1. Radiohead - In Rainbows (2CD/2LP, 2007). I'm almost sure some people somewhere think those Radioheads are weird, to say the least. I mean their first single ever was quite standard in a funny way and they've only gone funnier since. Just imagine finishing a contract with a record company, secretly working on loads of tunes for quite a couple of years and then just throwing em up for grabs. Whilst doing so having an artist working on some incomprehensible sketches and saying people can order 'a limited edition box' with two cd's, two vinyl discs, a book and whatnot for a stack of cash. That could be mistaken for being funny... in a way. But there is absolutely nothing funny about their new album. It's a brilliant piece of music from beginning to end. An amazing amalgam of everything they dug into all through their career and lots more. At a glance it's not as sketchy and disturbing as say, Amnesiac or Kid A. It's not the ubermasterpiece OK Computer, but it's still a masterpiece. The tracks are more like atmospheres than songs, but they do have a recognisable structures. The arrangements are stunning. The band have really notably been working very hard to get every part absolutely spot on, without losing the edge. This... box is a statement. Because it's the best that was released in 2007, but also because it's the perfect example of selling physical copies of your work even when every nut on the planet can get the download for free. Song of the year: Nude.
2. Wilco - Sky Blue Sky (CD nonesuch, 2007). This second place for the album is largely won by their show at the Paradiso this year. It really made quite a few musicians think of putting up an ad and selling their gear. That show was totally amazing, mindblowing and stunning. By comparison this album is quite normal. 12 very beautiful songs, beautifully written, arranged, produced, played and recorded. One would nearly forget that apart from originality and experiment there's also craftsmanship. And this album can be considered a statement of such. A very, very beautiful album. Longtime contender for song of the year: Sky Blue Sky.
3. Thurston Moore - Trees Outside The Academy (CD Ecstatic Peace, 2007). Yeah, sure, it sounds like Sonic Youth playing neatly tuned acoustic guitars. But in a way that's part of what makes this album so very special. The songs, the voice, the songstructures, it all sounds so very much like SY, but still it's different. There's intricate melodies, there's a ceartain laidbackness, a certain melancholy, violins even! I mean... really. It gets a bit noisy near the end at times, but the atmosphere is quite quite different form 'his other band'. A beautiful album, possible contender for song of the year: Fri/end.
4. Patrick Wolf - The Magic Position (CD Polydor, 2007). I had heard a song or two, but didn't really know him. And when he came on stage at Lowlands festival that didn't really help for me. But when the band began to play and he began to sing it all came together. This is a superb artist! In his totally weird vision, violins perfectly merge with electronics. Add a pinch of Morrissey and Bowie, a touch of melancholy, androgynally sexy words and vocals and you get a sense of what he can do. By that show alone he deserves to be in this list. And the album is great too.
5. Feist - the Reminder (CD Polydor, 2007). Fantastic album. Upbeat, weird, moody, beautiful, whispery, funny, melancholic. I first heard it on copied MP3's and bought this CD at her show in de Melkweg. My Moon My Man should have been a hit.
The rerelease of the year could be considered a surprise for some regular What's On readers. It's the Pink Floyd - The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn (3CD EMI, 1967/2007). I knew the album but didn't own it physically. When I saw this release I bought it without a second thought. It looks like a book, contains the lyrics, three cd's (mono, stereo and bonustracks). I don't believe there's anything very new there, but after Syd Barrett was forced to leave the band forty years ago the others have made a point in trying to bury every single bit of good taste left in the band underneath layers of self indulgence and egomania and have notably tried to bore their fans to death. But this, their first album still stands after 40 years as something that will blow your mind like no other record possibly can. Contenders for song of the 20th century: Interstellar Overdrive and See Emily Play. And just to top it off there's a miniature reproduction of a sketchbook, made at the time, by the late great Syd...
Furthermore, their was an album that wasn't really a new release or a rerelease. As far as I'm concerned it would have won either category: Charles Mingus - Cornell 1964 (2CD Blue Note, 2007). This is music at it's most energetic, moving, thrilling and stunning. It's all this but above all fantastic. People who have visited this page before should know by now that I am a big Mingus fan, but even by his incredible standards this is something special indeed. The band is so together but yet there's so much freedom in their playing that Mingus is audibly glowing with pleasure. He is shouting out the names of his band while playing, humming, laughing, joking and... well... let's call it 'playing bass', but actually he makes the blessed thing sing, hum and laugh as well. With the fantastic Eric Dolphy.
Radiohead - In Rainbows (mp3). As I'm sure you noticed 1 October Radiohead broke the silence with a very big surprise. Ten days later their new album was available for download. There's been quite a fuzz about it all and I'm not going to repeat it here. Obviously I ordered the box and I'm eagerly waiting it's arrival. Meanwhile I received a code to download the mp3 version of the album and I put it on my telephone. I have been listening to it over and over again and I believe it's a... masterpiece. It is their most coherent album since OK Computer and though the songs don't really link together like on that album it does sound as one album instead of a bunch of tunes. The first seconds might make some people think 'here we go again', strange electronic beats, handclaps and sound effects, but from the moment the guitars come in it's Radiohead at their best. Personal favorite is Nude. One night I drove on an empty highway and I had In Rainbows on the stereo and it fitted perfectly with the desolate beauty of that track. Faust Arp is beautiful. It sounds deceivingly simple, like some of the gentle fingerpicking tunes Lennon and McCartney wrote in the days of the White album. With a marvellous string arrangement. If Tom Waits doesn't come up with some surprise of the magnitude of last years Orphans, we have an album of the year here.
John Lennon - Imagine (LP, Apple, 1970). This weekend I visited the Mega Platen & CD beurs. And Mega it was. I was looking for Mingus, Coltrane or Cale vinyl, but prices for everything even remotely considered collectors item are ridiculously high and rising. Luckily there are still some people who have decent prices for nice stuff and I came home with some 15 records, average price 4 euro. I bought a Burt Bacharach LP, Frank Sinatra, Patti Smith, Lou Reed et cetera. And this one. The cd has been in my collection for ages obviously, but most of the old cd releases completely lack decent artwork. This goes for all the Lennon, McCartney and Beatles cd's. And that's a shame because the artwork for Lennon's albums in the original LP days was very beautiful indeed. In this case, the inner sleeve is printed with pictures and text in circles. On the lyrics side the typography looks a bit like rays of words, but the other side is something really amazing. The words and lines are set in intertwining spirals! It's totally amazing, in those pre computer days this must have been a hell of a job! It's made by Yoko's fluxus colleague George Maciunas. Fantastic.
Eric Dolphy - Last Date (LP, Mercury, ??). I really didn't know that any of this happened in the Netherlands. Eric Dolphy actually recorded for a Dutch radioshow. And not only that, but also with a Dutch band, consisting of Misja Mengelberg on piano, Jacques Schols on bass and the great Han Bennink on drums. Obviously Dolph's life and career were already tragically short, but he felt so comfortable with this band that he had actually planned to tour with them. But Bennink received the letter saying so, two days after Dolphy's death. It's a wonderful album with a startling version of Thelonious Monk's Epistrophy as a brilliant opener. It's even weirder than the original, but still a very beautiful piece with beautiful tunes. The band sound very together indeed, it sounds like the have been playing together for ages. And when Dolphy plays the flute you hear something you've probably never heard before. It's a mixture of classical sounding music with jazzy lines, bebop outbursts and a slightly avant garde twist. And slowly the whole band joins in. Wonderful.
The Stooges - Fun House (2CD, Elektra/Warner/Rhino, 1970/2005). How much filth can you handle in 40 odd minutes? Iggy and the Stooges at their fiercest, equally tasteless and brilliant creative peak. In this short set of seven songs you're kicked down ino the lowest regions of the belly of the beast. This is dirtier as punk, it's sexier as Rock and Roll, it's that strange and fearsome brew only the Stooges could come up with. I haven't really listened to the bonus disc yet, but I have been playing the normal album over and over again. As Jack White says in the liner notes; 'The Definitive Rock Album of America'.
Eric Dolphy - Out To Lunch (CD, Blue Note, 1964/1999). Simply unbelievable what Rudy van Gelder has heard in his life. This CD is one of the many Blue Note Rudy Van Gelder editions. An incredible series of records by the greates of the greats. He recorded the original albums and remasterd them 35 years later. A large part of the series brings you the very best jazz music ever recorded. Out To Lunch, obviously ranks high. Dolphy at his (tragically short) creative peak defining free jazz and avant garde at the same time, even though I generally don't like to use either qualification. The special thing Dolphy brings to jazz is that there is no real leader and there aren't really any solos in the strictest sense. So the musicians don't play along with one another or solo but roughly in the same directions at the same time. The result is something remotely related to Ornette Coleman but with a very recognisable twist we got to know from Dolphy's appearances on Mingus records. Dolphy plays alto saxophone, flute, bass clarinet and the lot. Also worth mentioning is vibist Bobby Hutcherson. Instead of having a quintet with a piano, Dolphy chose for the vibes and that really adds extra flavour to the record. All in all it's a very beautiful record, not quite as nerve testing as you might expect from the above description, but a melodic masterpiece you rarely come across.
Charles Mingus - Stuttgart Meditations (2CD, Get Back Records, 2007). These recordings have been released before. First of all they're proof of the below stated, in that the liner notes to the Cornell CD say that it stems from an under documented period. I suppose it has something to do with the definition of legality of releases. I mean there's loads of live records from the European tour, even of the sextet, only there are no 'official' releases. I honestly I don't know how to categorize this one. The older versions were already released on vinyl back in I don't know when. Cheap cover, dito mono recording, nice to listen to a few times, just to hear the differences with other live recordings of the same tour. And now finally a digitally remastered release. But hold your horses, there's a few downsides. The artwork is still horrible, the backside of an old Porsche car (?) on the front and a Photoshopped version of the coverpicture for Eastcoasting. Useless liner notes and the socalled digital remaster is even worse. It sounds like it's transferred from vinyl to cd -instead of from the original mastertapes- and then put through a very cheap digital noise reduction filter. So you hear the music a bit clearer compared to the older vinyl release, but you hear this wobbly underbelly sound in the background you sometimes hear in low quality mp3's. It didn't really bother me in the loud parts of the album, but during the solos it gets really annoying. Fables Of Faubus is even longer than the Cornell version and quite different as well, very enjoyable. It's also very nice that you don't have to flip the record halfway through the track (40 minutes never fitted on one side of a vinyl record). All tracks are beautiful, but Meditations for instance isn't as incredibly brilliant here as on Cornell and you don't get any encores. So if you want to buy a good live record, please do yourself a favour and buy the official release Cornell 1964.
David Bowie - The Rise And Rise Of Ziggy Stardust (4CD, Trident?). Seems like it's all downhill from here. Once more a downloaded CD set reviewed on this page. But by Golly this is something special, officially unaivailable. Every single BBC session by Bowie from 1967 untill 1972. Obviously there is a very nice official release from a couple of years ago, but that neglected about 70 percent of the recorded material. The amazing thing of most of these recordings is the intimacy. Somehow most of the songs sound more direct and relaxed as compared to the album versions. And whereas official live albums sound a bit pompous at times, it's just one little band and sometimes just one little man delivering the goods here. A pop version of Waiting For The Man, an acoustic Andy Warhol, yummy. But the absolute uppermost of the toppermost is the beginning of the set. When I Live My Dream from 1967 is simply amazing, When I'm Five from 1968 made me weep and smile at the same time. These songs were recorded with a band and an orchestra and the result is just perfect. It seems Trident was preparing an official release, but failed to finish and some bootlegger got away with it... thank Golly.
