Log #202 - Lakes, Caves, and Rock, from Van Occupanther and Orpheus

 

Midlake - The Trials Of Van Occupanther

Midlake - The Courage Of Others

Nucleus - Elastic Rock

Kruder and Dorfmeister - Sessions CD1

Nick Cave - The Lyre of Orpheus
Ulrich Schnauss - Goodbye

Goodbye was Ulrich Schnauss's third album released in 2007 to acclaim from NME who described the album as unleashing...

...great crashing waves of Cocteau Twins guitars, Slowdive atmospherics and precision-tooled beats that pick you up and throw you around, before depositing you somewhere else entirely – somewhere better and infinitely more beautiful.

More accomplished guitar and synth swoosh and even some guest singing which sits a little uneasily amongst the extended instrumental passages. I think I still prefer A Long Way To Fall as my favourite Schnauss album but plenty more to hear yet from the prolific German producer who has been involved in fifteen (yes 15!) album releases alone as a member of Tangerine Dream just since 2014.

Both these Midlake albums (nos. 2 and 3 in a 4 album discography) are top notch "prog americana indie folk rock". They are very similar displaying a touch more instrumentation than your standard americana fayre. I'm undecided which one I prefer. Possibly the latter The Courage Of Others which singer Tim Smith has described as more mature, but they are both excellent.

Depeche Mode I'm sure never sounded so good. 

A return of a perennial favourite this week in the chillout dub of Austrian DJ duo Kruder and Dorfmeister. The production on the Sessions album is brilliant with crystal sharp drumming and deep bass just throbby enough to rattle the speakers without overwhelming the mix. A double album, I tend to turn to CD1 the most with its up tempo dance and rap remixes. You can't go wrong with this album which still sounds fresh despite its 20+ years vintage! Depeche Mode I'm sure never sounded so good. 

Finally Elastic Rock which is superb jazz rock fusion with plenty of electric guitar. If you like early '70s period Miles Davis or John McLaughlin you'll love this.

Read More

Log #201 - Turn Back The Music

Starting off my next century with a right pot pourri of sounds here. We have watery ambience class from Loscil. Sea Island was the first album of his I heard. It hooked me to a greater extent than a lot of the other ambient albums I've been listening to over the last 20 weeks or so.

 Loscil - Sea Island

Ulrich Schnauss - A Long Way To Fall

The Decemberists - Picaresque

Nick Cave - The Lyre Of Orpheus

Midlake - The Trials Of Van Occupanther
ELO - Face The Music

I'm loving this Ulrich Schnauss offering. It is simply superb at what it does... which is melodic easy listening instrumental rock. I'd describe it as a bit of a mix between Jean Michel Jarre, Tangerine Dream, and then even Pink Floyd or something. Maybe progressive ambience is a better description although this music isn't that ambient with its guitars and drums. The closest other artist out there (who I've only just started listening to) is probably Tycho. I think Schnauss seems to offer more content and depth though from what I've heard. The production is superb. A Long Way To Fall would sound great in the car at high speed and high volume.

I'm in two minds about Picaresque from The Decemberists. The band are no doubt supremely talented with an exceptional ear for a melody, and biting lyrics. I can't quite decide if I like lead singer Colin Meloy's folk rock articulations. It's certainly very characterful but sometimes a little overwhelming possibly at the detriment of the superb songs. A minor gripe maybe in the face of a brilliant maritime folk tale like The Mariner's Revenge Song. 

Midlake are superb. Especially the albums from their Tim Smith (the original singer) vintage years. I think they only did 3 albums with Smith. I have two of them to date, and Occupanther is the middle one. In this crowded and often middle of the road Americana genre they stand out as something special. A lot is to do with Smith's desperately sad voice, which is why I haven't warmed to them so much since he left.

Another great album from Nick Cave. This one, like its sister album Abattoir Blues, is packed full of straight ahead rock and tuneful pop - quite uncharacteristic of the Cave I know from albums like The Boatman's Call, and certainly his last few dour offerings which I played about once each before moving on.

Finally this week a dip into the distant past when, as a teenager, I collected ELO records. Face The Music was one of the second string (and earlier) albums if you like (this one from 1975). The band were finding their feet and hadn't reached the heights yet of A New World Record and Out Of The Blue. Still a good record though with some experimental instrumentals and one or two cracking singles like Strange Magic and Evil Woman. 

