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Soundtracks of Our Lives week ending 17 October 2020 CE
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Fitter Stoke
Fitter Stoke
2601 posts

Re: Soundtracks of Our Lives week ending 17 October 2020
Oct 18, 2020, 13:59
My semi-locked down front room floorstanders have this week reverberated to:

Paul Siebel ‘Jack-Knife Gypsy’ - second and final studio LP from ’71 by criminally unsung New York singer-songwriter. Great country-vein songs, poignantly rendered. All Mike Nesmith fans out there (Flash?) are strongly advised to check this guy out if you don’t know him. Both of his albums (he only made two, alas) have been recently released on a great sounding BGO CD (and no, I don’t work for them);
Grateful Dead ‘Live/Dead’ - I’ve got loads of fine Dead concert recordings but always come back to this 1969 classic, warts and all. Phil Lesh’s out of tune bass on ‘Dark Star’ is too far forward in the mix, but it’s still one of my favourite versions. And this exemplifies more than any other record the astonishing similarity between Jerry Garcia’s angelic vocals and his lead guitar sound, as if both emanated directly from his body and not, in the latter case, an inanimate object;
Grateful Dead S/T (a.k.a. ’Skull Fuck’) - their second official live album from 1971, less psychy than the above but dripping with good vibes and catchy toons (as well as in-tune bass this time:-);
Bob Weir ‘Ace’ - a Dead album in all but name, but naturally focusing upon Weir’s (also fab) vocals and songwriting skills. Features a rockin’ studio version of ‘One More Saturday Night’ (featured live on ‘Skull Fuck’ above) which I fancy might’ve helped lyrically inspire Damo Suzuki on an almost identically titled song that same year. And I must mention ’Playing In The Band’, which to me is as good as the Dead (individually or collectively) ever got to their live heights in a studio setting;
David Sylvian ‘Blemish’ - Mr Batt’s career high (IMHO of course) sees the musical abstraction and self-alienation of ‘Ghosts’ taken to extreme levels. What could be just another break-up album is here delivered in a completely unique and personal way, devoid of conventional chord sequences or anything more complex than a pulse rhythm (itself apparent on only a couple of tracks). Sylvian gently intones his near-perfect voice over sparse, obtuse and fragmented guitar lines (courtesy of avant-garde masters Derek Bailey and Christian Fennesz) and achieves true emotional catharsis without a hint of frenzy; in fact, the album rarely budges from a steady adagio or middling dynamics. Like late period Scott Walker, this is a tough nut to crack but, given due concentration, rewards immensely. In fact, this may just be my favourite album so far this century, as well as the best confessional epic since Peter Hammill’s ‘Over’. Yes, I really think it’s that good;
The Beatles ‘Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ - obscure release from a 60s English beat combo. Quite good in places;-)
Caravan S/T - having loved this band all of my post-pubescent life, I’ve come to regard this debut as their finest ever record, being baroque, psychedelic and uplifting in equal measure. ‘In The Land Of Grey & Pink’ (which I adore) may be their definitive release, but ‘Caravan’ (and of course ’If I Could Do It All Over Again’) pointed the way. I raved about this in Unsung 17 years ago and I still stand by every word;
Blodwyn Pig ‘Ahead Rings Out’ - awesome melee of rock, jazz and blues led by the original axeman of:
Jethro Tull ‘Stand Up’ - the one Tull album that even the band’s most vociferous detractors must secretly admire still stands up (pun!) today. It bears not a single dull moment, and veers between tender balladry, cool jazz and heavy-as-owt rock without blinking. And who don’t dig that gatefold? These last two are both plugged on:
Various ‘Nice Enough To Eat’ - another album I raved about in these pages back in 1925 now sounds even better to my aged lugs. Hey, I even dig the Quintessence track now! But Heavy Jelly... wow, that’s still the real shit. I played it three times on the trot this week, freaking around the living room like a drunken marmoset;
The Cult ’Sonic Temple’ - one of very few out-and-out rock albums of the late 80s period that still cuts it for me;
Discharge ‘Why’ - mini album from ‘81 that still blisters like nothing since. Whatever critical cache The Clash and the Sex Pistols may retain, this to me is true punk energy at its visceral best;
Earth, Wind & Fire ‘I Am’ - yeah alright, not the coolest combo on the block, but I just kinda like this, okay?
Miles Davis ‘In Person at the Blackhawk, San Francisco - Saturday Night’ - Miles on rude form in concert way back in ‘61. Hank Mobley rarely merits a mention in Miles’ long list of stellar sax players but my, does he cook here;
