Showing posts with label david crosby. Show all posts
Showing posts with label david crosby. Show all posts

Sunday 4 June 2017

Log #36 - Bonobo's Animal Magic

Eddy Bamyasi


1. Caitlin Canty - Reckless Skyline
2. Budgie - The Best Of
3. Laura Marling - I Speak Because I Can
4. David Crosby - If I Could Only Remember My Name
5. Talk Talk - Spirit of Eden
6. Bonobo - Animal Magic

Down tempo mellow beats from Brighton's very own Simon Green aka Bonobo.

Sunday 28 May 2017

Log #35 - Laura, Anna and Rachael

Eddy Bamyasi

One of the nice things about keeping this log is you rediscover, or even discover for the first time in some cases, albums in your collection that you had overlooked or forgotten. 7 or 8 years ago (actually around the time of this album release actually) I was lucky enough to see Laura Marling at a tiny festival at Stanmer House, Brighton. The festival I believe was a one off and was called Foxtrot. Hang on, I'll see if I can find any reference to it on the interweb...

Marling was already quite well known by then and was part of what I think was called the nu-folk movement in the UK at the time with the most prominent members being Mumford and Sons. M & S are a curious thing for some reason. They appeared just on the crest of the wave when that sort of fashion (beardy waistcoated Victorian/Peaky Blinder gentleman's wear) and music (fast foot stomping, literally with a bass drum in their case, acoustic strumming) was getting very popular. I heard a track - The Cave - and bought the debut album.

Fleet Foxes (although not British) were another band everyone loved then. At the Green Man Festival in 2011 their much anticipated headline set was underwhelming with some technical issues. Slightly less well known but also appearing at the same festival were Iron and Wine. More recently we have Bears Den. But then something happened. Mumford and Sons became really naff. Was this because they just got popular? Is it the image? Is it the affected folk/Irish style singing beloved of X-Factor contestants? Laura Marling was actually going out with Marcus Mumford too at the time and I imagine that record label they all belonged too was a cosey affair.

Anyway this album is a real grower. She is an excellent singer and guitar player employing some interesting tunings. Also the songs are just good and don't over employ those vocal gymnastics which she could no doubt use if she wanted (Joni Mitchell anyone?). Lots of good tracks of differing paces. My current favourite is Hope in the Air which pretty much showcases Marling's talent in a single track.

There were only about 400 tickets at the Foxtrot Festival and the artists were playing in the intimate rooms within Stanmer House, and a marquee in the grounds. On that day I also saw an unknown Anna Calvi just before she burst on to the scene - she was amazing. Dressed like one of Robert Palmer's models but playing guitar like Jimi Hendrix. Right place right time. Not quite the same as seeing Jimi cover Sgt. Pepper 3 days after it's release but a stroke of luck nonetheless.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZbGkoEhRp4&index=59&list=PLYKrwDb2QSorgG9b-o4DSHlrGv0TcobRL
Anna Calvi and the Robert Palmer Band

I also highly recommend an artist called Rachael Dadd who played that day. Checkout this lovely video.

Rachael Dadd - low fi loveliness

1. The Doobie Brothers - The Captain and Me
2. Budgie - The Best Of
3. Laura Marling - I Speak Because I Can
4. David Crosby - If I Could Only Remember My Name
5. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
6. Bonobo - Animals





Sunday 21 May 2017

Log #34 - Classic Floyd Revisited

Eddy Bamyasi


Dong Da Da Daaaaaaaaaang! Dow Da Da Daaaaaaaaaang! Dong Da Da Daaaaaaaaaahhh! Dow Da Da Daaaaaaaaaahhhh!  faster... faster, dagger dagger dagger dagger de dah!

Bb, F, G, E !



What's that? It's that Shine On You Crazy Diamond riff innit! Funny how the simplest of motifs just get stuck in your head forever.

In my teenage years the Wish You Were Here album blew me away, and in particular the centrepiece being this Syd Barrett tribute. It was my favourite album for a time when I was about 18. I'd discovered rock and heavy metal, I'd graduated from ELO, through Rainbow and Deep Purple, to Led Zeppelin, but Pink Floyd were a whole new level opening doors to further prog excursions like King Crimson and Genesis I'd enjoy for many years afterwards.

Nowadays I probably play albums like the more understated Animals more. Meddle is excellent too with the side long Echoes. But Wish You Were Here (which strangely wasn't all that well received at the time following the classic Dark Side of the Moon) has really stood the test of time, particularly in the new remastered version recently released.

Title track Wish You Were Here suffers a little from over exposure and familiarity but nevertheless was a superb song. But what really stands out in the new remastered recordings for me are the less celebrated tracks - Welcome to the Machine gains new power with pulsing synthesizer jumping between speakers and reminds me of Kraftwerk (Autobahn) and Tangerine Dream (Cloudburst Flight)- comparisons I had never appreciated before, and quite a daring composition in its time, and Have a Cigar is a soaring rocker. Keyboards have more prominence and there are even some funky rhythms in places! The album is much closer to the follow up Animals than it's predecessor Dark Side... With the individual tracks knitted together by the Floyd trademark sound effects and spoken word interludes this is a satisfying concept album bookended by the largely instrumental Shine On...

Some have criticised the CD packaging on these new releases. I think it's great. I love cardboard sleeves and the booklet is fine with the original artwork and one or two pictures I don't recall (although both the booklet and the CD are so very snuggly fitted such that they require some crow bar work to extract). Even the sticker can be peeled from the plastic and reinstated on the cardboard if one is so inclined.

The setting for one of the Wish You Were Here photos - Mono Lake, California, then and on a visit I made in 2011

The full log this week #34:

1. The Doobie Brothers - The Captain and Me
2. Budgie - The Best Of
3. Laura Marling - I Speak Because I Can
4. David Crosby - If I Could Only Remember My Name
5. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
6. Bonobo - Animals

Just a quick word to finish on Budgie. They should have been huge but never were. This greatest hits package showcases some excellent rockers, great musicianship, a keen ear for a hook, and some extended guitar solos. Maybe the name Budgie just never sat well with the heavy rock fraternity. Maybe hailing from Wales wasn't cool either. Their closest comparison would probably be Rush and high pitched vocalist and bassist Burke Shelley was the spit of Geddy Lee.

Budgie and Rush, separated at birth 





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