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Unsung Forum » Soundtracks To Our Lives W/E 11/01/03 |
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Fitter Stoke 2607 posts |
Jan 12, 2003, 12:22
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Joolio's a bit late this week it seems, so I hope he won't mind me getting his weekly thread underway instead. It's been a week dominated by Van Morrison for me, spurred on by Clinton Heylin's new biography which I've just finished reading. I've largely enjoyed the book, but have reservations about the continually dismissive tone that pervades it - exactly why the author is so down on The Man isn't explained - and some of his opinions on Morrison's oeuvre which are different to say the least. Sure, Van the Man is a curmudgeonly, twisted beast much of the time, but the one thing that makes himself and his music so vital for me is the sheer love of music that has sent him on his endless search for perfection and ultimate "enlightenment". He'll never find it of course, and this is in part what makes him so difficult. Too much of Heylin's book is wasted on accounts of Van being an asshole. Which of course, he is. Tell me something new! But it's sent me back to Morrison's vast back catalogue with renewed vigour, so it must have achieved something. So, this week I listened to: 'His Band And Street Choir' - surely the Man's most 'feel good' record from a time of comparative domestic peace. Even non-fans would find something to enjoy on this one; 'Veedon Fleece' - rightly hailed by Heylin as the nearest thing to an 'Astral Weeks' follow up. If not quite as inspired as that seminal release, it has an atmosphere and feel that I find wholly satisying; 'A Period Of Transition' - not The Man's best album, it's true - but Heylin and others are too critical of what is the funkiest record he's ever made. I'd've loved to have had more from the collaboration with Dr John; 'Wavelength' - hmmm. Maybe Heylin's right about this one. Van was never a pop singer is the conventional sense; 'Into The Music' - another uncharacteristically positive release from 1979; 'Beautiful Vision' - just a lovely album. Nuff said; 'Too Long In Exile' - another record that is much better than how Heylin descibes it. Late Van bringing his R & B chops back out to play; 'The Philosopher's Stone' - easily the best collection of outtakes ever released by anybody. Quite why his 1975 recordings, for example, were rejected at the time is beyond me. There's not one track here that isn't at least the equal of anything that made the relevant final album cuts. Essential to all fans. I also bought a cheap box set of three of Deep Purple's 1990's albums - 'Slaves and Masters', 'The Battle Rages On' and 'Purpendicular'. So far I've only played the first named, and can't say I was blown away by it. Sounds too much like the (dangerously AOR) later Rainbow albums for my liking, probably because of Joe Lynn Turner's presence. Luckily the other two albums feature Gillan instead. I'll play 'em this week if I can keep the Van Morrison albums away. I've been playing that 'Harvest Festival' label retrospective some more too. God, I'd love to get my mitts on the Bakerloo, Quatermass and Forest albums, rated at up to £100 apiece! On the evidence of the Bakerloo track, that band sounded the spit of Blodwyn Pig - no bad thing. Anybody got a copy of their only album? Rave on John Donne and all that, DW
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Joolio Geordio 1300 posts |
Jan 12, 2003, 12:43
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Quatermass - excellent album picked it up at a record fair at Shieldfield about 12 years ago (a Harvest Heritage reissue mind u from 75 with different sleeve ...grrrrr) Happily also got the reissued CD with bonus tracks can sort u outa copy if u want. Agreed Bakerloo sound worthy of further investigation I have it in the back of my mind that this might be a See For Miles reissue - not sure. Re 1990's Purple yes Slaves and Masters hmm Blackmores attempt to drag Purple into the commercial AOR/pop rock world mind u its actually better than the previous album with Gillan the House of Blue Light - they are both crap basically but if u want to rate them on a sliding scale etc.... Battle Rages On was the album which Lord, Glover and Paice laid the law down to Blackmore and insisted that JLT was jettsioned and Gillan was reinstated or thery were off too (although I am sure that the fact that the Deep Purple 25 year anniversary was approaching had nowt to do with it). Anyway I digress on the whole its a decent album at that point I thought that it was the best of the reunion albums to date being a return to riff orientated rock - stand out track is Ramshackle Man a blues work out and the only track in which Jon Lord gets unleashed. Pupendicular is by far the best release since Purple reformed in 1984. Blackmore had jumped ship in mid tour (1993) and by 1996 Steve Morse was handling guitar duties its a diverse LP some great heavy rockers and something which wouldnt be out of place on a Byrds album - listen to this one next Fitter. Rite as soundtrax is underway I am off to get some breakfast and ponder my list see u all later. Joolio
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Beebon 1375 posts |
