Notes on Some Recent Acquisitions
(the full list)
| Devendra Banhart | Oh Me Oh My... |
The lowest-fi recordings I've ever heard on a proper label release. But that's all part of the charm, really. A coked up Tiny Tim mixed with Syd Barrett in decline. 8 |
| Disco Inferno | DI Goes Pop |
I can hear why people like this so much with the very English indie band songwriting and the left field touches. But the sampler usage is so obvious, so poorly done that it's mainly nice as an historical thing for me. 6 |
| Emmylou Harris | Anthology |
A lot of her most famous 'real' country stuff with some slightly unexpected moments like a version of Simon and Garfunkle's The Boxer. Gorgeous voice as always. 7 |
|
McGarrigles Rufus Wainwright |
McGarrigle Hour s/t |
Although
there's moments of real aching beauty in the Hour there's also some clunky
bits (which didn't seem to be so apparent in the DVD we saw at Steve and
Maureen's - thanks for the lovely lunch, btw). 7 |
| Tyrannosaurus Rex | A Beard of Stars |
Just on the cusp before he invented Glam, there are some tracks where his pop star aspirations are all too apparent. Elsewhere this MUST have been the model for Ween's The Mollusk. 7 |
| Beach Boys | Smile |
One of the versions lying around the net. Quite an intriguing listen with alternate takes of all the better songs but the too acid raddled brain does not make for good harmonies. 7 |
| Boards Of Canada | Live |
A fairly uninteresting batch of songs from 2 concerts. Tracks that are the same in both concerts sound exactly the same as the others - where's the human intervention. 6 |
| BEF | Music for Listening To |
Great instrumental synth pop only sounding slightly dated. 7 |
|
Gavin Bryars Philip Glass |
4 Late 90s releases The Hours OST |
In most cases these are too close to standard 'classical' / 'romantic' orchestral or string quartet music for me to really appreciate them but sometimes Bryars sense of charm, humour and gravity shows though - Glass is as poe-faced as always. 6 |
| Blur | Think Tank |
Fairly dull. Others disagree and say it's the best in years. An occassional dip into Is This A Low territory and a 'fuck' or two. All bases covered then. 5 |
| Cage / Tudor | Indeterminancy |
A compelling intellectual exercise leavened by Cage's innate wit and ability as a raconteur. Will I ever listen to this again? 6 |
| Morton Feldman | 3 Voices for Joan La Barbara |
It sounds more like an experiment in vocal chording rather than a complete piece of music but sections of it are truely beautifull. Otherwise it can get a bit annoying. 6 |
| Four Tet | Rounds |
After all the glowing reveiws I read about this release you'd think there'd be more to it than a pleasant mixture of digital electronics and live instruments. "A new path for electronic music" they said! The Notwist did this last year with more melody (if with less imaginative arrangements). But Tarwater have been doing this since their inception with a greater degree of success and with a darker, more intense feel. 6 |
| Modern Lovers | The Original Modern Lovers |
Kim Fowley's early 70's demos. Less well played than the Cale production and with a rawer feel. Slightly interesting. 6 |
| Jim O'Rourke | I'm Happy and I'm Singing... |
O'Rourke's laptop pieces mingle electronica, music concrete, minimalism, humour, juxtapositions and a sense of the unexpected. Have I said before that he's really, ya know, great? 8 |
| Steve Reich | another 2 cds worth |
Reich's system music (Pendulum Music and so on) is a little bit tiresome but only because that style is so well known now. Octet is the go, though - simply lovely. 6-7 |
