Log #217 - Splashdown (Into the Ocean from the Stratosfear)

After the success of Lateralus last week I doubled down with TOOL's most recent album Fear Inoculum.

Invincible sounds very much like Rush with the picked guitar and latter period Geddy Lee like vocals.

7empest is epic and the opener is very powerful.

The drumming is obviously very busy and front of mix in this style of full on nu-metal and the guitars are generally of the chugging variety - not an awful lot of soloing even in such lengthy songs.

Could it be a bit samey after a while? Not so far, plenty to enjoy here, and I think I even prefer this album to Lateralus. These boys should go far.

Tool - Lateralus
Tool - Fear Inoculum

Tangerine Dream - Stratosfear

The Enid - Aerie Faerie Nonsense

Eloy - Ocean

Van Morrison - Into The Music

I was slightly disappointed with Stratosfear though coming as it did (1976) slap bang in the middle of TANGERINE DREAM's "heyday". It doesn't seem to develop their sound much and gives me the impression of treading water with "random" synth melodies over trademark pulses. 

The title track which kicks off the album is one of the band's most commercial pieces with a predictable melody and one of those Edgar Froese guitar solos which sound a bit random to me without adding anything to a track.

I respect their synthesizer textures in theory, but these guys should leave the accessibility to Kraftwerk. When they program in received semiclassical melodies and set the automatic drummer on 'bouncy swing,' the result is the soundtrack for a space travelogue you don't want to see.

Robert Christgau 

Stratosfear points the way towards the more developed rock sound TD would master on Force Majeure 3 years later.

Years ago I had an album by English classical prog group THE ENID called Six Pieces (1980). I can't remember much about it apart from it didn't really grab me (by definition presumably). 

Aerie Faerie Nonsense was the group's second album released in 1977. It's an oddity. It actually sounds like symphonic classical pop music (the emphasis on pop meaning the music is awash with upbeat melodies). I can't even tell if they actually recorded with an orchestra (there doesn't seem to be a mention of this in the sleeve notes but it certainly sounds like it). Other than that the music centres around founder keyboardist Robert John Godfrey, with some rock guitar and drums, but it's mostly orchestral and entirely instrumental (the slimmed down parts consisting of just a conventional rock band appeal to me more than the overblown orchestral flourishes). 

There are moments that remind me of some of Camel's instrumental work, especially The Snow Goose. Perhaps this was the sort of music the naff instrumental "supergroup" Sky were striving for?

Apparently some of their albums did have vocals and I'll source one of them before filing the group away in the "tried that once" drawer.

The ELOY album is more to my liking. This German prog rock band is, surprisingly, new to me. Of course I've heard the name but this is the first time I've ever heard any of their music... and it's pretty good. 

It isn't massively new or different - many comparisons to Nektar and Pink Floyd can be made (and Grobschnitt too but I'm undecided if that is just because of the vocals), but nevertheless Ocean (their 6th album, also from 1977) is excellent at what it does and can take its place proudly among the offerings of those 2 (or 3) contemporary prog bands.

Both Eloy and The Enid are still going in various forms. Two bands I'd mixed up together in my mind's eye (most likely just because of the similar names, as the actual music is quite different).

VAN MORRISON is currently my second favourite artist (as judged by frequency of plays in my CD player!). However I am yet to hear all of his albums and at my age time may be running out (I should at least commit to hearing everything up to the end of the '80s). I came to Into The Music (his 1979 offering) after reading an album ranking that, surprisingly, put this at No.1.

There is no doubt that Van, as always, has a crack band behind him as they race through these jaunty tunes - both of the string (Astral Weeks template) and brass (Moondance template) variety, often employed together in these tracks.  

I prefer Astral Weeks to Moondance and generally therefore like his stringy folky albums (like Veedon Fleece) more than his souley brassy ones (more prevalent in the '80s and beyond). In fact the strings on this album remind me of the raw fiddle playing of Scarlet Rivera from Bob Dylan's superb Desire album especially on one of my Van favourites the life affirming And The Healing Has Begun, albeit they do dip into The Chieftains territory on one or two of the lighter weight songs..

He's in fine voice too, a little more age and gravel, supplemented by abundant choir.

Into The Music is a good "later period" more commercial Van album, but certainly not his best.

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Log #182 - Welcome To The Penguin Cafe

Penguin Cafe Orchestra - Union Cafe

Penguin Cafe Orchestra - Music From The Penguin Cafe 

Tangerine Dream - Zeit

Soft Hair - Soft Hair

Brian Eno - Ambient 4 On Land

Lift To Experience - The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads (CD 1)

Two excellent albums spanning the career of instrumental chamber group The Penguin Cafe Orchestra this week. Music From The Penguin Cafe was their debut album released in 1976 on Brian Eno's fledgling Obscure Records label. It's fully reviewed here>>.

