Alan’s New & Old Music Reviews Winter 2024

 

More musings and ruminations from Alan Dearling

God Speed You! Black Emperor: No Title – As of 13 February 28,340 Dead

This music collective are political and produce a fuzzed-up sound that is just as anachronistic as their song titles. Titles such as ‘Sun is a Hole Sun is Vapors’. That track is almost a sound poem. It offers sounds and spirits escaping from the catacombs. It is all very filmic. An epic sound experience, which is alternately an enchantment and rather exhausting. It combines found sounds, spoken words – in all, it is challenging, but interestingly inventive. There have been comments about them suggesting that they are, “…reinventing what protest music can be.”

‘Grey Rubble – Green Shoots’ is the single and offers yet another magnificent enigma. Even without knowing that they hail from Montreal, their vibe is somewhat similar to their compatriots, Arcade Fire.

‘Grey Rubble’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9WvC2707hY

 

Joan Armatrading: How did this happen and what does it mean

Many of the tracks from this new album sound almost instantly familiar. The opener, ‘25 Kisses’ is very, very poppy. It’s personally one of my least favourite tracks. There are oodles of Joan’s trademark echo throughout and even two noodling guitar instrumentals where she colonises the sounds of Jeff Beck. A lot of it is quite cheery and offers plenty of opportunities to sing-along. ‘Redemption Love’ is one of the stronger songs and reminds one of the depth of Joan’s singing and song-writing craftsmanship. ‘I gave you my keys’ is another tougher, more thoughtful song, with a tinge of added acid. All in all, I guess we should be pleased to receive new music from Joan Armatrading who has been a trail-blazer for Black Women musicians.

‘25 Kisses’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M24W35NbpcY&list=OLAK5uy_kJevfj98iYl6hhS2QCBVGwX0zPmKwlyZc&index=1 

 

Traffic: The Last Great Traffic Jam

Finally released in 2021, this truly magnificent live double CD captures the Traffic band at their majestic height. Stevie Winwood and Jim Capaldi are recorded in 1994 on their ‘Far from Home’ Reunion Tour with a fabulous set of musicians including Roscoe Gee/bass, Randall Bramblett/winds, Mike McEvoy/keys, guitars Walfredo Reyes Jr/percussions, drums.

There is even a guest performance from Jerry Garcia on ‘Dear Mr Fantasy’. Jim Capaldi died in 2004.

It is also available as a film of the concert. Here’s an excerpt of their extemporising: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdUF8kVO0dI

 

The Cure: Songs of a Lost World

Plenty of grandeur. Plenty of musical soundscapes. Instrumentally it’s a strong album. Whether you like the somewhat anguished, doomy vocals is very much a matter of personal taste!  Lots of Gothick symphonic moments. ‘Drone No Drone’ is crammed full of swirling, psychedelic  instrumentation. ‘End Song’ offers a kind of requiem, with a militaristic undertow. Funereal…”I’m outside in the Dark, wondering how I got so old”. Plenty of eerie feedback, love-lorne desperation and some fine music. ‘Nothing is Forever’ and ‘Alone’ are the titles of the two opening tracks and they set the tone for the entire album. Ambitious.  

Epic version of ‘Drone No Drone’ live, Troxy 2024:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TEkX8WjHoA

 

Andy Sharrocks: Country Rock ‘n’ Roll ‘n’ Durty Blues (triple vinyl)

Recording and releasing a triple album on vinyl is a considerable undertaking. It largely offers what it says on the tin. ‘Little Boogaloo’ is a storming starter, with Andy’s swamp-filled voice being a bit reminiscent of Dr Feelgood, which is no bad thing. Andy also reminds one somewhat of Tom Waits on tracks like ‘Old Leather Coat’. It’s eclectic and very varied. One feels that Andy likes to cross the genre-divides. So, it is almost beyond eclectic. Here’s one of the strong, blues songs, where he implores us to, “Join this Love Revolution!”

‘Where’s All the Love gone?’ live from the Narrowboat Sessions 2024:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-lnoGct7-o

There is such a lot on the triple set. Perhaps a pared-down single CD version would make sense. He certainly needs to keep ‘Muddy Waters Blues’, which is one of Andy’s live favourites.

Lady Blackbird: Slang Spirituals

The final track on her new album is an absolute corker. It’s titled, ‘Whatever His Name’, and it starts out like a Who track from ‘Quadrophenia’, and moves into the quieter end of Janis Joplin territory, with added extra-terrestrial sounds. It almost self-combusts – wonderful stuff! Overall, the album is heavily orchestrated, a big production collection, with many tracks sounding like something from a musical such as Hair, with its ‘Let the sunshine in’. It’s rockier and less bluesy than her previous album, ‘Black Acid Soul’.  There’s still a jazz influence too, evident on the sultry tones of ‘When the Game is played on you’ and the opening of ‘The City’ before it becomes another Big Production Number.

“I’m running out of whiskey, bring me my bottle!”

‘Whatever his name’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngVRmzwmyTg

 

Paul Simon: Graceland (Re-mixed and re-mastered)

I missed this release when it came out in 2012. There’s absolutely no point me talking about this famous album, the tracks or the back-story about the responses around the world to Paul Simon’s recordings during the boycott of South Africa over apartheid. The new recording is pristine. Everything is cleaner and much more precise. From ‘Graceland’ through ‘Boy in the Bubble’ to ‘Under African skies’, we know these songs as old friends. The re-mastering makes every instrument and Paul’s voice have a new resonance. Does it work? In my view, yes and no. It’s almost too perfect, almost clinical, and at times it becomes almost surreal when new effects have been added. It certainly shines a totally new light on most of the songs. So, if you haven’t heard it – it is worth checking out. There are also four bonus tracks, three of which are alternative versions of tracks from the original 1986 album.

I think that this is ‘Graceland’ from the 25th Anniversary re-master: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GP6a-7MP91g

 

Keith Tippett and Julie Tippetts: Sound on Stone – Couple in Spirit

A recent personal message from Julie Tippetts was shared with me from Martin Archer at Discus Music (on Bandcamp). She’s moving home, down-sizing,  and is short of cash. She has asked her friends to buy some of her music direct from her. We were promised that the income will go directly to her. Over the years, I was involved in booking Julie, very early on when she was in Steampacket with Rod Stewart, Long John Baldry and others. She was still Julie Driscoll way back when in the 1960s. And I was involved with a Keith Tippett/Stan Tracey concert in Essex where they played grand pianos. That was avant garde jazz, lots of improvisations, which is also true of the album ‘Sound on Stone’, which has been completed by Julie after the death of her husband Keith in 2020. For almost ‘free jazz’ it is reasonably accessible with some bluesy tracks such ‘Riding’. Their duo version of ‘Windmills of your mind’, offers a surreal intense take on the song, “Never ending or beginning, Like a wheel within a wheel”.  https://discusmusic.bandcamp.com/track/windmills-of-your-mind

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