Jan 12, 2003, 13:43
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Yo dudes...... writing this with DJ Shadow's Endtroducing album playing... cool or what!?!?!? not heard it for a couple of months, but it sure is fine! anyways Aphex Twin - Druqks: £2.99 wasnt bad at all for this, though i wouldnt like to pay much more. Particularly enjoyable listening to at work at lunch time, outside where it was freezing! Has a particularly cold winter vibe to it to me. Boards Of Canada - Geogaddi: I guess inspired by all the electronica talk this time last week, this album is so amazingly good, and again it's kinda cold weather bleak musicwhich also warms you up or somehting. Very nice indeed! Royksopp - Melody AM: A mate gave me an MP3 CD a few months back with most of this album on, so i downloaded the rest from Soulseek. Not bad at all on some tracks, quite lovely, but parts of it do remind me slightly of Mike Oldfields "Songs of Distant Earth" or even an "Ambient" modern drummer-less pink floyd (well slightly anyways). Good enough for a listen... may grow on me more even. Squarepusher - Go Plastic: Not bad, not bad! Sonic Youth - Murray Street: Still getting plenty listens here :) Joy Division - Closer: Easily one of my all time favorite albums now methinks.... suites the cold weather we are having too! Tangerine Dream - Atem: Their "classic" period albums can do no wrong with these ears! It feels that no matter how many times u hear them, you are always intruiged to hear it again and again. Each time you listen, you are taken to another world and often it is hard to get back, even when the music has ended! Neu! 2: Amazing as ever! Bjork - Homogenic: A refreshing surprise..... not listened to it for months, last time i heard it my head wasnt there at all, so i just shelved it for another day. Really like it. Radiohead - Pablo Honey Pink Fairies - Never Never Land: Not been on since the summer, and it sounds even better to me now than before! Think it will be back on regular rotation again soon! Can - Ege Bamyasi: A true favorite of mine easily.... love the whole thing. PIL - Flowers Of Romance Harmonia - Musik von Harmonia: Downloaded and listened to yesterday and today. Posted yesterday my thoughts on it :) Velvet Underground & Nico: Think i'm in love with this one.... does anyone ever sound as cool as Lou Reed did on this one? Miscilaneous buddy holly songs downloaded from Soulseek: Great childhood memories and his music works on me on a completely different level now :) Might make me own "Best Of" collection thing :) I think thats pretty much it! Have a good week steve :)
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Moon Cat 9577 posts |
Jan 12, 2003, 14:31
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Helping warm the freezing cat pod this week.... Jedi Knights - New School Science. Nearly wet self with excitement when I came across this in my local 2nd hand place, as I've been trying to get it for ages. Came out in 96 I think. Nearly came across it too...arf. See, there was a load of kerfuffle ( luv that word!) from George Lucas about the name and it made the thing dashed hard to find. Anyhoo, it's supremely funky electro and techno breaks n beats and stuff and is totally ace. Brilliant electronic funky ideas jostling for space as it triggers ones nervous system. Makes Fatboy Slim sound like a small squirrel sat in the rain moping while racy gerbils whiz by blowing dried peas at its sad head. Terrif! King Tubby - Crucial Dub. Splendid dubathon compilation of heavy bass n echoes n beats n t'ing. Marvellous stuff for rocking the beams to. And get this....only £1.99 in HMV now! Go get it babylon! Chris Starling - Sounds like Chris Starling. Cool low key release of atmospheric indie swamp n roll slightly dark stuff from laconic former smack head. Might get round to doing an Unsung on his former band The Starlings one day. Spring Heel Jack - Amassed. SHJ team with Jason Spaceman and various jazzers to make total free jazz mentalism noise and mayhem. Fab! Makes Primal Scream's efforts in this direction sound like an old turnip rolling aimlessly into a vat of wet dogs. Mediaeval Baebes - The Rose. Utterly bewitching and beguiling vocalising and olde worlde mystery from saucepot troubadours. Has a tune called 'Lick The Maypole'. Nurse! Miranda Sex Garden - Madra. Accapella atmospherics from Baebes predecessors. Ian O' Brien - A history of things to come. Jazzy groovy and sometimes weirdazoid tunes and stuff The Roots - Do You Want More?!!!?!!. Their punctuation. Tip top jazzy hip hop Amused By Genitals - Will piss on a Camels face for money and cheese. The Shining - True Skies. Former latter date Verve people do competent but so so indie rock n roll. Sadly not Nick McCabe. Agreeable but not very inspired. From what I've heard The Music do this sort of thing much better. Glad it was very cheap. File under £3.99 or less rock. The Wickerman -OST. Saucy goings on on Summer Isle. Top stuff. That's mostly it I think....have a nice week
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Moon Cat 9577 posts |
Jan 12, 2003, 14:32
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Leave us not forget.. Sundial - Out of space, out of time. Top psyche/garage single. Hope they are back to stay.