Union Cafe was the original band's fifth and final album released in 1993 before band leader Simon Jeffes' premature death in 1997. The double album takes the listener through a variety of styles - classical, minimalism, jazz, swing and experimental - yet does hold together as an enjoyable whole.

Various versions and offshoots of the original ensemble under the names The Anteaters, The Orchestra That Fell to Earth, and Penguin Cafe (with Simon Jeffes' son Arthur), continue to record and tour today.

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Log #181 - A Lift To The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads

Why have I not heard this stupendous album before? Loving the The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads album from Lift To Experience and I've only played the first half. Fronted up by Josh T Pearson I was vaguely aware of his original band but had never heard this, their only album. 

This is the story of three Texas boys busy mindin' their own business when the Angel of the Lord appeared unto them.

The double album (I've only just realised there were 2 CDs in the carboard sleeve!) was released by the Texas-based indie trio in 2001. Mixed by Cocteau Twins Simon Raymonde and Robin Guthrie the album is a marvellous mess of noise casting Texas as the "promised land" in a "second coming of Jesus" concept. Having seen Josh T Pearson live solo where he projected a hardly disguised "messiah" persona I'm not surprised. 

Josh "Bear" Browning's, Josh T Pearson and Andy "the Boy" Young

Indeed Pearson's solo album Last Of The Country Gentlemen is certainly unusual. When I first heard it I couldn't decide if it was the worst or best record I'd ever heard. But The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads is a whole new level. 

Readers' Note - there are two versions of the album, the 2001 original and a "remixed as God intended" version released in 2017 (my version is the 2001 release).

Cluster - '71

Cluster - II

Tangerine Dream - Zeit

Fennesz - Endless Summer

Brian Eno - Ambient 4 On Land

Lift To Experience - The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads (CD 1)

The Lift To Experience offering is opposite to the other records in the player this week where we have 5 ambient favourites - although maybe not completely opposite. Where last week's Eno album Apollo is no doubt lovely musically, his Ambient 4 On Land is much more experimental in terms of soundscapes and odd noises. Then the Cluster albums, certainly the debut '71, is the industrial sound of an electrical power plant. The Fennesz album Endless Summer has its moments of beauty but these are submerged in plenty of grating clicks and fuzzes, and the strings heavy Zeit comes from the discordant school of classical mininalism.

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Log #155 - From Celluloid to Wax - Discovering New Music Through Django Unchained

Beirut The Flying Club Cup

Jim Croce Photographs and Memories

Wilco Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

Anthony Hamilton Ain't Nobody Worryin' 

John Legend Once Again

Tangerine Dream Cyclone

Miserabilist - a person who appears to enjoy being depressed, especially a performer of or listener to gloomy music.

[That's the definition from the Collins English Dictionary]

As a genre of music miserabilist is perhaps undeveloped and lists of artists so described are not forthcoming. However I'd wager the term is made for American Alt-Country outfit Wilco. 

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, their fourth album from 2001, kicks off with one of the worst songs I've heard from them... I Am Trying to Break Your Heart has a nursery rhyme like melody which singer Jeff Tweedy can barely raise any energy to sing. It's so down tempo and uninspiring. 

I want to hold you in the Bible-black predawn
You're quite a quiet domino, bury me now
Take off your Band-Aid because I don't believe in touchdowns
What was I thinking when I said hello?

What was he thinking? What is he on about?

Luckily the album actually improves after this depressing false start and second track Kamera is a little more uplifting, albeit the lyrics aren't... 

Phone my family
Tell 'em I'm lost on the sidewalk
And no, it's not okay

Or maybe I spoke to soon - the third track is back to depression again and I sort of lost the will to live after that.

Hang on, the fourth track is quite jolly.

Oh, I don't know, maybe it's Wilco at their schizophrenic best. I guess I conclude it's not an easy listen and just could be one of those classic slow burners (I do doubt this having had it in my collection for well over a decade).

OMG, I've just googled "Wilco Albums Ranked" and it comes out on top. Jeez, what am I missing? And the usually reliable Pitchfork gave it 10/10! Really? That's a score that should be reserved for the likes of Astral Weeks or Blood On The Tracks. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot should be docked two points for I Am Trying To Break Your Heart alone. 

I've said this many times on this blog: It's the singing that counts for so much and while I'm on the subject of being underwhelmed by the Wilco singing I move on to a new band for me, Beirut...

Unfortunately they would appear to be another group (Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev, Vampire Weekend, Arcade Fire, even, say it softly, Radiohead) where the vocals provide a barrier to my enjoyment.

