23rd Track

Funkadelic - Maggot Brain

2012-01-01T23:37:00.000Z

Well a good excuse for not updating with my picks of 2011, I am afraid. A close relative passed away over Christmas and I have been rather busy on things not work or fun related.

Although we had gone through their Will and wishes for type of service, we hadn't spoken about music.

Now you know that music means a lot to me, without it, I am nothing, so my Desert Island Discs are continually updated. However my thoughts on music for my own funeral, well, I had never finalised anything. It got me to thinking, what should I have?

Is it that which means the most to me? Is it Something somber? Should it be the opposite to this - perhaps something upbeat? (My mother always jokes that I would play "Ding Dong, The Witch is Dead" at hers...) Well, I know what I do want, but this is a close second.....

Forget the rather creepy imagery. That's all it is. Rather than waste any time re-writing it's Wiki entry - this is what it says..

According to legend, George Clinton, under the influence of LSD, told Eddie Hazel during the recording session to imagine he had been told his mother was dead, but then learned that it was not true. The result was the 10-minute guitar solo for which Hazel is most fondly remembered by many music critics and fans. Though several other musicians began the track playing, Clinton soon realized how powerful Hazel's solo was and faded them out so that the focus would be on Hazel's guitar. Critics have described the solo as "lengthy, mind-melting" and the ending as "an emotional apocalypse of sound."

But it is more than that - the pure unadulterated passion and heart of Eddie Hazel's playing is second to none. It transcends anything that words can explain. I give you two other examples - Mr Carlos Santana, please step forward....

Santana's second guitarist (Ronnie Earl) there proving you don't need distortion to make a hell of an impact. (1.47 onwards). I hope Eric Clapton hears that and realises how over-rated he is.

The Second example is from Funkadelic again - but post Eddie Hazel. Eddie left the group (in jail, health problems, legal disputes - the usual, unfortunately) and George Clinton brought in Michael Hampton (Kid Funkadelic) aged just 17 at the time to replace him.

This version is from a bit later - 1978

Blinding. Just so superb, even with piss poor quality recording and sound, he manages to keep the listener with him, even when the other instruments aren't playing.

But not what I would like played at my funeral. That would be this...

Please ignore the video - the song is "Mysteries of Love" by Angelo Badalamenti, unreleased version from Twin Peaks - not the Blue Velvet version. Moving and Magnificent.

Things I have learnt in the last week - Write your Will, Pay for your own Funeral, let people know what you want done at it, make sure your finances are easy for others to understand.
Choose your own music.

2010 - Other top picks....

2011-12-19T22:13:00.000Z

Before I start yarbelling about 2011, lets look back at 2010 and the tunes from that 12 month period that, frankly have stood the test of time and the bands that made it great for me.

First up - and top of the list for me is Plumtree.
I know I have written about them before, and I know they split up 12 years ago, but this tune just proves that great music is timeless....

That album is bloody fantastic and was my top play for 2010 - and much of this year. If you can't find it at a decent price, buy their greatest hits from their band website and torrent "Predicts the future" just for that track. A flipping superb turnaround 2/3rds of the way through, great riffing and perfect vocals.

Next up - The Breeders. I got a second wind of them and started listening to some of the deeper album tracks and odder singles. Like this puppy...

Much like the wonderful Plumtree, but a little more "Worldly-wise" and direct. Instead of talking about company figures which I know little of and care even less, I gave a 5 minute talk on the history of The Breeders. Far more interesting.

3rd - Mogwai. I have written about this Scottish band before, but really played them to death in 2010. And not without reason:

Proving that too many effects, when used correctly are NOT a bad thing. Play that all the way through, mellow and thoughtful to full shred in one song.

But what about the one offs? The single tracks that kicked all kinds of bottom? Tracks sent to me, advised by friends or just single tracks from albums that tickled something inside me?

Like Deadmau5?

OK, not such an original or groundbreaking artist, but there is something about that track that really gets to me, perhaps the similarity to DJ Shadow or Daft Punk is what is going on, but I genuinely think it is a standout track. Listened to 3 of his albums and only discovered 3 track worth rating though....

I think I may have written about Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes already, but if I was making a disc of 2010, this would be there for certain. Simple, beautiful, memorable. And it has whistling....

Two artists I had not given much credit to in the past, proved to me that I had missed out on something. No idea how they got together as I suspect their roads may never have crossed in normal circumstances, but a great (couple) of albums of peerless songwriting and performance.

Somebody else I never had much time for - Johnny Lydon. However after watching a documentary on them, this track sang out to me. Not just for the interesting structure and a better understanding of what he was trying to do with his voice but also the quote from "Guitar God" Steve Vai who was a session player on this album "Probably my greatest guitar solo on record"

Ugly Duckling - a 93 rap crew from California made a superb album and it took me this long to find it. I had tracks on tape from way back but had no idea who they were..... Bit like De La Soul with tongue firmly in their cheek....

The Go Team! Flashlight Fight featuring Chuck D - need more be said? It starts at full throttle and continues the same way. Nice.....

However the musical monument of the year was, for me the Film "Scott Pilgrim Vs the World". I loved the comic book, loved the story, loved the Director (Edgar Wright was the ONLY choice) loved the film, and the soundtrack.... I think at last count there was 4 albums worth of material released - all of it inspirational from Plumtree to The Black Lips, from the well known (Bowie) to the unknown (Anamanaguchi). Not the most popular film, but it could not be improved upon. It is not about music - it is music. Hurrah.

The Fall - The Classical

2011-12-05T22:59:00.000Z

Before I get started on 2011 - I missed out on 2010, mainly because there was only two new albums I liked (even less this year) so decided not to do it.

Miserable sod.

So I am looking through a playlist "Class of 2010" this week and picking out a couple.

The playlist is simple - as is my rules - If the track was added to iTunes between 1st January 2010 and 31st December 2010 - it is in. I then rank it by number of plays. Fairly straight forward. This, however isn't one of the top plays.

It does, however need to be heard.

Press Play dammit!

It's a keeper! Now, if you don't know about, or have never heard of The Fall, you really need to go and visit the Disney website, or something. You don't need to be here. Whatever you think of their music - whether "It is a work of sublime genius" or "It's a load of noisy tosh" people have strong opinions on the Fall.

Plusses - John Peel loved them, often saying they were his favourite band - Quote: "They are always different, they are always the same". They are from Manchester before it was hip and have influenced dozens of bands and have released over a hundred albums (29 studio recordings)
Minuses - most of it, you really do need to be open to listen to it. It is not easy listening.

Thank God. There is too much music in the world that is just not worth listening to. It is there to pass you by as clouds in the sky - unobtrusive and ignorable.

This you can't ignore - post punk and with such a "fuck you" attitude that almost is there just to piss the listener off. Well, that seems to sum up front man and sole continual member of the band Mark E Smith.
Who?

This guy:

Not a pretty fellow after a few years the wrong side of the bar, but creative none the less. Apparently a horrendous man to work for, the through put of musicians in The Fall is astounding - with many leaving and having fights with him even onstage. He was once arrested for attacking a band member. He even committed the cardinal sin of fiddling about with the bass players amps mid song. Les Bell once said if anyone ever did that to him, they would find out whether a Fender Bass could be inserted anally.

However, he also has astonishing support, even from ex-members, none of whom would speak against him. Is The Fall run like a cult? He certainly seems to have that sort of following. For example, what sort of person should read out the results on Match of the day? A damaged alcoholic? Probably not, but he did....

The best bit is at the end when he discusses and cuts into the presenters.
So what about the tune - the one at the beginning which prevented them from being signed to Motown (the story being it was the only album he had to had when the president of the label asked to hear them) The lyrics may have had a part to play in that - "Where are the obligatory niggers? / Hey there fuck-face!"

Pounding toms and a cyclical bass line, before Mark Riley strums in with the post-punk guitar synonymous with The Fall at the time. A great and catchy tune, that would lose so much if Mark E Smiths voice was wasn't as disjointed and seemingly screechingly ambivalent to the the formation of "Classic" song formation. It is this dichotomy between the rather formulaic bass and drums against the guitar and voice that turns the tune from awful into awesome. At parts it could almost be the Cure, others PIL or even Dead Kennedys.

On top of all that he did perform singing duties to one of my favourite 90's songs in much the same vein....

I love the fact that Mark E Smith was on Top of the Pops.
The producers must have been shitting themselves....
A drunk Mr Smith with the lyrics in his hand and Simon Mayo trying to be "above it all". My god he really deserves a punch in the clacka, doesn't he?

Frank Zappa - Guitar

2011-12-04T23:38:00.000Z

I am very tired and feeling ill. However before the rundown of my "Class of 2011" annual music from the year, I thought I would touch upon my favorite album of all time.

In really quick summation, it is a double CD just made up of guitar solos by Mr Zappa. Quite quickly you will have decided that it probably isn't for you. And most of you will be right.

So why on earth was a double CD comprising of just 32 long tracks in existence? Was it an experiment? Nope.
He had already released the "Shut up and Play your Guitar" Triple album - comprising the original, "Son of SUAPYG" and "Return of the Son of SUAPYG". Why?
Well, he is just too darn individual as a player. This isn't the same solo heard on the studio version of the track he plays it is improvisational composition on the fly.

As an avid recorder of all of his shows (apparently there are 4 underground vaults in Laurel Canyon full of every live and studio recording he made) he wasn't short of material. Even then he would play around with it in the studio. During the recording for "Joes Garage" a previous triple album he never recorded a solo in the studio. He took the solos recorded on the 1980 tour, extracted them from the mix and made them fit into the already recorded songs. Apparently this would piss off the engineers plenty as they would have to play about with speeds and pitches in order to get them to sync.

But why, still does this exist? In my mind it is simple. He really is that good. The composition of each solo, when mixed with occasionally odd rhythmic backing tracks is exceptional. There is nothing else like it. His knowledge of how to play music along with control of feedback and tonal quality is second to none.

Quite a rarity there - on the album known as "The Secret Carlos Santana Chord Progression" that bootleg version from the 80's shows some really evil fuzz colouring his chops! The fact that the style and content of the solos could change each night is impressive. Most guitarists would be happy just doing the same old thing, night after night, but he took it as a challenge, if not a resposibility to improvise - and well, regardless of the situation.

To finish with here is a great recording from the 70's - note in the touring band is the Jazz pianist George Duke and violinist John Luc Ponty. Most impressive (apart from his suit) is how animated and aggressive this solo is, taking into consideration they are playing outside in sub zero temperatures....

Screw 2012, bring back the 70's.
Next week - a review of 2011 on what I have heard....

Henry Mancini - Shot in the Dark

2011-11-03T00:26:00.000Z

Just looking up some great earworms this evening and the master turns up once again - the magnificent Henry Mancini.

Let's have a listen...

Superb - you didn't think you knew it until you pressed play, did you?
Bit of history first - Enrico Nicola Mancini was a second generation Italian immigrant to the US. His parents made him take piccolo lessons at the age of 8 and piano at 12. Quite late for such a bizarre instrument (I started at 7 and still don't like it), however, young Henry must have been practicing a lot more that I did at that age as he ended up at the celebrated Julliard school in New York. Nice. I believe a certain Mr Miles Davis also passed through those doors, although a little later, seeing as after a year Mancini was drafted.

After the war finished he went straight into the music business - as the pianist and arranger for the Glenn Miller Orchestra. Nice.

He then joined Universal Pictures - scoring for such pictures as Creature from the Black Lagoon and It came from Outer Space. Shame. He did then meet someone who would change his life - Blake Edwards. Nowadays, Edwards is not seen as a great master of the silver screen, but he has a great many films which shaped modern movie making - from Breakfast at Tiffanys to The Pink Panther movies.

Mancini had already scored The Peter Gunn theme and the first Pink Panther movie - and this theme, for the second movie sits somewhere inbetween. Let's see it in context - about 3 minutes in...

It almost writes all the cliches about themes in movies - muted surf guitar means spys and detectives and it hits you in the face. Then the vibrato reedy horn sweeps in playing the melody and then about 40 seconds in you can almost hear the rest of the horn section stand up and just blow... a little lazily, relaxed but in control.
Some great double stop lines from the punchy, but still mildly subdued horns letting us know that they are still in control. About 1.10 in and a low register sax takes a solo - sultry and smokey, giving the image of mystery and intrigue. 2 mins in and the horns really show who is boss after a brief refrain, and the magical 2 minutes 30 ends on really big "Big Band" chords - boom, boom, Ba-doom.

Catchy, memorable and simple - perfect as an earworm and and excellent for a soundtrack.

On Holiday! - Later with Jools Holland sucks

2011-11-01T23:12:00.000Z

Well, I'm on holiday North of the border, relaxing and getting out when the road isn't flooded. More sadly, I am watching too much television.

Have I seen anything I can say was brilliant? Not really.
I did manage to watch all 4 hours of Guided by Voiced last ever gig - a bit of a mixed bag, seeing as he got progressively more drunk and incoherent as the night went on. He remembered all the lyrics, but I was surprised he could stand, he was so drunk at the end.

So no video today, just a semi-drunken rant. All that was on TV tonight was Jools "Smug dwarf" Holland and his self congratulatory promo-fest "Later"
What an unbearable git festival of record company promoted talent free shits. It used to be that programs like this (remember the White Room) promoted genuinely talented acts, whether they were David Bowie or Seasick Steve.

This evening, however, I was greeted by Brett Anderson, clearly back on the brown, promoting a new soul-less solo song, Florence and the Machine, trying to sell her second album, after being briefed and coached by her record company to the point where she looked less flawed and human that this time last year and more like a carefully polished mannequin. He then had an interview with Mary J Bildge who managed to enlighten us that her new song "Was all about love - because it really is all you need"

The worst act was Pete Townsend though. He was on promoting the latest re-release of Quadraohenia.
Nothing wrong with that - good film, good album. Things wrong with it - 1. having that half deaf old pederast play and sing it on his own. OK, he is not a bad singer, but he is not Roger Daltery. 2. "Jools" decided to improve it by joining in on the old joanna.

Who the bloody hell told him he was any good? He reduces any piece of music into a jangly cover more suited to a primary school. He may think he is adding to the acoustic bandwidth by playing the piano. He isn't - he is deconstructing music to it's raw elements and sucking all the magic out of it. Jingly jangly bumpf. Christ - I watched Rambo 3 (Rambo talks the Taliban round to join him in the fight against communism) last night, and that added more to the magic of film than Holland does to music.

Anyhow, I'm on Old Jock Radio on Thursday - go to the website, join in and slate me as much as you like then.

All the best, wish you were here (apart from Jools Holland)

Old Jock Radio - 3rd October 2010

2011-10-26T00:13:00.000+01:00

Well my writing has suffered recently, sorry about that. I blame everything and everyone else but me.
However, some good news. Les Bell's memory seems to have taken a beating as I have been invited back to Arborath's most popular pirate internet radio station (Disclaimer: only on a Thursday night between 9pm and 11pm)

So next Thursday type in www.oldjockradio.com fire up your MSN Messenger type device and join in live - ask questions, throw abuse, start rumors. You can join in this week if you want, or listen to old shows from the link at the top. I can't think of a better way to spend a Thursday evening.

Well, I can, but she doesn't return my calls.

As this is about music, have this video of Led Zeppelin. It turned up on my playlist today and all I could think was "But this is utter shite, why did they bother?" I suppose you can't always turn out gold....

When it started, I too thought it was a version of 'In the Evening' that I couldn't recall, or a cover by Donovan, but it wasn't. It was this tired, old, frankly lackluster tune that never really goes anywhere.

Shame... time to change that one's rating to something under 2 stars....

Stone Roses - Begging You

2011-10-18T21:38:00.000+01:00

Well with their Third Coming officially announced, I had "Only Stone Roses" on my playlist on the way back from a "Touchy Feeley" day finding out what colour energy I radiate at work. Blueish green, if you are interested.

Thankfully this track came up - statistically, it was probably the second most likely track to show, after Fools Gold, seeing as this single had 6 different mixes on it....

So, strippers, a miming band and various stock footage of tribal dances.... Who said that rock excesses can wipe out artistic en-devours? Well, me.

What one thing seems stranger than the rest in the video though?
German Folk dancing? Nope
Strippers with cut out face masks of the band? Nope
Band even more dour than usual? Nope

Who is the drummer? Is it Reni? Is it heck. I see no hat!
For the third and final single from their second album, erm, Second Coming, Reni had left. A few months later, the main songwriter, guitarist John Squire also packed his bags. The 1996 Reading Festival gig was poor at best - off key vocals and a shocked audience...

Poor quality all round. And the last gig they played. It had all got too much.

How did it get this way? Either you know, or can read Wikipedia...

In short - Manchester fellows form band, change the line up a few times and hit it on the nose with Ian Brown, John Squire, Reni and Mani. Release a few singles through small indie labels (and Rough Trade) then sign with a larger label. Release a hit, groundbreaking album. Act like arses on TV, get bigger, then try to leave their label. Goes through the courts for years, preventing them recording a second album. Sort out the legalities, spend 3 years making follow up. It gets released, is at the same time slated and lauded in the press. Have personal problems, split up.
Phew...

My history - I bought their first album on cassette (it was the future then kids, honest) and played the living hell out of Fools Gold when it was released - I can't even tell you how many releases of that I own. I know I have a CD single of it, with 8 dreadful remixes of it. And then what did we all do? Wait, wait, wait for more from them. Even when they weren't doing anything they were in the music press. I remember Second Coming being released and being truly excited. I didn't have enough money to buy it, but luckily my housemate The Shapesmith did. We listened to it, avidly - I particularly enjoyed the long warbling, backwards sample-heavy introduction to the whole album.

Forgive the computer game animations and plinks and plonks - no real need for that, is there? - but the music....
I was getting into Fripp/Eno and the Orb around the end of 94, so I could hear exactly where this was coming from. But after over 5 years of waiting for new material, this introduction seemed to embody exactly what we as listeners had been suffering - mere echoes and samples of the Stone Roses for an age when all we wanted was new tunes! Aaagh. Please start playing for real....

However, nearly a year later in November 95 the final single was released. Begging you.
Backwards guitars throughout, pounding drums and Mani's superb bass lines weaving a driving tapestry around Ian Browns mystical, apolcalyptic vocals. I remember buying the CD single and playing it non-stop - all 6 remixes, until the very same Shapesmith couldn't take it anymore and burst in asking me to either change it or turn it off. Quite right too....

Was the album any good? Yes - crikey yes! As good as the first one, but different - that long a break when you are as creative as that affects you. It was embracing the changing scene - Blur and Oasis were around and hip, Nirvana was imploding and exploding at the same time and dance music had taken hold and split into various genres. More production, samples and certainly a "heavier" sounding slab of vinyl.

What will 15 years have done to the band? God only knows. I just hope that musically they have aged well. It will be a lot different, but what the fruits of their labour will be, we can only wait and find out.

This song, really is one of their classics, with funky upbeat vibes, twisted rock guitars and dynamics that other bands could only wish for.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aside:
I've just realised something really odd. At this time I was seeing a Mancunian lady who I nick-named Mani - it was short for her name, but would a Freudian say it was a subliminal replacement for a man-crush on the Stone Roses bass player? Eurgh... God, I hope not. The Stone Roses lasted a lot longer than we did....

Delays.... so bonus video

2011-09-28T21:40:00.000+01:00

Yeah. So, more delays.

Work is the main excuse, but also I have new wheels.... so that cost a fortune and cost me about 6 months of my life due to stress.

I was going to upload Diesel Power in celebration of the fact that I am now significantly old and own my first Diesel..... balls to that though as it isn't really a good Prodigy track.

The car does have a fairly good stereo, 6 disc MP3 multi changer thingamy. So I let it rip with more Nirvana on the way back from the dealer....

I particularly liked the recently released live at the Paramount disc - great recording quality - something missing from much of the previous released live material. The DVD isn't too bad either as apparently it is the only live recording on 35mm, rather than digital equipment. Or VHS to old people.

Enjoy this as a break....

You know, I don't even mind the "quirky" angles. Remember, at the time programmes like "The Word" and "Rapido" made this kind of thing their mainstay. It's a bit honest, of it's time and, oh heck, yes, a Golden Memory....

