a lot. 

I think the boundaries between "musical" and "non-musical" are in a state of flux. Otherwise, I do not really care about any "musicality" related to GAS. Emotions, structure, aesthetics are more important to me. Melodies in the classical sense are not supposed to be in GAS, although they exist, as hidden and over-layered as the chord changes. But you have to notice them.

Christian Fennesz is an Austrian musician whose modus operandi is heavily treated guitar. Endless Summer is his third album released in 2001, and his most critically acclaimed work. The music is more demanding than Gas and at first I found it quite grating but am now starting to warm to its appeal.

A grainy, blissful album that resembles easy-listening music coming through on the broken broadcast of a distant star.

Mike Powell, Pitchfork

Again, some of the looped droney pieces like A Year In A Minute remind me of Basinski whereas a more melodic piece like Shisheido with it's pleasing chord changes reminds me of the brilliant Four Tet or Blue States. The final and longest track is a fast keyboard loop over loud static from the Terry Riley/Philip Glass school of minimalism. It gradually begins to distort like My Bloody Valentine, or, yes, again Those Disintegration Loops. Like the Gas I have a very strong feeling I'm going to be playing this album a lot this year.

The clip below should be (youtube have changed their software again) a playlist for a couple of tracks from both Fennesz and GAS (capitals applied this time):

Retaining it's place in the player the Tonight's the Night Live album is proving very popular at Bamyasi Towers. With the title track occurring twice on the album the catchy bass riff and vocal chorus seems to be getting more than it's fair share when the player is on random repeat. Members of the Bamyasi family have even started repeating: Tonight's the night, tonight's the ni-ni-ni-ni-night...

Read More

Log #41 - Funk Soul Brothers

1. Ravi Shankar & Friends - Towards the Rising Sun
2. David Bowie - Black Star
3. The Whitest Boy Alive - Dreams
4. Radiohead - Best Of
5. Funk Soul Brothers - Compilation
6. Beatles - The Red Album

Read More

Log #40 - Ravi Shankar

1. Ravi Shankar & Friends - Towards the Rising Sun
2. David Bowie - Black Star
3. The Whitest Boy Alive - Dreams
4. Radiohead - Best Of
5. Talk Talk - Spirit of Eden
6. Led Zeppelin - III

Read More

Log #39 - A Rediscovery of Radiohead

1. Matthew E White - Fresh Blood
2. David Bowie - Black Star
3. The Whitest Boy Alive - Dreams
4. Radiohead - Best Of
5. Talk Talk - Spirit of Eden
6. Led Zeppelin - III

A rediscovery of Radiohead this week on account of their televised set at Glastonbury. I haven't heard them since the much acclaimed OK Computer which I didn't like much actually, but the set at Glastonbury showed they have matured very nicely over the years although I still struggle with Thom Yorke's very depressing wail.

Cover shot is from Matthew E White's second album with fave track Rock N Roll is Cold. He is appearing locally in a few months and a few months ago I would have jumped at the opportunity but having committed too early to a few recent gigs which have turned out to be slightly disappointing (Gilles Peterson, The Orb, Arbouretum) I'm keeping my powder dry.

Read More

Album Cover Friday Fun Challenge! (Difficult) - ANSWERS REVEALED

Here again are the pictures for my earlier Album Cover location challenge. The initial collage below shows the locations as they are today where the original famous (or not so famous in some cases) album photos were shot.

A hover over will reveal the actual album covers.

Admittedly some of these pictures were obscure or just plain difficult unless you happened to have had the particular albums. Some of the albums are not even that famous and may not even be recognisable from the hover over! For example how many people had the Blue Oyster Cult live double album On Your Feet or On Your Knees with it's very spooky gothic church cover (2,2) actually located in up town New York? I was a great fan of their brand of sci-fi rock and in particular Buck Dharma's excellent guitar evident in extended glory on this album, but I don't think many of my contemporaries, even my rock fan friends, ever shared my enthusiasm, which is a shame as some of their early albums in particular are quite unique.