I say "they" but Beirut is actually American musician Zack Condon's solo vehicle. Condon plays trumpet and ukulele (yes). Other musicians lend hands on accordions, trombones, violins and pianos. The result is described as a sort of indie/world/old-time/gypsy/busking music centred on European folk influences - Condon's first album had an Eastern European flavour, this one French. 

It's an ambitious project but doesn't quite hit that unique sweet spot Tom Waits has made his own. I was on the verge of confining the CD to the "back to the charity shop" bin but it could be a grower if I can tune into Condon's wobbly voice. Worth another week in the player I'd say.

No such issues with the vocal talent on the rest of the selection this week (I even include perennial favourite Cyclone in here - Tangerine Dream's only vocal based album as far as I'm aware): Three more artists new to me which I picked up after watching Quentin Tarrantino's Django Unchained film. The film and the soundtrack is excellent (better than his most recent much hyped Once Upon A Time In Hollywood film).

Now granted I could have just bought the soundtrack album but I like to hear the artists in their proper individual contexts so I alighted upon this selection from Jim Croce, Anthony Hamilton and John Legend. 

The Jim Croce album is a "best of" compilation which includes I Got A Name from the film. It's a great song rendered perfectly in the film where the two horsemen heroes ride across wide open winter Western savannas. On first hearing I thought it was Glen Campbell - it's got that Wichita Lineman type vibe:

[parental advisory exists on the clips below]

Photographs and Memories includes 14 tracks from Croce's last three albums (he made five in all between 1966 and his tragic air-crash death in 1973). Most are gentle acoustic guitar numbers, some with Nashville strings. There are a few upbeat country rock and bluesy songs too that remind me of Gram Parsons. 

Apart from I Got A Name the other track that I've heard before is I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song.

Unfortunately the two songs I was looking for most from Anthony Hamilton and John Legend don't appear on any of their individual albums: respectively Freedom (also featuring a singer, Elayna Boynton, who unaccountably doesn't appear to have any albums out at all despite a great voice): 

and Who Did That To You?:  

Both Hamilton and Legend albums are excellent smooth soul if you like that sort of thing, with the bass and drums (and hand claps) high in the mix. So far the albums have existed for me as easy listening background music and I haven't really alighted upon any tracks that approach the brilliance of the two film soundtracks above (admittedly the vivid film associations count for a fair bit). I hope there are some otherwise the albums will become a minor footnote in my listening history, and I'll just have to get the Django soundtrack after all. Tarrantino certainly knows his music.

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Tangerine Dream - The Virgin Years - Live

Along with Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream were probably the first purely electronic outfit to find commercial success with a rock audience. In an age of beanbags, beards, exotic tobacco consumption and lava lamps, albums like Phaedra, Rubycon and Stratosfear defined chillout while the Orb were still in short trousers.

The Tangs' roots were in the sprawling jams of psychedelia, and they maintained an improvisational approach even when they'd traded in their guitars and drums for banks of mellotrons and synths. While such instruments were amongst the tools of the trade for legions of ye olde prog rockers, TD weren't much interested in conventional virtuoso technique, instead opting for lengthy cosmic workouts that were often pure texture.

There's plenty of those to be had on this rather wonderful seven CD set that covers what many (me included) consider to be the band's golden period from 1974-76. Recorded in settings as exotic as Bilbao and Croydon (the same gig that produced the Ricochet album), they reveal TD as an improvising outfit, battling with the instability of their instruments and somehow constructing fragile, mysterious and often beautiful music in the process.

All the usual ingredients are there; breathy flute-like sounds, veils of mellotron-generated strings, choirs and the warm, arpeggiated throb of those unmistakable bass patterns. Edgar Froese sometimes whips out his Les Paul, which isn't always a good idea - he's no Steve Hillage, and his slightly stilted playing sometimes serves to drag the trio back to earth. It's hard to pick out highlights, but the almost two hours of the Bilbao gig ranks among some of the most gorgeous I've heard from this line-up, which is saying something. The sometimes muddy recording quality (these are boots, after all) sometimes adds to the other worldliness on display, though it's weird to hear the audience coughing and shuffling about - I thought in space no-one could hear you sneeze...


Review by Peter Marsh shared under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ with the original at https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/9nrg/

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Log #140 - Glass Goes Pop

In the early 80s Philip Glass attempted to go pop with his Glassworks album - an album deliberately designed for the Sony Walkman (invented in 1979). Two decades later German electronic composer Wolfgang Voight recorded an album of atmospheric drones under the name Gas and called it Pop. 

