Oddly enough, on a wet, dreary day wandering around Swansea University campus, Sparklehorse’s third album (and personal favourite) seems optimistic, even happy. Slight contradiction really, as Mark Linkous has been repeatedly hailed as the best writer of moving, slow, and quiet, sad simple songs around. Also taking into account his random weird lyrics (I.e. “I’m the dog that ate your birthday cake”, from this album’s title track) and interesting song titles of course.
With the promise of a new album being written, and also the promise of it not coming any time soon, it’s good to sink into reliable classics like ‘Sea Of Teeth’ and ‘Good Day’, which go about their simple brilliance with hushed vocals, accompanied by even quieter strings and pianos. PJ Harvey adding her vocals to ‘Apple Bed’ and ‘Piano Fire’ amongst others is a great touch too. And ‘King Of Nails’ still gets my vote for best possible single with it’s whammy bar solo.
Considering its been 4 years since ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ was released, it’s a nice pleasure to work through Linkous’ work and find plenty to keep you occupied till he gets around to releasing the 4th Sparklehorse album. Musical retarded genius? Yeah, close enough.
24.10.05
Imogen Heap - Speak for Yourself - Megaphonic 001
Belonging to a generation where listening to solo female singers is viewed as best left to those of a Dad rock persuasion (although obviously not my Dad) thanks principally to Dido, whilst browsing through my iTunes this Sunday afternoon I was surprised to see the last three albums added were all exactly that. Along with offerings by Natacha Atlas and Jem, I remembered Imogen Heap’s album, Speak for Yourself. Her second solo album (when not singing with Frou Frou) released this year is simply put, essential Autumnal listening.
Catchy but not overtly poppy, and with an ethereal tone that becomes addictive, this album is a small wonder. Electronic in tone, Heap’s vocals draw you in and allow you to see the beauty around you as you walk down a leaf strewn lane to your Post-Communist Russia seminar. Whilst an album that never truly settles in one groove, it flows in the way all albums should. Try to opener Headlock or Goodnight & Go to be convinced.
Catchy but not overtly poppy, and with an ethereal tone that becomes addictive, this album is a small wonder. Electronic in tone, Heap’s vocals draw you in and allow you to see the beauty around you as you walk down a leaf strewn lane to your Post-Communist Russia seminar. Whilst an album that never truly settles in one groove, it flows in the way all albums should. Try to opener Headlock or Goodnight & Go to be convinced.
23.10.05
Jimmy Smith’s Last Four Blue Notes - I’m Movin’ On (32750); Bucket! (24550); Rockin’ The Boat (76755); Prayer Meetin’ (76754)
Every musician who put a Blue Note album on the pop charts in the early 1960s left Blue Note shortly afterwards to record for another label. Francis Wolf visited Europe in the summer of 1970, to produce Hank Mobley’s The Flip in Paris, and was interviewed on the BBC’s jazz programme one Sunday night. He explained what happened.
Blue Note was a cheapskate company with high standards. Normal first year sales of their albums were about 7,000. The breakeven point was about 2,500. But only about half the albums the company recorded came out at the time. Clearly, the company was profitable, since the records would sell for years, or decades, but not spectacularly so. Alfred Lion and Francis Wolf wanted to record the musicians they thought were best. To manage that, they needed to offer the musicians something they couldn’t get from other companies; and to do so within very tight budgets. They came up with the idea of a cash payment that would be greater than the standard Musicians Union scale. The kick was that there were to be no royalties.
All went well until Jimmy Smith, Donald Byrd and Lou Donaldson got records onto the pop charts. Not having read their contracts, they went to Blue Note and asked for their royalties and were told, and I quote, “fuck off, you don’t get no royalties!”
So they did. Smith was the first. He went to Verve and recoded Bashin’ and got a top 5 single out of it, as well as a top 10 album. “Oi! You’re still contracted to us!” was the immediate response from Blue Note. Smith owed Blue Note four albums under his contract. After much hassle, Blue Note got him into Van Gelder’s studio on 31 January 1963. Between then and 8 February, he cut four albums. The reissue in 2004 on CD of the last two means that they are all out again.
Blue Note did well out of those nine days; spinning out the release of the albums over four years, they got three of them onto the pop album charts. Not only were they popular; they were really very good records. Every one is a mellow, relaxed groove in which Smith doesn’t try to prove anything. Each one includes a classic blues ballad: T’ain’t No Use; Careless Love; Please Send Me Someone To Love; and I Almost Lost My Mind. These set the feeling for each album, but there are a couple of Calypsos in there; plenty of hard-rocking grooves that would have done well on juke boxes; some gospel songs like Just A Closer Walk, When The Saints Go Marching In and John Brown’s Body; none of this material was the kind of stuff that Smith usually recorded so, despite the relaxed feel to the albums, Smith and his colleagues were exploring somewhat new territory.
