Musings on the byways of popular culture
It turns out I now have a spare ticket for this:
If anyone is interested, DM me.
The ticket is already paid for by a friend who can’t make it so I don’t want or need any cash for it — just seems a shame for it to go to waste.
I won’t be attending the whole thing, probably just from the appearance of Dream Syndicate onwards.
Timings in comments.
I have just been informed by the South Bank Centre that the curator of next year’s Meltdown festival will be…
*drum roll*
Christine and the Queens.
This, I know from nothing. Anyone care to enlighten me?
Anyone doing a review? I’ll probably be able to do one by the weekend or early next week if no one beats me to it.
Into these dark days of looming recession, the threat of imminent nuclear war and endless threads about how rude everyone is to each other, a ray of sunshine has burst… It has come to my attention that somewhere in the theatres of these fair isles a musical production of the Famous Five is taking place in which the character of younger male of the group is played by an actor who rejoices in the name of Louis Suc. That’s right: Louis Suc is Dick.
(Well, I thought this board would benefit from an injection of maturity.)
What does it sound like?:
A lazy comparison often made for Mike Taylor is “the Syd Barrett of Jazz”, usually with reference to his LSD-assisted mental breakdown and subsequent demise. The real similarity is that both were true originals, ploughing a unique furrow in their chosen field and leaving behind frustratingly little recorded evidence of their undoubted talents — in Taylor’s case, just two studio albums, recently joined by Mandala, a live recording from early 1965, and now this.
Preparation is a rehearsal tape made by the Quartet’s bass player, Tony Reeves. It was the final rehearsal for what would prove to be Taylor’s closest brush with fame: providing support for Ornette Coleman on his first appearance outside the US. The set consists of four pieces that would subsequently appear on Pendulum plus two more Taylor originals and the jazz standard Autumn Leaves. It’s all fascinating stuff for the converted; but for the merely curious I would advise awaiting Pendulum’s re-release as part of the Decca’s British Jazz Explosion series.
I find it very hard to describe Taylor’s music to the uninitiated. The best I can come up with is: try to imagine jazz if it came out of » Continue Reading.
First of three programmes I highly recommend to anyone with even a passing interest in Neil, Viv, the Bonzos or that other band that began with a B (or was it an R?).
What does it sound like?:
To these ears, this is pretty terrific stuff. We have four core bands from LA’s 1980s “paisley underground”. Each band covers three songs by the other three bands and gives each song their own twist while retaining its original essence. Hence The Bangles’ creamy vocals, The Dream Syndicate’s “sonic noise-making freak wagon”, Rain Parade’s latter-day gothic cathedral soundscapes and The Three O’Clock’s pop smarts are all mixed up and sprinkled over the bastards like fairy dust.
I particular like Steve Wynn’s vocal on Rain Parade’s You Are My Friend in which he re-lives the fractured friendships with Karl Precoda and Kendra Smith that lead to the dissolution of the first version of The Dream Syndicate.
Elsewhere the The Three O’Clock unearth hidden bubblegum sensibilities in The Dream Syndicate’s Tell Me When It’s Over and The Bangles give the The Three O’Clock’s impossibly catchy Jetfighter the vocals it always deserved.
But, really, it’s hard to single tracks out. It’s all good, with the only weak points being Michael Quercio’s vocals (aforementioned DS track excepted) and The Bangles’ tendency to cleave too closely to the original arrangements.
There’s an excellent set of sleeve notes with various » Continue Reading.
What does it sound like?:
Disappointing, I’m sorry to say. I was hoping to be able to say it does exactly what it says on the tin, but that’s only one-third right. There’s country all right, ranging all the way from mid-paced country rock to maudlin country ballads; psychedelia and soul are conspicuous by their absence.
I was really looking forward to this album and it pains me to write this: it’s dull. The fire that illuminated Looking For Lewis And Clark or I Had A Dream has gone out and it sounds like they don’t really want to do it. It needn’t be like this (cf. The Dream Syndicate’s reunion album).
What does it all *mean*?
It means they needn’t have bothered.
Goes well with…
Afternoon naps
Might suit people who like…
The Eagles
I’m going to see Steve Wynn there next month. It’s a new venue for me. Anyone been there? Is there a bar? The usual facilities? Acoustics any good? Any and all info welcome. Thanks.
What does it sound like?:
Think back to a time when an Andrew Weatherall remix of I’m Losing More Than I’ll Ever Have has transformed indie also-rans Primal Scream into the patron saints of skinny white boys who dance badly and given them a top ten album in the form of Screamadelica.
How do you follow that up?
The unlikely answer is to decamp to the legendary Ardent studios in Memphis with the equally legendary Tom Dowd at the helm, augment the band with some of Muscle Shoals’ finest, turn in an album that wouldn’t have disgraced the Stones in ’72 and then remix the hell out of it. I suspect a certain amount of dickhead dust may have been involved in the decision making surrounding the last part of this process.
What we have here is the original mixes and mighty fine they are too. It sounds like the kind of album that could only have been made in Memphis: a rocked-up stew of blues, country and soul. It’s the sound of a band making the music that they love.
An improvement on the original release in every way.
What does it all *mean*?
It means I’ve » Continue Reading.
Anyone with experience of going to the Cadogan Hall? It’s a new one for me and I’ve got tickets to see Richard Thompson there on the 23rd (£50 each!). The tickets say doors 7:30. Anyone who has been there before and might be able to give me an idea of when RT is likely to take the stage?
