It’s easy to say when you’re so down that everything’s pointless:
The Teardrop Explodes ‘Culture Bunker 1978-1982’ - what a pleasure it is immersing myself in this. Some of the live stuff ain’t exactly hifi (the Band On The Wall gig especially) but remains a fascinating chronicle of The Teardrops’ swift development. The Cargo demos are raw and magnificent; the coda at the end of the Rockfield version of ‘When I Dream’ revelatory. Disc 4 is sheer delight from first note to last, and innit great how Julian kept ‘World Shut Your Mouth’ (the song) back so long? Still more to play: thoughts to come, but I can already recommend this as beyond essential to anyone familiar with this website;
Grateful Dead ‘Europe ‘72’ -after their fab psych period, the Dead’s live sets became less ethereal but more good time in feel. I dig both. This slightly doctored triple album exemplifies the “straighter” side of the band but with enough edge-of-seat improvisation to keep true Deadheads happy;
Wishbone Ash ‘Front Page News’ - a somewhat soft sound was adopted for Ash’s eighth album, but it’s aged better than most as a result. One of those records I shrugged at when new, but like much more now. Hey, old age and all that;
Henry Cow ‘Hamburg’ - Vol.10 of their ‘Redux’ complete recordings box set features a 1976 live radio take on their then regular ‘Beautiful As The Moon’ sequence that wanders into more abstract waters than the ‘Concerts’ version I’ve loved for nearly five decades. I think that this might be even better;
Bob Dylan ‘Shadow Kingdom’ - lovely, informal run through of thirteen songs from the Zim’s exhaustive back catalogue, including some deep cuts, casually - yet lovingly - rendered. He’s not been in this good a voice for decades;
Roxy Music ‘Stranded’ - I’m of the opinion that Roxy Music’s first phase, i.e. 1972 to 1975, was near faultless in originality, style and musical quality. In many ways, ‘Stranded’ is the apex: no Eno alas but oh, those songs - all eight of them. That it appeared six months after the gem that is ‘For Your Pleasure’ is little short of miraculous. Not one track - nor indeed one second - is extraneous;
Roxy Music ‘Siren’ - the peak of Ferry’s pop muse (i.e. his ability to write real melodies* as catchy as they are melodic). Long my favourite Roxy LP, ‘Siren’ has now to yield to ‘Stranded’ in my old age - but it remains a masterpiece. The gloriously eerie segue between ‘End Of The Line’ and ‘Sentimental Fool’ excepted, any track from this could’ve been a hit single;
(* as distinct from the tuneless, groove-based stuff that has preoccupied his writing from ‘Avalon’ onwards)
Van der Graaf Generator ‘World Record’ - the third (and possibly most unsung) of the great trilogy of albums that VdGG released after their mid-70s resurrection was my introduction to them as a punk-obsessed 16 year old. For some reason, it hit home like a sledgehammer, despite my having (temporarily) ditched my prior allegiance to all things prog. It stills moves me like few other records 46 years on;
Klaus Schulze ‘Irrlicht’ - in some ways I feel that Klaus’ muse is best exemplified by his earliest albums, restricted as they were by the embryonic tech of the time. Like early Cluster and Tangerine Dream, ‘Irrlicht’ is neither tonal nor atonal, yet never becomes abstract noise;
Kraftwerk ‘Trans-Europa Express’ - the other extreme of kosmische music, minimalist and infectious;
Lutz Glandien ‘Some Days In The Life Of A Tree’ - I won’t begin to describe this, except to say that I’ve never heard anything quite like it. Do try to hear it for yourself;
Alan Richardson: Piano Music (Martin Jones) - diverting, lyrical music by an underrated Scottish composer, played with Martin Jones’ usual sensitivity and zeal;
Schubert: String Quartet no.9 in G minor, D 173 (Chiaroscuro Quartet) - the more I hear the Chiaroscuros, the more convinced I am that they’re amongst the most exciting combos on the current chamber circuit. Their take on this early Schubert work seems just right: spirited and quirky as the music demands. They’re also great in
Haydn: String Quartet in E flat, Op.33 no.2 ‘The Joke’ (Chiaroscuro Quartet) - from their latest release, a near-ideal rendition of a work to put a smile on the most haggard and jaded face, e.g. mine - and especially in the scherzo second movement, which slides and points like no other;
Reger: Organ Suite no.1 (Kirsten Sturm) - Reger’s masterful organ music adds dense harmonies to Bach’s chromatic palette to sometimes overwhelming ends;
Webern: Six Orchestral Pieces, Op.6 (Robert Craft) - these remarkable, short but sweet works have been more sensitively rendered in the seven decades since this pioneering record was made, but there’s a real sense of adventure in how they’re performed here. Atonality without tears;
If you’re looking for love in a looking glass world, it’s pretty hard to find.
Keep smiling
Dave x
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