| Author | Message | ||
     cosmo vitelli Member Username: Cosmo Post Number: 663 Registered: 05-2005 |
Tony Joe White - Tony Joe Tony Joe White - Black and White Only just got in to this guy, Country Funk/Soul vibe, he is very cool singer and rhythm guitar player, writer of Polk Salad Annie and Rainy Night in Georgia. | ||
| David Gagen Member Username: David_g Post Number: 420 Registered: 02-2007 |
Great swamp blues Cosmo, bit of a legend. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5260 Registered: 05-2005 |
Aaron Goldberg - OAM's Blues | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5268 Registered: 05-2005 |
Fatima Mansions - Come Back My Children. This cost a pretty penny as it's so hard to get. I wish I'd bought it back in the day, but I was a poor student then and had many other albums (plus food, liquor and rent) to spend my money on. The sound is very thin on the Against Nature tracks. I don't know if remastering would help a whole lot, but I don't think it's likely ever to get remastered anyway. | ||
| cosmo vitelli Member Username: Cosmo Post Number: 665 Registered: 05-2005 |
yes David definitely a bayou vibe on the Tony Joe White stuff, reminds me of Bobbie Gentry (who I adore) in the sound and arrangements. Have you heard Jim Ford? the Harlan County album is a classic | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 491 Registered: 03-2007 |
Strange Idols - Idolatry ( The Singles; Their B-Sides & The Others http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMfGyTnk2 JA | ||
| cosmo vitelli Member Username: Cosmo Post Number: 666 Registered: 05-2005 |
The Damned - Strawberries | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5269 Registered: 05-2005 |
Fatima Mansions - Come Back My Children. Jet lag made me fall asleep on the first two listens, but I finally made it all the way through this morning. It's a great compilation. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3125 Registered: 03-2005 |
Paul Kelly -- Spring and Fall If I'm going to see him next week I should at least have a passing familiarity with the current album. Still trying to get a second ticket so I don't have to skulk in alone. | ||
| cosmo vitelli Member Username: Cosmo Post Number: 668 Registered: 05-2005 |
John Coltrane - Blue Train got this, John Denver and another couple of good finds at my local charity shop for 99p, I sometimes think about not bothering to browse but you never know what you may find | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5282 Registered: 05-2005 |
New Order - Lost Sirens Django Django - Django Django (I got the two disc tour version which features remixes of all the tracks in the order they appear on the album. I actually liked it better than the album itself. But the whole package is so good it would have made my 2012 best albums list if I'd played it when I bought it a few weeks ago. It backs up Randy's view that a year list is pointless as you will always discover other great albums you missed at the time. Still though, I like the lists!) | ||
| David Gagen Member Username: David_g Post Number: 421 Registered: 02-2007 |
No Cosmo, havent heard Jim Ford. | ||
| peter ward Member Username: Peter_ward Post Number: 206 Registered: 06-2005 |
The White Album ... not that one from the little Liverpool Beat Combo but "Big Inner" by Matthew E White, fantastic stuff, like Lambchop schmoozing with Beck and with horns as good as Cat Power's circa The Greatest. Also, the new Yo La Tengo, what are the chances on getting a couple of albums this good released each month all the way to December? | ||
| Geoff Holmes Member Username: Geoff Post Number: 865 Registered: 05-2005 |
Music hss a right to children - Boards of Canada Uptight - Stevie Wonder I was made to love her - Stevie Wonder The Butterfly House - The Coral Waiting for Steve Kilbey's "The Idyllist" to be released in February. | ||
| Geoff Holmes Member Username: Geoff Post Number: 866 Registered: 05-2005 |
...but TODAY I celebrate all the GREAT music from my own continent: it's AUSTRALIA DAY or invasion day as some Indigenous groups call it. So it's Church, Go Betweens, Triffids, Ups and Downs, Moffs, Panics, Not Drowning Waving, Stems, Easybeats, Blackeyed Susans, Snow Leopards and everything in between today...though NO Jimmy Barnes or John Farnham! | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5288 Registered: 05-2005 |
The Drones - River Of Tears. A Melbourne band singing a song by Kev Carmody, who is half-Irish and half-Aboriginal. So that's my Irish and Australian nationalities tied up with one great song! | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5289 Registered: 05-2005 |
Peter, I bought that Matthew E White album yesterday. Haven't played it yet though. I haven't even heard a note of it, but it was album of the week in The Guardian last week. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 2146 Registered: 10-2008 |
