tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79057941932485402312024-03-13T14:59:44.166+00:00Music ObsessiveMusic, popular culture and er...other stuffmusic obsessivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191742084494035205noreply@blogger.comBlogger319125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905794193248540231.post-65713491754194478552013-09-27T06:00:00.001+01:002013-09-27T06:00:06.486+01:00Daughter - If You Leave<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-I2gqlxnSs8E/UjYXuusibrI/AAAAAAAABJg/g71bkXY1GVs/s1600/Daughter+IYL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-I2gqlxnSs8E/UjYXuusibrI/AAAAAAAABJg/g71bkXY1GVs/s1600/Daughter+IYL.jpg" /></a></div>
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Oh Dear! Act in
haste, repent at leisure springs to mind.
Although in my defence I did rather enjoy Daughter at <st1:place w:st="on">Glastonbury</st1:place>, enough to award them second
place in my Top Three for Glasto 2013.
There was something about them in a live environment that was quite
beguiling but translating their slightly ethereal material to the studio has
not quite worked for them.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Following their Festival appearance, I downloaded their
debut album for 4AD, ‘If You Leave’ and have been listening to it on the
inevitable ipod commute. Unfortunately
it has not really gripped me. Without
the visuals and expansiveness that live performance allows, their set sounds a
bit flat, repetitive and devoid of any really memorable tunes, which is a bit
of a disappointment, to say the least as I had great expectations for this
unlikely trio.<o:p></o:p></div>
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On the plus side, Elena Tonra’s songs have a pleasant
lilting quality and exquisite lyrics and each one has been beautifully arranged
by fellow band members, Igor Haefeli (guitar) and Remi Aguilella (drums), but
the whole is an object lesson in why everything really comes down to the
tunes. Many have argued that the lyrical
content of a song is what really matters but unless you are Bob Dylan or Joni
Mitchell, this is a very shaky premise.
For me, this album proves the point that unless you can write a decent
tune all the production stardust in the world will not save it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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That is not to say that some of the songs are not OK but too
many are a bit aimless melodically and the pace is too homogenous and too
measured throughout the ten or so songs.
It needs a bit of livening up and a bit of drama added (compare with <st1:place w:st="on">Florence</st1:place> and the Machine,
for example) to really set it free. Even
Sade’s ‘Diamond Life’, that seminal 80s cocktail album, had a verve about it
despite its mellow quality that allowed you to keep interested. Daughter, on the other hand, have produced a
beautiful sounding album that appears to have all the right ingredients, yet
still does not gel<o:p></o:p></div>
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I can’t help feeling that at the moment, Daughter really
ought to be a ‘singles’ band as to hear one song at a time is still quite an
experience. It is when you are forced to
listen to 10 of them in a row that the impact is lost. Perhaps next time?<o:p></o:p></div>
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P.S.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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And on that note, I am sad to say that I am ceasing writing
my regular posts on this blog. These
last few months have been more of a chore than an enjoyment so after 7 or so
years and over 300 posts I am retiring.
I may post from time to time but for now, I am taking a break. Thanks to all of you who have read my musings
and commented here. It’s been fun.<o:p></o:p></div>
music obsessivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191742084494035205noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905794193248540231.post-59045971159809665802013-09-13T06:00:00.000+01:002013-09-13T06:00:01.064+01:00Eagles Studio Albums 1972 - 1979<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qbEKYoTgMhU/Uf0jWOXOmgI/AAAAAAAABJI/MY2zy34kr2M/s1600/eagles+box+set.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qbEKYoTgMhU/Uf0jWOXOmgI/AAAAAAAABJI/MY2zy34kr2M/s1600/eagles+box+set.jpg" /></a></div>
Back in the spring of 1977, it seems you couldn’t turn a
radio on anywhere without being subjected to ‘Hotel California’. It was omnipresent on the airwaves for months
and effectively cured me of ever wanting to delve into the Eagles back
catalogue, ever. So what is this box set
I see before me? Lo, it is the newly
released ‘The Eagles: The Studio Albums 1972-1979’. And it is here because a) it was cheap, and
b) I’m curious to know what all the fuss is about since I’ve not listened to
most of their output until now.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Not being a particular fan of The Eagles, I have only ever
owned one LP, ‘On the Border’ but now I have the complete set of all six 70s
releases from their debut up to the frankly dreadful ‘The Long Run’. Has time mellowed my indifference or do they
now strike a chord? Well, yes and
no. Listening to these albums now in chronological
order it is easy to see how the conversion from ex-Linda Ronstadt country
backing band to full blown stadium rock ‘n’ roll outfit occurred. Whilst there is a gradual shift over time,
the most marked change in style happens about the time of my only purchase, ‘On
the Border’. It is here that the mix of
Leadon-led country and Frey/Henley rock is at its most divisive following the
arrival of additional guitarist Don Felder – a move that eventually precipitated
the departure of Bernie Leadon.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Having listened to all six albums, my overall impression is
that The Eagles were in essence a great singles band. Each album has 2/3 stand out tracks and all
of them were released as singles. Even
the Hotel California album itself, which I have now listened to for the first
time, is little more than the title track with a load of so-so other tracks (I
can feel the comments coming already!).
In many ways I am a bit disappointed by this as I expected to find many
hidden gems amongst the non-single tracks but I’ve been a bit under whelmed to
tell the truth. Nevertheless, the
singles still stand the test of time and show why The Eagles were such a
revered band so I think I’ll stick with them.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I have made an ipod playlist of about a dozen of my
favourites and it bears a very strong resemblance to most of the ‘Best Of’
compilations already on the market. The
only major addition I have made is to include Bernie Leadon’s tribute to Gram
Parsons, ‘My Man’ which is one of the best Country songs I have ever heard and
cannot understand why it doesn’t feature on any Eagles compilation.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So, are The Eagles the American Madness, a great singles
band with a series of less than great albums?
Discuss.<o:p></o:p></div>
music obsessivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191742084494035205noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905794193248540231.post-67166389121155588322013-08-30T06:00:00.000+01:002013-08-30T06:00:01.523+01:00Music Mechanics<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Q0lovunlNQ4/Uf0jWDGDUcI/AAAAAAAABI8/jYNaZt0DU7Q/s1600/record+player.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Q0lovunlNQ4/Uf0jWDGDUcI/AAAAAAAABI8/jYNaZt0DU7Q/s1600/record+player.jpg" /></a>A friend of mine made an interesting remark the other
day. Here’s how he arrived at it. We were mourning the passing of old
technology like the cassette, 8-track cartridge, VHS videotapes and of course,
vinyl records. The real issue, we
surmised, with the march of time is that we are all left with the data media,
records, tapes and so on, but not the equipment to play them on. As cassette players and record decks become a
rarity we are left with a load of un-retrievable data. It was at this point that my friend
propounded his theory; that of all the media formats, vinyl would be the one
worth holding on to as it would be possible for many people, with a rudimentary
understanding of physics to build a machine to play them.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Let me expand this a bit.
The vinyl or indeed, shellac, disc was invented during an age when
everything was the product of mechanical engineering, electricity barely having
been discovered. As a consequence, the
physical record carried an analogue groove which was read by a mechanical
contraption, a needle on an arm, and the vibration thereby generated, amplified
by physical, not electronic means. Even
today it should be possible to build a rudimentary machine that tracked the
record groove and fed the vibrations produced to a large horn much in the same
way that the first record players did.
So even if the apocalypse comes, owners of vinyl records may well be
able to play them again after a bit of mechanical fiddling with components that
could be made or cannibalised.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Those still owning a stack of tape formats such as
cassettes, cartridges or CDs would not be so lucky as these are a product of
the electronic age and would require a knowledge of electrical engineering and
the correct materials to build circuits.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The idea that the age of mechanics has now become the age of
electronics was brought home to me when I tried to buy a Meccano set for my
son’s birthday. These days it is
manufactured by a French company and is not generally available in the same way
that say, Lego, is. Lego has filled the
void left by other construction toys in a big way but it has a flaw. I read a recent review of today’s Meccano
written by a Civil Engineer and he made a pertinent point. His view is that Lego allows you to build
today’s structures in an <i>unreal</i> way
but Meccano allows you to build the same structures in a <i>real</i> way. In other words
Lego does not use real engineering principles and thus teaches you nothing.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It seems that in the age of electronics, no one is really
interested in teaching youngsters how to build mechanical objects as the
knowledge is redundant. Perhaps building
a record player may well be beyond today’s generation after all?<o:p></o:p></div>
music obsessivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191742084494035205noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905794193248540231.post-18890223802972359882013-08-16T06:00:00.000+01:002013-08-16T06:00:06.527+01:00Is There a 1980s Audio Stamp?<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FWFy_v7IAj8/Uf0jWQLZe4I/AAAAAAAABI4/gOEuKhid1GU/s1600/cat+is+out.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FWFy_v7IAj8/Uf0jWQLZe4I/AAAAAAAABI4/gOEuKhid1GU/s1600/cat+is+out.jpg" /></a>It looks like I’m having a bit of a Polish phase at the
moment. Having reactivated my connection
with Pat Benatar (nee Andrzejewski), I have been trawling through the back
catalogue of another daughter of Polish immigrants, Judie Tzuke (nee Myers but
reverted to Tzuke).<o:p></o:p></div>
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Having always liked her 1979 debut ‘Welcome to the Cruise’,
I have been rediscovering her subsequent LPs (and in 2 cases, cassettes – eek!)
that have been lying dormant and generally unloved in my collection since the
80s. And it has been time well spent as
her first half dozen albums are well worth seeking out. Why I haven’t until now brought this stuff
into my current playlists is undoubtedly due to their limited availability on
CD. The fact that her first 10 albums
were originally released on no less than 8 different labels goes a long way to
explaining why there is no box set retrospective or sensible reissue
programme. Many of these labels have
changed hands several times with the consequence that no one has been really
interested in maintaining their availability.