Charles Mingus - Cornell 1964 (2CD, Blue Note, 2007). Apparently since the succes of the recent Monk/Coltrane unveiling, Blue Note treats us to another gem from forgotten archives. This recording is so obscure that nobody really seems to remember it happened. And that's quite amazing for an event that sounds so unforgettable. Even though it stems from a period well documented (quite contrary to the opinion of the liner notes) this truly is a very special recording. First, the complete sextet play a complete show and its recorded from start to end, that's quite unusual. Second, Mingus feels really good about the band, the audience and the music, and is goodhumoured all the way, that wasn't always the case. The result is an incredible show. Mingus is in top form, joking, laughing and playing solos like his life was depending on it. Eric Dolphy is his melodic best, not too avant-garde and the band sounds tighter than ever. And they stretch most of the tunes to the limit without ever losing it. Probably the best version of Meditations and Fables Of Faubus ever recorded (both 30 minutes!), Take The A Train taken apart and two funny and beautiful encores.
Arcade Fire - Neon Bible (CD, sonovoxrecords, 2007). Not as bad as it's cracked up to be. Sure the first record took everyone by surprise and you can't pull such a thing off a second time. But as I saw them perform Lowlands this year it dawned on me I was witnessing something very special. At first I thought 'does every song have to be so bloody pompous'. But as they continued I felt like screaming 'Hell yeah!'. And when it was over I felt a humble, better person. So I bought it immediately after. Still I don't really understand Black Wave/Bad Vibrations, but nearly all the rest are classics.
White Noise - An Electric Storm (CD, Island, 1968/2007). This album is totally insane in a very beautiful way. It starts out with a song that has a feel to it, like it was recorded by Smoke City in the same period they made Underwater Love, but that was bloody 1996! White Noise was recorded in England in the same period Bob Moog was still building his so called synthesizer in America. This entire album is made up of maniplulated pieces of tape and sounds made by devices they had to build by themselves first. Tracks 2 to 5 sound more or less 'normal' for their time. My Game Of Loving, only a mere five years ahead of it's time and Here Come The Fleas sounds chaotic like it was made on a sick trip. In short it's like Cornelius has built a time machine and went back to 1968 to take a lot of drugs and record an album. But there is nothing in the world that can get you ready for the closing piece. It's a spine chilling, mind boggling piece of orchestrated noise about as disturbing as Revolution 9.
The Clash - The Clash (LP, CBS, 1977). Thirty years after it's release, the birth of punk is celebrated. For some sick reason those f***ing c*nts that were the f***ing Sex Pistols still get all the f***ing credit. But one listen to this album should be enough for everyone with half a mind to disagree. Utrecht's CoverClub asked us to celebrated punk's 30th and we immediately decided to record one of the Clash's. And because I believe punk was born in 1967 and invented by the Velvets, we're going to give the song a Velvet treatment.
Lou Reed - Berlin (LP, RCA, 1973). This summer I saw Lou Reed perform Berlin live with an orchestra and choir. And as usual for everything auntie Lou does opinions were extremely varied afterwards. But I was just stunned. This is a pitchblack album and the live version didn't sound much happier, but in a way I felt excorcised. This was one helluva Nick Cavean way of dealing with demons. It sounded even more like one piece than the original album only that the peaks were higher and the pits were much much deeper. I felt a happier man. And now it seems I understand the album better as well. Chilling, beautiful.
Mingus - Complete Candid Recordings (3CD, Mosaic, ?). Normally I don't write about (hush, don't tell anyone) downloaded albums here, but this time I really have to make an exception. Sometime somewhere there was a record label that released some records by one Charles Mingus. The label was called Candid and it didn't last very long. In it's short timespan it released quite a few records though, some of which are equally brilliant and hard to find. The first two discs in this set I already bought on CD long ago (Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus, Candid CCD79005 and Charles Mingus: Mingus, Candid CCD 79021), but to describe the third, the word 'bonusdisc' doesn't seem an adequate description to me. It's a treasury! Most of the seven tracks were already so obscure at the time that they weren't even released on the damn' Candid label, others were later released on compilations and such. But as said, it's a treasury. The music is weird, emotional, melodic, moody; totally Mingus. But on some other Mingus records the sum of these factors might be considered 'nerve training' by some, but here it's just beautiful. Opener Mysterious Blues is very pretty and mysterious, starts out so soft and pretty it makes you turn up the volume. Then the reeds come in with a light, catchy phrase. From that moment on the whole album is an amazingly melodic trip. Body And Soul, is a take on a classic so liberal and beautiful, it makes it hard to even remember any other version. It starts out very slow and open untill the rythm and mood is suddenly changed and the tune truly opens up for more than 12 stunning minutes. All in all it's an amazing album, that actually ranks up there with his best works. As such it's a total disgrace that it's unavailable. Please Sue Mingus wake up! The best way to stop people from bootlegging and downloading is to make the product available in the first place! I would probably order it before it's even released. Oh, and the other two discs are great too.
Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane - at Carnegie Hall (CD, Blue Note/Thelonious Records, 2005). When this record was released I didn't have any money and I thought this cd was ludicrously expensive for a record that should have a place in every home. I actually downloaded it at the time, but I don't like listening to copied CD's and I eventually lost it somewhere. But to make a statement; poor people ought to be given a government grant just to make it possible for them to listen to this kind of music... well 'kind of music' doesn't seem fit here. Monk already was one of his kind but together with Coltrane the result is even beyond that. This really is the best recording I ever heard of these two giants together. Monk's playing is weird, we know that, but for those poor souls who have never heard him; his playing is the perfect combination of a deep gut feeling, mathematics, emotions and total freedom. He starts out solo on Monk's Mood and it's totally bonkers already, but in a very pretty way. Then slowly Coltrane starts to come in and adds even extra layers of weird moody melodies. Together (with the band, obviously) they build up the tension, and Monk and Coltrane deliver some truly great tunes. Now, two years after it's initial release I bought it in the sale and listened to it over and over again.
Eels - Daisies Of the Galaxy (CD, Dreamworks, 2000). At the time it was the first Eels release I didn't buy instantly. In fact I only bought it two months ago, second hand. I don't know what was wrong with me at the time, but I had seen eels perform very often, listened to the other two records and maybe I didn't think this one really added very much. But as with every Eels record it's pretty as hell (intended pun). Contains the classic catchy I Like Birds and as a bonus track, the single Mr E's Beautiful Blues. The digipack has great artwork too.
The Travelling Wilburys - The Travelling Wilburys Collection (2CD/DVD, Wilbury Records/Warner/Rhino, 2007). The story of Travelling Wilburys is one really worth telling. It all started out with George Harrison, when his record company asked him for a new song to his forthcoming single. Those were the days when people actually bothered to include something extra on the flipside of a single release. Apparently he fooled around with a tune, together with some friends and the result was Handle With Care. The friends were Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Roy Orbinson and the result so amazing even the record company thought it was great stuff. They actually begged Harisson and friends to make an entire album together. And whereas Harisson was reluctant to say the least in most occassions concerning commercialism, this time he agreed. The result was The Travelling Wilburys Volume 1. From the opener Handle With Care right to the End Of The Line you can hear the joy, friendship and pure genius of all involved. At the time I bought a real LP version of this record in Prague, which had just opened up to the west. I haven't been able to read any of the liner notes since, because they were written in Czech. They are included in the booklet to this set and happen to be really funny. It tells of the origins of the strange Wilbury folk and song. The only surviving Wilburys are said to be on this record and it's said they have a history of failing to cope with managers, wives and drummers. The second album (volume 3) can't really stand in the shadow of the brilliant first, but it's good enough compared to many other records of that time. You might consider it very, very nice bonus tracks to one memorable album. Once more Rhino does the world a great big bloody favour! Go and do yourself a favour and buy it!
The White Stripes - Icky Thump (CD, Third Man/XL, 2007). The latest from the White family is a grower. The first time you hear Icky Thump you may think it's a bunch of Led Zeppelin fans trying to make a piece that sounds like Tomorrow Never Knows. Is it a speeded tape, a synthesize or a guitar that plays these beautifully sloppy, overexcited solos? Whatever happened to the chorus, I mean, where the bleeders' is it anyway? But the more you listen to it the more you dig it. Quite the opposite, the second track is quite traditional by White standards. And it goes on like that, every track seemingly denies the preceeding one, even Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn has little to do with the following track, even though they're both sound like traditional folk tunes sodden in bagpipes (really). Once more it is demonstrated that some songs are not fit to play on the radio, apart from the fact that it's a strange song already, the brutal mastering applied for radio broadcast completely ruins the sound. In short I really mean to say it's a truly great album.
Nico - The Frozen Borderline (2CD, Rhino/Elektra/Reprise, 2007). This should bear a sticker "WARNING! Extreme beauty! Unsuitable for use by fainthearted!" This is one of those reissues I really have been waiting for ever since I heard of the existence of the original records. Nico, of Velvet fame, unhappy with her Chelsea Girls debut album, radically changed her methods on her second and third album (reissued here as a double set with no less than 17 bonus tracks and a hidden track!). She learned to play the harmonium (as suggested to her by Leonard Cohen), asked John Cale to produce and wrote some of the most haunting songs ever. On virtually all tracks Nico plays the harmonium, the most dismal and desolate sounding of instruments and sings her deep, dark, Teutonic laments. John Cale plays all the other instruments. The result is a uniquely layered album that send shivers down places in your body, you never realised could shiver. On No One Is There Cale improvises multiple layers of viola on top, around and right through a beautiful song, with an extremely beautiful result. On Evening Of Light, Nico quietly sings a darkly romantic poem while John Cale hammers out on an echoeing piano of sorts and seems to trash all instruments in his mad grasp. Fantastically terrifying! The second disc is less extreme, with some shafts of light, but when her son sings Le Petit Chevalier you realise doom awaits us all! Hide all sharp objects, close the curtains, turn down the lights and play at maximum volume. A surreal experience.
The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow (CD, SubPop, 2003). Since I bought Wincing the Night Away and loved it, I found this in the Sale section of our local record shop. This is the album that took them to the top of the underground. A very beautiful (and a tad bit short) album, a bit more uptempo than Wincing... Opening track Kissing The Lipless doesn't really do it for me, but others like Gone For Good should be considered modern classics.
Lou Reed - Set The Twilight Reeling (CD, Warner, 1996). I bought this in Studio 1 second hand record shop in Konstanz (go there when you happen to visit this city). I already heard it a lot of times as I used to borrow it from a flatmate friend. It took me a while to find it for a reasonable price in its original dark blue jewel case. A fantastic must have album. Aunty Lou sounds happy at times, but delivers his NYC wit through all tracks. The only rapper I enjoy listening to plays some of his best tunes with little or no overdubs and a band as tight as a robin's ass. Egg Cream is funny, witty with a deeper layer of (yeah, right) melancholy, even! NYC Man explains what it's like being just that, ridden with beautiful horns. Trade In is just a very, very beautiful song, as is Hang On To Your Emotions. Sex With Your Parents is a a razorsharp, funny stab at American politics. Contains cool artwork mit Deutscher Textübersetzung.
