This collection of music and links is a bit freewheelin’ – with some of the music really quite old, re-mixed or re-released; some brand new and about to be released; some from the last couple of years, but which I personally have only recently discovered or unearthed. Hope you enjoy at least some, and find other musicians and sounds at least ‘interesting’ – in a nice way! Alan Dearling.
The Sex Organs: ‘We’re Fucked’ – the ultimate soundtrack to the downfall
Delightfully edgy, grungy punk rock ‘n’ roll! The Sex Organs offer a live show that’s trashy, dressed-up cabaret. An on-stage version of two cartoon characters posing as a live dildo and welcoming clitoris… Yup this is my erstwhile musical colleagues from the Netherlands behaving altogether outrageously.
Their album has been released by Voodoo Records in Switzerland, but this offers a real Ramones-style vibe. A loud, thumping, “1-2-3-4 Oi.” With perhaps more than an elemental nod towards Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers – the humour, and slick word-play. Or, perhaps imagine the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band producing an album full of punked-up Dada musical soup! In-jokes abound, “I’m a poor lonesome penis”; along with titles such as ‘Nipple Twister’ and ‘Vagina Dentata’. Adolescent, escapist humour in fact: “I don’t want to go to school – let’s fuck around.”
It’s a total collision between late ‘50s rock ‘n’ roll style and punky pussy energy. Energising, energetic and in frantically bad taste. You may really go out of the room singing (loudly): “Where’s my dildo?”
Time possibly for a bit of ‘Do it yourself’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlhHU_Tn3s0
Serious Sam Barrett, ‘A Drop of the Morning Dew’ Live at Bacca Pipes Folk Club
This is most definitely Old School. Folk Club material. It’s a social history musical document as much as anything. I could imagine an audience member sticking up his or her hand to ask permission to go to the loo! It evokes Arran jumpers, reverential sing-along audiences, finger-in-the-ear singers. Sam is quite often ‘serious’ indeed, as exemplified in the song ‘Liverpool Packet’, which Sam describes in the accompanying booklet: “I learned this song in the clubs…it’s got a character like the rolling sea…the song takes you on a journey…starting in Liverpool Docks…finally ending up on the Razz in New York. Lovely.” Live: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=217038989974410
The album is a mix of traditional songs and Sam’s originals. And his originals sound as though you’ve known them forever and a day, such as ‘Drop of the Morning Dew’, which espouses rubbing a drop of the morning dew on your face – and then you can stay young forever! Serious Sam Barrett is the ‘real deal’ traditional folkie; fuelled by lyrical song-stories.
Bob Dylan, ‘Fragments’ offers outtakes, extras, alternative takes, live versions and more from the ‘Time Out of Mind’ sessions. That was one of the best of the later Dylan albums in my view. ‘Fragments’ has become the Bootleg Series Volume Number 17. The complete five CD collection is available for a mere £96 on Amazon! There’s over six hours of it. I listened to it through my Spotify Premium account. So, a veritable marathon of Bob-ness, more than a sprint. Lots of memorable musical moments, but it is a bit overwhelming at times. The mastering and sound quality is frequently much improved, and it offers many ‘different’ mixes than on the original album version of songs released. There’s also a much pared down two-CD version available. Reviews from purchasers at Amazon are mostly positive, but there’s also a mix of positive and negative comments on individual tracks/versions. Charles Hilton’s comments are interesting and perceptive: “It has a very different feel to the original, harder, bigger and with a more effectively focused vocal track. The effect is a bigger punch and a greater sense of intimacy.”
Mazzy’s video ‘take’ on this collection offers plenty of background info: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cvd1-spt1k
Messy, but interesting…Pink Floyd at Studio Europa Sonor in France. This, apparently, is now available in full on YouTube for the first time. Only a few edits had to be made, consisting of cutting out some of the Live at Pompeii footage due to copyright restrictions. Cinémathèque Française are to be thanked for this release!
Pink Floyd film documentary from 1971 on-line, ‘Chit-chat with oysters’:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcwbxVIhn1I
Tommy Hale, ‘All at Sea’
A pastoral album cover of a seascape belies the content: a hard-nosed clash between Texan and UK cultures. Edgy, choppy rhythms conjure audio-images of Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello helming musical disjunctures. A good example is the second track, ‘World Won’t Wait’, which offers Old School craft with a modern twist. The album profers plenty of gruff and growling spoken songs, such as ‘Let’s Start a Fire’, alongside the more melodic moments, readily apparent in his friend Tex Smith’s ‘Esperanza’, a Spanish-inflected and catchy, ear-worm of song, just right to sing along to!