Shame.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Listening to the likes of ‘Sportscar’, ‘Shoot the Moon’ and
‘The Cat is Out’ is a bit like opening a time capsule. The general consensus is that the 1970s has a
strong aural and visual identity but there is no doubt that the 1980s has its
own highly identifiable audio stamp.
Take 1985’s ‘The Cat is Out’ for example and have a squint at the cover
– that hair! Those shoulders! The music is even more identifiable. Almost every instrument is a classic example
of 80s sounding rock. It starts with a
drum machine and no matter what anyone says, these things were a curse on real
music. You can predict the rhythmic
patterns after about the first 8 bars of every song. At least a human error mixes things up a bit. Then there is that fat fretless bass
sound. Good grief! I’m SO glad they died a death. Most noticeable of all are the analogue synth
sounds. Those chord washes and bell
sounds are absolutely typical of the early-mid 80s. For people who know their synths intimately
and I’m not an expert, you can probably guess the exact year of recording on
these alone.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Yet despite the 80s aura, the songs are strong and the whole
things holds together remarkably well. I
never realised that the 80s were so unique, sound-wise. Moving on to the 90s I have not yet detected
any real defining features – perhaps it needs a bit more distance before these
things become apparent?<o:p></o:p></div>
music obsessivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191742084494035205noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905794193248540231.post-75955908397450883662013-08-02T06:00:00.000+01:002013-08-02T06:00:04.508+01:00Glastonbury 2013 Part 2<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-h2WB41BZHT8/UfgQBMFeN_I/AAAAAAAABIM/3Cbc2whNacY/s1600/Glasto+2013+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-h2WB41BZHT8/UfgQBMFeN_I/AAAAAAAABIM/3Cbc2whNacY/s1600/Glasto+2013+2.jpg" /></a>OK, so I did watch a bit of the Rolling Stones set but
frankly I wasn’t that impressed. They
looked tired, jaded and dated. Mick
looked faintly ridiculous, prancing around at his age in front of his largely
static fellow band members. Best rock
‘n’ roll band on the planet? Hmm…<o:p></o:p></div>
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I was heartened to see that at the same time, over on the
Other Stage, Chase and Status had drawn a huge crowd of
not-interested-in-the-Stones people with their own brand of RapRock. It’s good to see that the younger generation
are not hanging on to the coat tails of classic bands and nor should they. Each generation should discover their own and
if that includes past examples then fine, if not then that’s fine too.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In fact, this year’s Pyramid Stage headliners didn’t really
do much for me. As well as the Stones,
I’ve never really quite understood The Arctic Monkeys and although I like a bit
of folk, the dreadful corporate blandness of Mumford and Sons sends me to
sleep. So, where do my awards for this
year lie? There were a plethora of
new(ish) bands that got my attention without really standing out so a ‘highly
commended’ goes to the likes of Noah and the Whale, Editors, Cat Power,
Stealing Sheep, Hurts and Phoenix who were all very entertaining, but I’ve had
to reject all of these in favour of my final choice of three.<o:p></o:p></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AzJHyPKS4ds/UfgQELmqjnI/AAAAAAAABIg/ZfMvWkalQz4/s1600/Haim.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AzJHyPKS4ds/UfgQELmqjnI/AAAAAAAABIg/ZfMvWkalQz4/s1600/Haim.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two HAIM sisters</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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In third place are <st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region> sister band Haim, who were just
about everywhere, so hard to avoid. They
played several sets on various stages and turned up as backing singers for
Primal Scream so their PR team deserve a medal at the very least. Their own sets were full of bluesy rock which
at times took flight into fabulously dizzy instrumental jams that few bands
seem to manage these days (especially when they are playing to backing
tapes!). Unfortunately, their tunes are
a bit disjointed and the vocals a tad idiosyncratic but hey, they come across
as a raw joyous talent and they provided some of the best festival moments for
me. One to watch, I’d wager.<o:p></o:p></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-63iHQTgF7CY/UfgQEJxBshI/AAAAAAAABIY/IlUsaJqUGtA/s1600/Daughter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-63iHQTgF7CY/UfgQEJxBshI/AAAAAAAABIY/IlUsaJqUGtA/s1600/Daughter.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Daughter</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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For second place, I struggled between two bands that I’d not
heard of before. First were Savages, a
somewhat strange outfit who delivered an intense and at times, quite
frighteningly serious set of spiky songs.
In the end I ousted them for being too close to ‘Scream’ era Siouxsie
and the Banshees for comfort and decided to deliver second place to the
enigmatic Daughter, whose enchanting set of Indie Folk delivered on the John
Peel Stage held me spellbound. Singer
Elena Tonra looks a solo performer but has chosen to surround herself with two
male musicians whose edgy arrangements lift her songs to another level.<o:p></o:p></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RFrPPx6Wyrs/UfgQD4scWFI/AAAAAAAABIU/TK1SziFuKik/s1600/chic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RFrPPx6Wyrs/UfgQD4scWFI/AAAAAAAABIU/TK1SziFuKik/s1600/chic.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chic</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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My choice for first place was the result of much soul
searching, having already panned the Stones for being too old, but this lot
were so much fun, so the award goes to Chic.
For me, music is something to be enjoyed and in this business oriented
age, it is good to see how uplifting it can be, given the right circumstances
and Nile Rogers delivered this in spades.
Everybody danced – how could you not?
Such a shame that Bernard Edwards was not there to reprise those iconic
bass lines and see how much of his legacy still resonates with modern
audiences. The most enjoyable set at the
Festival by a short glitter ball.<o:p></o:p></div>
music obsessivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191742084494035205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905794193248540231.post-1592028250963308882013-07-19T06:00:00.000+01:002013-07-19T06:00:09.819+01:00Glastonbury 2013 Part 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KR2ImMARQSE/UeEpInZq0RI/AAAAAAAABH8/JxR9cvTPkCE/s1600/glasto+2013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KR2ImMARQSE/UeEpInZq0RI/AAAAAAAABH8/JxR9cvTPkCE/s1600/glasto+2013.jpg" /></a></div>
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After a fallow year in 2012 which allowed us punters to pay
attention to the Summer Olympics and allowed the cows to take off their ear
defenders for a bit, Worthy Farm once more played host to the great unwashed
and the festival that is <st1:city w:st="on">Glastonbury</st1:city>. As has now become a ritual on this blog I
shall be posting two Glasto reports, this one with a few thoughts on this
year’s proceedings and a second with my world famous awards.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So without further ado, here are some general
observations. This year’s event was
generally more of the same, sporting a huge variety of acts from all genres and
generations, playing to enthusiastic crowds of awe-struck teens,
seen-it-all-before parents and bewildered toddlers. What was different was that the weather was
almost Woodstock-like with clear blue skies rather than the usual deluge and
the TV coverage was bigger and better than ever before with live broadcasting
of all the major stages on multiple channels, website streaming and mobile
access. In fact, it was all too
overwhelming for the poor viewer who could not possibly watch everything and
was reduced to the same dilemma that confronts the actual festival goer, that
is, which acts do I watch? Hurrah for
hard disk recording!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Some things, however, never change and it is quite curious
to note that despite the massive advancements in music tech and the changes in
society generally, the one aspect of bands at Glasto that has not changed is
that guitars have remained resolutely stuck in the 1960s. Everywhere you looked guitarists were
sporting Fender Stratocasters or Telecasters, Rickenbackers, Gibson Les Pauls
or SGs. If you found a bass player
without a Fender Precision you were doing very well indeed. It seems to be that guitars have become the
genes of the rock world that are passed on from generation to generation, tying
the line of heritage together into a complete whole. There is almost a reverence in using classic
instruments that the likes of the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix once sported that
says, ‘we are descended from the greats’ like the royal right of succession.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Without giving too much away, Saturday headliners, The
Rolling Stones, will not be appearing in my Top 3 (to be revealed in my next
post) and for one reason only; they are the meanest band in rock. They made their fortune several times over, years
ago, so why do they still insist on holding people to ransom over fees. This time, they wanted to restrict broadcast
time to one hour and when that was finally agreed (the day before their
performance), started to quibble over repeat fees. It’s not like broadcasting their set is
likely to keep paying punters away, the festival was a sell out months
ago. It’s about time Mick and the boys
started to give something back to the industry and the fans that made them what
they are.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I’ve got hours and hours of recorded material to wade through and I've not seen their performance yet, but perhaps I won’t
bother.<o:p></o:p></div>
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music obsessivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191742084494035205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905794193248540231.post-62646507181304810822013-07-05T06:00:00.000+01:002013-07-05T06:00:05.148+01:00Couples in Rock<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3YbYvOEG5U4/UbM7ETUl_8I/AAAAAAAABHY/42Ir11ANeks/s1600/benatar+and+giraldo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3YbYvOEG5U4/UbM7ETUl_8I/AAAAAAAABHY/42Ir11ANeks/s1600/benatar+and+giraldo.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Benatar & Giraldo</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Whilst it may be true that behind every great man is a great
woman, it seems that in some circumstances, behind every great band is a great
couple. I’ve been reacquainting myself
with my 80s love, Pat Benatar via her ‘Ultimate Collection’ (a download snip at
40 tracks for £7) and can’t help but notice that the common theme running through
her lengthy career is her relationship with guitarist, Neil Giraldo who ascends
from band member and writing contributor to husband and lifelong collaborator.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There is something quite endearing about such
relationships. Unlike most couples with
a shared life they are not to be found in front of the TV with their tea on a
tray but are more likely to be seen on that same TV doing acoustic versions of
songs from their glory days. Sweet. In fact couples can be found in many
places. One pairing is Debbie Harry and
Chris Stein who have effectively carried Blondie through thick and thin despite
their relationship floundering and Chris’s life threatening illness. Without their tenacity despite no longer
being ‘an item’ the later Blondie comeback would not have happened. Whether or not this was a good thing is still
open to discussion but you can’t help admiring them for trying.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Another long-lived couple is Martha Johnson and Mark Gane
who are now the only survivors from the 80s phenomenon that was Martha and the
Muffins. Now married, they have forged a
lifelong musical partnership and still record under their faintly ridiculous
name as at today.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
However, before we get too complacent about the warm glow
around couples in rock, let us not forget that musical history is littered with
failed attempts. Those of you who have
albums by Fleetwood Mac and Abba in particular will bear witness that not all
paths run smoothly to musical dotage.
