Sometimes it’s hard to express how you feel:
Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel ‘Timeless Flight’ - my fave Harley album comes from the start of his career dip. A great shame, because his art remained ripe and unique;
Saxon ‘Thunderbolt’ - I’m backtracking this band’s albums having been well impressed with their last two original releases. This 2018 effort is up to their high standard. Hard hitting metal with no surprises, and that’s fine with me;
Judas Priest ‘Stained Class’, ‘Killing Machine’ and ‘Invincible Shield’ - like Saxon, this band seems to get heavier with age. If I marginally prefer the older stuff it’s purely for nostalgia’s sake. The new album is truly blistering;
Led Zeppelin S/T - sometimes the debut is all the Zep I need;
Mogwai ‘As The Love Continues’ - this band gets better with each successive album. Soothing and intense in equal measure;
Steve Winwood S/T - low key but quality solo debut from one of the UK’s finest rock talents. Anachronistic in 1977 maybe, but a groovy listen now. ‘Time Is Running Out’ is a lost gem;
Simple Minds ‘Once Upon A Time’ - a decent album spoiled by typically 80s big drums and over-production that strains my lugs. The songwriting quality just about redeems it;
Dave Brubeck Quartet ‘Brubeck Time’ & ‘Dave Digs Disney’ - I’ve dug Dave since I was a wee sprog and love him more than ever now, especially alongside the great Paul Desmond. Here are just two reasons why;
John Taylor, Kenny Wheeler & Norma Winstone ‘Azimuth’ - 1977 debut by what was to become a regular ECM combo. I like this a lot, probably more now than I did way back when I thought drums had to be present;
Handel: Concerti Grossi Op.6 nos.5, 10 & 12 (BPO/Herbert von Karajan) - anachronistic, over romantic, and glorious take on music that is now performed to sound as grating as possible;
Brahms: Symphony no.3 (Staatskapelle Berlin/Daniel Barenboim) - the standout performance of Barenboim’s latest Brahms survey, and one of the finest Brahms Thirds I’ve ever heard;
Bruckner: Symphony no.9 (BPO/Herbert von Karajan) - there are times that music becomes so goddamned intense that it knocks me sideways. That happened when I listened to this, its first movement in particular. My bus companions must have thought I was having a fit;
Bach: Keyboard Concerto no.1 in D minor, BWV 1052 (Ashkenazy/LSO/Zinman) - more inauthentic and delightful baroquerie from one of Ashkenazy’s first records.
Time is running out.
Love to all
Dave x
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