Greetings, music lovers:
The Beatles ‘Yellow Submarine’ - or rather the four then unreleased tracks that form the heart of its first side which, to these ears, are up there with the best of their output;
Pink Floyd ‘More’ - easily their most unsung album IMHO, an ideal blend of lyrical, abstract and hard rock tracks that bely - or perhaps exemplify - the hurried conditions in which this album was made. Delete the brief embarrassment that is ‘Spanish Piece’ and you’ve got a near-perfect slab of psychedelic rock. (Trivia note: the definite article has been removed from the band’s name on the otherwise faithful sleeve of the 2016 vinyl reissue. I wonder why?);
John Foxx ‘In Mysterious Ways’ - Foxx at his poppiest. Pleasant, but too time-locked in the mid-80s;
Elvis Costello ‘The Best Of The First Ten Years’ - not necessarily the track selection I’d’ve made from the period, but a satisfying overview nonetheless. Could never understand the appeal of ‘Shipbuilding’ though, even when Robert Wyatt sang it;
Saxon ‘Wheels Of Steel’ - oo. Yeah;
Rolling Stones ‘It’s Only Rock’n’ Roll’ - ‘Fingerprint File’ is THE great lost Stones track for me: perfect Keef riff, awesome bass playing from Wyman, fab tense chorus. What’s not to adore;
Wishbone Ash ‘Illuminations’ - cracking album from the mid-nineties that still sounds great, not least because it has a decent lead vocalist in Tony Kishman. The Ash have gone on to make several good records but are compromised by Andy Turner’s nasal voice. Sorry Andy - I dig your sterling axemanship - always did - but not your singing;
Julian Cope ‘England Expectorates’ - repeat plays haven’t withered the low-fi appeal of the Drude’s latest. In fact I haven’t enjoyed a non-compilation* of his more since ‘Autogeddon’, and I like, love or adore most of his subsequent albums. Only ‘Boris’ falls somewhat short to these ears, and even that is no real clunker. There’s some grade A Julian shit going down here, with a load of laffs to boot;
Nazareth ‘Surviving The Law’ - I streamed this out of sheer curiosity, having heard nothing of Naz since ‘Boogaloo’ nearly a quarter of a century ago. Their present vocalist is less distinctive than the retired Dan McCafferty but fronts a band still high on power and verve. I’ll buy this. RIP Manny;
U2 ‘An Cat Dubh’/‘Into The Heart’ (live version from ‘Dancin Master’ cassette) - if U2 had split after making this, we’d all be adoring them, believe me;
Sonny Rollins ‘Saxophone Colossus’ - bit of a jazz classic, this. I just love Sonny’s sarky sax sound;
Haydn: Symphony no.86 (ASMF/Marriner) - just a lovely performance in every way;
Verdi: Force of Destiny Overture/Beethoven: Symphony no.8/Rachmaninov: Symphonic Dances/Vaughan Williams: Symphony no.4 (all NYPO/Mitropoulos) - tense live readings compensating with intensity what they lack in recording quality. The VW in particular is spectacular: so very different from English interpreters like Boult or Handley, but equally valid to these ears. Dmitri rocked;
Tchaikovsky: Symphony no.5 (NYPO/Mitropoulos) - on the strength of this, he was no slouch in the studio either;
Strauss: Don Juan, Op.20 and Wagner: Siegfried Idyll (VPO/Furtwaengler) - conducting this good defies criticism;
Beethoven: Symphony no.6 (Orckester Wiener Akademie/Haselbock) - more from Haselbock’s admirable cycle of Beethoven’s symphonies using the instruments and venues of their first performances;
Beethoven: Piano Sonata no.32 in C minor, Op.111 (Wilhelm Backhaus) - almost superhuman pianism from a pianist in his 78th year crowns an interpretation that emotes and excites in near perfect accord;
Weinberg: Flute Concerto no.1 (Zupancic/CBSO/Grazinyte-Tyla) - immediately accessible work of contrasting playful and introspective moods;
Elisabeth Lutyens: The Great Seas, Op.132 (Martin Jones) - Messiaen-like late piano piece staying just the right side of atonality, superbly rendered by Jones;
Elisabeth Lutyens: Piano Works Vol.2 (Martin Jones) - delightful miniatures played with Jones’ customary style and grace.
(*’Trip Advizer’ is my desert island Cope CD. It just IS, ok?)
Take care out there. Truss no one.
Dave x
|