Apart from Bucket!, which just featured Smith’s regular trio with Quentin Warren and Donald Bailey, the albums featured other Blue Note stars, who hadn’t yet left for pastures new.
I’m Movin’ On – an obvious message – features Grant Green, and is the only one that didn’t make the pop charts, possibly because it wasn’t released until after Blue Note had been sold in 1967. The rapport between Green and Smith is astounding, since they didn’t usually play together. The CD has two extra tracks from the session that only came out on a Japanese LP.
Rockin’ The Boat features Lou Donaldson. It’s the only one of the four that I didn’t get on LP, though I did get a 45 off the LP. It has the greatest grooves on it and no bonus tracks. It also features John Patton – playing tambourine(!) - on three tracks. Patton was in Donaldson’s band at the time and, the previous week, Lou had just recorded his last Blue Note for several years. Finally, Prayer Meetin’ features Stanley Turrentine. Turrentine had been on the two hit albums - Midnight Special and Back At The Chicken Shack - that Smith recorded on 25 April 1960, so he was an obvious choice for Smith’s farewell party. Unfortunately, the two bonus tracks on the CD were recorded in June 1960, at a duff session with, strangely, Sam Jones on bass. They really don’t fit in with the rest.
Listening to all four albums together is wonderful. Although there are different stars taking their own approaches and a wide variety of source material, the way it’s handled shows a high degree of integration, both in the direction of the music and the relationships between the musicians. It’s about three hours of constantly satisfying groove - AM
Blue Note was a cheapskate company with high standards. Normal first year sales of their albums were about 7,000. The breakeven point was about 2,500. But only about half the albums the company recorded came out at the time. Clearly, the company was profitable, since the records would sell for years, or decades, but not spectacularly so. Alfred Lion and Francis Wolf wanted to record the musicians they thought were best. To manage that, they needed to offer the musicians something they couldn’t get from other companies; and to do so within very tight budgets. They came up with the idea of a cash payment that would be greater than the standard Musicians Union scale. The kick was that there were to be no royalties.All went well until Jimmy Smith, Donald Byrd and Lou Donaldson got records onto the pop charts. Not having read their contracts, they went to Blue Note and asked for their royalties and were told, and I quote, “fuck off, you don’t get no royalties!”
So they did. Smith was the first. He went to Verve and recoded Bashin’ and got a top 5 single out of it, as well as a top 10 album. “Oi! You’re still contracted to us!” was the immediate response from Blue Note. Smith owed Blue Note four albums under his contract. After much hassle, Blue Note got him into Van Gelder’s studio on 31 January 1963. Between then and 8 February, he cut four albums. The reissue in 2004 on CD of the last two means that they are all out again.
Blue Note did well out of those nine days; spinning out the release of the albums over four years, they got three of them onto the pop album charts. Not only were they popular; they were really very good records. Every one is a mellow, relaxed groove in which Smith doesn’t try to prove anything. Each one includes a classic blues ballad: T’ain’t No Use; Careless Love; Please Send Me Someone To Love; and I Almost Lost My Mind. These set the feeling for each album, but there are a couple of Calypsos in there; plenty of hard-rocking grooves that would have done well on juke boxes; some gospel songs like Just A Closer Walk, When The Saints Go Marching In and John Brown’s Body; none of this material was the kind of stuff that Smith usually recorded so, despite the relaxed feel to the albums, Smith and his colleagues were exploring somewhat new territory.
Apart from Bucket!, which just featured Smith’s regular trio with Quentin Warren and Donald Bailey, the albums featured other Blue Note stars, who hadn’t yet left for pastures new.
I’m Movin’ On – an obvious message – features Grant Green, and is the only one that didn’t make the pop charts, possibly because it wasn’t released until after Blue Note had been sold in 1967. The rapport between Green and Smith is astounding, since they didn’t usually play together. The CD has two extra tracks from the session that only came out on a Japanese LP.
Rockin’ The Boat features Lou Donaldson. It’s the only one of the four that I didn’t get on LP, though I did get a 45 off the LP. It has the greatest grooves on it and no bonus tracks. It also features John Patton – playing tambourine(!) - on three tracks. Patton was in Donaldson’s band at the time and, the previous week, Lou had just recorded his last Blue Note for several years. Finally, Prayer Meetin’ features Stanley Turrentine. Turrentine had been on the two hit albums - Midnight Special and Back At The Chicken Shack - that Smith recorded on 25 April 1960, so he was an obvious choice for Smith’s farewell party. Unfortunately, the two bonus tracks on the CD were recorded in June 1960, at a duff session with, strangely, Sam Jones on bass. They really don’t fit in with the rest.Listening to all four albums together is wonderful. Although there are different stars taking their own approaches and a wide variety of source material, the way it’s handled shows a high degree of integration, both in the direction of the music and the relationships between the musicians. It’s about three hours of constantly satisfying groove - AM
18.10.05
Jolie Holland - Escondida - Anti 6692-2
Got turned onto Jolie Holland by Dad's "Radio Sandy Beach". After hearing 'Do You?', I knew exactly what I'd be getting from her. A great modern blues and slightly jazzy album for those quiet nights and days where all you want is something....well....quiet.
