I’ve had a particularly good week’s listening this week. Not much else went well (another molar in landfill, gammy leg, bored to death etc) but hey, life’s a bitch innit. Thank Gad for rack and rowul:
Tom Verlaine ‘Dreamtime’ - my favourite of Verlaine’s solo albums is, for me anyway, least as good a memorial listen as the first two TV albums, especially the gorgeous ‘Without A Word’. The Reaper’s been too greedy for great rock & roll talent lately;
Black Sabbath S/T - still their definitive album, and still as powerful as ever. Listening through headphones really focusses the ear on Bill Ward’s inventiveness;
Radiohead ‘Hail To The Thief’ - a relatively “normal” release after the experimentation of ‘Kid A’ and ‘Amnesiac’, but still left-field enough to satisfy any newbies attracted by those albums. One of Radiohead’s finest albums IMHO, with definitely their finest opening salvo in ‘2+2=5’;
Peter Hammill ‘Not Yet Not Now’ (Nurnberg/Dortmund discs) - gloriously rough, ready and intense solo live recordings from 2017/18. By no means an easy listen, but a rewarding one. No-one else sounds anything like this;
Magazine ‘The Complete John Peel Sessions’ - wherein nearly every song sounds better than its album or 45 equivalent, especially ‘Give Me Everything’ and the ‘Correct Use Of Soap’ tracks. And Magazine’s version of ‘Boredom’ is simply faberooni;
Deep Purple ‘Made In Japan’ - simply THE great live rock double album. I will never, ever, tire of this;
Sensational Alex Harvey Band ‘Live’ - and this is so good it should’ve been a double too;
George Harrison (Bernie Krause?) ‘Electronic Sound’ - which I rather like in its kack-handed, random sort of way. I’ve heard far worse efforts by more lauded exponents of the genre, whatever that is. Must’ve sounded well out there in 1969;
Nick Lowe ‘Dig My Mood’ - where Basher traded in his new wave chops for a mellower groove (and from which he’s rarely strayed since). This is perfect late night listening;
Blind Faith S/T - how great could they have been had they lasted more than just one album? Never mind, what they left behind is decent enough, and both Clapton and Winwood went on to make even better records in 1970. Talking of which:
Eric Clapton S/T - having now three mixes of this is more than an extravagance, but I may be in a minority in thinking that Clapton’s own is - marginally - the best. Whatever, he’s never made another album under his own name as good, though…
Eric Clapton ‘August’ …runs it close. A rare example of an old fart making a decent album in the 80s, ‘August’ is a seriously good set of songs, despite its poly-synthy 80s production;
X-Ray Spex ‘The Roxy, London WC2’ - full eight song set from early ‘77: primitive, raw, and bursting with energy. Poly really gave it her all;
The Velvet Underground ‘Loaded’ - it may be cooler to dig their Verve albums - and I do - but ‘Loaded’ is the one that packs the most rock and roll punch;
Alice Cooper ‘Love It To Death’ - which has given me more pleasure recently than at any time in the half century I’ve known it. In fact, I now think it’s his/their best album, having been a ‘Killer’ aficionado for most of my life. Sheeatt - it’s like trying to rate ‘Ziggy’ over ‘Hunky Dory’, ‘Fun House’ over ‘Raw Power’, or ‘Revolver’ over ‘Rubber Soul’. Satisfaction guaranteed - even the dodgy Rolf Harris cover. We’ve still got a long way to go;
Cabaret Voltaire ‘Red Mecca’ - nasty avant rock at its most beguiling;
Steve York’s Camelo Pardalis ‘Manor Live’ - early Virgin LP of a shower of luminaries of the time including Boz Burrell, Elkie Brooks and the great Mike Patto. Great fun;
Trammps ‘Disco Inferno’ 12” 45 - THE best disco record of all time, and I won’t be argued with. Just can’t stop when my spunk gets hot;
Eberhard Weber ‘The Colours Of Chloe’ - beautiful, ethereal music from a galaxy somewhere between classical and jazz;
Keith Jarrett ‘At The Deer Head Inn’ - rare return to the bar room by Jarrett, accompanied by Gary Peacock and old hand Paul Motian. The music flows naturally and pleasingly;
Jaco Pastorius S/T - oh so 70s in its fusion-meets-funk feel, but a fine showcase for jaw-dropping electric bass playing;
Mahler: Symphony no.1 ‘Titan’ (LSO/Solti) - classic reading of Mahler’s First with a near-ideal balance of lyricism and excitement, superbly played, conducted and recorded;
Beethoven: Symphony no.2 (ECO/Tilson-Thomas) - Beethoven’s least lauded symphony given a straight but pleasing performance;
Beethoven: Symphony no.5 (WDR SO/Janowski) - Janowski takes a largely classical rather than romantic take on this, which makes a refreshing - if not the most exciting - change. The second movement is particularly well realised;
Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I (Trevor Pinnock) - what I wrote last week about Book II applies here too. This is well good.
Burn that mother down.
Love and kisses
Dave x
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