| Stephen Scott | New Music For Bowed Piano |
A bowed piano sounds a lot like an accordion. It then sounds like a metallic violin. Amazing musicianship with a group of people leaning into the piano and bowing the strings. The result is gorgeous. 8 |
| Rufus Wainwright | Poses |
Gershwin, Wilson, early 60s NY tin-pan alley, Nillson, Elton John, Ben Fold's with the occassional bit of Peter Allen thrown in for good measure. In the early 21st century it's amazing to hear a performer who rejects a whole swathe of pop music in favour of a version that no-one seems to care for any more. Genes show through. 8 |
|
Tod Dockstader Luc Ferrari Pierre Schaeffer Pierre Henry David Tudor |
Apocalypse Musique Promenade / Pr. Rien L'Ouvre Musicale Variations Pour Une Porte... Three Works for Live Elect. |
A variety of music concrete and electronic composer either lent to me or downloaded. They never grab me in the gut but twinkle at my head. Yes, Patrick, I still prefer melody, chords and the human voice. 6 |
| Oren Ambarchi | Suspension |
I don't know what i was expecting but it wasn't a record as beautifully droning as this. 7 |
| Tori Amos | Scarlet's Walk |
Yes, it's a concept album but that doesn't impinge on the quality of the songs which are as good as she's written. Probably 20 minutes too long. 8 |
| Hafler Trio | Plays the Hafler Trio |
A strangely attractive minimalist piece jerked around occassionally by flying shards of sound. 7 |
| Interpol | Turn On The Bright Lights |
Maybe the least attractive of the modern bunch of post-punkers for me. Every single songs sounds like something I heard in 1979. 6 |
| Low | The Curtain Hits The Cast |
Even more downbeat than the other albums I have. Did they get happier as the time went on? 6 |
| Massive Attack | 100th Window |
Taking the excellent blueprint of Mezzanine and grinding it into the dust. 6 |
| P16.D4 | Kuhe In 1/2 Trauer |
A quite Faustian take on the rock environment - lots of unexpected cuts interspersed with some droney pieces. 7 |
| Popul Vuh | In Den Garten Pharaos |
Very effective minimalist rock similar to early Tangerine Dream. 6 |
| Rachel's | Selenography |
More like a chamber orchestra piece than the Sea and Bells and the better for it. Some lovely melodies. 7 |
| Residents | Third Reich N Roll |
The Residents at their most hilarious, covering famous rock tunes to great effect, dissembling the stupidities as they go. 7 |
| Sonic Youth | A Thousand Leaves |
The lyrics and most of the singing annoy me - and that goes for all their albums. But this has similarly great guitar playing to the recent Murray Street which makes up for it all. 7 |
| Various | more p2p downloads |
what with my isp's news server down, there's very little else i use the web for |
|
Glenn
Branca - Symphony #5 - possibly the Branca I like most of all. The
production sticks to a concert hall live miking setup which, once again,
can only dull the impact - multi track, you fool. |
||
| Various | all p2p downloads |
With my adsl connection not doing much I decided to download a raft of things that I thought might be of interest... they can easily be split into 2 groups... |
| the dissapointments |
Stevie
Wonder's Music of My Mind and Fullfillingness... have about 2 good tracks
each and with hardly anything to match Innervisions. |
|
| the good ones |
The
Free Design make the most sacharine pop music I've ever heard but it's
delightfull just the same - Bubbles is now my favourite song of all time.