Nirvana - Sappy

2011-09-23T23:18:00.000+01:00

Well, it's about time for the 20th anniversary of Nevermind, and it is being re-released again.

However - 1 disc version - about £7
2 disc version - £11
4 disc and DVD - £75

Balls to that. And I love this album.
I will explain what the picture to the left is, and why you shouldn't pay anymore money for this stuff, but do have a listen to the stand out track on the release:

Sappy.

Not a bad video that either.

My opinion is that that track really stands out as one that could have been released posthumously. Along with "I know You're Right". Never was. The story goes that it was recorded many times during their career, but it never was of the standard that they wanted. The fantastic chord changes are particularly original - but as you'll hear from the different versions on this page, they clearly never managed to record what they heard in their heads....

So how come on my computer I have 8 versions of it already?
It's all to do with a bunch of things that happened all at the same time. Ranging from personal computing to Courtney Love.

We know the Nirvana story - I'm not going through it at length again. His suicide was inevitable as winter following autumn. And we all watched it happen. Week after week that poor bastard was on the cover of NME, either performing at a concert off his tits, or being hospitalized after swallowing every pill he could find. And we bloody lapped it up.

This was before September 11th 2001 and before Diana slammed into a Paris tunnel. There was a more cynical, sarcastic air to celebrity. Both of those events made us more empathetic towards people we had never met or had a connection with. Kurt Cobains suicide was not a surprise.

What also has to be remembered is that they were bloody massive. Musical trends and fashions move a lot faster today - and the internet helps with that - spreading music globally for free. You don't have to wait for delivery of albums in stores, or learn through monthly magazines what the news is - it is now instant. If I want to listen to Dennis Bovell playing with Steve Mason, I can just search for it online. I can buy it, or steal it within 5 minutes.

Back then this wasn't the case....

We had to physically search for news, and releases. Nirvana was so big, there was a huge blackmarket for bootlegs. CD duplication was getting cheap and easy - and once it had been 'saved' somewhere there was no drop in quality as time went on. Recordings from the radio (Peel sessions etc) made it onto CDs and then onto market stalls. For Nirvana this became such a problem, they released the album "Insecticide" made up purely of live and rare recordings. However, for hard core fans (and there were a lot of them) this wasn't enough by far.

One of the most famous set of bootlegs was called "Outsecticide" series. Expanding on the premise of Insecticide, this collected the live recordings, as well as the rare tracks from earlier days (the Fecal Matter cassette) TV and Radio. I feel it was the success of this series of bootlegs that forced the hands of Geffen et al to release the "With the Lights out" box set.

What a great live version......
However, that took far too long to get released, thanks to Courtney Loves bizarre ideas as to how Cobains legacy should be managed. Frankly the only people suffering from the arguments between Love and Grohl and Novaselic are the fans. So if they can't get what they want, they'll invent it.

And that is the modern version of what was going on. The internet couldn't deliver bandwidth capable of video streaming - or even music streaming. People could, however, rig their video players up to their computers and rip the audio tracks from it. They could also then compile 70 odd minutes up and then master a whole CD. Play around with Photoshop and make a cover. Burn 100 copies and they could easily find their way around the world.

Yes I own bootlegs - from rare Nirvana, even rarer Orb and Pink Floyd Remixes and I love them.

Could it happen again? No. There is no taste or market for carefully produced entire albums. Due to a drop in bandwidth constraints and the ease of recording, video is available almost instantly from live shows on Facebook etc. You can see how easy it has been for me to find this track half a dozen times. But as a track, rather than on an album.

And that is why this new box set is pointless. The bootleggers have been there first. 20 years ago.
Ironically, of course, this new boxset was available online for free about a week ago. Some good cuts, some doubled or tripled over the discs. I'm probably still going to buy it. Again. I hate marketing.

They've even released another Cobain limited edition guitar. I am seriously thinking of buying for investment purposes. What kind of stupid bastard scumbag does that make me? Damn.

Elvis Costello - Radio Radio

2011-09-21T22:01:00.010+01:00

Well, I was caught today at work.

Not drinking, or touching myself, but something far more embarrassing. Singing. Just two lines....

"When I'm not with you, I lose my mind"

I stopped immediately, instantly realising what I had just sung.
Hoping nobody else recognized what I had just done.
5 seconds go by.
10 seconds. I'm in the clear.
20 seconds....

"Geej, were you just singing Darius' operatic version of 'Hit me Baby, One More Time'?"

I wasn't singing that version, but I was singing Britney. It is a great pop song.
That doesn't stop the fact I was caught singing it being embarrassing.

Luckily, it wasn't today's 23rd Track. I immediately put on a playlist which I think I called "Angry" just to get Ms Spears out of my head.....

Today's visitor to 23rd Track is Mr Declan Patrick McManus. And that fact could win you a point in a pub quiz.

Now I have a bit of a soft spot for Elvis Costello, not just because of the shared spectacles fetish, and that he is a great songwriter, but he knows how to get some great sounds on record. Just listen to "Watching the Detectives" - one of the greatest snare sounds in recorded history.

Quite a zany look and style there - some of the worst teeth - and certainly one of the most recognizable voices in pop. Musically very accomplished as well - no Verse, Chorus, Verse set up here. The superb band The Attractions, fronted by Steve Naive just rounds the whole presentation off to a tee.

Lyrically though, lets do a bit of a comparison - an unfair one, yes, but lets just have some fun - it's all pop, innit?

Let's compare the first Verse and Chorus of "Hit me Baby" with "Radio Radio" - first up, Ms B. Spears

"
Oh baby baby
Oh baby baby

[Verse 1]
Oh baby baby
How was I supposed to know
That something wasn't right here
Oh baby baby
I shouldn't have let you go
And now you're out of sight yeah
Show me how you want it to be
Tell me baby cause I need to know now oh because

[Chorus]
My loneliness is killing me
(And I)
I must confess I still believe
When I'm not with you I lose my mind
Give me a sign
Hit me baby one more time"

And now Mr. McManus;

I was tuning in the shine on the light night dial
Doing anything my radio advised
With every one of those late night stations
Playing songs bringing tears to my eyes
I was seriously thinking about hiding the receiver
When the switch broke 'cause it's old
They're saying things that I can hardly believe
They really think we're getting out of control

(CHORUS) Radio is a sound salvation
Radio is cleaning up the nation
They say you better listen to the voice of reason
But they don't give you any choice 'cause they think that it's treason
So you had better do as you are told
You better listen to the radio

I wanna bite the hand that feeds me
I wanna bite that hand so badly
I want to make them wish they'd never seen me"

Right - so Ms Spears little ditty is about.... um. Not really sure. Is it an airheaded girl trying to get back with a boy she dumped previously and offering herself up for physical abuse? Is that it? Seems a bit of a rum do to me....

Elvis Costello, however, doesn't use the word "Baby" once and was written about the overcomercialisation of radio playlists and the moral high ground taken by stations by refusing to play politically aware punk songs. There is even a reference to the Sex Pistols "God Save the Queen" being banned as many thought playing it was tantamount to treason.

A much simpler time.....

The man can write. Nice. He also famously in the US on Saturday Night Live refused to play their previous single as requested and played this instead - ending up with him being banned from Saturday Night Live for decades.

That ban ended wonderfully in 1999 when he gatecrashed or should I say "Sabotaged" the Beastie Boys playing Sabotage to play.....

Nice. Now if you don't own any Elvis Costello, he is one of those artists that a Greatest Hits album, is just that. A decent bloody album filled with real hits, rather than, as in the case of certain 'pretty boy karaoke contest winners' greatest hits - the third album. Most his greatest hits albums concentrate on 70s-80s work. If you want something a bit more modern the album "Brutal Youth" is as close as you can get to somebody who has rediscovered youthful anger on record.

Anyhow, tomorrow may be delayed..... I am being "forced" to go out drinking. £1.50 Jaagerbombs.....

Chick Corea - Moment's Notice

2011-09-19T22:58:00.002+01:00

I think I should call this the "Rum Reviews" instead of 23rd Track. Yes it is the 23rd track, but I have found so much ease getting to sleep and relaxing after work thanks to cheap rum, it's embarrassing.

Buying a large bag of ice, two bags of mint and 4 limes along with a bottle of Value Rum.... not the greatest sight in Tesco this evening.

However, this bloody fantastic tune is one of those that, for me at least defines "Jazz".

Not the best video - not even the best still, but my ears tell me that is at least the right version of the John Coltrane classic tune "Moment's Notice".
What's that? You don't know the tune? Shame on you - Go out and buy "Blue Train" right now - one of the most important albums you will ever own. Buy "Kind of Blue" first, but "Blue Train" second....

Notice the amount that both versions share and importantly how they are different (apart from the first version is shorter...).
In many ways it reminded me of the theme music to Stella Street;

Chick Corea is one of the great post-Coltrane pianists and his really classy use of different chord voicings (is it called inversions in the muso world? I can't remember) during the introduction move and build the tune up to that early introductory crescendo.

But who is he? Well, he is a fusion/jazz pianist who started off playing with Blue Mitchell (writer of one of my favorite pieces of music - Dorado) and more importantly replacing Herbie Hancock in Miles Davis' band for two of his most groundbreaking albums In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew.
So you know he must be good.....

I had this version on a compilation CD - Late Night Jazz, purchased for £4 from the entrance to a Sainsbury in Guildford years ago. You know, sometimes those compilation CDs are worth the money you spend on them. Every track is a winner - from Stan Getz and Dave Brubeck to Stephane Grappelli, Wynton Marsalis, Dexter Gordon and Art Blakey. A veritable and genuinely impressive collection.

Many a night I have listened to this disc from beginning to end, whilst getting progressively drunker in the company of friends, or woken in the lazy morning and needed something to listen to and love. This is it. It reeks of wine and rolled fags, or fun and frolics. Of times when you don't need to talk, but can just enjoy the company of the musicians playing, at the peak of their game, pushing the boundaries. Just joyous.

Anyhow. Go grab a drink, or mix a rum based cocktail, settle back and listen to your favorite "Evening Jazz" album. I know I am. Nice.

Daft Punk - Alive 2007

2011-09-18T21:11:00.003+01:00

I am pissed off.  I need to buy a car.  Need, not want. Obviously one of the top requirements is a decent stereo, however, it all fell apart when the one I wanted was sold mere minutes before I walked in.....

What to cheer me up on the iPod then.....

Well we touched upon DP last week with their foray into animated movies. They managed a lot of things in those first few years.

Hit debut album, groundbreaking videos, huge DJ presence and touring like BillieO. 
They also released a compilation of their first videos (DAFT), certainly their DJ set on Radio 1 was astonishing. Mez had managed to record it on Minidisc (look it up kids, it was the future, back in the past) and we loved it. An astonishing mix of tunes we knew and tunes we didn't. This was back when the Internet had only a few hundred sites and we couldn't look it up and find out who had written this wonderful music.

All we knew was that it was chosen by Daft Punk. Who were cool. 
So when they released a live album, after that long first tour "Alive 1997" we were all over it.

In hindsight, it probably wasn't all that good, but the appetite for this 'up beat' form of disco dance music was such that we wanted everything.

Look!  They were normal humans once!

Two albums and ten years later, Daft Punk revisited their past triumph with "Alive 2007", in celebration of their tour to support "Human After All".


Their third album tour had been risky from before planning stages. Was there an audience for them still? How can you make 2 chaps in robot helmets pressing hidden buttons a live show?


They tried out a few formats the previous summer by auctioning off their only live festival date to the highest bidder. The Scotsman in me says 'Canny'. It gained them a lot of column inches, especially when they accepted all of the bids. It was even rumoured that they hired stand ins to at for them, as no-one knew what they looked like. Probably cobblers.

So 3rd album is released, and if I am honest, I still don't find it as inventive or as new as the previous two. A little plain, slow without much depth.

 However, live is another matter. In the 10 years since Homework, music tech had really increased. Just take a look at their work desk for that tour.... Whut?

Seriously... WTF is all that? No keyboards or decks? All computer control equipment.

The most important development for our French Duo was Ableton Live. Now, although I am a genius and know just about everything, I know very little about this.

From what I can gather, you can load all your samples, beats and loops into this bugger and you can automatically 'remix' live.  Have a look at this example of what can be achieved with a simple controller....

What this did was drastically alter their set, playlist and alter their tracks.  In fact, by forcing different tracks into each other it brought some of the drier tracks on "Human after all" to life.

That is a great example, should have put it at the top....

The new live mixing technology formed how their live set was to be performed, in itself re-formatting the style and composition of the pieces themselves.

And of course, it rocks....  There are loads of live videos out there on You Tube - some good bootlegs from Vegoose but what makes it for me is the Encore - which in this video below also mixes in Stardust's "Music Sounds Better With you" - one of the best pieces of pop/disco/dance music of the era and written by half of Daft Punk.

Enjoy:

Lenny Kravitz - Always on the Run

2011-09-14T21:10:00.001+01:00

Hurrah it's 1991 again.

Whether you think he is some sort of twat or a sex god, you have to admit that this tune is a good un.

Apparently Slash wrote this for Guns and Roses. I really can't imagine those twits going all 70's funk.

I remember seeing this on MTV whilst on holiday as a kid, thinking it was 'far out' and groovy.
I found the dual riff of guitars quite intriguing. The bass and the drums playing the back beat and stings from the horns - all this was completely new to me. It's amazing, I love it, how do I play it?

Of course - none of it is original - it's all based on something else.
Lets start with the most obvious one, Stevie Wonder's Superstition...

How about a Jeff Beck version?
What else?

Wild Cherry - Play that funky music White boy. Indeed.

Now, I can't be arsed to look up anything on Mr Kravitz, or Mr Slash, but I do know that The Verve had the living daylights sued out of them by Andrew Loog Oldham for stealing a riff - wheras this seems a bit of a bigger fish to me.

What a bloody rip off....

Done well, no doubt and I do like the solo, but what a fake load of stolen riffs pretending to be original. Booooooooooo. I've heard your original tunes and they are dull. Leave those supermodels alone, Mr Kravitz and go back to school.

In other news, I am still drinking and after running out of white rum, can conclude that mixing vodka and dark rum is not the same and turns Mojotos into some sort of "Angry Potion" for me.... Perhaps I should stop.....

Haircut 100 - Fantastic Day

2011-09-13T22:41:00.002+01:00

Yes, it's pop again. I may be running a few days late on this bugger, but the 23rd track this is....

Ah, Haircut 100 - for our younger readers may not know who the hell this is, but once upon a time pop music was not a dirty word, and it wasn't all manufactured crapola.

Sometimes friends who played instruments came together and formed "Pop Groups".

Sometimes they were shite.
Sometimes Pop Gold came out of it....

Formed in 1980 (Same year as yesterdays rather miserable in comparison track) Haircut 100 claim to have had a number of influences (The Jam and The Clash - really?) but what can be said in all truth is that they were a bit different. Not much, but enough to be noticed.
If you want labels - jazz-funk style pop with Talking Heads guitars.

They really had a bunch of hits - and quite right too - original, quirky pop tunes, smiling clean cut image - and just look at those jumpers - completely non-threatening. Even Simon Bates liked them.....

So what happened? Drugs? Sex with Pepsi and Shirley? Or did their next album go a bit too far on the jazz side?

Nope. Mental Illness. Plain and simple. Their rise to the top of their game was so fast and, to be honest, so high, that something had to give. After returning from the States where they had hit it super big as well as Japan and the UK, it appears that Nick Heyward had more or less a breakdown. Huge great bouts of depression and self loathing. The rest of the band wanted to get recording on their second disc whilst they could, so went ahead without Heyward. When he did finally turn up to the studio, they basically told him he wasn't needed. So he left.

Not a good thing.

So he decided on a solo career - with some success, perhaps amazingly. Why so critical? Well, solo careers aren't the best thing in the world are they? There must only be half a dozen young chaps who on leaving successful bands have anything close to that as a solo artist.

Nick Heyward did - 4 charting singles in 1983 and 4 more the following year. Most memorable? Probably this fellow,

Quite similar - a tad slower, but still really quite good.

You see Pop isn't rare, but good pop is more rare than rocking horse shite. Even a tired old music fascist like myself though can see the innate beauty in these great tunes from the beginning of a dark decade.

David Bowie - Ashes to Ashes

2011-09-12T22:05:00.001+01:00

Welcome to the Eighties pop-pickers.

Probably one of the first Bowie songs I had ever heard (I know the first was 'Loving the Alien') and already in 1980 it sums up a lazy ideal of that horrid decade.

Rather funny looking, 30 years down the line, but in 1980, that, my friends, was the Dog's proverbials when it comes to computer doo-dads and video effects. Admittedly, most video cameras gave up on such 'cheap' looking effects 10 years ago, but in 1980 that 3 minute 50 cost a quarter of a million quid. Really.

One of the most expensive videos ever, and at the time it made it a hit. Bowie claimed it was to 'close' the 70's where he was the king of glam and to herald a new decade. Well, it does that with aplomb doesn't it? Lots more glam make up - Steve Strange and the 'Blitz kids' group, terrible eye makeup, which was to last a few more years and certainly setting the scene for Adam Ant.

Lyrically, a cross between a nursery rhyme and a continuation of the tale of "Major Tom" from Space Oddity. - And if you can't remember what that was, shame on you.

Superb production values, as was the fashion in that time with Tony Visconti behind the mixing desk, but most interestingly for me is the guitarist - Carlos Alomar. Carlos who had once played with James Brown has appeared on more Bowie tracks than any other musician - Including Eno.... Why is that interesting? Well, he co-wrote loads of Bowie material - Ashes to Ashes and fantastically this great guitar riff....

Bowie on Soul Train? Raaaare!

Back to A2A - a great little tune, not Bowie's greatest, but very much of it's era, vaulting the gap between two decades. Just Glam enough to keep the old fans and new enough to inspire another bunch of insipid wannabe groups for another 10 years.....

God, I hate the 80's. And that TV programme based in that awful decade. What was it called again?

More excuses

2011-09-09T22:00:00.000+01:00

Well, excuses. Work is taking up a lot of energy. As has reclaiming drinking as a past-time. I do blame the Ginger witch and her evil elf friend. The drinks at Gatsby's bar in Berkhampstead are devilishly strong.
However - a quick home brew for you:

You will need -
Elderflower Cordial (Available from Ikea or supermarket)
Fresh Mint (Garden)
Whole Lime
Ice - Crushed - buy an ice crusher - essential
White rum - cheaper the better

Squeeze the whole lime into a glass, chop a big handful of mint into it.
Crush a glass of ice - and I mean crush it.
Add this to the lime and mint.
Pour a small measure of elderflower cordial over the ice.
Fill with white rum.

Stir.

Drink.

Fall over, or make a pass at the person to your left and right.
Apparently you should add soda water to this, but I say balls to that, just make sure there is loads of ice.

I think it would be even better if the big handful of mint is liquidised, arab-style with the ice like a slushy.

Mmmmmm. Summer never ends.

Daft Punk - Interstellar 5555

2011-09-09T21:45:00.001+01:00

What do you mean you've never heard of this?

Well, I'll tell you all about it... but first, yes, apologies. Work is horrid, I finish and turn up at home, knackered. I'll fill in at the end.

However, if you like Daft Punk (and I know you do) you may wonder what the chicken liver pate this is...

Perhaps listening and watching a bit of this video may help.... How about the trailer?

Hang on, you should be saying, isn't that just the music to Daft Punks rather spiffy second album, the 2001 release Discovery. Well yes. Yes it is. But animated and two years later. By some Japanese chaps. It looks all a bit like "Battle of the Planets" for people born in the early 70's.....
If you don't remember what that was - it was also known as "G-Force" and looked like this....

Wow. that really is a blast from the past - nice 70's MGM style backing music - and I only realise now that the fat one was probably supposed to look like Ernest Borgine. I never really understood that cartoon, "Protecting earth from aliens from beyond space" Where the hell is 'beyond space'? And when they became 'one' did they die? Each week? Or am I imagining that?

Anyway, back to disco kings Daft Punk. They clearly not only loved things like Battle of the planets, but wanted to branch out a bit more with their second album.

