Sunday 30 July 2017

Log #44 - Nu rock, Old Rock, and other Nostalgia

Eddy Bamyasi


A bit of a sweep out of the magazine this week and what an eclectic bunch of pot pourri I've found lurking on the shelves: Plenty of nostalgia in more ways than one, some new rock, or nu rock, or post rock (I don't know what any of that means but I'm referring to The Foals), and some "modern" classical.

1. ELO - Out of the Blue
2. Simon and Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water
3. UFO - Phenomenon
4. Public Service Broadcasting - The Race For Space
5. Takemitsu - Quatrain, A Flock Descends into the Pentagonal Garden
6. Foals - Total Life Forever

First up ELO. They were my favourite band, and this was my favourite album when I was about 14 or 15 (when I first got into music). I remember buying my first real record. It was an EP of 4 tracks from ELO. I really wanted Out of the Blue but thought buying this EP would be ample consolation and I honestly wouldn't need any more records (reminds me of the story that my sister went to her first day at school thinking that was it, for her whole school career, one day!). A few years later after probably at least 50 album purchases my mother said "I think you've got enough records now" as if music collecting is a finite thing! Here I am 30+ years later with probably a four figure album collection.

The EP was excellent - from memory it contained Can't Get It Out of My Head, Ma Ma Belle, and a couple of other older tracks but... Out of the Blue was something else. Everyone loved it, it swept the awards season, spawned numerous hit singles, and came on blue vinyl in a luxurious gatefold sleeve and a cardboard spaceship apparently (I don't remember getting one of them).

I loved the blue vinyl. It looked so slick and clean compared to the black. I loved the cover which I pored over (I noticed there were 7 tiny figures on the inside sleeve corresponding to the band members. The music was amazing - great songs (apart from The Jungle which still annoys) peaking with Mr Blue Sky which remained my favourite song for ages. I loved the reprise part which my Dad told me had been done before by the Beatles. I didn't know what he meant until I heard Day In The Life (the "got up, dragged a comb across my head" section). I was proud to be an ELO fan and thought it especially cool that they had violins and cellos (I expect this was something to do with trying to impress my parents with "proper" musicians). I did a project on them for school which concluded with the unavoidable view that with their follow up albums of Discovery and Xanadu they had almost certainly declined from their 1977 magnificence. I did really try to like Discovery for a long time but it was a bit rubbish to be honest and tracks like The Diary of Horace Wimp just tried far too hard.

Jeff Lynne today - it could be 1977

Leader Jeff Lynne is still going strong still looking and sounding the same (witness his Glastonbury set last year). Why do so few of these long haired pop stars lose their hair in their later years?

ELO - Out of the Blue - Inside gatefold

Lie la lie, lie la lie lie lie la la lie!  (The Boxer) There are so many familiar tunes and lyrics on these amazing songs from the classic Bridge Over Troubled Water album. Many people have the Greatest Hits album which contains practically all these tunes plus some more but I always prefer to hear complete albums in their original context.

I remember these songs from my childhood as it was one of the few albums my parents had, and they played it a lot. When there wasn't such a choice in those days (60s, early 70s) it stands to reason that many households would have the same records. I also think the gatekeepers of quality were more discerning and only the best stuff got through (less so now when anyone with a laptop and an internet connection can get an album out).

Playing the album again it strikes me how melancholy a lot of the music is despite the number of upbeat songs like Cecilia, and the very Beatles / Beach Boys-esque Bye Bye Love etc. Bridge Over Troubled Water and The Boxer are pretty depressing. My favourite then and now is The Only Living Boy in New York.

I haven't followed Garfunkel or Simon in their solo careers. Art had the voice, and Paul had the songs, and together, like all good groups, they were greater than the sum of the parts. I saw Paul Simon on Jools Holland recently and he still sounded excellent and Art is still touring too. I can only imagine the fees they could command for a reunion.

Cover album this week is Phenomenon from UFO. A great little spunky rock band and this album has all you need to hear really. There's the famous Doctor Doctor Pleeeaaase! and Rock Bottom but the class is in the slower tempo blues tracks like Oh My, Too Young to Know etc. Also the cover is a classic. Look closely and you can see the UFO is the hub cap from the car - a picture I recreated rather well with a saucepan lid once! I understand guitar god Michael Schenker (where is he now?) was 17 when he recorded this album with UFO. Wow.

Michael Schenker - here he is, still going

Public Service Broadcasting set samples of literally old public information films to music. It's been done before but rarely as well as this. For the full experience see some of their Youtube videos. I saw them live at a festival and they didn't have the video backdrop which was disappointing. But they were still great fun and don't take themselves too seriously. Favourite track from this album is the exciting Go!