Philip Glass Glassworks
Tom Waits Foreign Affairs
Thievery Corporation The Mirror Conspiracy

Tangerine Dream Ricochet

Gas Pop

Richard Hawley Truelove's Gutter

This week sees the first entry for 2 1/2 years from Washington DC electronica duo Thievery Corporation who make the most of their overdue reappearance with a typically classy set of down tempo swing and groove via The Mirror Conspiracy. The album, their second official studio release, came out in 2000, but I first became aware of them the year before through their excellent DJ Kicks compilation which must be one of the best of that series. 

I'm really enjoying the Gas album POP. It almost goes without saying (almost) but this sort of music does require several hours of listening before the subtleties are absorbed. This is slow burning ambience, with some beats too (heartbeat pulses). It's much less dynamic than the Fennesz album I acquired at the same time (Endless Summer), but equally unique and original. The circular drones come at you in waves which have a wonderful lulling effect as you drift across the surface of the peaks and troughs of Wolfgang Voigt's oceanic soundscapes. 

I'm pondering seeing Richard Hawley at a forthcoming concert in my area. I think I should go. I love his records. The thing that's holding me back is he is just about to bring a new album out and current set lists reveal he is playing practically the whole thing (obviously at the expense of much from the earlier albums I so love - in particular this one, Truelove's Guitar, which is an absolute masterpiece).

Have I missed his peak, or will the new album be equally as good (albeit less familiar even if I get it immediately)? I have a similar dilemma with the Felice Brothers who I was very sad to miss 2 years ago when they cancelled their UK tour. They are returning in the new year but with a new album and a new band. Will they be the same? I think I'll go to them too. Both of these artists have been favourites of mine for a while so even if I may have missed their absolute best I'll still regret passing up the opportunity.

In so much as this can be ever possible Philip GLASS attempted something more commercial with his 1982 Glassworks album. Temporarily putting aside his symphonic and operatic works:

Glassworks was intended to introduce my music to a more general audience than had been familiar with it up to then.

Through 6 relatively short pieces Glass takes us on a whistle top tour of the Glass that we feel that we know - we have the solo piano (Opening), the abrasive organ (Floe), the haunting pipes over minor chord string arpeggios (Island), the frenetic abrasive keyboard loops (Rubic), the beautiful clarinet melody over string loops (Facades), and the repeated embellished piano coda (Closing). Like a Russian doll the opening and closing pieces envelope the two alternating pairs - the beauty and the bombastic, or the order and the chaos if you like - bringing the album together as a satisfying whole.

It could be a greatest hits record, but serves more as an introductory compilation to Glass music. To call such music minimalist does it a disservice. There is a lot going on here and rather than being in any way generic, Philip Glass is unique and instantly recognisable.

Glass succeeded in his intention - Glassworks remains his most commercially successful record today.

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Log #118 - Double Negative, Double Low

The final week of the year sees a return to the ambience I have enjoyed over the last couple of months with the ever popular Tangerine Dream, possibly Brian Eno's greatest work, and a new album from William Basinski. I'm also giving the very lengthy Tired Sounds another spin and dipping into Low's current acclaimed album Double Negative.

Wyclef Jean - The Ecleftic 2 Sides II A Book

Low - Double Negative

Brian Eno - Ambient 1 (Music For Airports)

William Basinski - A Shadow In Time

Tangerine Dream - Zeit (bonus disc)

Stars Of The Lid - The Tired Sounds Of

William Basinski's A Shadow In Time (also our beautiful cover album) consists of two side long tracks. The first part For David Robert Jones is a tribute to David Bowie who died shortly before the release. It's characterised by pleasant loops marked by some odd discordant saxophone which comes in half way through and appears to be in an entirely different key to the main background sounds, perhaps recalling Bowie's jazz inflected Black Star swansong [actually the reference is to his Low album. Ed].

This track with its rounds of short distorted loops is closest to the sounds heard on Disintegration Loops. You wouldn't think it likely, but I found myself humming along to the repetitive melodies. It's quite an addictive and hypnotic experience.

The second side is more easy listening with a more conventional piece of layered ambience that builds gradually before a beautiful coda - certainly the most accessible piece of Basinski I've heard thus far. Beginners start here.

The beautiful cover photo is of a Chinese dancer and the whole package comes in classy cardboard foldout digi-sleeve (like a miniature old gatefold LP sleeve). This whole genre of music pays particular attention to the presentation of the music which is fitting with the description many of these musicians enjoy as "sound artists".

One downside is the relatively high cost of many of these modern ambient CDs (or vinyls) generally. It's hard to find any under £10 but search long enough on ebay or at Resident and you should have success if you aren't too choosy where you start.

I'm starting to dive deeper into the wondrous Ambient 4 record by Brian Eno. A guest reviewer picked this album as the only one he'd need on a desert island and I am beginning to understand why. Read his review here>>.