Their first had been a huge goddamn hit - not an overnight success - they had worked hard to get their music pressed, remixing and touring like nobodies business, but their debut had blown everyone away. Continual airplay and requests as DJs on radio stations had made them not only "Superstar DJs" but media darlings. That they didn't like.

So they invented personalities and masks they could hide behind. Their silly robot masks. Brilliant marketing idea, to be honest.

Ageless and give the owners the ability to be "non-participants" to their own promo opportunities if they want. Brilliant. One of the great rumors of a few years ago was that they never showed up to one of their own gigs. Very hard to prove, if you don't know what they look like....

With this bit of freedom, they decided to invest in their videos. Something they had always done in the past rather well - using the talents of Michel Gondry, et alia in the nineties. For Discovery they wanted something with a common thread though, and used the idea of a make believe band from another planet as the unifying theme. Interstellar 5555 is the story of the kidnap and rescue of an alien pop group, put to Daft Punks music. Or rather, formed around the track from Discovery - not necessarily in the same order.

These formed the promotional videos for the album. For example - Aerodynamic....

All a little story condensed into that single track - "The kidnap of the band" - I especially like the fact that the first "One shot" of the video is of the guitarist running away, which combines with the first time we hear that great solo guitar line - chance or planning? Planning, I am sure.

Brilliant.

Their music has always been rather 'soundtrack-esque', certainly their first albums videos were collected together and given some extra shot to seque it better, and the third album was a little more difficult to listen to.
However, their fourth was the genuine soundtrack for Tron 2. Which they also 'played themselves' on the big screen. How droll.

But - opinions - The Album 'Discovery' love it. Can't work out if it is better or worse than Homework though. The video 5555 - also great fun, and I do put it on occasionally. But the best representation of this music, I am afraid is on the Alive 2007 album - it gave it a whole new dimension of freedom it was otherwise missing.... Magic

Youngblood Brass Band - New Blood

2011-08-31T21:31:00.004+01:00

Well, it is apologies time again. Whole bunch of reasons and nobody cares!

However, I have been listening to a lot of podcasts from the Edinburgh Fringe festival instead of music on the way into work for a few weeks, so music took a little break.

However, had a nice break with the Mez clan and was dutifully informed that I should get back to writing. Or else.

I come back to this and the 'writing' interface has all changed - I hope I can make it at least seem similar to before. So.... what was todays Track 23? Not this track, but this band.... and the track below is more than a fair representation of them.

As I pointed out to Mr Mez whilst carefully putting myself outside a bottle of red in the bar of the hotel - everything is better with horns. Just think about Beyonce. Without a horn section she is just a particularly pleasant wobbly bottom. But how do you describe these chaps? Hip Hop Brass? Jazz? Well sort of.

They have had rappers in the group (Skogen and DJ Skooly) as well as rather touching performances from Ike Willis in the past.

Music wise, they certainly are quite "New Orleans" in the fact that there is a lot of them playing horns, jazz in their breaks, but particularly with this track - listen to the Tuba. It takes sole charge of the bass line, with short stabbing notes, like a bass player plucking at his strings.

What other tracks are worth listening to?

MARCH!!!! Now that is a track worth turning the volume up for. A nice soft increase in urgency from all the instruments until it punches through the back of the speakers, in a style reminiscent of Rage Against the Machine, then reduces down to a softer backing for the New York poet style lyrics.

But it isn't just noise that they are capable of - listen to what happened when Zappa favourite Ike Willis joined them....

A lot more mellow, but with the same hip hop ethos towards timing and attack. They have released a couple of great albums, nothing recently though. In fact, little bro just called in the middle of me writing and asked "what are you upto?". "Oh just writing about Youngblood Brass Band" - I said this wishing to appear hip, naming a band he had never heard of.... "Oh yeah, seen them twice". Trendy git. They have spent their time touring, and building their name up. As they should.

Everything is better with horns and seeing as these guys all play horns, they must be great.

The White Stripes - Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground

2011-08-17T22:41:00.001+01:00

OK - admission time first of all.

Don't worry, it was the 23rd Track today, it's just that for absolutely years I didn't like the White Stripes.....

This, the first track from the album White Blood Cells, is the first piece of evidence against me....

A great Michel Gondry video as well, and yet still, even with that I didn't like it when it came out in 2001.
Why the hell not?

A couple of reasons, firstly how bloody pretentious are they?
"Lets all wear red, white and black" - gits.
They recorded the album in 2 weeks using original 1960's studio equipment. Why? This is 2001 for Pete's sake, even 10 years ago an Apple Mac would have given a better quality of recording and you could spend as long as you like over it.
There is only 2 of us - Guitar and drums, we don't need a bass player!
We are Brother and Sister, no, wait we are married, no wait, we were married.

Why try so hard?

They were trendy as all heck and everybody loved them, even King John Peel.

So I tried listening to an album, but had decided from the word "Go" I wasn't going to like them. Just from first principles. If you are going to spend that much time caring about your image, you aren't going to have a hell of a lot of substance.

Guess who was wrong again?

Unfortunately it probably wasn't until I heard that awful Cornish girls version of "Fell in love with a girl" that I realised that they could write songs. As an aside, I first heard Joss Stone on a copied CD, with a B&W photocopied cover. I thought, from her voice, she was an astounding great lost black vocalist from the Southern States, probably in her 60's. It is the first and only time I have been disappointed by a blonde teenage girl. She shouldn't have that voice, it is wrong.

So, in retrospect, can they write songs? Yes
Are they all good? Nope.
Are they, at times, overly simple? Yes, but simple is good.
Is Meg White the best drummer in the world? No. She is probably the best drummer the White Stripes will ever need though.
Is Jack White a guitar god? No.

Which brings me to a weird thing. I spend too much time thinking about guitars, technique, and all of that artistry bumpf. You don't need to be a great technical guitarist to write a song. You just need to be able to write a song.

And this is a rather good one. In my book, 3 or 4 stars, but is has taken me 10 years to appreciate it.

EDIT - The following day - at 1am.
Look chaps, I wanted to write something today, but I went into town after work today and have just got in.... It's 1 am and I have to be up in a very few number of hours - single figures.

What is worse is that I have to travel on the train.

Did you know, they just allow anyone on there nowadays? Terrible. Some of them were wearing jeans. Just like farm labourers do....

Despicable.

Anyhow. Yesterdays song (and indeed whole album) has been going through my head a little. So I thought I would give you what I honestly first looked up - the guitar tab. Join in, sing along and frankly strum along to yesterdays winner..... All the best...

Geej

e|------------------------------------------

b|------------------------------------------

g|------------------------------------------

d|---------------------------------------2-2

a|---------------------------------------0-0

E|-----------5-5-5-0-3-3-3-0-2-2-0-1-1-0----







Solo before you start singing

                                   

e|---------------------------------------------------

b|---------3-2--------------------------------------2

g|----------------------------0--------0-------0---2-

d|------2------------------0---------2-----0-4----2--

a|----0--------0------0-2----------3-----3-------0---

E|---------------0-2------------0--------------------



e|---------------------------------------------------

b|---------3-2-------------------0-------------------2

g|----------------------------0---------0-------0---2-

d|------2------------------0----------2-----0-4----2--

a|----0--------0------0-2-----------3-----3-------0---

E|---------------0-2--------------0--------------------



A                   G                   C           D   A

Dead leaves and the dirty ground when i know you're not around...





HEAVY PART 

                         

e|--------------------------------------------------

b|--------------------------------------------------

g|--------------------------------------------------

d|--7- x---x--7---x---x----5--x---x---5--x---x------

a|--7- x---x--7---x---x----5--x---x---5--x---x------

E|--5--5---x--5---x---x----3--x---x---3--x---x------



                 

e|--------------------------------------------------

b|--------------------------------------------------

g|--5-5-----7-7-------------------------------------

d|--5-5-----7-7-----7-------------------------------X2

a|--3-3-----5-5-----7-------------------------------

E|------------------5-------------------------------





(slight change here)

e|--------------------------------------------------

b|--------------------------------------------------

g|--------------------------------------------------

d|--------------------------------------------------

a|--------------------------------------------------

E|--5---3---2--1---5------3-- back into verse ------





HEAVY PART x 2



(first part X2)



 

This part, beginning at "I didn't feel so bad till the sun came down..."

                            

e|---------------------------|----------------------

b|---------------------------|----------------------

g|--7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7----------|----------------------x2

d|--7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7----------|7-7-7-7-----5---------

a|--5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5----------|7-7-7-7-----5---------

E|---------------------------|5-5-5-5-----3---------



                                   

e|--------------------------------------------------

b|--------------------------------------------------

g|--7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7---------------------------------

d|--7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7----7-7-7-7-7-----5-5-5-5-5------

a|--5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5----7-7-7-7-7-----5-5-5-5-5------

E|---------------------5-5-5-5-5-----3-3-3-3-3------





e|--------------------------------------------------

b|--------------------------------------------------

g|--------------------------------------------------

d|--------------------------------------------------

a|--------------------------------------------------

E|--5---3---2--1---5------3-- back into verse ------



Play solo, or some variation of it

Guided by Voices - Teenage FBI

2011-08-16T21:11:00.000+01:00

Great - another Guided by Voices track as the 23rd track today. Seeing as I have decided to start drinking for my birthday, I may well have had a couple of beers before starting to write today.

In many ways that is just how Robert Pollard has worked for many years, on and off stage.

Christ, it looks like F Murray Abrams on guitar, doesn't it?

What a great song and what a great band - that particular ditty became popular thanks to Buffy the Vampire Slayer - it was in the show and on the 'soundtrack' album. I have to admit, it is where I was first introduced to Guided by Voices, as I had hunted down that particular CD for a rare Breeders track.

What a find - honestly go out and buy their greatest hits album (Human amusements at hourly rates) if you like the joy of good songwriting, but also don't care about having top quality recordings or full songs. What do I mean?

Throughout their career they kept everything lo-fi - just listen to the original recording of todays tune....

One minute thirty six dead. Half the length of the first video - to other bands that would be considered a demo - not to GBV. That puppy was sent off and pressed - final version.... Nice. A bit of honesty, rather than faking another unnecessary verse in there and slowing it down.

Robert Pollard seems to be a little impatient, with not only the lineup changing fairly regularly, but what can only be described as a prolific cannon of work being produced - over 1,300 registered songs with the BMI just from him. Live shows were supposedly fantastic affairs - lasting over 3 hours, 60 odd songs being played and alcohol being drunk continuously. Obviously they broke up - all bands I like have...

Although they did reform briefly in 2010 and Robert Pollard is still continuously writing even more material....

Marlena Shaw - Woman of the Ghetto

2011-08-15T20:15:00.000+01:00

Superbly sampled time and time again

Back again. A week off and back to work.
There-fore I once again need the sweet release of something with a bit of soul in it - and you can't get a lot more soul than the 23rd Track today - Marlena Shaw...

Sometimes there is a voice, or an instrumentalist with such unforgiving talent that I would pay to hear them read their shopping lists. Marlena Shaw has that passion and feel, and doesn't really start singing until 1:30 of the track above, so my wish was almost granted.

This track was originally recorded on her Second album in 1969 and was a bit of a departure, citing 'topical' issues of the time. This live version is a bit later but you will know it from its rather cute sampling by Scottish one-hit-wonder "Blue Boy" - Remember me.

You know, I don't remember it being that harsh and sample heavy. Odd that your memory can be changed over time, particularly by listening to the original more than that version.
Memory reminds me that that god awful DJ Chris Evans used to play bits of it all the time because it sounded like she was singing "Gin Gin Gin Ginger". Twat.

Now Marlena Shaw's other big hit was California Soul - also sampled the crap out of, by DJ Shadow and many others, but lets listen to the original 69 version...

Some great sounds on there, a little more pop based than the live version, including some rather odd sounding organ stings, a bit like it was fed through a Wah-Wah pedal (3.25). Quite striking and not sentimental in the least.

The live version slows it down a fair bit and plays off the Soul aspect in a measurable way, but for me that is something that can be done quite happily with her voice.

Who was she? A singer, not the best known today, but the first female vocalist to sign with the Blue Note label, also recorded for Chess, Cadet, Verve, and Columbia labels. Not too shabby.

She is still singing, and has a credible career today, in no short amount due to being sampled and having her tunes used in adverts. So not everything to do with marketing is shitty and soulless.

Senor Fruity Pants and the Men From Del Monte

2011-08-05T20:49:00.001+01:00

Well, here it is. The real reason why nothing has been written for a week. This rather fabulous presentation......

Heavens above....

Senor Fruity Pants and the Men From Del Monte featuring a guest appearance from two members of international award winners Frank Chickens.

My own little brother pointed out with great joy "The end song - it's that Woo Hoo one, but you turned it into Ren and Stimpy - Ha ha ha - Brilliant".

To see what he means - here is the 5,6,7,8's performing "Woo Hoo"

And the Ren and Stimpy Theme.... a bit of class...

Whale - Hobo Humpin' Slobo Babe

2011-07-30T22:14:00.000+01:00

Ah, the second 'remix' CD single

Seeing as I have been listening to a lot of Creedence today, I was expecting one of their tracks to turn up.

However, this is called 23rd Track, not 34th Track, so we settle with reality, not fiction.

I, yet again, fall back to the 90's - can't remember the year. Just remember the great tune....

What? You don't?

If that bass line doesn't end up sampled in the next 5 years, I'm a dutchman. Talk about instant classic. Cymbal heavy percussion, with some great Chili Pepper style guitar in the background, but it's the chorus that breaks it through into something worth owning. And like all great 'classic rock' tunes, it starts with the chorus. Don't believe me? I can't seem to find it, but there was a great interview with Dave Grohl talking to Kyle Gas of Tenacious D - and he just lists the 'classic rock' tunes that start with the chorus - hundreds of them. In short - If you want a hit - start with the chorus.
When it comes back in after her reverb heavy vocals on the verse, the music mellows out to a silence and her voice changes to a screaming shout to usher in the chorus again. Nice.

What about that video though? Only two people worth asking about 90's rock videos.... ROCK - indeed.

But what is the song all about?

Well - according to YouTube comments (and that is always a bad place to start...):
"In a nutshell, it's about a woman-a "sex addict"-who prowls the beach(and other places)looking for homeless guys to have sex with. The implication is that the woman is not-for unspecified reasons-able to find sufficient sex partners in "conventional" settings. She is looked upon with some measure(!) of disdain by her partners, yet they CONTINUE to return to her bed again and again("You always came back for MORE!")."

Who cares?

The single was of the era when it was still worth buying on CD-single - why? Tons of great remixes from such greats as Roni Size, Dust Brothers and Monkey Mafia. Every one of them a genuine piece of work rather than the lazy generated ones of more recent times.

Does it remind me of times, people and places? Yes, but only of regret, stupidity and self loathing. So sod that. Great tune, great bassline - just a shame they couldn't make a decent album or career out of it.

Richard Berry - Louie Louie

2011-07-29T22:53:00.000+01:00

The original, original version

If there was ever a tune that defined rock and roll music it is Richard Berry's defining three chord wonder.

If you have ever thought you were in a band and didn't play this, you weren't in a band. Full stop.

Frank Zappa apparently once fired a guitarist because they couldn't play it. I find it hard to believe as it really is as simple as it sounds.

Let us enjoy the original...

Those great vocals following the bass line - magic - "Da da daaaa. Da da. Da da daaaa. Da da."

It was written in 1955, released in 1957 to a moderate success. The song tells of a Jamaican Sailor returning home to see his love. However Richard Berry made only $750 for it, selling all the rights away to the record company boss. It can be said this has been the most expensive move in history.
Why? Well, you recognise the tune, don't you? Yes, of course you do.

Why do I know this? Because it has been covered over 1,500 times - apparently the most covered song in history, beating The Beatles "Yesterday". No idea why that has been covered so much, it is sentimental pap in my book.

The version you may have heard is by the Kingsmen....

Obviously, those aren't the lyrics - you can hear the real ones in the original, but that is one of the factors that made it so famous. People misheard the Kingsmen's lyrics. And if you are a paranoid American in the 1964, you write to a Kennedy. And someone did - saying they heard obscene words, wanting it banned. After 2 years (yes, two whole bloody years) the FBI concluded that it was - "unintelligible at any speed".
Was it on purpose? Was there hidden meanings? No, of course not, it was just recorded cheaply.

The low-fi recording and cult classic status of the song after such a rumpuss meant that it had credentials. Mostly impressing upon the punk and 'underground scene'. Iggy Pop, himself used to cover it with the Stooges, albeit with his own lyrics.....

There are even more offensive versions out there. The most offensive bit of his version for me is changing "Lou-ee Lou-eye" to "Lou-ee Lou-eee".

It inspired the Kinks to write "You Really Got Me", which was written whilst trying to work out the chords (For the record - AAA DD EEE DD). Paul Revere covered the Kingsmen's version and everyone from The Beach Boys to Motorhead have given it a go on record.

However, the real version that turned up as the 23rd Track today is by Frank Zappa. Of course it was. Not the song Plastic People which is based around a minor deviation of the riff but the version played on organ. Not any old organ though..... The organ in the Royal Albert Hall....

Being overawed by the surroundings he sent Don Preston up the wall to the magnificent Pipe Organ and when seated orders him to play Louie Louie. A true 'great moment in pop'. Since that event the organ has been locked up when visiting musicians come and play. Every rock musician knows the story and I know that Wayne Coyne from the Flaming Lips was looking at it longingly when I first saw them a few years back....

The root of rock and roll, I stated. And it is - from the drums, the simple structure, covers with poor recordings, punk rock and rebellion. Louie Louie has rightfully been the soundtrack....

Delayed - again

2011-07-28T23:56:00.000+01:00

Another delay....

The excuse this time - building all 6 of these buggers and trying to fit the collection in.

Well, it is now full and only holds half. And they are in no particular order. There is a Jazz section, compilation section and 'freebie' CD section. I think getting it to some resemblance of order may take months.....

The kitchen also looks a lot better. And that needed work too.

As for the guitar....

Yup, she is both pretty, ugly and evil. A Fender Jagstang - a mixture of a Jaguar and a Mustang. My first short scale guitar, set up with very heavy bottom strings and 10's on the top. It took a bit of work to get the action down - that bridge is a right old beast of 50's technology - very odd.

But seeing as you are here for music - what shall I leave you with for fun?

How about some Fourtet? We had a track of his a few weeks back, but it wasn't his best. Try this one for size....

Nice and mellow opening track. The rest of the album flows just so beautifuly after it.

In other updates, I mentioned how I didn't really give new music a chance, and was a little down over how much of my music is of a certain era. To remedy that, I have signed up to Rough Trade Record's "Record of the month club". Each month they will send a brand new album which they rate above all others - a great idea for an introdution to new music. Let's see if I agree. I will definately review this "new album" a week after it lands, each month....

Later....

The Cardigans - My Favourite Game

2011-07-24T23:44:00.000+01:00

Wow. Could even find the single art today...

More 90's pop....

I do seem to have a certain period of music in my collection, don't I? Well, instead of doing anything productive this weekend, I visited bloody Ikea, and spent today piecing together chairs and half a dozen huge CD racks. CD racks so massive, I am going to have to clamp them into the wall and to each other for support.

It seems rather apt that the 23rd Track today also hails from Sweden...

There really is something about this song that says 'driving' isn't there? It was even used as the opening soundtrack for the Playstation game "Gran Turismo 2". Even more strange coincidence as the album it came from was also called "Gran Turismo". Marketing to the Playstation generation, perhaps?
The video was banned as it "promoted unsafe driving". Like anyone was stupid enough to copy this....

The CD single therefore had the super new technology of having the video on it too. In a real stretch of crappy 90's tech, it also played randomly one of four different endings to the video each time you played it. What were they? Ha! Press play....

What a great tune - a solid beat, background strumming holding the tune together with the bass and that really simple use of a melody line on a distorted guitar, just like Deus yesterday.

However, if you know me, you know what I love about this track. Yes, Nina Persson. Is it because she is blonde? Is it because she is Swedish? A little. Mainly because her voice captures both the innocence of younger female voices along with the experience of years. It's clarity cuts through the strong drumming and loud guitars like cold steel. Live? Don't mind if I do....