Matthew E White was album of the month in Uncut last month. Played it a few times on Spotify, sounded ok but I would need to hear it more - kind of washed over me to be honest in a "just another singer-songwritery" kind of way. Will give it a few more plays though. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5295 Registered: 05-2005 |
I'm just back from Manly. The beach is filling up with morons honouring their national day by wearing the Australian flag as a cape. There are more police on the street than I've ever seen down there. As well there might be. Alcohol + sun + morons with flag capes = trouble. John Law is going to have a busy night I think. | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 1036 Registered: 04-2006 |
thanks to this blog, i have dominique a on heavy rotation. just own l'horizon and vers les luers which are both great, great, great! | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 749 Registered: 10-2006 |
Glad to hear that, Andreas! Remue next! | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5300 Registered: 05-2005 |
After playing Bob Dylan's Spanish Is The Loving Tongue, I'm now playing The Boo Radleys' Spaniard. Next up is Spanish Blue by The Triffids and then U2's Spanish Eyes. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5302 Registered: 05-2005 |
Matthew E. White - Big Inner Everything Everything - Arc In both of these, 2013 is off to a good musical start. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5305 Registered: 05-2005 |
Lee Ranaldo - Between The Times And Tides. A brilliant album. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 1716 Registered: 08-2006 |
This one was an expected surprise, especially given Renaldo's relatively modest contributions to SY's songwriting of late. Maybe he was saving up the good stuff for "Time and the Tides." It was worth it. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 750 Registered: 10-2006 |
Sun kil moon - Ghosts of the great highway This is the best thing I've heard from Kozelek so far - a real gem of an album. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 2150 Registered: 10-2008 |
Darkstar - News From Nowhere. This will be lazily be bracketed as dubstep, but its almost beatless, and is actually dreamy electro pop. A slightly more accessible Talk Talk, or less accessible OMD. Various - Studio One Ironsides. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5307 Registered: 05-2005 |
I've always very much liked Ranaldo's songs on Sonic Youth albums, but probably wouldn't have bought this album bar the fact they seemed to be playing it every time I went in to Red Eye Records in Sydney, and it sounded great. Toy - Toy. Sounds like Ride at their best. Check them out Geoff. | ||
| cosmo vitelli Member Username: Cosmo Post Number: 676 Registered: 05-2005 |
New Order - Lost Sirens ok so some (alot) of the lyrics are bad, damn it it's just great to hear some new (as in unheard) New Order material! Neil Young - Psychedelic Pill for some reason I ignored the reviews and Kev bigging this up, was in a shop today and heard the first track Driftin Back and thought it was a 70's track that I had never heard! it's amazing, he is astonishing in terms of his ability to keep doing quality work over such an extended period of time, how did I miss this? why did I miss this? | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5313 Registered: 05-2005 |
The Acorn - Glory Hope Mountain | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5321 Registered: 05-2005 |
Amadou & Mariam - Folila. Thank goodness their homeland is gradually being freed from islamist terrorists by the French army. Terrorists who banned music, a great source of joy and pride in one of the world's poorest countries. Well done France. Well done Mr Hollande. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5322 Registered: 05-2005 |
New Order - Spooky single (four different mixes). I bought this on cassette single when it came out 20 years ago. Nice to have it digitally now. It's got to be be at least 18 years since I've played these tracks, but they sound so familiar I must have played them a lot back then. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5324 Registered: 05-2005 |
Frightened Rabbit - Pedestrian Verse | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 2156 Registered: 10-2008 |
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds - Push The Sky Away. More stripped back than Grinderman, which is interesting given that it is effectively the same musicians. There is not a rocker on the album, mostly mid or slow pace, and although I've just listened twice it does not appear to be a piano dominated album either (maybe lurking beneath the surface and still to be revealed?), which the slower Bad Seeds albums tend to be. Initial impressions are that this is a solid Bad Seeds album, and I have a gut feeling its potentially a very good one. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 2159 Registered: 10-2008 |