The Low album (strange how coincidental links occur so often in this blog) is going to be interesting. I say going to be, as I haven't had time to fully absorb it as yet. It has been critically acclaimed and comes top in Resident's 2018 review:

Don’t adjust your speakers, check your cables or blow the dust from your needle. Low fully intend to be buried below the thunderous hiss, crackle and distortion, slowly fighting their way out of the storm. The band are here to question everything we know about them.

On initial listens I like the unusual production with odd sounds - a wealth of echoes, glitches, scratches, hums and samples, not unlike some of the modern electronica I've discovered recently particularly in the form of Caribou and Jan Jelinek. However, whereas those discoveries were instrumental Low are a rock band with singing and I haven't altogether come to terms with how the vocals fit with the music, especially the ethereal lady singing.

Actually the closest parallel is obviously post OK Computer Radiohead who are another band for whom the singing is problematic with me. Apparently Double Negative is quite different to previous Low albums so the music-map may be distorted but here it is:

I'm astonished there is no Radiohead here in the stead of Americana artists like Bonnie Prince Billy, Willard Grant Conspiracy and Lambchop. I do get Sigur Ros, Mogwai, and My Bloody Valentine though.

There you go, that's it for this year, save for a forthcoming annual review. I hope you have enjoyed the blog and, like me, have discovered some new music worth investigating.

Wishing all my readers a happy and abundant 2019.

Best regards
Eddy

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Log #116 - Before Billy Became Bonnie

Mouse On Mars - Vulvaland

Radiohead - The Best Of

Palace Brothers - Days In The Wake

Griffin Anthony - The Refuge

Tangerine Dream - Encore

Death In Vegas - Trans- Love Energies

The Radiohead compilation was released in 2008 but actually only contains selections from the band's first 6 albums up to Hail To The Thief (2003). No surprises it's mostly early period biased with 6 tracks from their second album The Bends (1995) and only one from the excellent Amnesiac (2001). The tracks are not sequenced in chronological order which actually works well, helping make it quite a good coherent standalone album (or double album in old money with 17 tracks). I'm only just rediscovering Radiohead and don't have all their albums but this would seem an excellent summary either for a new fan wanting to discover more, or someone who only feels the need for one Radiohead album.

1. "Just" (from The Bends, 1995)
2. "Paranoid Android" (from OK Computer, 1997)
3. "Karma Police" (from OK Computer, 1997)
4. "Creep" (from Pablo Honey, 1993)
5. "No Surprises" (from OK Computer, 1997)
6. "High and Dry" (from The Bends, 1995)
7. "My Iron Lung" (from The Bends, 1995)
8. "There There" (from Hail to the Thief, 2003)
9. "Lucky" (from OK Computer, 1997)
10. "Optimistic (Radio edit)" (from Kid A, 2000)
11. "Fake Plastic Trees" (from The Bends, 1995)
12. "Idioteque" (from Kid A, 2000)
13. "2 + 2 = 5" (from Hail to the Thief, 2003)
14. "The Bends" (from The Bends, 1995)
15. "Pyramid Song" (from Amnesiac, 2001)
16. "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" (from The Bends, 1995)
17. "Everything in Its Right Place" (from Kid A, 2000)

Lots of tracks is a frequent bugbear I have with CDs (quantity winning out over quality). This is fair enough for the Tangerine Dream live album Encore as it was originally a double vinyl album. The single CD contains 4 "side long" pieces with evocative titles in keeping with the tour's location (the album was recorded during the band's North American tour of Spring 1977):

Cherokee Lane, Monolight, Coldwater Canyon, and Desert Dream.

Like most of TD's live concerts the tracks are generally originals but variations on the studio tracks do weave in and out of the performances.

The Death In Vegas album is also a lot of listening - over 100 minutes in my version which contains the bonus CD. The very first track is entitled Silver Time Machine but then weirdly it is the second track Black Hole that sounds like a cover of Hawkwind's Silver Machine. There are indeed a lot of influences in this music - krautrock, electronica, grunge, industrial, techno, 80s synth and indie. Definitely a candidate for the music map:

I have to say this map looks a bit sparse (the programme is based on users' preferences so I imagine there isn't much data on Death In Vegas). I certainly don't get the Up Bustle and Out reference.

Initial standout track is the ravetastic Your Loft My Acid:

Much more to discover on this band and album for sure. What fun.

Over staying a welcome is not an accusation that can levelled at our next two miniatures: the Palace Brothers and Griffin Anthony albums are a very manageable in both length and structure - a return to the basics of acoustic instrumentation and old fashioned song writing after (it has to be said) Eddy has been a bit "off on one" in recent posts.

