At the end of last year I mentioned that I was looking forward to 'Electric' the forthcoming album from Richard Thompson. It has been two years since his last effort 'Dream Attic' which although being a new collection off songs, was recorded totally live with no studio overdubs. Whilst I can only admire the quality of the musicianship, I have to confess that the album is not among my favourites in the Richard Thompson collection. In truth, it is an album I have rarely returned to since its release in 2010.
I doubt that this will be the case with 'Electric' as Thompson has delivered a very strong guitar driven album with, as one would expect, great songs. Produced in Nashville by Buddy Miller, the band is essentially a trio (Thompson on guitar, Taras Prodaniuk on bass and Michael Jerome on drums) but the sound is brilliantly fleshed out by some guest musicians and vocalists. These include Alison Krauss, Siobhan Maher Kennedy and bluegrass fiddler, Stuart Duncan.
I understand that for the forthcoming tour to promote the album, Thompson will rely on the trio format. What's this? Richard Thompson leading a powerhouse trio of guitar, bass and drums? Is he trying to do a Cream or a Hendrix?
Well not exactly but he certainly rocks out on album opener 'Stony Ground' and on track three, 'Sally B'. Sandwiched between these is the more sedate 'Salford Sunday' which has a melody so sublime that Thompson uses this for his guitar parts also. The ballad 'My Enemy' sounds like it could almost be an early Kate Bush composition but I believe 'Another Small Thing in her Favour', could only have been written by Thompson. A beautiful melancholy ballad but with touches of Thompson's wry humour, it also features a spine tingling guitar solo. There are lots of styles thrown into this record ranging from folk to blues to good old rock 'n' roll but throughout Thompson plays superb guitar as always. It doesn't seem to matter what style he is playing, the result is always distinctively Richard Thompson. Buddy Miller claimed that he received a two week guitar lesson while Thompson camped out at his home during the recording of the album.
Alison Krauss lends her voice to the acoustic ballad 'The Snow Goose' before the album closes with the jaunty 'Saving The Good Stuff For You'.
Described by Thompson as folk-funk, this album certainly allows him and his band to stretch out into different styles. I think it's a winner and I look forward to hearing selections from it played live when I see them in March.
Most of you will no doubt be aware that the Child Ballads are not a collection of songs for kids but were a five volume collection of 305 English and Scottish ballads put together by Francis James Child and first published between 1882 and 1898. Even if you are not a folk music purist, I am sure you will have heard variants of some of these songs. Think for example of 'Tam Lin' (39) or 'Sir Patrick Spens' (58) by Fairport Convention, or of 'Willie O' Winsbury' (100) or 'Sir James The Rose' (213) by Steeleye Span and you will be thinking of Child Ballads. (The numbers in parentheses are the numbers allocated to each by Child).
Of course there are also American variants of some of these songs and Harry Smith included a number of these in his brilliant 'Anthology of American Folk Music'. American artists such as Joan Baez, Bob Dylan and more recently, The Decemberists and Fleet Foxes, have also drawn on this rich repertoire of songs and stories.
Which brings me nicely to two American singer/songwriters who have long had a love of these fascinating folk tales and who heard them brought to life through singers in the folk tradition like Martin Carthy and Nic Jones. After years of discussion, planning and attempted recording sessions, Anais Mitchell and Jefferson Hamer have now successfully recorded seven of these ballads. They are to be released under the simple, unpretentious title - 'Child Ballads' on 11 February 2013. (Not released until 19 March in US and Canada).
So far I have only heard samples of the songs but I can say without hesitation that this album will be making it's way into my collection. Additionally the pair are taking these ballads on the road in the UK in February and March. I will be stopping by to see them on 7 March.
I should also add a word about the cover art for the album (reproduced above). This was created by award winning artist Peter Nevins who was also responsible for the artwork of an earlier Anais Mitchell album, 'Hadestown'. If you examine the print, whose face do you see, the man's or the woman's? Whichever you answered, you were right. Thanks to a clever optical illusion, you can see both!
It was the late, great DJ John Peel who introduced me to so many new artists between the late 1960's and the 1980's. Among these were Pere Ubu.
Listening to their debut album 'The Modern Dance' back in 1978, it seemed to me that the band had picked up the mantle shed by Captain Beefheart while he searched for a more commercial sound. Also I saw some similarities with another of my absolute favourite American bands, Talking Heads, but while David Byrne and colleagues found commercial success, Pere Ubu continued to confuse and confound most listeners with their distinctive brand of avant garde (or to use their term - 'avant-garage') rock music. Easy listening it was not!