Speaking of gothic churches the San Franciscan turquoise church door was the backdrop for Van Morrison's split trouser shot for his St. Dominic's Preview album (1,3), an album that I personally think is right up there with his magnificent Astral Weeks.

The location for Black Sabbath's debut album cover shoot was not a gothic church but actually a water mill on the Thames in Oxfordshire (4,3). Of course the mysterious black figure adds some sabbath menace to this otherwise idealic country setting. Urban myths abound that the figure was an apparition that only appeared when the film was developed! Bassist Geezer Butler said such a dressed figure attended a gig many years later claiming to be the girl on the cover.

Who but the most avid and observant Mike Oldfield fans would get the aerial shot of the Welsh/English border especially without the glider (1,2)? Oldfield had retreated to the Hertfordshire region, known as Hergest Ridge, to live and record an album of the same name following the success of Tubular Bells.

Famous music locations, hover over to reveal the albums

Some of the remaining pictures are more famous and I was surprised no one got Pink Floyd's Hollywood studios Wish You Were Here shot (4,2), or Led Zeppelin's New York apartment block featured on Physical Graffitti (with actual cut out windows in the sleeve)(1,4).The other Led Zeppelin shot at (3,2) is a bit of a cheat as it is actually the back portion of the Led Zep IV cover which was shot across a park in Birmingham - quite a drab location relative to the Lord of the Rings flavoured delights inside.

The Who's obelisk from Who's Next (2,3) was taken at Easington Colliery, a former mine in County Durham in the North of England, and both the Oasis cover for What’s The Story (Morning Glory)? (1,4) and David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust cover (1,3) come from London's Soho. The famous K.West sign in the latter belonged to a long gone fur clothing company and is absolutely nothing to do with a premonition Bowie had about Kanye West. Another London shop long gone is Axfords Clothing in Vauxhall, South East London, as pictured on the Ian Dury album New Boots and Panties!! (3,4). If you look closely at the album cover you can also see the reflection of the Woolworths shop front across the street, another British institution no longer with us. Moving north of the river again you can find the less than exotic tower block in Islington which provided the night shot for The Streets' Original Pirate Material album.

Across the pond we have three New York street scenes used respectively for Bob Dylan's Freewheelin' (1,1), Neil Young's After the Goldrush (2,4) and the Doors' Strange Days (4,4), and finally Eric Clapton's 461 Ocean Boulevard (3,3) which is literally a shot of his home of that very address, Miami, in 1974.

Read More

Log #14 - David Bowie's Black Star a Year On

2016 began with the death of David Bowie in January and then continued with Prince and Leonard Cohen. The end of the year brought more musician deaths with the premature passing of George Michael and Rick Parfitt. These were the most famous names but of course there were other less mainstream losses in the music world which registered less comment, for example both Greg Lake and Keith Emerson from the fabled Emerson, Lake and Palmer prog rock pioneers.

Deaths are of course sad particularly so when premature - George Michael was only 53, Prince 57, and both David Bowie and Rick Parfitt were in their sixties. This sadness should really be irrespective of the fame of the person, our personal tastes in music, or our opinion of their importance or legacy, which is why it was a bit clumsy of radio personality Andy Kershaw to pour scorn upon George Michael mourners for elevating him to "greatness" when he was, in his opinion, nothing more than a lightweight and fleeting pop star...