Unknown Mortal Orchestra - II One for all you fans of psychedelia, quite an interesting listen. Although I'm sure some of you are all over it already!! http://anydecentmusic.com/review/5187/Un known-Mortal-Orchestra-II.aspx | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5327 Registered: 05-2005 |
Nothing right now because the plug powering the woofer connected to the computer just sparked and blew! Mercifully it doesn't seem to have affected anything else. But last night, on the kitchen boombox, I was listening to a cassette of the best of The Troggs. Reg Presly RIP. Now I'm off to the living room to crank up the hi-fi. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3133 Registered: 03-2005 |
Reg Presley died?!?!?!? Wow, it's time to move the Troggs' stuff onto the new iPod. It was probably time to do that anyway. Who will the media talk to now about crop circles and other mysterious phenomena? | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5329 Registered: 05-2005 |
The Fatima Mansions - Lost In The Former West, plus various b-sides. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5335 Registered: 05-2005 |
Loney Dear - Dear John | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5337 Registered: 05-2005 |
Consolidated - Brutal Equation 12" Mix. Testing out the bass on my new computer speakers. Liking it. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5338 Registered: 05-2005 |
Renegade Soundwave - Renegade Soundwave (7" mix). Checking how dub sounds on my new speakers. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5339 Registered: 05-2005 |
The Replacements - Alex Chilton. Checking how indie rock sounds on my new speakers. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5342 Registered: 05-2005 |
HAL - I Sat Down. Checking how the new speakers handle orch pop. With aplomb. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5344 Registered: 05-2005 |
Matthew Sweet - Divine Intervention. How do the new speakers handle power pop? Very well! | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5346 Registered: 05-2005 |
Prefab Sprout - Cars And Girls. Straight out pop sounding sounding straight out great on the new speakers! | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5347 Registered: 05-2005 |
Teenage Fanclub - Everything Flows, acoustic version. Acoustics holding up well through the new speakers. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5348 Registered: 05-2005 |
Pride Tiger - What It Is. Best Canadian Thin Lizzy rip off ever. Also showing the new speakers can handle hard rock. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5349 Registered: 05-2005 |
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - Someday I Suppose. Ska-core sounding well. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5351 Registered: 05-2005 |
Beastie Boys - Time To Build. New speakers handling eco hip-hop very well indeed. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5352 Registered: 05-2005 |
Man, the up next button on iTunes is very handy. Iron Maiden's Somewhere In Time is proving the new speakers are built for metal too. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5353 Registered: 05-2005 |
The Verlaines - You Cheat Yourself Of Everything That Moves. Speakers doing well on the Dunedin Double EP. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5355 Registered: 05-2005 |
The Nits - The Train. New speakers moving to The Netherlands. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5356 Registered: 05-2005 |
Public Image Ltd. - Lollipop Opera. Post punk working well. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5357 Registered: 05-2005 |
Hardcore too. Dinosaur Jr - The Wagon | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5358 Registered: 05-2005 |
And soundtrack. The Bootleggers featuring Emmylou Harris - Fire In The Blood / Snake Song (from Lawless) | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5359 Registered: 05-2005 |
Soul is sounding well. Luther Ingram - (If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want To Be Right | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5360 Registered: 05-2005 |
The Jazz Butcher - Sixteen Years. Anti-Thatcher rants sounding great through the new speakers. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5361 Registered: 05-2005 |
That genre which I dub Avant Pop in iTunes is sounding great. The Apartments - Failure of Love Is Like a Brick Wall (You Prayed For Me To Hit It) | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5362 Registered: 05-2005 |
Blues too. Rory Gallagher - Out On The Western Plain | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5364 Registered: 05-2005 |
Another Irish artist, this time in a more traditional vein. Clannad - Theme From Harry's Game | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5365 Registered: 05-2005 |