Will Oldham is a confusing artist in terms of the names he goes by. Palace Brothers was his first moniker way back in 1993. Even more confusing this album (his second) originally had no title. In fact my copy is not titled (in keeping with the very understated music the cover of the album shows the singer in blurred silhouette against some net curtains). Later versions were given the Days In The Wake title although this was still not printed on the cover. The Palace Brothers name was then replaced by Palace Music before Oldham settled on his most famous stage name Bonnie "Prince" Billy which he has largely stuck with since 1998, just occasionally releasing an album under his real name.

The primary purpose of the pseudonym is to allow both the audience and the performer to have a relationship with the performer that is valid and unbreakable.

He has also revisited his back catalogue and in 2004 released Sings Greatest Palace Music where he re-recorded his solo Palace era music with a country band. About half of the tracks on Days In The Wake reappear in their more up tempo band setting on Sings Greatest....I love the album of reworkings although I have read original fans didn't like it and it received a bewilderingly scathing review in Pitchfork. Perhaps it was significant I heard Sings Greatest...before the originals. True, the versions are very different. They are almost different songs. But so what, Dylan and Young have been reworking their songs for years.

Palace period Will Oldham before he became Bonnie "Prince" Billy

One thing that is constant is Will Oldham's weak and fragile voice which literally cracks under the slightest of pressure. I love it. It may be weak in the traditional sense but it is packed full of emotion and is perfect for his songs.

He's also not afraid to stop when he's said enough. This album is small and perfectly formed with it's 10 tracks clocking in at a remarkable 27 minutes. Not the only time Oldham has served up a very short album (the delicious Master And Everyone springs to mind).

A weak voice is not an issue with country maverick Griffin Anthony who has one of those effortlessly laid back drawls synonymous with easy going country music. His Refuge is a pure and simple album which sounds like it was recorded in your front room. I guess with a bunch of crack Nashville sessions players too. Sure it's country (with a generous sprinkling of contemporary "alt" and "americana") and the lyrics confirm this - old tales of war vets, goldrush prospectors, and god fearing, hard fighting, working men fallen on hard times. But Griffin isn't afraid to rock out too - Only Hope Remains could be a stadium filler, or even get funky in places - On The Level with it's stuttering guitar strum sounds like Bill Withers. Nicely done.

***

It's that time of year when the year end best of lists start to emerge. I think many years ago there would be some degree of consensus in the press. There was less music around and a more focused genre of music attached to each era. Now anything goes and anyone can make a record.

One of the best lists around is produced by Brighton's local Resident Records. If you are in the area it is worth picking up a free copy of their Annual - actually I think the nice boys and girls there will send you one (or possibly add one to any online orders). It is worth a read and you're sure to discover new music. You can view online here too:  The Resident Annual.

I'll be doing my own 2018 review in the next week or so.

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Log #115 - Vital Music For The Human Condition At The Dawn Of The New Millennium

Some new procurements this week with a Suede charity bin pick up, the debut album from German electronic duo Mouse On Mars, and a deep dive into minimalism with New York composer William Basinski. Radiohead's excellent follow up to Ok Computer retains an entry as does Ricochet from Tangerine Dream. The ever reliable Holger Czukay from Can makes a return with his very down tempo Moving Pictures album.

Mouse On Mars - Vulvaland

Radiohead - Kid A

Holger Czukay - Moving Pictures

Suede - Coming Up

Tangerine Dream - Ricochet

William Basinski - The Disintegration Loops III

I've been very impressed with the post Ok Computer offerings from Radiohead. Both Kid A and Amnesiac were pleasant surprises, taking the band far beyond what I expected after that album. Straight from the off with the gorgeous organ introduction to Everything In Its Right Place you realise Kid A is, again, going to be something new. This is quite an achievement for a band that could so easily have rested on its laurels after the critical success of the previous album. In fact many "best of" lists rank Kid A above "Ok" as the top Radiohead album.

Throughout the record Radiohead mine new ground, from the Tangerine Dream/Kraftwerk like electronics on the opener, through Efterklang glitches and crackles, Daft Punk vocal distortions, and bubbling percussion on the gem of the title track which packs a huge amount into its 4:44 running time. National Anthem has an insistent distorted bass and goes all out jazz fusion. The fourth track How To Disappear Completely recalls the more usual miserabilist Thom Yorke singing and unremarkable acoustic strumming but there are lush strings in support. The ambient instrumental Treefingers is a super little track, up there with the best Aphex Twin and Brian Eno compositions (sorry Thom, sometimes the band don't need you). Optimistic and In Limbo are again a bit more standard Radiohead but I love Idioteque with it's Aphex Twin like backing percussion. Morning Bell is probably my favourite track - seeming to perfectly mesh the old rock and new electronic Radiohead.

I was also very impressed with the Mouse On Mars album. It is a bit more ambient and down tempo than Autoditacker which featured in Log #109. I was amazed to discover the record was released in 1994 - it sounds so contemporary.