Amongst others who fell along the way are Siouxsie/Budgie, Annie Lennox/Dave
Stewart, Sonja Kristina/Stewart Copeland and many others too tedious to
list. It is the failure rate that makes
those that endure stand out amongst their peers. Had she lived, I envisage that Linda
McCartney would’ve been a member of the elderly musical couples club, too.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
It is said that married persons generally live longer than
singletons, so perhaps this translates to musical couples? If so look forward to a whole string of
albums from Blondie, M+M and Ms Benatar.
Hmm.<o:p></o:p></div>
music obsessivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191742084494035205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905794193248540231.post-65409572841995614262013-06-21T06:00:00.001+01:002013-06-21T06:00:04.370+01:00Black Sabbath Back on Top After 43 Years!<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0kaGAU7BH10/Ub9TnoHR7UI/AAAAAAAABHs/T4JXEuldFj8/s1600/Black+Sabbath.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0kaGAU7BH10/Ub9TnoHR7UI/AAAAAAAABHs/T4JXEuldFj8/s1600/Black+Sabbath.jpg" /></a></div>
The last time I listened to something, I couldn’t help but notice
that my hearing is still in reasonable nick, which, I suppose, means that I
can’t really claim to be a massive heavy metal fan. Which is true…up to a point. Apart from a couple of concerts that left my
ears buzzing for days after, I’m a bit of a wimp when it comes to massive
hearing loss. Yet back in the early 70s
I confess to a cautious dabbling in the dark arts as a number of Deep Purple
and Black Sabbath LPs in my collection will bear witness. Obviously, none of these albums could really be
construed as the real hard stuff, more a sort of metal-lite and listening back
to them now, they sound much tamer than I remember and altogether more tuneful
than you might expect.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Nevertheless, it seems I have retained a bit of a soft spot
for Black Sabbath and as they have just taken the number one album spot with
‘13’ – their first number one for 43 years, I’ve been inspired to purchase one
or two newly re-mastered downloads of worn vinyl LPs so that I can relive their
majestic grunge all over again. Back in
the day, my first purchase was ‘Volume 4’, an album that used to get played a
lot on ‘Fluff’ Freeman’s Saturday afternoon rock show. This was followed by the magnificent ‘Sabbath
Bloody Sabbath’ and ‘Sabotage’ – the one with possibly the worst cover of all
time - at which point I rather lost interest and moved on to other pastures,
namely punk.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In retrospect, there is something gloriously uncomplicated
about the <st1:place w:st="on">Black Country</st1:place> foursome that even
today warms the cockles of my rock heart.
Their <st1:place w:st="on">Midlands</st1:place> based heavy industrial
heritage seems to have a voice in their pounding rhythms and grinding riffs as
if the factories themselves have manufactured them to order. There’s nothing I like better than the sound
of a Gibson SG and with Tony Iommi’s industrial-accident fingers on the
fretboard, that fat buzzing sound has never sounded better, especially when he
is constructing those spiralling duets over a crunching riff.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />
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The only issue I have with listening to old Sabbath albums
now is Ozzy Osbourne. I really struggle
to reconcile the wild young singer of then with the comedy figure and star of
‘The Osbournes’ of now. Is it really the
same person? Weird. I can’t help feeling that <st1:place w:st="on">Sharon</st1:place> would make a scarier front-person now. However, that disturbing image aside, it has
been a welcome return to the fold for my selected Sabbath albums, ones that will
sit on my iPod for a little longer whilst I revel in some industrial heritage. Unfortunately both the industry and the music
have gone, to be replaced by electronics in both instances. That’s progress for you.<o:p></o:p></div>
music obsessivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191742084494035205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905794193248540231.post-1867802772708367842013-06-07T06:00:00.000+01:002013-06-07T06:00:05.880+01:00Ray Manzarek 1939 - 2013<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yWm_T-rPMN4/Ua49IN6kqZI/AAAAAAAABHI/pO_PXdESAeQ/s1600/ray+manzarek.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yWm_T-rPMN4/Ua49IN6kqZI/AAAAAAAABHI/pO_PXdESAeQ/s1600/ray+manzarek.jpg" /></a></div>
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So here we are again, mourning yet another passing. They seem to be occurring with increasing
frequency these days. This time it’s Ray
Manzarek, king of the Vox Continental.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I came late to The Doors and even then it was a difficult
passage. It was the otherworldliness of
‘Riders on the Storm’ that first guided me in and on the strength of it, ‘LA
Women’ (on cassette – arrghh!) followed.
But horror of horrors, I didn’t like it much and it eventually got
passed on to a friend. Several fallow
years ensued and it wasn’t until the mid seventies that I picked up the trail
again with the double compilation, ‘Weird Scenes Inside the Goldmine’. Suddenly the penny dropped and I became quite
obsessed with them, buying all their studio albums in quick succession.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Doors were always in my mind a sum-of-the-parts band
with every member contributing an equal portion rather than a star with
anonymous backing musicians. Despite Jim
Morrison’s charisma, I always found the other members just as interesting and
Ray was no exception. Perhaps it was
that Vox organ sound, rather than the ubiquitous <st1:city w:st="on">Hammond</st1:city> or the fact that he played all the
bass parts in the absence of a full time bass player or those key unspecific
runs that he was able to conjure up or even those rimless glasses but there was
always something about him that caught your attention.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the late sixties, the guitar was the rock instrument of
choice and it wasn’t until the emergence of the prog rockers of the seventies
that keyboards would come into their own, but Ray managed to hold his own
against Robbie Krieger’s guitar parts in a way that made them both sound
good. Whether it was the shimmering
chords in ‘Waiting for the Sun’ or the Bach-like intro to ‘Light my Fire’, his
playing was always inventive and appropriate to the mood. The Doors would not have been the same
without him.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
More recently, he popped up numerous times as a talking head
in TV documentaries reminiscing about the sixties and the excesses of his
erstwhile bandmate and despite the ageing effects of time, he still managed to
carry the essence of the Californian hippy that he once was. The wild speech patterns, liberally
punctuated with ‘Maan’ and the sixties vocabulary were still embedded in his
psyche like a living fossil of the period. Yet for all that, he seemed to retain the
optimism of those days and a zest for life.
