Ry Cooder ‘Bop ’Til You Drop’ - apparently the first ever digital recording, but so what. What does matter is that it’s a fine, slick blues/pop album that hasn’t dated a jot in 41 years;
Ry Cooder S/T - much swampier and real than the above: in fact, it might as well be by a different artist altogether. And you know what - it sounds even better from a sonic perspective on my hifi than ‘Bop’;
Radiohead ‘The Bends’ - a timeless gem, powerful as owt and with sublime songs throughout. Not as experimental as what followed but my, does this deliver;
IDLES ‘Ultra Mono’ - their third album has hit me much harder on first hearing than their first two did. A bit samey from track to track (‘A Hymn’ excepted), but the aggression remains appealing. Love the way the album stops without warning;
John Otway ‘Where Did I Go Right’ - forgotten Willy-free album from ’79, produced by Neil Innes and featuring the ever-wonderful and long-lamented Ollie Halsall on guitar, this is actually well worth checking out if you can find it. At his best, as here, Otway conveys qualities of pathos and charm that outweigh his outward whimsy. I despise the long-abused term “national treasure”, but here I think it may just apply;
Robert Palmer ‘Clues’ - a couple of misguided covers aside, this is a decent album in spite of its of its time, over bright production;
John Martyn ‘The Tumbler’ - not representative of the innovative (and highly divisive) artist to be, but a pleasant, acoustic vibe nonetheless;
The Smiths ‘The Queen Is Dead’ - just the title track this week. Has the world changed, or have I changed?
Megadeth ‘Rust In Peace’ - Mustaine’s career high;
Grateful Dead ‘Aoxomoxoa’ - ‘What Becomes Of The Baby’ must be the freakiest Dead track ever, especially in the 1969 mix;
UFO ‘At the BBC’ (1975-77 disc) - much rawer and vibrant than their sometimes over-produced studio LPs;
Zounds ‘Can’t Cheat Karma’ EP - always loved this,
David Sylvian & Holger Czukay ‘Plight & Premonition’ - hard to define this: not quite kosmische nor ambient, but I like the sound these guys brew up together;
Luther Vandross S/T - the epitome of over-produced, smooth 80s blandness, but the guy’s sublime pipes sorta keep me keen;
John Coltrane ‘Giant Steps’ - Stuart Maconie’s Freakzone album of last Sunday persuaded me to dig this out after umpteen years and my, I’m glad he did. Caught on the tenuous cusp ‘twixt bebop and free jazz, this may just be Trane’s greatest half hour;
John Coltrane ’Sun Ship’ - one of the last sessions by Trane’s classic quartet is a much tougher nut to crack than ‘Giant Steps’ but thrills big time in places. The title track is a tour-de-force IMHO;
John Coltrane ‘Lush Life’ - much more accessible: Trane on autopilot in the late 50s. Super-sophisticated background music, and I don’t mean that to sound disparaging;
Miroslav Vitous ‘Journey’s End’ - beautiful, ethereal music from typical ECM lineup led by ex-Weather Report bassist;
Jan Garbarek ‘Paths, Prints’ - which shares that same autumnal ECM vibe with the above, this time with Eberhard Weber on bass;
Terje Rypdal ‘To Be Continued’ - more ECM, more Vitous, but much more electronic edge from the unsung guitar genius that is Rypdal;
John Taylor ‘Whirlpool’ - gorgeous piano jazz from much missed British player;
Charley Pride ‘A Sunshiny Day’ - typical, slick easy country from one of my favourite voices in any genre;
Haydn: Symphony no.80 (VSO/Scherchen) - slightly wayward rendition of one of Haydn’s lesser known symphonies;
Dvorak: Symphony no.7 (Concertgebouw/Haitink) - fine early (1959) recording by Haitink of a composer he rarely conducted after this. Shame;
Dvorak: Symphony no.8 & Ravel: Mother Goose (Concertgebouw/Giulini) - typically measured, lovingly phrased readings by this most aristocratic of conductors;
Dvorak: Symphony no.9 (Concertgebouw/Harnoncourt) - very exciting, if more Germanic than Slavonic;
Beethoven: Piano Concertos 1 & 4 (Helmchen/Berlin SRO/Manze) - not particularly distinctive, but beautifully performed and recorded renderings;
Beethoven: Symphony no.6 (New Philh/Giulini) - slow but smouldering with the love of nature, with a tremendously exciting storm;
Mozart: Symphony no.35 , Beethoven: Symphony no.9 & Brahms: Symphony no.4 (Columbia SO/Walter) - three great late recordings by a legendary conductor. His Choral never enjoyed critical favour but I beg to differ;
Mahler: Symphony no.1 (BRSO/Kubelik) - exciting live recording from 1979 from a natural Mahlerian;
Prokofiev: Symphony no.5 (Boston SO/Leinsdorf) - very good, but not as biting as Karajan or Ansermet in this work;
Franck: Grande Piece Symphonique, Op.17 (Eric Lebrun) - good, varied piece demonstrating the variety of dynamics and timbres of the modern church organ.
Thank God for booze and music. Rock and roll!!!!
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