Breaking Bad (and Breaking Dad)

Having written recently about this fantastic American TV series,

.....I was struck by this little beauty hanging in a shop window.

RIP Lou Reed

Sad news yesterday concerning the death of Lou Reed at the age of 71.

I was an avid fan of The Velvet Underground from the late 1960's and followed Reed's solo career up to a certain point but then some of his more 'adventurous' releases left me behind so I fell by the wayside. Nevertheless I appreciate that he was constantly pushing the boundaries of modern music and he has left behind a great body of work. He was also an influence on many fine bands and artists.

As one commentator declared, yesterday was an imperfect day.

RIP Lou.

Here's the man playing 'Sweet Jane' live in 2000.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVsmV7TAyls

Autumn reflections and colours

This morning was wet and windy so I made time to catch up on some of the things I should have done yesterday when I was enticed outside by the beautiful sunshine.

Not to mention the glorious autumn colours.....

..... and the crystal clear reflections.

 

Speaking of reflections, while catching up on those tasks, I am making time to listen to the new album 'Reflektor' by Arcade Fire. To my ears it is sounding pretty good.

 

Aaah! The sun is shining again. I'm off out. See you later.



Steven Wilson Live at Newcastle City Hall

On Friday 18 October, I set off for the Newcastle City Hall with fairly mixed feelings as I was attending this concert at the expense of seeing These New Puritans who were playing just across the River Tyne at The Sage, Gateshead. Two of my favourite finds this year, and they both have to be playing in my area on the same night. That's what we call sod's law in these parts.

Anyway the tickets for Steven Wilson were obtained long before I knew anything about These New Puritans, so off I went looking forward to seeing live performances of songs from one of the best albums of the year, 'The Raven That Refused To Sing... and Other Stories'. I was not to be disappointed as the band played almost everything from that album. (Only 'Pin Drop' was omitted).

It is always something of a thrill entering the City Hall as it was one of the first major venues I ever attended back when I was a slip of a lad. I have lost count of the number of times I have been there but regrettably these days visits are something of a rare occurrence simply because they tend to feature very few artists that interest me.

Soon after taking our seats, a film was projected onto the rear curtain and as the main character of the film (a street busker) strummed his guitar, the sound was replaced by that of Wilson himself strumming his own acoustic guitar and ambling barefoot onto the stage.

He was eventually joined by the other five members of his band and soon they were pumping out the opening bass riff of 'Luminol' which opens the aforementioned album.

The recent songs were broken up by a couple from Wilson's previous album, 'Grace For Drowning' as well as a brand new song which is currently named 'Soundtrack to Decline' but the title like the song was being road tested and is therefore subject to change.

Throughout I was struck by the quality of the musicianship as the band successfully recreated the complex rhythms produced on record. In this respect I was put in mind of when I went to see King Crimson, Genesis and Yes in the early 1970's and the use of film and projected images also recalled the visual attributes of the aforementioned master of prog-rock.

After a little over two hours, the band ended with an encore of 'Radioactive Toy' from the first Porcupine Tree album and the band took their bows and left, leaving us to take one more look around this wonderful venue and venture out into the night.

The full setlist consisted of:

Trains
Luminol
Postcard
The Holy drinker
Drive Home
Soundtrack to Decline
The Watchmaker
Index
Sectarian
Harmony Korine
Raider 2
The Raven That refused To Sing
Radioactive Toy

Books#6 - Lunar Notes by Bill Harkleroad and Billy James

Whereas the book 'Captain Beefheart' by Mike Barnes is a biography of Don Van Vliet and 'Riding Some Kind of Unusual Skull Sleigh' by W.C Bamberger is an outsider's view of Beefheart and his art, Harkleroad preempts John 'Drumbo' French, by telling the story of The Magic Band from the inside. As he points out in the preface, the book is about Harkleroad (or Zoot Horn Rollo as he became known) but as the majority of his musical career was within The Magic Band, the work becomes by default, yet another work on Beefheart.

