If I ain’t dead already:
Curtis Mayfield ‘New World Order’ - a quite miraculous achievement from a man paralysed from the neck down;
UFO ‘Phenomenon’ - incredibly, fifty years old - and sounding far fresher than their 80s output. I’d take hard rock over heavy metal any day of the week, at least where UFO are concerned. In fact, the strongest songs on ‘Phenomenon’ are the more restrained ones IMHO;
Kevin Coyne ‘Blame It On The Night’ - also a half century old: the third solo LP by one of the most edgy and unsung singer songwriters of his time or ever after. This didn’t even get a CD issue until well into the 21st century. This dude deserves all the posthumous recognition Nick Drake (rightly) has, and more;
Van der Graaf ‘The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome’ - what a shame that this weird lineup made only one studio album. It’s a timeless belter, sounding fresh and new in its 2021 remaster;
Billy Currie ‘The Brushwork Oblast’ - engrossing instrumental album veering between jazz and soundtrack music, but more engrossing than that inferred by my rather clunky description;
The Beatles S/T (mono) - for most of my life, this has always seemed the epitome of “great single album stretched to a double” syndrome, yet hearing it for the n hundredth time this week I have to say I loved every minute. Yes, even the schmaltzy bits. And who is a mere mortal like me to question the White Album?
Saxon ‘Hell, Fire & Damnation’ - metal by numbers, and all the better for it. Sometimes that’s all that’s needed;
Tangerine Dream ‘Cyclone’ - their most divisive - and unrepresentative - album is decent if accepted on its own terms, i.e. not compared with its instrumental predecessors. For what it’s worth I really dig the proggy first side, even if I haven’t a clue what Steve Joliffe is singing about;
Santana ‘Caravanserai’ - which I’ve finally “got” after over 40 years of owning and not really gelling with. Jeez, where was I? There’s some furious Latino fusion shit going down here, even if I could do without the sung bits. Really brought a dreary afternoon to life;
John Coltrane ‘Blue Train’ - Trane at the end of his hard bop period, before things started to get more radical with his own classic quartet. Still damned fine jazz, mind - and Lee Morgan’s near-perfect trumpet solo on the title track deserves a thesis to itself. He also graces…
Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers ‘Moanin’ - another classic Blue Note album from the period when that label could do no wrong. Even their sleeves were (and are) cool as owt. Here, every member shines: Bobby Timmons especially. Heroin took too many jazz musos too soon;
Manfred Schoof Quintet ‘Resonance’ - fine 2CD comp of three JAPO LPs from 1977-80. Schoof has a Miles-like tone with better technique (i.e. less split notes) that suits this moody music to a T;
Johnny Cash ‘The Man In Black’ - 1971 LP that gave the dude his moniker. A bit over-religious perhaps, but the vibe is good;
Wagner: Rienzi Overture/Handel: Concerto Grosso ‘Alexander’s Feast’/Beethoven: Piano Concerto no.4 (w. Haskil) & Symphony no.9/Brahms: Haydn Variations (all cond. Carl Schuricht) - fine, straight down the line takes from an underrated German kapellmeister;
Haydn: String Quartet Op.33 no.2 ‘Joke’ (Edinburgh Quartet) - a most pleasing performance, if that’s not damning it with faint praise;
Brahms: Symphony no.2 (Boston SO/Seiji Ozawa) - the sadly departed Ozawa took a particularly loving view of Brahms’ most autumnal symphony in 1975. Not a library choice perhaps, but still very satisfying;
Beethoven: Piano Sonata Op.10 no.1 (Bernard Roberts) - I’ve complete recorded cycles of the 32 Beethoven Piano Sonatas by most of the acknowledged piano “greats”, but Roberts’ is one of the lesser acknowledged sets to which I turn for guaranteed pleasure. This is a good sample: an unaffected, enjoyable reading without exaggeration;
Will you dance with me?
Best
Dave x
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