Thursday, November 17, 2022
Albums of the Year # 39 Jonathan Personne - Jonathan Personne
A fabulous record of Gallic Golden Age Pop from Montreal's Jonathan Robert, who featured in Post Punk band Corridor but here adopts a totally different approach. Here he's a French Pop Star of the late Sixties or early Seventies.
Choose your own favourite. Gainsbourg, Dutronc or perhaps your own more floaty candidate. Boris Vian? An eponymous album sees Robert establish his new persona nicely.
It's altogether beautiful stuff. French always works for me as a Pop language to rival English and that argument is made well here. The record covers a lot of groun,d but most of all Romantic sounds like the adjective that best describes it. One to put on and snog your partner on the sofa to.
Song(s) of the Day # 3,214 Smidley
Now this came totally out of the blue as a lot of the best records do. Sidley, someone I've never heard of, a bloke from St. Louis with a moustache and a dazed look who looks like a refugee from an early Seventies West Coast party and what seems to be his second album Here Comes The Devil.
This is disembodied and strangely haunting music. Definitely guitar orientated but not particularly easy to nail down in terms of its influences. Given a push I might say Mercury Rev or Flaming Lips those two great American Psychedelic bands of the Nineties who someone managed to make a mark while retaining their essential weirdness.
Here Comes The Devil is a pretty remarkable record that has made my end of year list because it's so good, even though it's mid-November and I'm already almost into the thirties and it means ejecting something I've loved earlier on in 2021. A first world problem, I know.
But this is an album where it's a case of love at first spin. Sidley if that is his real name has also been in Foxing. If this interests you, I advise that you go there to investigate further.
Wednesday, November 16, 2022
Albums of the Year # 40 Silvana Estrada - Marchita
There's not really too much more about the record except that Estrada carries it off with consumate grace. Marchita is by turn mournful, romantic and yearning. Understanding her lyrics is not remotely important in terms of identifying with and enjoying the ride.
The realisation that she is only 23 is rather astonishing as there's wealth and wisdom here that go far beyond her years.In her own words 'my music is made of who I am.' More than good enough for me
Song of the Day # 3,213 Heather Trost
Another great call from Darren, cpnstant supporter and frequent contributor to this blog.
Tuesday, November 15, 2022
Albums of the Year # 41 Vinyl Williams - Cosmopolis
Wednesday, August 31,
Now this is something really lovely if that's what you're after on a Wednesday morning, which I imagine most people are. Vinyl Williams, not a man but a band, are new to me. They hail from LA and have been described as a Neo-Psychedelic, Electronic, Dreampop, Krautrock, Chillwave, Hypnagogic Pop band by Wikapedia. That's a ludicrous number of labels for one band to labour under. Anyhow, They're ridiculously good. And Cosmoplis, their sixth album, is just out.
It strikes me as really rather Anglophile. The sharp side of the Independent Nineties fair where Bo Radley's, Stereolab, Laika and High Llamas set out their their stalls. Once you know this is the modus vivendi and that Vinyl Williams are so thoughtfully and artfully adept at what they do and that they're going to make you feel like dancing too, in the way that Deelite, Saint Etienne and CSS used to, albeit at the Indie Disco rather the crap mainstream one in the High Street,then you're ready, you can sit back and enjoy.
For this is first of all a highly enjoyable journey.. This group have a lightness of touch that is rare in the circles they mix in, a fleetness of foot that leads to some truly magical moments when golden confetti is scattered over proceedings and you feel that what you are listening to has more in common with Nile Rogers and Sergio Mendes than Thurston or Malkmus.
So, a true gem for the end of summer and a considerable achievement for Lionel Williams, the guiding vision Spector figure behind his near namesake band. A record I haven't been able to stop listening to since I first became aware of its existence a couple of days ago.
Song(s) of the Day # 3,212 S.C.A.B.
