This week’s sounds:
Bob Dylan ‘Fragments’ - I had a very enjoyable evening this week playing this new box set dedicated to ‘Time Out Of Mind’, its outtakes and alternate versions. As always seems the way with Dylan’s later albums, there’s a strong case for an even finer track list than the record as it was originally released but hey, we’ve got it now - and in incredibly vivid sound. I’ve still to spin the live discs;
Killing Joke ‘what’s THIS for…!’ - if a record can still pin me to the wall when I’m over three times as old as when I first heard it, it must have something. Oh my. Adam and the Ants on steroids;
Man ‘Endangered Species’ - 2000 saw the last Manband studio album to feature the classic axe pairing of Mickey Jones and Deke Leonard, a real slow burner of a record with a warm vibe that transcends some not immediately memorable tracks. The closing ‘Love Isn’t Love’ is a diamond, featuring Deke spitting out its bitter words with aplomb. I was lucky enough to catch Man on the supporting tour and it was one of those great musical nights that resonate forever thereafter. RIP Micky, Deke and Phil Ryan;
Van Morrison ‘Moondance’ - for no good reason I hadn’t played this for decades. And it stoned me to my soul;
Van Morrison ‘No Guru, No Method, No Teacher’ - Van had a much stronger 80s than most of his contemporaries, as this fine 1986 record exemplifies;
Sleaford Mods ‘Jobseeker’ EP - still raises a smile ten years on. Can of Strongbow, I’m a mess;
Richard & Linda Thompson ‘Sunnyvista’ - the couple’s penultimate album is mainstream pop/rock rather than folky in feel; good, but not great;
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club ‘B.R.M.C.’ - another CD that’d gathered dust, and I don’t know why - other than having amassed more records than I can ever realistically hope of having time to play again. This refreshed the lugs most agreeably. There are probably a million bands that sound like this, but whatever. This is excellent guitar based rock and roll with just enough darkness to sustain interest;
The Proclaimers ‘This Is The Story’ - setting the standards and sound that Charlie and Craig have stuck to ever after, their power ever more acute with minimal instrumentation as here;
Otis Redding ‘Otis Blue’ - what do you expect - criticism? Well okay then: the voice is sublime, the horn section sloppily cool, the groove irresistible, the whole much greater than the sum of its parts;
Yes S/T - Peter Banks is a contender for prog’s most underrated guitarist. Summarily dismissed from Yes after just two albums, his jazzy legacy shines on their debut and the BBC sessions that were issued much later. I admire Steve Howe’s artistry, but not his attitude to his predecessor in later years. Whatever, ‘Yes’ is a fine memorial, from an era when “progressive rock” meant so much more than prog does now. And isn’t it a travesty that the current Yes lineup contains not one of the dudes on their debut;
Discharge ‘Fight Back’ EP - five short shots of white hot fury;
Family ‘Music In A Doll’s House’ psych classic and mellotron lover’s dream, sounding little like the rockier Family that followed. No finer album ever emanated from Leicester;
Morrissey ‘World Peace Is None Of Your Business’ - the album itself is good, but the six tracks on the deluxe edition bonus disc are better. In fact, they represent a solo career high as far as I’m concerned. Well worth tracking down, I think;
Elvis Presley ‘Elvis In Concert’ - posthumous release of some of Presley’s last live performances, with the King by then best heard rather than seen. He sounds tired and punch drunk, forgets his lines, but the voice still rings like a bell. There are much better live documents out there, but I still enjoyed hearing most of this;
Ennio Morricone et al ‘The Hateful Eight’ OST - Morricone’s final film score is a belter, as cold and threatening as the movie itself;
Beethoven: Symphonies 1 & 2 (Westdeutsche Sinfonia/Dirk Joeres) - good, mainstream performances, true to the score. I especially enjoyed no.2;
Beethoven: Symphony no.7 (Philharmonia/Klemperer) - tense 1960 live recording from Vienna, superior to Klemperer’s first stereo recording in feel, if not sound quality;
Beethoven: Overture ‘Fidelio’ (Philharmonia/Klemperer) - measured, powerfully teutonic approach to LvB’s fourth prelude to his only opera. Real fist clenching stuff;
Mozart: Violin Concerto no.5 (David Oistrakh/Staatskapelle Dresden/Konwitschny) - newly remastered 1956 recording by the great Ukrainian violinist. Aside from obviously dated mono sound, everything is just ticketty-boo;
Albeniz: Iberia (Alicia de Larrocha) - nigh-on definitive rendition of Albeniz’ impressionist masterpiece;
Reger: Mein Odem ist schwach, Op.110 no.1 (SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart/Bernius) - intense, complex vocal music impeccably performed.
Love isn’t love ‘til it breaks your heart
Dave x
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