He was always good value as an interviewee.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Recently, I picked up the Box Set of Re-mixed Doors studio
albums, which I have to say have been sensitively brought up to date without
losing the feel of the original albums and it has been a pleasure to hear Ray’s
playing, now liberated from some fairly murky mixes and now sounding like they
were played yesterday. In his mind, I’m
sure they were.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
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RIP Man!<o:p></o:p></div>
music obsessivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191742084494035205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905794193248540231.post-35793185640222135092013-05-24T06:00:00.000+01:002013-05-24T06:00:07.985+01:00Bits and Pieces<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aZDzTHqlAWA/UZiEAzTj5AI/AAAAAAAABG4/SnOlf6FfyeI/s1600/bit+rates.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aZDzTHqlAWA/UZiEAzTj5AI/AAAAAAAABG4/SnOlf6FfyeI/s1600/bit+rates.jpg" /></a></div>
The question is: how did I get myself into such a *!*%#!
muddle? I suppose that being raised on a
diet of vinyl discs doesn’t really prepare you for manipulating digital files,
but all the same, this will take some remediation. Those of a techno-phobic nature may prefer to
look away now.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The story so far: many years ago I started ripping my CDs to
my computer so that I could play them in Windows Media Player. By default they stored themselves as 128 bit
.WMA files and all was well. I then
acquired a Creative Zen MP3 player and using its proprietary software, was able
to copy .WMA files directly to it and all continued to be well with the
world. Then it all started to go wrong:
I bought a new computer and the darkness descended.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
First, the Zen software refused to work in the new Windows 7
operating system which stopped me transferring files and then the Zen
died. In order to avoid the software
compatibility problem in future I then opted to replace it with an Apple ipod
Nano and the dreaded iTunes. This is
where the problems really began. Every
time I imported my .WMA files into iTunes (so as to sync to the ipod) a new
copy file was made in 256 bit .M4A format.
This, in turn prompted Windows to see it as a new file and to
automatically re-import it into Windows Media Player, thus doubling everything
up. AAARRGGHH!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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In frustration, I deleted one or other of the copies,
sometimes the .WMA files and sometimes the .M4A files. This went on for several years. Just to add to the confusion, I also
downloaded albums from iTunes (.M4A) and Amazon (256 bit .MP3) and converted
vinyl albums to 128 bit .MP3 files. This
brings me to today where my entire collection of several hundred albums and
songs is split between various Windows and iTunes libraries and ripped to at
least 3 different file formats. Did I
mention that my daughter also has an iTunes library on the same machine and we
share files? Blimey! Technology eh? This would never happen in the old days where
you just bought an LP and put it on a shelf.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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So, what to do? I
have decided to eschew both .WMA and .M4A files and use only .MP3 for ripping
CDs. This format can be read by both
iTunes and Windows Media Player so no duplication. Whilst laboriously re-ripping all my
favourite albums I am also upgrading them to 256 bit as this seems to be the
best compromise between quality and file size.
It also means that I can weed out both iTunes libraries of all the
duplicated files and leave only the downloads.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Case solved, but what a palaver. As a by-product of upgrading files from 128
to 256 bit it has become noticeable how the sound graduates from CD screech to
LP warmness. Perhaps LPs had the right
idea from the word go – and you only needed a shelf.<o:p></o:p></div>
music obsessivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191742084494035205noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905794193248540231.post-39621150401130664242013-05-10T06:00:00.000+01:002013-05-10T06:00:06.228+01:00The Musical Box<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iWUHar63kr4/UYUWg6IAq7I/AAAAAAAABGg/AZcz2zMbu-c/s1600/musical+box.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iWUHar63kr4/UYUWg6IAq7I/AAAAAAAABGg/AZcz2zMbu-c/s1600/musical+box.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Until recently I had given the so-called Tribute Bands a
very wide and slightly suspicious berth, yet there is no denying that they are
becoming big business in some quarters of the industry. I blame the Elvis impersonators, who started
the ball rolling after the King’s demise and now most of the big bands from the
60s and 70s are represented by interlopers – Bjorn Again, The Australian Pink
Floyd, The Bootleg Beatles, Dread Zeppelin and so on and on. So, in the spirit of adventure, I went to see
French Canadian Genesis Tribute Band, The Musical Box, perform the legendary
‘Lamb Lies Down on Broadway’ show, allegedly perfect in every detail from
costumes to back projection and lighting.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I never saw the original Gabriel line up play live, so this
had a touch of the ‘never meet your heroes’ about it and having owned the
studio album since the 70s and the live version on the later archive box set, I
have always had a picture in my head of what the live show was like. Actually seeing it performed was a strange
experience as it both punctured my imagining and opened up a new view all at
the same time. In some respects it
rather grounded my impression of it in reality, but in others it revealed its
beauty in a live environment. I actually
got the shivers during ‘Hairless Heart’ and the achingly melancholic ‘<st1:city w:st="on">Lamia</st1:city>’ where guitarist
François Gagnon’s guitar replicated the soul of Steve Hackett in all its glory.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There is no doubt that members of The Musical Box have done
their homework and the musical exposition was mightily impressive, to the point
of virtually reproducing the studio album in all respects. The tone of the instruments, including the
70s keyboard sounds, was spot on and the playing immaculate. But it was Denis Gagné’s impersonation of
Peter Gabriel that was key to the act.
Frankly, without his uncannily accurate Gabriel impersonation (including
his flute playing), the whole illusion would’ve collapsed like a pack of
cards. If there was a weak link, it was
‘Tony Banks’ who didn’t quite nail some of his solos and rather glossed over
some of my favourite bits, but this is nit-picking as playing a piece from such
a well known band to their fans who know every nuance is probably a no-win
situation.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Interestingly, they finished with a rendition of ‘The
Musical Box’ from Nursery Cryme (complete with Old Man mask) and then ‘The
Knife’ from Trespass as an encore and in many respects these were better,
having a real atmosphere to them. It
left me feeling that I would’ve quite liked to have seen some of their other
sets from around the ‘Foxtrot’ period, but perhaps another time.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As the rock genre moves across the generations, the great
bands of the past are now lost to newcomers, so to reproduce live acts in this
way may be viewed as a service to those who missed out, yet the average age of
the audience was not reduced by curious youngsters, but remained solidly around
the 50-something range. It seems that as
long as we original fans can still get out of a night, the future is secure for
the Tributes, but beyond that? Who
knows.<o:p></o:p></div>
music obsessivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191742084494035205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905794193248540231.post-35449782471905305632013-04-26T06:00:00.000+01:002013-04-26T06:00:10.451+01:00Storm Thorgerson 1943 - 2013<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hcC_CW4_6Nc/UXKSp04mpNI/AAAAAAAABFs/utWrcJ9bHzY/s1600/DSOM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hcC_CW4_6Nc/UXKSp04mpNI/AAAAAAAABFs/utWrcJ9bHzY/s1600/DSOM.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It is with sadness that I take up my metaphorical pen to
write yet again about the passing of another music business personality. Only this time the subject is not an
international rock star nor even a little known fringe artist, but a designer;
Storm Thorgerson, who died on 18 April of cancer, aged 69.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He, of course, will be best remembered for being the ‘fifth
member’ of Pink Floyd who, through his design company Hipgnosis, created a
series of unforgettable album sleeve designs through the 70s and 80s – the
‘Dark Side of the Moon’ prism, the mournful cow of ‘Atom Heart Mother’, the Pig
flying over Battersea power station of ‘Animals’ and the burning man of ‘Wish
You Were Here’ being just a few of his creations that are welded to the Pink
Floyd brand.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
His unique style can also be seen on a whole host of sleeves
from Led Zeppelin, Peter Gabriel and The Scorpions to Muse and Biffy Clyro and
I can’t help but think that with his passing the final nail has been well and
truly driven home into the coffin of the album sleeve. Whilst the CD still held out as the premier
conveyor of music, the sleeve, in its reduced form remained a fixture but with
the increasing move towards download files and music streaming through the
likes of Spotify, the requirement for an iconic sleeve design has all but gone.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Which is a shame. I
still have all my old albums, hundreds of them, stored in cupboards and whilst
I only play them very occasionally, I shall never give them away because they
represent a repository of Art. These
days I seem to spend more time taking out covers and just looking at them
rather than playing the disc they contain.
In many respects, the covers hold more memories than the music - times
and places, purchases and parading.
Let’s face it; you can’t walk around school exhibiting your immaculate musical
taste with an MP3 file, now can you?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Many of my old albums now spend their declining years in
frames on my wall, being rotated every now and again so that their beauty can
be admired by all. In remembrance of
Storm Thorgerson, I think I shall have a small exhibition of Hipgnosis sleeves up
for a week or two. They are going to be these four:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nMFODx8BUU4/UXKSxrbktPI/AAAAAAAABF0/7iED-h6ZWj4/s1600/sheet+music.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nMFODx8BUU4/UXKSxrbktPI/AAAAAAAABF0/7iED-h6ZWj4/s1600/sheet+music.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'Sheet Music' - 10cc</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UNGFf7oNGOw/UXKS8UW5WMI/AAAAAAAABF8/Bv85nKAnmF0/s1600/peter+gabriel+ii.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UNGFf7oNGOw/UXKS8UW5WMI/AAAAAAAABF8/Bv85nKAnmF0/s1600/peter+gabriel+ii.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peter Gabriel II</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L16wXfcgLvM/UXKTnukfs7I/AAAAAAAABGM/5nfkLdSRlQw/s1600/in+deep.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L16wXfcgLvM/UXKTnukfs7I/AAAAAAAABGM/5nfkLdSRlQw/s1600/in+deep.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'In Deep' - Argent</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CfFe_gkjCb8/UXKTbwkMuOI/AAAAAAAABGE/KMk2QOtHtdE/s1600/ahm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CfFe_gkjCb8/UXKTbwkMuOI/AAAAAAAABGE/KMk2QOtHtdE/s1600/ahm.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'Atom Heart Mother' - Pink Floyd</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
<br />
<br />music obsessivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191742084494035205noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905794193248540231.post-67293735268878470312013-04-12T06:00:00.000+01:002013-04-12T06:00:05.366+01:00Stereolab<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bAxOyqypGls/UU3YHxhNDlI/AAAAAAAABFM/UHbOjhGq6Jk/s1600/stereolab.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bAxOyqypGls/UU3YHxhNDlI/AAAAAAAABFM/UHbOjhGq6Jk/s1600/stereolab.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When you are a child, you tend to accept things for what
they are. Your own circumstances have no
benchmark and it is generally only much later that you have the data to be able
to compare and contrast (as test papers would have it) your position in
life. My own hideously middle class
upbringing did not come into focus until I met fellow students at university
that lived either in a house the size of a small park or a matchbox depending
on circumstance.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So it can be with music.