The CD that requires most explanation in this selection is William Basinski's haunting 9/11 elegy Disintegration Loops.

One of the most pre-eminent American artistic statements of the 21st Century.

To indicate the power of such music consider that I had three other people in the room while playing this album. One said they liked it, the other two asked me to turn it off - one because they simply found the music distressing, and one, who initially managed the music ok, became distressed after I told them the story behind it's conception. 

For a piece of music, or any piece of art actually, to have such a profound effect on people (positive or negative) I think is impressive. In fact maybe it is (or should be) the point. The only other piece of music I recall having such a strong physical effect on listeners was 6 Pianos by Steve Reich.

The most important minimal compositions of the past decade.

The effect is however surprising. Not least as it is ambient music and very very ambient music at that. It is so background it would have seemed almost inaudible to a casual listener.  Except it wasn't!

I got a bunch of tape decks and tape, some scotch tape and scissors and started fooling around and recording everything and mixing and playing around.

The loops are literally loops (very short ones). The music repeats every couple of bars creating a hypnotic effect. On each cycle the music literally deteriorates ever so slightly (as Basinski's source tapes gradually disintegrated on playback) eventually leaving only fragments and flickers of the original buried beneath distorted rumbles and echoes which sound like the roll of distant thunder or perhaps even the falling of the Twin Towers themselves - solid at first, before cracks form and spread, eventually leading to an accelerated tumble into dust and rubble, and then finally nothing... blackness, death, silence, peace.

Basinski grapples with his tapes

It is interesting how you listen to these pieces. Your expectant and conditioned mind inevitably fills in the gaps as the actual music falls away. Something similar occurs when you read a passage where olny teh frsit adn lsat ltetres of ecah wrod are in teh rhigt oedrr. Experiments have shown that our sight can be unreliable with our mind making up images that are expected but aren't actually there. 

Stunning. This is vital music for the human condition.

But what is the effect? Is it sickness, or depression, or boredom, inquisitiveness, or horror or indifference? I doubt the latter would be the case for most listeners. This type of hypnotic music generally does something to your consciousness reaching parts of your brain usually left untouched and this piece particularly packs a powerful emotional punch. It's hard to remain neutral. Is a negative effect more valid than no effect at all? Is this piece of music the equivalent of a giant black canvas by Rothko? 

Is it any good? How do you define good? And does it matter? Is it a massive con? Or is the effect the important thing? Does the music stand up alone or is the back story essential? I have to admit once I knew the context it became very hard to extract the music from it's surroundings. The two are inextricably entwined and whether by chance or design the music is a startlingly vivid soundtrack to a momentous historical event.

I would argue that it is the personal effect a piece has on you that is important, above any cold technical analysis, and that's why the sticker on the cover of the CD has the above quotes [or is that part of the conspiracy? Ed].

The cover shots were taken on the evening of 9/11

Some other initial thoughts: This CD (part 3 containing Loops 4 and 5) is one of a series of 5 albums (over 6 hours of music). But I don't think I need to hear any of the others, not any time soon anyway. I'm not sure I will play this one that often to be honest - maybe just when I'm in the mood - I figure it could be useful when drifting off to sleep or when unable to sleep (if it doesn't give me nightmares - perhaps it wouldn't be wise to listen to this in the dark). Actually I didn't play it all that soon after purchasing it as I felt I knew what it sounded like already having sampled a couple of clips.

Interesting isn't it...?

After the events of 9/11, everything changed. The whole world changed. The context of Disintegration Loops changed. And I felt, with my experience being in New York at the time, and what I went through and what I saw my friends go through, I wanted to create an elegy.

As for the subject matter I would prefer to think of it as a homage in honour to all those who lost their lives or were affected by the terrible events of 9/11 but I can understand those (including one of my fellow listeners above) who consider it an unnecessary and macabre reminder or even an opportunistic or unethical endeavour? Personally I think it is a valid and important document which arose by genuine chance and random timing without contrivance or manipulation. For many that may find the work distressing there will also be others who find it comforting and cathartic.

Finally it has just occurred to me that The Disintegration Loops has some parallels with Kid A - the Radiohead album was released a year before 9/11 and it's songs of disconnection and alienation could equally be considered vital music for the human condition at the dawn of the new millennium.

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Log #114 - Lowlight, Highlight, Midlight, and Sunlight Over The Atlantic

Highlight this week is Klaus Schulze's Audentity double album. But cover topping is provided by the Sunlight of Tangerine Dream's Ricochet 'cos it's just gorgeous (it's a shot from a beach on the west coast of France). Lowlight is the Arcade Fire album which was disappointing to be polite. Midlight we have two very interesting Radiohead albums.

