It happened (although they denied it hours before…)
Phish at the Sphere
Venue:
The Sphere, Las Vegas
Date: 20/04/2024
I’m finally back home from a crazy five-day-trip to see the magnificent Phish on one of their four nights at the Sphere in Las Vegas. Any regrets I had about that evening a couple of months ago – when I foolishly logged on to the online ticket queue – vanished immediately once I was inside the »dome«. And when the »gig« got underway it became clear that this was the event of a lifetime as far as live music goes: the sound was crystal clear, the visuals truly mind-boggling, and the band was as spacey and groovy as never before. And true to form, they played for nearly four hours (and no, they didn’t repeat a song during their four nights…); lots of extended atmospheric or funky improvisations. I’m aware that this kind of music isn’t exactly Afterword-friendly, but if you’re curious to find out why they’re held in such high regard check out the official excerpts from the shows.
The audience:
As usual – yer typical festival crowd from mid-twenties to 50-plus. No chatting, no beery pestering, and hardly any mobiles: probably a result of Phish’s usual policy of the ticket » Continue Reading.
Charming behaviour from the artist onstage
I’ve listened to one of the rare live recordings of the great Hank Snow – and he comes across as a rather authoritative person – he’s constantly berating his audience »to behave« and »to listen«. His playing and singing of course is without fault, but he doesn’t seem to enjoy the concert situation. I was reminded of a Beach Boys concert where the charming Mike Love informed the audience »to stop asking for your favourite songs! We’ve prepared the list of songs we will play before we came here, and we’ve been doing concerts since 1962 – we know what we’re doing!!« Thanks, Mike. I’m sure you all can recall similar moments of advice from the stage… (anecdotes about Lou Reed will not be counted)
Fatima’s 2023 in 77 Fragments
Seven is the magic number – to round up the favourites from 2023 I’ve put them in groups of seven. Think of each one as a playlist for a long train journey or a day at the office. Every Magnificent Seven has ist own atmosphere, mood or approach, and although they seem wildly different, they complement each other perfectly. Random play sometimes is a good option. The one in bold from each pack currently stands out as the most enjoyed and, sometimes, most played. But these things change, of course…
N E W M U S I C
||||||||||||| »Somewhere in the distance, as if at the end of a long tunnel, monks are chanting. A bell rings, but it’s barely audible. It might not even be there at all.« |||||||||||||
Tinariwen • Amatssou Lana Del Rey • Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd? Altin Gün • Ask Steven Wilson • The Harmony Codex Dhani Harrison • Innerstanding Yo La Tengo • This Stupid World Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids • Afro Futuristic Dreams
||||||||||||| »A disembodied, echoing voice intones an introduction: »So, shall we practise a little meditation together?« To which the only answer is, » Continue Reading.
From the Swindon Advertiser (may contain XTC(
An interview with all four of the boys.
https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/23994929.xtc-talk-legacy-swindon-possible-reunion/
Cliff Richard • »Cliff With Strings«
What does it sound like?:
Leaving the attention-grabbing headline behind – this is of course not about the record industry’s latest installment of the annual Xmas favourite, the »orchestral« hits album. They used to wait with such endeavours until the artist’s corpse was buried, but times are hard, obviously.
So: those crazy people at Bear Family have dedicated the latest volume in their »The Brits Are Rocking« series to Sir Cliff Richard, ignoring the image most people seem to have of him being a target of mockery and sniggering, especially among the elderly »rockers« in their extra-large black T-shirts. »Dynamite – The Brits Are Rocking Vol. 10« is a compilation of 34 uptempo tracks from 1959 to December 1961 – and it’s exciting, illuminating and a pure pleasure to listen to.
There’s the myth of the »grey area«, the time when Elvis was in the Army and apparently nothing much was going on in the music world until the sudden arrival of the Beatles. Well, here we have a guitar band with a focused singer, a brillant guitar player and an endlessly inventive rhythm section, who play snappy, energetic pop songs, mostly written by band members and associates. The » Continue Reading.
»Singles« of the year 1929
Ah yes – another list. Although this isn’t for the young ones who still argue about the merits of the Paul Young debut album, or if the Jesus And Mary Chain were a singles band. Here’s one for the veterans: what was spinning on your Victrola, and which sheet music album did you bring to school to impress your friends?
