Well it’s a bruising shattering ride, but I cannot deny myself this luxury:
Porcupine Tree ‘Closure/Continuation’ - this gets better every time I play it. I won’t hold my breath waiting for Jools Holland to feature it mind;
Kiss ‘Dressed To Kill’ - their Sladesque anthem ‘Rock & Roll All Nite’ aside, Kiss’ third LP is heavy on tight, riffy songs that never hit their fans as well as they should. Its light, slightly tame production actually makes it sound less dated now than many albums of its period. In fact, there are some tracks that remind me of early Clash, two years in the future. Yeah, really;
Marillion ‘An Hour Before It’s Dark’ - like Porcupine Tree, Marillion inhabit a cult world big enough to give them chart topping albums and sell out RAH concerts yet next to no mention in the media. Well, who trusts critics anyway. This is a wonderful, state of the art rock record. Forget all of that Kayleigh nonsense;
Epic Soundtracks ‘Sleeping Star’ - lovely, simple and fragile songs from a tragically short lived muse;
Talk Talk ‘Spirit Of Eden’ - Mark Hollis’ later work hangs in and out of time as if it was being composed on the spot. Without genre or precedent, no-one else sounds anything like
this;
King Crimson ‘In The Court Of The Crimson King’ and ‘In The Wake Of Poseidon’ - I’d always thought Crimson’s second LP to be a somewhat inferior imitation of their debut, but hearing it again after a long time I’m more convinced of its own character and class, the ever dreary Holst ripoff ‘Devil’s Triangle’ excepted;
Mudhoney ‘Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge’ - good, basic grunge which gave my ear’oles a reet good clear out;
Traffic ‘Far From Home’ - Winwood and Capaldi’s 90s comeback was a little over-produced but not short of good songs;
Traffic ‘The Last Great Traffic Jam’ - the supporting live album for ‘Far From Home’ features only one of its tracks, but a fine array of Traffic classics more than compensate;
Cocteau Twins ‘Heaven Or Las Vegas’ - the super flanged and processed sound of the Cocteaus is ever nourishing. This is my favourite of their long players;
Keith Jarrett ‘Standards, Vol.1’ - well, just ‘God Bless The Child’ which is as sublime a piece of trio improvisation as I’ve ever heard;
Klaus Schulze ‘But Beautiful’ - live, album-length epic from 1977 included as a great value bonus with the current CD edition of ‘Cyborg’. Inhabits the same comparatively lyrical territory as Tangerine Dream wandered in the late 70s but with more inspiration. The man is such a great miss;
Julian Cope ‘Peggy Suicide’ - still fresh after all these years;
Julian Cope ‘Cunts Can Fuck Off’ - I still can’t decide whether this is borne out of humour or anger. Probably both. Whatever, I love it;
Saxon ‘Carpe Diem’ - guilty pleasure? Whatever. This bastard ROCKS. Hey, what d’you expect a sixty-odd year old geezer to dig - Harry Styles?
On a very different note:
Sibelius: Three Late Fragments (Oslo PO/Makela) - the nearest we’ll ever get to hearing Sibelius’ abandoned Eighth Symphony;
Beethoven: Symphony no.5 (VPO/Carlos Kleiber) - I play this highly acclaimed record every couple of years, but am always slightly underwhelmed by it next to near-contemporary versions by Karajan, Solti and Giulini, not to mention great conductors of the past like Furtwaengler, Toscanini, Klemperer or indeed Carlos’ dad Erich. Sure, it’s a decent, energetic and powerful account, but to my ears there’s a distinct lack of subtlety and contrast that I hear elsewhere;
Schubert: Symphony no.9 ‘Great’ (LGO/Blomstedt) - and there’s no lack of verve in this young (94 at time of recording) man’s new record of Schubert’s final completed symphony: in fact, I’ve rarely heard the first movement rendered so swiftly. But there’s no shortage of reserve at the right points either. A very fine interpretation, superbly played and recorded;
Schubert: Symphony no.1 (Staatskapelle Dresden/Blomstedt) - from earlier in Blomstedt’s recording career comes this somewhat forward looking rendition of a very early Schubert work. It’s good, but not as convincing a reading as the above;
Beethoven: Symphony no.6 ‘Pastoral’ (COE/Nezet-Seguin) - my, N-S’ peasants are a heavy footed bunch;
Britten: Miniature Suite (Emperor Quartet) - obscure but delightful early work, tastefully played;
Mozart: Piano Concerto no.13 (Levin/AAM/Hogwood) - period performance played for interpretation rather than historic accuracy. Levin really brings out the daring in this underrated early concerto.
Have a spiffing week, all
Dave x
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