Yet, thanks largely to a smallish band of devoted followers, Pere Ubu are now celebrating 37 years of music making and their latest release, 'Lady From Shanghai', is their 17th studio album. In truth, the band is to all intents and purposes, vocalist David Thomas, as he is the only constant throughout the career of this perplexing band. Always searching for new ways forward, the concept for this particular piece of work is 'Chinese Whispers'. In a book which accompanies some versions of the album, Thomas explains that the band members recorded their parts in total isolation using a set of rules defined by Thomas himself. Miraculously the result is for the most part quite cohesive.
Now, I somehow have to give you on paper, (or to be more precise, on screen) a feel for how this album comes across. Damn! How do you even categorise the music of Pere Ubu, let alone attempt to describe it?
If I start by saying that the opening track, the ironically titled 'Thanks', has the distorted voice of Thomas singing "You can go to hell" to the tune of Anita Ward's 'Ring My Bell', you might begin to get the idea. The distortion is even more apparent on 'Feuksley Ma'am, The Hearing' where he mangles the words of 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' over what sounds like the bass line from Frankie Goes To Hollywood's 'Two Tribes'. 'Mandy' is more like music as you probably know it but when Thomas implores the girl of the title to 'come out to play' the result appears far more sinister than John Lennon trying to entice Prudence Farrow out of her tent in India ('Dear Prudence'). The spooky clarinet adds to this feeling. It could almost provide the background music to a Hitchcock film.
My favourite track is 'The Road Trip of Bipasha Ahmed' in which, over mid paced guitar chords, Thomas declares "She calls me Johnny Rocket but I don't know why". 'Lampshade Man' is like garage-rock with electronic effects while '414 Seconds' is exactly that. 414 seconds of poetry being recited over an industrial background.
Perhaps I'm not doing a very good job of selling this album but that is not my intention. The band are most definitely an acquired taste. If you are already familiar with Pere Ubu, you will have some idea of what to expect. If not then I suggest you throw yourself in at the beginning with 'The Modern Dance' and see where the journey takes you.
Bon voyage.
As a postscript I should add that Pere Ubu are touring this year and this includes a few dates in the UK. They will be at The Sage in Gateshead on 15 April.
So will I.
Only two weeks into a new year and already I'm beginning to hear some great new albums. It bodes well for the rest of the year.
First into the White Room came 'Lady from Shanghai' by Pere Ubu which I intend to review in greater depth very soon.
This was followed by the second album from Villagers an Irish band led by Conor O'Brien. I thoroughly enjoyed their debut, the Mercury Prize nominated, 'Becoming a Jackal' back in 2010 and wondered then what they would come up with for the 'difficult' second album. Also I wondered how O'Brien would cope with the inevitable comparisons to Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes fame. Any fears were dispelled after I listened to '{Awayland}'. The parentheses are theirs, not mine.
The first track 'My Lighthouse', is a low key acoustic number but thereafter, the songs and arrangements become much more complex and electronic. 'The Waves' for example begins with Morse beeps and thudding bass & drums. Gradually the arrangement builds with guitar and piano joining the mix before O'Brien's voice fades into the background, being swamped by some thrashing chords and frantic drumming.
Throughout, O'Brien's now trademark surreal lyrics, force you to listen to try to unfathom the true meanings. It is never boring. When was the last time you heard a song begin with lines like 'Naked on the toilet with a toothbrush in his mouth / When he suddenly acquired an overwhelming sense of doubt'? Never, I suspect. (The song in question is 'Earthly Pleasure'). In 'Nothing Arrived', he sings 'I waited for something and something died, so I waited for nothing and nothing arrived'. The stunning 'Grateful Song' has O'Brien offering his thanks to a god of pain, tragedy, hatred and deceit for his company and for the misery from which he takes the inspiration for this song. Phew!
The whole album is full of wonderful imagery but this is music and as such the success of the album should depend upon the quality of the songs themselves. Have no fear. The songs are very strong and have the capacity to draw you further in with each repeated listen.
It is only mid January and already I feel I have a contender for the album of 2013!
I read also that Villagers will be performing live at The Warehouse in Newcastle upon Tyne on 9 February. I just may have to be there.
Soon to come, as promised a look at the new album by Pere Ubu and a superb new album from Richard Thompson.
See you soon.
HMV record stores have long been a feature of most large towns and cities in the UK. As an avid buyer of CDs at one time, I found it rather difficult to walk past one of their stores without venturing in and relieving myself of some of my hard earned cash. However in recent times I have spent less time in the stores and more time online. Now my purchases tend to be in download format or if I do purchase a CD it is more often than not, online. I mean let's face it, it is invariably cheaper.