So, just to re-iterate; it is not the fact that their singer is a drop dead gourgeous, square jawed, Swedish blonde in leather trousers that I like this song. It doesn't hinder it's appeal, I admit, but it is a quirky up-tempo rock/pop classic.

The band, themselves are just great too. Their previous album "First Band on the Moon", is one of those rarities of being superb all the way through, even the strange down tempo version of Black Sabbath's 'Iron Man'. They, like all bands of that era have taken long sabbaticals during which they have released solo albums, worked with charities, and quite endeeringly for me Nina sang at a tribute to Captain Beefheart.

It just goes to show, the good captain even could inspire what is essentially empty disposable pop.

Back to the Ikea racks.......

Deus - Little Arithmetics

2011-07-23T23:12:00.000+01:00

I even found the single - years later

So am I writing a tribute to Amy Winehouse?

No. And I won't.

If you want one - here it is;

"Singer. Second album was considered a classic. Believed all the hype that was fed to her. Took far too many drugs, ruined her brain, her body, then her voice. OD'd. Waste of talent and oxygen."

If there is one thing I hate, it's talent that goes to waste.

Luckily for us all, sometimes talent does get into the recording studio as well as the bar.

What the hell do the hippos have to do with anything?

Anyhow, I first heard these chaps, whilst on holiday. The room had MTV when they still played music videos. It must have been about 1996 and this started playing and I hit record on the VCR. I could tell immediately that it was a great chune.

It starts ambiently plinking around before heading into a pleasant shuffle, the organ keeping a drone going on in the background. The chorus changes around nicely, with all the instruments allowing a pause at the end. Then spectacularly a massively distorted guitar plays a melody. The same verse - chorus structure again, but ending with an elongated pause, and the distorted guitar melody comes in full time, albeit at a lower volume. However what sets it apart is the ending.

A full on fuzz/feedback chaos of multiple guitars, both in strict control and flying all over the place as though they accidentally stepped on every distortion pedal in their collection.

So they can kick it live too....

But who are they? Well I spent no time looking them up and don't even own the album. I found the single years later in a charity shop - it hit 44 in the UK charts. Bought it and loved it still. I didn't want to risk knowing anymore about them. I didn't want to hear any of their other music. This single was just so perfect, with it's innocent vocals and mish mash of folk, ambient textures and punk ending that I didn't even want to hear where they could fail.

Think of a beautiful model. She looks perfect. The last thing you would want is to meet her. She could have a terrible accent, be a moron, or hold appalling views. If you find a fault it would colour your opinion of her outward appearance of beauty.

I feel the same way about Deus. All I do know is that they are from Belgium, lived in cities far apart from each other, so practicing was difficult and broke up in 98, reforming a few years later with a different line up.

None of which I care about when a pop song can be so ephemeral and inclusively perfect.

Mogwai - Hunted by a Freak

2011-07-14T23:07:00.000+01:00

From the album - Happy Music for Happy People

Another odd one for Track 23 today, but a great find.

Back "in the day" when iTunes didn't really exist (certainly not on PC) but message boards did, I was a member of the "Cook'd and Bomb'd" one - for fans of Chris Morris and Peter Cook. Fairly good at the time, a real community, where people would meet and thanks to a similar sense of humor, had a fair amount in common.

One of the threads was 'What are you listening to RIGHT NOW?' An interesting concept, and there was a link to this as a video - in fact, this one....

Now that is strange. If the bands name (after the best actor in Gremlins) wasn't weird enough, the title of the song was still the left of strange, that video pushed me over the edge....

What? What the heck? OK the animation is crappy and there were no lyrics, but that video takes the biscuit. It was nearly ten years ago...

At the time, I didn't go and buy the album, or even remember the band, it has to be said. However I kept seeing their name mentioned. It was when I was listening to Sigur Ros many years later when I remembered Mogwai, realising they were very similar. Dirge-like instrumental rock chunes with lots of dynamic. So I hit Play.com up and grabbed this album. And then another one, and another one.

All fairly similar, if I am to be critical, but fills a gap, and certainly satisfies my musical interest.
But who are they? Is it really guitar based or is it all samples? Maybe this will help...

So yes, they do really play their instruments, and also use a fair bit of electronic kit.
So who are they? Four Glasgow chaps with an innate ability to perform seemingly complicated dynamic rock 'instrumentals' which in real terms may well be incredibly simple. Their gift with 'song-writing' is the ability to know and understand the difference between soft and loud.

WTF am I on about? Well, most music, certainly all modern pop is performed at one volume. That particular dynamic has been ruined for us all - have a look at this graph (first time I have written that and not been paid for it...)

The one on the left shows how the volume changes in a song recorded decades ago - massive changes in the loud parts and the soft parts - think Pink Floyd's The Wall or Tubular Bells (which was the first 'popular' recording pressed on thick 'virgin' vinyl - usually reserved for high end classical recordings). On the right is a modern pop song. Why the change? Radio airplay. I won't go into it, but there is a fantastic article on it here. The guy knows what he is talking about and has a great attitude too....

The main reason that I find the music of Mogwai so appealing is that it still retains this original dynamic in its production. The soft bits are soft and the loud bits are loud. And most importantly, you as a listener are allowed to tell the difference.

That and of course the songs are excellent. That arpeggio was still rolling around my head hours after I had heard it. Always a good sign.

Deerhoof - Milk Man

2011-07-13T23:46:00.000+01:00

Yes, that is the oddest album cover I have seen.

No full review today - it's 11 and I am knackered.

In it's place, not the 23rd Track (didn't even get to 23 today....) but the wonderful San Fran band that opened for Dinosaur Jr and The Flaming Lips on 1st July in Ali Palace.

Odd, yes. Definately not 'popular' music, but something ephemeral, yet precise and beautiful. One of those albums you do have to give the full '3 listens' to in order to begin to appreciate and understand.

No video - not popular enough to merit that - and probably the sort of band I would have written off as "hipster" had I not listened to it repeatedly in order to familiarise myself with their material before the big gig.

A pretty little voiced lady quite delicately sings the lyrics, whilst playing bass. What the lyrics are, I have no idea - not looked them up, and if you have read many of the other write ups, you will know I am not too het up about lyrics unless they really touch me.

What I really like is the soft / loud / louder / soft approach to their tune writing skill. When those guitars hit, they really do hit. But they also chime out in a quite opposite style when the tune needs it. There are moments when it all speeds up, or slows down and the musical stylings follow that in a way that most pop music doesn't really care for.

However, live, I was blown away by this chap.....

I think we all were. On record he doesn't come across quite as drastically as here. If you are still listening to the first video, stop it and play this one instead. Not the full song, but you get a feel for his pure animal passion for what he is doing. The song starts off with that almost dumb bassline and simple singing. He is sat there as cool as a cucumber, whipping out an allen key to check his snare and your thought is "Well, he's going to be crap, all I can see is a snare, one cymbal and a bass drum".

He then forces you to shut the hell up, when you can see what he does with them.

Not only does he pound the living crap out of them, but his rhythm is astonishing. No "1,2,3,4" for this fellow. It's almost as though he is allergic to playing a standard beat. Even in the gaps where many other drummers would normally play a double timed beat (1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and) he manages to not only quadruple time it, but leave out the count of 3.

He couldn't have made more of a strong impression on the crowd if he had stripped off naked and run around the stage with his genitals on fire.

Even in the quiet sections, he fills in like a hopped up 70's jazz drummer. Beautiful timing and more energy that a bus full of Red Bull. Thank goodness he is in this band. The bass playing singer was placid to the point of boredom and the guitarists, although technically competent were not exactly a strong stage presence. I've seen a few good drummers, but he proved you don't need a hundred different toms to make a statement (are you listening Terry Bozzio?) you need skill and passion.

Honestly, if I saw that they were playing again, I would go and see them, but only to watch this guy at work...

Air - Brakes On

2011-07-12T22:31:00.000+01:00

Air - the mysterious 'First' Album

Ah, todays 23rd Track was a doozy. It's superb french easy listening / ambient pop / just a pair of guys "Air".

But it's not from the well known and fantastically popular "Moon Safari". Oh no, that would be too obvious a choice for well know pain in the bottom and musical fascist, Geej, wouldn't it?

Today is one of the bonus tracks from their EP collection "Premiers Symptomes"

I'll be honest. Play this whilst you can. Their record company is one of those that has some poor sap pouring through YouTube videos trying to find copyright infringements in order to stop people enjoying themselves.

So who are they? A pop duo, a mathematician and an architect, French who seeming love old tech and can play their instruments. You see, they do play them - no over reliance on Macs to organise their music and make it clean. Just musicianship and taste. I saw them in London, years ago, with a stage full of 70's organs and improvising away happily for their own fun. A joy.

What about the tune? Well, it has a lovely slow build, with distorted low bass until a slow guitar arpeggio marks about a minute of time in. Then unexpectedly an American reporters voice reports on the Merseysound. Right as it is ending, a superb addictive bass line rings out as the lead instrument, full of tension, travelling, willing the listener to follow. Being pre-distorted, it is especially good for playing in traffic jams in your car. It sounds just like those muppets with the £5k sound systems which aren't worth a hundredth of what they paid for it.

Yes, you too can sound like a pleb.

That teeth rattling bass line with it's timing and inherent feel clearly wants to be loved. It's like a 200lb puppy playing in the fields - it's frisky, simple, playful and could break your back if it wanted to.

In the background "screaming" guitar notes sound out like a foghorn from a guitar Valhalla, warning all who come too close.

It is completely unlike their normal music. That's because it isn't theirs. It's a remix of an Alex Gopher track, as is most of this EP collection.

Yes, it's the same track. One of those rare cases where the remix is more famous that the original (Terrorvision - Tequilla, Cornershop - Brimful of Asha) I can't even find the original on YT.

So, not their track at all, not their style, not even their best track. However, it put them on the map and got their name introduced to a lot of people, leading to their own first album.

However, as I bass my marking on the chune, not the people - still a solid 5 stars for part of the wonderful French electronica disco of the mid 90's....

Ride - Leave Them All Behind

2011-07-11T23:12:00.000+01:00


1992 - and their only Top Ten "Hit"

I've written before about bands that should still be around and should be massive. In my mind there are four that should be revered by all and sundry - The Beta Band, The Breeders, Plumtree and these fellows - Ride.

It might have come out in 92, but being a little slow, I first heard it on a compilation cassette a girlfriends sister had made. She was right on almost every track on that C90 but this one shone out....

That's the best sound quality I can find, but at the detriment of length.... The original is nearly 9 minutes long and far better put together than that.....

Here is a live version for comparison....

Starts off a bit like The Who's Baba o'Reilly, before slamming in with a sound not unlike The Cure. However, the music press gave them the genre "Shoe Gazing", refoerring to the fans who danced to their music, seemingly gazing at their shoes. A bit unfair.

And another showing of how giving an artist a genre title can destroy them. With them, the two main chaps, the lead singer (Mark Gardener) and the lead guitarist (Andy Bell) wanted to go different ways. Follow the scene and be popular or move on artistically. They didn't agree. It got so bad that they refused to have songs on the same side of the album as each other.... Even more petty than the Police in their Coke fuelled excesses of stupidity.

The song, however is another 3 chord wonder. It goes to show that it doesn't matter how many chords you know - it is how you use them.... Starting off with that wonderful 'tremeloed' organ moving up and down, it then is ignited by the superb attacking drums, back-beating the intro of the melodic bass line in. A couple of bars of that and then that beautiful wall of guitars comes in, all at once like a slap to the face.

God knows how many of them are there, but one less would make it seem too few. A few played backwards for good measure and a great set of lines shaping it with the lead guitar playing a slow line. Well performed, not pyrotechics, but melodic and showing a high level of skill, using distortion, feedback and buckets of delay to excellent effect.

The droning vocals follow the mood of the wall of guitar style, with many harmony lines, especially at the breakdown of the chorus (B to F# then A to E.... Nice)

So what happened to them? They broke up. Arguments, which thankfully they all now admit were stupid, selfish and detremental to the good of the unit. Mark Gardener apparently still performs, but Andy Bell (lead guitar) bit the bullet and took a paying job. As Oasis' bass player. I remember being dismayed that he had done that. He is a better guitarist and songwriter that the rest of the band put together. But I don't blame him. He tasted the success that eluded them and was due to them 10 years earlier.

I loved it when I first heard it on that C90 from my better half's sister and time hasn't changed my delight when it comes on the iPod. Many songs you relate to people, times and places. Seeing as that relationship didn't end well (my fault this time) you would think that it may taint my feelings towards this chune, but no. It remains a firm 5 stars.

Excuses, excuses.....

2011-07-06T00:18:00.000+01:00

Look, life gets in the way.....
I mean, I listen to music all day long anyway, so what is the problem?
Easy - life.

Had a week off, managed nothing.
Bought a new guitar (Jagstang, at last - was in a crappy state, still is)
Saw Deerhoof, Dinosaur Jr and the Flaming Lips (most excellent!!!)
Preparing the house for a new boiler and kitchen (the plumbers may have undercut British Gas by a third but they are messy)

Work is beating me to a pulp, and most importantly, I don't want to turn into that guy.

You know, the one to the left.

I want to get back to this soon - and I will do, but I also need to breathe.
It's 5 past midnight as I write this, and I can't think decently about music in this state

In the meantime, have the music I loved last week - The Flaming Lips - beautiful....

The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band - Canyons of Your Mind

2011-06-23T23:14:00.002+01:00

Best Band Name Ever...

I found the 40th Anniversary show of the Bonzos in Poundland last week. Loved it, and have been listening to them this week. So it was no surprise this turned up.

If you have never heard of England's answer to the Mothers of Invention, press play, smile and learn to love the Dadaist surrealism....

1968 - and a what a wonderful year. It may un-surprise you, but I love the Bonzos. I think the first time I saw them was this video, shown on some re-run pop program. Just listen to the fun they are having.

The second time I came across them was in that fateful Record Shop in my local town centre. This was mid/late 80's - Madness were still big, Pop was king, Metal was popular. And I overheard the two hippies talking to each other about their kids at school..

"So, little Danny's teacher asked the class who their favourite bands were"
"Oh yeah? What did he say then?"
"The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band"

They both started laughing, with pride at the greatness of this music geek offsprings answer.

They were a weird bunch, well spoken Englishmen, with the original Ginger Geezer, Vivian Stanshall as the lead singer and Rutles genius Neil Innes as main songwriter. Single handedly they revitalised the Trad Jazz scene in the early sixties with their first two albums and with this track off their third they attacked 50's crooner standards.

A little look at the 40th Anniversary concert - the above song is found about 2 minutes in, sung by Phil Jupitus. Not the best rendition. But you do find out that every comic voice Adrian Edmonson has projected in 20 years has been because of one of their songs (Mr Slater's Parrot) and that Vivian from the Young Ones was named after Viv Stanshall. Their comedic influence lives on - not just Mr Fry and Mr Edmonson, but even across the pond to Family Guy. No, really. When Stewie and Brian go to England, the childrens TV show they gatecrash is called "Jollity Farm" after one of their singles. They did lots of work with Monty Python (The Beatles parody The Rutles was Neil Innes brainchild) and even had Paul McCartney produce their hit single.

Clearly an antidote to the over sensible rock scene of the 60's parodying the rock attitude and a healthy dose of surrealistic Dadaism, they managed 5 albums, but only had one hit "Urban Spaceman" why was this? Well, the public as a whole really can't deal with eccentric weirdos too well. We like 'normal' people as a rule. I, for some reason prefer the stranger side of life and eccentrics.... As Vivian himself puts it...

Well, that's the great John Peel explaining a little about Viv. To hear how Viv explains himself fast forward to 6m14s.

Utter foolish nonsense. Humour and music as a combination at the best of times is difficult, as you can hear with some of his solo stuff, but get it right - as in the first video, and it's bloody priceless.

The music is a parody of 50's Doo Wop bands (even the background vocals), the guitar solo is probably the best "worst" solo in history. It has all the structure of a classic 4 bar break, but just all the notes are wrong. The thing that made them individual is the fantastic lyrics - they appeal to 6 year old children, 16 yr old teenagers and 60 yr old poets. They are at points silly, adolescent and well judged. Surrealism of this type is accesible to all who don't take themselves or life seriously. Children 'get' it, the same way that they find Dr Seuss funny. Grown ups have to pretend to be mature and ignore the beauty of living at a slight angle to the rest of the universe.

"And I kiss your perfumed hair,
The sweet essence of giraffe"

Superb writing, as the twist in the tail is reserved until the final word.

We don't have bands like the Bonzos anymore, and we never will. The nearest we get is cheap imitation one hit wonders, but it is good to know that there was once a group of talented musicians who didn't take anything too seriously and kept at it for a few years. If you want to hear more, there is a fantastic CD set of all of their albums out there, and dead cheap too.

Captain Sensible - Wot

2011-06-21T23:25:00.000+01:00

My First ever Single

We were having a bit of a natter at work today - a bit late in the day, it has to be said, around sevenish and we were talking about playlists and first gigs (mine was Slayer.... nuff said).

Then the subject of "your first single" popped up. There were some terrors, including the Ops Director admitting to Racy.

My own admission is this... Captain Sensible's "Wot".

My god, it's not only coming back, but it is better than I remember....
I would have just turned 9 when this came out in 1982 and after saving up my pennies I went to Tesco in the local town. Upstairs there was a music department. Remember I came from a music free house, so I didn't even know record shops existed.

However, even in the clearly rubbish record section of Tesco there was a reduced section. A 'Benefit Buffet' for music, if you will. I counted my pennies and it came to the princely sum of 50p. I am very aware that nearly 30 years later you can't buy a Mars bar for 50p, but I wanted this. Had I heard it on the radio? I wasn't aware that radios could play music. I thought they only played Radio 4. In fact Mother Geej's still only do play Radio 4.

So it must have been the cover. A fat bloke with an earth pounder and a strange looking chap with a red berret. Not only that the word "What" was misspelled. Dreadful. Whoever had taken me out shopping must have questioned my choice, but they didn't warn me of the gravity of choosing your first single. It is something that will follow you around forever. A bit like the memory of who you lost your virginity to, except that friends expect you to be honest about your first single. You will be judged on it.

I try not to, but being a bit of a music fascist, I do. For example the first single for 'Deep Impact' was Joe Dolce - "Shuddupayaface". Even in the terms of comedy records that ranks the lowest. Not just crap and casually racist, but also it prevented Ultravox's Vienna from being number 1. Sure, Ultravox are not the greatest band in the world, but as an 80's pop single, that was still amazing.

So who was Captain Sensible? Well to the pre-double-digits Geej, he was a funny man. He did funny songs. It was only later, with the re-broadcast of The Young Ones that I recognized him in one of the in-house bands.... The Damned

So before he was a pop jokester he was the guitarist/bassist/keyboardist/later songwriter for The Damned. Nice. Two Damned facts for you - (1) in order to out-do the Sex Pistols spitting on their audience, Captain Sensible apparently pissed on them [may not be true] (2) Do you see that spiky guitar the chap on the right is playing? Apparently I own it. I didn't know it was his at the time.
If I had, I wouldn't have painted it red, green, used it to launch fireworks from, let my girlfriend paint, covered in "DO NOT USE" tape, sanded down to raw wood and then French Polished. Oh and I installed a JB humbucker in.

But what about the song? It's quite catchy isn't it?

Starting with a hammer blow and then beautiful 80's over-clean slapback reverb funk guitar. And what about that bassline? Probably the most well known bassline in the world....

Let's face it, we know where the guitar was stolen from as well. Nile Rodgers - the writer and producer extraordinaire. No Nile Rodgers, no decent 80's Bowie. No rap. Odd, isn't it?

So, do I still like it? Yes, for the pure value of Mr Sensible, if only I had known about his history and the music's history then.... But that's half my enjoyment of music, finding out about who inspired artists I like. It's a bit like learning latin. You do it so you can get a better appreciation of language.

That said, I still would prefer the correct spelling of "What".

John Shuttleworth - How to be Happy in a Sad Sad World

2011-06-15T23:41:00.000+01:00

As found on this "Hit" album

Wow. What to say?

John Shuttleworth is what it means, for me, to be British. I hate all that crap over 'national identity', if anyone asks me what I consider myself, I like to say "human". Why? We are all on this shitty blue globe together.