Harkleroad also confesses very early on that he is not a writer therefore the book has been put together by Billy James from taped interviews with Harkleroad. At a mere 151 pages it obviously can't compete with the level of detail included within the 864 pages of John French's Beefheart Through the Eyes Of Magic'. Nevertheless it is an entertaining and informative read covering the six years that Harkleroad spent working with Beefheart. He played on all of the albums from 'Lick My Decals Off, Baby' in 1968 to 'Unconditionally Guaranteed' in 1974 and his break down of the tracks from each album provides a fascinating glimpse into who was responsible for what and why certain tracks turned out the way they did. I would say that reading this slim volume in addition to the John French tome, helps to break down some of the mystique and the myths that have surrounded Beefheart. They also provide a new insight into the music and I have found myself listening to those familiar tracks with new ears.

The last couple of chapters deal with Harkleroad's musical life after The Magic Band, most notably with Mallard.

I would suggest that anyone with more than a passing interest in the life and musical work of Captain Beefheart might want to give this book a try. It should while away a few hours on an autumn afternoon.

As a little treat, here's Zoot Horn Rollo and colleagues accompanying the great Captain Beefheart on 'I'm Gonna Booglarize You Baby'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLdRh7qdi_g

Paul McCartney - NEW and All These Years Volume 1 Tune In by Mark Lewisohn

Double treats on Friday morning.

First I got hold of Macca's new album which just happens to be called 'NEW'. Having played it straight through twice, I will say here and now that it appears to be his best album for years. I have to confess that I have not been a massive fan of much of his solo work (or Wings for that matter) as I find him inclined to be a bit slushy for my liking. And this album does have a few moments that are too close to pop music (the title track being a prime example). However, overall I am suitably impressed and will continue to give it a spin.

Also delivered this morning was my hard backed copy of the huge new work by Mark Lewisohn. If you didn't know by now, 'All These Years, Volume 1: Tune In' is the first part of three of Lewisohn's definitive story of The Beatles. This volume has over 900 pages and only takes us up to the beginning of the fab four's recording career in 1962.

My first comment has to be on the subject of the cover. Yeuk!

I mean what were they thinking? I wonder what Lewisohn himself thinks of it.

That aside, I have read a selection of extracts from it and found myself wanting more. Well, here it is, so let's get the coffee machine on and get stuck in.

I may be some time.

Box Sets #7 John Martyn - The Island Years

OK it's confession time, I don't actually own this recently released 18 disc box set, finding the £150 price tag a little too steep.. However, due to what I can only assume was a slip up by Amazon, I was able to download the complete 17 discs of music as MP3 files for the princely sum of.... wait for it.....  £1.19!

Yes, that's right, 259 tracks for just over one of the Queen's English pounds.

So OK I didn't get the 18th disc which is I'm sure a very fine DVD and nor did I get the 120 page hard-backed book. However I can live without those having saved myself about £148.

So onto the musical content which features each of John (and where appropriate, Beverley) Martyn's twelve studio albums released by Island between 1967 and 1987. Additionally there are two previously unreleased live concerts from 1972 and 1977 AND a host of alternate takes, demo recordings and the complete recordings for the final unreleased album, 'The Apprentice'.

As is usually the case with such complete releases, there is a fair amount of duplication of songs but for fans of John Martyn's career, this is an absolute treasure trove of his music. And for the casual fan (and I'm assuming if you read this far, you fall into one of the above categories), there is plenty to get stuck into. If you find the repetitions tedious, there is always the 'skip' button you know.

Sadly the £1.19 offer has disappeared but as I write this, I see that the current price is £7.49. Surely this must also be a mistake. I therefore suggest you get it while you can.
Happy listening.

