Greetings from Shetland:
Henry Cow ‘Glastonbury & Elsewhere’ - appendix to the 2019 Redux box set with some well interesting stuff, like a sixteen minute jazz rock snippet from Glastonbury 1972 before Chris Cutler joined the band. The audio quality ain’t good but the interest - and most of the music - is;
Traffic ‘Shoot Out At The Fantasy Factory’ - fifty years old and still sustaining like the Rollright Stones eulogised so eloquently therein. In fact, I think this has aged better than the more acclaimed ‘Low Spark’ that preceded it. It’s low key almost to a fault, yes - but it makes a perfect soundtrack to a summer evening. And there are several reminders that the mighty Winwood is a fine an axeman as he is a keyboard player and singer;
Nazareth ‘No Mean City’ - where Naz were augmented by SAHB’s Zal Cleminson to make a noticeably heavier album than its nine predecessors. Still rocks hard 45 years later;
The Teardrop Explodes ‘Culture Bunker 1978-1982’ - the pleasure quotient grows with every successive disc of this set. The Nov & Dec ‘81 Club Zoo gigs are simply magnificent, and a sound reminder of why we all fell for Julian way back when;
Julian Cope ‘England Expectorates’ - meanwhile, 40 years later… he’s still got it. And how. And at least one cunt has now fucked off, so there’s hope yet;
The Band ‘Islands’ - their final studio album is a bit of a mishmash but contains enough decent tracks to justify a listen. Hey, it’s The Band, innit;
Ten Years After ‘About Time’ - 1989 comeback album bought by few and loved by fewer, but quite a fun listen all these years later. It’s biggest problem is sounding too much like other bands that took up TYA’s blues rock mantle more successfully, not least ZZ Top. Methinks Alvin was listening to ‘Eliminator’ a little too closely;
Kiss ‘Love Gun’ - the last studio album to capture the original (and best) sound of the group. “I’m a hooligan/Won’t go to school again” is a couplet so dumb, it’s genius;
Matthews Southern Comfort ‘Later That Same Year’ - Matthews’ third post-Fairports LP is a beautifully crafted affair of country infuenced songs enhanced by the man’s angelic vocals;
Tom van der Geld/Children At Play ‘Out Patients’ - long forgotten ECM date by the gifted US vibesman with some stellar reed playing from Roger Janotta;
Haydn: String Quartets Op.33 nos.1 & 3 (Chiaroscuro Quartet) - this young quartet, who play superbly on period instruments, impress me more with every record they release. I thought I’d heard the last word on these wonderful works with the Doric Quartet’s CD a couple of years ago, but this is even finer. Can’t wait for their take on nos. 4 to 6, talking of which:
Haydn: String Quartets Op.33 nos.4 - 6 (Coull Quartet) - a more traditional, straight-laced approach to Haydn is evident in this near 30 year old recording. A bit ordinary, perhaps, but a thoroughly musical take on some fab music.
Have a great week, all.
Dave x
|
