This week’s distractions from impending lockdown solitude and ennui:
Vangelis ‘Invisible Connections’ - what is otherwise one of the quietest records in my collection has foundation rattling bass at seemingly random points, great for testing those subs. One of Vangelis’ most atonal releases, which I hated back in ‘85 yet now consider his best work;
Metallica ‘Garage Inc.’ - aside from their excellent first three albums, this is the Metallica record I like best. Their covers often outdo the originals for sheer power and impact - check out their awesome take on Killing Joke’s ‘The Wait’, for example - and always convey a sense of a supremely able group of musicians enjoying themselves;
Frankie Miller ‘Full House’ - fine ‘77 LP by Scotland’s greatest ever rock vocalist, blessed with a timelessly modern production by Chris Thomas. (Did anyone else catch the rerun of ‘Just A Boy’s Game’ on BBC4 this week? The dude could act!)
Thin Lizzy ‘Vagabonds of the Western World’ - Lizzy’s third and last LP to feature Eric Bell as sole lead guitarist has aged gracefully and deserves serious reappraisal;
The Band S/T - an album I’ve always admired more than loved, but which reveals new subtleties with every listen. I also watched ‘The Last Waltz’ this week, and thoroughly enjoyed it, even though it’s clear that what you hear on the soundtrack isn’t exactly how it sounded on the night;
Bruce Springsteen ‘Letter To You’ - this sounds as if it could have been made at any point in the last 45 years, but maybe that’s its appeal. It’s certainly growing on me, especially the repetitive four chord wonder that is ‘House of a Thousand Guitars’;
Bruce Springsteen ‘Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.’ - buoyed by the new album (and that three of its songs go right back to The Boss’ earliest days), I dug out his debut for its first spin in years. I’d almost forgotten how hungry and energised he sounded from the start, with songs that still stand up with the best of his extensive oeuvre: ‘Lost In The Flood’ for example;
Slade ‘Slade In Flame’ - as throughly strong a collection of pop/rock gems as Noddy and his chums ever mustered, including their finest 45 ‘How Does It Feel’;
Van Morrison ‘Common One’ - it ain’t why why why, it just is. My second fave Van LP after ‘Astral Weeks’. Reviewed in more detail in Unsung;
Loop ‘Wolf/Flow’ - these John Peel sessions were how I heard one of my favourite 80s bands for the first time, and how I now believe their legacy is best sampled;
The Psychedelic Furs S/T - still the best Furs album IMHO;
Badfinger ‘Timeless - The Musical Legacy’ - essential comp of a fine, yet sadly doomed, pop band with talent beyond words;
Paul McCartney & Wings ‘Red Rose Speedway’ - rather routine in comparison with the last-named, ironically given Macca’s influence upon them;
Michael Nesmith ‘From A Radio Engine To The Photon Wing’ - just a beautiful, smile-inducing, record;
Charlie Parker ‘At Storyville’ - prime Bird in as well recorded a live setting as you’re ever likely to hear;
Michael Mantler ‘The Hapless Child And Other Stories’ - hairy 70s fusion at its most innovative, with a staggering line up of luminaries including Robert Wyatt;
Dave Brubeck Quartet ‘Buried Treasures’ - great ‘67 live recording from the final months of the classic line up;
Maynard Ferguson ’Storm’ - wherein probably my fave jazz trumpeter (in technique at least) goes into full disco sell-out mode, yet delivers big time. Not my coolest record but hey, I don’t care - this is fun, and there’s precious little of that around lately;
Weather Report ‘Sweetnighter’ - my favourite WR album captures them while they remained primarily a jazz ensemble. Although they used electric instruments, Wayne Shorter’s sax (and particularly his soprano) reined them in from fusion excess, at least before commercial demands took over. And, much as I dig Jaco, I preferred WR with Vitous on bass;
Chet Baker ’Chet Baker Sings’ - Some records are played for sheer pleasure, irrespective of their genre or critical standing…
John Coltrane ‘Giant Steps’ - …and others are considered great both personally and universally. This, more than the overrated ‘A Love Supreme’ IMO, belongs in every music lover’s collection, jazz loving or no;
Miles Davis ‘Quiet Nights’ - this least lauded of Miles’ Gil Evans collaborations does veer into MOR waters a little but contains some fine moments, not least the final track;
Mal Waldron ‘The Call’ - of which I’ve blustered in these pages many times (including an ancient Unsung review) and still rocks my soul (a pun to Waldron heads). I’m not going to add to my earlier words except to say that this hits me even harder than it did over two thirds of my life ago. Embryo fans will already dig;
Paul McCartney ‘Working Classical’ - the third of Macca’s forays into “serious” music is a patchy but occasionally engaging set: ‘A Leaf’, for example, is a charming, Eric Coates-like piece of light music, and ‘Spiral’ is quite delightful. Could do without the twee chamber arrangements of well known songs though;
Beethoven: Diabelli Variations (Daniel Barenboim) - the greatest of all sets of variations superbly played by Barenboim back in 1981;
Messiaen: Catalogue d’oiseaux (Roger Muraro) - how Messiaen manages to so evocatively paint the sounds, colours and temperaments of European birds and their landscapes using no more than a piano keyboard is an eternal puzzle to me. As is how anyone can play all three hours of it! Muraro manages that effortlessly here;
Schubert: Symphony no.9 ‘Great’ (Concertgebouw/Leonard Bernstein) - vibrant reading balanced with just the right level of sensitivity. Late period Lenny at his best;
Mahler: Symphony no.7 (Concertgebouw/Bernard Haitink) - Haitink’s second recording of this most enigmatic of Mahler’s symphonies is less frenetic than the Solti version I played last week, but much more heartfelt. The finale is well disciplined, if a little less exhilarating than Haitink’s superb live rendition from Xmas 1985 which remains my favourite;
Beethoven: Symphony no.2 & Egmont Ov (BPO/Andre Cluytens) - good, straight interpretations;
Beethoven: Symphony no.5 (Musicaeterna/Teodor Currentzis) - I’ve heard over 200 recordings of this symphony, which I regard as the finest sequence of notes ever put on paper. This newish record preserves one of the very finest renderings of those notes I have ever heard. Mean playing time (only half an hour) but after a performance as electrifying as this, who’d want more?
May the sun shine down your way.
Sonic (virtual) handshakes
Dave W x
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