There's nothing exactly revolutionary here, but if that's what you expected then you're listening to the wrong kind of music. Holland writes great songs that you can gently sway and think to, and that are occassionaly pretty moving; 'Damn Shame' and the aforementioned 'Do You?' are fairly direct if soft loving laments. The former in particular uses Holland's voice accompanied by just a piano.
So there we go; a great slow bluesy album to experience, each song laced with Holland's whispy, soft vocals. Also worth noting that her occassional vitriol in some songs by using words we hope she didnt learn in Sunday school make this more than simple background music.
There's nothing exactly revolutionary here, but if that's what you expected then you're listening to the wrong kind of music. Holland writes great songs that you can gently sway and think to, and that are occassionaly pretty moving; 'Damn Shame' and the aforementioned 'Do You?' are fairly direct if soft loving laments. The former in particular uses Holland's voice accompanied by just a piano.
So there we go; a great slow bluesy album to experience, each song laced with Holland's whispy, soft vocals. Also worth noting that her occassional vitriol in some songs by using words we hope she didnt learn in Sunday school make this more than simple background music.
15.10.05
The Magic Numbers - The Magic Numbers - EMI 0946 330574 2 5
They've become famous for walking out of Top of The Pops after the presenter made a remark about their unfashionable figures, which is a shame, because they're really good. They've got great pop voices with a slight raw Country edge, a bit like Kings of Leon on downers, and the songs are all well-crafted, drawing you in carrying you along, and ending, for the most part, just in time.
Don't expect anything revolutionary or startling but it is one of those albums that makes me wonder just how people make music, in the sense that they take some basic ingredients - voice, guitars, drums etc - and produce something that instantly fits into a genre that's been round for years and yet still sounds fresh. If you could bottle it, you'd make a fortune.
Don't expect anything revolutionary or startling but it is one of those albums that makes me wonder just how people make music, in the sense that they take some basic ingredients - voice, guitars, drums etc - and produce something that instantly fits into a genre that's been round for years and yet still sounds fresh. If you could bottle it, you'd make a fortune.
11.10.05
Lonnie Smith/Dave Newman - Boogaloo to Beck - Scufflin' 8481; Reuben Wilson/Andrew Beals - Boogaloo To The Beastie Boys - Scufflin' 8776
The Smith/Newman came out in 2003, the Wilson/Beals in 2004. Both albums use the same rhythm section of Doug Munro on guitar and LaFrae Olivia Sci on drums; never heard of either. Bernie Worrell, an old George Clinton hand, does a guest appearance on the Wilson album.
Beck is a singer I’ve never heard, and had never heard of until I bought this. He writes pretty interesting tunes. And Smith and Newman get deep into them, sometimes developing ideas that just make me gasp. I DO know who the beastie Boys are, though I don’t know their music much – I think they made a record with a proper rap band once. They don’t write terribly interesting tunes.
Smith is one of the giants of the Soul Jazz organ; Wilson isn’t. Newman is one of the giants of the Soul Jazz sax; Beals isn’t, though he trained with McDuff. You’d expect, on paper, that the Beastie’s album wouldn’t be worth listening to. But great though the Smith/Newman is, it’s quite overshadowed by the Wilson/Beals. The plain truth is that Wilson has always majored in enthusiasm and, on material such as this, it shows - AM.
Beck is a singer I’ve never heard, and had never heard of until I bought this. He writes pretty interesting tunes. And Smith and Newman get deep into them, sometimes developing ideas that just make me gasp. I DO know who the beastie Boys are, though I don’t know their music much – I think they made a record with a proper rap band once. They don’t write terribly interesting tunes.
Smith is one of the giants of the Soul Jazz organ; Wilson isn’t. Newman is one of the giants of the Soul Jazz sax; Beals isn’t, though he trained with McDuff. You’d expect, on paper, that the Beastie’s album wouldn’t be worth listening to. But great though the Smith/Newman is, it’s quite overshadowed by the Wilson/Beals. The plain truth is that Wilson has always majored in enthusiasm and, on material such as this, it shows - AM.
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