London Philharmonic Orchestra - Kashmir. Scored by Jaz Coleman of Killing Joke, the LPO covering Zep album is fantastic. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5366 Registered: 05-2005 |
Lyle Lovett - Nobody Knows Me. From the brilliant 1989 album, Lyle Lovett And His Large Band. Cost me 1 cent. Thanks Columbia House. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5367 Registered: 05-2005 |
Dance sounding well through the new speakers too. Yothu Yindi - Treaty (Filthy Lucre Radio Mix) | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5368 Registered: 05-2005 |
And electronic. Electronic - For You | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5369 Registered: 05-2005 |
Aboriginal folk too. Pigram Brothers - Eulogy For A Black Man | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5370 Registered: 05-2005 |
Also Scottish/Irish folk. The Waterboys - Twa Recruitin' Sergeants (Live) | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5371 Registered: 05-2005 |
And lost garage classics. Daisy - It Gives Me The Creeps, Baby (Oh Yeah) | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5372 Registered: 05-2005 |
Hello symphonic prog rock. Yes - Don't Go | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5373 Registered: 05-2005 |
G'day psychedelic rock. Yeasayer - Love Me Girl | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5374 Registered: 05-2005 |
Bad Religion - Against The Grain | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5375 Registered: 05-2005 |
R&B classic time. Brook Benton - Rainy Night In Georgia | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5376 Registered: 05-2005 |
A little reggae. UB40 - King. From Signing Off, when UB40 really were reggae. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5377 Registered: 05-2005 |
Alejandro Escovedo - Never Stood A Chance. I'd love to see him live again. Saw him in Austin, TX on St Patrick's Day 2001. What a show. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5378 Registered: 05-2005 |
Little Richard - Tutti Frutti | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5379 Registered: 05-2005 |
Now for some Irish rockabilly. Imelda May - Meet You At The Moon (I interviewed her three years ago. One of the funniest and nicest interviewees I've ever encountered). | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5380 Registered: 05-2005 |
Massive Attack - Sly (Underdog mix) | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3135 Registered: 03-2005 |
Ned Collette -- Jokes and Trials Yet another superb recommendation from Hugh. | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 1037 Registered: 04-2006 |
i am listening to ned collette's music right now on his bandcamp site. sounds interesting. as i live in berlin i have the chance to see him play live every month (first monday) in a small club/bar. maybe i will go next month. thanks for the recommendation. | ||
| cosmo vitelli Member Username: Cosmo Post Number: 681 Registered: 05-2005 |
Hawkwind - Tales from Atom Henge (the Bob Calvert years). so many good songs on this, I love Bob Calvert, a real character (and total fruitcake) | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3136 Registered: 03-2005 |
Lucky you, Andreas. I'm hoping Hugh someday makes me aware of somebody I should be seeing here in my own dull backyard. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5382 Registered: 05-2005 |
Microdisney - From Daunt Square To Elsewhere. A great compilation. Now going for crazy money online, as I knew it would. I was in Daunt Square a few weeks ago. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 2176 Registered: 10-2008 |
While trawling the archive posts(see the Vale Mark Ilsley thread) I noticed a lot of love for The Laughing Clowns, not least from the bold Mark. Can anybody recommend where I should start with this band, any albums or songs I should try and hunt down? | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 498 Registered: 03-2007 |
Go for this one. http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss _1?url=search-alias%3Dpopular&field-keyw ords=laughing%20clowns | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 499 Registered: 03-2007 |
Correct link. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cruel-But-Fair-L aughing-Clowns/dp/B000BD9NUE/ref=sr_1_1? s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1361049661&sr=1-1 | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5392 Registered: 05-2005 |
PJ Harvey - Let England Shake. Still brilliant. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5396 Registered: 05-2005 |
The Fruit Tree Foundation - First Edition. A mental health charity album featuring the cream of Scotland's indie (Frightened Rabbit, Twilight Sad, Idlewild etc) and folk (James Yorkston, Alasdair Roberts etc) scenes collaborating on 14 songs. It's great. I presume you have it Hugh? | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 764 Registered: 10-2006 |