The music is reversible but time is not. Turn back, turn back, turn back, turn back.

I do wonder where ELO fitted in to the music landscape at the time though. Just after the heyday of prog, just before disco and punk - what did the music listening public make of their symphonic pop? Was there another band then or now that was attempting something similar? Many compared their best work to The Beatles (Strawberry Fields etc possibly) and Jeff Lynne was certainly a talented and consistent songwriter but as a schoolboy I just thought it was cool to have a band with cellos and violins and even their own conductor!?

Face The Music was the first ELO album with the classic line up of Gale, Bevan, Groucutt, Lynne, Tandy, Kaminski and McDowell. 

Read More

Log #200 - Keep On Trekking For The People

It took 200 blog posts to reach REM. I think they were the sort of band that suffered a bit from over familiarity, like U2 or Coldplay. They were also, allegedly, quite middle of the road and mainstream, certainly in their mid to latter period. I don't know much about them to be fair but know they hit the mainstream big around the time of this album (their 8th released in 1992), and the predecessor Out Of Time (1991). Prior to that they were more indie in that '80s guitar mumble rock sort of way.

In an aside I once went trekking in Nepal on my "gap year" (1992) as you do, with a Canadian gentlemen called Ray. He had 3 cassettes in his rucksack (and some speakers which he'd hook up each night at a guesthouse on the trail). One was Jimmy Buffett, one was Neil Young's Harvest Moon, and the third was Automatic For The People. We all got very familiar with those three records after a fortnight of repeat plays.

Will REM receive a reassessment at Bamyasi HQ, rather like post OK Computer Radiohead did? It is unlikely. Despite being moved to dig out this album after seeing an impressive Glastonbury rerun (like I did with Radiohead actually) I haven't got any other of their CDs as far as I know (I used to have Monster, and Out Of Time on cassette but they are long gone) and despite the top tunes on Automatic For The People, which most likely represent their peak, I'm not moved to delve further. Good on them for retiring early whilst still relatively near the top.

Matthew E White - Fresh Blood

War On Drugs - A Deeper Understanding

Cocteau Twins - Treasure

Nick Cave - Abattoir Blues

REM - Automatic For The People
The Comet Is Coming - Trust In The Lifeforce Of The Great Mystery

Abattoir Blues is a very powerful and most excellent Nick Cave album. It may actually be my favourite. I'll give the sister album The Lyre Of Orpheus a spin too next time.

Read More

Log #174 - Uncovering A Psych-Folk Classic

Johnny Flynn A Larum
Trees On The Shore

Harmonia Tracks And Traces

The Comet Is Coming Trust in the Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery 
Nick Cave Skeleton Tree

Nick Cave Ghosteen

I've enjoyed all these albums this week. Johnny Flynn's debut A Larum is brilliant - great songs delivered with a great voice. What differentiates this from the middle of the road? - what's that band? - I can't even remember their name but you must know them - folk stomp stuff with waistcoats. Something brothers is it? I honestly can't remember their name but often think of them. Must have blanked it again. It will come to me. 

It's hard to put your finger on it (or in your ear) but I think it is simply the songs and the voice. Flynn sounds authentic - he has a great range with just the right amount of gravel. He reminds me of Dave Swarbrick. Most the songs are great folk but this one really stands out as a rock song:

Coming as an after the event collection of extras (with Brian Eno) the Harmonia Tracks And Traces album is generally overlooked in preference for their two mainstream albums Music Von and Deluxe. It is indeed quite different but in its own right a classic ambient collection which I expanded upon in my Log #154.

Good honking enjoyment to be had from modern electronic jazz trio The Comet Is Coming. It's relatively exciting as jazz goes, I guess. I'm a bit indifferent to it so far, as I was to the similar sounding (as far as I know) Kamasi Washington. There's a rap number with Kate Tempest (an artist, or genre to be honest, I've not got into yet).

More absorption of the two Nick Cave albums. Both growers. Still prefer the Skeleton Tree, marginally more accessible.

If you are about to listen to On The Shore for the first time, then you are to be envied. In an era of mass communication and commercial misappropriation, there are few genuinely lost treasures to be discovered.