Komeda's other 2 releases show off their pop skills to great effect. Lewis
Taylor's Stoned Part 1 continues the great soul singing and melodies from
his 1st album but leaves a little of the experimentation behind. |
|
| Komeda | The Genius Of Komeda |
Possibly a little too influenced by Stereolab (doo wah backing vox, farfisa organ chords, even some french words) but with a harsher, more agressive touch that makes then their own. 7 |
| Fountains Of Wayne | Welcome Interstate Managers |
More power pop from Jersey's finest (I dunno - is that where they're from?). I continually think that the albums have diminishing returns but, just as the ennui sets in, they come up with some hook / chord change that makes it all worthwhile. 8 |
|
Gal Costa Getz / Gilberto OST - Orfeu Negro Elis Regina |
as per <-- |
Gal Costa is delightfull Brazilian psych-pop with some lovely songs and the occassional vocal schreek to liven things up. Easily someone else I'd want to investigate. 8 Getz / Gilberto is the smoothest lounge music imaginable. 7 The OST is a little dissapointing (as are all soundtracks for me) but definitely shows the breadth of Brazilian music. 6 Elis Regina's cd is almost bland but her singing is fab. 7 |
| Morton Feldman | For Samuel Beckett |
Played beautifully by The Ensemble Moderne, this hour long piece sounds "like listening to air turn inside out over and over" (as so memorably stated by Mitch). It's reminiscent of The Necks' Aether but with more harmonic interest and with a flow I've never encountered before. 8 |
| Streetwalkers | Red Card | I don't know what it is about Chapman singing Whitney's songs but they always manage to connect perfectly with me whereas other bluesy rock just whizzes on by. Yes, the lyrics are getting worse and worse and the songs at times are a little plodding compared to the halcyon days of Family but I can forget these things effortlessly. 8 |
| Stereolab | Space Age Bachelor Pad Music | The only main Lab release I didn't already have (I think all of Switched On has been re-released on other albums) and so I thought I should do the good deed. In fact, it's the softest record of theirs I can think of apart from the last track which heads into Neu! territory again. Probably O'Hagan's contribution. 7 |
| Anthony Moore |
Secrets of the Blue
Bag Pieces from the Cloudland Ballroom |
2 of Moore's recently re-released minimalist / systems pieces from the days before Slapp Happy. I've also heard the other one (Sticks...) but it's reliance on percussive elements reminds me of nothing more than a long clumsy drum solo. However, these are splendid, if rather austere experiments with scales and phrasing that work much better than I'd remembered them. 8 |
| Joni Mitchell |
Turbulent Indigo Both Sides Now |
By the time of Turbulent Indigo, her voice sounds like bubbling tar (which it most probably is). But the songs are still good and they're not marred by that ridiculous guitar synth she chose to use on Taming The Tiger. Both Sides Now is a career retrospective with her smokey voice backed by a jazzy orchestra / big band whose charms still elude me. 6 |
| Dr John | In The Right Place | I remember buying this when I was in my late teens thinking "so here comes some weird voodoo shit, alright" and being completely dissapointed with the bluesy sound. Ofcourse, now I can see the smooth soul funk coming through. Too bad it only took me 20 years. 8 |
|
Harold Budd Brian Eno |
The Pavilion of
Dreams Discreet Music |
The last of the Obscure series for me to obtain and the most readily available and, possibly, the best of the bunch. Exactly what you'd expect but beautifully done. 7 |
| Sahara Hotnights | Jennie Bomb | The couple of tracks I heard on the radio were enjoyable enough to turn up so I thought I'd give the whole album a try. While not a great piece of hard pop rock it still can make me smile. Probably better than the Donnas. 7 |
| Lee Hazelwood | Cowboy In Sweden | There are obviously people out there who think he's a god of some sort but his records sounds too much like an in-joke to actual make me feel anything. Still and all, tall stories don't get told much better. 6 |
| Erase Errata | Other Animals | Slightly forced, angular avant rock (in a post-punk styllee). Once again, a couple of good songs amidst a sea of the so-so. 6 |
| Cat Power | You Are Free | This is the first full length album by Chan Marshall that I can stand. I'm just one of those people who've never warmed to her style of writing or singing and it's still mostly the same with this one. But for an unbeliever like me there's still moments of aching beauty (although I still keep thinking of Melanie and Beth Orton when sho opens her mouth). 6 |
| The Rapture | Echoes | Hot off the P2P presses, this unreleased album holds it's influences up high and shakes them about without a care. As always there's touches of The Cure, PIL, the Bunnymen and Gang of Four with seemingly very little else to make it their own. They do the mutant disco thing well too. 6 |