If it's all as good as Eternally yours and I want to scream, I'll order it right now, Hugh... | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 500 Registered: 03-2007 |
Stuart, Not everything on it is as good as those two tracks but it is still a fabulous package. All of their studio recordings spread across three discs. It comes with a 24 page booklet containing liner notes, photographs and comments on all of the tracks by Ed. A great set at a bargain price ( it is considerably more expensive at AmazonCom and CDUniverse.) Padraig, not at the moment. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3148 Registered: 03-2005 |
Alain Bashung -- Roulette Russe I have picked up Alain Bashung's second album, from 1979. It's the first one he will admit to recording. It predates "Gaby O Gaby" and "Pizza." I always assumed this would be rubbish, before he'd been struck by lightning and recorded the astonishing "Play Blessures." But when checking "Pizza" and "Figure Imposee" and "Passe le Rio Grande" I found unmistakable logic behind almost all of the music he was doing. I guess I've lived with enough Bashung spanning enough years to begin to trust that he always knew what he was doing. Roulette Russe? Well, it's from 1979. OK, things were getting a hell of lot better by 1979 and I could put together quite a list of 1979 albums that I love, but it's still a difficult era for me to listen to especially if we're talking about American records. On Roulette Russe a French David Bowie takes a trip to Nashville. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gt8XtV6-J E4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-tJQgsZp 20 <<<<<be the 19th person to watch the video! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PAkDl0vL wY <<<<(an official video!) and sometimes he's just a French David Bowie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYUKfpWYU Rc If I gotta visit pre-punk 1979 . . . . | ||
| cosmo vitelli Member Username: Cosmo Post Number: 687 Registered: 05-2005 |
just got the new Nick Cave and all I can say is believe the hype, this is a masterpiece of atmosphere and restraint, stunning stuff! also been listening to the 4 Marcos Valle early 70s album reissues, superb stuff | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 2181 Registered: 10-2008 |
Atoms For Peace - AMOK This is more than just a solo album from Thom York, the bass player from Red Hot Chilli Peppers is brilliant on this (a collection of words I never ever thought I would type), and whoever is responsible for the percussion/beats is at the top of their game too. After just 3 listens this is battling with Nick Cave for all my listening time. This is shaping up to be a good year! The stream can be found here. http://amok.atomsforpeace.info/ | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 772 Registered: 10-2006 |
Marie Pierre Arthur's first album...a beautiful pop album basically, with her clear, ductile voice sailing through a number of bright, rhythmic songs, a warm, keenly strummed acoustic guitar to the fore, plenty of melodic twists and turns, like the extra voices that suddenly burst in about two minutes into Pourquoi...fresh, vital, great fun. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 773 Registered: 10-2006 |
Hey, those Bashung clips are pretty good! He certainly had some godawful shirts. I thought I'd maxed out on AB albums, but that sounds like one to have. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5402 Registered: 05-2005 |
Coldplay - Yellow. I don't much like Coldplay at all, but I love this song. | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 502 Registered: 03-2007 |
Alain Bashung - Roulette Russe + Pizza Alain Bashung - Novice + Passe Le Rio Grande Ordered these two for one sets a few weeks ago and they have just been delivered. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3151 Registered: 03-2005 |
Well, as you've no doubt found by now, Hugh, "Novice" is the arty one in that batch. "Pizza" has some great songs, but is saddled with silly "New Wave" style keyboard and that obnoxious pop 70s sax that I personally have a big hate for. "Roulette Russe" is pretty consistent through the first 8 tracks or so. "Passe Le Rio Grande" must be the result of the record company insisting that he make a pop record, please. In a dada sort of way, some of it is very entertaining such as the gigantic Eurovision sounding "Helvete Underground" and "Herr Major" and "Milady" with its Django Rheinhart-ish verses coupled with circus funhouse choruses. But about half of the tracks on "Passe" I just can't sit through. Until the last album, Bashung normally wrote his own music while someone else did the lyrics. In this respect he was like Lucio Battisti or Elton John. It means that however bizarrely diverse his records are there is a continuing thread of musical logic running through them. He's not just doing the "shut up and sing" routine anywhere. He puts together musical elements that ought not to be heard together and oftentimes the result is fabulous. It's my immersion in his classic albums that's made it possible for me to revisit the lesser ones. I find a lot to enjoy but I really don't think I could do that without having first spent a lot of time with the likes of "Fantasie Militaire" and "Play Blessures." Last night I listened to the Aints' "Ascension" and to Ned Collette & Wirewalker's "Over the Stones, Under the Stars." Both records were quite good in very different ways. It was difficult to source the Ned Collette album. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 774 Registered: 10-2006 |