Lou Reed - American Poet (CD, Burning Airlines/NMC Music, 2000). A bit of an official bootleg this. I think someone found some tapes in the basement of a radiostudio and got the release rights in a garagesale. I mean, the music is beautiful, the artwork is more or less ok and the photos by Mick Rock are great, obviously. But one Carlton P. Sandercock damn near ruins the party with liner notes so full of typing errors and sort-of-in-jokes it seems he wrote them on a sickbag in a burning airline (you asked for that!). He even forgets to mention the names of the Tots, the band accompanying Aunty Lou on this recording, while Mr. Reed himself even mentions them all in the interview on the CD. So there: Vinny LaPorta, guitar; Eddie Reynolds, guitar; Bobby Resigno, bass; Scottie Clark, drums. Most songs are very nice renditions of Velvet classics and songs from his first two albums, Berlin is a stunning version that alone makes this album well worth buying.
Al Hirt - Here In My Heart (LP, RCA, 1969). Al 'He's the King' Hirt became famous when he recorded the unplayable trumpet part for Theme from Green Hornet (have a look at What's Been On Before for more info). But although he made an awful lot of records, he never quite equalled the success of that particular tune. On this album he sounds like Henry Mancini with a trumpet. I mean, I love it, but you have to get your teeth ready for some sugary icing! It's errr... extremely sexy in a verrry sugary way, thanks no doubt, to the arrangements of one Joe René.
Charles Mingus - Mingus Quintet Meets Cat Anderson (LP, Unique Jazz, 1972?). Sue Mingus' site mentions this record as one of the many unauthorized releases. The cover is hideous and the information extremely minimal. The miracle of internet taught me that the two tracks presented here were recorded in 1972 in Berlin. Anderson is an extraordinary trumpet player, who collaberated with Mingus' hero Duke Ellington for a very long time. He is most famous for the very high pitched notes he quite literally squeezes out of his instrument. Celia is a beautiful live collage of tunes, solos and band improvisations, whereas Perdido simply redifines 'moodswings'. Very beautiful.
Neil Young - NYAPS Disc 03, Massey Hall 1971 (CD/DVD, Reprise, 2007). Slowly mr. Young is revealing the treasures hidden in his archives. This is a solo concert recorded between After The Gold Rush and Harvest. It sounds so intimate, it makes you think you remember being there at the time. Young plays older songs and -then- new ones from what came to be his greatest succes Harvest. Producer David Briggs was so pleased with this recording he wanted to release them right away, but Neil Young at the time was focussed on his new studio album. His guitar-picking is pure genius and his voice, at times, even sounds strong. He makes a couple of jokes and introduces the songs with stories that really add colour to the background of the subjects. The DVD is a beautiful film of the event based on a hand held Super8 recording of the show, mixed with found footage and intimate clips. Simply stunning!
Charles Mingus - Music Written For Monterey 1965, Not Heard... Played in it's entirety At UCLA (2CD, Sue Mingus Music/Epitaph, 2006). Apparently quite a while in the making. It was announced on Sue Mingus' website long before it was released and the outer wrapper says 2005 where the inner package says 2006. Anyway, it was eventually released in 2006. If I had made a list for the best reissues of 2006 it would have been tough for me to choose between this 'un and Johnny Cash at Saint Quentin, the Legacy Edition. Obviously Cash comes in a fantastic 2CD+DVD digipack with a wonderful booklet and it contains the entire show in fantastic quality, but still... If you just try to imagine what the people experienced at UCLA when they saw the Force of Nature that was Mingus errr... Perform. The story of this release would be the perfect script for a dramatic mockumentary with more legendary scenes than This Is Spinal Tap. And the performance recorded here was a happening without equal. The music is incredibly fantastic, but at a few points Mingus makes it perfectly clear that he is not satisfied. The first track -a very dramatic, minimalistic unrecognizable reworking of Meditations- doesn't end the way it should. While playing an incredible, literally 'double' bassline, Mingus switches to piano and plays the ending... twice. Then they try on Once Upon A Time There Was A Holding Corporation Called Old America and the entire band seems to miss the downbeat (or so it says in the liner notes). Mingus makes a couple of funny remarks and boldly sends the brass section to the dressing room to study their parts! The show continues with a fantastic quartet performance. And after a while he calls the brass section back to stage and the entire band delivers a stunning version of the aforementioned piece. The closing track is simply chilling... Has to be heard to be believed.
The Velvet Underground - Another View (CD, Verve/Polygram, 1986). Quoting George Harrisson commenting on any more 'new' releases of Beatles material, after Anthology: "that would be scraping the bottom of the barrel". This release can hardly be compared with VU from a year earlier. Maybe someone stumbled upon a box when putting out the garbage. No really, the music is beautiful, but had it been on one CD together with VU the total sum would have made one historic album. Or why not include it in the Peel Slowly Box and forget about this separate release. But then again, I still doubt if at that time Verve fully realised the importance of the Velvet Underground. Anyway, the Peel Slowly Box was nowhere in sight yet. Now it's just a couple of leftovers from the leftovers with some hidden gems. And they even seem to have forgotten to ask someone to write liner notes.
The Shins - Wincing the Night Away (CD, SubPop, 2007). I bought it on reviews alone. I heard some earlier stuff and kinda liked it, but never really dived into it. This is a very beautiful and strange album. Poppy but different, poetry without rhyme, what is he singing about anyway, makes me feel like I should care. Very, very beautiful.
Calexico - Garden Ruin (CD, City Slang, 2006). I saw them perform a few times a couple of years ago. That was very beautiful, but at times I thought the Mexican horn section made it a bit too much of a party. I also have one other CD which I quite like. But this is a totally brilliant album. It's like it has the same atmosphere all through, without all songs sounding the same. Kind of dark, kind of haunting, moody, melodic, very beautiful. And I bought it in the Sale...
Stuart A. Staples - Leaving Songs (CD, Beggars Banquet, 2006). Staples (and Tindersticks) are of that rare breed that keep doing the same thing without it getting boring. And on his second album without the Sticks he pulls it off once more. A bit more detailed than the jammy first, this second sounds more like Tindersticks than they themselves have done in a long time. Darkly romantic beauty.
It's that time of the year again. Contemplation, looking forward, looking back and '...of the year' lists. For the fourth time I hereby humbly present you the list of my dearest new records. Mind that I only mention records I actually bought errr... physically.
1. Tom Waits - Orphans (3CD, Anti/Epitaph, 2006). Beyond the shadow of a doubt, Mr. Waits takes the top with his latest release. Mind that he made it to the no 5 spot in the 2004 list, with Real Gone. Just the sheer quantity and quality of Orphans should make any musician weep. I mean: 56 songs, 30 new recordings, all left overs(?) and just maybe one or two that are less than fucking brilliant. And he even took the liberty of dividing it into categories and got away with it! Three CD's that can be listened to as separate albums, each with it's own atmosphere, it's own logic, drenched in Waits. No kidding, this is a fantastic set, worth every cent. Where real Gone was his 'angry' album, this is a bit more human. But when he get's angry, it's more like he's worried about us all. In Road to Peace, he is so angry and worried he sings words that sound like he took them from a newspaper. It really gets under your skin. Therefore Road To Peace is hereby declared 'Song Of The Year'.
2. Sean Lennon - Friendly Fire (CD/DVD, Capitol, 2006). I actually bought it twice and gave it away as a present. Now I'll have to buy it for the third time and still I think it's worth it. His first album Into The Sun already showed Sean Lennon has a broad taste in music, but here he manages to mold it all into an albumsworth of the prettiest popsongs I heard this year. The album comes with a DVD that makes Beck's The Information DVD look a bit silly, I'm afraid. The short film Friendly Fire is a funny, moody, lovingly made film, made up of short films accompanying the songs.
3. Bob Dylan - Modern Times (CD/DVD, Columbia/Sony, 2006). I already called it 'A Masterpiece' some time ago and it still stands. It's the ideal mixture of all things outdated, Rock&Roll, Blues, Folk, Poetry, the lot and he makes it sound urgent, here and now. He's obviously worried about mankind, love, God, sex, the past and the future like he has always been, but this time he delivers it with a sound both upbeat and blue at the same time. Fantastic stuff! The DVD is errr... okay, four nice video's but it's all older songs. Spirit On the Water would have been contender for song of the year.
4. Graham Coxon - Love Travels At Illegal Speeds (CD/DVD, Parlophone/EMI, 2006). In may this year I wrote 'A Pop album the way Pop should be'. Beautiful, funny, crazy, fucked up, on top, down on the ground, it's all in here. Possible standout track Just A State Of Mind. Better production than anything he has ever done before, capturing the directness as well as the warmth. He recently 'released' Graham Coxon - Burnt To Bitz (Make Shit Not War/At The Astoria) (2CD, Live Here Now, 2006) which is a more than fantastic live companion to this album.
5. Sonic Youth - Rather ripped (CD, Geffen, 2006)/The Raconteurs (CD, XL, 2006)
Tom Waits - Orphans (3CD, Anti/Epitaph, 2006). If you happen to think all the attention spent on Tom Waits these days is a bit exxagerated you couldn't be further from right. The Package he has delivered deserves the highest possible praise. A beautifully designed book (note: you can't possibly call this a 'booklet', it would sound too small for it's content) contains three cd's called, Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards. Apparently Tom has tried to organize the tracks in three categories. Each cd lasts longer than an hour and I haven't heard one track I didn't like. The first contains mostly raw, chickenshack boomclank, the second ballads and folklike creations and the third, well, let's say 'Bastards' is the best possible description. Funny thing is that each CD still sounds like a very good album rather than a set of tracks and could as such easily compete with Real Gone. Since I don't believe in Miracles this is a guaranteed winner of 2006' What's On Album Of The Year Award. Standout tracks (though it's difficult to make a choice) Road To Peace, You Can Never Hold Back Spring and Nirvana.
Sean Lennon - Friendly Fire (CD/DVD, Capitol, 2006). 'Son of' comes closer to his father's genius than most with a brilliant album. Dead Meat starts with a piano tune resembling Yann Thiersens's tune for Amelie, that immediately sticks. The album contains 10 perfect popsongs, sometimes cynical, hurt and desolate but always sort of hopeful. With it comes a DVD with short films to all the songs. The result is a very enjoyable short film that links the songs together like a concept album on the pros and cons of love.
The Velvet Underground - VU (CD, Verve/Polygram, 1985). A collection of songs that were found while reproducing the original albums for release on cd. Sort of Great Long Lost Velvets Album, rejected by the record company at the time of recording. Most songs can also be heard on the Peel Slowly And See box, be it sometimes in different versions. As a whole this really sounds like something of an album. I don't think I heard She's My Best Friend or Andy's Chest before, the first a very sweet try on a popsong, the latter a strange tune Reed re-recorded for his Transformer album. Pity that mr Cale only plays on two tracks, the funny Temptation Inside Your Heart and the gorgeous Stephanie Says.
