Weird vibrations in the basement:
Dexys ‘The Feminine Devine’ - maybe it’s my current state of mind, but after two tracks of unrelenting jolly tweeness I had to turn this off. Old Kev seems to have lost his edge. I’ll mebbes give this another go when I’m in a better mood;
Blur ‘The Ballad Of Darren’ - aah, this is so much better. Middle age suits these dudes, though obvious traces of laddish youth remain;
The Beach Boys ‘20/20’ - typically patchy post-Pet Sounds LP, but who don’t love ‘Do It Again’ or ‘I Can Hear Music’;
Mahavishnu Orchestra ‘Between Nothingness and Eternity’ - live swansong of the original lineup: three slabs of sheer headfuck led by the original axe shredder;
Isotope ‘Deep End’ - third, last and funkiest LP of Gary Boyle’s mid-70s Isotope project. Sounds much fresher than its age may imply. (I was gonna scribe something to the effect of Boyle being the English John McLaughlin before I remembered that the latter hails from’t Donny);
Neil Young ‘Chrome Dreams’ - which is interesting to hear in its intended format at last, but nineteen quid for a CD of songs I’ve (mostly) bought at least once seems a bit much. I haven’t that much “will to love”;
Humble Pie ‘Thunderbox’ - weren’t Marriott class? This is one seriously funky slice of rock and roll. Stream with confidence;
Lou Reed ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Animal’ - my first exposure to these VU classics was via this album, and I still dig its hard rock take on them;
David Gilmour S/T - Gilmour’s debut solo LP from 1978 is decent, straight rock; a little characterless maybe, but more stimulating to my ears than any of the records released under the Pink Floyd name after Roger Waters’ departure;
Sex Pistols (well, partly) ‘The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle’ - most of which is unlistenable garbage, saved by the Rotten-era covers and the title track which, though far from echt Pistols as such, I’ve always quite liked;
Family ‘It’s Only A Movie’ - Family’s last album is no classic, but bears a drunken charm that makes for a mostly fun listen. I dread to think of the mayhem that Roger Chapman and Tony Ashton did together;
Kansas ‘The Absence Of Presence’ - not many bands of fifty years’ standing can produce music as fresh and powerful as this. Quality US prog with melody and balls in near-perfect equilibrium;
Jade Warrior ‘Way Of The Sun’ - Jade Warrior existed in a genre void of their own: a weird melange of rock, jazz, world and what was still to be termed “new age” without definitively inhabiting any of those descriptions. This, the last of their Island phase, is typical - if anything can be - of their art, on which they drift, then rock (hard), then drift again. I dig ‘em muchly;
Julian Cope ‘Cunts Can Fuck Off’ - a year on, still so relevant and profound. Oh Drude, I know how you feel;
Johnny Cash ‘The Man In Black’ - 1971 LP featuring the great man’s signature song and a few other gems; a bit heavy on the God bothering stuff, but highly entertaining anyway;
Waylon Jennings ‘Waymore’s Blues (Part II)’ - close to the end of his recording career, Waylon teamed up with Don Was to make perhaps his greatest album. That this magnificent record bombed is a mystery, but I feel lucky that it’s enriched my life for nearly thirty years. Even country agnostics may groove to this: great songs, great vocals, great playing, great sound.
Haydn: String Quartets Op.33 no.6 and Op.76 nos.5 & 6 (Doric String Quartet) - beautifully judged performances, stunningly recorded by Chandos;
Stravinsky: Le Sacre du printemps (Detroit SO/Antal Dorati) - Dorati made a fabulously fiery mono recording of this ever-radical score with the Minneapolis SO in the early 50s. This 80s reading is much less extreme but still satisfies in bringing out the lyrical elements that exist in the mire.
Marlon Brando, Pocahontas and me.
Sweet dreams
Dave x
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