Although AB didn't actually write the lyrics, his input was pretty strong - seems he used to plant the guy he was working with at his kitchen table with several bottles of wine and bully him relentlessly into producing exactly what he wanted, until "the words feel good in my mouth". Often it's the sound of them that counts in fact rather than the meaning, which is why a lot of his stuff is so playfully enigmatic. Maybe it's Johnny Cash he reminds me of most - whatever he sang, whatever strange detours his career took, you can feel that he is, in the end, the real deal. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 775 Registered: 10-2006 |
Alcaline from Novice is a stunner... One for Andrew to help out on here: apparently AB's first main writing partner, Boris Bergman, just before they split, said to him: "T'aimes plus les mots roses que je t'écris." Even googling the sense, I can't quite get what he wants to say!("You like the words pinker than I write for you??") | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 503 Registered: 03-2007 |
Randy, Only one listen of each to date. I have purchased quite a few of his albums in the last couple of months and it is going to take me some time to familiarise myself with them as I do not have a lot of free time at the moment. I have to say I really like 'Chatterton' even although it seems to be regarded by many as one of his lesser albums. I think the first three Ned Collette albums were only ever released in Australia ( Dot Dash Recordings ) which probably explains why you found it so difficult to source a copy. You can find them on sale at Amazon from time to time but, as they are imports, the price is usually quite high. The same is true of the two albums he recorded with City City City before going solo. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3152 Registered: 03-2005 |
Stuart, thanks for that interesting information. Since I cannot read French I haven't seen any good articles on Bashung. The Wikipedia entry in English is vastly too superficial. I'm not surprised that he was, ahem, involved in the writing of his lyrics. I've also learned from my own experience that some words will look great on the page but then turn out not to fit the melody they are meant for, even though the syllable count is correct. Sound, inflection and accent all turn out to be major factors. Hugh, lest it was not clear before I do NOT regard "Chatterton" as one of Bashung's lesser albums. I think it is superb. But, yes, it seems to be mentioned far less often than "Osez Josephine" which I think is uneven, or "Fantasie Militaire" or "L'Imprudence" or "Bleu Petrole" all of which I think are excellent. If I were you I'd focus first on the album that appeals to you the most ("Chatterton") and then gradually branch out. I am still on the lookout for City City City's albums but I've managed all four of the Collette albums. I'm assuming that "Jokes and Trials" was released in another country because I kept seeing online offers of an album with the same cover photo but a different name. I don't know if the playlist is the same. I have the Dot Dash version. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3153 Registered: 03-2005 |
Meanwhile, being played tonight: Dirty Three -- s/t No bass. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 776 Registered: 10-2006 |
AB probably didn't have the strength to interfere too much with the songs he was offered for Bleu Petrole, but apparently he did make one gesture of ingenious independence - for the brilliant Tant de nuit, he decided to take the tune from one song and the lyrics from another and put them together. I've struggled through one Bashung biog, and have bought another to try...I reckon I get about 30%! My old high school teacher would be astonished. | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 781 Registered: 04-2005 |
Stuart, Re : "T'aimes plus les mots roses que je t'écris." The construction is correctly "Tu n'aimes plus...", but in spoken language often the first 'n(e)' is dropped. Conferring with my French partner, she says that it is in the sense that "you no longer like the 'pink words' that I write for you". 'Pink words' would mean soft, tender lyrics of love ? Years ago she translated me the G-Bs article from "Les Inrockuptibles" (the copy with the 16LL demos CD). Given the "hip speak" and slang of rock journalism it was quite a job I think ! To translating well is an incredible skill, especially in more artistic areas of literature and poetry. I'm fairly stunned at the attraction of Bashung for you all. It is so French, in the sense that the music seems of secondary importance to the lyrics. I have his last 3 CDs, but have so far have not completely fallen for their charms... | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5407 Registered: 05-2005 |