In the early 1990s I was introduced to the band, Stereolab and in
particular their ’94 album ‘Mars Audiac Quintet’ and whilst it hung around my
CD player longer than many of its contemporaries, it has since sat neglected in
my collection for at least 15 years. Or
until now. I’m not sure what prompted me
to give it another spin but it has come back into my life with a vengeance and
with its second coming has materialised a new understanding of its worth.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In the lull between Shoegazing and Britpop the mid nineties
was a bit of a mish-mash of styles but none more individual than Stereolab who
were essentially a vehicle for songwriter Tim Gane and his girlfriend Laetitia
Sadier. Where do I start? Imagine the relentless space-age boogie of
Hawkwind and then update that sound to the age of the synth – only using
ancient analogue Moogs, Vox and Farfisa machines – and add in French female
vocals. Finally douse in Kraftwerk cool
detachment and Asian-style synth drones and you have Stereolab. Simple!
At the time none of this complexity really registered, I just liked the
sound, but now it is all too apparent not just how odd they really were, but
how different they were from their contemporaries. And I like both odd and different.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Just for the record, I also bought the limited edition
‘Music For the Amorphous Body Study Centre’ EP, a collection of music used to
complement <st1:state w:st="on">New York</st1:state>
sculptor, Charles Long’s exhibit, just to up the oddity factor. However, by 1997 and their ‘Dots and Loops’
album, enough was enough and they were consigned to the ‘not played anymore’
section of my collection.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Nevertheless, ‘Mars Audiac Quintet’ is back on my iPod and
its unique mix of uplifting space-pop is quite refreshing in today’s
world. It has the same ambience of
innocence and adventure that pervaded the 60s space-age music, epitomised by
‘Telstar’.<o:p></o:p></div>
music obsessivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191742084494035205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905794193248540231.post-77086589808404061432013-03-29T06:30:00.000+00:002013-04-03T20:41:12.954+01:00Martha Johnson (without The Muffins)<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-U7i1eda9x9s/UVCx4k-zHLI/AAAAAAAABFc/KmTNBgIx0Yg/s1600/martha+johnson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-U7i1eda9x9s/UVCx4k-zHLI/AAAAAAAABFc/KmTNBgIx0Yg/s1600/martha+johnson.jpg" /></a></div>
Clearly, Canadians are a sociable bunch. It must be those wide open prairies and long
cold winters that instils a sense of connection to their fellow man. Not only that, they drive on the <strike>left</strike> right and
remember to put a ‘u’ in colour. As evidence
I offer Adrian du Plessis, manager of singer Allison Crowe, and regular commentator
on this blog almost since its inception many years ago. And now I can add to the list, Martha
Johnson, she of the Muffins and ‘Echo Beach’.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Long time readers will remember that I included my seeing
Martha and the Muffins in a cramped, sweaty music pub back in 1980 in my top
ten list of all-time favourite gigs and subsequently approved their ‘comeback’
album, ‘Delicate’ in 2010. To bring the
saga up to date, I find that Martha has left a comment on that post advising of
her current project, a solo album to be entitled, well, ‘Solo One’.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Like a growing army of artists these days, she has taken the
route of asking fans to ‘pledge’ money to fund the production of the
album. This effectively means that the
production costs are covered by pre-selling the product. I remember Sing-Sing doing this in a fairly
low key way via social media about 10 years ago so that their 2 albums could be
brought to fruition. Today, it has
become more of a business and there are specific websites set up for artists to
try their luck. This is true democracy
at work as supply of the eventual product depends entirely on demand and the
buying public’s willingness to fund the project.<o:p></o:p></div>
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From a fan’s viewpoint, an up-front payment guarantees you a
copy of the album at the very least and a whole host of extras ranging from
signed CDs to skype sessions with the artist depending on the level of your
pledge. Comfortingly, you stand to get
your money back if insufficient funds are raised and a proportion of any
‘profit’ goes to charity. The downside
being that you are never quite sure what you’re going to get, but then that is
the risk with all investment.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In true ‘Dragon’s Den’ style, I’m in for a small investment
of 10 Canadian Dollars (about £6.50)
which gets me a download of the album assuming the project goes ahead. If you, too, wish to invest in ‘Solo One’ or any
of its associated pledge packages, follow the link below.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><a href="http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/marthajohnson">http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/marthajohnson</a></span><br />
<br />
<br /></div>
music obsessivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191742084494035205noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905794193248540231.post-85724054231966979132013-03-15T06:00:00.000+00:002013-03-15T06:00:08.712+00:00Side 4 - Was it Really Necessary?<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JspwwEIHrs4/UTNpVOK-CeI/AAAAAAAABE8/QuHVCE4Mw9I/s1600/lamb+lies+down.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JspwwEIHrs4/UTNpVOK-CeI/AAAAAAAABE8/QuHVCE4Mw9I/s1600/lamb+lies+down.jpg" /></a>How exciting! In
April, I am going to meet up with some old friends to see the Genesis tribute
band, ‘The Musical Box’ play the whole of the ‘Lamb Lies Down on Broadway’
show, complete with costumes and back projection, at the Shepherds Bush Empire.
Our little band of gig-goers first met up in the mid-1970s during the Genesis
prog years but never saw them in their original line-up with Peter Gabriel, so
this should be an interesting exercise in nostalgia. Watch this space.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In fact, the anticipation prompted me to dig out my Genesis
Archive 1967-1975 Box Set and listen to the live version of the Lamb recorded
at the Shrine Auditorium, LA on their ’75 tour of the <st1:country-region w:st="on">USA</st1:country-region>. I say ‘Live’ but many of the vocal and some
guitar parts were re-recorded to replace indistinct or error-strewn originals. Egos eh?
As a double studio LP, I always felt that ‘The Lamb…’ was a bit front
loaded, with all the good stuff on the first 2 sides and the remainder waning
towards side 4 where it ends on the less-than-impressive ‘It’. Which got me thinking about other studio
double LPs – those much maligned products of the vinyl age.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Elton John’s ‘<st1:street w:st="on">Goodbye
Yellow Brick Road</st1:street>’ suffers from the same malaise
whereby each of the first three sides has an ambience and continuity all their
own but the fourth is a bit of a dumping ground for a rag-bag of
left-overs. And don’t get me started on
Pink Floyd’s ‘The Wall’ which is great for three sides then after ‘Run Like
Hell’ descends into pseudo-operatic boredom on side 4. Some doubles are a little short of material,
full stop. Joni Mitchell’s ‘Don Juan’s
Reckless Daughter’ is barely 16 minutes a side and those Dutch
instrumentalists’ magnum opus, ‘Focus 3’ runs out of steam on side 4 with just
the drum solo and reprise continuing from the previous track on side 3 and an
old unrelated song (left off the CD reissue!) bolted on to make up the running
time to about 14 minutes. Hmm.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Even The Beatles weren’t immune from the falling off side 4
syndrome as the inclusion of ‘Revolution 9’ on side 4 of the White Album
shows. In fact, barring ‘best of’s’, I
can’t think of a single double album where side 4 is the best. It may be a deliberate ploy by the record
companies, knowing that no-one ever gets as far as side 4 so why put all your
best stuff there? It begs the question:
is the natural length of an extended musical work is nearer to three sides than
four? Since the advent of the CD this
assertion has legs, as many albums issued since the mid-80s have a running time
of 50-55 minutes, approximately equivalent to three sides of vinyl. Q.E.D.<o:p></o:p></div>
music obsessivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191742084494035205noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905794193248540231.post-1335033235963327962013-03-01T06:00:00.000+00:002013-03-01T06:00:05.928+00:00A Cherished Moment<br />
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Today is my 'sort of'' birthday. When there is no 29th of February, I usually opt for 1st March as a substitute. It is a time for getting a bit misty eyed and nostalgic for the ‘old days’. Actually most of the old days were rubbish
but with my newly acquired age-related rose tinted eyesight that matters not
and amongst the wealth of good times one or two fond memories sit above the
rest. Most of my best moments have a
music based foundation but not the one I am about to relate. This has to do with football and no rose
tinted sight is necessary here.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I am about 10 years
old and it is roughly 2 o’clock in the afternoon. I am sitting on the cold parquet flooring of
my junior school classroom by the shoe racks putting on my football boots. Why?
