Take a little trip back with Father Tiresias:
Black Sabbath ‘Paranoid’ (except the title track to which my separate post refers) - some records infect you from youth and their effects never fade. This is one of mine;
Lush ‘Sweetness and Light’ EP - memories of happier, carefree times abound with this wee 45 RPM diamond;
The Smiths ‘Louder Than Bombs’ - what seem like something of a mish-mash of mostly non-album tracks for the US market turned out to be my favourite Smiths CD, even more than any of their four “proper” albums;
The Pointer Sisters ‘That’s A Plenty’ - sophomore album that’s good in its swampy moments, but gets a little too Andrews Sistersish for my liking on its predominantly swing-like tracks;
Magazine ‘Secondhand Daylight’ - a much finer second effort, this: in fact, it’s Magazine’s finest as far as I’m concerned, and one of my all-time favourite albums. There are some records that are as defined by their production as their songs, and this eerie, murky sounding epic is one of them. Colin Thurston and John McGeogh RIP;
Genesis ‘Selling England By The Pound’ - and this is my favourite Genesis platter for similar reasons but my, what songs. This was their creative prog apex before disappearing into woolly ruminant pretentiousness. (They’d enjoy a three album renaissance before becoming a bad pop group);
Streetwalkers ‘Downtown Flyers’ - one of those mid-70s records that gives the lie to the “stale pre-punk” cliche;
Madonna S/T - one of my many guilty pleasures is Madge’s debut album which, for all its cheesy eightiesness, just hits my pleasure button like none of her other albums;
Van Morrison ‘Beyond Words: Instrumental’ - on the face of it, this should be a non-event. I wasn’t expecting much, but this is really rather good: tasty, mostly upbeat music that reminding me how astute the grouchy one has been in his choice of backing musicians over the years. Good stuff to walk to;
Slowdive ‘Everything Is Alive’ - first impressions of this newbie are very strong: kind of MBV meets Cocteau Twins with just a soupçon of Joy Division’s keyboardy moments added to the stew. Lovely, even if it does sound as if it could have been made thirty years ago;
Brinsley Schwarz ‘Despite It All’ - exhibiting that Nick Lowe’s songwriting chops were more than fully formed over fifty years ago, albeit more than a little touched by Van Morrison’s style of the time (no crime there). I’d pay good money to see the Brinsleys at a reformation gig or two. How about it, lads?
Van der Graaf Generator ‘Theme One’/‘W’ 45 - well, a CD of it anyway. Terrific, standalone single from the ‘Pawn Hearts’ era, the A side being well familiar to early Radio 1 stalwarts like me, the B being a hidden Hammill gem;
The Dave Brubeck Quartet ‘Brubeck Time’ - unalloyed pleasure is all. I want Bru and Des played at my funeral;
Paul Desmond ‘The Complete 1975 Toronto Recordings’ - long after the classic lineup of The Dave Brubeck Quartet disbanded, Paul Desmond put together a new alto & guitar centred quartet for two series of Bourbon Street club dates. This awesome Mosaic box collates the lot and believe me dudes, there’s not a dull moment across them. It includes a disc preserving a date with trombonist Rob McConnell that hasn’t been released before. It’s ace - but I have to admit a bias towards anything on which Desmond played. I just adore his unique, smoky sound;
Waylon Jennings ‘Ladies Love Outlaws’ - Waylon couldn’t make a bad record during his 60s and 70s heyday as far as I’m concerned: every album a short and sweet collection of songs that he made his own, whether he wrote them or not. This is as good an example as any. Check out his take on Bobby Braddock’s ‘Revelation’: you don’t need to be a God botherer to be moved by it;
Haydn: String Quartet Op.76 no.4 ‘Sunrise’ (Chiaroscuro Quartet) - this exhibits a micro-managed approach to Haydn which might have killed his spirit and invention. Not here, for this is fabulously entertaining. There are some excellent young quartets doing the rounds at the moment and the Chiaroscuros are up there with the best;
Brahms: String Sextets 1 & 2 (augmented Lindsay Quartet) - yearningly beautiful works by a young and clean shaven Brahms perfecting his art. This cheap Alto CD is just one of many highlights of the Lindsays’ rich recorded legacy;
Bax: Four Orchestral Pieces (BBC PO/Andrew Davis) - Bax at his most approachable: English music that’s hard to dislike, especially in a performance as idiomatic as this;
Berwald: Symphony no.4 ‘Sinfonie Naive’ (San Francisco SO/Herbert Blomstedt) - unashamedly romantic take on an underrated symphony;
Beethoven: Symphony no.5 (BPO/Herbert von Karajan) - another underrated symphony :-) given the full heft of Herbie’s big band in 1976. There are subtler recordings available, but few this powerful;
Beethoven: String Quartet in C, Op.59 no.3 ‘Rasumovsky’
(Talich Quartet) - mid-period Beethoven at his best, played with taste and verve;
Beethoven: Piano Sonata no.12 in A flat, Op.26 (Louis Lortie) - Lortie is refreshingly direct in his approach to Beethoven, meaning less of the mannerisms favoured by many more illustrious interpreters;
I just get numb when you are hard to find.
Felicitations all
Dave x
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