I couldn't agree more and my highlight this week has undoubtedly been the brilliant Trees album. This has become a bit of an underground classic over the years. I first heard it a few years ago and unaccountably only just got round to purchasing a copy. This issue comes with a bonus disc of demos and alternative versions but to be honest that is superfluous to the original (the differences are even spelt out in the sleeve notes which may be a sign one might not notice otherwise).

On The Shore sits with Fairport Convention's best Sandy Denny fronted folk rock albums (Unhalfbricking and Liege and Lief). Half the tracks are traditional reinterpretations, half originals. All are delivered with the emphasis on rock with searing electric guitar and crystal clear high vocals from ex-opera singer Celia Humphris. Apart from the guitar-centric Richard Thompson influenced Fairport Convention the other band they remind me of actually is Free: there's a track The Streets Of Derry that extends into a guitar solo over rising bass which sounds just like Free's classic Mr. Big. Then the centrepiece of the album, the 10 minute Sally Free And Easy is a response to Fairport Convention's groundbreaking A Sailor's Life. But what the album is most remembered for, like the Fairport's Liege And Lief, are the brave reinterpretations of traditional folk songs in a rock format as with Geordie below:

The haunting cover which matches the psych-folk music within was shot in the grounds of Inverforth House in Hampstead. The young girl photographed on the front swinging a bottle of water (which I thought was a skipping rope before looking closely) was a musician friend's daughter.

Nothing else happened for Trees after their only two albums - this from 1971 and the debut, The Garden Of Jane Delaney (1970). The original members are still around I believe, which makes it odd they've never had a reunion - I'm sure a tour of On The Shore supplemented with the debut album and a few more covers and traditionals would be very popular but I guess they're all doing other things and perhaps don't want to spoil the mystery. Bizarrely Celia Humphris' voice can now be heard on the pre-recorded London Underground announcements.

Nice simple website here.

Read More

Log #173 - Fireflies By Night - Rush With Nick Cave

It's not hard to remember why Rush were so exciting to a teenage boy - the music is so fast and tight, it's heavy yet progressive, with grand concepts, titles like By-Tor And The Snow Dog *, fabulous album covers, and a lead singer with the ultimate scream of the day. It was the thinking man's (or boy's) heavy metal.

Fly By Night was the band's second album, and the first with the late Neil Peart on drums.

* This track, although a modest 8 minutes in prog terms, has the following parts to give it its full title!:

By-Tor & the Snow Dog
I. "At the Tobes of Hades"
II. "Across the Styx"
III. "Of the Battle"
i. "Challenge and Defiance"
ii. "7/4 War Furor"
iii. "Aftermath"
iv. "Hymn of Triumph"
IV. "Epilogue"

Note part III (roman numerals of course) was sub divided into a further 4 parts. Such prog ostentations would only gather pace with Rush on subsequent albums throughout the 70s until, like a lot of rock and prog bands, they scaled down their sound and scope in the 80s with albums like Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures which have generally stood the test of time relatively better.

So what does one think 40 years later? Well, the musicianship is astounding, still. The pace is frenetic, not only on the rock numbers as you'd expect, which take up the whole of the first side, apart from a brief gentle passage around the "Aftermath" (I'm guessing) section of said By-Tor... but also on the acoustic based numbers that start Side Two.

But then there is something very different - penultimate track Rivendell is a lovely unexpected piece (save for the Lord Of The Rings lyrics that is, which was of course all the rage at the time). Backed by classical guitar and flute/recorder good old screamer Geddy even sings in a normal register and sounds lovely: 

You feel there’s something calling you
You’re wanting to return
To where the misty mountains rise
And friendly fires burn
A place you can escape the world
Where the dark lord cannot go
Peace of mind and sanctuary
By loudwater’s flow

Rivendell then segues into the monster In The End guitar riff, one of Rush's greatest rock masterpieces (this one for me echoed the brilliant Working Man from their debut album - all the best rock albums from the 70s had to end with a monumental extended rifftastic rocker didn't they?). And that's it. 8 tracks, barely 35 minutes and it's all done and dusted, in the can. Who needs these hour plus albums of 15 tracks these days?