Because it is a school match day and I am captain of the rabble we call
our school football team, about to take on another rabble from the local school
a mile or so away.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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My heartbeat is
quickening and my breathing getting shorter as adrenalin floods through my
body. The anticipation is almost
unbearable and I love it. If I was to
pick the best feeling in the world it would be this moment. Not only am I about to miss
French/English/Maths on offer that afternoon (strike out those that do not
apply), I am about to do the one thing I love most in the world – play football
for my school.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Outside, it is late
autumn and a watery sun tries in vain to penetrate the mist that hangs around
the football pitch, now carpeted with autumnal leaves from the towering Elms
that line the school field. The morning
dew still clings to the grass and sends up a halo of wetness as the sodden
leather ball zips across it. I am
proudly wearing a school football shirt (with real cuffs and collars – that dates
me) of pillar-box red with white sleeves, the same as the Arsenal in those days
and feel a million dollars. We line up
and the match starts…<o:p></o:p></div>
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We probably won
that day – we normally did, having a half decent team which finished top of
Division 3 that year and won promotion to Division 2. It was a time of youthful exuberance and a
certain naivety about life to come. No
baggage, no regrets. Whilst I can still
feel the heady exhilaration of those times, I know that I will never recapture
them. It was a time that only the young
can experience. When I look at the 10
year old me now, I see an enthusiasm that I no longer have and a head full of
dreams of playing forever.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The dream ended
abruptly the following September when I transferred to secondary school. A rugby playing school.<o:p></o:p></div>
music obsessivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191742084494035205noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905794193248540231.post-38981028094240174162013-02-15T06:30:00.000+00:002013-02-16T21:13:53.392+00:00Joni Mitchell - The Studio Albums 1968 - 1979 <br />
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Oh dear! It is
becoming increasingly apparent that I have reached the sort of age where the attractions
of the Box Set are almost too much to ignore.
Despite the slightly grim aura of marketing hanging over such offerings
I have now succumbed to both the Argent and Pink Floyd sets as described in
this blog earlier. In my defence I would
contend that at the right price, this is a good way to pick up complete
collections after the event (especially if they are all remastered). The latest addition is from Joni Mitchell and
comprises her first 10 studio albums from the 60s and 70s starting at the
beginning with ‘Song To a Seagull’ and ending with ‘Mingus’ (leaving out the
live double set, ‘Miles of Aisles’).<o:p></o:p></div>
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Whilst I have vinyl versions taken from the middle of this
run (‘For the Roses’, ‘Court and Spark’ and ‘Hissing of Summer Lawns’) I have
only dabbled with her early work and have nothing after ‘Lawns’ save a couple
of below par 80s efforts, so this purchase was a good opportunity to review what
I believe to be her best period. Perhaps
predictably, there were no real surprises.
The early folk albums are very fine but when compared to her subsequent
work, not the ones I’d rescue from a burning building. ‘Ladies of the Canyon’ is an unexpectedly
welcome return to my collection (since I sold the original vinyl in the great
late 70s clearout) but I still find ‘Blue’ curiously inconsistent despite what
everyone else says.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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The best stuff is undoubtedly contained within the albums I
already own and the remainder is interesting but not essential. I still can’t really warm wholeheartedly to
‘Hejira’ or ‘Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter’ and I don’t like Jazz enough to
appreciate ‘Mingus’. Nevertheless, the
Big Three (‘Roses’, ‘Court’ and ‘Lawns’) are giants in the pop Parthenon and no
mistake. Genius is an overworked word
but I’m tempted to use it here. These
are albums that everyone should hear – especially ‘For the Roses’ which to me
is a work of unparalleled depth. Coming
between the confessional folk of ‘Blue’ and the blossoming pop of ‘Court and
Spark’ its hybrid folk/pop arrangements cradle a set of lyrics that sit in your
soul forever.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So where does this leave me?
What this series of albums does do is show the remarkable musical
progression from folk through pop/rock to jazz.
These albums form the links in a ten album unbreakable chain where each individual
work contains elements of both its predecessor and its successor in a way that
reveals a relentless drive from one genre to the next. It makes me struggle to think of another
artist who has managed this feat with such dexterity and mastery of each form
and over such a long period. Perhaps <st1:place w:st="on">Bowie</st1:place>?<o:p></o:p></div>
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One other thing – lyrics.
Has there ever been anyone else who has such mastery of song
lyrics? If nothing else, Joni Mitchell
showed how it was done to the extent that a lyric sheet was an essential part
of her albums. They are still albums
where I actually listen to the lyrics with rapt attention. In the history of popular music, these albums
are probably essential.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
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music obsessivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191742084494035205noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905794193248540231.post-59695003954373342242013-02-01T06:30:00.000+00:002013-02-01T06:30:01.627+00:00The Legacy of HMV<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OIBF-Fks_rw/UQLX2mqji1I/AAAAAAAABDM/mv982jKeWhI/s1600/HMV2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OIBF-Fks_rw/UQLX2mqji1I/AAAAAAAABDM/mv982jKeWhI/s1600/HMV2.jpg" /></a></div>
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Whatever the eventual future of HMV, you can’t help feeling
that it brought a whole load of trouble down on itself. I have sat on the sidelines and watched with
mounting frustration as the monolith that is HMV first, put all the
independents out of business and then having achieved a monopoly position, it slowly
but surely cocked it up big time. For
example:<o:p></o:p></div>
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Stock – there was a time back in the dim and distant past
when the London Oxford Street flagship HMV store sold music above all else and
stocked virtually everything. No matter
what I went in to buy, there it was, nestling in the racks. As a compulsive buyer of music for over 40
years, I am in a group of consumers that doesn’t only buy in the mainstream, we
look at the fringes both past and present.
HMV catered for my gang, but not now.
Its stock has contracted massively and the space has been turned over to
the attempted sale of gadgets and T-shirts.
No-one has been persuaded that HMV is the number one stop for Gadgets
and T-shirts hence it has both alienated my gang, its original core consumer
and failed to lure any new ones with extended stock lines.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Price – This really bugs me.
I am prepared to accept that there is a premium to be paid for the
benefit of leaving the store there and then with your purchase rather than
waiting days for the post to arrive. But
not double (or treble) the on-line price.
HMV has been massively overpriced for years – even its ‘sale’ items are
above on-line prices, for heaven’s sake.
Also, I am not prepared under any circumstances to pay £10 (or above)
for 40+ year old albums. Don’t tell me
they are ‘re-mastered’ and therefore cost more.
Re-mastering should be done as a matter of course when the CD is first
released. LPs were RIAA encoded to make
best use of the width of the vinyl groove and the potential length of a disc.
Similarly, why shouldn’t the master-tapes be properly prepared to make best use
of the CD medium on day 1? Not 30 years
later.<o:p></o:p></div>
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And another thing: there is no pricing consistency. I found a 10cc album (‘How Dare You’) the
other day at a reasonable £4, yet ‘The Original Soundtrack’ was in the racks at
£10. Same label and release date so
what’s the difference? It drives me
potty. The heart-breaking irony is: despite
the pricing and convenience of the internet, I would still buy from HMV if only
it sorted out its stock, chucked out all the gadgets, remainder books, T-shirts
and other paraphernalia and priced things sensibly and consistently. In other words; became a music store.<o:p></o:p></div>
music obsessivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191742084494035205noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905794193248540231.post-84092195077092525812013-01-18T06:00:00.000+00:002013-01-18T06:00:04.053+00:00T'was in the Year of '77<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2IYqD-TRwpA/UN4Auk_KN3I/AAAAAAAABAs/52RKi25cAdc/s1600/sex+pistols.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2IYqD-TRwpA/UN4Auk_KN3I/AAAAAAAABAs/52RKi25cAdc/s1600/sex+pistols.jpg" /></a></div>
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1977 was an
interesting year. It was the year that
The Sex Pistols released ‘Never Mind The Bollocks…’ and bloated corporate rock
was blown away forever…allegedly. Just
to underline the brutal military coup undertaken by Punk, Johnny Rotten sported
a lurid ‘I hate Pink Floyd’ T-shirt and dared anyone to defend the old proggers.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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1977 was also the
year that the said Pink Floyd released ‘Animals’ and pigs flew over Battersea
Power Station. History shows that I
bought and enjoyed both albums in equal measure in direct contravention of the
Us And Them – Choose Your Side of the Fence Act 1976. You see, musical genres never allow for this
sort of thing. Backed up by the music
press with axes to grind, nobody with any street cred to protect was allowed to
like, well, just music, you had to choose.
