This week’s vibes:
Ace Frehley ‘Frehley’s Comet’ - Ace’s second LP is a little time locked, but far more stimulating than than the big-hair nonsense his former bandmates were dishing out in the late 80s;
AC/DC ‘Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap’ - try playing this to anyone who claims that rock needed a kick in the nads before punk came along;
Paul Weller ‘Heliocentric’ - Weller’s mid career solo output has been underrated in my opinion. I enjoyed this immensely;
The Damned ‘Music For Pleasure’ - possibly the most underrated second album in rock history. There, I’ve said it;
Kevin Ayers ‘Joy Of A Toy’, ‘Shooting At The Moon’, ‘Whatevershebringswesing’, ‘Bananamour’ and ‘The Confessions Of Dr Dream’ - I remain of my long-held opinion that Ayers’ solo output starts near-perfect before going very gradually downhill thereafter, but every one of his first five albums is a must have. I envy anyone yet to encounter ‘Joy Of A Toy’ for the first time;
Bruce Springsteen ‘Western Stars’ - the Boss’ recent albums are at least a match for the likes of ‘Born To Run’ in my book. This is a good example. He has the knack of writing simple sounding songs that no-one else could possibly have come up with. The original album, rather than the film-based remake, is my preferred version;
Gary Numan ‘Dance’ - uncool, but I like it. Hey, it’s got Mick Karn on it;
Julian Cope ‘Cunts Can Fuck Off’ - can’t - and haven’t - they just;
Paul Stanley S/T - the best of the 1978 Kiss solo albums, a couple of clunky ballads aside;
Just Music S/T - ECM’s second release isn’t an easy listen, but there’s some serious virtuosity going on in the free jazz melee, not to mention more than a little humour. Goes delightfully apeshit near the end of the second, side long track. Improvised music can be fun! Beautifully recorded too;
Art Ensemble of Chicago ‘Urban Bushmen’ - I was turned onto this when NME had a brief infatuation with free jazz back in the early 80s. My love of this incredibly inventive and intense music (with only occasional nods to what most people would consider anything like “jazz” as they know it) has far outlasted that long-irrelevant tome. In fact, I hear new things every time I play it;
Daniel Jones: Symphony no.9 (BBC Welsh SO/Thomson) - a tonal but distinctive 20th century symphony;
Messiaen: Oiseaux exotiques (OSR/Nott) - ace new recording of Messiaen’s 15 minute masterpiece;
Beethoven: Symphony no.4 (BPO/Karajan 1962) - the most poised and pointed of Herbie’s four studio takes on this ever-underrated symphony. Fabbo. I wish he was less lazy with repeats though;
Brahms: Symphony no.3 (BPO/Jochum) - despite being in mono only, this 1956 DG recording is both vivid and natural, in line with Jochum’s direct yet lyrical approach to the work. This is a lovely record;
Brahms: Symphony no.4 (Gewandhaus/Blomstedt 1996) - as fine a reading as one could wish for. The man’s still conducting at 94;
Liszt: Les Preludes (Philharmonia/Silvestri) - more vibrant than Karajan’s version with the same orchestra, this is a near-ideal interpretation of my favourite of Liszt’s symphonic poems;
Sibelius: Symphony no.6 (Oslo PO/Makela) - Klaus Makela’s rise has been meteoric - he’s still in his twenties yet has been named as the next principal conductor of the Concertgebouw, no less - but on the strength of his rightly lauded Sibelius cycle I can almost see the point. This is impressive by any standards;
Schubert: Piano Sonata in B flat, D 960 (Ingrid Haebler) - Schubert’s sublime final sonata given a civilised, unhistrionic rendering by a half-forgotten Austrian maestro soon to be given the exhaustive box set treatment. I’m very tempted to invest.
Have a great week, all.
Dave x
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