That said, if there is anyone who should represent our national character it is John Shuttleworth.

He is, of course fictional, and the product of comedian Grahame Fellow's mind. A sharp mind, with the ability to write a good lyric. In fact he, under the teen punk persona "Jilted John" wrote the greatest ever lyric in the English language in his Top 4 single "Jilted John" discussing the teenage breakup and heartache

"I was so upset, I cried all the way to the chipshop".

Nothing has even encapsulated young love, breakup and angst like that line.

However this song isn't on YouTube. Shame. It is nothing short of an accessible guide on how to deal with being sad. A much needed philosophical rendition.

What else? I bought Mother Geej a ticket to his live show, and it was the only the second time I have ever seen her cry with laughter. He is very funny (funnier than Peter Kay, who is similar) a bit of a nerd, loves DIY and once tried for the Eurovision Song contest.... and made a film about it...

His lyrics are sharp, his humor inoffensive, and appears very personable managing for his radio show "Radio Shuttleworth" to get Patrick Moore to take a xylophone solo on a childs toy instrument using biros as sticks. One of his other films '500 Bus Stops' (referencing Frank Zappa's '200 Motels') showed him being forced to tour Iceland by his agent. Not the country, but the supermarkets.....

What was it's rating? 3. Is it staying there? Yes. Whay haven't I listened to it? No idea, but it came on at the right time. I was sad, and it cheered me up a treat. Humor and music do mix.

Four Tet - Parks

2011-06-14T23:59:00.000+01:00

Four Tet - The album "Pause"

Just a short one today, as it is 11pm and I have just got back in from eating a cauldron full of Bi-valves, for Mother Geej's birthday.

That'll teach the lazy buggers.

Anyhow, onto music and one of those great moments I talked about with "Pure Reason Revolution" is when it is worth talking to your local indie record shop owner.

Why?

Because this little beauty was playing there one day and I had to buy it....

Another reason why it will be quick is that there is only this one video of this song available on You Tube - why? It is not a single, it's an album track and people don't seem to concentrate on them.... not as popular.

This whole album was playing, and had just started when I walked into Scorpion Records one day. After two tracks, I had to ask who it was, and could I buy their copy. "Four Tet" and "Yes" luckily was the answer. Who were they? The guys in the record store didn't know and Wikipedia didn't exist in 2001. Christ, 10 years ago.

I didn't care as it seemed to mix what I was listening to into one little 43 minute album - Aphex Twin, a bit of Jazz, a bit world music, all linked by intelligent electronica and some great drums. The music press deemed it "Folktronica". Well there in one word is why I hate genres. What utter cobblers.

I used to listen to it whilst driving down to Weymouth on Friday nights to party all weekend. The calm before the storm, as it were. Perfect Sunday morning material as well.

Since, I have found out it is one guy, it was his second album and he has done others since, but this is by far the best. I also found out that he had already done a track I had heard of. Or rather he had remixed the opening track of Aphex Twin's Collected Ambient Works Volume II for the Warp Records 10+3 compilation. If you haven't heard that album, go and get it as well. Not the 20th Anniversary ones (not as good) but the 10th Anniversary of Warp records - here is that track...

Now that puppy is a 5 star winner straight and true. What do they have in common?

Clean natural instrumentation, with an electronic sampled edge, great layering and mindblowing drums. I still to this day can't work out if they are recorded or sampled and sequenced.
You can hear the jazz influence, a bit laid back Buddy Rich in the back beat.

However, the track Parks, is an even more laid back, DJ Shadow type drum pattern with oscillating backwards piano and cello lines rotating around until a plucked instrument (or harpsichord) lightens the tone. After that a long wooden flute gives us a rest.

The main overall feeling is of rotating, pulsing growing melodies all intertwined into something organic. Probably the most peaceful track from the album, and perhaps the weakest, so not really worthy of 4 or 5 stars. However as the album can be taken quite easily as a whole being so short it is still worthy or the original 3 stars I gave it.

An album that showed an artist with much promise and skill, but perhaps our tastes grew apart. He went more mainstream, I went the other way. Perhaps that is the reason I haven't heard it in a while.

Nirvana - Big Cheese

2011-06-13T21:48:00.003+01:00

It doesn't really

Bleargh. Mondays really are the pits. What with my car being hit last Friday, potential whiplash and a whole hoard of other emotional family difficulties, I'm finding it hard to care.

However - Music makes me Invincible, as the phrase goes. This weeks offerings, will be a little different....
Why is that?

Well, I'm slightly bored of the Playlist I have been using - lots of recognisable and easily known music.
This week I will only listen to music defined as;
"Rated 3 stars or above, but not listened to in 12 months"

I will have to re-visit my rating of it, stand by what it was and find a reason why I haven't listened to it for a year....
And first up is......

Nirvana - Big Cheese

Nirvana - Big Cheese

Well, things I don't want to talk about - the Nirvana that everyone knows.

But let us simplify for those who don't know, and we can never speak of it again.

Troubled young fellow starts a band, records a single and an album with Sub-Pop. Doesn't do a lot. Gets new drummer and Geffen releases their second album after getting a slick production into play. Hits the big time. Like nothing else. Unsurprisingly has trouble dealing with the meat mincer of the music industry which he finds himself in. Chooses drugs. Records a few other albums. Shoots himself.

Right. No more. The publics obsession over his life is why he sucked on a shotgun, the poor bastard. Let us listen to the B-side of their first ever single...

You will find it as track 12 on Bleach, their first album recorded for Sub-Pop. Even though it wasn't originally on the album. Yup, the 1992 re-release had the single "Love Buzz" and this, it's B side added to it. Interesting things of note about Kurt Cobain and his attitude towards lyrics.... I thought (thanks to the horrific release of a hardback book full of photostats of his diaries) that he would have thought of himself as a bit of a Bob Dylan, proud of his lyrical standards, but thankfully for Bleach he is quoted as saying that he "didn't give a flying fuck what the lyrics were about".

That's lucky because I have no idea what they are.

Of course, nobody knew about Nirvana until after Nevermind. If they said they did, punch them in the throat and tell them it was from me. I remember borrowing a tape with this album on it from a girl on my school bus and having trouble with it. I was 'into' cock-rock (David Lee Roth) and mainstream metal. I could certainly hear influences of the later in this track, but it was still uneasy listening for me.

I was used to verse, chorus, verse and clean guitar sounds, even distorted guitars from the likes of Iron Maiden were pretty clean compared to this. There was something underneath it all that did catch me. A melody of sorts. Just playing one or two strings instead of full chords. Rough melodies that worked in ways that I hadn't been aware of before - a darker, but not 'metal' way. Some of it reminded me of the West Coast punk tapes that had been doing the rounds at school, but dirtier.

It's all full of memories for me, but I like it not solely for its ability to remind me of younger times. Even compared to other similar releases of the era (Mudhoney, Sonic Youth etc) there is something more accessible about it's composition - tunesmithery, if you will.

Yes, when I hear this, I am reminded of that girl on the bus on the way to school and wonder if she is a grandmother yet (it was always on the cards) but it stands on it's own as a decent song.

So what was my original rating? 3 stars out of 5.

Has it changed? Nope - I still like it that amount - certainly not a 4, but not so bad that it should drop any either.

Why haven't I listened to it in a year? No idea. Time to revisit the Bleach album I think. It was re-released a year or so ago with a live set attached to it. Sub-Pop only sold 40,000 units on it's first release - a pretty big hit for them. On re-release after Nevermind hit, it sold over 4 million copies.

That's one of the effects of fame. The other is what ended Nirvana.

Garbage - Only Happy When it Rains

2011-06-11T23:01:00.001+01:00

Garbage - Only Happy When it Rains

I guess this is in opposition to the previous post about wanting a bit of randomness and less perfection in my music.

Garbage's recording 'Only Happy When it Rains' is all about perfection.

Yes, a pop single turned up today as the 23rd Track. Or rather it didn't. This is left over from sometime last week, or the week before and as it has been caught in my head since then, it is time to just write about it, so I can get on.

Hip music of the 90's is a tough old cookie. Such a lot honestly happened, it was pre Internet (or rather pre-usable Internet), Brit Pop, Grunge, Dance and it's evolutionary descendants all rose up, flourished and died. Radio had it's last genuine stab at being a medium that could break music and MTV actually played music, rather than making programs about rappers cars and their rented houses.

People were into bands, the Seattle scene of Grunge made megastars of Nirvana and anyone remotely related to them. The producer of Nevermind, Butch Vig, could charge anything he wanted to produce whoever he wanted. He chose some great bands and made some great records - Smashing Pumpkins, Sonic Youth and L7 all recorded their most successful material with him at the helm.

However, it was not really what he wanted to do. He wanted to be in the band with the hit. He had been a drummer with a band called Spooner and various others, to not much success. It was after his name and money was made with production that he decided it was time to go back behind the skins and put his money where his mouth was.

He knew good musicians, but was wary of forming "another grunge band", he wanted to do something a bit different. To his credit, he found Shirley Manson, a Scottish singer for "Goodbye Mr McKenzie" and even though she had a 'terrible' audition, she eventually joined the band.

But what could they do? They had the best producer of the time hitting the skins and relative unknowns in the other positions. They made a bold choice and decided on pop music. Admittedly with a rock edge, but aiming squarely at the pop market.

Vig knew the market and knew having a female singer with such a positively aggressive sexual attitude would be nothing less than great. However the main thing about Garbage is the clean production. None of what you hear is ad-lib or spur of the moment. Everything is carefully presented from the click track perfect drumming to the carefully processed guitar sounds, tweaked to within an inch of their lives. You can hear from that live version that this obsession also carries over to their performance. I have seen so many bands live that just clearly have not rehearsed. Garbage must have spent months practicing in order that their live presentation matched the recorded version.

It also helps that the songs themselves are not that grubby either. This, one of their first singles broke them in the states and the UK and their status as 90's rock winners was secure with their other releases from this album.

Although an amount of 'feel' and 'improvisation' is essential for more emotional forms of music (soul, funk, jazz etc) when it comes to pop, the audience demands recognizability and predictability. To this end, Garbage are probably the most competent proponents of the era in their genre.

Why U2 are not really real any more

2011-06-10T00:42:00.001+01:00

This chap puts it so much more succinctly than I can.

So do I agree with him?

100%

http://www.quora.com/Why-is-U2-so-popular/answer/Daniel-Rosenthal

If you remember, I not only vented my spleen but emptied it when talking about Snow Patrol and came to exactly the same conclusions.....

Just spent the evening in Elstree at a rather pleasant venue, enjoying the company and eating. There was a band playing covers, and some of their own songs.

Could I be critical of a group of people who have achieved more than I ever expect to?

Yes. Of course.

Firstly, the live mix - and I have come accross it before - the bass was too loud. Not the instrument, but the entire bass range. I know we can finally amplify bass better than ever before, but it doesn't need to be louder than every other frequency. It was overbearing to the point of silliness, a bit like the eejits who drive past my work window with the bass bins in their cars vibrating everything inside. No need.

Clarity is where it is at.

Secondly - Still on the mix, I couldn't hear the guitar at all. No idea if he was good or not, I just couldn't hear him. Make sure everything can be heard.

Lastly, their skill. Apparently they were X-Factor trained. I presume that means something positive. Yes they were tight, yes they were all technically brilliant (I only presume the guitarist was) but it lacked feeling.

If you are covering Stevie Wonder, watch his old performances, see how free and laid back he is. Getting something note perfect is good. Adding a bit of your heart in place of accuracy is better. Just watch the man in action here and tell me it is not better than technical perfection. Enjoy yourself.

Update - Now mobile device friendly

2011-06-09T00:00:00.002+01:00

Weird one here - most people won't notice it.

I am experimenting with some background code that allows an automatic generation of this website for mobile devices.

If you open this webpage on your iPhone, for example it will look like the image to the left. Hopefully you aren't up reading at 1 minute past midnight with 6% left on your battery though....

I have no idea what it will look like on your iPad, Blackberry or whatever. If you don't like it, vote using the buttons at the bottom of this post, or email me (geej at twenty third track dot com) and I'll stop playing with it.

In the meantime, you can just click a button at the bottom of the page under "Home" which says "View web version".

Let me know what you think...

PS I think I have managed to convince it that I am based in the UK, so no more postings which claim to be on Zanzibar times....
PPS No proper post today - am going out. Sorry, but free food always wins...

Eddie Day - Ultimate Wave

2011-06-08T23:33:00.002+01:00

Well - I found it on this compilation

This is supposed to be a blog about music - to educate and entertain.

I can only do one of those today, because I can find out very little about today's 23rd Track.....

And that is the track. If you have been reading this blog, you will know from yesterday, that I have been reminding myself of various surf guitar tunes (and looking longingly at Fender Jazzmasters, Mustangs and JagStangs on eBay).
Why?
There is a possibility that my rotten old carcass is to grace a minor stage again and although we don't know the tunes, key or anything the phrase "Surf Guitar" was used to describe what we have to play.

Unsurprisingly, I own a fair bit, so put together a playlist of about 150 different tracks to burn the playing style into my head. I even play them at night through my non-patented MP3 pillow I made.

I know, I should get out more...

So Eddie Day came on as track 23 and it was sourced from the album you can see above. No idea who he was so I hit Google. Nothing. Wikipedia? Nowt.
On the third page of results I find that he was a member of the Lively Ones....

Aaahhhh that makes sense.

No, really. Listen to it. Look at the album cover - a bit like the Pulp Fiction movie posters with Uma Thurman isn't it?

"Ahhh", you are saying it does sound like that last track on the closing credits - yes it does. Because 'The Lively Ones' recorded that very same closing track - 'Surf Rider'

It is almost the same. In fact it is almost a cover.....

The Lively Ones however were one of the main 'Classic' Surf Guitar bands along with bands such as the Ventures, Trashmen and Tornadoes. So what makes a surf guitar band?

Well, like all great advances in music - technology.

Disco came out of the Roland 303 drum machine, multi-track recording allowed massive harmonies (Beatles, ELO, Queen), the Floyd Rose allowed heavy metal guitar histrionics and with surf guitar, two separate advances in guitar technology - tremolos and reverb.

A tremolo is one great misnomer. It doesn't tremolo at all - that would be something that raises and lowers the volume of the note. A tremolo is the contraption on the bottom of the guitar that the base of the strings are attached to. It is a mechanical hinge with a bar (in the parlance - a whammy bar) that bends, or detunes the strings and allows it to return to it's original position. If you listen to 0:10 to 0:12 on the Pulp Fiction track, you can hear this. The problem was that the strings would often detune when the bar was depressed, so it was used sparingly, until the 80's when Floyd Rose introduced the 'double locking' mechanism which 'prevented' de-tuning. As a guitar player, I hate them. But that is just me....

Reverb, however is fantastic. In short, the introduction of small relatively cheap spring reverb units meant that an 'echo' type sound could be used by anyone, not just recording studios. So they were built into guitar amps. And as usual, when you give a guitarist a knob, he will twiddle with it and leave it on 11. Reverb units are a bit like toasters. To toast your bread, or add a bit of echo all you need to do is put it between 2 and 3 and leave it. 10 will burn down your house or in the case of reverb, change the sound entirely.

Surf guitar is all about picking close to the bridge, bending notes and creating echo distortion by leaving it on 10. The odd noises produced defined surf guitar. What sort of noises? A sort of 'clacking' noise from overloading the pickups and causing the springs to knock into each other.
Lovely.

Since Pulp Fiction, surf guitar no longer produces images of 50's american beaches but of 90's gangsters and Tarantino moodiness. Hence the album above. 10 years earlier and the content of the album may have been the same, but the cover would have been of a young blond chap on a surfboard. It goes to show that what I discussed yesterday about The Cure's image works both ways.

Then I said that a band needs an image in order to appeal to a market in order to sell it's chunes. The reverse is also true. Music can generate it's own image based upon how it is marketed. In this case to splatterfest film lovers.

The Cure - From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea (Live)

2011-06-07T21:59:00.000+01:00

The Cure - a live album!

Well, I've been listening to a lot of surf music today, as the Size Zero Albino wants The Bassman and I to play with him... "Surf style" he said. I asked what type of surf music? Santos and Johnny? Beach Boys? The Ventures? The Surfaris? "Huh? I only know Dick Dale" So I burned him a cd full of great tracks (including an indian version of Pipeline - brilliant).

I was quite surprised when this turned up as the 23rd Track - it does mention the Deep Green Sea, so I guess it is technically correct.....

Well, it's another visit to 1992 again isn't it? I think I'm going to fiddle about with my playlists to stop this happening. If a track isn't either recorded between 1989 and 1995, or 1953 and 1956, I don't seem to care about it. That just can't be true.

Right - all the who, what, when and where first...
The Cure, a British pop group fronted by Robert Smith. A bloke with worse hair than Jo Brand and who took to wearing makeup before the second good Batman film came out.
Earlier material is a bit darker, they apparently peaked with their 8th album (Disintegration - released the same month as yesterdays Flying in a Blue Dream), but their follow up album to that was called Wish. Honestly, a pretty darn good album in itself - recorded in the Manor, so it sounds good and was probably their most successful album. They then toured that album worldwide to huge audiences. A few nights were recorded and released on CDi (an early form of video disc, before DVDs) and this double album.

Hand on heart, probably one of the top five great live albums there is. (In no order the others are; Slayer - Live Aggression, Bob Marley - Live, Johnny Cash - Folsom Prison, Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense) I think the live versions of the songs from Wish are just so much better performed and recorded on this CD.

However, we ought to clean up about The Cure first of all. In the 80's their image was simple - miserable bloody Goths
Well, that's just their image. Image is everything in pop music. It is also in reality nothing to do with their music. If music were separate from image, I would be happy. But no band will sell records without an image to market, so an image is found for them.

So are they miserable? Not really "Friday I'm in Love" is pretty perky.

However, lets get back to this miserable old song and album, shall we.

I like it. I liked it when I heard it at my first illicit teenage parties with curly haired girls, I liked it on my first portable CD player on the bus, I liked it when someone showed me a juddering pixelated video on their first computer. I like it now.

And they still do it for me live. Why? The delicate mixture of thick noise and delicate lines of music.
From the word go, when the acoustic guitar and bass play off against each other simple strumming and a two note riff, as the drums tap away and in the background, the two electric guitars start little feedback melodies with each other, building to the point where the drummer leads everyone in together.
Then, a more ordered version of the previous playing, with the strumming following the snare pattern, the climbing bass line moving the tune along and the electric guitars drenched in reverb, delay and distortion managing to play light melodies, almost in counterpoint to the bass line. Now the vocals, Robert Smith is not Pavarotti or Sinatra - not an artistic singer by any means, but he does manage to direct his performance in a way that does supplement the music in a harmonious manner, writing it's own melodic lines rather than copying any other instrument.

It also has a great breakdown in the middle, where the guitar has the most magnificent feedback solo of just plain bloody noise. All the while the 12 string acoustic drives the pace onwards, never slowing, but low in the mix - almost a tunes click track.

The whole double album is a practiced experiment with controlled noise - and I think that is probably why it appeals to me so much.

Joe Satriani - Big Bad Moon

2011-06-06T23:10:00.001+01:00

Joe Satriani - Big Bad Moon

Sometimes, you've just got to live with your past, whatever it may have been. In fact if I ever met the younger me and he asked me for advice, I think now, I wouldn't give him any.

The mistakes in retrospect are the fun bits.

And the same goes for musical tastes, you have got to live with your choices there as well.

I'm not saying I dislike this, but I have to admit, the 37 yr old Geej would probably not buy this.

The 17 yr old Geej did and played it to death. I can still hear every note running through my head as though it were yesterday.

1989 and over clean pomp metal had one last trick up it's sleeve before the dirty bands from Seattle decided to change everything for the better. A short period of technical virtuosos. To be honest, two people are to blame - Eddie Van Halen, for proving that you could play a lot faster than most people thought and Frank Zappa, for hiring Steve Vai as his 'stunt' guitarist. This hiring brought the technical virtuoso to the foreground of rock media and forced everybody to have a go as being fast.

That, for the record, is the first time I have ever seen that video.