Graham Coxon - Burnt To Bitz (Make Shit Not War/At The Astoria) (2CD, Live Here Now, 2006). Even in these days of (failing) copy protection, downloading and piracy Coxon hereby proves it is still possible to make a collectors item. And I'm one of the few to obtain one original. It's a live registration of a London gig which could only be ordered after the show or through the Live Here Now website. The band is as tight as a robin's ass, the music is fucking loud and equally amazing. Perfect renditions of well-, lesser- and unknown tracks from al his albums etc. Brilliant, makes you wish/feel you were there.
Johnny Cash - At San Quentin, The Legacy Edition (2CD/DVD, Columbia, 2006). I once owned the original version of this album on vinyl and sold it. I guess I wasn't ready yet. Years later I heard Cocaine Blues from the Folsom Prison album and became a fan for life. I bought Folsom at the time, but still hesitated to buy San Quentin. Then I got another vinyl copy of San Quentin as a present from a friend (it's one of her favorite albums) and it still didn't really tick for me. They released the expanded version in 2000 and I didn't buy it. It's beautiful obviously, but I liked the raw energy from Folsom better than San Quentin. Finally last week Columbia released this 'Legacy Edition' and it truly is a name well deserved. It combines almost the entire show (a few tracks were omitted because of tape ends) with a DVD of the original Granada Television documentary. Finally after 36 years we can try and relive that phenomenal night. Finally a version worth buying, definitely NOT a Christmas sell out! Where the original album contained 10 songs, all by Cash and band, this Edition also contains all of the warm ups by Carl Perkins, The Statler Brothers and the Carter Family and all introductions, jokes and stories. 31 bleeding tracks! The DVD contains the original documentary recorded around the gig with stunning footage of interviews with inmates and snippets of Cash' performance. Fantastic must have!
McDonald And Giles - McDonald And Giles (HdCD, Virgin, 2002). A couple of months ago I kind of complained about the mix of the original release of this album and the fact that it was hard to get a CD version of it (not that I'd been trying that hard really). Apparently it took them 30 to realise that. Then in 2002 mr McDonald himself digitalised and remixed the original tapes for this release. And indeed it sounds much better. A beautiful album. In the booklet the mystery is solved. Back in 1970 they ran out of money while recording and finally lost interest in the project altogether. So the record company had it mixed quickly and released it. Sales... not. I got it through ebay.
Die Surfpoeten - Die Surfpoeten (Book/CD Collect/Volland Quist, 2004/2006). Berlin squatterpoets, very good very funny. Saw them supporting de Kift a couple of weeks ago, only days after I returned from a short holiday in... Berlin.
The Long Winters - When I Pretend To Fall (2LP, The Control group, 2006). Vinyl rerelease of this brilliant album, slightly wacky, very american and beautiful.
Miles Davis - Blue Moods (LP, Debut/Mikulski, ?). re-release of a Davis oldie featuring Mingus on bass. Sounds like Mingus' own East Coasting album. All geniusses obviously but Teddy Charles on vibes even manages to stand out. Aptly titled moody album.
Bob Dylan - Bringing It All Back Home (CD, Columbia/Sony, 1965/2003). Didn't anyone think of including the promotional film for Subterranean Homesick Blues as an extra on this CD? The video is equally brilliant and simple. Same goes for this album. It's all Dylan strumming away on his guitar (be it an electric one this time) and sandpaperhumming psychedelic words before the word psychedelic was even invented.
Bob Dylan - Modern Times (CD/DVD, Columbia/Sony, 2006). A masterpiece! A universe away from the above mentioned strum and hum in that it is an example of melodic and lyric craftsmanship, musicianship and production (Jack Frost=Dylan=Zimmerman). He almost sounds happy and he can truly sing! A lovely, layered album. I haven't had a chance to see the DVD yet.
John Cale - Paris 1919 (CD, Rhino/Warner Reprise, 1973/2006). Years ago I told a friend that I wouldn't buy the album on CD before it was remastered. He showed me his copy and it said "remastered" on the outside. "...with bonustracks!" I added; to which he had no reply, obviously. I already had the 36 brilliant minutes on vinyl, so why should I. And finally here it is, a dream come true. The first 9 tracks remain as they were; dark, mysterious, intelligent and cunningly, crooningly catchy. Be it that it seems they sound even better than the remastered edition. But it's a joy to listen it to the end, even thought the title track is included two times in the bonus material. As the lyrics and the music of the original already gave an insight to the man's equally intelligent, distorted and witty mind, the bonustracks reveal how things were in the studio. Trying, stumbling, changing, trying again. Beautiful!
Various artists - Uncut Playlist (September&October) (2 CD's, Uncut, 2006). Actually the only Music magazine I try to buy and read every month has a free CD with every issue. And they certainly have good taste. The September issue made me curious to go and buy Pulp reissues and the October issue made me buy Charlotte Gainsbourg's album as a gift for my girlfriend. If I hadn't forgotten her name at the store I would have bought Nina Nastasia as well. I will, I will...
The Electric Light Orchestra - The Electric Light Orchestra (LP, EMI/Harvest, 1971). Guilty pleasure, sure, but this truly is an equally brilliant as crazy album. It doesn't go over the top like Mr Blue Sky, thank God, but it goes over the top in lots of other ways. Hooting French horn's and loads of grinding cello's never got closer to sounding Pop. If Out Of The Blue lacked good taste, this album shows they used to have it in the beginning. Had something to do with Roy Wood I guess. I almost bought the CD The Harvest Years this week, but it's too expensive. I'm sure it will end up in the 'where are they now section' sooner or later so I'll get it in the end.
Elvis Costello - My Flame Burns Blue (2CD, Deutsche Grammophone, 2004/2005). If, heaven forbid, Costello was to die right now, we could still say he is one of the few musicians who (more or less) succesfully ventured into almost all possible corners of the musical universe. This live recording shows him live with the Metropole Orkest. The recording has a jazz feel to it, with a taste of classical music, or the other way around, with a touch of pop. And, just to set an example it opens with Hora Decubitus, from one Charles Mingus, who you might remember from 'Being On' here almost every time. This recording might well change a few minds as he sings quite beautiful really. My Favourite Hour matches the stunning original version, Almost Blue shows true greatness and Watching The Detectives is hilarious in all its witty beauty.
Sebadoh - III (2CD, Domino, 1991/2006). Reissue galore. Probably the most uneven album of all time, it ranges from home recordings beyond lo-fi, to well-played, seminal alternative rock. Though Lou Barlow is a musical hero, this is actually the first Sebadoh I ever bought. Though some tracks made me a bit nervous, it's a beautiful collection. The Freed Pig would have been a hit in a better world.
Charles Mingus - The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady (LP, Impulse, 1963). Last Friday I went to de Jazzwinkel again. I hadn’t been there for quite a while due to financial circumstances, so to speak and I’m afraid I kind of made up for it. They had two original Impulse releases of My Main Man Mingus for sale and I couldn’t help but buy them both. Earlier On I wrote about the artwork and how Impulse has managed to reproduced the original LP artwork for CD-release almost perfectly. But the original is still even more beautiful. And the sound, the sound... the CD suddenly sounds a bit too smooth compared to the LP. One of my favorite Mingusses on vinyl, WeeHoo!
Charles Mingus – Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus (LP, Impulse, 1963). Most of the above goes for this record whereas this is not one of my favourites. I mean it’s a lovely album but it sounds a bit like a rush release at times. To Mingus’ standards, apart from Better Get Hit In Yo' Soul, most of the tracks are kind of mellow. For those poor sods who think Mingus only liked to make a lot of noise, here’s some perfect examples of his beautiful melodies. Celia, Theme for Lester Young (aka Goodbye, Pork Pie Hat), Gawd, I love them…
Grandaddy – Just Like The Fambly Cat (CD, V2, 2006). A heartless critic might say our Beloved Elderlies deliver more of the same for one last time. But Grandaddy does it so well, so cunningly, shakingly beautiful, they could go on doing the same thing for ages and you wouldn’t hear me complain. The opening track, with a young girl repeating “What happened to the fambly cat” over and over again to a beautiful piano tune and some digital noise, makes you wonder what it is that makes you feel so melancholic. And isn’t that just what Grandaddy has always been so darn good at? And still they manage to add more sounds and melodies to their vocabulary. Elevate Myself quite literally sums up a dozen reasons to quit a band. The end of the last track is a funny hats-off to Electric Light Orchestra, with an opera singer dubbing “no more Shangri-la’s”. The result is an album and sound that kind of go back to the early EP’s. What a wonderful way to call it a day. Thank You.
John Cale – Animal Justice (12"s, Illegal Records, 1977). Original 12inch single on the (legal) Illegal Records label. Title of the first track made me think this must have been recorded after half his band quit mid-tour due to the Master beheading a chicken on stage. The track "Chickenshit" starts with a silly voice saying "Hi, I'm Arthur and I quit. Chickenshit!". Second track is equally unrecognisable and totally bonkers version of the standard "Memphis". Both these tracks make it more or less clear why some people sometimes say Cale had something to do with early punk. Play loud! The B-side is something else completely. It's the beautiful and slightly disturbing track "Hedda Gabler", a woman who did some nasty things in a war, or so I faintly remember. Funny thing is that I heard him play it about a year ago and it sounded like it was filtered through the "Music for A New Society"-ator (as was most of the gig, just listen to it on www.fabchannel.com). But this song really predates that album by about 5 years. Very, very beautiful.
The Clash – The Clash (LP, CBS, 1977). First pressing, with beautiful cover! Bought it on E-bay from Phillip Mudd (just as the Cale 12"). Looks and sounds brandnew! Ever since I bought "London Calling" I'm loving the Clash more and more. Even though this is only their first album, it already has little to do with what punk is infamous for. It's intelligent, melodically interesting tightly played music.
Beck – A Western Harvest Field By Moonlight (10" LP, Fingerpaint Records, 1994). Third release of sir Beck Hansen. An obscure record with dito tracks. I mean, I love every bit of it, but to say this will probably never reach a great audience is an understatement. Noises, casio drums, detuned (acoustic) guitars and silly lyrics. With one more or less proper song "Totally Confused" which made it to the B side of the "Loser" single.
Eels With Strings - Live At Town Hall (CD, Vagrant, 2005). Still on!
Charles Mingus - Jazz Portraits (CD, Blue Note, 1994). A re-release of United Artists "Jazz Portraits", "Mingus In Wonderland" and "Wonderland". A stunningly beautiful album with four Mingus tunes and a "Duke-Gershwin". It's "been on" here before obviously but I re-read the liner notes and it says "while reviews of this concert also mention this quintet performing Take The A Train, Jelly Roll Jellies, Billie's Bounce and Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting, no tapes of these performances exist." That should make for some perfect bonus tracks. Writer Michael Cuscuna also mentions a film "Shadows" by John Cassavetes, for which Mingus wrote the score. I'm really anxious to see it. In fact I'm going to look it up on e-donkey now!