You can almost write a review of the album through the medium of the song titles: ‘Beauty in Darkness’, ‘Last Town before the Border’ and the closing title track, ‘All at Sea’, which offers a plaintive and mournful message, “I cannot cover my ears – All at Sea”. In fact, there’s a certain world weariness and darkness throughout, but plenty of variety in styles from the moody spoken drawl of ‘Beauty in Darkness’ through to the country twang of pedal-steel guitar played on an American jukebox, “Be here until closing time, I guess” in the ‘Last Town before the Border’. Lots of nice production work on the album too, which enhances the overall listening experience. Tommy Hale shares his Texan roots, but the Americana has been recorded in Mooncalf Studio in deepest Wiltshire with members of The Snakes and produced by Simon George Moor (also from London-based band, The Snakes). Tommy’s most up to date info seems to be on his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/thetommyhale/
Airplane House Jam October 28th 1969 Jam Session
Definitely a ‘wish you were there’ moment in musical time. The posters and images in the video are great fun too…2400 Fulton Street. Here are some classic characters: Jerry Garcia, Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady, Mickey Hart and Spencer Dryden – jammin’ just for you!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfYmc1MLG8o
Jimmy Cliff, ‘Refugees’
This album passed me by when it came out just under two years ago. It’s good to be reminded just how good a singer Jimmy was and is. He had a string of hits back in the 1960s and ‘70s, and acted in ‘The Harder They Come’ film which attempted to document the gang and gang culture of Jamaica. In addition to Jimmy this album does feature some special guests. It’s a bit of an uneven affair, but ‘Refugee’ is Jimmy Cliff’s first new album in over ten years. Musical guests include Dwight Richards, Cliff’s daughter Lilty Cliff, and Wyclef Jean on the title single ‘Refugee’, which is included on the album as a rap version and dance version. It’s more of a pop album than a deep roots album, but there’s plenty of reasonable reggae in the mixes and Wyclef has a powerful voice. ‘Refugees’ is a very pertinent track title and subject for 2024, both in Europe, North America and around the world, and it’s the strongest song on the album, tipping a nod to ‘Exodus’ and ‘Many Rivers to Cross’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlYbahgzktU
His career stretches back over 50 years, and he is often regarded as the ‘Grandfather of Reggae’. His best known for songs are ‘Many Rivers to Cross’ and ‘The Harder They Come’, and he is the only living musician to hold the Jamaican Order of Merit, the country’s highest honour for arts and science.
Cliff says he views refugees as ordinary people who are also, “quite extraordinary people, because they make miracles happen”.
Marc Valentine, ‘Basement Sparks’
High NRG. Turbo-charged at times, and overall, happy, bouncy. Melodies and musical hooks abound. It sounds a bit like bubblegum punk pop. Maybe that’s what we need. Here’s ‘Skeleton Key’ from the new album: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzF3-paL-Eg
It reminds one of the glam rock era, times redolent with Suzi Quatro, Bowie, Marc Bolan, Slade, Mott the Hoople, Boomtown Rats and in particular, the Runaways and their ‘Cherry Bomb’. Valentine has one of those little boy lost voices which is distinctive, but sometimes grates a little. The album has been released on Steve Van Zandt’s Wicked Cool label. On the final track on the album, ‘Ballad of Watt’, Marc tells us that, “I watch the satellites until they’re gone.’ But there’s plenty to sing along to right from the off with the opener, ‘Complicated Sometimes’.
Mega Bog, ‘End of Everything’
Her 7th album, but new to me! Effervescent and arty. Plenty of vocal acrobatics. She’s American and her name is Erin Birgy. She’s a stablemate, musically speaking, of Cate Le Bon, and this album abounds with oodles of atmospherics, and a theatricality which broadcasts her ‘outsider’ status. There are lots grandiose moments, bombastic church organ, but the final track, ‘End of Everything’ is a stunner. Darker, ostentatious… Overall, it’s mostly orchestrated synth-pop, but worth checking out if you like this sort of thing… ‘Love is’ is a video production by Erin and Allison Goldfarb: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ET4-JO8LxVM
Elaine Palmer, ‘Half Moon Rising’
This album and the singer reside in very much Beth Orton and Linda Ronstadt territory. We sense that Elaine is distinctly at home in Phoenix, Arizona, though she was born on the moors of North Yorkshire. Her voice is earthy, plaintive, love-lorne. Her melodies, tuneful and alternately, mournful. On ‘A Love like that’, she sings, “My old friend, where have you gone?” The overall feel of the album is redolent of trailer-parks, American deserts, truck stops, heartaches and prairies. By the end of the eight track mini-album, I can hear more of Mary Gauthier in her voice. Wispy, worldly-wise and sorrowful too. ‘Not Lost’ and ‘The Last Dance’ underline this undertow of reflection on remorse and loss. It’s classy, with some really nice pedal-steel playing, especially on ‘A Love like that’, by Dave Berzansky from the Hacienda Brothers.
Here is Elaine’s website: http://elaine-palmer.com/