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Son Of Alice 41 posts |
Jan 12, 2003, 14:33
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A humdrum week for me. Didn't get to any store, and mostly played stuff I've talked about in these threads over the last couple weeks. Exceptions were one longtime favorite and one recent addition to my list of favorites. The latter is Black Sabbath's Master Of Reality. Of the first half-dozen Sab-with-Ozzy albums considered to be their best, I've only got Vol 4 and the self-titled one to go, but they'll have to be pretty awesome to overthrow this one. On the first few listens, I had wondered why they hadn't saved the juggernaut that is Children Of The Grave for last, but now the sequencing makes perfect sense. Start with a desperate attempt to escape the horrors of life (Sweet Leaf,) and end with an overwhelming sense of the inevitable (Into The Void.) The former is Guns 'n Roses Appetite For Destruction. Every time I find myself wondering, Now why is this my favorite album of all time, I put it on and think, Did I even have to ask? To me, what makes it great is precisely that Axl is not wholly convincing as a streetwise sleazeball. When he sings lines like, "I'm a hardcase that's tough to beat," he sounds even more desperate to believe it himself than to persaude us of it. The hard mask keeps slipping off, and the glimpses behind it are what make the album stand out. He may be venomous toward the poor-little-rich-girl of My Michelle and act like a jaded scumbag on It's So Easy, but he shows compassion for the doomed dominatrix of Rocket Queen, and is downright tender on Think About You and Sweet Child O' Mine (which contains the lines "Her hair reminds me of a warm safe place/Where as a child I'd hide." Now compare that to Cope's "The sun in her hair, the sun in her eyes/There's something that makes me want to go back." Hmmm...now it doesn't seem so strange that I put Cope and Axl in the same personal pantheon.) Of course, I have to mention the rhythm section that made this one of the few rawk bands that could groove (especially on Mr. Brownstone) and the molten spurts from Slash and Izzy's guitars, but I'll save the details for the inevitable review. xxoo SOA
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Howden 216 posts |
Jan 12, 2003, 14:46
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Building up a backlog of things to listen to... Had some great stuff come through the post this week! Camper Van Beethoven - 'Tusk'. Really dig this. Recommend it. Bowie - 'Heroes' & 'Lodger'. Have these on cassette and so when the hire car goes back, hopefully at the end of this week, I won't have the chance to play them, so borrowed them from the library to burn onto disc. I will have to get a tape deck one day! Circle - 'Raunio'. I like this a lot. Thanks, Telepathine. Liars - lots of their stuff, album, 10", and CD with Oneida. Hope Sandoval - 'Bavarian Fruit Bread'. Ethereal female vocalist! Holly Cole - covers of Tom Waits' songs. Dreamy quality to these. Thanks, Moey. Also a compilation from Moey with the "unexpected covers" Bollywood 'Song To The Siren' and Lambchop's 'This Corrosion' on it. Great stuff. Bought the Muzik magazine with Senor Coconut, etc on the cover mount CD (Waiting for the Senor Coconut album to arrive in the post.) And bought the Frank & Walters CD single to hear their take on 'An Elegant Chaos'. Not good. Neu! - 'Neu! 75'. This won't stay off the stereo! Kraftwerk - 'Trans Europe Express'. I particularly like the first side. Mileece - 'Formations'. Velvet Underground - 'The Quine Tapes'. Another library loan. Not immediate! Doesn't seem to have the drive of 'Live 1969' on first listening. I'll copy it and give it a go again in the future! Off to listen to some Sparklehorse now. Only heard 'Hammering The Cramps', that I can remember, before!