Graham Coxon - Love Travels At Illegal Speeds (CD/DVD, Parlophone/EMI, 2006). The latest from our reporter in Camden is a Festive Freak Out. I can see the English girls and boys moshing on half of the tracks when played on Glastonbury etc. Rockers with all the love and frustration we've come to know from our bespectacled friend. The other half is mid tempo pop/rock with a bit of balladry. Don't Believe Anything I Say sounds a bit like it was written by the late great George Harrison for The Travelling Wilbury's and I mean it as a Compliment. Just A state Of Mind is Beautiful, mixing standard lines a pubescent boy could say with beautiful wit, underlined with a worrying tone. A Pop album the way Pop should be and it seems like I love it even more than "Happiness In Magazines".
Roman Coppola - CQ (DVD, Universal/Studio Canal, 2001). At last a PAL 2 version of this long sought after movie. A movie about the making of "Dragonfly", a non-existent Barbarella spoof, starring beautiful Angela Lindvall. The soundtrack was written and performed by "Mellow" and they pull it off really nicely! This movie kind of sums up everything that makes "Barbarella" and "Danger Diabolik" so cool. Roman is "son of".
An Pièrlé + Band - Live Jet Set With Orchestra (CD, Helicopter/Warner, 2002). An rules!
Radiohead - Live Under A Big Top (Nijmegen 16-09-2000) (2CDR, 2000). Unreleased/ripped recording of a FANTASTIC live performance by Radiohead. I played it last week because a friend of mine managed to get his hands on a couple of tickets for the show in Amsterdam this May. I'm really looking forward to it. I saw the same show that year, but it was not on the same day as this recording. Fortunately, the bonustrack The Thief they only played the night I was there is included here.
John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band - Sometime In New York City (2LP, Apple, 1972). I must be one of the few people who actually enjoy listening to Yoko Ono singing, given the reactions I get from most of my friends. And she sings a couple of tunes on this one. Obviously this isn't Lennon's greatest work and Ono isn't the greatest singer in the world, but I really enjoy listening to this album. Luck Of The Irish is brilliant and so is Woman Is The Nigger Of The World. The artwork for the original album is very very beautiful. newspaper imitation (which was much imitated itself, by lots of others later) with handwritten comments and drawings, giving it a Monty Python overall look. The bonus 12" is very funny too. Scumbag (featuring Frank Zappa and The Mothers Of Invention) is one of my favorite tracks. The live version of Cold Turkey is truly chilling and some of the other tracks contain a little too much Yoko-screaming. The re-re-re-re-re release that came out last summer is a bloody cash in for that matter. For that particular CD version they left out the live tracks featuring Zappa and ommitted most of the artwork. Just to top it off they squeezed it into that piece of crap some people call a "jewel case" packaging. Do yourself a bloody favour and buy an old vinyl copy of this album (on 29th of April) and a LP-player with it if you don't own one, all for less of your money!!!
The John Coltrane Quartet- Africa/Brass (LP, Impulse, 1961). This LP is a reprint from the 80's or 90's reproducing the original in finest detail. I didn't really know this album existed (I never really bothered to look through the complete Coltrane discography). It's a beautiful record, though it may be considered a bit short, with a total duration of about 35 minutes. But then that used to be a bit of a standard length for an album in those days. It features Coltrane with his quartet and a full "orchestra" with as much as four french horns, trumpet, alto sax, baritone sax, two euphoniums (??) two basses, piano, drums and tuba. The design, it says, was done by Robert Flynn/Viceroy, but I would really like to know who did the overall layout design for Impulse. The first time I bought a Mingus Impulse CD, I remember thinking "wow, for the first time someone came up with a tastefully modern look for a CD that fits the original record". Obviously, the Impulse artwork is so brilliant, it was 45 years ahead of it's time, because they reproduced most of the original artwork for all their CD re-releases.
Helge Schneider - 22 sehr, sehr gute Lieder ("the Best of") (2CD, Capitol/Roofmusic, 2003). It may seem like the odd one out; a German comedian on the Pondertone stereoset. But Helge Schneider truly is a musical hero. I don't really know if he is totally insane or a brilliant actor, I do know he is a brilliant musician pretending he's just fooling around. Totally hilarious for the people who like it, extremely irritating for the people who don't. I've seen his performance in Cologne last week and loved every minute of it. This is a collection of his songs, ranging from Thelonious Monk style piano tunes to Schlager wannabees, all with lyrics balancing between wit and nonsense.
Eels With Strings - Live At Town Hall (CD, Vagrant, 2005). And now for something completely different... Eels sounds so melancholic it's sometimes funny, so dark and hopeless yet witty and strong, but most of all extremely beautiful! Their show in Vredenburg was the best performance I've seen in 2005. It may be hard to understand how 22 songs that have so much in common (theme's, chords, rythms) can sound so varied, that songs about everything that's ugly about life can make you seen the beauty of it. Eels are truly one of a kind! It's a bit early to start mentioning contenders for the album of the year, but still...
Charles Mingus - Oh Yeah (CD, Rhino, 2003). Rhino presents Atlantic jazz Gallery, it says on the sleeve. I already bought the Atlantic CD version of this album and was somewhat dissapointed. The original LP has a beautiful cover, on the Atlantic Version it comes with a disturbing vertical red bar shouting "ATLANTIC ORIGINAL SOUND". And inside all notes are reproduced in a hopelessly oldfashioned font, all in rounded textboxes. It even says "reproducing all original artwork", which is not true obviously. This Rhino version is expanded with three bonus tracks, all original artwork and a beautiful booklet with an essay on Mingus, the original liner notes and beautiful pictures. The CD is packed in a mini-LP-sleeve reproducing the original to detail and that in itself is stuck in a beautiful matte grey carton double sleeve. I gave my old Oh Yeah to Tom for his birthday. Oh Yeah is a bit "Mingus' funny album". For the first time in his career he plays piano on all tunes and even errr sings. We've heard him wail lines before (mostly whenever he thought there was room for one more instrument) but this time he even sings/shouts words. Which for me gives the album an overall old Blues feel but also makes some of the tunes sound a bit funny, for instance Eat That Chicken... Passions Of A Man is a fantastic track with Mingus talking like Mark Hand in Barbarella, over a beautiful all out improvisation. Cumbrigo Bango Mau Mau!!!
I bought this one on Ebay, from Bob, who lives in Houston, USA. Because of the postage it wasn't as cheap as I wanted it to be but I got a funny email from Bob to make up for it. He wrote me that he had bought the CD in Utrecht in 2003! He used to live (t)here and still regularly visits. If he had had a trip to Holland planned he would have dropped the CD off himself! He thought Mingus wanted to go home.
Paul Bley - Introducing Paul Bley (LP, Debut Records/Fantasy, 1953). I suppose it's a reissue of the original reissue of the original 10-inch release. The Paul Bley trio further consists of Art Blakey (wow!) and one (hey!) Charles Mingus. A very pretty album indeed. Maybe it's because I'm no jazz pianist but I can't really pinpoint what's so "vigorously individual" about his style, but all tunes sound like beautiful standards the first time round and that's quite remarkable. Three are his own, three are standards and one is a funny bonustrack (Santa Claus Is Coming To Town). Beautiful b/w cover containing handwritten typography.
Jelly Roll Morton - The Complete Jelly Roll Morton Volumes 5/6 (1929-1930) (2LP, RCA/Ariola, 1982). Part of a series of double albums. Morton playing with different bands, orchestras and even female vocalists. Deceivingly simple music that must have been ahead of it's time. It was to inspire Mingus.
XTC - Nonsuch (CD, Virgin, 1991). Hadn't heard it in a long time. It may not be their best but there's enough sticking tunes to have you whistling for a week.
Devendra Banhart - Cripple Crow (CD, XL, 2005). Far out in the 21st century!
Bad news first, I'm afraid. Grandaddy has officially passed away. One of my favorite bands of all time has ceased to be. I can't really remember how many times I've seen them play the past ten years, but most of these shows are treasured and etched in my memory. I bought their first album Under The Western Freeway, more or less by accident. It was a No Risk Disc at Plato Utrecht and I thought I had heard something positive about it. When I got it home I was introduced to something I had been wanting to hear for a long time. Beautiful, heartfelt, cranky songs. Perfect in the way that they lost a couple of screws along the way. First time I saw them I will never forget: Mean Fiddler in Dirty Ol' Dublin. Having a pint o' Guinness with good music to go along with it is my idea of heaven. Years later I saw them at the Olympia in Dublin and that was probably the best show I've seen of them, with a stunning version of Sarah (i can't remember the rest of the title). I gave the guitarist a copy of Selotape Frankenstein and he was surprised to get a present anyway. Furthermore I saw them at Tivoli - Utrecht (with Ballerina Liberation Front opening), Effenaar - Eindhoven, Pinkpop, Melkweg - Amsterdam and there must be some others I more or less forgot about. Not for them but my limited brain capacity. Their latest release has been written about at this very page (please have a look at What's been on before!) and I'm happy to let you know that they will release one more CD this year.
Bluegrass Boogiemen - Who's Afraid of the Boogiemen (CD, Vandiver Records, 2005). A fantastic album, almost just as brilliant as their liveshows, but it still has to be seen to be believed. Though some people consider Bluegrass traditional American music, Bluegrass Boogiemen give clear evidence of this sad mistake. As can be read in the booklet, both Bill Monroe's uncle and mother were of Dutch ancestry. To further prove my point I might add that they (the Boogiemen that is, not Bill Monroe's uncle and mother obviously!) are frequently asked to tour America. Last but not least; the kind of plant the music was named after was earlier called "Dutch grass". I rest my case.
The Broken Beats - Them Codes...Them Codes (CD, Hazelwood Music, 2005). I saw them play in Ekko two weeks ago (my friends The Gasoline Brothers supported). It was a beautiful show altogether. They come from Denmark, singer looks a bit like Catweazle in a suit, speaks funny Denglish and their songs are a mix of lots of things. Think of something in the middle between Zappa and Sufjan Stevens. Beautiful record.
Goldfrapp - Felt Mountain (CD, Mute, 2000). I only bought this album this week, but I already got to know it in the year of it's release. An unbelievably warm, atmospheric and errr... sexy album. It was their debut and I was stunned. Things have gone a bit danceable at Goldfrapp Headquarters since and I don't really think I need that.
The Gasoline Brothers - Hm! (CD, My First Sonny Weismuller, 2006). I just HAD to mention it here!
Duke Ellington/Charlie Mingus/Max Roach (LP, United Artists, 1962). Last year's best buy! The first two or three days since I got it, I played it on end. As a fan of Mingus and Ellington it gives me a warm feeling to hear how much Mingus felt inspired by the presence of His Idol. Obviously Mingus has recorded so much that it is impossible to qualify, but this record surely contains some of his most emotional and beautiful bass parts. Listen and weep.
John Coltrane - Coltrane (LP, Prestige, 1957). Fantastic, unbelievable, beautiful, equalled only by himself. If I was to rule this planet... etc... Oh and errr... I bought it for only 8 euro at De Jazzwinkel in Utrecht and they still have a couple more. Same goes for the next entry, just read on.
