Take a little trip with me:
Ride ‘Chelsea Girl’ EP - this 12” really bursts out of my speakers, and hits as hard as it did back in 1990;
Alice Cooper ‘School’s Out’ - my least fave AC (the band) LP, but still a doozie. Dennis Dunaway is the star here, his basslines shining even through Ezrin’s OTT arrangements. And Vince is, well, Vince - at his melodramatic peak;
The Relatives and Phil Miller ‘Virtually’ - Phil’s recorded swansong was this delightful record with a band led by Jack Monck - yes, he of Syd Barrett’s ill-fated Stars project - and featuring my hero Richard Sinclair’s immaculate guest vocal on one track. The rest is standard Canterbury jazz rock done with grace and charm;
Neil Young ‘Bluenote Cafe’ - live big band Neil in not-so-ragged glory. This exemplifies his return to form in the late 80s even more than ‘Freedom’ to my ears. He’s never sounded in better voice than here. And what he does with Old Black is mind blowing;
War ‘Why Can’t We Be Friends?’ - music like this defies time: fresh and new nearly half a century after its making;
“Neil Young & Crazy Horse” ‘All Roads Lead Home’ - my parentheses are because this isn’t a Crazy Horse album per se, but a collection of solo tracks by each member. There’s still a real Horse vibe present throughout what is a highly enjoyable set of songs. Neil’s contribution is a sublime solo rendition of last year’s ‘Song Of The Seasons’ which is worth the price of admission alone;
Magazine ‘Give Me Everything’ 45 - ace standalone single from the greatest band ever to come out of Manchester. With the best bass riff ever. There, I’ve said it;
Richard Thompson ‘Rumor & Sigh’ - Thompson’s most mainstream album remains one of his best, Vincent Black Lightnings and all;
Gerry Rafferty ‘Can I Have My Money Back?’ - effectively Stealer’s Wheel before Stealer’s Wheel, this 1971 solo debut still sounds good: great tunes, spot-on harmonies, and loads of Rafferty’s - already world weary - lyrics;
Happy Mondays ‘Bummed’ - henny penny cocky locky goosey loosey turkey lurkey chicky licky ducky lucky. Quite. And Martin Hannett - whose work I didn’t always appreciate - really delivered on this one. Like on
Happy Mondays ‘Madchester Rave On’ EP - their artistic zenith. Still sounds ace;
Happy Mondays ‘Tart Tart’ 45 - how this registered as a coherent song is beyond me, but I’ve always loved it. In fact, it exemplifies the accidental greatness of the early Mondays better than any other track for me. I largely checked out when they got commercial covering John Kongos songs;
Sassafras ‘Expecting Company’, ‘Wheelin’ & Dealin’ and ‘Riding High’ - Sassafras were a hard gigging Welsh rock band boasting a particularly fine twin guitar sound, an ace vocalist, and excellent songs tinged with both West Coast and Southern boogie influences. I’ve dug their three studio LPs since my teens. The second one is comfortably my favourite (I hamfistedly reviewed it for Unsung yonks ago) but all of their output stands up well, I think;
Gong ‘Camembert Electrique’ - this never fails to thrill me. Daevid Allen is one of the most unsung heads to have walked this earth and nothing - I mean nothing - sounds like this, especially in its latest Charly remastering. Except maybe
Gong ‘You’ - an almost entirely different line up made this epic record only three years after the aforementioned and wow, what a transformation. The bit at 5’37” through ‘A Sprinkling of Clouds’ when the drums burst in and Steve Hillage’s guitar emerges from a deluge of choral melee is just pure aural orgasm;
Television ‘Marquee Moon’ - as I’ve previously ranted, ‘Adventure’ is really good. But my, ‘Marquee Moon’ is better. As in nigh-perfect. RIP, Tom;
Various ‘Over The Rainbow’ - I was just 15 when I first heard this LP of the (then) valedictory concert at Finsbury Park’s long lost concert venue. I suspect some of it has been doctored - especially the superb Hatfields’ track - but what a great gig it must’ve been. The star? For me, Frankie Miller, who sung a belting ‘Brickyard Blues’ with Procol Harum on the night. And this was where I first heard the aforementioned Sassafras, who deliver a great take of ‘I Am The Walrus’;
Daryl Hall & John Oates ‘Voices’ - few seventies acts cut the mustard afterwards as well as Hall & Oates. This was their hello to the shabby eighties, and mighty fine it remains;
Patto ‘Roll ‘em, Smoke ‘em, Put Another Line Out’ - amidst a good deal of pissing about are some great songs and ace musicianship, especially from the legend that was Ollie Halsall. If I can steer anyone to ultimate rock and roll mayhem it has to be with the riot that is ‘Loud Green Song’. Stream with confidence. It’s heavy, heavy, HEAVVEEE;
Frank Bridge: Violin Sonata (Stanzeleit/Thwaites) - intense, impressionistic piece performed accordingly, providing a rich contrast with coupled sonatas by Elgar and Ireland;
Haydn: String Quartets, Op.20 (Festetics Quartet) - my quest through the quartets of Haydn reaches Op.20, seen by many as the start of great quartet writing - not that I had any problem with Op.9 or Op.17 either. The Festetics do Joe proud here;
Brahms: Symphony no.4 (Rome Radio/Giulini) - Giulini’s Brahms was considerably more vibrant in 1956 than when he recorded the cycle for DG in the early 90s. If his later monumentality is absent here, there’s still much to enjoy;
Beethoven: String Quartet no.14 in C sharp minor, Op.131 (Calidore Quartet) - sublime late Beethoven played with intensity and vibrancy by an exceptionally gifted New York based ensemble. I hope they record the early and middle quartets too;
Rosalind Ventris ‘Sola’ - I was waxing lyrical a few weeks back about Marc Johnson and his ability to conjure up an entire CD of solo double bass with no longueurs. Now Rosalind Ventris has done the same with the humble viola on a brand new album of music composed for the instrument by women composers past and present. There’s such a variety of moods and timbres on show here that I don’t know where to start, but Thea Musgrave’s five minute ‘In The Still Of The Night’ (N.B. not the Whitesnake song:-)) is deffo worth a stream for the curious;
Schubert: Piano Sonata in A, D 959 (Garrick Ohlssohn) - this has gleaned sniffy reviews in the latest issues of BBC Music and Gramophone, both being underwhelmed by its comparatively literal approach. I disagree. I think it’s a fine rendition that ranks alongside Kempff, Brendel and Lupu. Pianists don’t have to be dead (or nearly dead) to deliver.
Whatever you do, don’t make it sound like Sergio Mendes!
Sunshine to all
Dave x
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