| Pinback |
This is a Pinback
CD EPs |
One of those bands whose material can easily seem noxious to many people with close simple harmonies, intricate playing and pristine, dry production. Most obviously, their emotional content seems limp to the point of ennui. But when it gels, as it does at least half the time, their songs are as effective as any I've heard in emoting beauty and sorrow. The 1st cd is a pinch better than their 2nd but the EPS have few good things. 8 / 6(PS, they remind me of a less intense No-V-Bleet) |
| The Work | Slow Crimes | I always remembered the Maggot Song single with affection and was surprised at how they seemed to slip off the face of the musical earth after that. Ofcourse they didn't, they just became more underground than the early 80's underground. Lots of great tracks on this augmented 1st release with a This Heat angular repetitiveness and a post-punk sense of drama. Unfortunately the lead singer's voice gets quite annoying quite quickly but I've persevered and now I even quite like it for some weird reason - at least it fits in perfectly with the songs. 8 |
| Tangerine Dream | Ricochet | This was the first TD that I bought in the 70s and so it has some adolescent resonance for me. Their first to show the sequenced synthesisers and it displays them well. 8 |
| The Necks |
Sex Next Silent Night Aquatic Hanging Gardens |
It took them a little time to find their stride but, truthfully, these are all mostly just plain magnificent. Hanging Gardens is the most vigorous I've heard them (except for one part of the only live performance I've seen where Tony Buck sounded like a jazz-bo Klaus Dinger). It's just stunning with strident playing and a lovely chord progression. 7-10 |
| Henry Cow | Various Bootlegs 6 cd-rs | Some uncertain sound quality ensures that I'll play these very little. I've got some of it via P2P already and so there's few surprises. I'm starting to feel like a completist! And I feel all the more ridiculous for it. 6 |
| Fred Frith and Ensemble Modern |
Traffic Continues Gregory Peckary |
Both of these sound very similar to Pacifica so Frith certainly knows how the ensemble plays and. Neither of these have the elegance and beauty of Pacifica, though. 7 |
| The Fall | Live At The Witch Trials | Makes it mark as possibly the best Fall album overall. Some great, great songs and terrific playing. 8 |
| Ivor Cutler | Danddruff and Velvet Donkey | The deadpan delivery and basso profundo style still makes me smile. I left out all the non Cutler pieces and some of the longer poems. 7 |
| Faust | Rien | A glorious sounding cut and paste effort from Jim O'Rourke with the remnants of Faust sounding almost as good as they ever did. 8 |
| Tony Conrad and Faust | Live QEH 1996 | Conrad's violin is as grating as ever in the solo sections of this performance. It's only until the Faust backing starts that I really enjoy it. 8 |
| Kraftwerk | Live - Adeliade 2003 | I dunno, slightly pointless in many ways. None of these versions are as good as the studio recordings and the live feel detracts from the glorious retro mechanism inherent in their tunes. Ya had ta be there (or something). 7 |
|
The Kills |
Keep On Your Mean Side | The Kills are a 2 piece (like White Stripes) but with a slightly bigger sound (more instrumentation) and a punkier attitude. In fact, they sound all attitude to the detriment of the songs. 7 |
|
Yeah Yeah Yeahs |
Fever To Tell | The Yeah Yeah Yeahs album is, basically, just fucking fantastic. It makes me want to be 18 again. It may not have the intellectual frission of my favourites from the past (Pere Ubu, This Heat, etc) but it has the vibrant energy and power of my raw rock loves - Radio Birdman, NY Dolls, Sex Pistols, etc. 9 |
|
Balnescu Quartet |
Possessed | Lots of versions of Kraftwerk songs! Sometimes fascinating, sometimes "what's the point" but disarming in every sense. Augmented by a few originals which may possibly be more interesting than the others over time. 7 |
|
Aksak Maboul |
Un Peu de L'ame des Bandits | Henry Cow's Frith and Cutler helping out some Belgian RIO friends. The first track is just fantastic - skewed rock/pop with weird changes, great vocals and wonderfull stylised playing. It then tends to imitate HC's longer, later pieces (thanks again Mr Hodgkinson!) but sounds so similar to the originals that it makes me tired. 7 |
|
After Dinner |
Paradise of Replica... | Just what IS it about Japanese Avant Pop that makes it so appealing to me? Come on, tell me? This is another terrific little piece from the mid 90s with remixes by a raft of digital stars like Terre Thaemlitz. 8 |
|
Terry Riley / Don Cherry |
Live Koln1975 | Remarkably beautifull with Riley's timeless organ playing gorgeously counterpointing Cherry's jazz blats. 8 |
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