Charles Mingus - Right Now: Live At The Jazz Workshop (LP, Debut, 1964). Mingus full on! It takes him only two tracks (both 23 minutes long though) two show everything I love him for. But to cut a long and interesting story a tad bit shorter, I'll just cite the liner notes for y'all. On the back of the sleeve one Rachel Sales writes: "Writers of liner notes, with a few blessed exceptions, do little more than outline the batting order of solos, which is as useless and redundant as dramatic critics whose reviews are taken up by a description of the plot. If you must be told that in Meditations, Mingus is bowing high in the 'cello range of the bass "somewhat reminiscent of Bloch's Schlomo"' or that he keeps shifting the tempos, or that at one point he joins Jane Getz for a bit of piano, four hands, you've been talking over the record, or singing along with Mitch, or any number of things the non-listeners do, and no amount of liner notes can help you, even if they were written by T.S. Eliot - or Mingus himself." It might be a good idea to combine all the Mingus-related liner notes into a comprehensive book. Without exception they are interesting and funny, but most of all descriptive of the Musical Genius And Lovable Madman that is Mingus.
Talking Heads - Little Creatures (LP, Sire, 1985). I betcha didn't expect to find this 'ere! Not my favorite, not their best and one of their poppiest albums, but still: I kinda like Talking Heads.
Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus (LP, Prestige, 1956). My introduction to the Rollins phenomenon. Man, those must have been the days!
As the end of this year approaches rapidly, it's time for listing the uppermost of the toppermost of 2005.
I didn't really buy very much this year and will not list illegal downloads this time. As always it's been hard for me to make a Top Ten, let alone to decide in which order to put them! But still...
1. Beck - Guero (CD/DVD, Interscope Records, 2005). For the lovers of a bad pun: 'Beck is Back', and I don't mean Jeff or Pia. A wonderful collection of songs, with as much as three runners up for Song Of The Year; Girl, Go It Alone and Scarecrow, but even this threesome is subject to change. Deluxe version comes in a beautiful book-sized booklet, if all CD's would be packed like this, at least you'd have the idea you got value for money. I don't really know what to say of the DVD, the video's are moving images alright, but look a bit like they're stuck together by a tired veejay and I really thought I would get the promotional video's at first. The album is beautiful yet totally bonkers, the production makes it sound coherent in all its variety, the mixing is totally awesome, just listen to Que Onda Geuro and I'm sure at some point you'll look over your shoulder for a man whistling in the street, when it still comes out of your speakers or headphones.
2. Grandaddy - Excerpts From The Diary Of Toddzilla (CD, V2 Records, 2005). A beautiful way to whet your appetite for the next album, if this is just an EP, I wonder what the hell the album will be like, man I love it already! Recorded by Jason in 'Studio 2' (the bedroom) whereas Studio 1 was the rest of the house. It has the beautiful desolate crankiness of their old work and the politeness of their later work, with an edge to it.
3. John Cale - blackAcetate (CD, EMI records, 2005)/Paul McCartney - Chaos And Creation In The Backyard (CD, Parlophone, 2005). Isn't it wonderful that two 63 year olds share a 3rd spot in the list of a 30 year old. John Cale never ceases to amaze me with the changes in direction (anyone who has heard his soundtrack for Process this year, will know exactly what I mean, also very beautiful, but not in my top 10). This album sounds like the Neptunes have taken an interest in minimal music, guitar rock and avant-garde sounds. GravelDrive is contender for song of the year.
Just as I thought I had lost interest in Macca's new work completely (I mean; Twin Freaks, fuck off man!) it seems he found someone to keep him concentrated. I have said quite some things less positive about Nigel Godrich (Beck's Sea Change got lost in space) but this seems to be a perfect combination. A truly wonderful album, no Ob-La-di Ob-La-Das or Teddy Boys this time. Just 13 perfect songs from one of the greatest pop-composers of all time. Riding To Vanity Fair is contender for song of the year.
4. The White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan (CD, V2 records, 2005)/Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - Face The Truth (LP, Domino, 2005). Sometimes I couldn't help thinking The White Stripes were a very good joke that worked a bit too well. Perfect riffs, perfect melodies and Moe Tucker drums with blueswords to it should make a perfect combination anytime. Here's an album on which they dare to show where they got it from. Seemingly simple but cunningly complicated.
Mr. Malkmus showed me he can do perfectly without his Pavement. A totally crazy and beautiful record, with Freeze The Saints as contender for song of the year.
5. Eels - Blinking Lights And Other Revelations (2CD, Vagrant, 2005). Time flies; roundabout their/his breakthrough album Beautiful Freak, I used to buy every album they released and visit all tours they played in the Netherlands. Then something happened, I believe Electroshock Blues was the last in line. And then suddenly this double album! I thought it had become impossible to record and release a double album anyway, but Mr. E pulled it off quite nicely. It's like a story without being a concept album, a film without moving images. And then the live show in Vredenburg! Absolutely the show of the year (although I seem to have missed quite something by not visiting Sufjan stevens in Paradiso).
Heard but not bought yet:
Bluegrass Boogiemen - Who's Afraid Of The Boogiemen, a fantastic new album from one of the best bands in the world (from Utrecht!).
Devendra Banhart - Cripple Crow, I think I'm going to love this album even more than Rejoicing In The Hands.
I got Devendra Banhart - Cripple Crow for christmas and I was right on 19-12-2005. It's a very very beautiful record, could have ended very high in the uppermost of the toppermost of 2005. Heard Somebody Say, would have been contender for song of the year. Please note that no final choice for Song Of The Year was made.
Ballerina Liberation Front - Evidence (CD, Eau Records/Sonic Rendezvous, 2005). First of all; yes, they are friends of mine (apparently they even thank me in their booklet for not really contributing anything) and therefore what I'm about to write may sound a bit corny to some people. But still: finally, one of my favorite Dutch bands has released their official debut album. I love it! A gentle summer feel (in autumn), a bit of melancholy at times, cool arrangements and errr... a bit of an eighties feel to it, without sounding like it was produced in that much-dreaded era.
David Bowie - Baal (7inch EP, RCA, 1982). I bought it on Ebay after having tried to find it in all kinds of recordstores and on servers. Four much sought after songs in one beautiful cover form the official soundtrack to the televised play. Mr. Bowie plays and sings the lead in a play by Berthold Brecht. Remembering Marie A is particularly brilliant, the main character in the song has forgotten everything about the girl he used to love, except the fact that he saw a cloud in the sky when they first kissed.
Charles Mingus - Jazz Makers (7inch EP, Mercury, 1960). The only relation to the aforementioned Bowie EP is that I also bought this one through Ebay recently. Four tracks by my favorite Jazz composer and bassplayer. Four tracks that I haven't heard on any album or CD yet. Including a truly haunting version of Weird Nightmare.
Stephen Malkmus - Face The Truth (LP, Domino, 2005). More beautiful madness from the former leader of Pavement.
Charles Mingus - Jazz Portraits: Mingus In Wonderland (CD, Blue Note, 1994/1959). Includes the Fantastic "No Private Income Blues" with beautifully intertwined solos by John Handy and Booker Ervin, has to be heard to be believed!
Peter Thomas Sound Orchester - Raumpatrouille Orion (CDR). I've seen quite a few obscure movies in my time, but recently I was introduced to the series "Raumpatrouille Orion" from German TV in the mid-sixties. It's like a German version of Star Trek, but I love it! I've downloaded two episodes now and loved every minute of it. Yes, they talk too much and they can't even live up to the standard of special effects in the sixties, let alone the 21st century but still... it's strangely exciting. And the same goes for the soundtrack (yep, an illegal download too, truly sorry). It sounds like Barbarella, Diabolik and James Bond at the same time. With lots of outdated hip electronic soundeffects. Cool! One of the songs contains the original part Portishead used as a sample.
Syd Barret - Opel (CD, EMI/Harvest, 1993). Latest addition to my collection of musical lunacy.
Various Artists, including Pondertone - We Hebben Maar Een Paar Minuten Tijd (CD, Utracks/3voor12/Utrecht, 2005). A tribute CD to Herman Van Veen. Most Unpleasant Men's version of "Kusje" is brilliant, but some of the other tracks I find a bit hard to listen to more than once.
Willem Breuker/F.W. Murnau - Faust (DVD, BVHaast, 2005). I saw them play it live and bought this DVD right after the show. Willem Breuker is a hero. Here one can hear some of the evidence, since he composed and recorded a new soundtrack for this classic silent movie. I love it, I love it, I love it!
Grandaddy - Excerpts From The Diary Of Todzilla (CD EP, V2/Will, 2005). One of my favorite bands shortens the wait for a new full-length album with this beautiful collection of weird songs. The sound seems to go back to the days of "Under The Western Freeway" and that is totally fine with me (not that I don't like their later albums). "At My Post" bears beautiful resemblance to their own song "She-Deleter". I checked their website for more information on this EP and couldn't find it. Then I digitally stumbled across their spot on Myspace.com. Now they're mentioned as friends of Pondertone on our spot!
Paul McCartney - Chaos And Creation In The Backyard (CD/DVD, Parlophone/EMI, 2005). If I ever come across the inventor of "Copy Control" I'm afraid I won't be able to control myself! I paid 21 fucking euros to buy a product and it skips in my CD player! But still, a truly wonderful record. Thank you Mr. Godrich for being the first to be a bit harder than most on this Living Legend; it's largely because of this that Sir Paul has recorded his finest album since McCartneyII in 1980! DVD contains a making-of documentary that's a bit too self-indulged at times, but totally worth seeing and a boring "animated" (what's so "animated" about it anyway!?) film.
John Cale - BlackAcetate (CD, EMI, 2005). Weird + Beautiful= John Cale.
Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus -Max Roach - Money Jungle (LP, United Artists, 1963). This record just arrived in the mail today. Since I first found out it excisted, I downloaded it and it instantly became one of my favorite records of all time! Now I'm playing the original LP. This is one Fantastic Record. The liner notes (it's a French pressing) tell us "Ellington, Mingus, Roach: plus q'un trio, un Triumvirat!" For people who like to play a bit of bass; listen to "Les Fleurs Africaines (African Flowers)", weep quietly and thank every supernatural being you so happen to believe in or not, for the fact that Charlie Mingus even existed.
The first What's On of the new year. Last week I got new/old loudspeakers for my old stereoset and it made all my old crap sound so good again, I took a whole pile of LP's and CD's off the shelves, just to listen to how good they really sounded. By Golly, I even noticed soundeffects on Sgt. Pepper's that I've never heard before though I already played that LP before God was born. Thanx Jroon.
Al Hirt - Green Hornet Theme (vinyl 45, RCA/Victor, year unknown) On top of the pile of vinyl is one of my favorite 45s of recorded time: Green Hornet Theme by Al "He's the King" Hirt. A couple of years ago, long before Quentin Tarantino made it possible to call it cool (he included the tune on the soundtrack of Kill Bill), I saw some episodes of the Green Hornet television series on a tape I borrowed from a friend. I was really struck by it all, but most by the Theme. What this King get's out of his trumpet goes beyond all musical imagination. A truly fabulous piece of music. A couple of weeks after seeing the tape, I happened to find this 45 on a flea market. The B-side is a wonderful melodic waltz that sounds a bit like a good parody pastiche, called Strawberry Jam.