My god.

What the hell? I bet that cost a fortune. And it is awful. It's like someone bought a book on "80's Rock videos" and shoved it all in...
Dark lighting? Check
Windows to beams of light can flash across faces? Check
Bad Miming? Check
Model in lingerie? Check
Police (with moustaches)? Check
Rain for atmosphere? Check
Lead artist changes appearance? Check

The only thing missing is pointless explosions.
But let's remember 1989 and 1990 to see what else was going on in mainstream Rock-
The Cure - Disintegration
Queen - The Miracle
Aerosmith - Pump
Kiss - Hot in the Shade
Ozzy Osbourne - Just Say Ozzy
Bruce Dickinson - Tattooed Millionaire
Suicidal Tendencies - Lights, Camera, Revolution

It's all very vanilla. Yes, if you look carefully at the releases for those two years there is interesting things, but nobody bought Nirvana's 'Bleach' for a few more years and Sonic Youth's 'Goo' probably sold more on its re-release 15 years later.

I was about 16/17 when this came out and was literally inhaling guitar magazines when they came out. I even found a newsagents which got the American publications in and bought those too. Why? Because everybody else did, we were young, impressionable and had guitars which we wanted to play. Or learn how to play. Because whatever else goes on in the world of music - Guitars are Cool.

This was his third album and his second 'hit' instrumental guitar album (the first not being popular at the time). His name had become famous as Steve Vai kept mentioning him in interviews - as friend and one time teacher. Yup, he was technically competent beyond belief, but that's what happens when you go to Berkley School of Music. They train you hard to be the best. Most people get out that school immensely able to play their instruments, but lacking soul.

Satriani had the ability to play slower, melodic emotional pieces (such as the title track from this album, Flying in a Blue Dream). However that didn't turn up as Track 23 today, this did.

And that video in 1992 just finalised it for me. Cozy Powell, Nathan East - great names, great musicians, but they must be bored beyond belief playing music this simple. Music took a lot longer to get around 20 years ago, so this song was still 'new' to me. I watched and videoed the Seville Guitar concerts at the time, loving them all, but the 'Rock' night the most - it had Satriani, Vai, and Brian May - what more could I want at the time. These guys were at the height of their popularity and the crowd went wild. Today, I watch the Albert Collins and Les Paul gigs the most. Why? Because of what I have learnt to appreciate in the last 2 decades.

It's not all about technique and distortion - in fact those two things can cover a lot of poor songwriting. It's about ability to speak emotionally using your instrument.

Satriani has a go - he's singing, playing guitar, harmonica and using it as a slide, but the solo is just all ecstasy and no emotion - a bit like crack sex with an wild stranger - something you dream of, is bloody fantastic at the time, but when it is all over, it's rather disappointing.

The Divine Comedy - Lost Property

2011-06-04T21:20:00.000+01:00

The Divine Comedy - Regeneration

After a particularly hard day at the Crinklies today, I was in a mood. So I reached for the iPod and shoved on the playlist "Sad". Now this playlist is not of sad songs (why would anyone want to be sad?) but songs to play when you are sad.

It was only when I got home and plugged the iPod back into the computer that I could find out what the 23rd track was today. Am I happy that it was this one? Yup

For years I refused to accept The Divine Comedy as a group of musicians worth paying attention to. There are a few reasons for that (i) I am, on occasion, a music Nazi and do judge groups based upon their image. - look at Bjork to show how wrong that attitude is. (ii) They appeared to be pop pretenders - earlier they had a hit single with 'Something for the Weekend' a faddish hit. (iii) Michaela raved about them. No mark against her for this, but she did also like the Eurovision song contest. And Richard Stilgoe.

However, browsing through a Virgin Megastore one day I heard great music coming over the PA. "Odd", I thought, "They don't usually play good music in chain stores". I went up and asked what it was. The chappess behind the till looked embarrassed and proud, passing over this CD - The Divine Comedy - Regeneration. The reason she looked embarrassed was that they are only supposed to play the 6 promoted albums on the shelf - record companies pay for them to. She was fed up of listening to crap and had put her favourite album on. And there was only one copy of it left in the store, as the rest had already been snapped up by other impressed punters.

I made a note of it, leaving her copy to continue playing to the store. Other browsers needed to know what good music sounded like.

The Divine Comedy's Regeneration falls into the category of 'Great Albums' - every track is worthwhile. You can listen to the entire album in one sitting and not want to get up to skip a track. There are three reasons for this;
1. Every track is individual -they are all different, drones, upbeat pop, rock, almost modern prog styling, love songs and perfect ballads.
2. Nigel Godrich - producer par excellence who had worked with Radiohead, Beck, U2 and erm, Natalie Imbuglia. The man has great ears and stripped down their 'big thick orchestra sound' to a more intimate, almost sombre tone allowing each musician in the band space to perform.
3. Near perfect songs. Neil Hannon, the main songwriter really outdid himself on this album - beautiful melodic chunes with charming musical twists and turns and touching lyrics. And I'm not a lyrics man...

Which brings up back to this particular song.

It is, as Phil Hartnol from Orbital said, "The most beautiful list of lost items ever". And that's from a dance music hard man.

Hannon's elegant tenor voice captures the loss and emotion related to missing property that is usually only reserved for dead girlfriends. In it he lists all of those items and conjours up such original rhyming couplets as "Two Tennis Rackets, Blue Rizla Packets" and "Silk Cut and Bennies, Ten Packs and Twenties". A verse, a chorus another verse and then the music builds to a high turnaround when we receive the enlightening conclusion;

"All that I'd like is to know
Just where do those lost things go?
When they slip from my hands
Then one night in a dream
I passed through a sheepskin screen
To a green, pleasant land
I found them all piled up into the sky
And I cried tears of joy"

Now, as I have stated before, I'm not really one for lyrics in songs, I hear all the emotion and storytelling I need from a carefully crafted song in it's music, but those lyrics are pure bloody poetry.
It concludes so well, with the release and satisfactory conclusion of the tale in the final line. As close to perfection as you can get.

Get the album and find yourself with the musical equivalent to a short story collection put to music. One that you will read time, and time again.

The Small Faces - Song of a Baker

2011-06-03T23:14:00.001+01:00


The Small Faces - Ogdens Nut Gone Flake

You know that you own a Stereo don't you?

Well, back in the day, having the ability to record and playback on two speakers was new, and people actually made use of it.

Not like today when everything is on both sides of your stereo image, perhaps with a slight echo or delay and vocals slap bang in the middle.

When The Small Faces recorded their masterwork Ogdens Nut Gone Flake (ONGF from now on) they went to work making the bloody most of it.

Have a listen...

Not a good video, but the audio is nearly right. You have got instruments in the far left and right hand side, with great separation and it sounds fantastic. Why don't people do this anymore? A bunch of reasons, but mainly it's to do with being accessible for radio play. You need vocals and music the same in both, in case of mono broadcast. Really? In this day and age, when I can carry around months worth of music in a small box the size of an old cassette? Yup. It's for playing in Top Shop, shopping centres and the like without one side of your shop just getting bass and drums and the other getting just vocals and guitar.
We have reduced music production down to 'being suitable for Asdas shopping aisles'.

It's a crying shame that we don't have people really pushing home enjoyment of music, but I guess I am one of the last few who will sit down just to listen to music, rather than having it as a background noise.

However, production rant out of the way, who is this and what is it?

The 23rd Track today is a fannytastic corker of British Rock from the 60s check out a real 'live' version (aside, it isn't).

1968 and it was all going on. Historically, Sgt. Pepper had been released the previous year and music had undergone a bit of a change - the effect of that album was the same as Nirvanas Nevermind - Grunge got rid of old preening Heavy Metal and Sgt. Pepper was so revolutionary bands had to stop and re-think their strategies.

This rocking mod group re-envisioned themselves as psychedelic masters with this album. Apparently written during time out after touring whilst camping and travelling on a canal boat on the Thames, Steve Marriot and Denny Lane put together this astonishing album. It was released in a circular paper package that folded out (rather than a 12" square) and the styling was that of a tobacco box.

I first heard it at Jake Stephenson's house one evening. Jake was a friend who sold CDs in our Uni on Thursdays. He also recorded dozens of albums under different names, from psychedelic rock to Goa Trance and everything in between. I loved his lifestyle, wearing what he wanted, doing what we wanted, living his life, his way. And he was always there with a cup of tea and something new to listen to. We had spent the evening listening to Ambient LPs and smoking fags and drinking alcopops when he moved over to the stereo and put this album on. It starts with this rather mind bending track....

What a dramatic opening. All instrumental, with phased organs and then huge strings coming in.
I was hooked.
I remember listening to the whole of the first side in amazement. Mainly that I hadn't heard it before. Where was this in the 'must listen to' music I should have heard by the age of 22? I recognised none of it, apart from the last track on Side 1 - Lazy Sunday - I guess their most famous single.

They had carefully pieced together the album as a whole product - the first side all new songs, and the second side.... well... the second side is another story.

It was their version of Sgt. Pepper - a story. A children's story full of surrealism and strange language courtesy of Professor Stanley Unwin. "Who?" My god, where have you been - this guy....

That is all the narration between the tracks. Great stuff. Unwin was a master linguist who had invented his own 'gobledeegook' language that made perfect sense (in a way) but he also built into it the patterns of speech and phrases he heard the band using themselves. Man.

But what about 'Song of a Baker'? What's it all about? Apart from the great music and lead vocals from Denny Lane instead of the throaty Steve Marriot, it's about putting love into what you do.
The lyrics spell out the bakers love and pride in his job, knowing that if he is passionate about it, the product will be of the greatest quality. And that is true of this album as well. You can hear the quality of writing, recording and musicianship on each track.

Because it was made with love.

An essential album for anybody who likes the British rock scene of the late 60's.

What happened to the band is unfortunately very sad. They split up the following year, with Marriot going solo, and Denny Lane reforming under a new name "The Faces" with little known vocalist Rod Stewart and guitarist Ronny Wood. I wonder what happened to them?

Marriot died in a house fire, a schizophrenic alcoholic and Denny Lane of MS a few years ago. All penniless from being conned by their management.

But for one near perfect album, they were the epitome of classic British songwriting.

Bjork - Big Time Sensuality (Live)

2011-06-02T23:34:00.000+01:00

Bjork - Big Time Sensuality

Bits of me hurt today. Bits of me that I forgot I owned.

I was forced to do exercise on Tuesday and frankly, I am a lot more physically unfit than even I realised. Quite worrying.

It amazes me that once upon a time I would be happily dancing my face off for hours on end in nightclubs to the remixes of today's 23rd Track - Bjorks fourth single from her album Debut.

Pop pixie. That's what she's written off as isn't it? Weirdo. That's another one. She hit that reporter at an airport. Boom.

Easy tags for the pop press to grab hold of. It must get boring just to be shoved into little pigeon holes to fester in the minds of simpletons. But then again, Bjork isn't really an easy subject to write about. I've sat here for half an hour 'doing my research' and there is so much to write about her life, music, and gossip that I truly have no idea where to begin. How about that album then? Debut.

Bit of a misnomer, as it is her second solo album. No really, look it up. She released one when she was 11. I didn't even have a tape player or record deck at 11. I had my first guitar at 15.
Obviously, it's not of the same level as Debut, but it shows that songwriting and music played a massive part in her life from an early age.

One of the bits of gossipy tat that people do know about Bjork is that she used to be the singer for the Sugarcubes. i had never heard them, but it was one of those bands that were 'hip' to like in the late 80's and very early 90's. I have one track from a John Peel collection (obviously the type of stuff he would like, the genius). It's good, shows off her robusto soprano voice well, but is quite 'indie gloom pop'.

I'm very glad she found electronica and listened to Massive Attack. She listened to them and got in touch with Nellee Hooper, one of their producers in the form of the Wild Bunch. Now he is also a bit bloody excellent. One of the few artists with a great ear for silence, space and timing.

If you listen to the original (or is it a remix itself...) you can get a wonderful sense of air in between the instruments.

1993 and 94 were a good time for music weren't they? Where is the inventive pop nowadays?
Amazingly, I can't find the album version - the live one at the top is the closest sounding. Just think instead of the harmonium some 90's dance organ stabs (think the U2 lemon remix sounds) and a 4 to the floor dance beat. The whole album was more or less a collaboration between Hooper and Bjork and was (even nearly 20 years later) a defining recording for the period.

It's been remixed more times than Fools Gold, by artists as diverse as Fluke, Moby and Radiohead - why? Because it was so new. It was so open in it's formula that it invited experimentation.

And that is just fine with her. She continually experiments, a couple of albums later she was working with Drum and Bass hero and idiot Goldie, then orchestras and glitch producers and more recently with African poetry.

What really set her apart though is her voice. Nobody sings like her. She is an individual always pushing her own boundaries - which is why the live versions are so good. She knows the borders on her music (which is usually her vocal lines) and fits the music around it. In 2003 she released 'Live Box' a collection of her first 4 modern albums all performed live. During these albums she happily shows off the fact that the songs were carefully constructed works, not just producer polish. On the whole they are rather minimal, clear as a bell recordings and well worth investing in.
Here is a rather good late 90s version with Talvin Singh.

Unfortunately, she will not be remembered for her music, but the image that was built around her as the weirdo pixie. Shame...

Update - a new page - How to make Playlists

2011-05-30T12:31:00.001+01:00

Well, I've completed one of the two main things I wanted to do with this blog. I have finally written about Playlists.

Playlists help you organise your music and listen to it in new ways. Yes, iTunes has the 'Genius' function, but that is rather mysterious and doesn't tell you how it has chosen the tracks. For example I had one that apparently chose Prog Rock, but Dire Straits turned up in it..... not good.

You can find the entry above, next to 'How to rate music'.

Spend some time over Playlists, don't try and do it all in one day - you will get upset and confused.
Play around with them and find out iTunes limitations - and work out ways around them. Hopefully I have shown some of my answers to the difficulties that exist.

Geej
Oh, PS - near the bottom on the right hand side, you can now get these Blog posts emailed to you, instead of having to go online. It works really well - I for example cannot get access to this website at work, but I can get the emails! Negatives: It takes a while - it might be a day late.... and the formatting doesn't travel well on email.....

Buddy Rich - The Beat Goes On

2011-05-28T23:12:00.000+01:00


Buddy Rich - The Beat Goes On

Driving back from the Crinklies today, this smashing summer hit came on as Track 23 and all was right again with the world.

Yes, it is another cover - the original was by Sonny and Cher, but the less said about that the better.

You will probably know it for being sampled by the All Seeing Eye in the 90's.... but lets just listen.

"Oh yeah" you are all saying now. I know this. Darn tooting right you do. What a track.
Well, it was written by Sonny and Cher, and the original drums on that track were by Buddy Rich. Later Buddy wanted to record it with his daughter Cathy, who was 19 at the time (not 12 as he often stated, for what reason I can only be afraid of). So who did he get to produce it? Sonny Bono. Nice little circle there.

The song itself starts so beautifully gently, with those two simple guitar sting chords and those three bass notes, with Buddy keeping the drumming right down, riding the cymbals lightly, but in strict double time.

Then one of popular Jazz's greatest amateur vocalists comes in. Buddy's daughter may not be a diva vocalist, but the simple nature of her performance matches the slow driving build of the music and rhythm perfectly. Seductively sliding between notes, really powerfully pushing the answer lines of the song and just perfectly stopping singing without all the droning 'oooohs' and 'aaaaaaaahs' that many singers feel they need to add into the last note of the line. Through it all she has, perhaps unsurprisingly, an innate sense of rhythm. Just listen to how each syllable is carefully thought through and placed. Because of this non-diva attitude and non-showman style, with near perfect delivery, we get an impression of a strong woman, with a laid back but defined attitude. Just excellent. Where did she learn to sing like this? Probably through her fathers old mate Frank's daughter, Nancy Sinatra. And I can only find this one video of her...

On seeing that, you may wish to dismiss my previous comments about innate sense of rhythm because of her dancing. Do remember that television was still new, and the pressure of singing not only in front of a huge audience, but your famous perfectionist father would have been huge. It is still one of my favourite vocal performances of all time.
And the horns manage to do something similar to that great piece by Wes Montgomery and Jimmy Smith from a few weeks back - they rip a hole in the sky and just wail like there is no tomorrow. Through all of this great slow build and almost perfect singing, the drums have been slowly building, an extra tap here, a snare hit there, a cymbal crashing out until he too can let rip in an almost ecstatic flurry of fills that hammer home like nobodies business.

But, it's not 'Cathy Rich' at the top of the page, or on the record sleeve, it's her fathers, Buddy.
Now this guy is certainly in the top 5 drummers of all time. He started playing from a ridiculously young age - at 18 months he was on the Vaudeville circuit as "Traps the drum wonder" and at age 11 fronted his own big band. His most famous gig in life was probably with the Tommy Dorsey orchestra, but he also played with Oscar Peterson, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong.

However his forte was as band leader. But he was known as a hard task master with a short temper, probably due in no small amount to the bootleg tapes that were passed around for decades later of him telling his band off.

Yowza. Pretty harsh.
Too harsh? Maybe, but I understand his passion. This is his name, his music and his money paying for these musicians. You're goddamn right his opinion matters. That's what a bandleader is all about. Maybe his method is not 21st Century, but I can't be alone in thinking that occasionally we all would like to express ourselves that way.
That is not to say he wasn't personable - here he is on Parkinson with Roy Castle and.... Kenny Everett.

A consummate showman. But probably the best clip in history of Buddy Rich (and there are a lot of them - just type his name into YouTube for a great hours entertainment) is this - from the Muppet Show - he shows humor, showmanship, and why he is considered one of the best drummers of all time....

Les Paul and Mary Ford - How High the Moon

2011-05-26T23:56:00.001+01:00

Les Paul and Mary Ford - How High the Moon

I'm tired again. Crap at work again - everyone seems to be sodding off. Makes a stressful place so I was really glad when this beauty turned up.

Oh yeah. Now whatever music you like, you wouldn't be able to listen to it if it wasn't for this.

Yes, that is a hell of a statement. But it is honestly 100% fact.

Les Paul invented it all.

A beautiful little standard that is happy and 'cute' with no cynicism involved. Now if we are talking about composition, yup, he didn't write it. We have come across this before - go and look up the Andrews Sisters "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" which also wasn't written by them. Times were different. Songwriters wrote songs, others performed them.

Why was Les Paul's version so much better, and why was it top of the charts for 9 weeks?

Well, it sounded like nothing else. And for once that really means something.

You see Les Paul more or less invented the electric guitar as we know it and also almost all aspects of modern recording. Why? Because he was a tinkerer and a perfectionist.

Why did he invent the electric guitar? Well, having a guitar that was acoustic wasn't loud enough to stand out in a big band, and the semi-acoustics with a pickup that were available were prone to awful feedback, due to the hollow cavity. So the story goes - he went and got a railway sleeper and cut it down to the right size and slapped the sides of an Epiphone guitar on it 'so it would look right'. It took a while to catch on, but the Gibson Les Paul model which derived from it, is still popular today.

What about recording then? What did he do there? Well, same as the guitar. He didn't like how it wasn't working for him. So Bing Crosby told him to go and make his own then. Well, being a tinkerer, he did. Along the way he invented overdubbing, reverb and multi-track recording. Why is this so great? Well, lets see how Alistair Cooke got on with him when he asked.....

You see the truth of the matter is, before multi-track recording, if you wanted harmony vocals, you had to get more than one singer in the studio at the same time - hence the reason the Andrews Sisters existed - 3 singers could cover 3 lines.....

He continued working with Ampex to make it possible to record and re-record more and more tracks and even owned the first ever 8 track. To try and get a bit of perspective on this, and how astounding it was remember that even The Beatles recorded their early albums in mono and on two or 4 track machines. Admittedly, my iPhone now has a 4 track recorder on it, but in the day you couldn't just bung a bit more memory in your Mac and abuse all 256 tracks. You were limited and you had to do it right.

But even still, his influence is not complete - the music mattered. Being technically clever is one thing, but if you can't actually perform, it is wasted. Les Paul with his trio and with Mary Ford recorded albums full of tuneful melodies, you'll still hear them used in adverts, and their inspiration was endless. The first song The Beatles ever played in the Cavern Club was 'How High the Moon'....

