Level 42 ‘Standing In The Light’ - like much of the 80s music I once liked this hasn’t worn too well, but I still think ‘Micro Kid’ and ‘The Sun Goes Down’ are spifferooni;
Family ‘Bandstand’ - the ever inventive Family had got more mainstream by their sixth LP, best known for the funky ‘Burlesque’ but in my view highlighted by more introspective tracks like ‘Coronation’, ‘My Friend The Sun’ and the big closer ‘Top Of The Hill’. Fifty years old. Jeez;
Spooky Tooth ‘Spooky Two’ - one of those great unsung Island gems of 1969, an awesomely distinctive marriage of rock, blues and gospel with a touch of pre-Southern boogie* thrown in;
Spooky Tooth ‘The Mirror’ - an almost entirely different line-up made this 1974 swansong, but their class remains. This sounds a lot more modern than its age suggests. Mike Patto made a more than adequate substitute for the hitherto ever-present Mike Harrison. So sad that neither is still with us;
Gary Wright ‘The Dream Weaver’ - the one ST member common to both of the last named albums went on to partial rock stardom with this somewhat saccharine, but still good, album;
John Greaves, Peter Blegvad & Lisa Herman ‘Kew. Rhone.’ - I couldn’t understand this as a 16 year old and, at nearly four times that now, still can’t. But musically I get it, as any fan of Henry Cow or Carla Bley should;
Rush ‘Moving Pictures’ - capturing Rush post-metal but pre-80s synth overdrive, this might just be my favourite of their albums;
Marshall Tucker Band S/T - I dabbled in some of this lot’s mid-period stuff last week, but it’s their debut that still defines them. Country rock with balls, imagination and, er, flute;
Radiohead ‘OK Computer OKNOTOK 1997 2017’ - that rare thing, a deluxe reissue with genuinely desirable additional material. In fact, have Radiohead ever recorded a finer song than ‘Man Of War’? Forget ‘Spectre’, this is their Bond theme that got away;
Peter Hammill ‘The Silent Corner and the Empty Stage’ - how I managed to pen an Unsung review of this gem twenty years ago without mentioning the sublime perfection of ‘Red Shift’ is lost to me. Whatever, what I said then… plus infinity;
Paul Weller ‘Whoosh!’ EP - four previously unavailable tracks all worthy of the man. The rocking ‘Room 309’ is particularly fine;
David Bowie ‘Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime)’ 45 - I remember the thrill of hearing this on Freakzone just before it came out. Eight years on it still sends a shiver down my spine in its not-quite-rock-not-quite-big-band-jazz-but-both-of-those-things-and-more kind of way. But I still think Robert Wyatt deserves a co-write credit. Talking of which:
Robert Wyatt ‘Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard’ - whilst inevitably patchier than its illustrious predecessor, Wyatt’s third solo LP has some excellent tracks, not least the epic ‘Team Spirit’ which eerily pre-echoes the aforesaid late Bowie classic in mood, if not motif as well. And ‘Muddy Mouth’ is just heart-wrenchily beautiful;
Deep Purple S/T - one of my earliest long-playing playing pop thrills, and still dear to me. I think the word at the time was “groovy”;
Deep Purple ‘Machine Head’ - but this is FAR groovier;
Wizzard ‘You Got The Jump On Me’ 45 - low-fi, hard riffing flip of ‘Angel Fingers’ displaying the same black country edge as early Sabbath and Priest, for its first five minutes anyway;
Mozart: Piano Sonatas 1 & 2 (Klara Wurtz) - I picked up Wurtz’ complete Mozart Sonatas box set in a charity shop this week for buttons. On the strength of these alone, I think I got a bargain;
Mozart: Symphony no.29 (English Baroque Soloists/Gardiner) - not abrupt or overdriven like some of this conductor’s recordings. I like this very much;
Sibelius: Symphony no.1 (Halle/Elder) - excitement, more than profundity, is the key to this record. Not a desert island choice but a damn good also ran, even if the sound is a bit boomy at times;
Schubert: Symphony no.5 (SFSO/Blomstedt) - Schubert’s sunniest symphony given a good straight reading;
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto no.3 (Andsnes/Oslo PO/Berglund) - this 1995 live recording preserves a total meeting of young and old minds between pianist and conductor. And what a concerto this is;
Beethoven: Symphony no.5 (Malmo SO/Trevino) - decent take on Beethoven’s Fifth slightly hampered by underpowered strings, especially in the energetic finale;
Beethoven: Symphony no.8 (Le Concert des Nations/Savall) - suitably vigorous period rendition of Beethoven’s most vigorous symphony, vividly recorded: I can almost hear the resin on the cellos;
Beethoven: Symphony no.3 (w.Staatskapelle Berlin) and Piano Sonatas 11 & 21 ‘Waldstein’ (Daniel Barenboim) - I was sorry to learn of Barenboim’s ill health this week. His latest traversal of the 32 Beethoven sonatas, recorded during lockdown, shows that old age has not withered his talent, and his ‘Eroica’ has a grandeur worthy of his idol Furtwaengler. Get well soon, Maestro.
(* at the end of ‘That Was Only Yesterday’)
Have a groovy week, dear friends.
Dave x
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