Johnny Flynn A Larum
Van Morrison Hard Nose The Highway

Pink Floyd Meddle

Rush Fly By Night
Nick Cave Skeleton Tree

Nick Cave Ghosteen

And now Nick Cave. The tragic circumstances surrounding his last two records are well documented. But apparently the majority of the first of these, Skeleton Tree (2016), was actually written before the death of his son in 2015, and the trajectory of the music through this album, to the new one Ghosteen, does seem to follow a logical path which began on the preceding Push The Sky Away. It was on that 2013 album Nick Cave (and Warren Ellis) started experimenting with unusual song forms and new instrumentation. Skeleton Tree continues this drift towards electronics, ambience, spoken word and choirs. Ghosteen takes it further: the tracks are even less song based, characterised more by sounds, space, stillness and poetry.

And everything is distant as the stars, and I am here and you are where you are.

Fireflies

I heard Ghosteen first and it was pretty much what I expected. It's relentlessly down and a hard listen. It's an atmosphere piece - one that may begin to make sense after half a dozen plays, preferably at 3am with wine. There are long chords and drones, distorted synthesizers, single line piano lines, and wailing backing vocals. It feels a bit like David Bowie's Black Star, but slowed down, like a 33 1/3 rpm played at 16. The album comes on two CDs, the second containing a couple of tracks over 12 minutes long. Having said that some tracks seem to have unexpectedly early fade outs. I've played it three or four times and must say it does improve with familiarity (there's a lot more here than first meets the ear but I couldn't help thinking I'd stick to Gas or Eno if I wanted to hear this sort of music). 

With trepidation I moved to Skeleton Tree which I imagined might be even rawer, but actually was pleasantly surprised. It is more song based and I think I like it better than Ghosteen, and certainly better than I was expecting. It is easier to get into on the first few listens. 

Neither are as good as Push The Sky Away in my opinion, but in the circumstances, and in the face of the universal acclaim bestowed upon both Ghosteen and Skeleton Tree it is difficult to be objective and just assess the albums on their musical merits. I have no idea whether I will revisit these albums as masterpieces in the years to come or they will just burn bright for the briefest of moments... like fireflies. I'm actually looking forward to finding out.

At the opposite end of the depression scale comes the brilliant Johnny Flynn. Like many fans (and I'm certain he's sick of hearing this) I came to him through the brilliant theme tune to the brilliant Detectorists TV series. I wanted to find him at his most raw and solo, and haven't quite achieved this aim just yet with A Larum but nevertheless it's a brilliant rootsy folk record. Flynn has an amazingly strong and authentic voice for one so young. A brilliant new find to start 2020.

Read More

Nick Cave Goes All Reflective

For their 10th album – and follow-up to the cheery Murder Ballads – Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds explored more redemptive qualities. Originally released in 1997, gone were the menacing, troubled tunes of yore; instead, here was a selection of graceful, minimal, melancholic numbers that saw Cave reflect on spirituality, loves past and present, and almost atoning for past indiscretions. These are your actual songs of faith and devotion, and by Cave’s own admission his most personal album to date.

The opener is a modern-day classic. Into My Arms is a love song so perfect you wonder why any other composition of its kind bothers to go up against a ballad that all others should rightfully refer to as ‘Sir’. Cave opens his heart from the outset, the song beginning with the stunning line of "I don't believe in an interventionist God / But I know, darling, that you do". It’s the only Bad Seeds tune you’re likely to hear at a wedding.

His brief dalliance with Polly Harvey, whom he became infatuated with after their Henry Lee duet on Murder Ballads, is referenced on Green Eyes, Black Hair and the more direct West Country Girl. Comparisons with Dylan and – more on the money – Leonard Cohen are no bad things either. The religious motifs of Brompton Oratory, an album highlight, and There Is a Kingdom lend an air of a man coming to terms with his place in the world, with subtle churchy murmurs over drum machines. The Bad Seeds themselves play a blinder, with gentle and sympathetic elegance throughout.

It’s an audacious task trying to pin down the core essentials in The Bad Seeds’ catalogue, as there’s so much of it, but The Boatman’s Call would be labelled a classic in anyone’s canon. No band on their 10th album should have much more to say, but taking this turn for the reflective helped reignite The Bad Seeds and further secured their legacy. It is, in short, brilliant.

Shared under Creative Commons
Original review by Ian Wade at http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/6r3q/
Scoring by EB

Read More

Log #65 - Richard Hawley's Dark and Brooding Masterpiece

One of the joys of writing this blog are the unexpected rediscoveries of artists in my collection. Playing his classic Coles Corner album a month ago led me to expand my Richard Hawley catalogue with two more purchases both featured at the top of my 6 cd changer this week. 