He quit recording so much in the mid 60s, and apart from a solo album showing off new recording techniques, and two great albums with Chet Atkins which won them Grammys - that was that. He did however continue playing live every Monday night in a Jazz Club in New York City with his trio. Famous players would join him whenever they were in town from Eddie Van Halen and Slash to Duane Eddy and Steve Miller.

A year after he passed away, Jeff Beck performed a tribute show at the same club, with many big names. And Imelda May.

I think he would have loved it. It will remain a regret of mine, not being able to see him play live, but by golly we have a lot of music to remember him by....

Ozomalti - Cut Chemist Suite

2011-05-24T22:56:00.000+01:00

Ozomalti - Their debut album

Now here is something you are unlikely to have heard of....
Forgive me for getting all hipster on you, it's not my style (really) but this really is one of those albums I can't reccomend enough to people.

And until I hit Wikipedia, I didn't really know much about them all....

I did know about one member of the band - and this is his track - the Cut Chemist Suite.

Oh yeah party people!

Lets sum the band up quickly - a wonderful mixture of LA musicians drawing on all of the musical influences of the area - hip hop, funk, rock, salsa - the whole 9 yards, all in one group. The entire album just reeks of hot summers, laid back grooves and happiness. It's about time too, The world needs happy hip hop, and adding real musicians into the mix, with real guitarists, drummers and a full horn section is the equivalent of adding ice to a long strong drink - it just makes everything better.

But the man I want to concentrate on is Cut Chemist. In this band he carries the title 'turntableist', and with good reason.

That's a track from another band he was in before / during / after the debut Ozomalti album - Jurrasic 5. Quite similar in sound, but more hip-hop based. Heavens - the man can mix. He also, more importantly produced both albums. The essential element - apart from 'mad skills' in both of these tracks is knowing how sounds go together. I can only postulate that from learning how to mix records into each other, he learnt how music goes together. Listen to the first track again...

What is quite interesting is not what elements are in the whole song, but how they are left out. The bass line for example only plays for half the bar - and sometimes nothing for up to a minute. The horns come and they go. The rapper 'tuna fish?' has a couple of points where his near monotone rhythmical proclamations are in the mix alone. No drums, horns, bass of turntables.

Why is this a good thing? Adding more into the mix and removing instruments now and again adds tension and movement leading to a 'storytelling'. Making music with movement draws in the listener. Queen coined the phrase with their least successful album - "Hot Space" - the gap between the music. It's this gap - half a bar here and there without the main root instrument whether it is the drums or horns that adds shape and vitality to a tune.

The other important element of his style - that which seperates him from a hundred other turntabalists is rarer. Humor.

And that's where todays rather short one will end. Cut Chemist, DJ Shadow and DJ Numark kicking it with nothing but 3 MPC samplers. Timing, skills, humor and an understanding of texture in composition.
The Ozomalti album is perfect for summer, but then so is Jurrasic 5 - the same guy, trying to bring us sunshine whenever we hear him.

Pure Reason Revolution - The Bright Ambassadors of Morning

2011-05-23T23:08:00.000+01:00

Pure Reason Revolution - Cautionary Tales for the Brave

Well, well, well, a 23rd Track that most people will in all likelyhood dislike because of many reasons, all of which I hope to show are unfounded.

What's to hate Geej?

A fair amount if you base judgement of books on their covers - let us list them:
1. The cover - what is that? A pretentious minimalist reworking of an Aligheri painting?
2. The song is nearly 12 minutes long - no need! Is it some sort of jam band epic with lots of noodling and improvisation?
3. The title - it's rather long isn't it?
4. The genre - Prog Rock. Oh dear.

Just press play....

Well as you are going to be listening for a while, let me warble on a bit about why I own and indeed, like this. You may have picked up that I love music. A lot. My retail therapy is second hand record shops - there is nothing like it. Yes, the internet is great, but nothing beats the slow plastic slap of CD's being searched through in a decent music emporium. My education started in Scorpion Records in my closest big town. This, unfortunately no longer exists (thank you Sainsburys...).

Whether it was an Adam and the Ants picture to colour in when I was only single digits in age, or a limited Queen single a little later on I would go to Scorpion Records. They managed to find me rare King Crimson releases and replace even rarer Towering Inferno CDs after they were stolen. These chaps knew music.
Yes, they were a pair of old hippies,
Yes, the whole place smelled of joss sticks and yes, they paid bottom dollar for old CDs but they were the musical centre of the town.

In all my years of shopping there, I recognised one track that they played on the shop music system. One. Out of hundreds, if not thousands of tracks I heard. Being a shy young fellow, I would normally never ask what was playing, if I liked it - partially through awe/fear of talking to such obvious genuises, and partially because I felt that asking would be tantamount to failure as a music afficianado. I now realise the simple truth "If you don't ask, you will never know". I remember overhearing some young pup in a suit in the late 90's reporting back to them research he had done on how they could improve sales and image of the shop. The sentence that summed them up was their grinning one line reply;
"Yes, yes, I can see that people think of us as old, untrendy and not 'with it', but not aware of modern trends in music? That's just wrong. Your research is useless"

They had kept the darn place running through folk, pub rock, psychadelia, metal, dance, prog - everything. Because they knew and kept upto date with music.

And yet, I had recognised only one song in all those years. Which brings me to this photo.....

The Shapesmith in Scorpion Records - April 2006

As they were closing down, the Shapesmith and I went to pay one last somber visit to this field of dreams for music geeks. The amount of stock was pretty low, posters, which normally covered every square inch of wall were missing and tapes were, as they had been for the previous 10 years, available at half price. However, the music playing was still, to me, unrecognised.

"I know this song!" shouted the Shapesmith.
"Bullshit"
"But I do - it's Pure Reason Revolution"
"Double Bullshit"

So we went up to my favourite hippy, with scraggly jumper and 70's 'tash - "Who is this?"

Needless to say, he was right, and I bought it there and then.

So let's attack those four statements at the beginning, shall we?
1. - The cover. Well, it turns out that this isn't an album, but an EP and this cover followed the same style as the previous 2 albums. So actually, thematically it does follow the style.
2. - The length. Yes, it is long, but as you will have heard, it's not noodling or improvisational at all. It is a carefully organised and planned piece with carefully laid out sections - mellow, harmony vocals, big rock bit aroung the 8:15 mark all reworking the original theme.
3. - The title. Hmmm. Now here is where I out-geeked the Shapesmith. I recognised the line. Not the song or the band, but I knew the line. It's a bit like learning latin - by knowing all about older bands and their music you can hear who they influenced in a more modern setting. The line is from the second main section of Pink Floyds Echoes - on the Meddle album. Which brings us to the last point...
4. - Genre. I hate genres. I really do. They ruin interpretation at a base level. Admittedy so does album artwork and song titles. Videos completely re-interpret tune content. I don't use Genre in any of my 'intelligent' playlists. Because some things you just can't categorise. Think back to the hoard of work that Frank Zappa produced - do you say he is 'Rock'? Wrong. "Jazz"? Nope. What about categorising each album. Still too difficult. Albums such as 'Lather' have rock, classical, spoken word, jazz and Doo Wop on them. If you think I am going through each song - think again.

By saying that this is 'Prog-Rock' lumps PRR in the same brain-hole as Yes, King Crimson, Focus and numerous talented but unpassionate artists. You can smell the patchoili oil just by mentioning that genre.

It is probably good, however to list influences and associated artists - if you know of their work, you can part judge these guys. I can hear touches of Pink Floyd, Porcupine Tree, Gong, Ozric Tentacles, Kraftwerk, Mogwai, The Orb, Radiohead, Nirvana and Mike Oldfield. What is most surprising is that they have short hair...well, shortish.

You have to admit, you were expecting to see a hoard of Steve Hillage clones.
An intelligent and beautiful chune, full of hippyish delay pedals, modern sampling and electronics, humanised with echoing choruses of voices and arranged with careful skill. A worthwhile addition to the collection.

It all comes down to this, you clearly can't judge a book by it's cover.

Les Bell - Old Jock Radio

2011-05-20T00:35:00.000+01:00

Les Bell in his expansive studio complex

Not a tune write up, but a bit of a quicky on why I cut short the piece on the Dresden Dolls.

This attractive gentleman to your left is Les Bell, and he is a radio DJ. In my mind probably the last DJ who gives a shit.

We'll get into the who, what, whys and whens in a bit. Just feast your eyes on the trailer for the station....

Well. To be honest, I could just stop there, but you may be in two minds about what the hell is going on.... As this is about music and specifically my relationship and memories with it, I'll write about my first introduction to his gift to the world.

I like the Beta Band. No bloody surprise there. I wasn't however, for my own shame, a big fan at the time they were active. I knew of them. Probably had a tape of the 3 EPs, liked the cover of the first album, bought the second to test my hifi with and ignored the third because I didn't like the cover.
Let it be know - I am an occasional twat.

Many years went on, and whilst shopping in Asda of all places, realised I had come out without any music for the car. For me, that is a painful thing. So I headed to the 'entertainment' section. "2 for £10". Smashing, I thought, grabbing some old soul album and looking for something else saw the Beta Bands "Greatest Hits". Sure, why not - I like some of their stuff. What a stonker. Apart from the live bonus disc (worth buying the greatest hits for in it's own right) it really did what a greatest hits album should do - introduce you to the different 'faces' and styles of chune a band is capable of. So much so that I ordered the missing albums for my collection within a week.

I also went online, and found that they had broken up. Damn. What else was there to get? I noticed that they had released a DVD of their greatest hits as well. Well, back off to Amazon and Play for Geej then. It turned up, and I was even more impressed with the style of the band's "Professional unprofessionalism". They clearly took the music seriously, if not the whole selling out and acting pretentious malarkey. One of the sub-menus on the DVD said "Trailers" so I clicked it. And a number of these buggers turned up...

Cheaply made fake trailers with Steve Mason (The Beta Band's singer and main songwriter) other band members, Mani from the Stone Roses and Primal Scream and a few other faces.... All pretty crappy, but with a certain charm and skill about them that made you like them, no matter that the production values were low. Also included was that video at the top. A promo trailer for www.OldJockRadio.com

To be honest with you I could have flipped a coin as to whether it too was a fake or not, but I took a chance and typed in the web address expecting to find the statement "Error 404: Not found".

How wrong I was. What I found was the genuine website of an internet radio station in Edinburgh. These fellows had a bunch of old shows available to download and broadcast live every Thursday night from 9pm to 11pm. I say 'they', what I mean is 'he'. He, being the director of the trailers, Beta Band documentary, and owner / Disk Jockey of Old Jock Radio, Les Bell.

What you will hear, when you tune in, is genuine radio. Just like in our youth we imagined it was. We thought the radio was everything - honest, true, loving and loved. However, we know with hindsight and cynicism that not to be true. We learn what a radio playlist is. We find out that the DJs don't chose the music, don't know the interviewies personally and are merely marketing salesmen.

Not OJR - to quote his own FAQs "Old Jock Radio is a completly independent internet station that has been plying its evil trade across the planet for the last five years. We tip our hat to no-one and are completly non profit and as such we say what we want and play what we want."

The full story of this station ought to be told by the owner, and I hope one day, he will. He's a generous chap that way...

After listening in a couple of times, I dropped him an email - basically saying "Love the show - thought I ought to tell you, it's good stuff". Within a week he had sent a bunch of DVDs stacked full of old shows, badges and assorted stuff.

What will you hear? Special guests? Yup, but they wont be promoting new books. They will be friends, other listeners, his brother Dod, Steve Mason brought in Scroobius Pip, and occasionally no-one but Les, sat in the studio, with an internet connection and a Spotify database. So nothing happens then? Nope, it's interactive. You sign in on Windows Messenger and can join in, live.

Because he is such an amiable person, you do join in. It's easy to do, and you are made to feel welcome. You do, as he says "Shape the show". So what happens during the show?

He chats, you join in, there is music. You know - radio. There is occasional themes - quiz nights (e.g. Celebrity Sex Pest quiz), Star Trek night (Live from the Enterprise), tributes to Chas and Dave, The Krankees, Elvis and even a visiting American Pastor. It's fun.

What I particularly enjoy is two things, which only this particular format can afford.

1. It is uncersored. There is swearing. People use bad language every day in the real world, why should radio broadcasts be any different? It's all very free and open - you can't fake that.
2. The music is his choice. Not some marketing gimps' choice.

I have been introduced to more music via Old Jock Radio than any other radio station in my life. Why? He's got a good taste in music. He knows the difference between Good music and Bad music. It could be dance music, punk, reggae, country and western. If a request comes in he will play it. If it is crap, he'll say so. If it's good, you'll hear it again.

Obviously it's not perfect - nothing is. It is produced by one man, for two hours with little preparation and no money. But that is also it's charm, it's honest through necessity.

Tune in one week, you'll find yourself joining in in no time.

www.OldJockRadio.com

Dresden Dolls - Coin Operated Boy

2011-05-19T22:31:00.000+01:00

Dresden Dolls

Every morning for the last two months, my iPhone has tried to wake me with this song. I thought that Amanda Palmer's vocals and the changing tempo of the drums would be guaranteed to wake me.

Well, seeing as I have slept in a bit too much recently, I think we can say that experiment failed.

Imagine waking up to this at 5:30am every weekday...

Good God. I am absolutely in love with Amanda Palmer, and I don't care who knows it. My heart now probably belongs to her due to the fact that her astonishingly powerful voice has woken me every morning for the last 60 odd days. Deep lying psychological issues can only come to the fore quickly now.

Joking aside, thank god people like the Dresden Dolls exist. As good as some modern popular musicians are - much of it is as boring as recordings of my grandfather breaking wind. It's nothing new, nothing exciting, smells quite bad and is probably a load of shit.

But why did I think that the Dresden Dolls would wake me up? Well, when I listen to music I like it to make me think.
Not all the time - sometimes I like music to drift around me - I'm not necessarily talking about ambient or Muzak here - I mean disposable music. Think of good pop - Good pop should be enjoyable but forgettable. The majority of good 50's Rock'n'Roll hits are this type of pop.

However, much of the Dresden Dolls isn't disposable - jerky time signatures and maniacal tempo changes pushing needles into the music receptors of your brain forcing you to play an active role in the listening process. Palmer's voice can change in the blink of an eye from sweet and innocent to aggressive scream as can her piano playing. In many ways her style is reminiscent of Tori Amos and the whole Cabaret scene of 40's Berlin. I guess that is where their name came from... If you don't know what 40's Berlin cabaret sounds like - go and watch the bloody film Cabaret. It's honestly quite good. Music wise, at least.

The other half of the musical conspiracy at play here is the drummer - Brian Viglione. Play that track again, but don't look at the video. Just listen to him hitting those skins. Gosh darn it, he is good. He matches the timbre and tension of the piano and voice perfectly. No 'straight 4/4' beats going on here. He has played with loads of unheard people, as well as the Nine Inch Nails, on a set of drums he made out of scrap metal and wood he found outside the studio. As you do.

I'd like to see Ringo bloody Star's face if he tried to play along to this. You would be able to stretch another emotion out of his miserable millionaire face. Fear.

And finally we see a live performance. Watch that bad boy go.
Time has run out, OJR has started. Get a couple of their albums - The Dresden Dolls or Yes, Virginia. Another track you ought to listen to on YouTube is 'Backstabber' - I'll say no more on that as it is likely to turn up here one day.

So am I still in love with Amanda Palmer? Yes, but massively intimidated, and after a bit of Wikipedia research massively heartbroken. She appears to have married Neil Gaiman. Bastard.

Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention - King Kong

2011-05-17T22:29:00.000+01:00


Mothers of Invention - Uncle Meat

Well I know what I have listened to today as the 23rd track without looking it up.

Why? Well I was looking through the old music collection and found a few old albums missing. No idea how, but I lost quite a few in the painful hard drive failure of 2009....

One album that was completely missing was Uncle Meat. And what was worse - I couldn't remember it as being stand out in any way....

I mean - look at the cover, it is hideous. It is also the Mothers of Invention. Much of the Mothers material is really quite unlistenable. So I shoved the album on and was astonished, it's great - by far my favourite MOI album.

And the standout track? The one that takes up the whole of side 4 - King Kong.

That version right there ladies and gentlemen is magical. A BBC recording. And pretty free willed as well. Start playing it at around the 2minute 30 mark for the melody. I always find it a shame now, when I see crappy little effects on screen to try and 'funk up' the images, but it does seem to work with this tune.

How do I know that todays 23rd track was this without looking it up? I made up a playlist of just the different versions of this tune and played it all day long. Magic.
Surely it was boring? Nope. Not one bit. Let's find out why....

A bit of history - who were the Mothers of Invention? Well, you know I love Zappa's music, and these chaps were his first band. Music geeks will argue that I have over-simplified it. Well, yes. I have.

A bunch of guys in California playing in doo-wop and bar bands were brought together by FZ to play new music. His music, specifically. It was the time of hippies and everything being 'new' and challenging. The chaps he managed to get to join were all quite good at what they did musically, so wanted to call themselves "The Mothers" - as at the time "Motherfuckers" was the slang term for talented musicians. Record company didn't like that. So they renamed themselves "The Mothers of Invention" why? Because it was neccessary....

Were the musicians really good? Well Ian Underwood (alto sax, youngest looking) is a classically trained musician, and Don Preston (keyboards) did the soundtrack to Apocalypse Now. So yes.

Because everything had to be new and fresh the jazz inspired MOI used this piece to improvise. Apart from the melodic motif at the beginning everything is improvised. Improvised under strict conditions though. Re-watch the first 2 minutes of that recording. All the musicians eyes are trained on FZ. Why? Because he is conducting them - little signals and signs to point to 'louder', 'softer', swing and so on.

Each time is different - a bit like the Mothers version of the Grateful Deads "Dark Star" - another improvisational piece.

Apart from the exceptional musicianship, Coltrane sax solos, and humerous motifs added in left right and centre, why do I like it? The timing of the melody. It's not a normal 4/4 time signature - it is 3/8 which allows this rather odd melody to sing out.

You don't see Coldplay writing like that, do you?

Beastie Boys - Sabrosa

2011-05-10T22:28:00.000+01:00

Beastie Boys - Sabrosa

So, a week. A whole goddam week.

Have I not been listening to music? Of course not, but life gets in the way. Work is awful, family is upsetting at best, and Portal 2 was bloody addictive.

So this fell a bit by the wayside - it now continues...

Ahh the Beastie Boys....
Now I have a bit of a history with these fellows, I have to say. Not wishing to blow my own trumpet (parp parp) but without me, they would not be around today.... but that is another story.

First thing is first, because if you like this you won't necessarily keep reading. If you like this track and you want to buy it, don't buy Ill Communication. Don't get me wrong, its a great album, and this is on it, but the mini compilation of their instrumental tracks (shown above left) is the puppy you want.

The In Sound From Way Out.

It's probably not all that rare nowadays, but back then it was sort of limited at the time. Go get it. Now. Stop and head for Amazon or Play or whoever.

Right, you have ordered it, right? We can continue.

The Beastie Boys originally may have been about Rick Rubin sampling Slayer and making a rap/rock crossover party album before people knew you could do that, but they realised pretty fast, if they wanted any long term success, that wasn't going to kick it 20 years down the line.

Luckily someone bought them instruments and forced them to learn them. On each album after their first one, there is usually one or two instrumentals, just carefully placed there, sort of an extra side dish, to be savoured by the enlightened. You see, it's not all about the shouting.

So what did they play? The kind of music that they were sampling in the first place - mellow, soulful funk from the 60s and 70s. Let's remember "Root Down" is a sample of a Jimmy Smith track - there is the source right there. And can they play it live - let us see....

An OK live version there, but the soundman needs his ears tested - where the hell is the bass in the mix?
And that is the main driver of this tune - the bass. The auto-wah guitar is just a rhythmical device in this - funky as hell, but not exactly holding down a melody. It's all about seperate instruments finding their own space and taking up as little of it as possible.

