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Soundtracks of Our Lives week ending 25 July 2015 CE
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Fitter Stoke
Fitter Stoke
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Re: Soundtracks of Our Lives week ending 25 July 2015 CE
Jul 26, 2015, 10:12
Neil Young & Promise of the Real 'The Monsanto Years' - Shakey's in angry mode again, directing an entire album against Monsanto, Starbucks and Safeway. It's mostly one-take stuff with some pretty shoddy playing and over-strained vocals, and some of Young's lyrics could've done with a rethought, yet the whole is definitely greater than the sum of the parts here. There's something mysteriously addictive - even charming - about these bitter little songs, particularly on the DVD version which to my ears sounds clearer and brighter than the underproduced CD it's bundled with. And in Promise of the Real, Neil's found himself a younger, more vibrant version of Crazy Horse no less. I must check out some of their own music;

The Who 'Quadrophenia' - forget the new rockless approach to Townshend's best rock opera: the 1973 original remains, by far, the best version. In fact, playing this again after several years has enlightened me of just how great this is. The Who never sounded tighter or more jaw-droppingly versatile than this. I'd direct the uninitiated to the instrumental title track which acts as a compact, perfectly realised overture for the whole thing;

Japan 'Tin Drum' - Sylvian's now thankfully abandoned Ferryisms aside, this - along with its equally fine predecessor 'Gentlemen Take Polaroids' - still sounds pretty damned innovative and unique to me. Every member is on top of his game here, not least Richard Barbieri who applies his art with exquisite subtlety and taste: like prime Miles, the spaces between the notes being as vital as the notes themselves;

Andy Sheppard Quartet 'Surrounded By Sea' - ECM by numbers this may be, but that's no bad thing when delivered with such purity and charm as here. Yet Sheppard manages to sound vital and original with none of the near-MOR dullness that has afflicted so much of Jan Garbarek's recent output.

Also dipped into the EMI Ikon box set devoted to the seriously underrated conductor Eugen Jochum, including a marvellous Brahms Fourth which put a familiar work into a whole new light for me. Can't wait to hear more.
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