Here’s a playlist that Robert Crumb, Richard Weize, Chris Strachwitz and a few others put together one Sunday afternoon: 1. That’s What I Call Sweet Music / Paul Specht & His Orchestra 2. Die Moritat vom Mackie Messer / Bertolt Brecht 3. When The Leave Breaks / Kansas Joe & Memphis Minnie 4. High Water Everywhere / Charley Patton 5. Winnebago Love Song (Duet) / Thurlow Lieurance & Clement Barone 6. Das Lied vom Vater Zille (Das war sein Milljöh) / Claire Waldoff 7. Auf Wiederseh’n, Herr Doktor! / Paul O’Montis 8. Osson / Joe Falcon 9. Bimbambulla / Two Jazzers 10. Surabaya-Johnny / Lotte Lenya 11. Roll And Tumble Blues / Hambone Willie Newbern 12. Schöner Gigolo / Otto Fassel 13. Soldier’s Joy / Gid Tanner » Continue Reading.
The Annualist’s Compendium Of 2022 Musical Joys (& Free Hugs)
You can’t have enough lists (or free hugs) so here’s my very own Year-End-Best-Of-2022 list. I’m no fan of ratings of any kind – and it changes every day of course – so each category has a winner and everything else sorted alphabetically. The winner isn’t necessarily »The Best«, but certainly the most played at Fatima Towers.
C O M P I L A T I O N S
||||||||||||| Various Species Of Musicians Gathered Together With A Tune ||||||||||||| Jack Kerouac • 100 Years Of Beatitude + Chrome Universal • A Survey Of Modern Pedal Steel (Imaginational Anthems Vol. 11) Climb Aboard My Roundabout • The British Toytown Pop Sound 1967-1974 Dark Exotica • As Dug by Lux & Ivy Lux & Ivy Say Flip Your Top Heroes & Villains • The Sound Of Los Angeles 1965-1968 Ocean Child • Songs Of Yoko Ono Ost-Kraut Teil 1 & 2 • Progressives aus den DDR-Archiven 1970-1982 This Was Your Future • Dave Brock presents Space Rock (And Other Psychedelics) 1978-1998 The Virginia & West Virginia Box • 1950s & 1960s Oddball Labels
N E W M U S I C
||||||||||||| The Sunday Painter Greets The Lemonade Dawn » Continue Reading.
Some Thoughts About Brilliant Adventure {1992-2001}
And so the time had come once more for another David Bowie box. For the fifth time the David Bowie Archive had collected his recordings from a certain era of his career – {1992-2001} in this case. The set with the ghastly amateurish self portrait was duly bought, and over the following year or so I listened to it, examined and enjoyed the book, the side projects, the extra discs… compared and reacquainted myself with some tracks, and put together playlists with different themes for outside listening. You all know the music, but what about the box and its content? So what have we got? Is it any good? And what went wrong this time?
In the accompanying book the writing and recording process of the main albums – BLACK TIE WHITE NOISE, BUDDAH OF SUBURBIA, OUTSIDE, EARTHLING and HOURS – is explained at length in essays by the respective producers, and this is fascinating reading. It was new to me that Bowie didn’t »write« a single song in these ten years: he merely commissioned loops, rhythms and chord progressions from his musical directors (mainly Reeves Gabrels and Mark Plati, with Nile Rodgers in 1992/1993), which he then chopped up, » Continue Reading.
8 + 4 = 12 Licks (Volume 1)
On June 7, 1963, the NME reviewed the first single from a new band: »A song and a performance aimed straight at the current market for groups. Good chance of selling well.« It was »Come On« from The Rolling Stones. Melody Maker wasn’t quite convinced – at the time of the first album they wrote: »The singer favours the hit-and-miss method when aiming for a note. And the drumming is the antithesis of swing. The Stones can keep on rolling – straight past my grammophone!«
Well well well – let’s see what we’ve got here actually. And to keep some sense of order we start with the bonus tracks.
That debut single was released in June 1963. 1. Come On (recorded Olympic Studios, London, May 10, 1963) With its bumbling bass and choppy rhythm, this has an almost Bluebeat feel and it skanks along nicely. Wayling harmonica, but there’s not a lot to remind one of those »dangerous« Stones. 2. I Want To Be Loved (recorded Olympic Studios, London, May 10, 1963) This has more of the Chicago sound that these young guys talked about in interviews a lot. Great drum sound, and a real harmonica solo over chugging beats.
A second » Continue Reading.
