This week I played:
Simple Minds ‘Direction Of The Heart’ - this is starting to grow on me, though I think most of its songs would benefit from a less “big” production job than that which smothers the whole album;
The Smile ‘A Light For Attracting Attention’ - another album that gets better with each play, and no problems with its sound either. I wonder if we’ll get any new Radiohead material this year?
Steve Harley ‘Hobo With A Grin’ - decent, half forgotten solo debut from 1978 which sounds very much of its time, but so what;
Cockney Rebel ‘Mr Raffles’ 45 - Harley at his most unashamedly melodic and lyrical. Just a beautiful single;
Faust ‘Faust IV’ - the most complete and realised of Faust’s early records still sounds amazing half a century after its creation. ‘Krautrock’ remains definitive, er, kraut rock;
Magazine ‘The Correct Use Of Soap’ - this is the opposite of the aforesaid Simple Minds album in being severely UNDERproduced to my ears: great music that could have sounded truly stellar with a John Leckie or Colin Thurston (to name but two of Magazine’s earlier producers) at the desk. I’m an ardent admirer of Martin Hannett’s Factory work but I don’t think he did Magazine any favours here. John Doyle’s snare sounds like a tambourine, and the great John McGeogh is buried too far in the mix. That ‘Soap’ remains a satisfying listen is down to the sheer quality of its material (the band’s last good studio album until ‘No Thyself’ IMHO) and sublime execution;
James Brown ‘The Godfather’ - because sometimes I just gotta;
Jeff Beck ‘Truth’ and ‘Beck-Ola’ - well, I had to, didn’t I? The Jeff Beck Group was THE band of 1968 (and arguably the peak of its future megastar vocalist’s long career) with axemanship that still makes my blubbering jaws drop. RIP;
The Models ‘Freeze’/‘Man Of The Year’ 45 - first wave punk glory from a crackly old Step Forward single. Still gives me a frisson 46 years after I first heard Peel play it;
Sad Cafe ‘Facades’ - a guilty pleasure I suppose. I saw these twice in the late 70s/early 80s and really dug ‘em, despite their being so outdated I barely dared admit to it. Sod it: I hereby proclaim that Sad Cafe were a damn fine straight rock band at the top of their game. This was their third, and most successful, album, and I really enjoyed rehearing it last night. Paul Young (the Manc one) RIP;
Beethoven: Violin Concerto (Perlman/Philharmonia/Giulini) - the version of this much-recorded masterpiece that I keep returning to. Everything just feels… right;
Snarky Puppy & Metropole Orkest ‘Sylva’ - highly entertaining modern big band music with just enough rock heft under its skin;
Gombert: Four & Five Part Motets (Brabant Ensemble/Stephen Rice) - sixteenth century vocal music of rewarding complexity and originality, superbly rendered here;
Vierne, Messiaen & Mathias: Organ Pieces (Gillian Weir) - the young Ms Weir recorded on the St Albans Cathedral organ in 1964. Masterful from the start;
Brahms: Symphony no.4 (Boston SO/Nelsons) - I enjoy Nelsons’ Brahms interpretations more than his Beethoven. This is an example why: a fine, straight performance with emotive bite in all the right places;
Brahms: Piano Pieces, Op.118 (Wilhelm Kempff) - tender, unhurried renditions of very late Brahms piano works. These are from a lovely box of Brahms and Schumann music recorded by Kempff in the 1950s;
Beethoven: Symphony no.1 (VPO/Boehm) - amidst the myriad of period and chamber takes on Beethoven over the last four decades or so, it’s easy to underestimate, or just forget, the more traditional - or romantic - approach that once was the norm with these works. This is a reminder of how Beethoven sounded when I was a nipper: smooth, rounded and lyrical. I’m not saying it’s definitive but my, I enjoyed it.
Man, it was mean.
Happy vibes all
Dave x
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