Harold McNair - Revisited

Some time ago I wrote on the subject of a very fine flute/saxophone player by the name of Harold McNair. If you missed my jottings then, you can catch them here.
http://eddie-graham.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/harold-mcnair-flautist-extraordinaire.html#gpluscomments

At that time, my collection of music by McNair was very sparse, mainly because little of it is available on CD (a travesty I feel). However my collection has been substantially boosted thanks to the generosity of another collector of McNair's work. Wolfgang has been kind enough to send me copies of several albums by McNair, including a couple of very rare albums from his early career in Jamaica. The cherry on the cake however, was a copy of the much sought after collector's item, 'Affectionate Fink'. I can not thank you enough Wolfgang.

Most recently I was sent a recording of a BBC radio documentary on the subject of Harold McNair. My thanks for this kind gesture must go to Dave who just happens to be a nephew of Harold McNair.

In the documentary, the work of McNair is discussed by Steve Rubie who is the owner of the 606 Jazz Club based at 90 Lots Road, Chelsea. He reveals several anecdotes about McNair but also plays several tracks which demonstrate the diversity of talents and musical styles of this superb musician.

Listening to the documentary was, I have to say, a perfect way to fill an hour on a lazy Sunday morning. Thank you Dave.

I still find it something of a travesty that McNair's work Is not more readily available and that his name is not ranked up there with the jazz greats. As the BBC programme makes clear, he was very widely respected among other musicians. If a flute player was required in the 1960's, Harold McNair would be the first name on everyones lips resulting in him playing on many sessions and film scores.

Perhaps the current lack of recognition is something to do with how short his life and career were. As I reported previously, he died of lung cancer at the tragically young age of 39.

Now, the coffee machine is fired up and I have a stack of Harold McNair CD's before me. It's what Sundays were made for. If you don't believe me, then wrap your ears around this; The Fence.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDQnQcazvDU

Blitzen Trapper - VII

What's this? A Blitzen Trapper record you can dance to?
Well first impressions indicate that that's the case with this new offering - their seventh studio album appropriately titled 'VII'.

Not that fans of the Trappers need worry as the album is still stuffed full of songs containing the rich lyrical imagery we would normally associate with song writer/lead singer, Eric Earley. Indeed some of Earley's finest songs tell a story and 'VII' kicks off with such a track ('Feel The Chill') as he spins a yarn about a spooky old house near to where he grew up.

According to Earley, his father taught him two things which are important in his life. One was about playing stringed instruments and the other was about faith. 'Shine On' is a song all about the latter. It's as close to gospel music as the Trappers have ever gotten and lyrically is perhaps one of the most straightforward songs Earley has ever written. With a catchy, danceable beat, this track also features nice gospel backing vocals from newcomer Liz Vice who takes an even stronger role in the funky 'Neck Tatts, Cadillacs'..

While some acts in the 'Americana' genre are now starting to sound somewhat jaded, Blitzen Trapper have constantly managed to include many other musical influences in their albums and this may be even more apparent with this release. On 'Faces of You', they venture into territory occupied by Wilco on their most recent releases ('Wilco (The Album)' and 'The Whole Love'). However, with the following (and final) track 'Don't Be a Stranger', they are right back in more familiar acoustic territory with Earley imploring the subject of his love against a backdrop of banjo and peddle steel guitar. Set against the more traditional 'Americana' sounds, this album features a host of other influences. 'Oregon Geography' is a rap while I swear I hear vinyl scratching in 'Valley of Death' and 'Neck Tatts, Cadillacs'.

I have compared the album to its predecessor ('American Goldwing') and I find this to be less rocky and the mix to be crisper and brighter. It has altogether a more modern feel to it, yet still retains those references to the old time, backwoods music of the US. Oh, and of course it still has some gorgeous songs most notably 'Ever Loved Once' which also features some beautiful backing vocals.

I claimed a while back that the band seem to get better with each new recording. With this album it would appear that the trend continues.

If you don't dance to this record, I suspect it may at least 'make you shake a hip'.