The complete adventures of Ivan The Engine
(With all the heated and violent discussions about Eric, Van and Bob it’s maybe time for some light entertainment. DISCLAIMER: parts of this have appeared previously in CD Swap reviews)
Van sits on a salmon-coloured leather sofa. His feet don’t touch the ground. It’s early in the afternoon, and he’s bored. He picks up his phone. »Hey Georgie, it’s Van.« A long pause. He can hear a distant TV at the other end. »Listen, let me tell you a joke…« He knows he doesn’t sound very enthusiastic so he immediately hangs up. He stares at the framed photo of John Lee Hooker on the wall. Van hops off the leather sofa and goes to the CD player. He switches the player on and the Yo La Tengo disc from last night slides out. He puts the new Tedeschi Trucks Band in, presses a button on the controller and paces up and down as the music starts.
Someone’s ringing at the gate. Van peeks out the window. »Fucking hell!« It’s the intern from Sony in his silly electric car, probably with more records to sign. We’ll take care of that, Van, no worries… they had promised, and then it all backfired. » Continue Reading.
Jon Hassell R.I.P.
Family Statement: »Our beloved Jon M. Hassell – iconic trumpet player, author, and composer – has passed away at the age of 84 years on June 26th 2021. After a little more than a year of fighting through health complications, Jon died peacefully in the early morning hours of natural causes. His final days were surrounded by family and loved ones who celebrated with him the lifetime of contributions he gave to this world– personally and professionally. He cherished life and leaving this world was a struggle as there was much more he wished to share in music, philosophy, and writing. It was his great joy to be able to compose and produce music until the end. We thank all those who contributed to ensuring that he was able to continue expressing his ideas through his final days and maintain a quality end of life.«
Here’s what musician Peter D’Elia wrote: »Jon Hassell died on Saturday. I’m the kind of person who can become addicted to a musician to the point that I have to find every recording. Jon Hassell is one of them. You may not know his name, but you’ve probably heard his trumpet on albums by Brian » Continue Reading.
Even more box-sets-in-a-list mayhem
Fatima’s 2020 Box Sets & Reissues
Top Ten 1. Prince | Sign O’ The Times (Super Deluxe Edition: 8 CDs + DVD) 2. Focus | 50 Years 1970-1976 (9 CDs + 2 DVDs) 3. King Crimson | The Complete 1969 Recordings (20 CDs + 2 DVDs + 4 BluRays) 4. Hank Williams | Pictures From Life’s Other Side (Book + 6 CDs) 5. Eric Burdon & The Animals | When I Was Young (The MGM Recordings 1967-1968: 5 CDs) 6. The Alabama Box | 1950s & 1960s Oddball Labels (8 CDs) 7. Porcupine Tree | The Delerium Years 1991-1997 (13 CDs) 8. Bobby Bare | Sings Shel Silverstein (8 CDs) 9. Neneh Cherry | Raw Like Sushi (30th Anniversary Edition: 3 CDs) 10. Peter Kowald | Duos (3 LPs)
Top Twenty A-Z The Associates | Perhaps (2 CDs) Colosseum | Colosseum Live (6 CDs) The Fall | The Frenz Experiment (2 CDs) Bobbie Gentry | The Delta Sweete (Expanded Edition: 2 CDs) Tom Jones | The Complete Decca Studio Albums Collection (17 CDs) Marillion | Script For A Jester’s Tear (4 CD + BluRay) Paul McCartney | Flaming Pie (5 CDs + 2 DVDs) Joni Mitchell | Archives Vol. 1: The Early Years (5 CDs) Tom Petty | Wildflowers & All » Continue Reading.
Your life in one sentence
Dame Viv Westwood is getting some press in Germany for a video she made. You could almost feel sorry for someone whose own PR people sum up your life’s achievements as being “a fashion icon”, “founder” of “the punk”, and wife of “the inventor” of the Sex Pistols. See also Peter Blake, “designer” of the Sgt. Pepper album.
Worst Band In The World gets a Super Deluxe Edition
Here’s one for those who always ask “Who actually buys all this stuff?” – Swiss band Hellhammer, officially known as “The worst band in the world” (according to Kerrang Magazine), get their own (slightly) Super Deluxe Edition, including fancy hip vinyl record. Asked why he signed the band, label boss Karl Walterbach cheerfully explained, “Their demo tape was unbelievable, the worst stuff I ever heard!” Hellhammer’s front man Tom G. Warrior of course later formed Celtic Frost and never made a bad record.