New York band that in some ways echoes of the city's musical past without ever being too obvious. Their eponymous debut album sounds like the last time the places musical guitar legacy was really great, circa 2000 Strokes era rather than CBGB's '76.
It's a fine eclectic record that should get some attention. With a Shoegaze element thrown in. One to discover and fall for at ease.
Monday, November 14, 2022
Albums of the Year # 42 Seapower - Everything Was Forever
Sea Power. or British Sea Power as they were until recently known, are a band I've long been aware of, but never really listened to. The reasons for this I can't really fathom, I think it's largely because the tracks I did hear, though generally likeable, never seemed to grab me firmly enough to really demand my full attention.
But I'm giving their latest Everything Was Forever a listen now. Well, I'm done with work on a Monday evening and the film I was watching didn't grab me. The record is more than alright and I can immediately imagine why some, (even if it's only a devoted few), might be almost obsessional about them.
They certainly have an oceanic chug about them. Second track Transmitter almost sounds like a chunky tug boat heading out to sea on choppy waves. They've clearly chiselled out a definite identity for themselves over the years, a proud sense of mission and purpose over the course of their almost twenty years of releasing records on a regular basis but not really selling very many.
I almost feel that I've been missing out on something, never really giving them a proper listen even though I've been aware of them all this time and got the feeling that they might be a band worthy of intention. I certainly like this in the way that I liked bands like Wire, Split Enz, The Chills, The Go Betweens and early James. Bands that operated under the radar, not because they were contrary or bloody mnded. Just because they believed in what they were doing and were not willing to compromse that just for a shot at the charts.
Everything Was Forever won me over on first play and I'll be back to it. Sea Power may have dropped the British part of their name, possibly because they were not willing to risk any connotations with ugly political events of recent years, but they're still very, very British in terms of their singularity which aligns itself to the best aspects of our national character. Our resolve. Our eccentricity and complexity. I'll also be going through the back catalogue over the coming weeks to find out what I've been missing out on all these years.
Sunday, November 13, 2022
Some New Kind of Kick - Kid Congo Powers # 5 Bo Diddley
Kid Congos meets Jeffrey Lee in the queue for a Pere Ubu gig. Gun Club duly forms.
Albums of the Year # 43 Aoife Nessa Frances - Protector
I very much liked Aoife Nessa Frances' debut Land of No Junction when it appeared at the beginning of last year. Enchanting was a good description of it. Mysterious, enigmatic and highly more-ish it employed tropes you'd immediately associate with Stereolab and Broadcast and filled the spaces with fantastic, original ingenuity. It was and is some record.
So it's great to be able to report that Frances has returned 18 months down the line with a follow up Protector that on first play is quite the equal of its predecessor. I'm already looking forward to playing this again and getting to know these songs better.
Protector seems less immediately indebted to either Stereolab or Broadcast here. In many ways these seem like more traditionally derived Folk related compositions. But they're every bit as compelling and mysterious as the songs on Land of No Junction and Frances is carving out a fascinating identity for herself that brings Jane Weaver to mind in terms of its potential future legacy.
A late entry in terms of my albums of the year. It had to have a space someone. A magical, textured record. The stuff of happy dreams. An album that demands playing and re-playing to allow it to fully unwrap its pearls. Sorry for the hyperpole but trust me. It really is that good.
Song(s) of the Day # 3,210 Orchid Mantis
A lovely, lilting album called How Long Will It Take from Atlanta's Thomas Howard. Shades of Red House Painters and Bon Iver.
A model lesson in how music that seems sad on the surface can actually make the listener happy. The Happy / Sad Tim Buckley Elliott Smith equation. Altogether a rather wonderful record.
Saturday, November 12, 2022
Some New Kind of Kick - Kid Congo Powers # 4 X Ray Spex
Congos makes the 'world turn dayglo' as he surfs the Punk wave from the Pistols last gig in San Francisco to see The Cramps and The Contortions and back to LA.