Sigmatropic & Cat Power - Haiku Ten | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 777 Registered: 10-2006 |
Well, so I got it the wrong way round! (lets make it 20% comprehension for the biog then...) Makes much more sense like that...I can imagine Bashung growing impatient with anything too "soft". Thank you Andrew. As for his appeal, in my case, it's as difficult to articulate as love so often is...but that blend of French cool, rock n'roll grit, cowboy swagger, počte maudit and determined, focused artistry...irresistible! | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 504 Registered: 03-2007 |
Randy, I was aware that you rated 'Chatterton.' I was mainly referring to the Editor / User Ratings on AllMusic. Apologies for any confusion. Is this the online offer for 'Jokes and Trials' you kept seeing? The album is advertised as 'Vessels' but the photograph shows the title as 'Jokes and Trials.' http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vessels-Collette -Ned/dp/B000HLDF2C/ref=sr_1_3?s=music&ie =UTF8&qid=1361535360&sr=1-3 It also shows up on AmazonCom as 'Jokes and Trials' with a tracklisting which bears no resemblence to the Dot Dash release. http://www.amazon.com/Jokes-Trials-Ned-C ollette/dp/B000HLDF2C They are both incorrect listings. 'Vessels' refers to an album recorded by a band from Adelaide known as Wolf & Cub who were signed to Dot Dash Recordings at one time. You can find it here. http://www.discogs.com/artist/Wolf+%26+C ub 'The Perimeter Motor Show' by City City City is currently available from AmazonUK for a very reasonable Ł7.34 plus shipping. Only one left in stock. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Perimeter-Motor- Show-City/dp/B000BVZ4ZO/ref=sr_1_1?s=mus ic&ie=UTF8&qid=1361538136&sr=1-1 Their debut, 'Dawn And The Blue Light District' was released by Sensory Projects and, knowing the label as I do, I think you may well struggle to find a copy. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3155 Registered: 03-2005 |
Wow, Hugh, you are on it as usual! The US site has that City City City album "temporarily out of stock." Hopefully there's no significance to the fact that the UK listing only mentions "domestic shipping." I've occasionally been told that I could not buy something off one of the non-US Amazon sites, particularly the U.K. one, but never when the seller is Amazon itself. That's interesting that "Vessels" is a computer entry mistake. That's the risk inherent in buying things online. Thankfully only rarely, I have received in the mail something that was definitely NOT what I thought I had ordered. Andrew, I will take it on faith that the lyrics provide a major additional dimension to Bashung's music. But I definitely wouldn't call the music secondary in his case, since it's what he does himself and since the music is often so challenging. When I was a kid, I started out listening to pop music with little regard for the lyrics because in the 60s there were so many great records that were, frankly, not worth any attention to the lyrics. Yes there was Dylan and sometimes Davies but for the most part the lyrics really didn't do anything other than give the voices something to enunciate during the melodies. So, for me, it's still easy to listen to music without attending to the lyrics IF the music is really engaging. When Bashung died and somebody, maybe you or TROU, posted a link to him doing a live version of "La Nuit Je Mens" I was totally captivated by the excellent ballad, with its shifting minor-key chord progression. I was also attracted by Bashung's delivery and especially that harmonica solo that I wish had gone onto the studio version. Then the wild variety of his albums knocked me out. Then, gradually, I start to notice little things like the suppleness of his vocal phrasing, his lack of inhibition in spite of his not-beautiful voice. I suppose his voice puts some people off but it's vastly better than Dylan's. In fact, by "Bleu Petrole" it actually IS beautiful to my ears. He sounds like he's carrying the entire world on his shoulders. It's really great to discover a long-career artist of substance all in one swoop. And the real kicker: his records from middle age up to the end are his best! Bashung is a real standout. He should be a staple in more people's music libraries. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3156 Registered: 03-2005 |