~

1. Richard Hawley - Standing at the Sky's Edge

2. Richard Hawley - Truelove's Gutter

3. Tim Buckley - Happy Sad

4. The Felice Brothers - The Felice Brothers

5. Nick Cave - The Lyre of Orpheus

6. Nick Cave - Abattoir Blues

~

After being nominated for the Mercury Prize for Coles Corner in 2006 Hawley was nominated again in 2012 for a very different album - Standing at the Sky's Edge is a powerful rock album with mixed down vocals, heavy bass, thumping drums, and distorted guitars. Sounding more like The Stone Roses or Jimi Hendrix, releasing this was a brave move being such a departure from his regular sound.

Hawley's 2009 LP, Truelove's Gutter, is more in the vein of Coles Corner but I'd say even more lush and also darker with some very long slow tracks and sad lyrics highlighted by sparse string arrangements (look at that dark cover too). The writing is stripped back both lyrically and musically - with the emphasis on space and atmosphere - with a voice like his you don't have to try to too hard -  less is more. The eight (only, yay!) songs work perfectly with Hawley's baritone and retro guitar and this album is truly addictive - the one I've had on pretty constant repeat this week. Actually more worthy of the Mercury nomination than the other two I'd say.

As the Dawn Breaks begins with atmospheric bird song. Open Up Your Door and Ashes on the Fire are beautiful waltz-like ballads with brushed drum strokes and echoey 50s style Gretsch guitar. The former has the distinction of being used in adverts for both Haagen Dazs and Renault.

It was the one time I was persuaded to do an advert and the kids went: 'Dad, do we get any free Häagen-Dazs?' So I rang up and asked. Then this massive articulated lorry turned up...this big, tattooed bloke pulled out this freezer thing. When he opened it up there were these four tiny tubs.

The lengthy Remorse Code is hypnotic with it's acoustic guitar arpeggios. The soothing Don't Get Hung Up in Your Soul features haunting saw. Soldier On is a masterpiece of Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb like proportions which builds from tabla backed sustained guitar notes to a crashing crescendo - the only loud section in the album and possibly anticipating the Standing at the Sky's Edge sound.

We then return to another mournful love song where Hawley implores: For Your Lover Give Some Time backed by plucked Spanish guitar and strings:

I will give up these cigarettes
Stay at home and watch you mend the tears in your dress
Have your name in a rose tattooed across my chest
And be your lover for all time
Maybe I will drink a little less
Come home early and not complain about the day
And give you flowers from the graveyard now and then
And for my lover give some time

Heartbreaking.

The last track is the 10 minute Don't You Cry which is more fleshed out than most of the other arrangements. Underpinned by another repeating acoustic guitar arpeggio the track features a symphony of interesting sounds played on lyre, glockenspiel, harpsichord, cristal baschet, celeste, tibetan singing bowls, waterphone, and saw again.

What on Earth is a waterphone? I've never seen or heard one before but this sounds amazing (and a little eerie).

What on Earth is a cristal baschet? I've never seen or heard one before but this sounds amazing (and a little eerie).

These sound clips give an indication of the atmosphere of this amazing album. I thought Coles Corner gave me all I needed from Richard Hawley but I'm so pleased I ventured deeper and discovered this one. For beginners I'd still recommend the lighter Coles Corner but if you like that also take a walk on the dark side with Truelove's Gutter.

Read More

Log #64 - A Brave and Exciting Departure

Regular fans of Richard Hawley, the easy listening crooner, should be wary of his Standing at the Sky's Edge album. However I expect this album of heavy psychedelic trippy rock (don't you just love that cover?) will have won Hawley many new fans and the less sensitive of his existing fans would have nevertheless grown appreciative of this temporary transformation, it being underpinned fundamentally by typically excellent songs albeit in an unfamiliar setting.

Guitar is my first love... I'd done the orchestral thing pretty much... enough to warrant a big change for me.

For this outing, his seventh, the guitars are turned up to 11 and the drums and bass pound away providing a tremendous wall of sound, and the celebrated Hawley voice is distorted and mixed down low sounding like Jim Morrison particularly on the slow paced title track. Aside from the Doors, think Hawkwind, Neil Young (with Crazy Horse of course), Jimi Hendrix, Stone Roses, Ride, Primal Scream, My Bloody Valentine, or any other number of shoe-gazing guitar bands of the 90s.