Arcade Fire - Everything Now

Radiohead - Kid A

Radiohead - Amnesiac

Tangerine Dream - Ricochet

Klaus Schulze - Audentity CD1

Klaus Schulze - Audentity CD2

In the words of Phil Mogg of excellent UK rock outfit UFO: "Oh My", this was a surprise, but not in a good way. The pappy pop of Arcade Fire's Everything Now reminds me of... ugh Vampire Weekend and Noah's whatever... Or Mercury Rev (and even a bit of Prince* which is fine btw but not what I was expecting)... or any number of similar anaemic watered down independent US guitar pop bands. [Ed: they are Canadian].

*The Prince like stuff surfaces on the funk/disco of Good God Damn. We Don't Deserve Love has some interesting whirly synths but generally there's far too much keyboards and fey singing for me.

Now, why was I "not expecting"? Well, it's because I've heard the band much revered, at least in the past - probably around the time of The Suburbs (2010) - but was that album any different? I probably won't bother to find out anytime soon after hearing this insipid effort.

Talking of "not bothering to find out" something similar happened to me when I heard OK Computer. I got it when it came out in 1997. Unfortunately I didn't join in the universal praise for the album and that was a real shame in retrospect as it put me off following up with any Radiohead for many years consequently missing out on some albums that appear to be better.

Having now heard the two follow up albums listed here (from 2000 and 2001 respectively) I am left with a renewed admiration for a band never afraid to push the boundaries.

I don't really think Kid A deliberately tossed aside the OK Computer blueprint. It's just an intelligent band naturally developing something new 3 years later. So we have interesting electronics, distortions, motorik rhythms, and lots of chilled electronica, both of the dancey beats kind and most surprisingly of the ambient Enoesque kind too - Treefingers is straight off Eno's Apollo album!

There are even glitches and scratches. I'm hearing the gestation of Efterklang in this sound (Efterklang formed in 2000). In fact if I'd heard the title track from Kid A out of context I would have guessed it came from Efterklang's Tripper/Springer sessions.

Amnesiac followed suit - the albums could have made a double they are so similar in atmosphere. I guess it won't be long before I make a visit to other critically acclaimed Radiohead albums like the ones that followed this pair - Hail To The Thief and In Rainbows.

Hats off to the boys.

One criticism I can't quite round out though is Thom Yorke's singing. I don't think it quite works somehow, especially on the less than straight forward non-rock stuff. This probably represents a huge sacrilege to the band's legions of fans but I have to say I prefer the instrumental passages (or at least the vocals when heavily distorted, as they are for the most part on Kid A). The backing music is never less than interesting and it's obvious the drummer, bassist and the Greenwood fellow on guitar are consummate musicians (I'm not surprised Jonny G has composed film soundtracks).

Continuing my interest in ambient/electronic/sequencer/berlin/motorik/komische/ whatever you'd like to call it, I supplemented my collection with a couple of TD **/Schulze purchases. I had Ricochet many years ago on cassette. I've never heard Audentity before.

** I was admonished for using the abbreviation "Tan Dream" on a facebook fanatics group a few months' back. Apparently TD is acceptable but don't mention Klaus Schulze.

Ricochet followed on from Rubycon (which I have not heard yet in it's complete form although I have one half on a compilation) and the celebrated Phaedra album and, as with the Radiohead examples above, it's quite a change of direction. Phaedra was on the ambient side - Ricochet heralds in a new rockier sound with heavier rhythms TD would develop on albums like Force Majeure. Recorded live (although that does not mean much in the context of this sort of music albeit there is some crowd noise in between "songs") the album consists of two "side" long tracks.

There are a lot of Schulze albums out there. Over 50 apparently! I've only heard two or three of his albums so turned to social media to canvas some opinion on where to start. There was little consensus aside from one or two of his 70s albums like Timewind which I will visit at some point in the future.

Audentity had mixed reviews from the social media crowd but I'm pleased I picked it up. It seems to me to contain some of his best, most consistent, and interesting work. There are real strings (of the sawing cello type rather than the lush chordal synth type) and lots of avant garde effects and twists and turns. But the most pleasing tracks are the extended modular/sequencer synth workouts where the backing track locks into a tremendous groove and Schulze does his random stuff over the top.

This is evident in the 25 minute album opener Cellistica but the highlight is the second half of CD2. Some issues refer to a 58 minute bonus track entitled Gem. On my copy we have a 12 minute Gem but the real meat of the bonus is within the 4 following tracks starting with Tiptoe On The Misty Mountain Tops that merge imperceptibly into one 47 minute masterpiece. I've had this playing through headphones on loud repeat (ipod battery allowing) and it's a tremendous experience! If you purchase your own copy of the album make sure it contains these bonus tracks.

 

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