What does it sound like?:

These grizzly old Stones are having a blast. It took nearly twenty years to come up with an album of new material, Hackney Diamonds, a Grammy winning, chart-topping triumph, but only three to produce this follow up. Four songs are leftovers and ten are fresh. With a sparky, young producer, Andrew Watt, galvanising them in the studio, the job was finished in just four weeks. Some people feel overwhelmed by his bright, polished style, no doubt yearning for the sordid murk of Exile, but he’s certainly re-energised these Stones. The cover art, “Mr Ugly” designed by Nathaniel Mary Quinn, is a hard-staring representation of their cussed defiance. It’s as though Charlie’s passing has made them realise the clock is ticking faster than they thought. The result is the most Stonesy album in half a century. Every element that makes up The Rolling Stones at their very best is here on Foreign Tongues, delivered with unrestrained glee.

The first two songs, already released as a double A side single, set the tone. Rough & Twisted is classic Blues Rock, with a raw, gritty riff and a road trip lyric. It wouldn’t have been out » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Daniel Lanois is not a name many civilians will recognise but he’s had a stellar career in the music business. He learnt the penny whistle when he was nine and then the pedal steel guitar, despite living in Hull, Ontario, about as far from the Deep South as it is possible to be in the Americas. He found his calling aged seventeen, recording local bands with his brother Robert in his mum’s basement. The particular acoustics attracted a lot of custom from gospel singers to country artists. Soon, they had earned enough to buy an old Victorian house and convert it into Grant Avenue Studios. One of his clients was Martha and The Muffins, who made an international splash, catching the ear of Brian Eno and Harold Budd. They were impressed by the unorthodox nature of the studio, its atmosphere and innovative layout.

Eno found a kindred spirit. Lanois has a production style that is all about ambience and atmosphere. He makes music sound beautiful. However, it isn’t ambient in the Eno sense. Lanois does not make records that are to passively play in a room, barely noticed. He wants people to pay » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

The Who are currently a very professional eight piece band: Jody Linscott percussion, Simon Townshend guitar, vocals, mandolin, Loren Gold keyboards, backing vocals, Scott Devours drums, Jon Button bass, John Hogg backing vocals, percussion, plus, of course, octogenarians Pete Townshend guitar, vocals and Roger Daltrey vocals. The two original members are acutely aware of the passing of time and the diminution of their powers. Townshend’s energy is not what it was and his fingers are less dexterous over the guitar strings but the support of his younger brother, aged just 65, enables him to recreate the sound of a power trio. Daltrey’s vocal chords require a special care regime and with particular attention to pacing himself, he can hit the high notes. This is a polished and precise Who, very far from the wild excesses of the past, but it still plays songs of high emotion and inner turmoil that cannot be contained.

Townshend has been critical of The Rolling Stones failure to evolve since their heyday but it’s fifty years since The Who attempted anything innovative. Live, there is zero chance of them recapturing the stunning dynamism of their sixties singles but, here in Cornwall, » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Autobahn was Kraftwerk’s break through album, a top ten hit in the UK, US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Germany but Radio-Activity was their proof of concept for a complete LP. It’s their first entirely electronic album and it brought together the Fab Four that would see them through their biggest successes. Klaus Röder, and his guitar and violin, was ditched and replaced by Karl Bartos on electronic percussion. Wolfgang Flür abandoned analogue percussion altogether for electronic. The original founders, Ralph Hütter and Florian Schneider, tackled the vocals and synthesisers and composed all of the tracks. Their friend and fellow conceptualist, Emil Schult, contributed lyrics and artwork. The most significant change was Hütter’s deployment of the Orchestron, an instrument he bought in America when they toured Autobahn. The Vako Orchestron is a keyboard that produces its sound through electronic amplification of sounds pre-recorded as an optical track on a disc. It was meant to be an alternative to the mellotron. There were only eight discs for the Orchestron: Violin, Hammond B3, Flute, Cello, Vocal Choir, Saxophone, Pipe organ, and French horn. Vocal Choir is all over Radio-Activity. It was lo-fidelity as scratches on the disc were audible on pressing the keys, » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