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Ms W 94 posts |
Jan 12, 2003, 15:24
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are on tour i do believe... playing Bath on the 22nd...dont know where else...quite fancy it myself.....oh well...think i need more mates that like the weird shit i like
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Stevo 6664 posts |
Jan 12, 2003, 16:04
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FOETUS CORRUPTUS Rife 87 live gig. if this is from where i think it was I was in the audience. Surprised that Westberg's guitar ain't as noodly lead as I recall. mainly rhythm orientated (Parsons +Kyzis) JADE WARRIOR Last Autumn's Dream 3rd lp by ex July progsters. Heavily Asian folk influenced. Veers between really quiet near ambient and way heavier. Was reminded of Blixa's guitar textures at points LITTLE RICHARD The Original British Hit Singles Goes from the first wave R+R stuff from 56 that seemeed to wake up most of the first generation of British mid 60s rock to more rock stuff from 64. the stuff from 60 is hard as a brick wall NEIL YOUNG On The Beach/Live 71 Bootleg of the lp that Neil still refuses to release on cd. Alongside mostly acoustic live set from BBC radio in 71. SHIRLEY COLLINS Within Sound Disc 3 From 70 to 77, 3rd disc from recently issued career spanning box set. It might take a bit of getting used to her voice but I hear the seeds of the Current 93 sound in the droning arrangements with sister Dolly. DEBRIS Static Disposal Arizona mid 70s psych rock by tripping born agains. Heavy guitar distortion. COUNTRY JOE AND THE FISH Electric Music For The Mind And Body Great tripy band interplay. pretty definite must have if you like SF stuff at all ALTERNATIVE TV The Image Has Cracked Punk goes avant? Or is that the geezer wot wrote Sniffin Glue expands the parameters of what could be considered punk. That guitarist's great anyway. Seems to share something with Keith Levene.This comes double length with as much extra material as was on the record. Includes original of Viva La rocknroll. GENESIS Nursery Cryme Still sounding influenced by material from just before. tHink their heads weren't quite fixed yet. I heard the gAbriel era stuff was ok. I dunno how I feel about liking this, hope it ain't a bad sign but I think I do.. GHANA SOUNDZ Ultra-funky Compi of 70s African funk Jazz etc. Goes from the fEla type opening track through 13 other hybrids of African/JB brilliance. Need more. YES Close To The Edge The space parts of this are ok, couldn't somebody remove Jon Anderson?That is to say the ensemble playing kind of touches me but Mr No- balls just jars. I think Howe/Squire/Bruford and maybe Wakeman would be a great 3 or 4 piece. The instro stuff is really alien sounding, though I wish it was more groove orientated. GRATEFUL DEAD Dick's Picks Vol 16 3cd set from November1969. Band including Tom Constanten in frequent free-flightafter first disc which is more song orientated with the old time country stuff already coming in. ALBERT AYLER Love Cry Psychedelic lp by avant jazz primitivist. Have you heard the vocals on this disc? I read the Forcedexposure review of this when it came out, talking about the photo of brother Donald Ayler looking at his trumpet as though it was alien, but I don't recall talk of the non verbal vocalisation on this. It is down right weird ELECTRIC WIZARD Come My Fanatics…./Electric Wizard Ultra heavy 1st 2 lps by Devon trio who apparently didn't split last year just lost their drummer. The development between these 2 records is noticeable they go from sounding like warped Sabbath to far more drone space orientated. Is all the fuzzmud bass cos otherwise how did they recreate this stuff live? DAVID BOWIE Hunky Dory Bowie's lyrics seem to be losing some of the juvenile pretension that mars the previous lp outside of its title cut. Shame that Mick Ronson ain't as audible here. This seems to be a lot more piano orientated. I love Kooks +remember Life of Mars from early childhood. VARIOUS TROJAN Flashing Echo Dub cd of 70-80 stuff as great as most of the other Trojan 2cd sets methinks. Heavy repetitivebass lines plus noise? COIL The Golden Hare With A Voice Of Silver Frequently eerie 2cd coupling of the Rusian overview cds. Lost Rivers of London is especially great. I must check out more of this stuff. Stevo Np ATV Image has cracked Another Coke
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Joolio Geordio 1300 posts |
Jan 12, 2003, 18:39
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Hiya Cheers for kicking it off this week Fitter. Here goes a late entry from me: - Well I have been listening to a shedload of Jethro Tull this week. On the stereo have been me perennial faves This Was, Stand Up, Benefit, Heavy Horses, and Living In the Past. The trouble with me and Jethro Tull is this my collection is a bit bigger than the aforementioned albums unfortunately much of it is on rarely played LP and in some cases only played once or twice LP and filed away for future reference. So in my Ian Anderson sound tracked world this week I have exhumed the vinyl in search of ahem “new or lost Tull” and what do u know lost treasure. So this week from Joolio’s long neglected vinyl collection the following Tull has been exhumed: - Thick As A Brick – I 1st heard this in 1986 when I borrowed it off me neighbours and always thought it to be grey and miserable LP. WRONG what a record its wild – bought an original pressing LP in 1988 newspaper sleeve and all its amazing stuff most played record this week. Why have I not dug it out and dug it before!!!!!! What else – Minstrel in the Gallery is pretty good stuff but Warchild didn’t hit home straight away. Apart from Tull what else has been getting some rotation: - Been in a funk phase again – so we have had Curtis Mayfield –Superfly – just bliss – forget the Theme from Shaft this is where its at. The Isley Bros. – Giving It Back from 1970 funked up covers of rock tracks includes an incendiary Ohio by CSNY segued with Hendrix’s Machine Gun. The Temptations Psychedelic Shack/All Directions and Cloud Nine and Puzzle People Mother Earth – The People Tree superb album by early 90’s acid jazzers Also Amorphous Androgynous – The Mello Hippo Disco Show Finally a couple of albums from my teen years High Voltage and Powerage by AC/DC – class in a glass!!!!!!!!!! And that’s me See ya all Joolio (Still raining still dreaming)
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