Lou Reed, John Cale & Nico - Le Bataclan '72 (CD, Pilot193/Alchemy, 2003) A legendary performance, four years after their "split". The masterbrains of our most beloved Underground, play together, recorded for French Television. They not only play rearranged versions of Velvets classics, but also songs from their respective solo-careers. Really, in the version presented here, the track Berlin, with Lou on vocals and guitars and John on piano, made me weep the first time I heard it. And mr. Reed introduces it with an ironic "this is my Brabara Streisand song". Soundquality, acceptable for fans.
Stravinsky- The Firebird, Petrushka (2CD, EMI Classics 1998/2003) The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Simon Rattle.
Zita Swoon - A Song About A Girls (CD, Chikaree, 2004) As you may well have noticed this record ranks 4 in my 2004 list. If not, have a look at What's been on before!
The Velvet Underground - Loaded (fully Loaded Edition) (2CD Rhino/Atlantic, 1970/1995/1997) As an album it may have been a bit of a dissapointment when it was first released. In this form, stretched to 2 CD's it's among my most favorite records of all time. You can hear a troubled band at work in your living room. An historic document and a listening trip. The record company Rhino from the US is obviously not to be confused with cheapmasters Rino from Holland. The first company has made musical archeology a form of art, the second represents everything I despise about the "musick industry".
The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (CD EMI/Parlophone/Apple, 1967/1987) When you play the DVD of Anthology, you may wonder why this landmark record has not seen a re-re release yet. The DVD sound of A Day In The Life blows you apart! Even some of the studio outtakes on the Anthology (CD 1996) have better sound than this early CD version. Dear people of Apple/EMI: please remaster it, please re-release it and please, please, please do NOT try and squeeze all the artwork into a jewel case! Still a fenomenal, trip beyond imagination album, though.
Michael Klinger/Mike Hodges/Michael Caine/Roy Budd - Get Carter (DVD Warner Bros 1971/2000) One of my favorite movies. Quoting myself; "Get Carter makes Pulp Fiction look like Sesame Street". Caine is Carter and has a thermos flask of nitrogen where some people have a heart. With one-liners sharper than Sean Connery's James Bond he returns to his place of birth, "craphouse" Newcastle, to seek revenge for his brothers death. The soundtrack can only be described as 30 years ahead of its time. It's like David Holmes has travelled back in time to make one of his hippest albums. Instead it's a rather anonimous (his name isn't even on the DVD package!) Roy Budd who composed this hipcooljazzpop jewel. The DVD also has a music trailer (Budd's name isn't even mentioned there!) that shows the composer at work as someone who wouldn't even understand the word cool after 25 years of rehearsing. I like to play this DVD as music, including dialogue, without looking at the pictures (even though they're equally brilliant).
Miles Davis - Ascenseur Pour L'Enchafaud (CD Fontana/Phonogram 1957/1988) Complete soundtrack recordings for the film by Louis Malle. A totally relaxed Davis at his best. This CD offes both the edited and the unedited recordings. Rare beauty.
Charles Mingus - The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady (CD Impulse/MCA 1963/1995) The original liner notes to this album are a perfect description of all the madness and beauty I adore about Mingus; they are written by Clinical Psychologist and personal friend of Mingus' Edmund Pollock Ph.D.
David Bowie - Low (LP RCA 1977) Recorded in Berlin, part of a so called trilogy (in the "logic" of Bowie and his criticists), it does bring that strange and beautiful city to mind. Especially the time I first went there with Tom, Dirk en Marnix. I'm still looking for the EMI CD release that contains the bonus tracks. The RCA re-re release doesn't.
David Bowie - Hunky Dory (LP RCA 1971) Together with 1. Outside, this is my most favorite Bowie. A wacky combination of everything I love him for, without him trying to force it into the form of one of his later alter-egos. Talk about bonus-material, when will they finally release this gem as a double disc?
Thelonious Monk And Sonny Rollins (LP Prestige 1953) Beautiful in every way; two giants of jazz and their band together on one LP in a glorious cover.
Charlie Mingus - Jazz Experiment (LP Jazz Greats/Hall Of Fame 1954) I didn't even know these recordings existed. As for all Mingus' work, once again a strange mix of everything that makes him my favorite jazz composer. Sadly "drummer of choice" Danny Richmond didn't make it to the session and is replaced by one Clem DeRosa. Horribly cheap looking LP cover, fenonenal (as usual)liner notes. CD re-release doesn't seem to include the track Abstractions and has edited linernotes, pity. CD artwork seems to look better (judging from a low resolution jpg on the net, that is).
A Camp (CD Stockholm Records 2001) We once played a support gig for her in the Melkweg, with gloricz jim. Nina Persson is a beautiful person and this is a wonderful record.
It’s been a while since the last update anywhere on this site. This is neither the place nor the errr... time to tell you why, but we’ve been working really hard on the new album. The audiopart is finished, the design is nearing it’s completion. Because the end of the year is approaching I will take this errr... space to let you in on my favorite releases of 2004. I suppose my opinion will have already changed by the time I’ve finished writing, but hey... it’s not a bloody contest!
1. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - The Lyre Of Orpheus/Abbattoir Blues (CD + free vinyl single 2004). Wow, never before has His Fabulous Darkness Sir Lord Cave made me more happy than with this marvellous errr... set! Everything about it breathes the beauty of life in all it’s manifestations. A magnificent work of art, the music, the artwork, the production (just listen to Him whisper, on ôBabe, You Turn Me Onö)... Poofff! Very happy indeed.
Sir Cave has to share the number one spot with that strange bloke from London, Graham Coxon - Happiness In Magazines (CD-R 2004), a truly beautiful Pop-Rock album, with all the madness, frustration, distortion and love I love him for. It might be a bit to much on the Pop-side of Rock for me, but if all Pop music sounded like this, the world would be a better place. I’m still playing the copy, because I don’t really like the artwork (quite contrary to all his previous releases, they all looked grrreat). ôBittersweet Bundle Of Miseryö is the Incontestible Song Of The Year!
2. Devendra Banhart - Rejoicing In The Hands (CD and Light Aligns book 2004). Just as wonderful as it is completely insane. It’s Syd Barrett with the voice of Nick Drake and Tim/Jeff Buckley. A fantastic record. The only negative criticism I can give is that they should have included the beautiful book with the first edition, instead of three months after it’s initial Dutch release; we don’t want to ruin the dedicated fans, now do we, Young God Records?
3. Beta Band - Heroes To Zeros (CD 2004) Just how far can one go in combining madness with popular music. Some of the tracks could have been pop songs, if the average man (or woman) in the street could only stand the strange things the Beta Band always come up with. I love it. They will always be heroes for me.
4. Zita Swoon - A Song About A Girls (CD 2004). After their discofunpacked album Life Is A Sexy Sanctuary I thought I had lost interest forever. That album just didn’t work for me. The first time I heard them play that dreaded disco-medley I thought it was a brilliant joke, it shouldn’t have gone further than that. Their new album is a perfect revenge, it’s like a warm sweater and a glass of Jameson, with the dog at your feet. Futile fun is replaced by heartfelt love. A truly wonderful album. Please Stef, keep on doing what you do best!
5. Tom Waits - Real Gone (download 2004). Since I’ve run out of money I can’t afford to buy this album, it looks great, sounds great (Some Lovely Fukkked Up recordings!) and is a beautiful tirade against everything boinggg. I will buy it eventually, I don’t think Sir Waits will mind. The tickets to his Carré show were hideously expensive (I could’t afford that either) but still sold out in less time than it takes him to empty a bottle of Terpentine. I even think I love this album better than Mule Variations. Just Listen!
Woody Guthrie - Dustbowl Ballads (CD 1940/1998). In this heat it's always nice to hear some people have seen worse. Simply beautiful.
John Cage - Roaratorio (CD 1994). For those of you who didn't know; I love John Cage. At the time of writing this I'm in the process of reading Ulysses, by James Joyce. Roaratorio is a piece inspired by Finnegan's Wake.
Pondertone - Fate Presto Demo's (CD-R 2004). Yep, you guessed right, this summer we have spend two weeks on a (not so very) secret location to work on demo's for our fourth album. This is the result; 11 brandspanking new tracks!
Pondertone - Snake & Apacolips (CD-R 2004). Yep, this compiles the rough mixes for our third album, 9 down, 5 to go.
Tindersticks - Tindersticks (CD 1993). Their first album, a great soundtrack for love-making (in fact, if I was to make a list, most of their albums would be in it).
The Beatles - The Off-white Album (CD-R). A home made collection of outtakes for the White Album, mostly taken from Anthology.
Charlie Mingus - Tijuana Moods (2CD 1962/2000). Indeed!
Sentridoh - Loobiecore - Lou Barlow (CD 2001) I love Lou Barlow. Cranky, crazy, bittersweet.
Curtis Mayfield - Superfly (2CD 1972/1997).
John Coltrane - A Love Supreme (2CD 1965/2002).
Peter Sellers - A Hard Days Night (1965/1993). Six daffy, wacky, silly but brilliant covers of Beatles songs. First time I heard it I laughed 'till I cried.
Grandaddy - The Sophtware Slump (CD 2004).
Please accept my humble excuses for not updating you on What's On. I don't know what got into me. But let's get started with the good news. These days I'm mostly listening to an as yet illegally downloaded copy of the new Graham Coxon album. It's Fantastic! As soon as it hits the stores I'm going to buy it! You should do so to damn' it!
Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I'm extremely busy these days, or maybe because I recently reorganised my livingroom, but there's no vinyl on at the moment.
Birthday Compilation by Stefan (thanx man!) - Cool Sounds from such as Captain Beefheart, Giant Sand, Love, Nick Lowe
Beta Band - Heroes to Zeros, CD 2004. Totally cool new album. As strange and wacky as ever. Starts to sound a little bit like Pop Music.
Syd Barrett -Barrett, CD 1993/1970. Am I really the only one who loves Syd? Frontman from the early Pink Floyd untill he went insane. On this album he's clearly on the verge of... Wonderful, crazy.
King Crimson - Starless and Bible Black, CD 2000/1974. Prog Rules!
The Breeders - Last Splash, CD 1993. Just bought it a couple of weeks ago (to make me feel better). I adore the track "Drivin' On 9". It makes me think of Berlin last December. And of Lowlands a couple of years ago, when Kelly even played the violin, made me want to break things (in a positive way, obviously).
Dave Brubeck Quartet - Time Further Out (Miro Reflections), CD 1996/1961. Man, I love this, Dr Dave at his very mathematical and melodical best.
Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Uhm, CD 1998/1959. Obviously.
Jeffrey Lewis - It's Those Who've Cracked That The Light Shines Through, CD 2003. Brilliant songs from the only Anti-Folk Hero. Lyrics both funny, intense and Heartbreaking. Four chords fingerpickin' and sometimes rocking. Saw him play earlier this year, bought an album there and then, bought this one this week.
Grandaddy - Under The Western Freeway, CD 1997.
