La La Land OST - ok, not the coolest thing I could be listening to but, sheesh, I really like this - and the film too for that matter. Like all much-hyped stuff I avoided it like the plague upon its release but, four years on, it’s penetrated even my jaded fancy (oo-er). Justin Hurwitz has composed a masterful score which manages to sound simultaneously traditional and contemporary, and the arrangements are just fabulous;
Elton John ‘Jewel Box’ - I’m getting a lot of pleasure from this set as I work my way through it. The early demos, of which there are many, document the development of the John/Taupin songwriting partnership from before they even physically met, and provide further proof, if it were needed, of their symbiosis from the off. And the ‘Deep Cuts’ selection is profoundly satisfying, with what sound like glistening new remasters;
The Who ‘Sell Out’ - this baroque pop masterpiece stands proudly alone between the mod and rock phases of the ‘Oo’s history and is one of the most sheerly entertaining records in my collection. Apparently due for super-deluxe treatment next year. I might just be tempted;
Eels ‘Beautiful Freak’ - as keen as I am to investigate anything the mightily talented Mark Everett puts out, it’s always this first band effort I come back to;
Cat Stevens ‘Mona Bone Jakon’ - my favourite Cat album sounds particularly resplendent in its 2020 remaster. This is every bit the equal of Nick Drake’s near-perfect output, yet Stevens’ cache, success and survival have always obscured such acclaim. Weird, innit;
Kiss ‘Ikons’ - surprisingly decent 4CD set devoting a disc apiece to each founder member. Peter Criss’ disc is the biggest revelation, as the dude’s voice is a lot stronger than I’d remembered. Just as Gene’s is a lot worse. Of course, it’s Ace and (especially) Paul who deliver most. Talking of the former:
Frehley’s Comet ‘Second Sighting’ - that rare thing, a regular rock album from the late 80s that doesn’t sound too much like Bon Jovi, probably because Ace’s unique technique falls short of mindless shredding. Drums aren’t too “big” either. Not a classic, but not at all bad;
Kiss ‘Psycho Circus’ - played this for the first time in over twenty years, it having sadly underwhelmed me on first release. It’s better than I remembered, even if Ace and Peter’s contributions are minimal (Ace lives up his name on ‘Into The Void’ mind);
Kiss ‘Revenge’ - streamed this as it’d always been a gap in my Kiss collection. And having heard it, it’ll stay that way;
Dexys Midnight Runners ‘Searching For The Young Soul Rebels’ - I entered by seventh decade this week and, as one does on milestone birthdays, couldn’t help thinking back on the records that have had the biggest effect on my life. This is one of them. It still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end as much as it did when I was 19;
The Zombies ‘Odessey and Oracle’ - and this is another one. Someone has put a poll on the Steve Hoffman forum asking for verdicts on this album between 1/5 and 5/5. I wanted to give it 6/5, as it’s beyond perfect to me;
Marillion ‘F E A R’ - we’re long overdue a new album by Steve Hogarth and his chums. If and when it comes, it’ll have to be pretty spectacular to top this one;
Paul Desmond ‘The Complete 1975 Toronto Recordings’ - wonderful Mosaic box set of some of Paul’s final performances before his too-many-tabs induced, premature death. Desmond is probably my favourite musician in any genre and his “dry martini” alto sound will be played at my (hopefully not too imminent) funeral. This was the soundtrack to a solitary Hogmanay evening;
Stanley Cowell Trio ‘Sienna’ - fine jazz trio set led by a - recently departed - distinctive pianist and composer;
Keith Jarrett ‘Budapest Concert’ - atypically unsubtle and occasionally ham-fisted solo concert from 2016, with a little too much boogie-woogie influence cropping up. I’ll need to work on this one;
Keith Jarrett ‘Invocations’/‘The Moth and the Flame’ - much better. The more I hear of Jarrett outside of his solo piano comfort zone the more I like him;
Keith Jarrett ’Staircase/Hourglass/Sundial/Sand’ - but this is one solo piano recording, studio-based this time, which I’ll always love. There’s a lyricism in early albums like these that I struggle to find in some of Jarrett’s recent work;
Cannonball Adderley ‘Somethin’ Else’ - the best Miles album not under his own name, and one of the best Blue Notes ever;
Pat Metheny Group ‘First Circle’ - Metheny’s last ECM album was a keeper and still sounds well 36 years on;
Now, for whom it may concern, the classical bit:
William Mathias: Organ Partita, Op.19 (Christopher Robinson) - Mathias managed to combine modernity, individuality whilst remaining eminently approachable, unlike many 20th centure composers. His church music is particularly fine, as this early organ piece exemplifies;
Franck: Choral No.3 (Nicolas Kyanston) - a staple of the organ repertoire, played as well as I’ve ever heard it at Westminster Cathedral way back in this mid-60s recording;
Francis Jackson: Five Preludes on English Hymn Tunes (Graham Barber) - incredible that the organist/composer of this excellent organ work is still with us at 103;
Healey Willan: Introduction, Passacaglia & Fugue (Rachel Mahon) - this is from a new CD of Canadian organ music covering nearly a century from 1916 (the date of this piece) and 2008, and it’s a fine showcase for Coventry Cathedral’s great organ;
Messiaen: L’Ascension (Gillian Weir) - the nearest to a warhorse in Messiaen’s great oeuvre of organ music receives a near-definitive performance by Dame Gillian;
Ria Ginster: Schumann, Brahms & Schoek Lieder - fabulous artistry from semi-forgotten pre-war soprano, ably accompanied by the legend that was Gerald Moore;
Beethoven: Symphony no.6 (Vienna SO/Hans Swarowsky) - though the recording’s a bit long in the tooth, this is a lovely, well-balanced reading;
Strauss: Don Juan (Chicago SO/Sir Georg Solti) - fairly bombastic reading, but lots of fun;
Beethoven: Piano Sonata no.28, Op.101 (Artur Schnabel) - Schnabel famously commented that Beethoven’s music was “greater than it could ever be played”. On the strength of this legendary 1930s recording, I beg to differ.
Happy New Year, all.
Dave x
|
