Greetings, pop pickers. Forgive my indulgence, but I’ve had a particularly rewarding week of sonic thrills, to whit:
Gong ‘You’ - the third part of the ‘Radio Gnome’ trilogy is the most musically adventurous, with some serious head music dominating Daevid Allen’s wacky muse. The drum entry halfway through ‘A Sprinkling Of Clouds’ is one of the most viscerally exciting moments in rock, the whole piece being a masterclass in accrued tension and release;
Porcupine Tree ‘Closure/Continuation’ - it’s taken me over twenty years to appreciate Steven Wilson’s songwriting talent over his undoubted instrumental ability which I’d always thought a rather soulless end in itself, a few choice tracks notwithstanding. I was wrong. This has power and depth way beyond mere dexterity, making otherwise unreal time signatures sound as natural as Brubeck. And yeah, good tunes too, even if Wilson’s recent solo output is melodically finer still;
Bob Marley and The Chineke! Orchestra S/T - this latest of the endless flow of Marley comps adds some surprisingly effective orchestral arrangements to what sound like largely different vocal takes of his songs. Luckily, enough true Wailers’ backing has been retained to stop most of the material falling into schmalz. I rather like this;
Rolling Stones ‘It’s Only Rock’n’Roll’ - the first Stones LP I ever bought new is still my favourite, irrespective of its low critical standing. Well, THIS critic likes it, likes it, yes I do;
Small Faces ‘Ogdens Nutgone Flake’ - sometimes, all I need is the air that I breathe and to love this;
David Sylvian ‘Blemish’ - free form yet accessible art rock with Mr Batt in rude vocal form, his voice so high in the sparse mix that he sounds as if he’s lying next to you. I can’t wait for the long-awaited vinyl reissue of this unsung masterpiece of longing and regret;
Faust ‘So Far’ - Faust’s pop album. I mean that ironically, even though it is well foot tapping at times;
The Vibrators ‘Pure Mania’ - plastic punk par excellence. Yeah, I know - I’ve already got me coat;
Erroll Garner ‘Up In Erroll’s Room’ - I was brought up on jazz like this. Call it childhood yearning, but this still floats my boat. Garner was never “in” with the jazz elite but my, could he play;
Johnny Cash ‘Man In Black’ - short & sweet 1971 LP drenched in anti-‘Nam sentiment and a little too much evangelism. Still good though;
Waylon Jennings ‘Waymore’s Blues Pt.2’ - one of Waylon’s final albums and one of his best;
AMM ‘The Crypt, 12th June 1968’ - which means more to me as occasionally distracting background noise than a focused listen. Whether or not that was AMM’s intention, it works for me;
Daniel Jones: Piano Music (Martin Jones) - lovely, lyrical music that deserves to be better known, even if no barriers are crossed;
Bach: Italian Concerto and Chromatic Fantasy & Fugue (Karl Richter) - this has been on constant replay on my morning walks for several weeks. Richter’s scholarly but romantic approach may seem anachronistic these days but still registers with me;
Scarlatti: Harpsichord Sonatas (Christophe Rousset) - state of the art recording with a performance to match;
Schubert: Symphony no.8 ‘Unfinished’ (LGO/Blomstedt) - the promising young maestro Herbert Blomstedt, 95, has recently signed a new recording contract with DG. This is its first fruit: a fresh, unhurried reading of taste and musicality. I’ll play the coupled Schubert 9 next week. Talking of which:
Schubert: Symphony no.9 ‘Great’ (Columbia SO/Walter) - a very different, more romantic approach to the Boehm version I played last week. I can’t decide which I prefer;
Beethoven: Symphony no.5 (VPO/Boehm) - despite Boehm’s steady tempi, there is no shortage of power in his reading of this mighty work, especially in the finale which truly crowns the work - as it should;
Beethoven: Symphonies 2 & 7 (BRSO/Boehm) - and the finales in these tense live recordings hit harder still;
Beethoven: Piano Concerto no.5 ‘Emperor’ (Lupu/Israel PO/Mehta) - a near ideal performance to these ears;
Haydn: Symphony no.37/Mozart: Piano Concerto no.11 (w.Levin)/Beethoven: Symphony no.3 (all AAM/Hogwood) - period performance has come on leaps and bounds since Hogwood and his contemporaries tore down the walls four decades ago, but these pioneering recordings still sound fresh. In fact, I think few present day conductors can interpret these works so well (I’m thinking primarily of Andris Nelsons and Yannick Nezet-Seguin, both of whose recent Beethoven cycles have left me a little underwhelmed);
Wagner: Rienzi Overture/Mozart: Piano Concerto no.23 (w.Pollini)/Haydn: Symphony no.89 (all VPO/Boehm) - more gems from Karl’s extensive DG catalogue.
Can’t finish without mentioning this, which cheered me up no end this week:
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/joni-mitchell-performs-in-public-for-first-time-in-nine-years/
Stay cool, won’t you.
Dave x
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