Homemade Compilation of vinyl singles, once upon a time I had a friend who loved jazz and I borrowed his singles. Burnt them on this CD and now I always play it in spring. Makes me feel good, if necessary.
The Yearlings - Mix 1, CD-R 2004, Pre-listening copy of their new album Utrecht, for which I did the cover.
Velvet Underground - Loaded (Fully Loaded Edition), CD 1997/1970.
The Clash - London Calling, CD 1999/1979. I should have bought this album years ago! A classic. Punk goes pop and back again, sidestepping to all kinds of other styles.
Ella Fitzgerald - Sings Sweet Songs For Swingers, CD 1959/2003. I love Ella.
This time a rather short list. Could be because I've put a lot of records back where they belong or because I'm playing the same records over and over again. One that certainly fits in this last category is Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes (2CD 1982/2002). I know their most famous song "Blister in the Sun" because I regularly heard it coming from my upstairs neighbour's room two or so years ago. She had only one tape of music and strangely enough it ranged from André Hazes to Roger Glover to Simon And Garfunkel and... Blister In The Sun. A couple of weeks ago Roel played some tracks from the brilliant Rhino double CD re-release he bought and I loved it so I kept referring to it in various conversations. This made Stefan give me a CD copy of his LP. The very next day I went to the shop to buy the Rhino-release. It's amazing to hear what a fantastic drive these three people created with mostly acoustic instruments (including a very weird Mariachi style bass guitar).
Beck - Midnight Vultures (CD 1999) by far my least favourite Beck album, but still...If you're in the mood to party: put it on!
The Beatles - The Beatles (2CD 1968) I played Tom "Yer Blues" because in a hopefully not to distant future we want to record a dirty-ass-blues-track like that.
Modern Lovers - Modern Lovers (CDR from LP 1972) Stefan gave this to me together with the aforementioned Violent Femmes CDR. I love the simplicity, the drugged off-key singing and downright silly lyrics.
Tadd Dameron with John Coltrane - Mating Call (CD 1956) Beautiful intimate jazz record on which it seems Train is for once not trying to exceed in his normal, near nervewrecking tenorsax style (I mean, I love most of his records, but sometimes...)
The Beatles - Abbey Road (CD 1969) contains two of my (many) favourite Beatles tracks: "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" and "Here Comes The Sun" oh and "Because"!
Elvis Costello - Spike (CD 1989) It's been a while since I last heard it. A beautiful album containing some of his most venomous lyrics. Tramp the Dirt Down, for instance is a beautiful Irish-style ballad smashing the face of Margareth Thatcher.
Pondertone - 5 Tracks from Snake & Apacolips (CDR 2004) That's five down, nine more to go for the new album.
Paul McCartney - McCartney (LP 1970) His first solo album and I think one of his best (other's would be Ram, Wildlife and McCartney II
Flamin' Groovies - Flamingo (CD 1971/1990) I haven't even played it from beginning to end yet. I bought it (second hand) because I thought I knew it for some reason. Straightforward 70's Rock and Roll, very nice. I just put it on again while writing this...
Looking at the pile of Graham Coxon records that seems to have found a permanent resting place in front of my hi-fi set I remembered some good news. Last week I read that he is currently in the process of recording his fifth album (already). Rumour has it that it will be very cool, but that's no change.
Furthermore there is an awfull lot of cool jazz musics and aftershocks.
First there is a couple of Charles Mingus. Mingus Oh Yeah and Mingus Ah-Uhm have been there for quite a while now. New addition is Charles Mingus - Tijuana Moods (2CD 1957/1962/2000). On the back of the (beautiful) package it says that the man himself considers this "the best album I ever made" (1962). It is indeed a very beautiful album, though as a whole Ah-Uhm is still my favorite. One of the (many) extras to this re-release is a piece that was not included on the original album "A Colloquial Dream (Scenes in the City)". I have been playing it over and over again the past few days (since I bought the album) and bothered everyone I met with it because it really is extremely beautiful. I think it's the best track.
Beach Boys - Smiley Smile/Wild Honey (CD 1967/2001). Smiley Smile is certainly one of the wackiest albums ever recorded. Wish I could hear it the way it was meant to be.
Blur - Blur (CD 1997). My favorite Blur album
The Mothers Of Invention - Freak Out (1966/1995). Talking about wacky albums, this should make the top ten... Grrreat!
Pixies - Surfer Rosa & Come on Pilgrim (CD 1988). It took me a while to get into it, but it's great. Cactus was recently covered by Bowie on his Heathen album.
Beck - Sea Change (CD 2002). A wonderful moody album, maybe a bit overproduced (by Mr. Godrich) at times. Lost Cause is a classic.
Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones (CD 1983). Considered his best album by many, I just got to know it last week.
Monk Quartet - Misterioso (CD 1958/1989). A famous performance at The Five Spot.
Miles Davis - Sketches of Spain (CD 1960/1997). A great album to play on a Sunday Morning (or afternoon) when you wake up in the arms of a lover. It's a strange and beautiful mix of Gill Evans' nearly classical arrangements and Miles' incomparable Jazz feel.
The Beatles - Beatles For Sale (LP 1964). I nearly forgot how brilliant this album is. For instance I'll Follow the Sun, I'm A Loser and Every Little Thing are all tracks you won't likely find in anyones list of favorite Beatles tracks, but they're great.
The Beatles - A Hard Day's Night (LP 1964/1990). It's good as a soundtrack for a very nice film (if you're into it) but it's not half as good as any other Beatles album. Still, some very very good tracks.
Elvis Costello and The Attractions - Armed Forces (CD1978/1993). A classic album, containing some of my favorite Costello tracks (Oliver's Army, Party Girl, Accidents Will Happen etc.). Listen to Bruce Thomas' bass playing, it's Grrreat.
Billy Joel - Cold Spring Harbor (CD 1972/?). I dunno, a couple of beautiful songs for autumn feelings, as long as you don't hurt yourself. I'm sure they sound completely cheesy when you play the album in Spring or Summer, peculiar indeed.
Finish of with the ultimate example of complete wackiness: Beck - Stereopathetic Soulmanure. By Golly, I love this album! Complete and utter madness, combines heart-felt country songs with folkraps and bogus-noise (is that a word?). Smokin'!
First of all I have to make a correction in the last two "What's On" updates, because I forgot to mention a CD that has been in the player most of the time since the second half of october; John Cale - Hobosapiens, his latest album. What a thrilling piece of musical craftmanship, experimentalism and sheer lunacy!
Then there is one that we've seen before Graham Coxon - The Kiss of Morning (CD 2003) and Charles Mingus - Oh Yeah (CD), certainly not one of my favorites, a bit to messy at times, but still a great album with the fantastic closing piece "Passions of A Man". I believe it was recorded in 1962.
Jellyfish - Spilt Milk (CD 1993). Unfortunately they split up. I think that if they would start now, they could make it. I mean; dressing up as hippies! One of them (Justin) now plays in Beck's band.
Silent Minority Sampler (CD 2003)
David Bowie - Lodger (LP 1979) A totally weird album, the A-side doesn't seem to have two songs that go well together, the B-side sounds a bit more coherent and in a way, I like it like that.
RCA 80th Anniversary sampler 1 and 2 (CD 1997). I bought these a couple of weeks ago for just 2,50 euros each! Two cd's crammed to the brim with historical jazz recordings dating back as early as 1917. Stunning!
Neil Young - Zuma (LP 1975) Never understood the title, to me it sounds like loud guitars and noises, but it's a pretty album really.
Motorpsycho + Jaga Jazzist Horns (CD 2003). We saw them play Lowlands in 2002. Absolutely fantastic. This cd comes quite close in it's weirdness and it's musical brilliance.
Curtis Mayfield - Superfly (2CD 1997) Beautiful reissue from the 1972 "greatest Blaxploitation soundtrack of all time".
John Cale - Artificial Intelligence (LP 1985) Some time ago someone told me he didn't like this album, so I looked it up. I think I know the problem, it's all a bit cold, productionwise. This seems to be a bit of a problem with a lot of music from the 80-s. But "Dying on the Vine" and "the Sleeper" are great tracks
The Beatles - A Beginning (CDR) a homemade collection of the best tracks from the first Anthology along with some nice bootleg bonustracks.
John Coltrane - My Favorite Things (CD sometime early '60-s)
Tindersticks - Tindersticks (CD 1995) contains some of my favorite tracks, I love "My Sister"
Beta Band - Hot Shots II (2LP 2001) Possibly the weirdest band on earth. It's their second full-length album. According to their own website, both albums are not a good representation of the Beta Band. They're currently in the process of making an album to compensate that.
It's a bit of a mess around the hi-fi set at the moment (so what else is new). In fact there's so much music there, I feel pressed to make a selection.
On the record player at the moment of writing is "The Boatman's Call" by the great Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Praise the lord for the season of autumn. With my heart a-pounding and the leaves a-falling, it's the perfect soundtrack.
Speaking of autumn soundtracks; I should go out and buy Beth Gibbons and Rustin' Man... but it's a bit too expensive.
In front of the set, on top of a pile of CD's lies an LP called "Pretty Wild" by "Wild" Bill Davidson. A weird jazz album in the sense that there is absolutely NOTHING "wild" about it. We're working on a song for the new album that is based on a sample taken from the track "Sugar (That Sugar Baby O'Mine)".
Dirty - Sonic Youth (2CD) Beautiful re-issue of this classic, loaded to the brim with beautiful extras.
Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um. (CD) If I were to run this country, every single person would be obliged to buy this brilliant album!
Gloricz Jim@Toldijk 2003; a CD with lots of demos and jams we're currently working on.
Pink Floyd - Meddle (LP) The A-Side is brilliant, the B side can be considered a bit pretentious, but still...
Tom Waits - Bone Machine (CD) I like Mule Variations better, but there are some beautiful tracks on it.
David Bowie - 1. Outside. (CD) There is a nice story attached to this CD. When I went out to buy it, a couple of years ago, I wanted to make sure I got the one WITHOUT that horrible bonustrack by the Pet Shop Boys. But the shopkeeper gave me the wrong one! I only found out when I got home and actually went back to tell the shopkeeper to change it for the version with one track less! He did. It's one of my favourite Bowies.
John Cale - Dream Interpretation (CD). Released forty years after it was recorded. Abstract sounds. At last we know where the Sonic Youth got it from ;-) Beautiful noizzz
Grandaddy - The Sophtware Slump (CD)
John Coltrane - The Ultimate Blue Train (CD)
John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (LP) My favorite Lennon solo album.
Tindersticks - Live at the Botanique Volume 1. This CD is not for sale in the shops, a friend got it at a gig and I borrowed it.
Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong - Ella And Louis Again (2LP) Literally a Perfect Combination. Music for nice people made by nice people to make you feel good.
Thelonious Monk is still there with "Underground". I'm still looking for a release of the songs featured in the documentary "Straight, No Chaser". I'm looking forward to hearing a long live version of Epistrophy with Big Band. But alas...
An Pierlé - Helium Sunset (CD) I absolutely adore An (her music ofcourse)
Graham Coxon - The Kiss Of Morning (CD) It seems like he feels released from Blur, since he is in the process of releasing loads of beautiful albums. This is but one of them. I love it. And lots more...