Going into HMV stores in recent times has been something of a depressing experience as I have found myself having to venture deeper into the shop to find the diminishing stock of CDs. Now, it seems to focus more on DVDs, games, assorted electrical accessories and an assortment of books, posters and tee shirts. Yet, I still find it difficult to walk past a store, mainly because high street alternatives are few and far between.
Last weekend I made what may be my last visit to an HMV store. Once again I came away empty handed despite the fact that a 'blue cross' sale offered 25% off many items including some splendid box sets. The trouble is I already owned all the ones I was interested in and most I had purchased - yes, you guessed it - online.
Now I hear that the company has gone into administration and in the UK, over 4,000 jobs could be lost. My heart goes out to the people concerned.
Do I feel partly responsible for this demise? Well to I certain extent I guess I do but let's be honest, if HMV are charging £30 for an item and the same item can be purchased online for £20, what would you do? And an ironic aspect of this is that HMV were offering their own stock far cheaper online. Under such circumstances it appears ludicrous to maintain large stores in prime locations while money is being lost hand over fist.
My final thoughts lie with people who now hold gift cards and vouchers from HMV as I understand that these will not be honoured. I had considered buying my son one for Christmas. Thank goodness I didn't!
I remember back in the day when a good part of my Saturday would be spent in HMV, Virgin or some of the other independent record shops that existed in our area. We would listen to records in some of the separate booths or later on headphones while lounging on one of the leather sofas put there for that purpose. Then I would part with my cash and carry my treasured album(s) home on the bus. Happy days indeed but as Bob Dylan said 'Things Have Changed'.
Back in May last year, I bemoaned the fact that British TV seemed to be in the doldrums with a repetitive stream of soap operas, cookery and makeover shows and a host of so-called reality programmes. Where, I wondered, were all the intelligent dramas?
The answer seemed to lie in Scandinavia as fortunately the BBC brought in programmes such as 'The Killing', 'The Bridge' and 'Borgen'.
The sad plight of UK TV was highlighted I believe on Saturday night when ITV screened a new show named Splash! Although I managed to avoid seeing it, the show essentially revolved around Olympic diver Tom Daley teaching a bunch of so-called celebrities how to dive. It must have been bad as even the tabloid press described it as 'a new low for TV'. Strangely it still managed to attract 6.3 million viewers!
Thank goodness that on the same evening, BBC4 began screening the second series of the superb Danish political drama 'Borgen'. As I was out, I didn't manage to watch it then, but have recorded it to watch when the British TV screens are filled with the usual tosh. Thank goodness for the Scandinavians.
Every now and then an item comes along that I lust after but good sense or just a lack of funds prevents me from taking the plunge. One such item is a recently released book of photographs taken by Henry Grossman. Entitled 'Places I Remember', it doesn't take a genius to work out that the subject matter of the book is The Beatles.
Back in February 1964, 27 year old Grossman was asked by Time magazine to cover the appearance of The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show. He was not at the time a Beatles fan, and to him, it was just another job. However he took a different approach to his task than most other photographers at the time. He chose to take his shots from unusual angles and places thus capturing not only the mop tops themselves, but also successfully taking in the atmosphere surrounding the whole event. Shots were taken from the side of the stage, from behind the band towards the legion of other photographers and also from the very back of the theater (note the American spelling there folks) to give a sense of the scale of the place.
Thereafter, Grossman was regularly asked to photograph The Beatles on numerous occasions between 1964 and 1968. He became friendly with George Harrison and was often invited to attend events from which other photographers were excluded. In that period he took over 7,000 intimate photographs, though very few of them have been previously published.
The volume and quality of the photographs eventually came to the attention of Brian Kehew and his partner Kevin Ryan who were looking for photographs to illustrate their own book, 'Recording The Beatles'. They were given access to the collection of Mr Grossman and were staggered by how many photos he had accumulated.
Incidentally, those of you who have been following this blog since last March may recognise the names of Kehew and Ryan as having presented a lecture at Abbey Road Studios. I was lucky enough to attend and wrote about it at the time (http://eddie-graham.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/abbey-road-studios.html)
As Curvebender Publishing they have now released 'Places I Remember', a 528 page volume containing about 1,000 of Grossmans photographs. The silver-edged hardback book comes in a clamshell box and weighs a hefty fifteen pounds. This is limited to 1,250 copies, the first 250 of which are hand signed by Grossman himself.
As I said earlier, I lust after such an item but sadly the cost is beyond my modest means. If you are interested and have $495 (or $795 for one of the signed copies), you could get your hands on what sounds like a real treat. If so, I'd love to hear from you. It would make me very envious but what the hell!
