This week I listened to
Killing Joke S/T - caught before atonal riffs became their awesome norm, Killing Joke’s debut album still made - and makes - a powerful impression;
Metallica ‘72 Seasons’ - back to their scintillating best, this is up there with their first three albums for sheer visceral power. Doomy riff lovers will shoot their load. Welcome home, guys;
Paul Brady ‘Hard Station’ - so fresh does this remarkably tuneful 1981 album sound, it’s incredible to think that its creator has now reached the stately age of 75.
Scott Walker ‘Climate Of Hunter’ - not many albums released in 1984 have worn as well as Scott’s only album of that decade. Totally out there, yet relatively mainstream compared to what was to follow, this short and sweet gem is my favourite of the man’s solo oeuvre. And my, that sublime voice never sounded better;
Pink Floyd ‘The Dark Side Of The Moon’ - which has been part of my life since childhood, yet still registers new subtleties with each listen. Popularity and mega sales haven’t always guaranteed quality but my, they did here. I might kid myself that everything up to ‘Ummagumma’ is my preferred Floyd era but there’s no denying the class of this tremendous summary of the human condition, both then and now. And has there ever been a better sounding record than this?
Black Flag ‘Nervous Breakdown’ EP - Extended play? That’s a laugh. I’ve hundreds of regular two song 45s that last much longer than this. Not many with this much primal bile though. Wonderful;
Cooke: Organ Sonata no.1 in G (Tom Winpenny) - unsung English organ music at just the right extreme of tonality, superbly played;
Haydn: String Quartets Op.77 (London Haydn Quartet) - this latest instalment of the LHQ’s long-gestating Haydn quartet series is as serious and considered as its predecessors; perhaps a little too much so;
Haydn: String Quartets Op.33 (Festetics Quartet) - although following similar period practice, this has much more thrust and vibrancy than the LHQ’s sometimes over-gentile approach. I’m thoroughly enjoying this Festetics’ Haydn box, which an unnamed online retailer is now selling for a ludicrously low price;
Beethoven: Symphonies 1 & 3 (RPO/Dorati) - Antal Dorati’s RPO Beethoven cycle from 1975/76 has only now been released on CD for the first time. These are unashamedly old school readings, a little too measured in the First for my tastes, but good to hear at last. I’ll play some more in the coming weeks.
This is how you disappear.
Happy vibes, all
Dave x
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