Songs like the 7 minute opener She Brings the Sunlight with it's sustained power chords and distorted electric guitar solos are indicative of this new towering sound.

Obvious single Leave Your Body Behind You with it's descending bass line would make a great Bond theme:

Child of Eden your time is short
You can't leave with more than you've brought
Love given lightly can never be owned
A thing we feel but can never hold

You leave your body behind you
When you leave this place
You leave your body behind you
And you make a space

However it's not all monumental rock and there are a couple of more typical gentle ballads mid album in Seek It and Don't Stare at the Sun although the latter also ends with a searing guitar solo.

A departure then for Hawley, but a very successful one leading to a hugely powerful album that I think will stand the test of time. Take it in the car on a long drive and play it loud!

~

1. Richard Hawley - Standing at the Sky's Edge

2. The Felice Brothers - The Felice Brothers

3. Tim Buckley - Happy Sad

4. Gong - The Best Of

5. Nick Cave - The Lyre of Orpheus

6. Nick Cave - Abattoir Blues

~

Read More

Log #63 - Happy, Sad, Silly

Two brand new 6cd blog virgins this week with new entries from Gong and Tim Buckley. We've doubled down on Nick Cave, Beck's consistent showing continues, and there's a welcome return for probably the greatest live band on Earth!

~

1. Beck - Guero

2. The Felice Brothers - The Felice Brothers

3. Tim Buckley - Happy Sad

4. Gong - The Best Of

5. Nick Cave - The Lyre of Orpheus

6. Nick Cave - Abattoir Blues

~

Beck goes more pop and rap with his much loved Guero LP - probably his most similar outing to the popular jumping shaggy doggy covered Odelay.

Nick Cave's Abattoir Blues is the heavier twin to The Lyre of Orpheus. Kicking off with the almost heavy metal Get Ready for Love the album peaks with two of Cave's greatest pop songs: There She Goes My Beautiful World and Nature Boy. Taking the double album together the consistent quality of the songs across these 17 tracks represents a high point in Cave's illustrious career.

Hey, the Nature Boy track is so good, it's time to start embedding these videos to enhance playability (doesn't Cave always wear a suit well?):

Tim Buckley used to be famous but is now probably more famous for being the father of Jeff Buckley whose only proper album Grace became a modern classic. Both had angelic voices and died young - Tim aged 28 from a drug overdose, Jeff aged 30 from drowning (both narrowly avoiding the infamous 27 club). Tim Buckley started out as a singer songwriter but progressed from folk based guitar songs into more experimental jazz and rock fusion becoming influential to artists like John Martyn. This is evident on this record with the 12 minute improvisational Gypsy Woman where Buckley demonstrates his vocal range.

Tim and Jeff Buckley

Gong are an interesting band also straddling multiple genres of music including rock, prog, jazz, even punk and er um "space rock" a la Hawkwind. For a band adept at such a range of styles a Best Of compilation will never fully satisfy on account of sudden shifts in atmosphere. On grounds of continuity and context Best Ofs are best avoided except as gateways into the real albums. This compilation has a fair smattering of tracks from Gong's classic period known as the Teapot Trilogy - real albums Flying Teapot, Angel's Egg and You. Of these three my favourite (Steve Hillage inspired) album is You. Outside of this lot the more rock based and earlier Camembert Electrique is pretty good too and is represented on this compilation by a 13 second track entitled Squeezing Sponges Over Policemen's Heads! Like Frank Zappa and the Bonzo Dog Band, Gong's inherent musicianship is not taken too seriously and they will sometimes tip their hats to outright silliness.

Go directly to You, Do not pass Go, Do not collect any Best Ofs

Gong's You cover, and my own picture of Chichen Itza Temple in Mexico

Last up, but by all means not least, is many people's favourite live band, The Felice Brothers and their eponymous album (actually officially their fifth although some appear to be unavailable now so this seems to be generally accepted as their second proper album after Tonight at the Arizona). One of their go to tracks is Frankie's Gun but honestly this is just one of numerous foot stomping singalong Americana anthems you could choose to highlight their style. 

I don't know if this accompanying film of a boys' motorcycle trip has any relevance to the song or the lyrics, and it doesn't feature the band members, but it has a lovely nostalgic good time feel. Frankie's Gun was also bizarrely featured in the closing credits to an episode of the BBC comedy series Outnumbered encouraging many fans of that show to investigate this unknown band further.

