Log #214 - Van Morrison's Uncommon One

Common One from 1980 is a bit of a forgotten outlier in the Van Morrison catalogue. For me it sounds like a mix of Astral Weeks* and Avalon Sunset ie. the freeform stringy impro of the former (especially on the extended stream of consciousness Summertime In England) merging with the sax and organ groove commerciality of the latter (like on Satisfied). I can forgive Van banging on about all his favourite poets again in the former (Joyce, Blake, Eliot, Wordsworth, Coleridge etc).

*Having said that the dynamic brassy Spirit with its strident chorus reminds me more of the Moondance tracks.

The album ends with the ambient When Heart Is Open. This lengthy peaceful piece has elements of Small Hours by John Martyn.

No wonder the rock critics of the time didn't get it; this is music outside the pop mainstream, and even Morrison's own earlier musical territory. 

Allmusic

There's no doubt that Van Morrison was attempting something a bit different with this easy listening laid back jazz infused album. An approach that yields mixed results. Critics were initially unimpressed but over the years Common One has become a bit of a lost Morrison classic. I wouldn't quite go that far but it's certainly a pleasant unobtrusive record that I can imagine putting on in the background on a rainy Sunday afternoon (like a lot of his others actually). 

I love the cover, and it graces this week's post.

Van Morrison - Common One

Depeche Mode - Violator

Chicago - Greatest Hits

Weather Report - Heavy Weather

The Mahavishnu Orchestra - Inner Mounting Flame

Return To Forever - Romantic Warrior

The beginning of Romantic Warrior surprised me. Medieval Overture opens with a Terry Riley like keyboard pattern, before it veers off on a number of tangents. Just in this 5 minute track alone I can hear so much: Yes, Rush, Philip Glass, Uriah Heep, Jethro Tull, Pat Metheny, King Crimson and Frank Zappa. The musicianship is astounding - a particular shout out for the drummer Lenny White who ratta-tats away like a maniac.

Who were they? - well, as it turns out although I've never heard of the band I have heard of the individuals (and I have seen the album cover around before, although I may be mixing it up with the Quicksilver Messenger Service one?). 

Chick Corea – keyboards
Stanley Clarke – bass
Lenny White – drums
Al Di Meola – guitar

It's somewhere in between my other jazz fusion discoveries of recent weeks - Weather Report and Mahavishnu Orchestra, but much nearer the latter.

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Log #78 - Dots and Loops from the French Metro

Unique indie darlings Stereolab are bookended in the magazine this week by SAHB's 7th best album and a second outing for my recently acquired Chicago Greatest Hits compilation. The Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street is retained for a well deserved second week with Paolo Nutini's soulful debut album, and Supertramp's classic pop album Breakfast in America makes (surprisingly) it's first appearance in the blog.

Incidentally, music aside, one of the most interesting things I've found out about this 1979 Supertramp album recently is the conspiracy theory behind the album cover which allegedly depicts, or predicts, 9/11, when viewed in a mirror. Have a look...

(whoever sees these things?).

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1. Rolling Stones - Exile on Main Street

2. Paolo Nutini - These Streets

3. Sensational Alex Harvey Band - The Impossible Dream
4. Stereolab - Dots and Loops

5. Chicago - The Heart Of 1967 - 1997

6. Supertramp - Breakfast in America

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Anyway moving swiftly on to the music, record of the week is Dots and Loops from Anglo/French indie band Stereolab who were most active in the 90s. Dots and Loops, their fifth album, came out in 1997 and brought with it a more mature chilled jazzy lounge sound departing from their previous guitar driven rock characterised by minimalist motorik stylings.  The band continued recording in the noughties releasing 4 more albums despite the death of singer and guitarist Mary Hansen who had been a member of the group since 1992.

Very cool, very black and white, very French

The breathy female vocals (mostly in French) allied with the dreamy moogs and vibes reminds me most of contemporaries The Cocteau Twins. In fact I'd be surprised if the two did not come close in the music map. Let's take a look:

Well look at that! No Cocteau Twins in the frame! I can only conclude that Dots and Loops is not representative of the band generally with this music map very much laying emphasis on their indie guitar and krautrock leanings with even a nearby showing for Can (I think you'll find that if you enter Cocteau Twins in the mind map you'll see a lot of common ground with the bands in the above map, Ed.)

Stereolab fronted by partners Tim Gane and Laetitia Sadier with the late Mary Hansen right

Tragedy strikes (from the BBC archives)

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Log #72 - Genesis Chapter One and a Half

I like a bit of honky tonk (we're talking Exile on Main Street or Little Feat here) so thought I'd try some Chicago hearing they were a rock band with a brass section. It is a bit too easy listening for me, but there are plenty of famous tunes on this compilation that I hadn't realised were Chicago.

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1. Chicago - The Heart of Chicago

2. Genesis - Nursery Cryme

3. Genesis - And Then There Were Three

4. Genesis - Wind and Wuthering

5. Camel - The Snow Goose

6. Camel - Moonmadness

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The meat of the magazine this week is Genesis again. What a late blossoming of interest I've enjoyed this last month culminating in the procurement of two of the three Genesis (what I call) Mark 1.5 (post Gabriel, pre Duke) albums. The music is sumptuous, and, get this, the Collins singing ain't too shabby either.  Bigger fans than me tell me that Gabriel had the greater emotion (and I'd say the stage presence as a band leader) but Collins the greater vocal range. In actual fact they both have very similar voices.

The music is sumptuous, and, get this, the Collins singing ain't too shabby either.

The albums And Then There Were Three and Wind and Wuthering are a little more focused and succinct than the sprawl of Nursery Cryme or Foxtrot but hardly less progressive. Perhaps just the final track on And Then There Were Three, Follow You Follow Me, signposts towards the pop to come.

Missing from the trilogy is Trick of The Tail which I will probably review in a later retrospective together with these two again, once I've obtained the album which many consider their best.

Plenty more charity purchases this week too which will be featured in coming weeks. I have a new contender for Most Frequently Found Album In The Charity Bins, along with Texas White on Blonde: It's this one from Catatonia:

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