Albums of the Year # 44 Erin Rae - Lighten Up
Tennessee's Erin Rae's new album Lighten Up is souffle light and sweet, another great album to turn to in early 2022 ,a year that's already been rich iin wonderful records.
Essentially a modern take on Folk and Country album its very nostalgic in tone while still sounding like much more than a mere throwback to the Sixties and early Seventies.
The songs here are imbued in a warm and loving glow. Kevin Morby joins for a duet in the classic tradition for second track Can't See Stars. Rae's voice is a truly lovely thing throughout. Pitched somewhere between Bobbie Gentry and Karen Carpenter, it doesn't fall at all short of those golden comparisons.
It's all highly tasteful, but that's by no means a criticism, in fact the opposite. File next to Weyes Blood who has a similarly loving and artful relationship with the past. A first listen to Lighten Up is enough to indicate that it may well prove to have every bit as long a shelf life as Titanic Rising did in 2019.
Song(s) of the Day # 3,209 Dumb
There's a young guitar band called Dummy out of LA. They've put out some quite excellent records over the last couple of years that take their lead mainly from Broadcast and Stereolab. I commend them to you.
To confuse matters, there is another young guitar band called Dumb out of Vancouver. They've put out some very good records too. Most recently Pray 4 Tomorrow their third album which rakes its lead mostly from Pavement and more evidently Parquet Courts and particularly Light Up Gold the record which more than any other seem to have set up this milieu of Pavement obsession so awash in indie circles.
This is a highly mannered sensibility, that of not being able to play or sing in tune, which goes back way beyond Parquet Courts and even Pavement to the likes of Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band and Zappa and over on the other coast The Velvet Underground and The Fugs.
It articulates a basic need that seems fundamental urge in young and not so young leftfield types. The not quite so young bit evidenced by Pavement's triumphant recent reunion tour of these shores. Being cool and not actually as inept as you immediately come across as is an attractive fork in the road. Irony.
Pray 4 Tomorrow is not an essential record. I'd direct you to Kiwi Jr's Chopper and Stroppies' Levity as the 'essential' examples of this particular sub-genre for 2022. They're so good, so utterly assured, that they assume an authority and identity all of their own. Pray 4 Tomorrow doesn't ultimately. In the final analysis it's just too Parquet Courts. Too Light Up Gold.
Still, it's definitely worth a listen if this is your cup of sick, and it certainly can be mine. There are some fine songs. It will be interesting to see where Dumb go from here. There's certainly enough talent here to see them feathering something mre entirely their own nest one day.
Friday, November 11, 2022
Some New Kind of Kick - Kid Congo Powers # 3 The Adverts
Kid starts to run The Ramones LA Fanclub and we career through Punk Rock together with his young self. He's the perfect company. New York, Italy, London and back to New York and from there on to La via as series of witnessed perfect Punk Rock gigs. All the while working out what a Gay Punk is!
Albums of the Year # 45 Father John Misty - Chloe & the Next 20th Century
I've never really listened to J. Tillman (Father John Misty), albums before, even though he's been a relatively high profile alternative artist, putting out records for a number of years now. I'm not sure why this is. It's not because I've ever had a particular aversion to what he's done.
I put that to rights late night, listening through to his latest album Chloe & the Next 20th Century (something of a mouthful in itself), in its entirity at a single sitting. I found during the listening experience, that I rather warmed to it.
This is clearly something of a departure for Misty. The artist I most associated him with previously, correctly or otherwise, was probably Dylan. * Chloe apart from being very wordy indeed, sounds nothing whatsoever like Dylan.
Instead, it sounds most to me like four particular artists. Nilsson, Randy Newman, The Mama's & The Papa's John Phillips fabulous 1970 solo album, John, The Wolf King of LA, and Elton John. In many ways it comes across as a chamber or baroque pastiche record of days long gone. A pastiche of a pastiche if you like, as all of those artists seemed slightly out of time first time round, to be peddling music from a bygone, imagined age when they were putting out records in the Seventies.