Please spare me the predictable onion-from-pocket outpourings, claiming he was 'one of the greats'. No, he was not. (Really? Up there with Louis Armstrong, Johnny Cash, Joni Mitchell, Hank Williams, Jimi Hendrix, Robert Johnson, Van Morrison? I could go on…)

On one hand he probably had a point urging us to keep a sense of perspective (the Princess Diana phenomenon of massive public grief for someone very famous who we felt like we knew?) but whereas our perspective is often directed by the media (George Michael died the same Christmas Day a Russian plane went down with 92 on board - terrorist deaths in Paris are given infinitely more coverage than far greater numbers dying daily in the Middle East) I think Kershaw is missing the point here. I haven't actually got any George Michael albums in my collection and personally agree that the music of Van Morrison or Jimi Hendrix is "greater". But personally is the key word here that just defines my taste. Without being a fan I can still appreciate the sense of public shock and the connection many people of my generation had with those Wham! songs which were ubiquitous growing up in the 80s. George Michael, like Prince and Bowie, sold a lot more records, and was a lot more famous, than Van Morrison for whatever reasons, and when Van passes on one day I don't expect to see much news about it as he is more a niche artist outside the mainstream who has never had massive public or commercial appeal.

David Bowie was one of those unique artists who enjoyed both commercial appeal and critical acclaim across most of a career that included many twists and turns, retirements and rebirths. Much has been written about his death and the release of the Black Star album. The two famously coincided within a couple of days of each other and were accompanied by some extremely disturbing and challenging videos. The events seemed part of an orchestrated master plan - and we shouldn't be surprised as he has done this sort of thing before in a way with the staged "artistic" deaths of his various 70s personas including "Ziggy Stardust" and "Aladdin Sane". Rarely has an artist been so in control of his marketing and image, right up to and including the end. A true shape shifting chameleon - sometimes adapting to the surroundings, but more often than not actually making them!

David Bowie through the ages - the ultimate pop chameleon

Nearly a year on from its release I was interested to hear the Black Star music with some (that word again) perspective. This is quite hard to do with some objectivity but the album is certainly interesting and unusual with strident rhythms, driving bass and modern jazz horns, combining in a wall of sound. It feels like one of those atmosphere albums without particularly memorable melodies or catchy singles - a far cry from his classic pop of the early 70s albeit with some resemblance to his later work with the likes of Fripp and Eno and Tin Machine. This is certainly the feeling with the "first side" of the album which includes the title track and Lazarus, the two tracks released with those videos, and with the much analysed lyrics (incidentally the CD album comes in a beautifully packaged cardboard housing but the black on black lyric insert is quite hard to read!).

Look up here, I’m in heaven
I’ve got scars that can’t be seen
I’ve got drama, can’t be stolen
Everybody knows me now. 

The whole album only clocks in at around an old school 35 minutes (which is great by the way) with seven tracks - the last couple being quite easy listening relatively including Dollar Days with lovely sax solo - and Bowie is in strong voice throughout. Whether this album will stand the test of time like my favourite all time Bowie album Hunky Dory remains to be seen but I am confident it will be one I'll return to.

You know,
I'll be free,
Just like that bluebird,
Now ain't that just like me. 

Bluebirds are thought to represent angels from heaven spreading joy and peace

Incidentally I also viewed an intriguing film recently - Velvet Goldmine starring Ewan MacGregor, Christian Bale and Jonathan Rhys Meyer. The film starts with Rhys Meyer's character, a glam pop star named Brian Slade, faking his own death on stage, disappearing into obscurity before making a comeback a decade later. I was at least half way through before I realised this was the David Bowie story, with supporting cast including Lou Reed and Iggy Pop.

Although what you are about to see is a work of fiction, it should nevertheless be played at maximum volume.

The above caption appears in the opening credits of the film, perhaps a witty slight of Bowie himself who reportedly refused to sanction the movie.

Brian Slade fakes his own death in Velvet Goldmine

A couple of new albums procured this Christmas - the other Whitest Boy Alive album Rules and JJ Cale's Naturally. Both sound as expected - no surprises. I also span Jurassic 5's LP album which has the amazingly catchy Schoolyard Concrete track. I guess this may be their most famous tune, if not it should be!

1. The Whitest Boy Alive - Rules
2. David Bowie - Black Star
3. Jurassic 5 - LP
4. JJ Cale - Naturally
5. Thievery Corporation - DJ Kicks
6. Cocteau Twins - Heaven or Las Vegas

Read More