To this seventeen year old at the time, 1975 was the year music grew up. Bob Marley Live, Blood On The Tracks, The Last Record Album, Another Green World, Young Americans, The Original Soundtrack, Katy Lied, Mothership Connection and There’s No Place Like America Today were all mature, detailed, complex works on heavy rotation in my house. The simple chords of Glam Rock lingered but lost its glitter for Down By Jetty and Rock ‘N’ Roll. Sadly, to my shame, there was no room for female voices, not even Joni nor Emmylou. One Of These Nights did not feature on my turntable either. It’s not that it wasn’t grown up music. Grown ups clearly loved it but my teenage self saw it as dull cotton wool for the ears. It wasn’t just middle-of-the-road, it was buried in the soft centre, sub CSN/Y slop. I didn’t think much of CSN/Y. The charms of Laurel Canyon passed me by in 1975. One Of These Nights is the fourth album by Eagles, each increasingly popular, as they progressed from Linda Ronstadt’s backing band to megastars. It was their first number one and sold 4 million copies in » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

To The 5 Boroughs is The Beastie Boys sixth studio album, released in 2004. Ad-Rock, MCA and Mike D were all pushing forty years old. Two of them were responsible fathers, the other a peace-loving Buddhist. They were positively ancient in the world of Hip Hop, so, naturally, they go Old Skool in an attempt to get back to the party vibe of their debut. They go so far back, Triple Trouble doffs its cap to The Sugarhill Gang. However, financial constraints resulted in the closure of their record label, 9/11 had destroyed the Twin Towers and decimated their beloved New York City, and George Bush had begun the War On Terror. A gloom hangs over the album like the dust from the towers’ collapse. Nevertheless, it followed the previous two albums by debuting at number one in the Billboard chart and selling over a million copies in the States.

To The 5 Boroughs is self produced and the only credited additional musician is Mix Master Mike on turntables. The backing tracks are simplified, building strong, muscular beats, and eschewing frivolous samples. It is their most coherent album. With no real skits and » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

James Blast, ex of this parish, believed Bongo Fury to be a Captain Beefheart album interrupted by Frank Zappa. The two mavericks knew each other from high school. Zappa produced and wrote some of Trout Mask Replica. In return, the Captain contributed his gnarly vocals to Willie The Pimp on Hot Rats. Their relationship was feisty. They were both innovators and autocratic band leaders but Zappa liked his music to be nerdy, clean and sleek, whereas Beefheart preferred it messy, wild and chaotic. Lyrically, Zappa relied upon cleverness and a peurile sense of humour, while Beefheart specialised in the unhinged ravings of a peculiar mind. Zappa surprised listeners with frequent time changes. Beefheart had a “problem with rhythm”. But, despite their differences, they were inextricably drawn to each other, both finding inspiration in the other’s love of nonconformity and improvisation. By 1975, Zappa was on a roll. 1974’s Apostrophe (*) was a top ten Billboard hit, followed by the virtuosity of Roxy And Elsewhere and One Size Fits All, wherein screwball satire rubs shoulders with disciplined jazz fusion. Beefheart, on the other hand, had lost his Magic Band, disillusioned with his attempt to make » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Aerosmith are an enormously successful business. They have achieved 25 gold, 18 platinum, and 12 multi-platinum album certifications, in addition to one diamond album, four gold singles, and one platinum digital single. Having sold more than 69.5 million albums in the United States and 150 million worldwide, they are the best-selling American rock band. They have a nice little side line in video games. Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is considered to be the best-selling band-centric video game across both the Guitar Hero and Rock Band platforms. They formed in 1970, broke through with their third album, Toys In The Attic, but temporarily lost their twin guitarists to drugs and rehab during a fallow ten years until a mid-eighties resurgence turbocharged by teaming up with Run-DMC on Walk With This Way. Since then, alongside the cash registers ringing, they have enjoyed critical acclaim and multiple awards. They were inducted to The Rock And Roll Of Fame in 2001.

This debut album was released in 1973. It wasn’t well received at the time and the staunchest of Aerosmith fan is unlikely to rate it as one of their best. It is meat and and potatoes, Stones cos-play, minus the swing and » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

The Paper Kites have been together, with the same five members, since 2009. They are Australian and have all known each other since high school. They paid their dues, in the old fashioned way, endlessly performing live, honing their sound, working on their technique, and building a following. Their early single, Bloom, gradually gathered momentum, crossed the Pacific and sold a million in America. If You Go There, I Hope You Find It is their seventh studio album.

If The Eagles were soft rock, The Paper Kites are soft folk: largely acoustic instruments, including banjo and lap steel, gentle melodies and smooth caramel harmonies. They occasionally plug in an electric guitar to rough things up but you won’t find much gore or gothic horror. After all these years together, they are in danger of slipping into cosy domesticity. To spice things up their last album, At The Roadhouse, was recorded live with an expanded band, and the one before, Roses, is a collection of duets with guest female vocalists. This time, they return home, almost literally, back to Melbourne, back to their roots and the Sing Sing Studio, stripped down to the five » Continue Reading.