Anyhow, it's very much to my liking. Highly complex, layered in the manner of an artistic statement, louche and ornate. Whether you take to label this as an example of high talent, or the mark of an arch charlatan, probably depends on your personal tastes.
I like it in the way that I love John, The Wolf King and Nilsson in particular. It's romantic, melodic, mysterious and wry. Four things I always warm to greatly. It's also highly decadent, and imbued with a sense of deep sadness.
Whether this means I'll investigate Misty's back catalogue, I'm not sure. This is enough for me to explore further over the coming months. The one thing that holds me back from lloving it unconditionally is the fact that it reminds me of the artists I've mentioned to such a degree that I'm not entirely sure where they stop and Misty himself begins. Regardless, it's a fine record and I'll be playing it plenty.
* I may be entirely wrong in assuming there's a Misty / Dylan connection of course. Would need to listen more to decide if this is the case.
Song of the Day # 3,208 L.S. Dunes
Apparently 'luminaries from rock's thriving post-punk and hardcore scenes'. This, accodring to the band's Spotify biography 'is the next great leap in rock's grand evolution'. I doubt that really. It sound like the kind of thing that some spotty kid in the mid-west thought was really cool. Still, it's lively.
Thursday, November 10, 2022
Some New Kind of Kick - Kid Congo Powers # 2 The Ramones
Kid realises his sexuality and discovers The Ramones, his first true love. His cousin Theresa, a soul mate is murdered and he decides to live.
Things Found on My Local's Jukebox # 548 Harry Nilsson
Sometimes a stab in the dark is the best option.
Albums of the Year # 46 Young Guv - Guv IV
I'm a sucker for a certain kind of jingle jangle morning sound really, whether it's rooted in 1966, '76' or '86 . I know all about it's wistfulness, it's wanness, or if you prefer, uts essential limp wristed wetness. Although I'm no completist, and could certainly not listen solely to music of this sort, when I come across a good example of this kind of record, which I tend to every few months, I really couldn't be more delighted.
And this is certainly a very, good example of this particular kind of record. It has such precisional, mastery of the requirements of the sub genre I'm talking about that it pretty much feels like it was cooked up in a scientific laboratory.
It's the fourth album from Young Guv, essentially the brainchild and inamorata of American Ben Cook. Generally holed up in New Mexico it's no stretch to guess what you'd imagine would be the records Cook places at the front of his record stacks. I'd go for 5D and Younger Than Yesterday, Emergency Third Rail Power Trip and Stone Roses.
But more than anything it's clear that above all he venerates the new dawn purity, and wonder of the mid-Sixties. Young Guv IV practically radiates it. Every track glows with virgin wonder. The guitar lines are crystalline. The vocals adopt the unaffected inocence of Michael Quercio of The 3 O'Clock, Ian Broudie, Richie Furay or Syd Barrett. Everything is perfectly crafted with the end result in mind.
To pull off a venture like this you're going to require a certain steely quality and a very, very good set of songs. Because ultimately you're setting yourself up against the likes of The Beatles, The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, The Monkees, and The Turtles. Among the best there've ever been. Cook clearly has both in spades. To such a degree that this feels like far more than an exercise in nostalgic pastiche even though it is perfectly evident where it takes its inspiration from. A magical record.
Song(s) of the Day # 3,207 Rose & Finch
Rose & Finch with a cute as pie, icky Folk thing that will warm the cockles of your heart. You may have heard it all before, but one more time for the road.
Wednesday, November 9, 2022
Some New Kind of Kick - Kid Congo Powers # 1 The Shangri- Las
New reading matter and there should be plenty of drama here. Kid Congo Powers, of Gun Club, Cramps and Bad Seeds fame. Heroin addiction and gay sexuality in a world where even during the years that he came to public notice this was not a straightforward matter,
We start with Congo's childhood in Hispanic LA. He's onto things quickly. Glam Rock, Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco, Bowie and the Dolls.
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