Read More

Log #62 - Two Very Different Crooners

First up this week we have Sheffield crooner Richard Hawley. Hawley was a member of 90s Britpop band The Long Pigs who I know absolutely nothing about. I think his greater claim to pre-solo fame may have been his subsequent stint in Pulp. For both bands he was on guitar duties. I wonder if his lovely baritone voice lay undiscovered until he branched out as a solo artist in 2001 with debut Late Night Final. I also wonder how many other bands have failed to unearth vocalists within their ranks that could possibly have been better than their chosen lead singers - Jarvis Cocker was undoubtedly a great front man but was he the best singer? 

Richard Hawley with Jarvis Cocker playing for Pulp

Such comparisons are at best unfair and at worse irrelevant. I argue the singer is the most important component of a band's character, and therefore the most irreplaceable.  Could Led Zeppelin or the Arctic Monkeys for example have continued without Robert Plant or Alex Turner respectively? What about drummers John Bonham and Matt Helders, or bass players John Paul Jones and Nick O'Malley? Sure the musicians have their own characters and styles and are essential components of the group, but a different singer is more immediately noticeable than a different drummer or bass player. Take Black Sabbath - when Ozzy left them they pretty much became reincarnations of the Ian Gillan Band and the Ronnie James Dio Band playing Sabbath covers. When the original band reformed with Ozzy, but minus drummer Bill Ward, they sounded like Black Sabbath again.

Jarvis Cocker and Richard Hawley are different types of singers fronting bands playing different types of music.

Richard Hawley in his more natural habitat

Coles Corner is a real place as pictured on our head album cover above. In a bygone era courting couples would meet on the corner outside the old Coles Bros department store in Sheffield. Here we see Richard waiting with a bouquet of flowers below his own name in lights. Today the actual corner building houses a very unromantic HSBC bank and Starbucks. I don't think Richard Hawley, or Coles Corner, is famous enough to warrant fan pilgrimages to the location like a Ziggy Stardust or Freewheelin'!

Coles Corner, Sheffield, yesteryear and today

I know what it's like to live here in Sheffield and therefore it seems perfectly logical to write about it.

The music is old time romantic - rich velvety vocals, reverberating Gretsch guitar, and lush strings. Check out The Ocean. Lovely. A pop star, like many, not accustomed to modesty, the aforementioned Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys, on acceptance of the 2006 Mercury Prize for best album, stated that Hawley, whose album was also shortlisted, had been robbed.

Hawley would be nominated again 6 years later for his atypical electric guitar freakout Standing at the Sky's Edge album. I would have felt sorry for folks attending gigs during that tour expecting Coles Corner!

~

1. Beck - Guero

2. Beck - Mutations

3. Marvin Gaye - What's Going On

4. Richard Hawley - Coles Corner

5. Nick Cave - The Lyre of Orpheus

6. Autechre - Untilted

~

In a similar vein to Coles Corner we have Marvin Gaye's classic album What's Going On. (By the way shouldn't that be a question? Maybe not). It took me years to get this and a few more years to get it, literally. It's nice background music, easy listening. More depths to be discovered over the years no doubt. Rarely does an out and out classic fail to deliver in the long run.

Marvin Gaye and that raincoat

A few more plays of the Autechre album and it starts to make a bit more sense. I'm still trapped in the metal shipping container but I can get some sleep despite the chill as my mind locks into some semblance of repetitive beats and patterns.

Relief this time comes in the unlikely form of The King of Goth and Doom, The Prince of Darkness, Nick Cave - a possessor, like Hawley, of another deep baritone, but somehow very different, voice. But this album is anything but depressing... surely one of Cave's most accessible and pleasing albums and representing (along with its twin release Abattoir Blues) a high watermark in his creativity. Great songs with brilliant melodies including pop songs like Breathless, piano ballads like Easy Money, bloody narratives like the title track The Lyre of Orpheus, rock anthems like Supernaturally, and banked choir epics like Carry Me and O Children. This album pretty much has it all. In fact I can't get over how good this is - is there any other songwriter of Cave's equivalent working today? Get yourself a copy right now!

Eurydice appeared brindled in blood

And she said to Orpheus

If you play that fucking thing down here

I'll stick it up your orifice!

Read More