I'll elaborate a little on French music in general. Back in the 60s there was a basic attitude that French pop music was corny and out-of-date musically. Some of the records I've heard from the era lend support to this stereotype. I suspect that's why Francoise Hardy opted to record the bulk of her mid-60s records in the U.K.. But somewhere along the line, this French out-of-date music thing itself became out-of-date. The better French artists recording today clearly pull inspiration from what they're hearing in other countries but they digest it through that wonderful, peculiarly French sensibility with elements of old-style chanson and modern Gallic cosmopolitanism. That's why I go apeshit for records like Francoiz Breut's "Derriere Le Grand Filtre" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et0wWu-sa Gg <<<<<live version, but too bad you can hardly hear her. in which Breut combines her classic understated French vocal delivery with a backing that mixes North Africa with European urban beat. The studio version of that song is one of my absolute favorite records. A number of French artists do this sort of thing, mixing musical elements from disparate sources to create something new and fresh. Dominique A seems to do it in his sleep. Sure, I understand there are crappy French artists as well. I'm avoiding them. By contrast, it seems as if nearly ALL of the records coming from the U.S. over the past couple decades have been suffocatingly insular and oblivious to the sounds happening in other places. The best I can hope for is a group that manages--like the Walkmen--to mine old American musical seams in an interesting way. Ok I promise. Rant over. | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 505 Registered: 03-2007 |
Randy, I can order and ship the City City City album to you if there are any problems. Feel free to get in touch if AmazonUK ever refuse to sell to you. | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 1042 Registered: 04-2006 |
not french, but brasilian joao gilberto - joao gilberto the so called white album of the bossa nova master. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5416 Registered: 05-2005 |
Last night: Winter People - A Year At Sea. I think this is going to be something of a lost classic. Right now, Dominique A. | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 1044 Registered: 04-2006 |
talking about french music resp. alain bashung: tomorrow the german/french tv programme arte shows a tribute to alain bashung. http://www.arte.tv/guide/de/044621-000/t ribute-to-alain-bashung i think you can watch it also online afterwards (arte 7 +). | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 1047 Registered: 04-2006 |
first time i had the chance to listen to my copy of nick cave's new album. before the release i just listened to the stream. now, listening to the album on my hifi, i am blown away. the first highlight of the year. on the 13th of february he played in berlin and i read that the concert must be fantastic. i never thought that nick cave would be important in my life once again. i was totally wrong. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5422 Registered: 05-2005 |
Manchester Orchestra - Simple Math (apart from the great title track it is very disappointing) V/A - Love Serenade soundtrack (loverman soul soundtrack to a great Australian film) My Bloody Valentine - Isn't Anything Ungdomskulen - Cry-baby (Norwegian hardcore/hard rock/prog rock. It's great) The Bank Holidays - Sail Becomes A Kite (brilliant 2010 album of 60s-type pop from Perth) | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3159 Registered: 03-2005 |
I've gotten a decent amount of enjoyment out of the records Nick Cave has made during the past 15 years or so, although I can still weary of his schtick. For example, when the iPod started "The Sorrowful Wife" in the car last night I decided I just couldn't sit through it and pushed the "next" button. I've assumed that I'll get the new album, if not in a hurry. But Andreas' endorsement makes me sit up. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 2185 Registered: 10-2008 |
Yep, as I've noted elsewhere on these pages if anything beats the Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds album as "Album Of The Year" I cant wait to hear it. The only proviso I would add is it can't possibly live up to the universal hype and praise of the reviews. Luckily enough I heard the stream of the album before the reviews started coming in so I could approach the album with no pre-conceived thoughts, and could really enjoy it and grow to love it, and having the CD now I still think its terrific. However if I was hearing it for the first time after the gushing praise you might feel slightly disappointed that it wasn't some magnum opus, nothing could possibly live up to that amount of hype surely? The main thing for me is Cave himself really seems to rate it and I don't think he's the type to big himself up without foundation. I don't really remember him doing this before anyway. |