Terje Rypdal ‘Bleak House’ - early solo venture by Norway’s finest axeman with some great Hammond backing and even a bit of the man’s singing - which is surprisingly good. It’s got 60’s rock, jazz, big-band, lounge and free-form flavours and, despite the sterling presence of Terje’s future band and label-mate Jan Garbarek, is pretty un-ECM like for the most part. I am digging this great deals of much;
Terje Rypdal ‘Odyssey’ - his fifth solo LP from 1975, a double no less, by this time fully absorbed into the ECM vibe he’s known and loved for. This was my introduction to the man back in the day, and I still rate it very highly, especially the wondrous ‘Rolling Stone’ which was criminally absent from the album’s first CD release;
Terje Rypdal ‘After The Rain’ - album no.6 in his oeuvre is a quieter, more atmospheric affair: perfect chill out music for chilly autumn evenings like these. As is:
Eberhard Weber ‘The Following Morning’ - simply beautiful, non genre-specific, music;
Haydn: Symphony no.86 (Berlin Staatskapelle/Kurt Sanderling) - as good a recording of this life-enhancing symphony as I’ve ever heard;
Haydn: String Quartet Op.50 no.2 (Doric Quartet) - idiomatic and tasteful playing, particularly from the first violinist in the slow movement. The live Wigmore Hall recording reveals a few deep breaths but hey, this is real music made by real people;
Dvorak: Symphony no.7 (Concertgebouw/Sir Colin Davis) - exciting and well recorded rendition of one of the most dramatic and tuneful symphonies ever;
Beethoven: Symphony no.4 (Concertgebouw/Eugen Jochum) - from the second of Jochum’s three Beethoven cycles, this is an ideally paced and idiomatic interpretation of one of the greatest human beings who ever lived’s sunniest works;
Beethoven: Symphony no.7 (LGO/Kurt Masur) - the earlier (1975) of Masur’s two recordings of this rhythmic wonder of a symphony is well-played and conducted, if a little routine in places;
Beethoven: Piano Concertos 1 & 4 (Martin Helmchen/Berlin RSO/Andrew Manze) - poised, musical readings with just enough individuality to stand out in a crowded field. These, along with another disc of the Second and Fifth concertos, have been rightfully hailed in the classical press. Bring on no.3;
Beethoven: Piano Concerto no.5 (Arrau/Boston SO/Munch) - good as Helmchen and Manze are, this is in a different league. Stunning live performance from 1957. Did any pianist ever have a bigger tone than Arrau?;
Beethoven: Piano Sonata no.8 in C minor, ‘Pathetique’ (Artur Pizarro) - it never ceases to amaze me how ahead of their time Beethoven’s solo piano works were. This incredibly original piece preceded his First Symphony by two years, yet is easily the equal of the later Fifth (also in C minor) in invention several years later. And its second movement has a valid contender for the loveliest tune ever written. Pizarro, immaculately recorded in 2003, plays it superbly;
Mozart: Divertimento in E flat, K 289 (Netherlands Wind Ens/Edo de Waart) - I chose this simply because it was the 289th day of the year on Thurs (yeah I know, too much time on my hands) so I wondered what K 289 was. It turned out to be a very pleasant wind divertimento, played on the present recording with taste and affection;
Mozart: String Quartets in F & B flat, K 158 & 159 (Amadeus Quartet) - no real logic behind these choices, other than just fancying a bit of early Mozart played by the great quartet that took his middle name. I wasn’t disappointed;
Mendelssohn: Symphony no.5 (Boston SO/Charles Munch) - I like this fifth and last symphony of Mendelssohn even more than his more lauded Third and Fourth, especially in this vibrant late 50s recording;
Weinberg: Symphony no.21 (CBSO/Mirga Grazynte-Tyla) -Gramophone’s 2020 Record of the Year, and for once I’d say a worthy winner. I’ve played this several times now and new insights emerge every time. Like Gorecki’s Third that enamoured so many back in the 1990s, this is a Holocaust-inspired work, but much more varied in feel. The final movement, featuring a wonderfully eerie soprano wail from the conductor, is particularly affecting;
Judith Weir: The Big Picture - terrific recent choral work by the current Master of the Queen’s Music, enthusiastically rendered by the Bristol Choral Society and Bristol Youth Choir;
Debussy: Chansons de Bilitis (Suzanne Danco) - Danco’s stunningly distinctive voice defies the ages in this short and sensual song cycle;
Messiaen: Livre du Saint-Sacrement (Hans-Ola Ericsson) - Messiaen’s last great organ work from 1984 covers a veritable cosmos of sound over its two hours and 13 movements. Whatever its biblical references may mean to you (not much in my case) this is heavy, heavy shit - in a good way. Like Keith Jarrett’s ‘Hymns/Spheres’ this ignores genre restriction and hits similar buttons to Popol Vuh and early Klaus Schulze in my senses, and that’s a compliment as far as I’m concerned.

I’ve got music. I’ve got ale. I’ve got cheese and Parma ham. Covid-19 can do one. Keep safe, sane and serene, fellow vibe merchants, and I’ll try, against the odds, to do the same!

Sonic hugs

Dave W x
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