The very geeky, the very eccentric Willgoose and Wigglesworth aka PSB

I love this Takemitsu album. It's modern minimalist discordant classical music and makes for very interesting background ambient sound. I reference this to an aquarium I bought many years ago which coincided with having this album. I remember watching the orange platies against a lush green plant background with this otherworldly music accompaniment.

The Foals are one of the classiest of modern rock bands offering to my ear something a bit different (I'd stick them at the top of that modern prog rock league which contains contemporaries Coldplay, Elbow, and Muse). They have a great singer and an interesting melodic rhythm and vibes section. Key track on this album is Spanish Sahara.



About The Author

Eddy Bamyasi

Eddy is a music writer from Brighton, England, named after a Can record. Each Sunday he logs and reviews the albums that happen to be in his vintage Pioneer 6-CD magazine changer, amongst other things.

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Powered by Blogger.

Leading Artists (by appearance)

neil young (26) van morrison (22) john martyn (18) tangerine dream (18) felice brothers (16) pink floyd (14) led zeppelin (13) black sabbath (12) brian eno (12) whitest boy alive (12) bonnie prince billy (11) can (11) david sylvian (11) radiohead (11) talk talk (11) beatles (10) cluster (10) cocteau twins (10) laura marling (10) nick cave (10) afro celts (9) beck (9) bob dylan (9) fennesz (9) genesis (9) iron and wine (8) loscil (8) midlake (8) paolo nutini (8) tom waits (8) autechre (7) foals (7) nucleus (7) richard hawley (7) stars of the lid (7) camel (6) david bowie (6) dj vadim (6) efterklang (6) elo (6) fairport convention (6) harmonia (6) holger czukay (6) kings of convenience (6) low (6) luke vibert (6) matthew e white (6) miles davis (6) sahb (6) the doobie brothers (6) tord gustavsen (6) war on drugs (6) william basinski (6) arovane (5) bear's den (5) black keys (5) boards of canada (5) bob marley (5) calexico (5) edgar froese (5) father john misty (5) hawkwind (5) jan jelinek (5) king crimson (5) mouse on mars (5) nils frahm (5) public service broadcasting (5) robert plant (5) sigur ros (5) takemitsu (5) arbouretum (4) badly drawn boy (4) budgie (4) carly simon (4) carole king (4) decemberists (4) emeralds (4) four tet (4) handsome family (4) hidden orchestra (4) jethro tull (4) jj cale (4) john legend (4) klaus schulze (4) kruder and dorfmeister (4) manuel gottsching (4) opeth (4) penguin cafe orchestra (4) ravi shankar (4) soft hair (4) steely dan (4) the unthanks (4) tim hecker (4) trees (4) ulrich schnauss (4) KLF (3) alan parsons project (3) alex harvey (3) alison krauss (3) alva noto (3) barclay james harvest (3) bon iver (3) bonobo (3) caitlin canty (3) caribou (3) chicago (3) coldplay (3) curtis mayfield (3) david crosby (3) deep purple (3) depeche mode (3) eilen jewell (3) enid (3) fleetwood mac (3) floating points (3) free (3) gorillaz (3) gram parsons (3) grateful dead (3) grobschnitt (3) incredible string band (3) james morrison (3) jill scott (3) john grant (3) john surman (3) keith jarrett (3) kraftwerk (3) lal waterson (3) last shadow puppets (3) lift to experience (3) lynyrd skynyrd (3) mahavishnu orchestra (3) manitoba (3) mike oldfield (3) mike waterson (3) monolake (3) neu! (3) palace brothers (3) philip glass (3) popol vuh (3) quantic (3) rodriguez (3) rokia traore (3) rolling stones (3) rory gallagher (3) roxy music (3) rush (3) simon and garfunkel (3) sly and the family stone (3) steve hillage (3) suede (3) sufjan stevens (3) the comet is coming (3) tim buckley (3) wagon christ (3) wilco (3) 4hero (2) abc (2) ac/dc (2) al stewart (2) amon duul II (2) aphex twin (2) arctic monkeys (2) baka beyond (2) band of horses (2) belle and sebastian (2) blue oyster cult (2) blue states (2) bonzo dog band (2) boris salchow (2) burial (2) cardigans (2) carlos barbosa-lima (2) charles mingus (2) chemical brothers (2) chris rea (2) cinematic orchestra (2) compilations (2) crosby stills nash (2) david darling (2) death in vegas (2) debussy (2) dj shadow (2) doors (2) earl sweatshirt (2) eloy (2) emilie simon (2) erik satie (2) farben (2) festivals (2) fleet foxes (2) francois and