I definitely felt aligned with the energy that the New Wave brought and
to a certain extent agreed that the mid-seventies needed a shake-up, but I
still liked some of the bands that were in the firing line so I was a
fence-sitter with interests in both camps – it gave you more options.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The reason for my
musings on this interesting juxtaposition of styles has been brought about by
the purchase of the Pink Floyd Discovery Box Set (all 14 studio albums
remastered in a natty box). Whilst I
have many of the Floyd’s albums on vinyl, I never converted them to CD and have
never owned, or even listened to, many of their back catalogue so a cheap eBay
purchase seemed like the answer. So here
I am in 2012 listening to the Soundtrack album, ‘Obscured by Clouds’
(excellent) and ‘The Final Cut’ (dreadful) for the first time, well, ever.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But more
particularly, I have been listening to ‘Animals’, an album that I have not set
on the old turntable since the 80s and my overriding impression is not one of
bloated self indulgence, but one of <i>anger</i>. It is a very angry album indeed, driven by
Roger Waters various neuroses. Which is
somewhat ironic, for the punk movement that sought to replace the established
bands was based almost entirely on anger.
Yet now by comparison, ‘Never Mind The Bollocks…’ sounds a little tame
and its ‘anger’ just false political posturing.
On the other hand, the anger displayed on ‘Animals’ is very real. The vitriol pouring from ‘Sheep’ and in
particular, ‘Pigs’ reeks of a genuine hatred (especially against TV clean-up
campaigner, Mary Whitehouse). Frankly I
find Waters far more scary that Rotten, and that’s before you get to Gilmore’s
final solo on ‘Pigs’ which slashes at you like broken glass.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Yet, and this is
the cruncher, I still find myself in the same position that I was 35 years ago
and that is that really, I still like both of them.<o:p></o:p></div>
music obsessivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191742084494035205noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905794193248540231.post-50449429728672755872013-01-04T06:00:00.001+00:002013-01-04T18:36:56.047+00:00Gerry Anderson 1929 - 2012<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-idY4sUbCf1o/UOSG8mPi4hI/AAAAAAAABBg/osYlEykI4pk/s1600/gerry+anderson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-idY4sUbCf1o/UOSG8mPi4hI/AAAAAAAABBg/osYlEykI4pk/s1600/gerry+anderson.jpg" /></a></div>
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This is my 300<sup>th</sup> post on this blog and it is
perhaps fitting that it pays tribute to a man that looms large in my childhood
– Gerry Anderson, who died over the Christmas period.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Most will know his work through the iconic ‘Thunderbirds’
but my link goes back further to the dimly remembered late 50s collaboration
with children’s writer, Roberta Leigh that produced the strangeness of
‘Twizzle’ and ‘Torchy the Battery Boy’, made with puppets so weird that it
doesn’t bear thinking about. Although
these shows were my initial contact with Gerry’s puppet world, it was ‘Fireball
XL5’ that really captured my imagination.
I was besotted with this programme and although the delights of
‘Stingray’, ‘Thunderbirds’ and ‘Captain Scarlet’ were to follow, XL5 remains my
first love. Even today its shiny monochrome
world of space adventure still beguiles me.<o:p></o:p></div>
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There is a definable element that pervades the work of Gerry
Anderson, from the scariness of ‘Twizzle’ via the live action ‘Space 1999’ and
‘UFO’ to the hand puppets of ‘Terrahawks’ (a million miles away from Sooty) and
that thing is integrity. Everything
Gerry touched was stamped with the motto, ‘If you are going to do it, do it
well’. All his products had a sheen of
quality, whether it was the tightly drawn scripts, the truly awe-inspiring
modelling or the cutting edge special effects.
The live action 2004 ‘Thunderbirds’ movie, which Anderson had no hand in
and from which he rightly distanced himself, didn’t have it – and it shows.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This reach for quality can be seen again in the 2005
re-imagining of Captain Scarlet, created using CGI technology. The series of 26 x 25 minute episodes cost an
astronomical £23M but the end result is worth every penny. The scripts are fast paced and the visuals as
inventive and spectacular as always. Unforgivably,
ITV refused to promote the new show and list it as a stand alone but buried it
in amongst an existing Saturday morning kids’ show which cut it into two halves
with games and adverts between them. It
sank without trace.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<st1:city w:st="on">Anderson</st1:city>
was reportedly furious and I can’t help feeling that it was the beginning of
the end for him. It was desperately sad
because ‘The New Adventures of Captain Scarlet’ (now on DVD) is Anderson at his
best and a fitting epitaph to a man who had a real pride in his work even if
they were ‘only’ kids’ shows. RIP Gerry.<o:p></o:p></div>
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music obsessivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191742084494035205noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905794193248540231.post-1485460993390083662012-12-21T06:00:00.000+00:002012-12-21T06:00:05.133+00:00End of Year Report<br />
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2012. So how was it
for you? From my viewpoint sitting here
in the <st1:country-region w:st="on">UK</st1:country-region>,
it was probably an above average year as long as you looked in the right
places. Let’s face it, if you
concentrate on the woeful economy and miserable weather you’d be marking it
down quicker than a GCSE examiner. So
let’s forget all that real world stuff and focus on firstly…sport!<o:p></o:p></div>
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This year served up some bumper sporting moments if you were
a Brit and this is something to be savoured as we, as a race, are not used to winning
anything – at least since the rest of the world got to know the rules and beat
us at everything. There was Bradley
‘Wiggo’ Wiggins winning the Tour de France, Andy Murray winning his first Grand
Slam Tournament, <st1:country-region w:st="on">England</st1:country-region>’s
cricket Team gaining World Number 1 status, the Ryder Cup comeback - and that
was just for starters.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The jewel in the sporting crown was an amazing Summer
Olympics and Paralympics which made household names of the likes of Ennis,
Farrah, Wiggins (again), Hoy, Rutherford, Adams, Trott, Dujardin, Adams, Weir, Simmons,
Brownlee, Ainslie, Pendleton, and many, many more.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Of course, nothing lasts for ever and it wasn’t long before
the Cricket team lost their Number 1 status (but redeemed themselves in India) and inevitably here at the tail end
of the year, the <st1:country-region w:st="on">England</st1:country-region>
football team continues to struggle in a poor qualifying group for the next
World Cup. Oh well, it was nice whilst
it lasted.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But what about music?
Sad to say, I’ve found little to titivate my palette and consequently
have bought very few CDs this year, preferring to pick up much improved
remixed/remastered releases of favourite albums from my past. If pushed to pick out a new album of the
year, it would probably be Marina and the Diamonds’ ‘Electra Heart’ which has
been on my ipod since release. A close
second would be either The Bangles’ ‘Sweetheart of the Sun’ or Doris Brendel’s
‘Not Utopia’, but other than these three not much else has really moved me
which is a bit of a sad state of affairs and no mistake. I might have to re-name this blog, ‘Sport
Obsessive’.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So how does it all stack up when added together? Well, on the music front, 2012 has
under-performed a bit if you look at new music alone but if you argue that the
art of re-mixing and remastering old albums has come of age then it has been a
pretty good year with some stunningly revitalised stuff to the fore (yes, I’m
looking at you, ‘Aqualung’).<o:p></o:p></div>
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But if you add in a massively dramatic sporting summer, 2012
acquits itself with flying colours and proves yet again that there is nothing
quite like the real drama of live sport – there’s never a script and anything
can happen. Hoorah!<o:p></o:p></div>
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See you all in the New Year!</div>
music obsessivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191742084494035205noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905794193248540231.post-4444156412840931112012-12-07T06:00:00.000+00:002012-12-07T06:00:03.339+00:00What Value Music?<br />
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The other day, in a
moment of supreme weakness, I made the mistake of answering my phone without
checking that the caller had WITHHELD their number. This can only mean one thing; a cold call and
if there’s one thing I hate it’s a cold caller.
