I fight with de handle of my little brown broom:
Eels ‘Wonderful, Glorious’ - no-one does bitter & twisted songs like Mark Everett. Well, this side of Richard Thompson anyway;
Led Zeppelin ‘IV’ (Deluxe Edition) - I’m starting to prefer some of the remixes on Disc 2, especially ‘Misty Mountain Hop’ and ‘Four Sticks’ which come to life even more imposingly than before;
Genesis ‘Selling England By The Pound’ - easily Genesis’ artistic apex to my ears. Sheer delight is all. Had they split after this, I’d’ve considered them one of the world’s greatest bands. Not that everything thereafter was without merit, but by 1979 I’d well and truly checked out;
11 Street Dreads ‘Pick A Dub’ - early Keith Hudson outing: high quality, heavy heavy dub;
The Beatles ‘Please Please Me’ - maybe not their best album, but certainly their most joyous;
Ringo Starr ‘Ringo’ - this has a valid case for being the most consistent Fabs solo album, not least because it features all four Beatles across its tracks. And a real feel-good vibe too;
Robert Wyatt ‘Rock Bottom’ - I can’t think of anything more to say about this perfect record, except maybe to say that I now apparently need to hear it at least weekly;
Paul Desmond ‘The Complete 1975 Toronto Recordings’ (selections) - one of those lovely Mosaic boxes that can be sampled anywhere to guaranteed pleasure. And even this late in a sadly short life, Desmond delivered his uniquely smoky tones to perfection. A true legend in my eyes;
Rob Hall & Chick Lyall ‘Blithe Spirit’ - this duo have been producing entertaining and inventive reed & piano music for years. This 2011 album is one of those CDs it’s good to have on the shelves, and even better in the player;
Kenny Wheeler ‘Deer Wan’ - one of those quintessential ECM albums that define the label for me. As well it should, with a who’s-who of its most lauded artists accompanying the great trumpeter;
Liszt: Les Preludes/Beethoven: Piano Concerto no.4 (w. Gieseking)/Brahms: Symphony no.4 (all Philharmonia/Herbert von Karajan) - there’s a freshness and vibrancy from Karajan’s London tenure that was less pronounced in his Berlin years. These 1950s recordings show him at his very best, I reckon;
Beethoven: Leonore 3 Overture/Prokofiev: Love of Three Oranges Suite/Dvorak: Symphony no.9 (all BBC SO/Rudolf Kempe) - Kempe was another Teutonic kapellmeister who worked wonders over here, as this majestic 1975 concert testifies;
Sibelius: Symphony no.3 (Finnish RSO/Jukka-Pekka Saraste) - decent rendition of Sibelius’ first truly individual symphony, only let down by a needlessly ponderous Andantino. The outer movements however are fleet and powerful;
Dandrieu: Premier Livre de Pieces d’Orgue (Gillian Weir) - French baroque wonderment played as well as it can be - as if I’d know otherwise;
Can’t you see them?
Have a great week, everyone
Dave x
|
