Morning, all:
Nala Sinephro ‘Space 1.8’ - this has rightly received big critical licks for its distinctive blend of analogue synths and acoustic instruments in its mainly New Age (not a genre I usually recognise) setting. And Nala is young and gifted enough to improve on this auspicious debut;
Van der Graaf Generator ‘World Record’ - the least lauded of VdGG’s mighty ‘75-76 trilogy still thrills me to the bone. How this missed last year’s remix/deluxe reissue programme mystifies me;
Van der Graaf Generator ‘Pawn Hearts’ and ‘Still Life’ (2021 stereo remixes) - rare cases of remixes actually improving on the originals. I’d always thought the first wave VdGG albums to sound more dated than the 1975-78 second wave. Not now;
Nathan Hall & The Sinister Locals ‘Golden Fleece’ - feel good low-fi vibes with catchy toons in abundance;
David Sylvian ‘Blemish’ - what at first sounds arbitrary becomes entirely musical with repeated plays. In fact, under the extemporised instrumentation lie some of Sylvian’s loveliest melodies. The mood is sombre and regretful but its effect is as cathartic and uplifting as it must’ve been for its creator. He’s never made a finer album;
Nils Lofgren ‘Night After Night’ - pretty well definitive live document of Lofgren’s solo oeuvre of the late 70s, though his earlier ‘Live Bootleg’ arguably achieves more in half the time;
Killing Joke ‘Fire Dances’ - Geordie’s patent wrong note riffs sound particularly tense here;
Ten Years After ‘About Time’ - where a newly reformed TYA got all ZZ Toppy in an effort to regain interest. They failed. Shame really: there’s some good stuff here, albeit highly derivative - and not of Ten Years After;
Uriah Heep ‘Into The Wild’ - Heep’s 2011 album has all the energy of their ancient peak, if little of their distinctive sound. A decent hard rock effort nonetheless;
Scritti Politti ‘Cupid & Psyche 85’ - despite its dated 80s sound, the sublimity of Green’s pop muse shines on brightly. One to make me feel twenty-something again;
The Kinks ‘Singles Collection’ - well, no comment necessary really;
Haydn: String Quartet in B flat, Op.71 no.1 (Takacs Quartet) - spirited, straight performance of one of Haydn’s sunniest quartets;
Brahms: Symphony no.3 (Halle/Skrowaczewski) - one of the slowest Brahms Thirds I’ve ever heard, but the grandeur shines through. The coupled Haydn Variations ain’t no sprint either;
Beethoven: Overture ‘Leonore no.1’ (BRSO/Sir Colin Davis) - an over-measured intro leads to an appropriately Allegro main theme, the end result being very satisfying. Beethoven’s most unsung overture? I’m starting to think it’s at least the equal of its two similarly named companions;
Dvorak: Symphonies 5 & 8 (Staatskapelle Berlin/Suitner) - from an obscenely cheap cycle of all nine Dvorak symphonies come these two excellent performances. The Berlin State may not be the most refined of orchestras but my, they give it their all here. And Suitner doesn’t hang around. This is my classical bargain of the year;
Scriabin: Piano Music (Artur Pizarro) - this is almost as good as its composer thought it was;
Rudolf Mueller ‘Great European Organs no.95’ - Wurzburg’s Mariannhill Monastery Church’s organ has an appealingly rich and deep quality, yet is capable of some unique tones at quieter levels. All admirably captured in this programme of old and new organ music, culminating in a Max Reger fugue that nearly takes the roof off if played loud enough.
And that’s me for another week. Happy vibes to all.
Dave x
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