I usually ignore such intrusions but this time I was caught and had to
go through the rigmarole of politely telling them to bugger off. This time it was from an on-line wine seller
that I use regularly and whilst it started promisingly with the ‘only available
off line to you, mate’ patter, it ended with a price that was no better than
their normal on-line prices. What was
the point?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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The trouble is,
everyone wants something for nothing these days, including me, so ringing me up
to offer the same price I could expect to spend elsewhere was never going to
hold my interest and what goes for wine goes for music too. Having said that, I am of a generation that
at least expects to pay something for music, unlike many of today’s kids who
seem to think it is their birthright to download everything for free, so cheap
rather than free is always on the menu.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The old marketing
hook of offering stuff at low prices can be a bit hit and miss. For reasons that I don’t really understand to
this day, back in 1973 I declined Virgin Records’s offer of ‘The Faust Tapes’
by Krautrockers, Faust for the miniscule price of 49p – an LP for the price of
a vinyl single at the time. Perhaps it
was TOO cheap? See how difficult it is? In retrospect this was probably the correct
decision as it is a jumble of live off-cuts but nevertheless, at that price who
cares?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Yet some years
before, in 1971, I had snapped up ‘Relics’ by Pink Floyd, a band I didn’t
really know much about, but when it appeared on the cut-price Starline label, I
couldn’t resist. ‘Relics’ is a peculiar
mixture of 1967-1969 period Floyd material bringing together the brilliant
early Syd Barrett singles, atmospheric tracks from the soundtrack album,
‘More’, a collection of B sides and odd album cuts from their first two albums. It was my introduction to The Pink Floyd and
remains one of my favourite albums of theirs to this day. As I have mused before, the late sixties was
a strange period and the music created against the backdrop of social unrest
and end of the Hippy dream still has a slightly haunted quality to it. Certainly, this has an ambience that no other
record I know of has.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So in the case of
the budget label release, ‘Relics’ scored a hit and set me on the trail of
proper grown-up Pink Floyd LPs. Just let
someone ring me up today and try and sell it to me…grrr.<o:p></o:p></div>
music obsessivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191742084494035205noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905794193248540231.post-26267928393075162602012-11-23T06:00:00.000+00:002012-11-23T06:00:08.556+00:00Remixes - Should We Allow Them?<br />
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Let me pose you a
question. What would be your reaction if
Van Gogh, assuming he was still alive, decided that his Sunflowers were all
wrong and painted them out to be repainted as Lilies? Or if Rodin were to hack off The Thinker’s
arm in order to re-site it by his side rather than cupping his chin? Established works of art should not really be
tampered with, should they? Although
painting out details in ‘finished’ pictures is nothing new, it feels wrong
somehow. So what about re-mixing Classic
Albums? Hmm.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Since the advent of digital music, engineers
have taken the opportunity to re-master old analogue tapes for the new
medium. Up until now most of these
efforts have been poor, in my opinion, but of late things have changed. Recent re-masters have improved significantly
and I cite The Beatles’ catalogue, Paul McCartney’s Archive series and Steve
Hackett’s early albums as evidence. But
progress has now reached the stage where artists are re-mixing as well as
re-mastering their old albums in a ‘this’ll fix what I didn’t do at the time’
sort of way. Can they do this? What about my memories?<o:p></o:p></div>
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I have three examples
of this desire to tinker; Deep Purple’s ‘Machine Head’, Mike Oldfield’s
‘Ommadawn’ and Jethro Tull’s ‘Aqualung’.
In each case, the original multi-track recording has been re-mixed using
today’s technology in an effort to improve on the original. In the case of ‘Aqualung’ I have to say that
this has been a spectacular success. The
re-mix doesn’t really change the musical emphasis very much from the original
but what it has done is breathe new life into what was a very stodgy final
master. Suddenly there is space around
the instruments and their tonality bursts out of the speakers at you. Drums sound like drums and less like wet
cardboard boxes – hurrah! Steven Wilson,
who is the engineer responsible, has a magic touch with old masters as his work
on the King Crimson and Caravan catalogues has shown. His re-mixed ‘Aqualung’ is fabulous and I’d
choose it over the original every time.<o:p></o:p></div>
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‘Mike Oldfield’s
‘Ommadawn’ also works well but to a lesser degree. The re-mix doesn’t really alter the sound of the
album too much but it does sound clearer and fresher. However, I understand that his re-mix of
‘Tubular Bells’ does sound significantly different but as I haven’t heard it, I
couldn’t possibly comment. My real gripe
is reserved for ‘Machine Head’ and that is because the modern re-mix uses
alternative instrumental takes, such as guitar solos, that were not used in the
original. This is a step too far as it
changes the music wholesale and I don’t like it – it has ceased to be ‘Machine
Head’ and is now something else.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Whilst I object to
the concept that once discarded music is now viewed as an improvement, I am
disconcertingly aware that my attitude has been conditioned by the last 100
years, or since music became recorded.
Prior to then, all music only existed in written form and every
performance of it was different, so there was no definitive version, just a
series of interpretations. Now that
music is cast in stone for all eternity by the recording process, we are led to
believe that there is only one interpretation, but perhaps that is wrong?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Re-mixing raises a
whole series of ethical questions about art and it will take more than this
post to get to the bottom of it. I’m
still unsure and will probably just take on a case by case line until someone
can convince me one way or the other. <o:p></o:p></div>
music obsessivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191742084494035205noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905794193248540231.post-75760981722188389612012-11-09T06:00:00.000+00:002012-11-09T06:00:03.418+00:00Curved Air - The Lost Broadcasts<br />
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As a long time
aficionado of the Progrock band, Curved Air, I am mightily relieved to report
that my eye-teeth are all but safe. No
longer are they under threat of exchange for a sample of dodgy live concert
footage from their peak period between 1970 and 1972 as freshly arrived from a
well known on-line retailer is a new DVD; ‘Curved Air – The Lost Broadcasts’.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As far as I am
aware, this is one of only two videos in existence which captures them during
their golden period even if it is not real concert footage and it has its own
idiosyncrasies. The good news is that
the two sessions on this disk, recorded in March and September 1971 for the
German TV programme, Beat Club, comprise a total of five songs from ‘Air Conditioning’
and ‘Second Album’ including ‘Back Street Luv’ and the epic ‘Piece of
Mind’. The bad news is that for the
second broadcast, session drummer Barry deSouza fills in for regular drummer,
Florian Pilkington-Miksa and the obsession with weird TV effects (1971-stylee)
with blue screen backdrops and the like, is mildly irritating. However, the only other video from this
period, from a 1972 Belgian TV programme, suffers even more from irritating
effects and cutaways, so mustn’t grumble.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So in the scheme of
things, this is gold dust. Looking
distressingly young – they were all about 22 at the time – the band
demonstrates just what a talented lot they were. The two aspects that drew me to them in the
first place are still mesmerisingly magnetic.
First, the combination of Darryl Way’s electric violin and Francis
Monkman’s (at the time) groundbreaking use of the early VCS3 synthesiser still
has an oddness about it that time has not diminished.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Second is the
female vocals of Sonja Kristina Linwood, an asset that most rock bands of the
day did not possess and which added a third unexpected layer to the overall
sound. In fact, her performance is even
better than I remember from numerous 70s concerts, especially on the atonally
difficult melody of ‘Piece of Mind’ where her confidence is awesome.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Of course, the
hairstyles and clothes are laughable (whatever happened to velvet loons?) but
the musicianship is first rate as one would expect from a band of this
vintage. It would only be a few years
before this type of competency would be derided by the first wave of punk. Nevertheless, with only five songs on offer,
it’s a shame that they chose to include Way’s elongated party piece, ‘Vivaldi’,
a mass of electronic effects and cleverness, which only just works on stage but
falls a bit flat on screen. But we do
have ‘Back Street Luv’ and mercifully in it’s original form with Sonja’s cool
haunted vocal rather than the histrionics we got a few years later. And we do get a
slightly-truncated-from-12-minutes version of their masterpiece, ‘Piece of
Mind’ complete with spoken verses from TS Eliot’s ‘Wasteland’. Magical.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Admittedly, this is
probably no more than a curiosity to most viewers, a rather dated snapshot of
another time and place, but to fans, this is indispensable.<o:p></o:p></div>
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music obsessivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191742084494035205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905794193248540231.post-91364368204987454702012-10-26T06:00:00.000+01:002012-10-26T06:00:11.313+01:00Coldplay and a dollop of Marmite<br />
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After much
deliberation I have decided that the word that applies here is ‘Marmite’. It always interests me how words extend their
meaning over time and Marmite, despite being a trademark, is one of them. These days it refers not only to that sticky
black stuff that you spread on toast, but also to an attitude towards certain
things. If an object or concept is
‘Marmite’ it is generally understood to divide opinion into those that love and
those that hate – there is no half-way house.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Which brings us
inexorably to Coldplay and the problem that I have been wrestling with. Whilst I can readily appreciate that Coldplay
could be quite properly described as a Marmite band, this does not quite help
with my dilemma. You see, I’ve gone down
a level and have found that it is not the band per se as much as <i>each individual song</i> that is
Marmite. It’s the only explanation. For some time now, I have found that I am
cherry picking about half a dozen of their songs from their catalogue. These are the songs that I find utterly
uplifting yet I reject all their remaining material as dross.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Let’s not be
coy. Those on the list are the likes of
‘Speed of Sound’, ‘Paradise’, ‘Clocks’, ‘Yellow’ and ‘The Scientist’ and maybe
one or two more and they sit in a playlist on my ipod as shining examples of
modern pop. But that’s where it stops as
far as Coldplay is concerned as I’ve never really got on with the remainder of
any of their albums despite owning them all.
In all my years of music obsessive-ness, I’ve never known a band that
splits my allegiance on a song by song level to such a degree. It’s a bit un-nerving and if at the next
social function anyone asks me whether I like Coldplay, I’m not sure what I’m
going to say. I’ll probably open and
close my mouth a few times like a beached fish and fail miserably to construct
any sort of reasoned argument.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I suppose that when
it comes down to it, I find Coldplay a bit, well, boring in the way that their
fiercest critics propound and that would explain my antipathy to most of their
output. Yet, somehow, when their style
works, it works spectacularly well as in the list above. It seems that they tread a very fine line and
the spark that lifts them above it is a rare and splendid thing. Perhaps it is just as well that it is an
infrequent occurrence as it makes the results something to be savoured.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It just pains me to
think that I bought all those albums just for a handful of songs.<o:p></o:p></div>
music obsessivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191742084494035205noreply@blogger.com6