the atlas mountains (2) fripp and eno (2) gas (2) gong (2) granados (2) green on red (2) griffin anthony (2) jazzland (2) jean sibelius (2) jeff buckley (2) john coltrane (2) johnny flynn (2) josh t pearson (2) julian cope (2) kamasi washington (2) kanye west (2) kate bush (2) ketil bjornstad (2) la dusseldorf (2) lambchop (2) larkin poe (2) little feat (2) ludovico einaudi (2) magma (2) marianne faithfull (2) marvin gaye (2) mike lazarev (2) money mark (2) morton feldman (2) nektar (2) nightmares on wax (2) ninja (2) nirvana (2) nitin sawhney (2) peace (2) porya hatami (2) prefuse 73 (2) prem joshua (2) randy newman (2) robert fripp (2) ryan adams (2) scorpions (2) scott and maria (2) scott matthews (2) servants of science (2) soft machine (2) steve miller (2) susumu yokota (2) talvin singh (2) the who (2) thievery corporation (2) traffic (2) truckstop honeymoon (2) ufo (2) up bustle and out (2) weather report (2) wiley (2) willard grant conspiracy (2) wishbone ash (2) wyclef jean (2) yes (2) abba (1) acid mothers temple and the cosmic inferno (1) aimee mann (1) air (1) alabama 3 (1) alice coltrane (1) amadou and mariam (1) andy shauf (1) anthony hamilton (1) april wine (1) arcade fire (1) ashra (1) asia (1) badger (1) barber (1) beach boys (1) bee gees (1) beirut (1) bert jansch (1) beuno vista social club (1) bill laswell (1) biosphere (1) bjork (1) blow monkeys (1) bob geldof (1) bob holroyd (1) bob seger (1) bombay bicycle club (1) boubacar traore (1) broken social scene (1) bruce springsteen (1) bruch (1) byline (1) captain beefheart (1) cardi b (1) cast (1) cat stevens (1) catfish and the bottlemen (1) charles and eddie (1) chopin (1) chris child (1) christine and the queens (1) chuck prophet (1) climax blues band (1) cosmic jokers (1) crowded house (1) d'angelo (1) daft punk (1) david goodrich (1) davy graham (1) dexy's midnight runners (1) dolly collins (1) donald fagen (1) dreadzone (1) dub pistols (1) eagles (1) echo and the bunnymen (1) eden espinosa (1) eels (1) elbow (1) electric ape (1) emerson lake and palmer (1) erlend oye (1) erukah badu (1) essays (1) euphony in electronics (1) faust (1) feist (1) flaming lips (1) future days (1) gamma (1) gang of four (1) gentle giant (1) goat roper rodeo band (1) godspeed you black emperor (1) gorecki (1) groove armada (1) grover washington jr. (1) gun (1) guru guru (1) hatfield and the north (1) hats off gentlemen it's adequate (1) heron (1) hiss golden messenger (1) hozier (1) human league (1) idles (1) india arie (1) iron and wire (1) isaac hayes (1) james brown (1) james joys (1) jamie t (1) janelle monae (1) jayhawks (1) jean-michel jarre (1) jerry paper (1) jim croce (1) jimi hendrix (1) jjcale (1) john cale (1) john mclaughlin (1) jon hassell (1) jurassic 5 (1) kacey musgraves (1) keith berry (1) kid loco (1) king tubby (1) king's consort (1) kings of leon (1) kirk degiorgio (1) kodomo (1) lenny kravitz (1) lighthouse (1) love supreme (1) luc vanlaere (1) lumineers (1) mark pritchard (1) mark ronson (1) me'shell ndegeocello (1) messiaen (1) metallica (1) micah frank (1) michael hedges (1) michael jackson (1) mike west (1) mitski (1) modest mouse (1) moody blues (1) morte macabre (1) motorhead (1) national health (1) nick drake (1) nusrat fateh ali khan (1) oasis (1) omd (1) orb (1) orquesta reve (1) other lives (1) oval (1) paco pena (1) paladin (1) panda bear (1) pat metheny (1) paulo nutini (1) pentangle (1) pierre bensusan (1) portishead (1) proprio (1) protoje (1) purcell (1) pussy riot (1) queen (1) rainbow (1) ramsay midwood (1) rautavaara (1) rem (1) rhythm kings (1) richard strauss (1) robyn (1) roni size (1) ryuichi sakamoto (1) sada sat kaur (1) saga (1) sam jordan (1) sammy hagar (1) santana (1) scaramanga silk (1) shakti (1) shirley collins (1) shostakovich (1) snafu (1) snatam kaur (1) sparks (1) st germain (1) stanford (1) steeleye span (1) stereolab (1) steve reich (1) styx (1) supertramp (1) susumo yokota (1) t bone walker (1) terry riley (1) the band (1) the clash (1) the jayhawks (1) the streets (1) the wreks (1) tricky (1) tycho (1) uriah heep (1) velvet underground (1) venetian snares (1) vladislav delay (1) whiskeytown (1) whitesnake (1) william ackerman (1) yngwie j malmsteen (1) zhou yu (1) μ-Ziq (1)