It starts off with the guitar and keyboards playing simple lines off each other, before the toms and drums come in closely followed by that upright bass. A simple line, but as each verse comes along, it has a slightly different approach - leaving space for the other instruments to move around. And that space is filled, especially after the second run, where it sounds as though half the musicians have left the room by the toms, somebody pounding away, grabbing little fill motifs from 40 years previously and adding to the tension of the turnaround.

I think it is the fact that it is the opposite of the public image of the wee Beasties - a noise filled shouting match with no time to take a breath - that I like it so much.

Time to kick back, relax and pretend I'm in an old Dirty Harry movie....

Peter Gabriel - Passion

2011-05-03T21:41:00.000+01:00

Peter Gabriel - Passion

Normally for 23rd Track I write about one track. The Twenty Third one, to be precise and rather obvious.

Today I will have to write about an entire album. Why not just the track I heard?

Because, in my opinion, although there are standout tracks on this disc, it needs to be taken as a whole.

I came across this album in the same session as I came across Moby's Thousand and two unalike pieces of work really do not exist.

Peter Gabriel you know of. It is most likely you know him as "That bloke who did Sledgehammer - you know the one with the video". Well that is true. He did. He was first of all the singer for Genesis, and ran around dressed as a daffodil a lot. He quit and released solo albums. I know the Shapesmith is a huge fan of his early work - and is proud to own a German language version of one of the first four albums. It would not be wrong to say that they are pretty darn good in their own right.

After some success, he got a little restless, and before he turned into a modern technology geek with all of that bumpf about immerse interactive music, he managed to do three quite important things.

1) He found World Music (and founded WOMAD)
2) He built the Real World Studios
3) He made this album

It is because of the first two that the third was possible.

In these days of instant downloads and the Internet, it is easy to find World Music - music not from the Western tradition. Back in the 80's and early 90's it wasn't. There was no World music section in Our Price - it just didn't exist. Gabriel found it on his travels and luckily for us, fell in love with it. What he found problematic was that what recordings he did find were piss poor quality. So we get to WOMAD - World of Music Arts and Dance. A festival that brought musicians from around the world to the ears and eyes of the West. I've never been - can't really stand festivals, too many people for my liking.

Whilst they were in the UK he took the chance to record them on quality equipment. However, he realised if he wanted to do a lot of it (and he did) it would be cheaper to own a studio to do it in than rent one out. So he found a set of buildings in Box and built what can be considered one of the best studios in the world.

Why? Because he is a perfectionist. You can hear that even in his pop hit Sledgehammer - everything is clean, precise and pure. It has a one of a kind studio in 'The Big Room' - an enormous room with no barrier between the mixing desk and the artists. What I wouldn't give for a tour and a demo... Just take a look at this. No four track tape to tape gubbins here, no retro technology - just the best...

And it was this set of interests, skills and technological wherewithal that all came into play when Martin Scorsese called him up to record the soundtrack for The Last Temptation of Christ.

I'm not going to talk about the film itself - perhaps Mr Green would care to. I like the story and the acting, but there is something a little unfinished and unpolished about it for me. It's really good, but any artistic merit it has became irrelevant compared to the controversy it caused.

Scorsese wanted atmospherics and authenticity. Gabriel took him at his word and recorded this. He studied exactly where in modern geography the bible story took place and gathered music, instruments and musicians from the surrounding areas as well as further afield to record in his custom built studio.

To quote Wikipedia (as I want to get some of this right);
"[he gathered future world music vocalist stars] Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Youssou N'Dour, and Baaba Maal to bring strong Middle Eastern and African voices to the project, and Balkan textures come via the ney flute and doudouk. [the rest of the artists] came from Pakistan, Turkey, India, Ivory Coast, Bahrain, Egypt, New Guinea, Morocco, Senegal and Ghana."

It's on this recording that you can really hear the size of that studio - you can't hear any artificial compression or slapback echo from walls no more than 6ft away from the artists as they perform. There is no audio mismatch between the performance and the recording. I really wish I could find quotes from an interview I read with him years ago on this very matter. His opinion was that the instruments and musicians were used to playing in the open air, outside, and that was the very same atmosphere and recording situation he set out to create in the Big Room.

A sense of space and openness. And that is what he captured. Just listen to that first video track again. Listen to how those opening flute lines glide through the air - you can almost smell the jasmine on the air as the artist plays as the sun goes down on a Tunisian coast. There is a drone in the background (the bete-noir of composers - essential but cheap and awful) but it is authentic sounding. And then those astonishing drums come in. Probably too loud and clean for modern tastes, but their haunting panicked rhythm drives a sense of urgency to counteract the mellow peacefulness of the wind instruments.

It is this seeming mismatch of modern studio sounds and ancient instruments that give Passion a life that mor

His quest for perfection is reflected not only in the music recorded on this disc but how it was released. Most 'normal' soundtracks are shoved out onto the shelves before the film is released in order to drum up some marketing noise. Gabriel instead went back to the studio and re-recorded, re-mixed and re-edited the pieces in order to release a coherent album, which could stand up on it's own merits rather than as mere sideline in a marketing budget. It was eventually released months after the film and still stands on it's own.

How does it sound? What is it like? If I was a plonker and you wanted a one line review it would be;

"World and ambient music meet and mix on an ex-Genesis singers soundtrack album"

So much wrong with that, but in essence it is correct. Yes, it contains elements of World music with the artists and modal patterns common with non-western music. It is also essentially an ambient album - influencing whole genres (World ambient, Ganga beats, the work of Bill Laswell....)

But it's lasting impression on me is the musical storytelling that it encompasses - it truly has a beginning, a middle, an end and as it is for a film on the story of a Mr J Christ, it too has a finale which resembles a resurrection - a miraculous rebirth.

Jimmy Smith & Wes Montgomery - Down by the Riverside

2011-04-30T22:48:00.001+01:00

Jimmy and Wes - The Dynamic Duo

You want to hear the greatest introduction to any song ever?

Well, you have it right here my friends, thanks to my 23rd track of the day.

Let's get the negatives for many listeners out of the way first of all - it is an instrumental jazz version of a Gospel standard.

But not a normal jazz cover - the biggest, brassiest, most energetic recording I think I own.

Only one video out there of this version - and thanks to YouTube cutting the time down to 10 minutes per video - we just about fit it all in....

Let's start with that big. big intro shall we? A slow build up with 2 horns to about the 20 second mark, where other horns come in and start shouting "What about me!!!" from the left field, messing things up, double timing it to the first breakdown at about 45s mark. Then they start pumping what we presume is the main piece - BUT NO! They keep growing and blasting it up until 1:04 when they explode and fade away for Jimmy Smith's organ to come in to silence them.

Wow. I own great punk tunes that last less than that introduction. All of those horns grooving away at full pelt from the word 'go'. You know Beyonce has heard that and wondered "How come the horn sections in my tunes are so weak in comparison?" Nothing beats a big band intro, and that to my mind is the best there is. There is no piece of music, in my mind, that a great brass section cannot enhance.
And that is thanks to somebody not in the title - the great Oliver Nelson (of 'Stolen Moments' fame) arranged this beauty. In the jazz world there are a lot of mediocre arrangers, and luckily for these two, they managed to get hold of one of the best.

So then the tune goes on - or rather the soloing does. The two focus instruments of this record - organ and guitar have their moment in the sun. Jimmy Smith, probably the greatest organ player of all time starts off - beautifully timidly, counteracting the huge horns, which he knew he couldn't match for attack and volume - and it is sweet, to start with. However those horns have had their effect on him, and he starts attacking the keyboard with a ferocity that you wonder how he can keep it up. And luckily for our ears, he realises he can't, so he slowly slips down a gear, all the while Wes Montgomery starts slowly building his presence in the piece - an occasional stab at a root chord, building up until around the 2:30 mark when it is almost as though he is saying "Remember me, Jimmy? I'm here too!" a slip and a slide in edge-ways to try and voice his way in.

The horns then cast a refrain - marking what should be a mark to change lead instrument - but Jimmy isn't finished yet. In an understanding and generous way Wes lets him off again. Why? Because Mr Smith is cooking with gas today and nobody would dare stop him - he is on fire with such energised lines until at 4:50 he finally lets out a double stop to signal in the guitarist - and almost catches him off guard.

Wes then takes the lead - in his own way, less aggressive, far more melodic, great use of repeating lines for emphasis, yet still finding original lines to play and in a variety of styles - great sections of slides, slips and a swathe of just playing fast staccato 'block chords as melody' with such abandon that the drummer joins him.

Then almost as a show of what level these musicians are performing on at the 8 minute mark they trade riffs and lines between themselves. I can almost see Wes smiling to himself at the 8:10 mark thinking "There is no way an organ can play anything like this run of octave slides - beat this". Jimmy then answers with a series of octaves matching the melody, but in his own style. Each of them playing at the edge of their incomparable ability, pulling every trick they know out of the box in one ten minute piece.
The next 2 minutes brings the horns back in at full pelt, like a roaring wild beast and then reverting to the original refrain.

You know that at the end of the session that everyone involved was exhausted, but laughing. So who were these two chaps, these two virtuosos of their instruments?

Well, without delving into Wikipedia or the likes too much, let me say this - you have heard them before.
Jimmy Smith you have heard sampled in Beastie Boys tracks (Root Down) and as in the theme music to The Money Programme on Radio 4.... More than that he more or less invented the sound of Acid Jazz.
Wes Montgomery was in history probably the 'third' most important guitarist of all time. And by third I mean, before him came only Django and Charlie Christian. His style of using repeated solo runs, octaves and block chord melodies inspired just about everyone. If you like Hendrix, you like Wes - simple. "The Wind Cries Mary" is so in the style of Montgomery, if he had released it nowadays, he would have been sued.

As for the song. Until today, I never realised it was a standard. A well known one at that. It came on the iPod as I was driving an aged relative to see even older relatives, and it was the first piece in years of putting up with my music that she recognised. I was stunned, so I turned to iTunes when I got home and found, luckily, this beauty as an example of what the original should sound like - ladies and gentlemen - Sister Rosetta Tharpe....

Now we will talk about Sister Rosetta in the future no doubt - more soul than an Atlantic fishing trawler and what a great sight - a middle aged black woman singing and playing an all-white Gibson SG Custom years before Chuck Berry even picked up a guitar.

Back to why this track covered by Jimmy and Wes is so good:

Because they are enjoying themselves, unburdened by fame and expectations, trading riffs and having a great time in each others company.
Luckily we can share that joy thanks to this fantastic recording.

Allen Ginsberg - Howl

2011-04-27T00:23:00.000+01:00

I'm away - at meetings and then at the cinema with Mr Green to see a film on Allen Ginsberg. So why am I posting this? Because listening to this beautiful reading IS music.

If one short piece of literature can sum up the 'Beatnik' movement - it's this. Sure 'On The Road' is the epitome of the written word offerings, but this, like Shakespeare has to be heard.

It's great effervescence of life and youth, a call to the myriad of forgotten spirits that inspire our adventures fill me with a need to drive and experience the world of 50's San Francisco. To sit in smokey coffee shops with Neal Cassidy and wax lyrical about that which is not deemed essential.

The careful construction of each single word and formulation of the lines is astonishing - to read more on Howl go here.

Personally, I prefer Kerouac....

And he knew a thing or two about writing about music as well.....

Eddie Calvert - Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White

2011-04-26T23:43:00.000+01:00

Eddie Calvert - Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White

WARNING!

It's earworm time....

Once you start playing this one, it will get stuck in your head....

On the bad news front - I am away for the next two nights, so no uploads :(
It's nearly 11 here already and I have a few hours to prepare for work tomorrow....

Perfect music for the evening...

Now ain't that a beauty? You have heard it before, but you never knew what the hell it was. It's a standard now, of course - nice mambo styling with the golden horns of Mr Calvert. He did all the standards in the 50s before they were standards. In fact this was the 33rd number 1 in history. For four weeks! Wooo.
In fact it was Number one two weeks earlier by Perez 'Prez' Parado. Not a lot going on in 1955 I guess.

But why not more famous? Well, it is what we now call a cover, but it was quite normal back in the day for artists to perform other peoples music as a way to earn a living - we have looked at the split between 'writers' and 'performers' quite early on and how this has changed to being rather looked down upon. So why the two releases so close together and SO similar? No idea.

It doesn't stop this quaint little tune from being covered again and again....

A little bit of Prez there - I don't like it as much - not really sure why - it seems a little slower, with a little less life in it. Then there is the version by guitar surf band the Ventures.

Now that is one great version - it lacks the rough gut straining of the horns, but adds a bit more ability to bend notes thanks to the whammy bar, and a little more cheerful clarity in the chorus.

However Eddie Calvert came from Preston, Lancashire, so my alliance really should be with him.
But the original, original is French "Cerisier rose et pommier blanc" by Louiguy who also wrote "La Vie en Rose" made famous by Edith Piaf.

In conclusion, I think we can say that Banannarama were wrong when they said "It ain't what you do, it's the way that you do it".
Content is often more important than style, and this is a bloody cracker.

Funkadelic - Free Your Mind ...and your Ass will Follow

2011-04-25T14:01:00.000+01:00

Oh, George Clinton you are a funny man, aren't you?

If you want to know the most psychedelic record in existence, put your headphones on, turn up your stereo and press play.

The album, the second from George Clinton's sister band to Parliament was set out answer the question;

"...could we cut an entire album whilst tripping on acid?".

At least he is honest about it.

This track takes up a good third of the album and is just chock a block full of mind boggling music.

Who were Funkadelic and who were Parliament? What the hell is this noise?
Well, lets start with Mr George Clinton. Who the hell is he?

Well, I am not certain but he probably believes he comes from Venus. An ex Motown songwriter, without much success (I wanna Testify being the only hit from that period) he started up his own band, or rather bands - Parliament and Funkadelic. They practiced his particular brand of funk "P-Funk" - What is P-Funk?
Depends who you ask - it could be "Pure" funk, "Psychedelic" funk or a shortening of Parliament and Funkadelic. These two bands sort of are the same thing - they started off as Parliament and during a long dispute with the record company, decided to more or less all leave and reform to sign to another label as Funkadelic.

However, with this break with the record company they took the opportunity to re-style themselves as well as re-name themselves. Out went the over dominance on Soul and Doo Wop and in came the electric age of aggressive funk and rock - taking the lead from Sly and the Family Stone, as well as James Brown and more outlandish bands....

Live shows were spectacular with a huge "Mothership" landing on stage and enormous spectaculars of stagecraft, lights.... hell just look at this....

Weren't the 70's great?
What he go on to do? Well, he still does this, he produces dozens of artists from Ice Cube to the Chili Peppers, but it's this track that is a no doubt 5 star winner for me. Not as perfect as Maggot Brain, but still....

6 notes of a riff that last ten minutes, with biblical 'calling and answering' reminiscent of a Catholic service;
Call "Free Your mind and your ass will follow"
Answer "The kingdom of heaven is within"

Electronic bubbles, electric guitar, distorted organs straining to stay alive as they are driven to the point of pain and in the mix - violent pans left to right and back again, whilst different instruments are given the foreground more carefully with slower fades. He would perfect this act later on, but the rawness of the mix goes in parallel with the rawness of the music and the instruments themselves. The guitarist Eddie Hazel out-Hendixes the man himself whilst the organ reaches meltdown. The last three minutes (8:00 onwards) reach a surprising crescendo of musicality, and certainly answer the question.

Yes, you can record an album whilst tripping on LSD, although it may not be palatable to the majority of listeners.

Dinosaur Jr - Freak Scene

2011-04-25T11:50:00.000+01:00

Dinosaur Jr - Freak Scene

It's 1988, grunge is getting huge and one of the originators finally release their first single in the UK - Freak Scene.

If you haven't heard of them before - congratulations, you are not a hipster. And as a warning - it's a loud noise.

Now that's the only version I can find on You Tube that isn't live - and it only lasts 30 seconds. What rot.
The band revolves around underground music messiah J Mascis - who from all accounts appears to be a mixture of Mark E Smith and Phil Spector in the studio - demanding exactly what he wants from drummers and bass players, allowing no individuality or expression. By the time of their third album 'Bug' which this comes from, the original drummer had already gone and during the tour for this album the bass player would leave for Sebadoah. Is this such a bad thing?

I am mixed about this - let's hear the whole song.

Sonic noise with moments of greatness. Certainly a song in there somewhere, but perhaps the whole fuzz and feedback thing is overbearing the notion of the songwriting. That was taken from the 1991 tour with Sonic Youth and Nirvana - three years on and what was underground was clearly now popular...

So is he right in laying down the law about wanting his way with his songs? There are two ways of thinking about it.
If you consider yourselves a band, you really ought to take into consideration the other members opinions - especially when it is concerning their own instrumentation.
However, if you are a bandleader (remembering the term comes from the big band era) then you should expect your members to follow your lead. The Foo Fighters had a similar problem. The individual members didn't know where they stood after two albums. Are they a group of like minded musicians, or are they backing musicians? It caused anxiety and arguments over not knowing their place in the scheme of things. After eventually getting it out in the open Dave Grohl made a decision - "It is my band and you are the members of it - I am in charge". Luckily, they were happy with this and could get on with their jobs - knowing exactly what it was.

So what about the songwriting - is it there? The test (in my mind) for rock music is easy - does it work acoustically? Lets see;

To be honest, I find the whole album a bit of a grower - it didn't grab me on the first listen, but as time went by I could hear moments of greatness and now consider the entire record a great testament to an era and the individuals who made it up.

I really am looking forward to the 1st July when I see them perform it live in it's entirety in Ali Palace...

Basic Instructions - How to Defend your Musical Tastes

2011-04-22T21:50:00.000+01:00

Hmmmm....

Does this entry even need a comment?
Apart from "Visit Scott's site. I do."

The original is posted here.

King Missile - Detachable Penis

2011-04-22T19:49:00.001+01:00


King Missile - Happy Hour - where this single comes from.

You know what? It's Good Friday and I'm in a bad mood.
Work has blown up again, and I am nearly past caring.

I just want to sleep all day and the kids next door are playing happy hardcore and 'smoking'. It's 3pm dammit.

So what did I put on the stereo to fight back against the all pervading dumb?
It wasn't this, but it was a Breezeblock session from 1998, but it had this on it.

So I hit iTunes and brought up this bad boy. It is about exactly what it says on the tin. To save my time and yours, play it. It's great fun.
Wikipedia says this:
"In "Detachable Penis," front man John Hall recites a deadpan monologue in which he portrays the owner of the eponymous organ. Apparently a resident of Manhattan's East Village, the narrator awakens one morning with a bad hangover to discover that his penis is missing again. He searches his apartment, calls the location of the party he attended the night before, and queries numerous acquaintances, but is unable to recover his penis.
Depressed, he goes to the Kiev Restaurant for breakfast, and afterwards, while walking "down Second Avenue, toward St. Mark's Place," discovers his penis for sale "on a blanket next to a broken toaster oven." The man selling the penis wants $22 for it, but the narrator is able to "talk him down to seventeen." He takes his penis home, washes it off, and reattaches it. With his penis back in place, he is "happy again: complete.""

The singer was convinced to form a band after a stint as a poet and realising that was fairly dull. King Missile have released a few albums with an ever changing lineup, but this was their 'hit'. Many thought of them (and still do) as a one hit wonder. Not true, In fact I think this comes from their 4th album -- however this one got radio and MTV plays.

Why?
Simple - it's strange and funny.
Much of King Missile's lyrics are surreal and play with abstract imagery as though it were everyday. Hall's delivery of his lines range from emotional to monotone drawls as with Detachable Penis. Is it a statement on sexual identity and guilt? Who truly cares.

Musically, I wouldn't say it is as original as the lyrics, but it also isn't 'by the book' rock. Heavy delay reverberating the three chord riff back and forth, a simple jabbing organ line, a forgettable bass line and drums that cross between funk and rock. In my mind it reminds me of a branch of metal that was flourishing just as Grunge was coming to the fore - MindFunk in particular. The long sweeping echo-laden lead guitar lines and minor key overtones certainly speak of a certain era.

If you want to hear more, the albums "Happy Hour" and "Mystical Shit" are winners. As for people who they influenced - try Soul Coughing (a more Bristol sound version) and Ugly Duckling for the more Hip Hop versions of poet led music.

So much more than just giggling at the rude words....