Yet another Best-Of-2019 list
After much thinking, drinking and puffing, I’ve finally decided on my 2019 retro list:
Reissues Of The Year 1 The Residents | The Mole Box (6 CDs) 2 King Crimson | Heaven & Earth (24 Discs) 3 Fats Domino | I’ve Been Around – The Complete Imperial & ABC Recordings (13 Discs) 4 Prince | 1999 Super Deluxe Edition (6 Discs) 5 Woodstock – Back To The Garden (10 CD Edition) 6 Michael Rother | Solo (5 CDs) 7 Frank Zappa | The Hot Rats Sessions (6 CDs) 8 The Fall | Bend Sinister – The Domesday Pay-Off Plus (2 CDs) 9 R.E.M. | Monster 25th Anniversary (6 Discs) 10 Ronnie Lane | Just For The Moment – Music 1973-1997 (6 CDs)
If you’re still interested you can view the complete list of 30 on th’ blog.
http://chickswithdisks.wordpress.com/2020/01/09/best-of-2019/
The David Bowie Graphic Novel
Berlin artist Reinhard Kleist is working on a graphic novel about David Bowie and his songs. It will likely be something like his books about Nick Cave and Johnny Cash – a mixture of storytelling and re-imaginings of myths and song lyrics. You can preview some illustrations on his “Work in progress” blog.
Those Finns again….
Now that’s what I call a Wold Championship.
Got any e-books?
“Starting today, Microsoft is ending all ebook sales in its Microsoft Store for Windows PCs. Previously purchased ebooks will be removed from users’ libraries in early July. Even free ones will be deleted. The company will offer full refunds to users for any books they’ve purchased or preordered.”
https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/2/18292177/microsoft-ebooks-refund-stops-selling-digital-books-store
The govner at 90
It’s December 30 and time to get yer maracas out.
Happy 90th birthday, Mr. Diddley.
Dr. Strangely Strange Klaxon
The long-awaited definite biography of the mighty Dr. Strangely Strange has finally been announced. Expect tales from the sixties Dublin music scene, about Gary Moore waiting for a babysitter, and lots of pictures of phono fiddles, weird trousers, and orphanages.
Halloween with Phish
In their great tradition to play a “costume show” at their October 31st shows, Phish this year performed the entire album “í rock” by obscure Scandinavian band Kasvot Växt.
In previous years they played albums like “Exile On Main Street”, “Loaded” or “Remain In Light” in their entirety. And the White Album.
Here’s more: https://www.spin.com/2018/11/phish-hoax-fake-scandinavian-band-las-vegas-halloween-show/
A Night Out with The Pink Floyd
Venue:
The Tempodrom, Berlin
Date: 16/09/2018
Nick Mason & His Saucerful Of Secrets (as they’re actually called) currently play a European tour, and in Berlin they stopped at the Tempodrom, a venue that usually hosts the likes of Steven Wilson, Bob Dylan or Nick Cave. Not bad for a combo that’s only existed for a couple of months. It starts with ominous sounds – animal noises, weird bleeps, voices from outer space – and before you can think it’s The Orb gone mad there’s the familiar riff of “Interstellar Overdrive”. As played by Sonic Youth. It’s quite clear that this is not yer regular cover band or a cosy nostalgia evening: these five men play with a joy and energy as if they’ve just finished recording their first album. Everything in these songs is intact and recognizable (no reggae version of “Lucifer Sam” no sirree!), but there are different solos, arrangements are shuffled about, and the two lead singers often divide the vocal parts between them (much like The Move on their sixties singles). Yet every single tune has one or two pleasant surprises – like the tiny Sex Pistols quote in “The Nile Song” – and the biggest surprise » Continue Reading.
RIP Rachid Taha
Another magnificent one gone.
Nick Mason’s Unattended Luggage
What does it sound like?:
This set collects Nick Mason’s three (it says here) “solo” albums – which is quite misleading, as the first one is a rather brilliant Robert Wyatt album, and the other two are unplayable duo efforts, one of ’em never released before. “Fictitious Sports” from 1981 was recorded in America during downtime from “The Wall”, and it features songs written by jazz pianist Carla Bley, performed by her band with Robert Wyatt on vocals, Chris Spedding on guitar, and Mr. Mason on drums. This is fantastic stuff – everyone involved is obviously delighted to be part of this. It sounds like the poppier bits of “Escalator Over The Hills” mixed with the Canterbury sound and a truly great brass section. And it’s always great to hear Robert Wyatt singing lines like “I like tickling ivories and fingering stones, when my mercury goes up I play with my bone…” (I’m A Mineralist). The two albums with Rick Fenn (who’s always referred to as “from 10cc”, although in my house 10cc are Godley/Creme/Gouldman/Stewart) are from another universe entirely – bland elevator music, everything glossed over with 80s synthesizer sounds and coated in echo and reverb. Each track » Continue Reading.